Brian Flores - Defensive Coordinator
We knew it wouldn't take much for Brian Flores to separate his defense from Minnesota's previous defensive scheme under former coordinator Ed Donatell, but the differences in the two schemes have already been extremely noticeable during the team's OTA practice sessions this spring.
Aggressive is the word that has been commonly used by players from both sides of the ball to describe the Vikings' new defensive scheme under Flores.
Longtime Minnesota safety Harrison Smith said on Tuesday that the "aggressiveness" is what he likes the most about the team's new scheme, and he thinks "it'll be fun" to play in the Vikings' new defense next season.
Flores' new defensive scheme has also had a number of Minnesota players lining up at several different positions during this year's OTA practice sessions. The Vikings have experimented with guys like Cam Bynum, Josh Metellus, Lewis Cine, and Byron Murphy Jr. in several different spots all over the field in an effort to confuse the offensive players on the other side of the ball.
Despite ranking as one of the NFL's worst defenses last season, Minnesota's defense has a lot of potential to make significant improvements in 2023, and Flores is going to do whatever he can to steer the unit in the right direction.