Vikings: Breeland’s struggles, and why there’s optimism
The Minnesota Vikings attempted to improve their secondary by signing Bashaud Breeland and Patrick Peterson. However, Breeland hasn’t looked good through two weeks of action, but is there a reason for optimism moving forward?
Minnesota began its season 0-2, and while the disappointing start hasn’t been on one specific player, there are a few reasons for this. Breeland hasn’t helped much through two weeks, but there’s hope he can improve.
The former Clemson Tiger signed a one-year deal worth a little over a million. The Vikings addressed the secondary this offseason because Mike Hughes, Jeff Gladney and Cameron Dantzler didn’t play well – plus, two of the three players weren’t returning.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Vikings ranked 18th in coverage last season with a team grade of 61.0. This season Minnesota is still sitting at 18, but they’ve regressed to a 59.0 rating.
Currently, Breeland has a coverage rating of 29.0, and that’s not something you want to see out of your No. 2 corner. He’s also allowing a passer rating of 156.3 – two points off of a perfect score (158.3).
This play exhibits a lack of awareness, which should be an easy fix.
Then there are plays like this where he gets beat at the line.
The good news is that the Vikings were playing some good wideouts through the first two weeks. Defending Ja’Marr Chase, DeAndre Hopkins and A.J. Green is not an easy task for anyone.
The Arizona Cardinals are more of a threat offensively, and Breeland improved his coverage rating from 25.3 in Week 1 to 65.0 in Week 2.
The Vikings play the Seattle Seahawks this week, and that’ll make things more difficult. Trying to stop Russell Wilson and his elite targets of D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Locket will not be easy. This is a major week for Breeland to prove some people wrong.
Minnesota then faces the Cleveland Browns, who are banged up at wide receiver. Breeland has the perfect opportunity to capitalize over the coming weeks against the Browns, Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers.
He’s been fairly inconsistent throughout his career, grading as low as 43.9 in 2019 to a career-high of 72.9 in 2020.
He’s an average tackler and run defender.
Despite not making the tackle on this play, Breeland was able to slow the runner down for an eventual loss of yardage.
You’d like to see improvement in the passing game, but Breeland is still relatively new to the system. It’s only been two weeks, and while he didn’t have a great Week 2, there was an improvement. The ultimate test is awaiting him in Weeks 3 and 4, but until then, the immediate result has been rather disappointing.
