The Minnesota Vikings head into the offseason with a playoff loss fresh in their minds. The Los Angeles Rams hounded Sam Darnold, sacking him nine times and pressuring him on 54% of his dropbacks.
With Jared Verse leaping through the air like a professional wrestler in the ‘80s, Minnesota’s 14-3 season evaporated faster than you could say “Suplex City.” It led Kevin O’Connell to offer a terse statement regarding where he believed his team needed to improve.
“We’ve got to find a way to solidify the interior of the pocket,” O’Connell said. “There could be 1,000 excuses made, but, for me, it’s the foundation of the interior of the pocket that we’re going to have to take a look at.”
Those comments sent Vikings fans into action. They jumped on Madden and cap simulators and gave Trey Smith the biggest contract possible. They put names like Alabama’s Tyler Booker at the top of their draft wish lists and started digging for intel on names like Will Fries, Kevin Zeitler, and Mekhi Becton.
The Vikings must upgrade their offensive line to ensure this doesn’t happen again. However, while Minnesota’s most significant need may be in the trenches, it might not be where everybody thinks.
Defensive fronts are trending in the NFL, with many teams using stout fronts to wreck opposing offenses. It happened on that night in Arizona when Verse, Byron Young, Braden Fiske, and Kobie Turner overwhelmed Minnesota’s offensive line, and it happened again when the Philadelphia Eagles pounded Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl.
Let’s start with the Rams. Much has been made about Les Snead’s “F*** them picks” strategy – or, as Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah called it, “Full Rams.” The Rams didn’t have much draft capital after their all-in Super Bowl run in 2021. Still, they rebounded quickly, thanks to an emphasis on the defensive line.
Los Angeles struck gold twice in the third round of the 2023 draft, selecting Turner and Young. Vikings fans remember Young as the guy who grabbed Darnold’s facemask last October, but he’s become a situational pass rusher with 44 pressures and nine sacks last season. Turner was an even better find, ranking seventh among interior defenders with 54 pressures and eight sacks last year.
The quest continued with adding Fiske and Verse in last year’s draft. A defensive tackle out of Florida State, Fiske had an immediate impact, ranking 11th among interior defenders with 51 pressures and collecting nine sacks in his rookie year. Verse finished fourth among edge defenders with 77 pressures and helped Los Angeles’s defense carry them to the divisional round of the playoffs.
L.A. pressured Jalen Hurts on 50% of his dropbacks in that game but couldn’t come up with the victory. Still, it didn’t defeat from the point. Philadelphia used its defensive front to march to a Super Bowl title.
Philadelphia’s pressure rate stayed in the mid-30s during their run to the playoffs – except for a 40.5% pressure rate against Mahomes in the Super Bowl. However, they built their line with a similar formula.
Milton Williams was the first piece as a third-round pick in the 2021 draft. Jordan Davis followed as a first-round pick in 2022. The league gifted Jalen Carter to the Eagles in 2023 before Nolan Smith Jr. joined as Philadelphia’s second first-round pick in 2023.
Josh Sweat, Nakobe Dean, and Zack Baun followed, and Philadelphia’s front seven spent Super Bowl Sunday doing to Mahomes what the Rams did to Darnold in the Wild Card round. The Eagles’ defensive front was so good that Vic Fangio didn’t have to blitz the entire game. Top draft prospect Abdul Carter took to social media to make his case to be the No. 1-overall pick in the draft.
That brings us back to the Vikings. Minnesota could upgrade their offensive line to combat the wave of aggressive front sevens. After O’Connell’s comments in Arizona, the Vikings will almost certainly add two interior linemen. However, it would be counter-productive to dismiss Minnesota’s defensive line.
Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel are strong pass rushers. Linebackers Blake Cashman and Ivan Pace Jr. also displayed some pass-rushing chops, while Patrick Jones and Dallas Turner served situational roles.
But the defensive line? That could use some work.
Harrison Phillips is the type of lunchpail player you want in the trenches. Still, his 58.3 overall PFF grade and 4.2% pressure rate leave something to be desired. Jalen Redmond came on at the end of the year, but he profiles more as a run-stopper. Jonathan Bullard, Jihad Ward, and Jerry Tillery had minimal impact in rotational roles.
That forced Brian Flores to get creative, using a league-high 38.9% blitz rate. Their 25.3% pressure rate ranked sixth in the league, but it felt like they could have done more to get after the quarterback.
It’s a scary thought for a really good defense that could be even better if the Vikings add along the defensive line. Perhaps poaching Williams from the Eagles would be a good solution. Diving into a draft with 41 defensive tackles invited to the NFL Combine (up from 25 last year) also isn’t a bad idea.
It doesn’t negate O’Connell’s pointed remarks about the offensive line. Still, the defensive line may be just as important. It’s a priority the Vikings must consider and could put them on the other end of the beatdown they received in the playoffs.
