When the Minnesota Vikings signed linebacker Blake Cashman, it was a great homecoming story, but the Eden Prairie native and former Minnesota Gopher is also a heck of a football player.
Cashman further proved that on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, when he posted a stat line not seen in the NFL in over a decade.
In Minnesota’s 23-17 win, Cashman tallied 13 tackles, one sack and three passes defended, something nobody else has done since 2013. He’s now up to 19 tackles on the season, the fifth-most in the NFL.
“Great athleticism, burst, speed, flies around, instinctive, good cover player, good tackler, and what we’ve really expected from him and what he’s confirmed, good communicator. That is not an easy job,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said of Cashman after the game.
That communicator part is noteworthy because, in his first season with the Vikings, the 28-year-old is wearing the green dot for the defense as the player who communicates play calls from coaches to his unit, a sign of the trust the team has in him and his leadership role.