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“I was like, ‘Whoa, he looks a lot quicker, he looks faster, he looks more sure of himself,’” said Frazier, the Vikings’ defensive coordinator.
Frazier’s eyes were not deceiving him.
Greenway, entering his second season as a starting linebacker, has continued to show significant improvement since training camp opened. He had a team-high six tackles, five solo, in the Vikings’ 12-10 loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday.
“As we’ve gone through this preseason all those things I saw (in the spring) I’m seeing now,” Frazier said. “He’s just more certain about what his role is and what he should be doing and getting to that spot as quickly as possible.”
This is not to say Greenway had a disappointing 2007. But after missing his first season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered in the 2006 exhibition opener, last year was essentially his rookie year.
Greenway started all 16 games, finishing second on the team with 130 tackles and leading the team with six takeaways and four forced fumbles.
“I think my conditioning is much better and my legs are obviously another year removed from surgery, which helps,” said Greenway, whom the Vikings took with their first-round pick (17th overall) in 2006. “I’m so much more comfortable in the system. Just a lot of things factor into that. I think I’m playing at a level where I haven’t been before.”
Greenway has been rewarded for his improved play with an increased workload.
For the first five games last year, he played all the snaps in the base and nickel (passing) defenses. But the Vikings began to rotate Greenway and Ben Leber on a series-by-series basis in the sixth game in part because Leber wasn’t getting enough snaps. Greenway also was showing signs of fatigue.
In the first three preseason games, however, that rotation has been eschewed. Greenway and E.J. Henderson have remained on the field in the nickel and Leber has come out. Cornerback Charles Gordon has been the extra defensive back with the No. 1 defense.
Frazier said he plans to begin rotating Greenway and Leber again.
“We want to get Ben on the field,” Frazier said. “Sometimes Ben will be in some of our other packages where he’ll be a rusher. We’re going to try to work both of them in the nickel like we did a year ago.”
While Greenway and Leber might eventually rotate, one thing that has changed is the identification of their positions.
Last season, Greenway was listed as the weak-side linebacker and Leber was considered to be on the strong. That has been switched on the depth chart, with Greenway now listed on the strong side and Leber on the weak side.
Greenway said it’s a matter of football semantics and that he and Leber have not changed spots. Greenway lined up on the same side as the tight end last year and will continue to do so this season.
One thing that has changed should be the impact Greenway and his fellow linebackers have playing behind a defensive line that now includes standout right end Jared Allen. Greenway already benefits from having Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kevin Williams in front of him.
With three Pro Bowl players now on the line (nose tackle Pat Williams is the other), Greenway could be set up to have a big statistical season.
“To see the way he’s progressed from his first year to now, he’s come light years,” Frazier said. “As the year goes on he’s just going to get better and better. The biggest difference is his see-to-do: Being able to see things and then react to them. It’s a lot cleaner than it was as a rookie. Probably he would say, the game has slowed down a little bit for him. He can kind of anticipate things. We’re excited about the type of year we anticipate from him.”
