Minnesota Vikings Biggest X-Factor in NFC Title Game: Jerick McKinnon
By Tim Vallie
Minnesota Vikings running back Jerick McKinnon is a mismatch nightmare, and here is why he could be the difference the NFC Championship game.
You don’t get a nickname like Jet without bringing one thing to the table: speed. The 4th year running back for the Minnesota Vikings has a lot of that, and even more. The diminutive McKinnon ran a 4.41 40-yard dash at the NFL combine before the Vikings made him a 3rd round pick, but he also put up 32 reps of 225 pounds, as well as a 40.5-inch vertical jump and a 132-inch broad jump.
In addition to speed McKinnon packs a unique mix of explosion and strength into a compact 5 foot 9 inch, 205-pound frame.
McKinnon is a very different back from Latavius Murray. He is more versatile and has much more wiggle in his game. Murray has break-away speed and power, and McKinnon has the ability to gash you on the edges of your defense. He’s much more of a player you want to get the ball to in space, and I believe that if the Vikings do that on Sunday it will be to their advantage.
A Triple Threat
McKinnon entered the league having finished out a senior season as the quarterback of an option offense at Georgia Southern where he passed for 4 touchdowns, ran for over 1000 yards and 12 touchdowns, and even caught three passes as he would line up from time to time as a receiver. The Vikings have been known to threaten defenses with his quarterback background by running him out of the Wildcat formation.
To this point in his career, however, the real damage he’s done has been as both a runner and receiver. This year he finished second on the Vikings with 150 rushing attempts for 570 yards and three touchdowns, and fourth on the team in receiving with 51 receptions for 421 yards and two scores. He also led the team in kick returns and kick return yards with 12 returns for 312 yards, an average of 26 yards per return.
His best receiving game of the season came in week 15 against the Bengals, where he continuously made the Cincinnati defense look silly finding himself wide open on wheel routes repeatedly catching 7 passes for 114 yards.
The Matchup
Philadelphia’s linebackers are exploitable in the passing game. Nigel Bradham, the teams leading tackler, is a thumper. He is an exception in the box defender, with a penchant for sniffing out the run. He has shown over the course of this season, however, that he is not an elite sideline to sideline defender. His game is better suited to a downhill style. If isolated in coverage on McKinnon he’d be at a disadvantage. The same goes for most of Philadelphia’s linebacker rotation with one exception.
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Mychal Kendricks
Outside of Pro Bowl safety Malcolm Jenkins who also has lined up as a hybrid linebacker-safety at times this season, Mychal Kendricks (older brother of Vikings middle linebacker Eric Kendricks) is the Eagles best defender in space. He has the athleticism and ability to cover running backs much like his younger brother. As Viking’s fans however saw last week, even elite level space defenders aren’t always able to win matchups against backs with exceptional receiving skills.
If the Eagles could choose a linebacker for you to isolate in space against running backs Kendricks is the guy they’d pick. Pat Shurmur and the Vikings offense will use different motions, formations, and personnel groupings to ensure they don’t get that choice.
A Bellwether Player
On a team that has only lost three games all season it’s hard to pinpoint things that go right in wins and losses. But there’s one sneaky stat that’s been overlooked by just about everyone. The Vikings are 9-1 in games where McKinnon has totaled 50 yards or more rushing and receiving, and 4-2 in games where he doesn’t.
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Jerick McKinnon’s usage and ability to make plays will be indicative of the Minnesota Vikings success on offense, and in my opinion, is likely the difference in the NFC Championship game against the Eagles.