Minnesota Vikings: Where in the world is George Iloka?

The Minnesota Vikings signed the veteran safety just before the start of the season and he has yet to see any snaps on defense in 2018.

Pass defense has always been a strength of the Minnesota Vikings ever since they hired Mike Zimmer to be their head coach. But this season, the Vikings have struggled more than usual when it comes to defending their opponent’s passing attack.

After four games, Minnesota has the 23rd ranked pass defense in the NFL. A bit of a drop-off when considering the Vikings finished last season as the league’s second-best defense when it came to stopping the pass.

One thing that seems to be different about this year’s pass defense for Minnesota is the absence of Terence Newman on the field.

Minnesota Vikings

Newman is still on the sidelines as an assistant defensive backs coach, but his in-game teachings out on the actual field during the last few seasons may have been more vital than most people realize.

The Vikings’ secondary is full of young talent (five defensive backs aged 26 or younger), but the inexperience of these young players has shown up too many times so far this year. However, Minnesota does have someone on their bench who could possibly help them out.

Midway through this year’s preseason, the Vikings signed veteran safety George Iloka. He was released by the Cincinnati Bengals despite being a starter on their defense since 2013.

Iloka is familiar with Zimmer’s defensive schemes since the two worked together in Cincinnati during both the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Even though the 28-year-old safety has plenty of starting experience and he knows how Minnesota’s defense works, he still has not seen the field on defense this year. Instead, the Vikings have been rolling along with guys like Jayron Kearse, Mackensie Alexander, and Mike Hughes this season.

But based on the struggles of the secondary this year, perhaps Minnesota should consider giving Iloka some playing time on defense over the next few weeks.

There is a reason he was a starter in the NFL for the last six seasons and at the very least, he could help in making sure some of the Vikings’ younger defenders are in the right spots on the field like Newman used to do.

Minnesota seems to be in need of some more veteran leadership in their defensive backfield right now and Iloka could possibly be the player to provide it.