The Minnesota Vikings are off to one of their worst starts in the Mike Zimmer ear and the hits just keep coming. Zimmer announced in his Monday press conference that Anthony Barr is getting placed on the IR and is out for the season.
After being outscored 71-45 through the first two games of the season the Vikings negativity continues. Barr and Eric Kendricks have been one of the more solid linebacker duos across the NFL, but now the team will have to rely on young talent at yet another positional group.
The defensive line has struggled to get a push throughout the first two games and if that continues the linebackers will continue to be exposed. It’ll be Eric Wilson, Troy Dye or Ryan Connelly seeing more playing time with the absence of Barr.
In a base 4-3 set it’s likely that the Vikings will have Wilson out there with Kendricks. When Barr went down early in the Colts game Wilson filled in with an interception, but other than that his play was sub-par.
The last spot will be between Minnesota native Connelly and the rookie out of Oregon in Dye. There isn’t a lot of experience between these three linebackers, giving the Vikings another position with limitations on the defensive side of the ball.
The Vikings have struggled to get stops on defense and the offense hasn’t been able to keep the defense off the field. The loss of Barr will likely make the defensive struggles continue, meaning the look on the 2020 season looks even more unpleasant than it did after the loss in Indianapolis.