Where the Minnesota Vikings defense landed in the NFL rankings before the 2024 season

The Minnesota Vikings had an average defense in 2023 after being one of the worst units in 2022. Have they fallen in the rankings after some huge changes to the unit this offseason?

Bleacher Report’s scouting department ranked all 32 NFL defenses after the NFL Draft and ranked the Vikings 18th in the league, which is very respectable considering their talent shortages on the defensive line.

This is what they said about the Vikings:

Why they are ranked here

The Vikings may not have a perfect defense, but they have a strong identity. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores will put the pressure on opposing offenses and force them to deal with a wide variety of looks and packages.

His freshman year produced mixed results, but the Vikings have done things this offseason to give him better players to work with. Danielle Hunter will be missed, but Jonathan Greenard is younger and will replace much of his production. Dallas Turner fits right into this plan and signing Andrew Van Ginkel gives them a blitzer with experience in Flores’ system

The strong identity is a perfect description of the Vikings defense. The identity is both versatile and aggressive and the additions of Van Ginkel, Greenard and Turner emphasize exactly that, but especially Turner with his insane movement skills.

Mixed results is a good way to put into words what happened in the 2023 season, especially with how things fell off a cliff in December. No Hunter is hurting, but Greenard is probably a better fit with his quick start on the ball.

The secondary will be the biggest X-factor for the Vikings defense. It’s a young group outside of Harrison Smith, but there’s a lot of talent. If they can figure things out and stay consistent, they can take a big step forward.