If you watch a lot of Mike Zimmer press conferences, you know that Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer doesn’t seem to praise his players a lot publically. However, when the topic of the young players in his secondary came up, the rookie coach had some awkwardly nice words to say concerning both Josh Robinson and Xavier Rhodes.
According to 1500 ESPN Sports Wire, Head coach Mike Zimmer had this to say about the two young cornerbacks in his new defensive scheme:
"Oct 12, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer watches as his team plays the Detroit Lions at TCF Bank Stadium. The Lions win 17-3. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports“They are getting better with their techniques. … So far they’ve been good at what they’ve been doing. But we can’t be good three-fourths of time and one-fourth you give up a first down here and there. That’s no different than what I’m trying to preach to the rest of the team, you can’t be good just three-fourths of the time.”"
The two have had very different paths to their current success with the Vikings. Josh Robinson took part in a failed experiment to move him to the slot under head coach Leslie Frazier last year while Xavier Rhodes showed flashes of brilliance last year but struggled to keep healthy on the field. Under Mike Zimmer, he has them focused and playing at a high level.
In fact, the Minnesota Vikings pass defense has improved by leaps and bounds since Mike Zimmer took over. Here are the differences between the two years:
Vikings Pass Defense
As you can see, it’s been like night and day this year. Getting high levels of quarterback play out of both of those young cornerbacks is key in keeping the Minnesota Vikings defense moving in the right direction. Nobody could have expected such a huge difference in this team’s defense in the first year under a new head coach that is implementing a new scheme. Hopefully, this is a sign that the Vikings could be building a dominating defense for the future. Then again, it could just be a fluke.
Either way, it is great to see things changing from last year’s heartbreaking and embarrassing excuse for a defense.