{"id":9092,"date":"2023-06-29T13:26:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-29T18:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=9092"},"modified":"2023-06-29T13:26:10","modified_gmt":"2023-06-29T18:26:10","slug":"minnesota-vikings-hope-to-have-josh-metellus-on-field-more-often-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/minnesota-vikings-hope-to-have-josh-metellus-on-field-more-often-this-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Vikings hope to have Josh Metellus on field more often this season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Metellus<\/a><\/strong> arrived in Minnesota as a sixth-round safety from Michigan. He made himself indispensable to Vikings coaches by playing special teams.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a story you hear often around the NFL<\/a>. Younger players earn their keep by covering kicks and punts. But now in 2023, is it Josh Mettlus\u2019 turn to do more on the field? <\/p>\n

ESPN, using its NFL insiders<\/a>, picked a surprise player for each team who impressed the most in minicamp and OTAs. Metellus owned that distinction for the Vikings. <\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s Kevin Seifert wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most interesting part of Metellus\u2019 spring was the clear effort the Vikings\u2019 new defensive staff made to find him a place to play. A backup safety and special teams ace in his first three seasons, Metellus worked extensively as the slot cornerback in the Vikings\u2019 nickel set. Harrison Smith<\/a><\/strong> and Cam Bynum<\/a><\/strong> appear set as the starting safeties, but Metellus looked comfortable at nickel, and it\u2019s clear the Vikings hope to see him on the field regularly this fall.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n

Back in February, the Vikings elevated Brian Flores<\/a><\/strong> to defensive coordinator. Usually, new DC = new slate.. Josh Metellus took full advantage. He already was well respected because of his play on special teams. Last season, his teammates voted him as a team captain when Brian O\u2019Neill<\/a><\/strong> was lost to injury.<\/p>\n

Maybe Josh Metellus (No. 44) will have more celebratory moments this fall. (Katelyn Mulcahy\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

With new DC, Josh Metellus expanded his on-field role<\/h2>\n

In the off season, Metellus expanded what he could do as a safety. Observers noted that he lined up at corner, safety and linebacker during minicamp. In fact, he was so good that he\u2019s leaped ahead of Lewis Cline<\/a><\/strong>, the team\u2019s first round pick from 2022, on the safety depth chart. So he\u2019s the third safety behind Smith and Bynum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the good part about the game, there\u2019s always something to learn,\u201d Metellus said. \u201cEven at safety, I still haven\u2019t figured that out (completely) yet. I\u2019m learning things every day. The more I get to play in different spots, the more I\u2019m just learning defense, how to play defense, and learning different tidbits to help us play faster, help us be more aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Metellus believes his devotion to special teams allowed him this roster break through on defense. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of carryover,\u201d he said. \u201cJust doing things for the team. I\u2019m learning all these positions on defense for the team, not for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to help the team win,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cI want to be able to throw something in Kirk\u2019s (Cousins) head where he\u2019s like, \u2018What is No. 44 doing? Is he at safety? Is he at linebacker? (Or) Is he at nickel?\u2019 I want to be able to make the offense have to think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The transition from corner to safety was pretty seamless. But spinning down to linebacker took some time. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what practice is for,\u201d Metellus said. \u201cThen by the time Sept. 10 rolls around, I\u2019ll be flying.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The post Minnesota Vikings hope to have Josh Metellus on field more often this season<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Josh Metellus arrived in Minnesota as a sixth-round safety from Michigan. He made himself indispensable…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9092\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}