Brian Flores Catches Online Jab from Soon-to-Be Cut Defender
Apparently, Javon Hargrave attributes some of his modest production to what defensive coordinator Brian Flores asked of him. Or, at least, that’s one way of interpreting the drama that’s unfolding on Twitter.
Known as Gravedigger — unreal nickname — Hargrave is going to be released after his debut season with the Vikings resulted in just 3.5 sacks. Note that he retweeted a comment that lays part of the production shortage at the feet of Coach Flores. A person said, “If you’re DL and wanna get to the QB, Brian Flores’ system is not for you.” Hargrave shared the idea, possibly confirming the words contained therein.
Brian Flores, Javon Hargrave, & The Vikings’ D-Line
Begin with the context of the back-and-forth playing out online. It’s a decent bit.
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert shared the news of Jonathan Allen being cut soon. Consider what the Vikings writer said: “Add Jonathan Allen to the list of veteran players who will be departing the Vikings, including Aaron Jones and Javon Hargrave. His departure saves $6.5 million in cap space. Vikings are also open to trading Jonathan Greenard. Ryan Kelly’s status is in question as well.”
In response, there’s the post about Coach Flores having a scheme that doesn’t prioritize defensive linemen stacking up stats. Hargrave shared the idea, as mentioned up top. One way of interpreting the social media share is that Hargrave is signalling his agreement that defensive tackles don’t shine with huge stats while playing for Minnesota’s DC.
Seifert noticed the hubbub, sending out another thought: “This is not a new critique. In this 2023 story, Harrison Phillips talked about the role of DL in that version of the Flores scheme but essentially said it was hard to argue with the overall results.”
Want more? Probably not, but here goes nothing.
Matthew Coller responded to the exchange with his own thoughts: “Interesting! Talked with Phillips in ’24 as it related to PFF grades. He said DL are asked to move O-linemen or jump gaps to draw the lineman with them to open up for LBs rushing or edge players looping inside. It doesn’t grade well cuz there’s no ‘pass rush win’ but it works.”
Bringing everything together is that Javon Hargrave retweeted the whole thing. There’s Coller quoting Seifert who is quoting someone named Marcello who is quoting Seifert (my head hurts; Twitter’s version of Inception?). Hargrave retweeted the tweet-inside-a-tweet exchange.
There’s a case to be made that the veteran is taking a jab at the DC on his way out the door. Keep in mind that former co-workers of Flores have shared critiques in the past, such as Mike Pettine earlier in this offseason.
An odd detail within the exchange is that Harrison Phillips (nickname: Horrible Harry) was quite productive in purple. In fact, Phillips had beefy stats in 2023 — Coach Flores had just taken over as the DC — piling up 92 tackles and 3 sacks.
Moving forward, the Vikings are going to rally around Jalen Redmond. He’s young, cheap, and very productive. NFL offensive linemen consistently have trouble corralling him, so he’s going to be leaned on as a foundational piece.
Meanwhile, Hargrave — a good player — is going to find work.
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