The 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars defense was a fun group to watch. There were so many All-Pro players from Calais Campbell to Marcell Dareus. The Jaguars also were big winners in the NFL draft for a few years with the selections of Jalen Ramsey and Dante Fowler. With much firepower, there’s always that one guy that flies under the radar. That guy was Yannick Ngakoue. A defensive end drafted by the Jaguars in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Maryland. He’s been wanting to get out of Jacksonville this off-season. He’s been traded to the Minnesota Vikings for draft picks.
When watching the film on him, you see how relentless and hungry he is on the field. Yannick has established himself as one of the best young pass-rushers in the game today. His engine is always running. As a former defensive end myself, one thing he can do to give himself the advantage over who’s blocking him is line up in the wide-nine technique and he will run straight at you. When the offensive linemen attempts to block him, Yannick uses his hands to chop away at the block then gets into your backfield. Those choppy hands are a defensive linemen’s best friend. Another thing he’s been consistent with is knocking the ball out the quarterback’s hands. He never stops moving. Even when he’s blocked, he can still affect the quarterback and push his pocket. That’s what the great pass rushers do. They adjust.
I’m excited to see what Yannick can do in Minnesota. Since Mike Zimmer became the Vikings head coach in 2014, they have one of the best defenses in the NFL. Now, they have two solid pass rushers that can create a lot of havoc for all their opponents. Danielle Hunter on one end and Yannick Ngakoue on the other. Many of the linebackers and other defenders will be able to roam around freely because of the attention Danielle and Yannick will command. This makes the NFC North more of an interesting division now with this acquisition.
