When the Minnesota Vikings signed edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel to a two-year, $20 million deal, some raised eyebrows. A fifth-round pick from Miami? A $10 million-per-year bet on a relatively unproven talent? But in his debut season with the Vikings, Van Ginkel didn’t just silence the skeptics—he made quarterbacks across the NFL look foolish with a career-defining performance that cemented his status as one of the league’s most electrifying defenders.
Van Ginkel didn’t wait long to show Minnesota what they’d invested in. In the Vikings’ Week 1 showdown against the New York Giants, he read quarterback Daniel Jones like an open book. Sniffing out a screen pass with uncanny instincts, Van Ginkel exploded into the backfield, plucked the ball out of the air, and sprinted to the end zone for a pick-six. It was a tone-setting moment that screamed: This guy’s different.
That play was just the beginning. Over the course of the 2025 season, Van Ginkel unleashed a stat line that left jaws on the floor: 79 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, and not one, but two pick-sixes—all career highs. His relentless motor and jaw-dropping football IQ earned him his first Pro Bowl nod and All-Pro honors, proving the Vikings’ gamble was no fluke.
The NFL couldn’t ignore him either, slotting Van Ginkel at No. 88 on their prestigious Top 100 Players of 2025 list. While some fans grumbled that the ranking was too low for a player of his caliber, the praise from peers told a different story. Five-time Pro Bowler Terron Armstead didn’t hold back in the NFL’s announcement video, calling Van Ginkel “one of the most versatile players in this league.”
“You don’t understand how fast he is,” Armstead said. “He might be a 4.4, 4.5 guy. He’s relentless, plays with his hair on fire—and he has a lot of it. His football IQ is what separates him. He reads formations, jumps screen passes because he knows they’re coming before the snap.”
Van Ginkel’s ability to anticipate plays is the stuff of nightmares for opposing offenses. Colts safety Camryn Bynum broke down Van Ginkel’s Week 1 pick-six with awe: “That shows he’s a smart player. To see it’s probably a screen, not just rush the passer, but get upfield and catch the ball from yards away? That’s tough. It shows his ball skills.”
NFL Top 100 Players of 2025:@Vikings LB Andrew Van Ginkel earns the No. 88 spot! @NFLFilms pic.twitter.com/K24EblLTAO
— NFL (@NFL) July 8, 2025
Bynum didn’t stop there, emphasizing Van Ginkel’s game-changing presence. “He can impact every phase of the game. The way he finds the ball is unreal.”
Even the Los Angeles Rams had to rewrite their playbook to account for the Vikings’ defensive dynamo. Running back Kyren Williams admitted, “When we were planning RPO schemes—run the ball or throw the bubble—we had to be aware of him. He’s that dangerous.”
The Vikings knew they had a star on their hands, rewarding Van Ginkel with a one-year, $23 million extension—a testament to his value on and off the field. At 30 years old, he’s not slowing down; he’s just hitting his stride. Fans may scoff at his No. 88 ranking, but if his 2025 season is any indication, Van Ginkel is poised to climb higher, leaving a trail of rattled quarterbacks in his wake.
With his elite football IQ, blazing speed, and relentless drive, Andrew Van Ginkel isn’t just a gamble that paid off—he’s a game-wrecker who’s rewriting the NFL’s defensive script, one pick-six at a time.