Getty Former Vanderbilt linebacker Andre Mintze (left) signed with the Vikings on June 13, 2022.
The Minnesota Vikings‘ transition to a 3-4 hybrid defense will require more standup outside linebackers who can both rush the passer and drop back into coverage.
While many of the team’s defensive ends will try to make the transition, some may be relegated to defensive tackle.
In an effort to add depth at outside linebacker, the Vikings signed an outside linebacker who exceeded expectations his rookie year in 2021 and is also familiar with new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell’s scheme.
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Vikings Sign Ex-Broncos OLB Andre Mintze
On Monday, June 13, the Vikings announced the signing of former Denver Broncos outside linebacker Andre Mintze.
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The #Vikings have signed OLB Andre Mintze.
Undrafted out of Vanderbilt last year, Mintze turned heads as a walk-on at Broncos training camp. He was the only undrafted rookie to make the 53-man roster and was a contributor. He played in six games, logging four combined tackles across 64 defensive snaps and 69 special-teams reps, before landing on injured reserve with a hamstring injury on October 18. He was designated to return on December 22, but landed on the COVID-19 reserve list soon after returning to practice.
Mintze was cut in May amid the coaching changes in Denver and was mainly a casualty of a crowded outside linebacker room in Bradley Chubb, Randy Gregory, Malik Reed, Jonathon Cooper, and second-round rookie Nik Bonitto. Now, he’ll reconnect with Donatell, who was a defensive assistant with the Broncos last season.
Fox Sports’ Simon Gibbs said Mintze had to have “really impressed” the Broncos coaching staff to make the 53-man roster after not being drafted by the team and missing preseason action with a concussion.
UDFA outside linebacker Andre Mintze from Vanderbilt. Vic Fangio said the #Broncos were impressed by him and were lucky to get him outside of the draft.
Mintz, 23, tested into an elite tier of outside linebackers with a relative athletic score of 9.62 out of 10. He possesses great since at 6-foot-2, 253 pounds, and explosive speed, posting a 4.59 40-yard dash.
His 10-yard split, a metric that Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has prioritized in his roster revamp this offseason, tested at 1.52 seconds, tied for the fifth-fastest 10-yard split by any outside linebacker since 1999, per the Mockdraftables database.
The #Vikings announced they’ve signed OLB Andre Mintze, a 2021 UDFA out of Vanderbilt who spent last year with the Broncos.
And if you were wondering, yes, he has an elite 10-yard split.
KAM’s Moneyball Metric
When Adofo-Mensah was hired, he was immediately pegged as a “Moneyball” general manager, a reference to the 2011 film with Brad Pitt.
Pitt, playing Oakland A’s general manager Billie Beane, is tasked with rehauling the A’s roster with a shoestring budget. Embracing analytics in a then-antiquated era of baseball, Beane signed questionable prospects solely for their on-base percentage, which resulted in a historic 20-game winning streak and a playoff appearance on a $41 million payroll that went the same distance as the New York Yankees’ $125 million payroll back in 2002.
The Moneyball approach was adopted across the MLB, and slowly, the NFL is beginning to bring analytics into the equation.
Adofo-Mensah, a former day trader who got his start in the NFL working as head of research and analytics for the San Francisco 49ers, has shown his Moneyball metric through this offseason.
The 10-yard split of the 40-yard dash shows a player’s potential for instincts and explosiveness on the field. Out of nine drafted players with tested 10-yard split times available, three tested in the 99th percentile, three in the 90th percentile and two above 80% at their respective positions.
Here’s a list provided by Inside the Vikings’ Will Ragatz.
- Lewis Cine, S: 1.45 seconds (9.98 grade, fastest among safeties in 2022 class)
- Andrew Booth Jr., CB: N/A (but likely would’ve tested well)
- Ed Ingram, G: 1.68s (9.89 grade)
- Brian Asamoah II, ILB: 1.55s (9.72 grade)
- Akayleb Evans, CB: 1.54s (8.35 grade)
- Esezi Otomewo, OLB: 1.71s (4.46 grade)
- Ty Chandler, RB: 1.46s (9.93 grade, fastest among running backs in 2022 class)
- Vederian Lowe, T: 1.75s (9.03 grade)
- Jalen Nailor, WR: 1.52s (9.44 grade)
- Nick Muse, TE: 1.63s (8.16 grade)
Since then, the Vikings have made a pair of signings at linebacker in Mintze and Temple prospect William Kwenkeu. Kwenkeu posted a 1.49 second 10-yard split, which is the second-fastest time on record, per Mockdraftable.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke on why they’ve prioritized this metric in their first year and what it may mean on the field.
“No matter what position you’re really at, I think that first step, those initial bursts of being able to go do your job just a little quicker in those first couple of steps, might be the difference between getting a hand on the ball or springing a big run because you get a great fit on a block,” he said, per Ragatz. “Receivers, that initial burst, we’re always coaching our guys to run off the football and really that’s every position because when you can play fast in those first 10 yards, a lot of times, really good things will happen.
“And then ultimately, when you’re talking about the awareness and the instincts that you kind of try to track and evaluate, it’s great to have awareness and instincts. But even like what we talked about with Lewis Cine, he can see it, but then when it’s time to go, he can go and in those first 10 yards, I think you can really determine what is in a guy’s body to be able to explosively go move to do whatever job they need to do within playing this game. Because as much as we play on a big field, you try to stretch, spread them out on offense, try to attack defenses, try to attack defensively against offenses in space. Ultimately, the make or break type of plays in this league happen in that 10-yard, 5-to-10-yard confined area where guys can really separate themselves.”