7 differences between Yannick Ngakoue and Everson Griffen

Ngakoue is flagged for fewer penalties

Yannick Ngakoue, on the whole, is called for fewer penalties than Everson Griffen. But the context is bittersweet.

Since entering the league, Ngakoue has been flagged just three times for pre-snap infractions. That is extraordinarily impressive. In the same period, Griffen has been penalized 19 times for the same type of encroachment-like penalties. The 19 to three split here is a humongous deviation. Ngakoue is undeniably more disciplined at the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped.

But the discipline overall ends with that metric. During his four-year career to date, Ngakoue has been hit with 12 penalties of the 15-yard variety. These include unnecessary roughness, roughing the passer, and facemask infringements. Since 2016, Everson Griffen only has three such offenses.

Ergo, unless Ngakoue’s somewhat unruly tendencies are tamed by the Vikings coaching staff, you will see far more large penalties from him than you ever saw from Griffen. Yet, to inversely pay the piper, the lack of pre-snap penalties will offset the more violent infractions.