Could Ed Donatell return as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator in 2023?
Coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t give Donatell a vote of confidence on Wednesday at his season-of-season press conference, but he also didn’t say that Donatell was one-and-done in Minnesota.
“That is an ongoing process that is continuing as we speak and will continue throughout the rest of this week,” O’Connell said of his coaching staff. “I think it’s important to do, and I think after the success we had this year and coming up short of where we ultimately wanted to get to. I think it’s the right thing to do and I’ll make sure I go through that thorough process in doing so.”
Despite winning their first NFC North title since 2017 with a 13-4 record, the Vikings finished next to last in the NFL in total defense and were near the bottom of the league in scoring defense. Things didn’t improve in the playoffs as Minnesota gave up 431 yards in a 31-24 first-round loss to the New York Giants last Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
So what were the problems, and more importantly, what are the solutions? Let’s take a look.
How much blame does Donatell deserve?
O’Connell hired Donatell to install the 3-4 scheme made popular by veteran coordinator and former Broncos coach Vic Fangio. Donatell has been an NFL assistant since 1990 and had defensive coordinator stints with the Packers (2000-03), Falcons (2004-06), Washington (2008) and Fangio’s Broncos (2019-21).
O’Connell was hired by the Vikings after serving as the Rams’ offensive coordinator. He liked the Broncos’ defense because it proved difficult for offensive-minded coaches to solve and figured it would be good for his offense to practice against the scheme, not to mention using it against opponents.
But O’Connell’s expectations were never met. He and Donatell have to take much of the blame for this.
The idea of the scheme — which uses 3-4 as a base look but incorporates the 4-3 in nickel — is to have similar two-high looks before the snap. This is supposed to confuse the quarterback and end up with the secondary in shell looks that cut down on explosive plays.
The only confusion that happened was on defense. At one point, Donatell’s defense gave up more than 400 yards in six of seven games. It would have been worse but Minnesota finished tied for eighth in the league with 25 takeaways and tied for 11th in third-down defense.
O’Connell gave an interesting assessment of the defense following a particularly poor effort in a 34-23 loss on Dec. 11 in Detroit.
“I think it’s a combination of some things,” O’Connell said. “But I think we need to take a look at what we can do to potentially help our guys be in a position to make more plays, be a little bit more aggressive possibly, but ultimately I think we need to generate more (pass) rush however we do it. And then just try to limit explosives. And what that looks like, it’s a variety of things, but I think if we’re doing our jobs effectively, we’ve got to take a look at it to try to improve our football team.”
If there’s anything, outside of the ineptitude on defense, that should have O’Connell looking to make a change, it was this quote from Donatell after the loss in Detroit. Asked about Hunter’s play as he adjusted from having a hand on the ground in the 4-3 to standing up and rushing the quarterback from a 3-4, Donatell said that he wasn’t too concerned.
“I think he’s getting more comfortable every week. It’ll take the whole year. Standing up and playing in our base is a little new to him, still…”
The entire season? That’s ridiculous. At some point, the coordinator has to make adjustments to help the player. That’s what O’Connell did on offense and Donatell didn’t do on defense.
Should the Vikings stick with the scheme?
That depends.
Where O’Connell has to shoulder much of the blame is for wanting to install a system that clearly didn’t fit much of the personnel. This doesn’t absolve Donatell, who needed to make adjustments once it was clear his defense wasn’t working. However O’Connell and his staff needed to understand that guys like Eric Kendricks, Jordan Hicks and others weren’t going to be a great fit.
Opponents had an easy time using speed to win battles against the Vikings’ veteran linebackers. Outside linebackers Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith combined for 20.5 sacks but Hunter was allowed to disappear too often and Smith wasn’t the same after suffering a knee injury in Week 10 at Buffalo.
If the Vikings are going to stick with the 3-4, they are going to need to overhaul much of the defense and get younger and faster. That means many familiar names will be gone. If they switch back to a 4-3, they still need to get faster but there might be fewer changes.
Major changes on the way
Let’s start with Kendricks and Hicks.
The soon-to-be 31-year-old Kendricks has been a Viking since 2015 and was one of the best linebackers in the NFL at one point. Kendricks is heading into the final year of his contract, but cutting him this offseason will save the Vikings $9.5 million. Hicks, who will be 31 next season, will save $5 million to the cap if he’s gone.
Cornerback Patrick Peterson (33 next season) and defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson (29) will be free agents, and cutting Za’Darius Smith (31) would save $13.7 million in cap room. Safety Harrison Smith (34) likely will return but he could be asked to take a pay cut. Even Hunter (29) has an uncertain future with his contract set to expire after 2023.
Does he want to play in a scheme that clearly didn’t fit him as well as many expected and what type of contract will he be seeking?
Obviously some of these players will return, but major changes are likely on the way that will leave the Vikings’ defense looking very different next season.
Draft class from 2022 needs to contribute
The Vikings got very little help on this side of the ball from general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s first draft class.
Georgia safety Lewis Cine, whom the Vikings took with the 32nd pick in the first round, was beat out by Cam Bynum for a starting job before training camp opened.
Cine then suffered a compound fracture to his lower left leg playing special teams in Week 4 against New Orleans. All reports are that his recovery has gone well, but he missed valuable practice and playing time.
Second-round cornerback Andrew Booth from Clemson fell in the draft because of injury concerns and then spent the season battling injuries. Until Booth proves he can stay on the field, the Vikings won’t be able to rely on him and the teams that stayed away from Booth will look wise for doing so.
Third-round linebacker Brian Asamoah from Oklahoma had the type of speed that Kendricks and Hicks lacked but still saw limited playing time. Fourth-round corner Akayleb Evans moved into a starting role at one point but concussion issues ended his season and fifth-round defensive end Esezi Otomewo got in for 89 snaps in only five games.
The Vikings have to be hoping that Cine, Booth and Asamoah move into starting roles next season but none of them were able to show enough in their rookie year to provide confidence that will happen.
