Thank you for submitting questions for this Vikings mailbag. You can always send questions to @Andrew_Krammer on Twitter or andrew.krammer@startribune.com. Listen for answers on the Access Vikings podcast or find them here. Let's get to it.
Q: What two or three players showed progress this year that gives you confidence they can continue to improve? — @mikedigitalink
AK: The Vikings didn't get much from the 2022 rookie class, but linebacker Eric Kendricks lauded the mental growth of third-round rookie linebacker Brian Asamoah. Kendricks was asked about Asamoah during a three-game December stretch in which he started to play more on defense. "He's kind of thinking bigger picture now," Kendricks said, "and starting to understand what's going on — seeing things besides what's going on at his position. It's refreshing to see, because obviously we know he has great energy running to the ball and causing plays, splash plays. I'm excited to see how good he gets."
Josh Metellus also deserves recognition. The third-year safety was often the Vikings' "dime" or sixth defensive back. He made three starts replacing Harrison Smith, nabbing the game-sealing interception off Lions quarterback Jared Goff in the Week 3 win. As a leader on special teams, Metellus also earned the respect of his teammates, who voted him a replacement team captain for the postseason after Brian O'Neill's season-ending injury.
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Q: I'd be interested in knowing the differences between Donatell's D to the Fangio successes in Chicago and Denver. Apart from it not being very good of course. Not sure KOC would have found this D very hard to scheme against. — @donraul007
AK: The failures were on multiple fronts in Minnesota, where four different corners started opposite Patrick Peterson, slot corner Chandon Sullivan was a liability, and both Donatell and his preferred four-man pass rush didn't pressure quarterbacks enough. The scheme has succeeded before, but everyone has nuanced differences. One clear difference was Donatell's reluctance to blitz; Fangio called more aggressive defenses with higher blitz rates each of the previous four seasons (2018-2021) tracked by Pro Football Reference. Another obvious difference is the players, who didn't always find the right places in Minnesota's new defensive front.
Fangio and Donatell improved each defense in three stops together across 11 years from 2011-2021. They inherited a 26-year-old Patrick Willis and 23-year-old NaVorro Bowman when remaking the 49ers in 2011. They didn't reach their standard in Chicago until Year 3 in 2017, when corners Kyle Fuller and Bryce Callahan and safeties Adrian Amos and Eddie Jackson formed a strong secondary. Their arrival in Denver led to a slight improvement to an already strong depth chart. Perhaps players need time to transition. In San Francisco and Denver, the previous coaching staffs had already run 3-4 fronts. That wasn't the case in Chicago, where Fangio and Donatell converted a 4-3 front (like Donatell tried to do in Minnesota) and needed time. They didn't become top 10 until the third year. But Chicago never ranked worse than 15th in yardage allowed, which is an indictment on how Donatell and his staff transitioned the roster.
