Zimmer gives new Vikings player seal of approval

With the uncertainty over the status of strong Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr for Week 1, head coach Mike Zimmer needs all the help from the linebacker he can get.

After Barr on the depth chart, a hodgepodge of young people including Ryan Connelly and Blake Lynch reinforce the depth. And that means the other starting linebackers – Eric Kendricks and Nick Vigil – have to perform well if Barr is absent, eliminating any gaps that Connelly or Lynch might have.

We know Kendricks can be trusted – the former UCLA student received first-team All-Pro honors in 2019 and his production hardly declined during the pandemic season. Kendricks is battle-proven and will likely win another Pro Bowl this year.

But we don’t have any solid work from newcomer Nick Vigil, at least not as a Viking. He is the weak side linebacker scheduled for the start this Sunday at the Cincinnati Bengals.

If you ask Mike Zimmer, Vigil is up to the task. And Vigil doesn’t just look like a usable body – Zimmer seems to have confidence in his new linebacker. Zimmer said of Vigil on Thursday:

“He’s very intelligent, his personality is the same. They are very quick thinkers. I think he’s a good player, he understands his role and he understands everyone’s role.

Zimmer also compared Vigil to Chad Greenway, who played for the Vikings from 2007 to 2016. Greenway was a tackling machine, reaching the Pro Bowl in 2011 and 2012 under head coach Leslie Frazier.

Vigil is also a hardware dealer. In the season alone he started all 16 games (2019, as a member of the Bengals), Vigil scored 111 total tackles, good enough for 24^e– most in the NFL that year. According to his career resume, his Focus on professional football the score approaches the 60s range, existing between 50 and 60 for the standings over the past four seasons. Under Zimmer’s tutelage and his apparent enthusiasm for the 28-year-old, his rating can climb further. What is more, it will be helped by its role. There is little mystery that Vigil will see any snaps in the 2021 Vikings defense – especially if Barr is knocked out for more than a game or two.

The Vikings’ opponent this Sunday, Cincinnati, is a group of men familiar to Vigil. The Bengals drafted Vigil in 2016 from 3^rd Tour of this project. He spent four seasons at Cincinnati before a one-year stint with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2020.

Vigil was one of the Vikings’ defensive additions via free agency this offseason. In fashion, general manager Rick Spielman has signed one-year contracts with defenders, ensuring the Vikings don’t experience anything like what plagued the team last season. In one year, Minnesota has gone from fifth best defense in the league (points allowed) to 29th^e– best – which is unfathomable for a team led by Zimmer.

Minnesota is looking to restore defensive supremacy foremost under Zimmer. An endorsement by Vigil’s Greenway is certainly good news for easier vision.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. Its Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Guilty pleasures listed: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, “The Sopranos” and The Doors (the band).