Matthew Coller: Jonathan Greenard is ready to turn up the heat
EAGAN — The Minnesota Vikings signed Jonathan Greenard because he is a sack artist.
Last year he produced a career high 12.5 sacks for the Houston Texans, which led to the Vikings bringing him in during free agency to replace exiting Danielle Hunter.
Greenard understands that the Vikings are not spending $76 million over the next four years for him just to put on a jersey — they want those sacks — but he knows that sacks can be volatile. He would much rather focus on the pressure element with the understanding that sacks will come along if he’s disrupting the quarterback.
“Everything has to go right [to get a sack],” Greenard said on Wednesday following the Vikings’ minicamp practice. “The quarterback has to be in the right spot etc. If you get one [sack] and you look like a hero but you want to get more than that. You have to put it in perspective.”
His perspective is that consistently disrupting the quarterback will impact far more plays than just one sack. If an edge rusher plays for sack statistics, they might not be able to cause quarterbacks as many problems as game planning to create pressure.
“If you are not getting there but you are being disruptive that does a lot to the quarterback,” Greenard said. “Whether he gets his timing messed up or he might sway a little in the pocket and get his feet stepped on — they hate that — getting their hand hit or whatever the case may be. Make it as crowded as possible in that pocket. I’m a firm believer that [pressure] effects anybody, I don’t care who you are. You can be the best quarterback. Even Tom Brady will tell you that if you get him in a tight space like that he doesn’t like it. Just being effective any way.”
He’s right. In 2020 when Tom Brady threw for 4,633 yards and 40 touchdowns, he only averaged 5.2 yards per attempt and had a QB rating of 54.5 when he was under pressure. When kept clean, Brady had a 115.1 rating and 8.2 YPA.
“It’s different for each player, each coach,” Greenard said. “Some guys just say, ‘we want sacks,’ but as we know [we can’t get a sack every play] so I’m a firm believer that if I’m not getting a sack then I’m putting the guy in the quarterback’s lap or being disruptive some type of way.”
Greenard is hardly alone in his sentiment. Former Vikings defensive line coach Andre Patterson preached about a mindset of creating pressures for his players and earlier this week Lions coach Dan Campbell shook up the internet with his statement about caring less about sacks and more about overall impact on the QB.
"Sacks aren't that big of a deal as long as you're getting the pressures," Campbell said. "As long as you're getting pressures and those pressures show up and affect the quarterback negatively, you know. Now would you rather have a sack, absolutely I'd rather have sacks, loss yardage and all those things, but the pressures are more to me. Pressure, that affects the quarterback."
Last year Greenard produced 48 total pressures on 405 pass rushes. By PFF’s “Pass Rush Productivity” metric, which weighs sacks heavier and factors for snap count, he ranked 21st out of 59 full-time rushers. A PFF study in 2020 showed that pressure rate is more consistent than sack rate — something that Greenard knew intuitively.
Here is a graph from the study showing the correlation of sacks, pressures and the weighted rates (the higher number is more correlation):
If his pressure rate and sack rate are the most predictive, the Vikings could be in good shape. While he isn’t in the ballpark of Micah Parsons, Nick Bosa or Aidan Hutchinson, other rushers with similar PRP marks include Danielle Hunter, Maxx Crosby and Montez Sweat. If we increase the sample size to look at Greenard’s last healthy season before 2023, he was 12th in PRP among rushers with at least 200 pass rush snaps.
The Vikings could also be in good shape because of the way Greenard is fitting in already. After practice the defensive line and cornerbacks have started doing core workouts before they walk back inside at TCO Performance Center at the suggestion of Greenard. He brought the practice over from Houston as a way to strengthen core muscles are build camaraderie.
“When we first started doing this ab thing we probably had two people out here now you see all the DBs out here and the D-line,” Greenard said. “I think it’s brought us so much closer after we get through grinding and having these tough days out here and it’s going to continue during camp when it gets those hot temperatures. I think it’s huge to be able to know each other like the back of your hand.”
Greenard appears to quickly be building chemistry with two of the other key members of the Vikings defense as well: Brian Flores and Dallas Turner.
He talked on Wednesday about his appreciation for the lines of communication that Flores has created within the defense.
“It’s pretty cool because we’re just talking ball,” Greenard said. “Everybody is evolving and studying, it’s an innovative league and you have to be able to beat new strategies that offenses are throwing at you. It’s an offensive game so when you have a guy [Flores] that actually listens to the guys that are in the game giving feedback it can benefit both of us. It helps me play faster and more confident. That’s the message he’s putting out to everybody. A lot of our meetings are open dialogue.”
What will be worth watching is whether Flores blitzes less because he has more pass rushers on the team this year or if he continues to send extra players at the QB. That could benefit Greenard if he can get mismatches.
“Having that aggressive style makes other teams play on our terms,” Greenard said.
As for Turner’s progress, Greenard gets another chance to play along with a first-round pick from Alabama. Last year he was alongside instant star rusher Will Anderson. He called Turner’s combination of size and athleticism “factory made” and said that he wanted to help him develop quicker.
“I take that as a responsibility of mine to continue to help him develop and become the best version of himself,” Greenard said. “There’s too much potential not to be. I’ll be spilling all my gems to him. He’s a great kid. Willing to listen, that’s the best thing about it.”
Greenard seemed like he was enjoying the scenery overall in Minnesota— even the weather. It was 90 degrees in Houston but only around 75 and breezy in Eagan. Yes, he’s aware that he won’t always like the temperature here.
“I’m loving the weather, loving the environment, everything has been great so far,” he said.