The Minnesota Vikings have had one of the most talented defenses in the NFL. With talents such as Harrison Smith, Anthony Barr, and Danielle Hunter, it is no surprise that the Vikings hover near the top of the league. They have also done a great job of stockpiling talent around the field. The depth is impressive as well with guys like Holton Hill at cornerback, waiting in the wings to get his opportunity.

The Vikings defense was still one of the top units in the NFL last year, as they registered 4th in DVOA according to Football Outsiders. They were also fifth in pass defense overall, finishing 11th when it came to the numbers top receivers were putting up against them. That is a direct indictment of one player, Xavier Rhodes. Rhodes, once thought of as perhaps the best cornerback in the NFL, had an incredibly down season in 2018 by every metric. And, if the Vikings want to return to one of the top spots in the league defensively, Rhodes has to return to form and prove he is worth his monster five year, $70 million deal.

The stats don’t paint a pretty picture

Rhodes, at his salary, has to be putting up great numbers as a true shut down cornerback. That includes ball production and essentially closing off one side of the field wherever he is at. Otherwise, why pay the guy $14 million a year? That money can be better invested elsewhere if Rhodes is not cutting it, and right now, he certainly is not.

Against top receivers, Rhodes was targeted a massive 47 times and gave up 29 receptions for 310 receiving yards, and two touchdowns.

That means that 62% of the passes targeted his way versus those same guys were caught. For a top cornerback, that is never something you want to see, and it is indicative of a definite drop off. Not only that, but quarterbacks were anything but shying away from Rhodes. In fact, that went right at him.

For comparison’s sake, William Jackson III was only targeted 18 times against top receivers. Rhodes, out of all top cornerbacks, was targeted the 3rd most. The league was noticing a drop off in his play, and with an ascending Mackensie Alexander on the other side, went after and attacked Rhodes successfully instead.

All in all, he produced the highest catch rate of his career at 65%. He also saw his ball production dip from nine pass breakups to five, and all while still having the same amount of penalties. That is not a great look for a guy who is supposed to be an elite corner. His play should ascend, not descend and regress like it did in 2018.

2017 Rhodes changed the Vikings defense

Rhodes’ drop off affected the Minnesota defense in more ways than one. They dropped in DVOA from 2nd in 2017 to 4th in 2018. That means Rhodes’ inefficiency dropped the Vikings from the best to just one of the best. In 2019, where the defenses are driven by everyone doing things at an extremely high level with more complex schemes, that matters.

In 2017, the top receivers who played against Minnesota had the lowest catch rate, passer rating, and touchdowns in the NFL. Largely, much of that was due to Rhodes’ lockdown skills, as he only surrendered a 45% catch rate and 77.4 passer rating when targeted.

It is not a secret that the Vikings have a great secondary headed by Harrison Smith and a prolific pass rush group led by a rising star in Hunter. They also had a third element in the mix, and that was Rhodes in 2017. He compressed the field for opponents and allowed the Vikings to scheme in an exotic manner that could fully take advantage of great talents like Smith.

Even more of a testament was that Minnesota only had 37 sacks in 2017. They had 30 fewer pressures as a team in 2017 than they did in 2018. The pass rush picked up the slack, but if you put the 2017 secondary and the 2018 pass rush together, there is no doubt this is perhaps the best defense in the NFL.

Good news: It should only be a blip on the radar

Rhodes had an unusually bad season last year. It made no true sense as to why he suddenly fell off a cliff after such a great season. It is not out of the realm of possibility that the hamstring injury Rhodes suffered hampered his ability later in the season. He was also dealing with an ankle injury all year long. Those two injuries alone will affect the long speed and quickness that it takes to mirror. It would not be shocking if that were part of the formula.

Rhodes is still only 29, and while he is getting up there in age, he’s simply on the back end of his prime but should be able to jump back considering he is healthy. Mike Zimmer called him out, and Rhodes was not only appreciative of the criticism from Zimmer, but he is vowing to come back even stronger.

Rhodes has detailed a simpler way of going about the offseason with a diet, rigorous drills, and going back to the basics of what made him great before the down year in 2018. By all accounts, Rhodes is looking fantastic, and it should be no shock considering his work ethic.

Rhodes’ downturn was a shocking revelation, and the Vikings will need him to step up in order to get back to true form as a defense.

Minnesota, as a whole, may have struggled, but there is an elephant in the defensive room that has to rebound. That man is Rhodes, and the caliber of the Vikings’ 2019 defense will hinge heavily on him.