Minnesota Vikings 2015 Season Review: Defense

Safeties

Harrison Smith was PFF’s top ranked safety with a player grade of 92.8 (864 snaps). Smith finished the season with 66 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 5 pass defenses, 2 interceptions and a touchdown.

Andrew Sendejo is pretty much the exact opposite of Harrison Smith. Sendejo finished as PFF’s 84^th ranked safety (out of 87 qualifiers) with a player grade of 52.0 (844 snaps).

Even though he only played 148 snaps on defense, Anthony Harris was the Vikings’ second highest rated safety with a grade of 87.0 (which would have ranked him 7^th in the NFL had he qualified).

Robert Blanton played 236 snaps and earned a grade of 58.8.

Antone Exum played 144 snaps and had a grade of 53.7.

Unlike the offense, the Vikings defense was graded favorably by PFF. As a unit, the Vikings defense ended the year 13^th in total yards allowed and 5^th in points allowed, which is a vast improvement from previous seasons. Most of the best Vikings’ defenders are young, so this should be a defense that only gets better.

Overall Performance and Salary

Here is a list of the Vikings’ defensive players, ranked by their player grades (with their cap hit according to www.overthecap.com):

Linval Joseph – 94.4 ($4,600,000)

Anthony Barr – 93.4 ($2,896,272)

Harrison Smith – 92.8 ($2,271,355)

Anthony Harris – 87.0 ($102,353)

Everson Griffen – 83.3 ($8,200,000)

Captain Munnerlyn – 82.3 ($4,333,333)

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Danielle Hunter – 76.8 ($591,806)

Terence Newman – 76.3 ($2,500,000)

Sharrif Floyd – 75.4 ($2,202,600)

Brian Robison – 73.7 ($5,650,000)

Trae Waynes – 72.9 ($2,353,521)

Xavier Rhodes of – 70.6 ($2,129,046)

Edmond Robinson – 68.8 ($452,078)

Tom Johnson – 68.2 ($2,300,000)

Justin Trattou – 66.7 ($116,471)

Kenrick Ellis – 65.6 ($482,059)

Eric Kendricks – 58.9 ($937,440)

Robert Blanton – 58.8 ($1,594,763)

Brandon Watts – 58.8 ($300,000)

Chad Greenway – 56.2 ($5,700,000)

Scott Crichton – 54.3 ($705,507)

Antone Exum – 53.7 ($497,300)

Marcus Sherels – 53.7 ($1,250,000)

Andrew Sendejo – 52.0 ($1,066,668)

Shamar Stephen – 48.2 ($411,758)

Audie Cole – 40.6 ($660,000)