On Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings officially signed Sheldon Richardson. The reunion came for the same reasons he initially departed — his old team didn’t want to pay him. So why did the Vikings want to shell out up to $4.35 million for Richardson this time? In a vacuum, his talent is well worth the modest price tag as compared to other defensive tackles. But we don’t live in a vacuum. The Vikings are spending $11 million on their starting defensive tackles already. Why add another starting-sized contract?
The Vikings had redundancy issues before Richardson joined. Both Dalvin Tomlinson and Michael Pierce are run-stuffing inside defenders that line up between the guards more often than not. The New York Giants reconciled this by using Tomlinson and Dexter Lawrence in wider alignments, allowing the middle to look open, and using their talents to make the play anyways. But where would Richardson fit into that plan?
It’s likely that he doesn’t. Thanks to the oddities of the 2021 salary cap, the Vikings have kept their overall cap spending at defensive tackle relatively low. When Richardson’s contract hits the books, the Vikings will be around the middle of the league in interior defensive line spending, per OverTheCap. That money grows in future years, but so will everyone else’s spending. It’s a math problem for another time. The math problem now is how to best utilize the redundant talent the Vikings have acquired. To examine this, we have to understand the basics of defensive fronts in classic NFL systems.
When we refer to linemen as a “3-technique” or a “1-technique,” we aren’t referring to their pass rush arsenal or skill level. It refers to their alignment. Start at zero from the middle, and count outward. So a 0-technique is lined up directly across from the center, a 1-technique is between the center and guard, and so on. The “i” refers to an inside shade, which means they align over the offensive lineman’s inside shoulder instead of directly.
That’s just a labeling system. A standard 4-3 defense utilizes two 5-techniques (the edge rushers), a 3-technique, and a 1-technique. You may notice that all four of those are odd numbers. That’s no coincidence — odd numbers are alignments in a gap, and those defenders are responsible for those gaps. The rest of the gaps are the responsibility of linebackers or run-supporting defensive backs.
Note where the linebackers are as well. Eric Kendricks is lined up over the outside of the guard, and Anthony Barr between the tackle and tight end. Sometimes, defensive linemen will shift slightly to gain advantages against certain linemen or certain run plays. For example, the 3-technique will become a 2-technique, sliding a half-step further inside, to better guard against short-yardage runs.
Two ubiquitous variants on this base are the 4-3 Over and the 4-3 Under. This is typically in response to inline tight ends that generate numbers disadvantages on the “strong” side (the side the tight end is on). That extra blocker makes for a new gap, so you have to re-align.
The key difference between the two starts with the defensive tackles. In Over, the nose tackle (Linval Joseph) is on the weak side, leaving the 3-technique on the strong side. In Under, it’s the opposite. In either case, the nose tackle has two linebackers on either side of him, and the strong-side linebacker (often Barr) will threaten the line of scrimmage.
You may notice that all of these contain only two defensive tackles. So which fronts can utilize three?
The Tite Front
The “Tite” front is gaining popularity in today’s NFL. It’s what Patrick Graham used with Dalvin Tomlinson in New York. The key is aligning one of the defensive ends inside the tackle instead of outside, encouraging offenses to choose outside runs and concepts.
Forget the “DE” and “NT” designations in that diagram. Instead, consider Michael Pierce on the inside flanked by Sheldon Richardson and Dalvin Tomlinson at 3-technique or 4i. Then envision Danielle Hunter wreaking havoc off the edge. The offense could either test Hunter’s athleticism to the outside, test the beefy interior, or test the rallying ability of Anthony Barr, Mackensie Alexander, and Harrison Smith to the other side.
That’s a quick mock-up of a Tite alignment utilizing the Vikings’ personnel. The Tite is typically a 3-4 front as it uses three defensive tackles and asks them to cover two gaps. There are a lot of advantages to this front, but it can’t work every play. Against speedier offenses, the extra beef can be punished. It also leaves the outside of the field exposed. It’s a calculated risk, but one that Aaron Jones or Alvin Kamara can punish.
The Vikings also don’t have the luxury some of the college Tite defenses have with their edge defenders. Hunter doesn’t cover, which limits the creative blitzing and disguising they can do. That’s not a big enough problem to render the front unusable, but something to consider.
The Eagle Front
It sounds insane, but what if the middle of the defense were headed up by Anthony Barr? He’s too small to play traditional run-stuffing nose tackle, but this is a trick with some precedent. It’s not unlike what the Vikings tried with Hercules Mata’afa in 2019. This has been around since the 1980s, utilizing the same alignments but switching up the personnel.
Back in the 1980s, Fritz Shurmer used five linebackers in this front. So Hunter, Alexander, and Richardson would all be linebackers instead. This would be a variant on the concept that would look bizarre, but possibly put each player in a place to succeed. Tomlinson has experience at 3-technique and Richardson has experience out a little wider.
Harrison Smith would be solely responsible for the tight end in this case. Against a team that relies heavily on its tight end, like the 49ers with George Kittle, that might be just what the doctor ordered. On a given play, any four of the aligned five will rush the passer, with the fifth playing in some sort of easy shallow zone that doesn’t require a ton of speed. But with Barr’s speed and range, he could play more complex coverage assignments while occupying central offensive linemen. Pierce would probably not back into coverage, but you could certainly surprise a quarterback.
This would similarly beg teams to run up the middle at Anthony Barr, who can hold his own against a lineman in run defense, and double teams would be spent elsewhere. Barr, Smith, and Kendricks would have a lot of rushing responsibilities, with Pierce and Tomlinson dissuading many finesse-based zone concepts.
5-2 fronts
You could employ these same Eagle alignments, but with a more standard rotation as well. Get Barr off the line of scrimmage, slide Pierce and Richardson back inside, and bring Stephen Weatherly or another edge rusher into that strong side seven-technique position. That makes for five defensive linemen, asking Hunter and Weatherly to drop into coverage often. That adds a layer of confusion with the ever-present blitzing threat of Anthony Barr.
The thing about 5-2 is that it is a replacement for 4-3 or 3-4. Five defensive linemen and two linebackers leave no room for a fifth defensive back. With the dominant presence of three-wide receiver formations, you need room for a third cornerback. We’d have to trust linebackers and safeties in man coverage against slot corners, which feels eerily similar to the Vikings-Rams game in 2018 that sent Mike Zimmer into anguish.
Standard fronts with rotation
In all likelihood, the Vikings won’t dip into defenses from the Reagan administration. They’ve been opportunistic in free agency, and Richardson is no exception. He joined at the behest of Andre Patterson after he broke off talks with the Cleveland Browns, and adds to the defensive tackle rotation. The Vikings may rotate Tomlinson, Pierce, and Richardson based on down, distance, situation, and matchup. That means Pierce’s $5 million price tag could be on the bench for a crucial third and long with Richardson sitting out on third and short. It’s not perfectly efficient but that has its advantages as well.
Defensive tackles never play the full 60 minutes. The big guys need rest, and that usually means a backup taking over. On more than one occasion, the Vikings subbed in Jaleel Johnson and their opponent immediately transitioned into a no-huddle. That squeezed in as many plays as they could handle while a backup tackle was in. If that backup is Sheldon Richardson, that opportunity doesn’t exist. And you can justify more than a drive or two for Richardson, keeping all parties fresh and rearing to go.
Richarson, Tomlinson, and Pierce may rotate more than you’d like for players on their contracts. The Vikings may simply be at peace with the inefficiency. In exchange, they get to address their most frustrating problem from last year with overkill. If other problems exist in the secondary or offensive line, so be it. At least they won’t be the softest defense in the NFL anymore.
