4 Saints the Vikings need to be the most concerned about in Week 16
By Nik Edlund
David Onyemata – DT
Just like Trey Hendrickson, David Onyemata is a very underrated player on the Saints defense. This guy is having a huge season but no one is talking about him.
Onyemata has 39 tackles on the season with nine of those going for a loss and six sacks. He’s a destroyer of offenses and he should be very excited about his matchup against the interior of the Vikings offensive line.
Minnesota’s guards have been far below average all season long. Dakota Dozier ranks toward the bottom of all guards this year and Ezra Cleveland is having his fair share of struggles as well. Garrett Bradbury has also been up and down lately at his center position and they’ll need to all play balls out to slow Onyemata down.
The Bears and the Bucs had their way with the Vikings interior offensive line and there’s no reason to think that Onyemata won’t find similar success.
He’s extremely quick off the ball and at 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds, he is a load to try and handle. Minnesota should try to double-team him often and not run the ball into the teeth of the Saints defense the way they kept doing against Chicago.
If the Vikings can run away from Onyemata, that’ll neutralize the impact he can have on this game, and perhaps he’ll get frustrated and lose focus.
If he is allowed to make some big plays, he’ll only get more fired up and he could have one of his best performances of the season.