Hype Builds for Vikings Adds Due to The “Platoon,” Being “Vertically Disruptive,” and “Chop Hump”
Chatty and charming, Harrison Phillips did much to build hype for recent Vikings adds Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave in his recent press conference.
Already, those reflections have generated some discussion, but there’s still quite a bit of meat left on the bone. Horrible Harry is prophesying good things, insisting that the new defensive tackles are going to help push the Vikings’ defense to a new level. In fact, Phillips is welcoming a diminished role in the name of improving his own game alongside greater team success.
Vikings Adds at DT Generating Hype
First, there’s an obvious point: Harrison Phillips may not play quite as much.
The ironman has been ultra dependable since coming to Minnesota, starting all seventeen games in his three seasons. That’s a sizzling 51/51 when it comes to opportunities to start. Toss on the pair of playoff games and availability hasn’t been an issue.
Last offseason, Kevin O’Connell spoke about the rugged run defender playing less, something that came to fruition despite some underwhelming options surrounding him. The 2023 season saw Phillips soaking up 839 snaps before seeing that number drop down to 675 snaps in 2024.
The trend is supposed to continue into 2025. Again, look for Phillips to be a starter, but his snaps could get shaved down a bit more. The veteran defensive tackle spoke about the value of playing within a “platoon” of defensive tackles, a cluster of guys who can come in “waves.” The basic idea is simply that keeping everyone’s legs and lungs fresh will lead to productive work on the field. More efficient snaps is the name of the game.
Next up, consider the word on Hargrave, someone affectionately known as Gravedigger. Per Phillips, Hargrave’s quickness flying off the ball is going to create problems for the offensive line: “One of the things about ‘Graves specifically is his get off […] when you have a player that’s so vertically disruptive, there’s areas to overlap players. So they get so vertical that they might take your guy right off in front of you.”
Decode the football vocabulary a little bit. In praising Hargraves’ “get off,” Harrison Phillips is drawing attention to how quickly the new defensive tackle fires out of his stance. The ball is snapped and whoosh Hargrave is up the field (the verticality that Phillips mentions).
Being so quick can create an issue for linemen who aren’t prepared, leading to openings for other players to make a play. Odd as it may sound for a defensive tackle, Phillips may find moments where he can get skinny, slipping through a crease that’s created by Hargrave’s disruptiveness to sneak into the backfield for a play.
The conversation then shifts to Allen, someone who has a “chop hump” that’s pretty hard to corral.
Kick it over to Phillips for what he’s seeing in his new teammate: “On the field, the way that he does his chop hump, I don’t know anybody who can stop it. Even though we’re just out here kind of jogging around, when he works that move, I’m definitely taking notes and we’re walking through that because I want to add that to my tool belt.”
Again, a few words about the football lingo. Defeating blockers often comes down to winning a hand battle. In fact, Phillips does a quick mimic of the move, bringing his arm down in a manner that vaguely illustrates how the move works. The “chop” portion of things is going to refer to Allen powerfully using his arm to knock an o-lineman’s arms off of him — the o-lineman wants to get his hands into the defensive tackle’s chest — while the “hump” portion of things (presumably; Phillips didn’t mimic that step) refers to uncoiling his hips to explode through into the backfield.
Picture a spring that’s been pushed down and then allowed to explode; a defensive lineman’s hips/backside/thighs should have a similar effect.
Not too long ago, Harrison Phillips agreed to an extension with the Vikings that’s supposed to keep him town for 2025 and 2026. The deal is sitting at $15 million across a pair of seasons.
Meanwhile, the Vikings adds from free agency earned even larger deals (both due to being on the open market alongside being pass rushers). Jonathan Allen is in town for a trio of seasons at $51 million. Javon Hargrave is coming in at a pair of seasons at $30 million.
Combined, the new DT trio is supposed to make life extremely difficult for the offensive line on a weekly basis. Being successful in that approach is going to lead to a pretty stingy Brian Flores defense.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference 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 and Bluesky (@VikingsGazette). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.
