Young Vikings Defender Is Getting All the Buzz Now
The Minnesota Vikings shocked the NFL landscape on Wednesday when they shipped starter and team captain Harrison Phillips to the New York Jets for some late-round draft capital and cap space. They obviously, however, also did it to allow some younger players to thrive.
Young Vikings Defender Is Getting All the Buzz Now
Suddenly, Jalen Redmond can get the opportunities he deserves, and promising guys like Elijah Williams and Taki Taimani have a better chance to make the 53-man roster.
One guy who doesn’t have any concerns ahead of next Tuesday’s cutdown day is rookie Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, who is now primed to play a role in this year’s defensive line rotation. The first pick of the fifth round of April’s draft has gotten some nice buzz recently.
Skor North’s Phil Mackey saw the man get first-team reps in joint practices. He posted on social media, “Biggest Vikings defense nugget of the day: Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins getting considerable run with the 1st team defense — alongside Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen. Feels situational — red zone and/or early downs where Vikings want some additional pass rush juice.”
Teams often rotate lineups in training camp, so that might have just been a daily occurrence. Well, when Phillips was traded, Mackey noted: “Turns out Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins working with the ones last week wasn’t a fluke… Wow.”
Ingram-Dawkins played for the University of Georgia. Strangely, he didn’t even crack the starting unit in college. In 37 games, he only logged 39 tackles, four sacks, and 13 tackles for loss. That doesn’t sound like the resume of a draftable player whatsoever.
But there’s one hidden nugget: The man is a physical freak. Ingram-Dawkins ran a speedy 40-yard dash of 4.86 seconds with elite 10-yard and 20-yard splits. He also produced elite short-shuttle and three-cone times, as well as phenomenal jumps.
Also consider Will Ragatz of Si.com, who wrote after Phillips’ exit: “Another player the Vikings are very excited about is Ingram-Dawkins, who they selected in the fifth round out of Georgia this year. Listed at 6’5″ and 276 pounds, TID can line up all over the defensive front and make plays with his combination of length, burst, and power.”
Ragatz suggested that the rookie would be in the rotation as early as Week 1.
Ingram-Dawkins is an undersized interior lineman who also received some playing time as an edge defender at Georgia. In Minnesota’s defense, his best fit is as an interior player, and he displayed some flashes in the preseason.
Former Vikings center Garrett Bradbury was on the wrong end of his power rush.
After the latest preseason loss versus the Patriots, head coach Kevin O’Connell said about the defender: “We really identified him throughout the process as somebody that could be really versatile along that front, doing as many as 3 or 4 different roles. Whether you’re talking about being an inside early-down player, a 5-technique, maybe even some edge snaps as a bigger-body edge against some teams… He’s been part of the reason why you feel so great about that d-line depth.”
He also had another pressure to force the pass on a crucial down in the preseason contest.
It is certainly important to note that Ingram-Dawkins just turned 22 years old. The belief is that had he spent another year in college, he could’ve been an early-round pick in 2026. Instead, the Vikings get a raw player with very little production but great potential a year early.
Finally, we have another highlight of Ingram-Dawkins making a play versus the run.
There will still be a learning curve for the young defender, but the sky is the limit for him. Expect him to play a role early in the 2025 season, perhaps earlier than the Vikings could’ve predicted when they made the call in April.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.