Jayron Kearse – S
Jayron Kearse got in the game late against Denver in Week 11 and he stepped up in a huge way. On the Broncos’ final possession, Kearse was a mad man.
He broke up passes, he tackled Denver quarterback Brandon Allen as he attempted to scramble for the game-winning touchdown, and he forced an incompletion on the final pass as time expired. It was a very impressive performance and one that was key in the Vikings getting a win they really shouldn’t have ended up with.
Kearse hasn’t got a ton of playing time this season. With the struggles Minnesota has had in the secondary, it is a little surprising. Kearse isn’t just a safety, he can play linebacker or corner.
Having Kearse take some snaps away from a struggling Xavier Rhodes would seem to make sense. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer clearly prefers Kearse in the safety role, but he still doesn’t deem him good enough to start over a guy they just signed from Philadelphia in Andrew Sendejo. Kearse’s arrest earlier in the season may be the reason for that.
It’ll be interesting to watch Kearse on Monday night against the Seahawks and see if his superb play against Denver earns him more snaps. This will be a very difficult game for Minnesota to win and if they are going to pull it off, they’ll need Kearse playing at the level he did in the win over the Broncos.