What are some statistics and facts to know about new Minnesota Vikings defensive end Yannick Ngakoue?
The plan felt sturdy. Everson Griffen concluded his decade-long stay with the Minnesota Vikings after a long free-agent purgatory that lasted most of the summer. The Dallas Cowboys vitalized their already robust defensive line by signing Everson Griffen in August. Vikings loyalists shed tears and focused on a new reality — Griffen was not coming back to Minneapolis.
As for a replacement, the Vikings would turn to 26-year-old Ifeadi Odenigbo to fill the defensive end position on the right side of Minnesota’s defensive line. Odenigbo stormed to a strong finish of the 2019 campaign in his first real opportunity as a professional player. He would be cheap, hungry, and quite likable. Odenigbo would collaborate with left defensive end Danielle Hunter, and voilà, the Minnesota Vikings were set in the wake of Griffen’s departure.
On an early Sunday morning late in the preseason, the so-called plan was extinguished. Minnesota dealt a second and fifth-round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue. Instantaneously, the Vikings went from a probably-pretty-good duo of defensive ends to an elite combination.
Ngakoue is somewhat widely known around the NFL. His name was put on an atlas when the 2017 Jaguars, under the moniker of Sacksonville, nearly bumped off the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship.
There is much to learn about the new guy, so let’s get started.
1. Ngakoue is a Top 12 sack artist
When the Yannick Ngakoue inked his name on the one-year deal the Vikings placed before him, Minnesota inherited the NFL’s 12th-most prolific sacker of quarterbacks since 2016. There was no real learning curve needed for Ngakoue, either. Ngakoue recorded eight sacks in his first season trailing only Joey Bosa among all rookies who joined the pros in 2016. Bosa was a third overall pick in the draft that season whereas Ngakoue was the 69th selection by Jacksonville. The return on investment for the Jaguars was impressive, especially early on.
Following his rookie campaign, production has persisted. Ngakoue has played in 63 games while cataloging 37.5 sacks. In comparison to his peers, this is more sacks then Everson Griffen, Jason-Pierre Paul, Justin Houston, Chris Jones, Melvin Ingram, and Vic Beasley. Although to be fair, some of those men missed time to injury. But one can argue that merely being on the field more than other defensive ends is also laudable.
The Minnesota Vikings will get a little taste of Sacksonville.
2. To date, Ngakoue’s durability is a huge asset
A sports cliche is necessary here. “Availability is the best ability.” The origins of this apropos quote are not expressly known, but whichever man or woman was first to emphasize the point was really on to something.
As far as the Vikings are concerned, Minnesota acquired a subscriber to this maxim as Ngakoue has put this motto into a realization. Ngakoue missed a game to injury last season — it was the first such occurrence of his four-year career. Since 2016, 14 defensive ends have missed one game or less. The Vikings now employ two of these men on their defensive line in Danielle Hunter and Ngakoue. The Viking Age assuredly is not in the business of jinxing, but the dependability of the Vikings two top pass-rushers in mandatory information.
The Teflon-like reputations of Hunter and Ngakoue, in terms of physique and health constancy, are a rare pairing of personalities. At the moment, Hunter has missed all of training camp because of a secret ailment. Otherwise, Hunter has never missed a professional football game to injury. Couple that historical trend with Ngakoue’s reliability and we should see plenty of this new Hunter-Ngakoue recipe in 2020.
3. By his standards, Ngakoue had a “down year” in 2019, sort of
With a straight face, it’s challenging to assert a pass-rusher that accumulated eight sacks, four forced fumbles, and 13 tackles for loss — had a down year.
By the precedent Ngakoue set for himself in 2018, however, his numbers slightly declined. Whether this was the byproduct of a team in Jacksonville that finished the season with a 6-10 record, an unspoken injury, or an honest-to-goodness performance dip, Ngakoue’s numbers in 2019 were not as prestigious as the year prior. His pressures fell from 51 to 27, quarterback hits from 33 to 15, and sacks from 9.5 to 8. Specifically, the pressures mark is head-scratching, but it is not inconceivable for a player to encounter a simple crater in production.
Ngakoue will now benefit from the basic existence of Danielle Hunter. Teams may choose to double-team Hunter or simply opt not to double-team Ngakoue. Either gameplan will be profitable for Ngakoue.
4. It’s not just the sacks, it’s the Quarterback Hits
Quarterback hits are a metric that began tracking in 2006. For perspective, the undisputed leader in this parameter since the stat’s inception is Houston Texans pass-rusher, J.J. Watt. Despite a few injury-hampered seasons, Watt has accrued 265 quarterback hits since he joined Houston in 2011. So, when you think “quarterback hits,” think Justin James Watt.
When Yannick Ngakoue arrived in Jacksonville four seasons ago, he promptly began stockpiling the quarterback hits. During those four years, he has the 8th-most in the league with 85. For comparison, Danielle Hunter has 71 since 2016, and Everson Griffen has totaled 84. Therefore, if the sole purpose of the play is to land the opposing quarterback on his buttocks, Ngakoue is your backdoor man.
Quarterback hits are crucial because they are indicative of pocket pressure. And, the more you make contact with a signal-caller, the more the passer becomes skittish throughout a given game, in theory.
Instantly, Ngakoue is the Minnesota Vikings’ top hitter of quarterbacks if judging by past performance.
5. Comparable Player from History = Leonard Little
From a sacks and tackles standpoint, the closest comparable player in relatively recent NFL history is former St. Louis Rams pass-rusher, Leonard Little. Playing 12 seasons for the Rams (his only team), Little totaled 87.5 sacks and was even awarded All-Pro honors at the peak of his powers in 2003. What’s more, Little earned a Super Bowl ring with Rams during the team’s 1999 storybook season.
Little is akin to Ngakoue in that he was a formidable pass-rusher and, to a lesser degree, admirable defender against the run. Ngakoue has played 63 games thus far in his young career. He has amassed 37.5 sacks, 122 combined tackles, and 14 forced fumbles. Leonard Little, through 63 games, notched 43 sacks,148 tackles, and 17 forced fumbles.
Sacks indeed began accrual in 1982, but generally speaking, one would find it difficult to find a closer statistical bedfellow to Ngakoue as Leonard Little.
6. Ngakoue is a turnover-forcing machine
“If you remember nothing else” from this analysis, this is the factoid to load in the chamber. The single most important talent the Yannick Ngakoue will utilize as a member of the Minnesota Vikings is his knack for forcing turnovers. Particularly, this means fumbles.
Since 2016, the Jaguar-turned-Viking has forced 14 fumbles. In those same four years, Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter forced 10 between the two of them. That’s right, Ngakoue outpaces Griffen and Hunter combined with his tendency to strip away the football from the opposition. And, it’s usually a quarterback that is the victim.
The 14 forced fumbles induced by Ngakoue is more than Aaron Donald, Von Miller, and Jadeveon Clowney, to name a few. He forced six fumbles in his sophomore season alone, and this was the primary reason Ngakoue visited a Pro Bowl at just 22 years of age.
Strip-sacks are Ngakoue’s finishing move, and that chaos will bleed into U.S. Bank Stadium and beyond.
7. Consistency is also a Ngakoue signature
We mentioned earlier that 2019 might be considered a crater in production for the new Minnesota Vikings defensive end, but that’s only if Ngakoue is compared to Ngakoue. When evaluated next to his pass-rushing peers, 2019 was still very much a fruitful year for the man.
In fact, the evidence is embedded in the last four seasons. Since 2016, Ngakoue is one of seven players to hit at least eight sacks in each of the last four years. The only other players in the industry to have eight-plus sacks in each of the last four seasons are Mario Addison, Frank Clark, Aaron Donald, Chandler Jones, Khalil Mack, and Von Miller. If you’ve watched more than just Vikings football in the last half-decade, you know this company is top-notch.
The lowest sack total Ngakoue has hit is the aforementioned eight sacks. Last season, Everson Griffen registered eight sacks. Unless Ngakoue arrives in Minneapolis and encounters flummoxing hardships, he is a lock to be equally as productive his predecessor.