The Good And Not-So-Good From The 2021 Minnesota Vikings Defensive Line
Cole Smith
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Perhaps no collective unit on the 2021 Minnesota Vikings underwhelmed more than the defensive line. Without Danielle Hunter in 2020, the Vikings’ defensive line failed to stop the run, capped off by Alvin Kamara scoring six times on Christmas Day. Yannick Ngakoue led the team with five sacks, and he was shipped away following the team’s Week 6 bye week. So the Vikings went all-in on fixing the line in 2021, and the results were mixed.
Hunter returned with a vengeance in 2021, racking up six sacks in seven games. Unfortunately, his season ended with a pectoral tear. New interior linemen Dalvin Tomlinson and Michael Pierce were big-name additions in free agency the past few years. But their impact was felt too inconsistently, leaving their futures murky in Minnesota. They say that games are won in the trenches, so it is fitting that the 2021 Vikings’ defensive line was inconsistent.
The Good
The return of Danielle Hunter showed that his freak neck injury in 2020 was of no hinderance moving forward. He picked up his six sacks in the first five games of the year, totaling three in the Week 2 game at Arizona. If the team thinks that he can return from his pectoral injury, then expect Hunter to build on what he was doing in the first half of 2021.
Defensive tackle-turned-defensive end Sheldon Richardson returned to Minnesota after a brief stay in 2018. He contributed four sacks on the year, filling in at end following Hunter’s injury. The two play completely different styles, but Richardson’s veteran presence brought some stability at defensive end.
Third-year defensive tackle Armon Watts flashed occasionally in his first two seasons. But in 2021, he racked up five sacks from the interior. He took on a fairly significant role throughout the year when Pierce missed time. Other backups who flashed were defensive tackle James Lynch and defensive end Kenny Willekes. Lynch played 304 snaps in 13 games, reaching the quarterback once. While he wasn’t a consistent force in the run game, he splashed with 13 stops according to Pro Football Focus (defined as plays that constitute an offensive failure).
Willekes missed his entire rookie season in 2020. He only saw the field in six games in 2021, but he saw plenty of playing time in those games, totaling 202 snaps. Against the Ravens, he got in on half of a sack. In the season’s final game, he accumulated two sacks on Andy Dalton. If he can stay healthy, he could find a place as a dependable rotational player.
The Bad
What’s tough about critiquing the 2021 Vikings defensive line is that the group of players we can criticize could very well be solid contributors in a year or two. But for this exercise, we judge solely off of 2021. The first big move of the 2021 off-season was the signing of defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson. The former New York Giant wasn’t bad in 2021, but he didn’t splash as much as many expected in his first season in purple. He also switched to playing the three-technique in Minnesota after playing as a nose tackle in New York. Tomlinson was Minnesota’s sixth-highest graded defender in 2021, but fans will want to see more after he signed a two-year, $22 million deal last March.
Tomlinson felt underwhelming to a degree. His running mate, Michael Pierce, was downright frustrating. When he was on the field, Pierce was an absolute game-wrecker, as he was the team’s second-highest graded defender. But he only played in eight games all year. In fact, he didn’t play between Week 4 and Week 13. This included games at Baltimore and San Francisco, two of the league’s best rushing attacks.
The other additions to the roster came via the draft. Third-rounder Patrick Jones II saw the most playing time of the three rookie draft picks, only picking up 99 snaps. He only tallied one quarterback hit and one tackle on the season. Out of 31 graded Vikings defenders, Jones ranked 28th. Fourth-rounder Janarius Robinson was injured in preseason and was out all year. Seventh-rounder Jaylen Twyman was involved in an unfortunate situation where he and three others were shot in Washington D.C and missed the entire season as well.
Finally, the Vikings brought longtime defensive end Everson Griffen back prior to the final game of the preseason. Griffen splashed, picking up five sacks in nine games at the age of 33. Unfortunately, he didn’t play in the final seven games of the season after another mental health issue arose. His absence not only took away some leadership in the locker room, but forced role players to play more snaps that they weren’t ready to take on.
What To Expect Moving Forward
The Vikings’ defensive line will look different in 2022, even if they were to bring back every player from 2021. With new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell taking over, the Vikings’ base defense will be a 3-4 alignment. It remains to be seen if Hunter will be a defensive end or an outside linebacker in the scheme. Richardson is slated to be a free agent, but he has experience in the 3-4 defense. Don’t be surprised to see him brought back.
An interesting player to watch going into 2022 is D.J. Wonnum. The second-year defensive end racked up eight sacks in 2021. But three sacks came in Week 15 due to Bears’ quarterback Justin Fields making poor decisions. On the year, Wonnum was graded 24th overall on the Vikings’ defense. Perhaps a change of scenery and new system can untap Wonnum’s potential. At this point, he has found most of his sacks on unblocked plays while disappearing for the rest of his plays.
If the front office decides to bring Pierce and Tomlinson back, and they can play full seasons, the Vikings’ run defense could see a significant jump. When the two played together, they showed flashes of brilliance. Add Hunter and potentially Richardson to the mix, and the role players discussed above can maximize their roles. This would be ideal instead of overwhelming young players with roles that they can’t handle. Games are won in the trenches. If the Vikings can play more consistently up front in 2022, the entire defense, and team, will benefit.
