Inside The Vikings

After All-Pro season, Vikings' Andrew Van Ginkel makes NFL Top 100

AVG had a huge first season in Minnesota and is one of the most important players in Brian Flores' defense.
Will Ragatz|
Nov 17, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (43) sneaks a peak into the backfield against the Tennessee Titans during the second half at Nissan Stadium.
Nov 17, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Vikings linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (43) sneaks a peak into the backfield against the Tennessee Titans during the second half at Nissan Stadium. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

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Minnesota Vikings

Andrew Van Ginkel's first season with the Minnesota Vikings couldn't have gone much better. He was exactly what Brian Flores' defense needed, and he stuffed the stat sheet all season en route to earning a Pro Bowl berth, second-team All-Pro nod, and some DPOY votes.

Now, one more honor has come in for AVG: the NFL Top 100. Announced on Tuesday morning was that Van Ginkel checks in at No. 88 on the annual player-voted list for 2025. It's the first time in his career he's made it.

"He's like one of the most versatile players that we have in this league," former Dolphins teammate Terron Armstead said. "You don't understand how fast he is. He might be a 4.4, 4.5 guy. He's another relentless player. He plays with his hair on fire, and he has a lot of it."

After spending five seasons with Miami and putting together an outstanding 2023 campaign, Van Ginkel signed a two-year deal with the Vikings. That proved to be an incredible decision from Minnesota, as the former fifth-round pick out of Wisconsin had a career year in 2024. Playing nearly 1,000 snaps, he racked up 79 tackles (18 of them for losses), 11.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and a pair of highly-impressive pick-sixes against New York teams.

Van Ginkel has three pick-sixes on short passes over the last two seasons. He nearly had another late last season against the Lions, but he couldn't quite hold onto the ball.

"Gink is a special, special player," Armstead said. "His football IQ is really what separates him. His ability to read plays before the snap. He looks at formations. That's why he's able to jump screen passes, because he know's it coming."

"When we were thinking about doing little RPO schemes of either run the ball or throw the bubble, we had to be aware of him," Rams running back Kyren Williams said.

Van Ginkel played so well that the Vikings made sure to give him a raise on a one-year contract extension that keeps him in Minnesota through the 2026 season. You can watch his NFL Top 100 video segment here:

Two Vikings players have slid into the back end of this year's Top 100, with Aaron Jones previously coming in at No. 97.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI, who also covers the Twins, Timberwolves, Gophers, and other Minnesota teams. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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