Oh mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the greatest of them all?
Apparently it’s Luke Kuechly – though Anthony Barr isn’t far behind.
Vikings fans have been hearing about how great the defense will be for weeks now, and Pro Football Focus gave that more credence when it ranked Barr as the No. 2 highest-grading linebacker in the NFL.
Highest-graded NFL LBs last season
1. Luke Kuechly, @Panthers
2. Anthony Barr, @Vikings
3. Sean Lee, @dallascowboys pic.twitter.com/kKQWvtAJap— PFF (@PFF) August 17, 2016
Barr battled a couple of injuries last season and still was a major contributor to the Vikings’ defense. He finished the season with 68 tackles – fourth on the team. He also had 3.5 sacks and an interception.
Injuries have been the one thing that have slowed him down.
He played just 12 games as a rookie in 2014 and missed two more last year. However, he said last month he’s been paying extra attention to his health in order to avoid injuries in 2016.
Mike Zimmer has often heralded Barr’s athleticism and how important that is to their defense. If the Vikings want the defense to make the jump toward becoming elite, Barr will have to be a big part of it
