When the Minnesota Vikings entered free agency, Mike Zimmer demanded a space-eating defensive tackle. With the 310 lb Dalvin Tomlinson pairing with the 340 lb Michael Pierce, Zimmer had a throwback interior duo that could stop the run and bring the Vikings’ defense back to prominence.
While Zimmer is admiring his defensive line like a dad who just mowed his lawn, there’s a good chance the Vikings believe their work is done. But marching into next season with Pierce and Tomlinson as their primary defensive tackles would be a mistake. Both players are poor pass rushers. The best way to complete the defensive line is to add a playmaking monster in the middle, and that’s why Christian Barmore should be an option for the Vikings in the upcoming draft.
Barmore is a 6’4”, 310 lb defensive tackle who excels at rushing the passer. According to Pro Football Focus, Barmore’s 39 pressures and 91.5 pass-rushing grade ranked first among interior defensive linemen in this year’s draft class. Barmore’s eight sacks also led the FBS among defensive tackles last season.
With a stellar pass-rushing resumé, Barmore deserves the Vikings’ attention in the draft. They trotted out Shamar Stephen and Jaleel Johnson as their starting defensive tackles last season and were rewarded with a combined total of two sacks. Even mixing in Hercules Mata’afa, James Lynch, and Armon Watts didn’t solve the problem. Minnesota only had six total sacks from all their defensive tackles.
In his annual preseason defense of Stephen, Andre Patterson mentioned that the Vikings are looking for more from their defensive tackles than rushing the passer. But that effort is unacceptable for a team that also lacks depth on the edge.
If the Vikings want proof, they should look around the NFC North. Both the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears feature a defense with players who can wreak havoc on the interior.
With the Vikings trotting out Garrett Bradbury and two guards du jour, the Packers and Bears made Kirk Cousins’ life miserable. In four games against those teams, the offensive line allowed 27 pressures while Cousins tossed three interceptions.
The Vikings look like they tried to solve the problem by throwing $48 million at Tomlinson and Pierce. Both players have ranked in the top 30 among interior defenders at stopping the run from 2017-19, and Pierce ranked fourth in run-defender grade in 2018. But it’s their ability to get after the passer that should have the Vikings concerned. In 2019, both players posted an identical 3.2 pass-rusher productivity rating that ranked 81st among defensive tackles. Tomlinson improved that number to 5.0 last year, but it still put him 33rd among qualifiers.
Tomlinson’s numbers come with some validation. The 27-year-old has not missed a game due to injury in his four-year career, and last season he played four fewer snaps (658) than Stephen (662). With better results, the Vikings can say they’ve upgraded at the 3-tech position.
Pierce’s contributions are harder to project. He put up numbers similar to Linval Joseph during his time in Baltimore but did so in 60 career games. Pierce has played a qualifying number of snaps just once (2018) in his four years with the Ravens and was mainly a rotational piece. At 28 years old and coming off a full year away from the game, the Vikings may need to continue to use Pierce in a rotation. That would enhance the need to add a defensive tackle in the draft.
Minnesota encountered a similar issue during the 2014 draft. Entering Zimmer’s first year as head coach, he inherited Sharrif Floyd to pair with free-agent acquisition Linval Joseph. With the Vikings set in the middle, they passed on Aaron Donald to select Anthony Barr with the ninth-overall pick.
Barr became an impact player and integral part of the defense, but the Vikings needed that depth when Floyd went down with a career-ending quad injury. Donald became one of the game’s top defensive players, and they missed an opportunity to make their defensive line even better as they charged through their window of contention created by the 2015 draft class.
This year’s draft class isn’t strong at defensive tackle, but Barmore is the top option available. With the Vikings focused on need-based drafting, they should think twice before going elsewhere and make sure they have an impact player in the middle of the defensive line.
