EAGAN, Minn. — NFL fans know pass rushers such as Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons and T.J. Watt. They haunt quarterbacks. They look like cartoon characters. They decide games. They get paid the big bucks. Their sack celebrations make highlight reels. You buy their jerseys, play with them in “Madden” and salivate when your team drafts the next one.
The sheer importance of this position creates almost automatic acclaim. It helps to do commercials (Garrett), play in a major market (Parsons) or share a last name with one of the best to ever do it (Watt). Nick Bosa also rises to this level. Mention Maxx Crosby or Khalil Mack to a casual fan and they’ll likely nod approvingly.
But how about Jonathan Greenard?
Be honest: Had you heard of him before the Minnesota Vikings signed him last March? Or, if you are reading this from outside Minnesota, would you be surprised to know he has more pressures this season than all of the previously mentioned players (60, the most in the NFL)?
“He’s playing lights out,” defensive coordinator Brian Flores said Tuesday. “I don’t know where we’re at with postseason accolades, but he should be in the conversation.”
Greenard is, to use one word, fascinating. The 27-year-old is listed at 6 feet 3 and 259 pounds, but whatever picture that conjures does not do his silhouette justice. He is kind of like “Gumby” in that his arms seem stretchy and limitless. On the field, his body type seems eerily similar to that of Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels, who stands 6-9. The difference with Greenard is his strength. He crashes into shifting tight ends and uproots them. He spears pass-protecting running backs and lunges for quarterbacks.
There is a distinctive blend with which he plays: violent but graceful, frenzied but focused. He is talked about this season like an elite tackle in that he does his job so consistently and often without hubbub that you almost forget how great he is. In fact, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said this week he got sidetracked during his postgame speech. He handed a game ball to deserving defensive tackle Jalen Redmond, then realized he hadn’t given one to Greenard, who, despite playing with inflamed sinuses that had bothered him throughout the week, iced Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.
.@Vikings @jongreenard7 finished this game out when the #Skol needed it most and picked up his 10th sack of the seasson. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/Ha6unXzECs
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 3, 2024
Would the Vikings have the third-highest pressure rate in the NFL when rushing four men if it weren’t for Greenard? No. Would the Vikings have the best success rate in the NFL against the run if it weren’t for Greenard? No.
The numbers are one thing. His 10 sacks rank fifth best in the league. His three forced fumbles rank seventh. His 14 tackles for loss are sixth. The production he creates for others — exotic coverage capability in the back end, Andrew Van Ginkel’s ability to drop from the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen being able to fixate on run stopping — is an altogether different asset.
“I feel like I say this every week,” Flores said, “but we’re lucky to have him.”
Flores has used the term “two-way player” to describe Greenard’s willingness to play the run, but it’s more than that. Greenard can line up with his hand in the dirt, and he can play standing up. He can rush the passer from the right side of the line of scrimmage or the left. None of the other edge rushers who have generated 50 pressures this season have dropped into coverage more than 28 times. Greenard has done it 50 times.
Some elite pass rushers would flat-out refuse. But Greenard embraces the team mentality. For the Vikings defense to be as good as it has been — and as good as they want it to be — he must play the roles asked of him. And he would not be asked to play those roles if he did not have the athleticism and awareness to do so. Being given a responsibility is different from accepting it and running with it. That takes selflessness and durability. Greenard displayed both qualities enough with the Houston Texans for the Vikings to covet him in free agency, and not just the Vikings have noticed.
A few weeks ago, before his team’s matchup with the Vikings, Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan declared, “I think Jonathan Greenard is maybe the most underrated edge player in football right now.”
Jonathan Greenard gets a sack against his former team 😤
📺: #HOUvsMIN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/xx4h2iNMyB— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024
Among Greenard’s impressive feats, the wildest might be that his play has suppressed any sentimental thoughts of the elite pass rusher the Vikings moved on from this offseason: Danielle Hunter. Allow a player to leave the franchise, then watch him put up 10 1/2 sacks from afar and most would become aggravated. But not when his replacement costs less, produces comparably (if not more), fits the system better and is almost three years younger.
Vikings coaches say Greenard is different from Hunter in that he’s more vocal and more of a jokester. That’s not a slight on Hunter so much as it is an observation of Greenard’s role in the locker room. Several defensive leaders have exited the building in the past few years: Eric Kendricks, Jordan Hicks, Dalvin Tomlinson and others. Greenard’s presence has filled the void. He blasts country music from a massive boombox on Fridays. He giggles next to Jihad Ward in meeting rooms. Then the games begin.
Greenard has played more total snaps than all but four NFL edge rushers. Availability. He has at least five pressures in nine of the Vikings’ 12 games. Consistency. It’s everything everywhere all at once, and Flores knows how important that is. So much so that during Sunday’s final Cardinals drive, Flores coerced O’Connell into calling a timeout to make sure Greenard was on the field.
Two plays before Shaquill Griffin’s game-sealing interception, Greenard had swooped around tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and swiped the ball out of quarterback Kyler Murray’s hands. The play before, Greenard nearly tracked down Murray, who was scrambling out of the pocket.
“He was gassed,” Flores said, “to the point where … we’ve got to have our best player out there. So the conversation was, ‘Let’s try to call a timeout and get him back in there.’”
Flores wondered whether the breather would be long enough, but he shouldn’t have. He knows what Greenard is capable of as well as anyone. The question is how much longer it’ll take for NFL fans to know, too.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
(Photo: Jeffrey Becker / Imagn Images)