Minnesota Vikings 2010s All-Decade Team: Who made the cut?

Linebacker

Chad Greenway, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks

Much like the defensive line, the linebackers were a strength of the Vikings defense once Mike Zimmer arrived and with Chad Greenway already in the fold, it became another level for teams to worry about when playing the Vikings.

Greenway was the veteran of this group and stayed in Minnesota throughout his entire career after being drafted with the 18th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. In this decade, Greenway collected 782 total tackles and was one of the more consistent if not flashy members of the defense.

Soon after Zimmer’s arrival, he continued to shape the linebackers with the addition of a pair of UCLA linebackers. Anthony Barr was Zimmer’s first draft pick as a head coach and while his stats haven’t screamed impact player with just 15 sacks in six seasons, he remained an important part of what the Vikings do and provided one of the other biggest moments of the decade when he injured Aaron Rodgers in 2017.

With Barr on the outside, Eric Kendricks was a beast on the inside as the sideline-to-sideline linebacker the Vikings haven’t had in quite a while. Kendricks had a rough season in 2018 but has bounced back in a big way this season with 110 total tackles and developing into one of the best coverage linebackers in football.