Hindsight Isn’t Being Kind to the Vikings’ Surprising Trade Decision
Prior to the 2025 season beginning, the Vikings’ surprising decision was to move on from Harrison Phillips.
The rugged run-stuffer was a team captain, cherished member of the locker room, and someone who contributed much to his community. Moving on came as a surprise even if all could see that the defensive line was deep. Any sense at all that the Vikings were misguided to move on from Mr. Phillips?
The Vikings’ Surprising Decision Yet Again Raises Questions
So far, the Vikings’ run defense hasn’t been particularly impressive.
Prior to Monday Night Football, the Vikings are coming in at 6th-worst in the NFL by allowing 521 rushing yards. Last season, Minnesota was 2nd-best, finishing off the season by allowing just 1,588 yards on the ground. The current pace will involve Minnesota allowing well beyond 2,000 rushing yards by the end of the season. The 2024 Vikings allowed 4.1 yards per carry. The 2025 Vikings are allowing 4.5 yards per carry.
Boiling down these statistical realities to just Harrison Phillips would be foolish. Nevertheless, one does wonder: could the Vikings use someone like Horrible Harry right now?
Twin factors contributed to the trade decision in the Twin Cities. Most obvious is the presence of Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, a pair of starters who have underwhelmed. There’s then the presence of young linemen such as Jalen Redmond and Levi Drake Rodriguez, players who have been exceeding expectations.
All of these defensive tackles — Allen, Hargrave, Redmond, and Rodriguez — appear to be better equipped to rush the passer. Would a high-level run defender round out the group?
The Minnesota Wild are a team that’s being led by Kirill Kaprizov, one of hockey’s best goal scorers. The unsigned star — any anxiety about that unconsummated contract? — doesn’t need to a tremendous goal scorer on his line. Rather, someone who can play a great two-way game who can feed him passes makes a lot of sense. Plug that player into Kaprizov’s line and Kirill the Thrill will light up the red light so often that the goalie will need sunscreen for the back of his neck.
In like manner, the Vikings’ defensive line needs players who thrive doing the dirty work.
Harrison Phillips is sitting on three starts in three games as a Jet. He has 12 tackles alongside a half sack and a forced fumble. Working alongside Quinnen Williams — one of the game’s elite defensive tackles — makes Phillips’ life at the office easier. After all, there’s going to be a pile of attention paid to the All Pro, so Phillips can work his way into single blocks while focusing on making the trenches a terrible place for a runner to venture into.
Meanwhile, the Vikings are seeing their star DTs get dinged by PFF for poor run defense. Allen is coming in at a very poor 48.6 grade while Hargrave sits at 37.4 against the run. Concerning stuff.
Part of the problem is that Blake Cashman has been hurt and Andrew Van Ginkel hasn’t been consistently available (which is to say nothing of Ivan Pace struggling at times). There’s then the reality of facing Bijan Robinson in Week 2, one of the NFL’s best runners; working against such a formidable foe means that doing everything right may still lead to being wrong. Such is the case when one is trying to shutdown an elite talent (just watch sticky corners get torched by Justin Jefferson).
But while all of these factors can and should be remembered, Harrison Phillips being absent is worth remembering.
If, for instance, a hockey team was struggling on the penalty kill after moving on from the top penalty killer, then there would reasonably be criticism and questions. In like manner, the Vikings are dealing with the aftermath of their Harrison Phillips trade precisely because the run defense is poor. Seeing the team struggle to shutdown the run after trading away the team’s top run-stuffer creates questions that will only find answers if the available players play better. Anything less than a bounce back from the currently rostered DTs will mean being critical of the decision to move on.
Next up for the Vikings is a Week 5 battle in London versus the Browns. Expect Kevin Stefanski to run the ball until the Vikings prove it’s a bad idea.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and PFF helped with this piece.
