Will Everson Griffen be better or worse for the Vikings in 2019?

He’s healthy

Everson Griffen’s stats took a nosedive a season ago. When looking back at his 2018 campaign, the biggest reason for that would likely be his time away from the team.

Griffen struggled with his mental health last year and had to step away from the team for an extended period of time. He ended up missing five games and he had just a partial role in another.

So basically, Griffen missed over a third of his season. Obviously, with that much time missed his production dipped.

Not only does his absence from the field hurt his stats, but it also negatively affected his overall stamina. Taking basically six weeks off can cause a player to lose his conditioning. It was clear in some games after his return, that Griffen was winded and he lacked the explosion out of his stance. It even seemed to get worse the deeper he got into a matchup.

That won’t be a problem for Griffen in 2019. By all accounts, he’s healthy and he should be able to get a full training camp and preseason under his belt. Griffen will likely also be able to participate in more weekly practices in 2019 and it should result in him being in great shape physically and mentally during the entire upcoming season.