Lunchbreak: PFF Gives Vikings ‘A’ Grade for 2024 Free Agency’s First Wave…..
For Van Ginkel, PFF reminded that the former Dolphin will be reuniting in Minnesota with Flores.
We were not confident in how to approach Van Ginkel’s projection, given his injury history that trickled into this past season, but he was remarkably efficient as a pass rusher in 2023 and the advanced metrics alone certainly would’ve pointed to a stronger deal like the one he signed here.
Rounding out the Vikings Day 1 defensive additions, PFF said Minnesota native Cashman “had a breakout season” in 2023 for Houston, “flashing ability as a pass rusher and also looking smooth dropping and moving laterally into coverage.”
A day after reaching a deal with running back Aaron Jones, the Vikings agreed to terms Wednesday with four new players: quarterback Sam Darnold, linebacker Blake Cashman and outside linebackers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel.
Analytics site Pro Football Focus is providing live grades for free agency additions across the league and, as of Thursday morning, had given the Vikings “A” grades in fit/need for the team’s first five new-player signings.
PFF gave the Greenard addition an A+ for fit/need and A- for value, writing the following:
Getting younger with the talented Jonathan Greenard makes a lot of sense. Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores will surely love Greenard’s ability against the run, in addition to a still-developing arsenal of pass-rush moves, with his super long arms keeping him clean against tackles as he turns the corner.
And lastly, PFF noted that Darnold will reunite with former Jets teammate Josh McCown, whom the Vikings recently hired as their quarterbacks coach entering the 2024 season.
There were legitimate flashes at the end of the 2022 season in Carolina for Darnold, and we know teams still believe in the former No. 3 overall pick. At the end of the day, with Kirk Cousins off to Atlanta, Minnesota had to make a fairly sizable move with [its] first-round draft pick sitting at No. 11 overall, and player agents were well aware of that reality. We now wait to see if they add a rookie at No. 11 or after a trade-up, with a roster that looks vastly improved on defense after Day 1.
