After a trying start to the season in which the Minnesota Vikings secondary was the biggest liability on defense, things have taken a positive turn, and the Vikings have their rookies to thank.
With Mike Hughes injured, Holton Hill released under somewhat mysterious pretenses and depth pieces Kris Boyd and Mark Fields dealing with periodic injuries of their own, circumstance has required third-round pick Cameron Dantzler and first-round pick Jeff Gladney to play a lot. The fact that they’ve given the Vikings a fighting chance most weeks — and occasionally bordered on excellent — is a huge feather in their cap. It makes the lost season for Hughes and Hill more palatable and sets the table for an even better 2021.
Using four categories — durability, coverage, tackling and play-making — we’ll break down which of the two rookies has had the better season for the Vikings.
DURABILITY
The nod here goes to Gladney, who has played in each game and started the last 12. He had a history of playing well through injury at TCU, and that toughness has showcased itself with the Vikings. There was concern about a knee flare-up in August following offseason surgery, but Gladney shook that off and appeared in Week 1. He also suffered a calf injury in Week 13 that caused him to miss the end of the Jacksonville Jaguars game, but he was back in immediately the next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While Dantzler has only played in the nine of the 13 games, he deserves credit for battling back from what seemed to be a serious head/neck injury at Green Bay in Week 8, returning after just two games missed. He also missed Weeks 2-3 with a rib injury. Dantzler also played through a minor hand/arm injury toward the end of the Bucs game.
The rookie says he’s gotten some tough love from veteran Harrison Smith. “One time, I got hit — probably not in practice, but the game — and he was like, ‘Get up, toughen it up,'” Dantzler said. “I got up, toughened it up and finished the game.”
Gladney still takes it because of his participation in 100% of the games.
Advantage: Gladney
COVERAGE
This is a little tougher one for a couple reason that go beyond stats.
Dantzler has certainly earned the better grades. He is the highest-graded corner on the team, per Pro Football Focus, while Gladney is second-last. He is also the second-highest-graded rookie corner in the league; Gladney is 11th of 19. Since returning from injury in Week 11, Dantzler has the sixth-highest coverage grade in the league. He has one interception to Gladney’s zero.
The body of work favors Dantzler, but he’s found himself on the wrong end of too many breakdowns at the end of the games. He lost D.K. Metcalf twice at the end of the Seattle Seahawks game and appeared responsible for the two-point conversion that allowed Jacksonville to tie the game in Week 13. Gladney and Dantzler were also culpable for a pair of key miscommunications, including the game-winning touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys and a key 3rd and goal against the Carolina Panthers where D.J. Moore was left wide open but dropped the ball.
Gladney has another edge in his versatility. As the Vikings’ primary slot corner he’s traveled inside from Day 1, which Zimmer has complimented as one of the most impressive parts of his game. Gladney’s slot coverage ranks tied for 22nd out of 46 in yards per cover snap, better than his work outside.
Both rookies have a lot of work to do on their situational awareness, but the handful of high-leverage whiffs by Dantzler shouldn’t overshadow his overall season, especially since Gladney has been involved in some of those plays, too. Dantzler says preparation has been his greatest area of improvement, which could help him in future end-of-game situations. “Learning the difference between the hashes and the numbers from college to the NFL,” he listed off. “Knowing where the receivers line up, knowing the routes they like to run, how fast they like to run them and all that type of stuff. I just had to adjust to that.”
Advantage: Dantzler
TACKLING
Simply in raw numbers, Gladney is doing as well as any rookie in the league thanks to his extensive playing time. His 64 tackles and 22 run stops lead all rookie corners and both rank top 10 overall, though his 11 missed tackles tie for 11th most in the league. Despite passing the eye test on many occasions, Dantzler doesn’t stack up statistically because of his four missed games.
In tackling efficiency, which isn’t dependent on volume, Gladney is a bit less impressive, ranking 12th out of 19 qualified rookie corners, one slot ahead of Dantzler. Out of all corners, Gladney ranks 74th and Dantzler 97th. Those rankings would seem to betray, however, the physicality with which Gladney and Dantzler have played. Dantzler’s efforts, especially, have been encouraging since he struggled as a tackler in college where his wiry frame seemed less equipped to handle strong running backs. Gladney loves to hit, and that shows, especially in the passing game, where he’s gotten good at sniffing out wide receiver screens.
Dantzler has probably exceeded expectations more in this area, but Gladney is the overall better tackler.
Advantage: Gladney
PLAY-MAKING
There’s still a lot of meat on the bone in this category, but that shouldn’t be a huge indictment since the Vikings don’t like young defensive backs gambling much in the secondary. Until Dantzler’s interception against Jacksonville, the Vikings had no cornerback interceptions on the season. Gladney thought he had a spectacular pick near the goal line at Tampa Bay, but it was called back because of a pass interference.
“I saw a clean play, pick, going to the house with it,” Gladney said after the game. “My first one. Was ready for it. Needed it.”
It wasn’t meant to be, though. Gladney does have one forced fumble on the year. Same with Dantzler. Neither have a sack.
Dantzler has been exposed several times when he tracked the ball poorly in the air, but not enough to think it will be a chronic problem. Both he and Gladney had five college interceptions, so there should be some ball-hawking ability there. Nonetheless, neither have done enough to separate in this regard.
Advantage: Neither
BOTTOM LINE
This is a hard call!
It’s a draw or advantage to Gladney in durability, versatility and play-making ability. But Dantzler has an edge in the most important category: Coverage. Is the advantage large enough to give him the overall edge? It’s an awfully important trait. Imagine a running back that was limited as a runner and could only block and catch or a receiver that could run routes and get YAC but couldn’t catch well. They’d be flawed players. The essence of corner is coverage, so it carries the most weight.
Dantzler is on a recent tear the last four games, but he did his best work against some pretty poor offenses, namely Jacksonville. Since Gladney has edges in virtually every other category, it’s tempting to give him the overall advantage. But if Dantzler surges to the finish line in Weeks 15-17, he may go into 2021 as the team’s most important asset at the position.
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Who's Had the Better Season: Gladney or Dantzler? - Zone Coverage
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