Veteran Vikings Defender with Oodles of Talent Takes a Step Back in Playing Time
Jerry Tillery isn’t lacking in talent. Quite the opposite is true. The No. 28 pick from the 2019 NFL Draft looks to be perfectly built to be a 3-4 defensive end as someone who stands at 6’6″ and who weighs 295 pounds.
The issue, of course, is that is career hasn’t gone as well as many anticipated. The veteran Vikings defender was brought aboard on a single-season deal carrying a $2,750,000 cap charge. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s hope was that he would replace Dean Lowry, offering some penetration and pass rush in a way that the former Packer never did. The issue at this stage is simply that Tillery’s snaps recently decreased.
The Road Ahead for Veteran Vikings D-Lineman Jerry Tillery
The basic stats are underwhelming.
Playing in all seven games (starting six), Tillery has amassed 226 snaps for Brian Flores. Those opportunities have resulted in 13 tackles, 2 passes defended, 1 tackle for loss, and 3 QB hits. A step ahead of Lowry but maybe not what Minnesota was hoping to achieve.
For whatever it’s worth, PFF is slotting Tillery in as their 47th best interior d-lineman in their rankings (among the 121 currently considered). The suggestion is that Tillery has been making some quiet plays, playing sturdy football at the line of scrimmage while getting penetration at other points.
Nevertheless, the point remains: Tillery took a backseat recently.
On the opening snap on defense in Week 8, the Vikings went with a heavy look. Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard took their usual spots along the defensive line. Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel were both out there, stacked on the same side of the field. Opposite them was Patrick Jones II — an edge rusher who has been playing well — across from the left tackle in a four-point stance. In other words, Tillery didn’t get the start.
By the time it was all said and done, Jerry Tillery played 26 snaps on defense, his lowest total of the year. Crunch the numbers and that’s just 36% of the defense’s total. Again, that’s a season low.
Brian Flores is leading a defense that started off tremendously well but has since cooled off. The aggressive defensive coordinator doesn’t have a perfect group and nor has he proven to be a perfect coach, but he isn’t complacent. The man is going to keep tinkering with his personnel and leaning on different play calls in an effort to figure out something that works up front.
Phillips, Greenard, and Van Ginkel are mainstays. Bullard, too, has earned a lot of trust, but one could argue that the d-lineman isn’t 100% locked in.
The Vikings are then working with a deep group of edge rushers (Jones, Dallas Turner, Jihad Ward, and Bo Richter) and then some defensive linemen who have been playing smaller roles (Taki Taimani, Jalen Redmond, and Levi Drake Rodriguez).
The final chapter hasn’t been written for Jerry Tillery in Minnesota. Seven games are gone; ten await. Can the veteran start to make some more plays behind the line of scrimmage? If so, he’ll find his way back into the starting lineup while earning a larger share of the snaps.
Mr. Tillery is 28 and is playing within his sixth NFL season.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.