Dec 11, 2011; Detroit, MI, USA; Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Erin Henderson (50) before the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-US PRESSWIRE

Leslie Frazier is being his typical non-committal self when it comes to talk of the growing competition at linebacker between incumbent Erin Henderson and free agent acquisition Marvin Mitchell. Frazier was asked flat-out if Mitchell is pushing Henderson and Frazier insisted he is not…yet.

“I don’t know if he’s pushing [Henderson] for the starting job, but he’s giving us some depth that we didn’t have prior to signing him, as you know,” Frazier said. “But we’ll see. We’ll see how [Mitchell] performs in these preseason games. Erin still has to perform well. You don’t want to say things are locked up where we are right now. We need competition.”

Competition at weak-side linebacker was not something we expected to see coming into training camp. Erin Henderson held down that job in 2011, performing well enough to place on Pro Football Focus’ top 101 players list, and was considered one of the bigger locks on the defense for 2012. But perhaps we were too hasty in assuming Henderson had a starting job sealed up. He was signed to only a one-year deal after all. Despite all the accolades from tape geeks, it seems the Vikings were never fully convinced Henderson was the man for the job. And still aren’t.

One thing to keep in mind here: The Vikings did hire a new defensive coordinator this year in Alan Williams. Surely Williams had a hand in evaluating the roster ahead of free agency and the draft. It’s possible Williams looked at Henderson’s tape and decided he’s not a perfect fit for the defense he’s trying to install. We assume the Vikings will stick with some variation of their Tampa-2 – Williams was a Tampa-2 guy in Indianapolis – but there has also been talk of more man coverage and possibly more blitzing.

This is where Marvin Mitchell comes in. Mitchell played in Gregg Williams’ aggressive blitzing defense in New Orleans, albeit as a back-up, and developed a reputation as a sure-tackling downhill player. If the Vikings mean to become more aggressive in sending their linebackers, Mitchell might make more sense for the scheme than Henderson. Mitchell wasn’t a sack guy in New Orleans, notching only one in all his years there, but then again he was never a starter.

All this is only conjecture. What we know for sure is this: There’s a new positional battle heating up that we never expected. Adjust your depth chart projections accordingly.

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Nov 24, 2011; Arlington, TX, USA; Miami Dolphins linebacker Marvin Mitchell (50) on the sidelines during the game against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving day at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

With Kenny Onatolu moving on to wherever he moved on (Carolina actually), the Vikings had themselves a little bit of a hole at back-up linebacker and in their return coverage units. Notice how I said “had” themselves a hole. That hole’s not there anymore, because on Tuesday they signed linebacker and special teams guy Marvin Mitchell.

Hold on for this next tidbits kids: Marvin Mitchell used to play for the Saints. He was on the Saints the year they cheated the Vikings out of a Super Bowl berth. He probably was offered bounties on someone but being a back-up linebacker never got a chance to cash in. Still, in his heart, he wanted to be paid extra for ripping some guy’s head off and mailing it to Gregg Williams. Does this mean we have to hate him?

The Saints didn’t think enough of Mitchell to keep him around after the 2010 season so he moved on to Miami. In one year with the Dolphins – that would be last year – Mitchell amassed 30 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, an INT and 2 passes defensed. Maybe there’s some coverage skill there? Actually he’s perceived as more of a run stopping linebacker according to what I’ve seen. But he’s played the middle some so, maybe he can compete with Jasper Brinkley?

We’ll see.

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