Pacifist Viking - Why Vikings Fans Are So Ecstatic About Jared Allen

Joe Fischer is a split personality: a mild-mannered English teacher that turns into a raving, obsessive lunatic when the subject turns to the Minnesota Vikings. He blogs at Pacifist Viking, and will share his thoughts on the Beloved Purple here at 10,000 Takes.

Viking Offseason: Why Viking fans are so ecstatic about Jared Allen

Viking fans have arisen en masse to celebrate the trade for Defensive End Jared Allen. What is it that has folks so enthused about a single defensive player? Part of it is excitement for Allen himself, who did lead the league in sacks last year. But part of it is for a different sort of sack: the sorry sack pass defense the Vikings have had for years.

Since John Randle left the team, the Vikings have struggled to find a dominant pass rusher. Lance Johnstone had 10+ sacks in 2003 and 2004, but he was a situational player. In Kevin Williams' first two seasons, he had 10+ sacks, but since then he's developed into a more dominant run stopping defensive tackle (he's joined with Pat Williams to give the Vikes dominant run defense the past two seasons).

And lack of a pass rush has been a big reason the Viking pass defense in general has fluctuated between "inconsistent" and "awful." The last time the Vikings were in the top HALF of the league in net yards per pass attempt was 1996. To make this clear, the Vikings have had a below average pass defense for ELEVEN CONSECUTIVE YEARS.

So it's not just that Allen is good; it's that the Vikings have a desperate need for a dominant pass rusher, and they've struggled to fill that need for a long, long time.

I don't know whether or not Jared Allen will have 10+ sacks next season--I sort of doubt it. But his impact will absolutely be felt on the team. He will get a lot of quarterback hurries. He will hit quarterbacks while they are throwing. He will draw double-team blocks. He will force offenses to adjust their game plan and play calling to his presence. His pressure on the quarterback will make things easier on the team's young defensive backs (they're not going to have to maintain their coverage so long).

The Vikings gave up a lot of draft picks to get Jared Allen, but his impact should be much greater than any player they could have possibly drafted. The Vikes haven't drafted a dominant pass rushing defensive end since Chris Doleman in 1985. Chris Doleman! 1985! Some of you readers might be too young to have ever even seen Doleman play.

So Viking fans are stoked. We may not know whether we even have a competent (read: mediocre) quarterback on the roster, but we’ll take wins by scores like 13-10 if we can.

(all statistical data gathered from http://www.pro-football-reference.com)