The Minnesota Vikings have a lot of exciting young defenders but which one will become the team’s next defensive star?
Want more proof that the Minnesota Vikings’ defense has arrived? Check out the Pro Football Focus list of the top 101 players in the NFL.
Not only did the Vikings place three defenders in the top 101, they placed two in the top 22: Anthony Barr 20th and Harrison Smith 22nd.
Linval Joseph joined his younger teammates by finishing 48th. The Vikings’ fourth player in the top 101, Joe Berger, placed 40th.
Joseph and Berger are relative veterans who had career years and likely will never again come close to producing at a top-101 level, but Smith and Barr are both young and only improving.
If they can stay healthy, Smith and Barr should remain as centerpieces of the Vikings’ defense for years to come. But for the Vikes to achieve dominance, one or two of Harrison and Anthony’s younger teammates will need to make the same leaps they did and become true stars.
Which Vikings player drafted in the last two years has the best chance of joining Barr and Smith as one of the NFL’s top defenders? Here are the five most likely candidates in my mind.