This past offseason, the Minnesota Vikings wanted to pursue upgrades at several positions but, for as focused as they were on skill, they also wanted players who had three important characteristics, which the team’s coaches have repeated several times this season: they’re smart, tough and love football.
Minnesota seems to have nailed that will several big additions, including Blake Cashman, Jonathan Greenard, Stephon Gilmore, and Andrew Van Ginkel, among others. At the time of their signings, Cashman was the Eden Prairie kid coming home, Greenard was the high-potential replacement for Danielle Hunter and Gilmore was the former Defensive Player of the Year, but Van Ginkel was hurt and a bit overlooked.
He’s not being overlooked any more. Eleven weeks into the season, this is a legitimate question: Is Van Ginkel the most underrated defender in the entire league?
“I think he’s grown and evolved and learned how to play, he’s worked at it,” Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores said of Van Ginkel, whom he coach in Miami.
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“I think he’s a guy who just wants to learn the game and then wants to apply the things he’s learned so that he can have success for himself and then success for the team,” Flores added. “Another very unselfish guy. It’s been great to watch the growth because he certainly wasn’t as … he didn’t have the football IQ that he does now, and that’s just a testament to his work.”
.@AndrewVanGinkel is absolutely flourishing in Brian Flores’ defense in 2024. pic.twitter.com/KgoDVHjRLC
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) November 19, 2024
The fact that this is a serious topic should underscore just how fantastic Van Ginkel has been for Minnesota this season.
The 29-year-old, who signed a two-year, $20 million contract this offseason, currently ranks first in the NFL in tackles for loss (13), fifth in sacks (8), tied for 19th in interceptions (2) and is the only defender in the league with multiple touchdowns.
Looking deeper, Pro Football Focus notes that he’s played more coverage snaps than any other edge by a wide margin — and is excelling, receiving an 86.5 coverage grade from PFF, the third-highest among qualified players at the position — but still has that sack production and more pressures than all but 34 edges. Based on pass-rush productivity score, he’s on par with Hunter and just above Brian Burns, and from the left side alone he’s producing more than the likes of Montez Sweat, Nick Bosa and Za’Darius Smith.
“It’s very rare to have a guy who can play in space and then get up on the line of scrimmage, set edges, play off the ball, play on the ball, blitz, drop … it’s rare,” Flores said. “That was part of the evaluation and vision for him is to play these multiple roles, but I think he’s even exceeded what my vision was gonna be for him. He’s done a phenomenal job, we’re really lucky to have him. He impacts the game in a major, major way.”
“When you envision, you’re sitting in the room with Flo, talking about potential guys to add to the team and he lights up and talks about the versatility, the play style, this guy can rush the quarterback, this guy can drop into coverage and make a play on the ball, he’s instinctive, and he’s saying all these things and I’m like, ‘Yeah, where do I sign up? Who do I gotta talk to?’” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said on the team’s “X’s and O’s” segment.
Signing up for that — and at such a reasonable rate — is now looking like a steal for the Vikings.
At this rate, Van Ginkel will have to garner serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year.
O’Connell praised the humble edge and offered an interesting comparison for him.
“The only player that I can think of that really rivals him that I’ve really been around — obviously Harrison Smith from the cerebral but yet physical play-style standpoint — but Cooper Kupp on the offensive side.
“(Kupp) would do things some times and we had never talked about it and he would just understand, and he’d come to the sidelines and you’d say, ‘How’d you know to do that?’ and he’d start talking about leverage or knowing it was a five-man fire zone versus a simulated fire zone, where there’s only four guys coming, understanding where help was and he would just say things, and I’d be like, ‘That shouldn’t be possible,’” O’Connell said. “And Gink is kinda like that on the defensive side, and I know Flo and those guys love having him and the things we can do defensively — even in-game the other day, getting him off the ball, shifting into more of a four-down front and causing chaos for those guys up front was just wildly awesome to see.”
He’s proven to be a game-wrecker and one of the most versatile weapons in the NFL, but his low-key demeanor and tendency to constantly deflect praise to his teammates and coaches is hard to believe.
When given a game ball, he barely smiles. When asked about crazy things he doesn, he shakes it off and explains it like it was nothing. After his pick-six against the New York Jets in London, someone interrupted his post-game press conference to say, “Brother, I’m gonna need a little bit more excitement. You picked off Aaron Rodgers!” He just stood there sheepishly and offered a laugh.
He may not love the attention but that’s only going to increase if his play continues at this level.
According to Flores, “He’s deserving of all of the attention that he’s getting.”
