Meet the Vikings Top ‘Bounceback’ Candidate for 2021
The Minnesota Vikings harbor several players with the capability to “bounce back” in 2021, most of them seeking a return to form from injury.
Among such players are Danielle Hunter, Anthony Barr, and Michael Pierce. Hunter hurt his neck, Barr tore his pectoral muscle, and Pierce chose to not play in the pandemic season because of virus precautions. Ergo, those three players are forecasted to bounce back to usual production from a health standpoint.
Other than them, though, few Vikings require a rebound from poor performance. Players like Irv Smith Jr. and Garrett Bradbury face pivotal seasons for their respective development, but they’re not really bouncing back from anything. Smith and Bradbury – products of the 2019 NFL Draft – just need to grow.
Per Pro Football Focus and ESPN, one Vikings player is the premiere bounceback candidate for the 2021 season, and that is Patrick Peterson.
Nov 15, 2020; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson (21) celebrates in the second half against the Buffalo Bills at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Patrick Peterson signed with the Vikings on – wait for it – St. Patrick’s Day, bolstering a secondary that was abnormally lousy in 2020. In addition to Peterson, Minnesota also welcomed Bashaud Breeland, Mackensie Alexander, and Xavier Woods to the secondary, a total revamping for a squad that finished 24th in the NFL during 2020 for passing yards allowed.
With his final year in Arizona, Peterson was not a hotshot by his usual standards. Here is the etymology of his PPF grades over the last decade:
2011: 49.6
2012: 79.2
2013: 78.7
2014: 61.6
2015: 79.9
2016: 79.8
2017: 69.2
2018: 82.5
2019: 68.6
2020: 55.2
And those grades have pushed Peterson to eight Pro Bowl selections and three All-Pro nods. Not bad.
But there is a conspicuous crater from 2019 onward, likely why PFF and ESPN foresee a potential bounceback. On his candidacy for doing so, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin wrote:
“Athleticism tends to decrease with age, so expecting Peterson to play the same role he did during his prime in Arizona probably isn’t realistic, but a change in responsibilities — much like coach Mike Zimmer did to extend Terence Newman’s career into his late 30s — will be a welcomed change. That could mean deploying more zone coverage so that Peterson can lean heavier on mental skill set rather than the speed and quickness it takes to go toe-to-toe with elite wideouts in man-to-man. Either way, the perennial Pro Bowler believes he he has plenty left in the tank to not only help develop Minnesota’s young crop of corners but further his own career in this next chapter.”
The good news for Peterson and the Vikings? The enterprise will not collapse if he fails to fully return to his pre-2019 ways. He merely needs to be pretty good in a Vikings defense because head coach Mike Zimmer now has a slew of defenders to support the veteran cornerback – unlike last year. Last season, the reliable defensive commodities were Eric Kendricks and Harrison Smith – then crickets after that. Some players stepped up admirably – like Cameron Dantzler and Todd Davis – but most of the defenders surrounding Kendricks and Smith were backups masquerading as starters.
That will not be the case in 2021. General Manager Rick Spielman added oodles of new defenders from Sheldon Richardson to Mackensie Alexander for depth.
Peterson is committed to the Vikings for one season and eight million bucks. If all goes well, he can sign up again in 2022 when the salary cap expands, continuing his career’s second act – hopefully in purple and gold.
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