The Minnesota Vikings' defense has been one of the NFL's best units for several years. Of course, having Brian Flores scheming helps matters, but they have seen a lot of new players, and younger ones, step up in recent years.
So when we saw PFF ranking the top secondaries ahead of the 2026 season, we wanted to see how the loss of Harrison Smith affected the team. We were surprised to see they fell to the back half of the rankings. They ranked them 22nd and cited questions surrounding the group heading into 2026.
They write, "Minnesota’s secondary broke up just 14 passes in all of last season, the fewest in the league. Signing James Pierre for just over $4 million per year looks like a potential bargain considering he led the entire league with an 88.9 PFF coverage grade last season. On the opposite side from him, Byron Murphy Jr. has the second-most interceptions of any cornerback since joining the Vikings in 2023, but last season’s 59.8 PFF coverage grade was a step in the wrong direction."
James Pierre is going to be an x-factor in 2026, just as the play of the safety group overall is going to be critical to their success. The cornerback play in the end is going to be the end-all, be-all of this defense, and if they play like the 22nd-ranked unit, then they are going to struggle mightily.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: What does PFF think of the Vikings' secondary in 2026?
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