When it comes to Brian Flores’ wonderfully elaborate and deceptive defensive scheme, positional versatility is always a plus.
For the defensive backs in particular, it’s almost a must.
As the Minnesota Vikings have proven over the years, it doesn’t matter how high a player was drafted or how much he gets paid. From linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. to freshly-extended captain Josh Metellus, if you can play and help the team, you’re going to get opportunities to stick on the roster.
When it comes to the secondary, Metellus’ rise from former sixth-round draft pick to impact starter is the perfect example. Minnesota could lean on the now sixth-year pro more at safety after letting Camryn Bynum walk in free agency, but Vikings fans, for years, had no idea what position Metellus was playing in Flores’ defense. He’s played a whopping 2,093 defensive snaps over the past two seasons combined, per Pro Football Focus, with the following alignment breakdown:
- On the line of scrimmage (as blitzer or in run support): 269 snaps
- In the box (like a linebacker or strong safety): 889 snaps
- Deep safety (like a traditional free safety): 145 snaps
- Nickel corner (or covering an opponent’s slot receiver): 726 snaps
- Cornerback (or covering a wide receiver): 62 snaps
Metellus landed his three-year, $36 million extension this season because he’s a scheme fit and a good player who does a lot of different things at a high level. We’ve only seen one preseason game so far in 2025, but Flores and company could be grooming their next Metellus prototype behind the scenes.
Kahlef Hailassie could be next undrafted success story for Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings have several defensive backs in camp challenging for a spot on the 53-man roster, with veteran players like Tavierre Thomas battling with younger guys like rookie Zemaiah Vaughn and Kahlef Hailassie.
Hailassie is becoming a name to watch, not just because of his pair of interceptions in Saturday’s preseason opener against the Texans, but because of how he got his hands on the football. The 24-year-old signed a futures contract with the Vikings before the new league year, and had been working at cornerback throughout the offseason before switching to safety about two weeks into training camp.
Hailassie’s alignment breakdown from Saturday’s game might sound familiar: five snaps as a box safety/LB, eight as a free safety, and 10 as a slot corner, per PFF.
"I can play safety, inside, outside," Hailassie told reporters after the game. "I think (the coaches) see that, too, and that was the reason they made that move."
How Hailassie fits in Minnesota’s crowded secondary
Both of Hailassie’s interceptions on Saturday came during the fourth quarter, off Texans rookie quarterback Graham Mertz. In other words, he still has a way to go to make Minnesota’s 53-man roster out of camp.
If Hailassie does stick around either on the active roster or practice squad, his coaches are giving him a clearer path to NFL action as a safety. GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah never replaced Bynum in free agency nor April’s draft, and the depth chart behind their top three of Harrison Smith, Metellus, and Theo Jackson gets thin in a hurry.
Many NFL draft analysts believed the Vikings would go safety in the first round of this year’s draft. They need some young players at that position in the pipeline, and they might have something in Hailassie, who not only lined up all over the place in Saturday’s game, but was around the football and made plays.
As Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell put it on Saturday:
“He's got corner coverage skills and a physicality and ball skills that seem to fit with how we play football here.”