After a rough start to his NFL career, third-year linebacker Chad Greenway is poised to move into the elite group of players at his position in 2008.

The former first-round draft choice, who missed all of his rookie season due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee that required surgery, is now completely healthy. He’s also a lot more experienced, having started all 16 games for the Vikings last season.

Greenway lead the team with six takeways on four fumble recoveries and two interceptions in 2007. He was also second on the team with 130 tackles behind E.J. Henderson (155).

Those numbers were solid and both Greenway and the Vikings’ have seen significant strides in the linebacker’s performance after just nine days of training camp. Virtually everyone in the Vikings’ camp is expecting big things from Greenway this season.

“He understands the tempo (this year),” head coach Brad Childress said. “I think he’s slowed the game down where he is really thinking. He has God-given athletic abilities that I think you will get to see show up.”

The 6-foot-2, 242-pound weakside linebacker also sees improvement from a year ago.

“Just with my experience and my comfort level I really think I’ve taken a big step (this training camp),” Greenway said. “There’s no substitute for experience and I think that for me, going through those first 16 games last year, was just huge — especially coming off the injury. Now I’m healthy and looking forward to helping the defense win some games.”

Should Greenway experience the success he expects, it won’t be foreign to him. He has excelled at virtually every level of his football life.

He was a two-time state nine-man champion at Mount Vernon High School in South Dakota and a two-time All-Big 10 selection at Iowa. Greenway finished his collegiate career ranked fifth in school history with 416 tackles.

Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier believes the time is now for the third-year player.

“He worked hard this offseason and it is showing up (in training camp),” he said. “Chad is smart and he’s getting more experience, so he will be in some playmaking positions. He’s a talented guy, so he’ll get better the more things that he sees.”

Greenway takes every day of training camp seriously.

“I’m just trying to work on everything and to just consistently play better football. That’s what you do in training camp, you get back to your fundamentals, you work on playing low and using your hands better. Those are the things that improve your performance.”

As for the preseason hype surrounding the team, Greenway believes none of it.

“I know we have a lot of potential and that we’ve been working real hard but that’s really all I do know. I don’t know how good we’re going to be or if we’re even going to win a game. But I think everyone agrees that hard work puts you in a position to be successful.”