By: Jake Rajala

The Minnesota Vikings defense rightfully resembled The Great Wall from the movie “The Great Wall” in 2021. The Vikings ranked 24th in PPG allowed and the Vikings pass defense sadly ranked 28th in passing YPG allowed a season ago. Nonetheless, I’m going to simply untwine three reasons why the Vikings defense will significantly improve in 2022.

The return of Danielle Hunter

The Vikings pass rush and pass defense will greatly benefit from a healthy Danielle Hunter (10 missed games in 2021). Hunter was from another planet in 2019 (14.5 sacks) and 2020 (14.5 sacks). Most importantly, Hunter was on pace for his best NFL season (six sacks in seven games). I expect the Vikings pass rusher to really feast against the young Bears and mediocre Lions in four games next season.

Lewis Cine

I believe that the Vikings were lucky to obtain Lewis Cine 32nd overall after NBC Sports reported that the Buccaneers had a strong interest in him. The former Georgia Bulldog and second-team All-SEC from Haiti will really help Harrison Smith on the back-end in his rookie season. His range can be a boost that MIN has desperately needed. The other rookie Andrew Booth Jr. could be a sneaky CB3 and have a similar impact as the Saints 2021 third-round pick CB Paulson Adebo, as well.

Jordan Hicks

Jordan Hicks was one of the most underrated FA signings. Outside of Za’Darius Smith’s arrival, the Vikings ILB Hicks will bring a boom to the Vikings defense. It was inspiring that the Vikings transitioned into a 3-4 defense, but it was amazing that the Vikings signed Hicks and created a potent LB duo. Hicks has ousted numerous seasons with 3+ interceptions and a few seasons of 110+ combined tackles. He is a true complete ILB next to the Pro Bowl Eric Kendricks.

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