Where Do the Vikings New DTs Rank Among NFL’s Best?
Dustin Baker
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The interior partition of the 2020 Minnesota Vikings defensive line was small and unprofitable. The twosome of Shamar Stephen and Jaleel Johnson was piecemealed because Michael Pierce opted out of 2020 activities due to coronavirus precautions.
Stephen was the scheduled three-technique defensive tackle, sliding over to nose tackle in Pierce’s absence. Per his body type, Stephen is not a bonafide nose tackle. But the coaching staff was eternally high on Stephen, so he was tapped for NT duty. To be frank, he was not horrendous. Stephen tallied a 61.7 Pro Football Focus grade, balancing his run-stopping and pass-rushing acumens in the high 50s. He was serviceable.
When he scooted to nose tackle, his 3DT job was vacated. The aforementioned Johnson took on the mantle. His performance was abominable, scoring a 35.3 PFF score. Of 126 qualifying defensive tackles, Johnson’s 35.3 grade ranked 124th in the NFL — or third-worst in the entire sport.
Stephen ranked 70th overall among DTs or slightly “worse” than middle of the pack.
But those days are over. Both men now play for other NFL franchises — Stephen for the George Paton-led Denver Broncos and Jaleel Johnson for the Houston Texans. Michael Pierce will assume nose tackle responsibilities while Dalvin Tomlinson, a free-agent addition from the New York Giants, will fasten down the 3DT hole.
The forecast for the guts of the defensive line is much brighter. No longer will the Vikings rely on a hodgepodge solution for an ultra-important spot(s) on the field.
PFF ranked all interior defensive linemen this week in its position-by-position series. And Ben Linsey of PFF is higher on Tomlinson than Pierce.
Tomlinson is classified as the 17th-best IDL in the NFL. He is rankings-mates with Shelby Harris of the Denver Broncos and Dexter Lawrence of the New York Giants. Linsey wrote on Tomlinson:
“Michael Pierce’s absence last season highlighted that Minnesota had a clear need on the interior, and they addressed it by signing Tomlinson in free agency. Tomlinson isn’t quite the penetrating 3-technique that made sense for the Vikings on paper next to Pierce, but he is a very good football player. He ranks in the 83rd percentile in PFF run-defense grade since 2017 and showed some ability to get after the quarterback as a pass-rusher from nose tackle alignments in 2020.“
Pierce also made the cut of 32 players. That’s noteworthy because there are 64 starting interior defensive linemen on any given week of the NFL’s schedule. Pierce ranked at #26 just below Ndamukong Suh. Here’s what PFF said about the former Raven:
“Pierce’s role as a run-stuffer is well defined, and there are few better than him in that role. The undrafted free agent out of Samford earned a 91.1 run-defense grade across the first four seasons of his career in Baltimore, ranking fifth among all qualifying players at the position. Minnesota missed that ability from Pierce after he opted out last season, stumbling to a 30th-place finish in expected points added allowed per run play.“
The Vikings need help in both DL areas. Versus the rush in the pandemic season, Minnesota surrendered the sixth-most rushing yards per game (134.4). They also gave up the ninth-most passing yards per contest (258.8). Mike Zimmer’s group didn’t sack anybody either — Minnesota sacked opposing quarterbacks at the fifth-worst clip leaguewide. Too, this is the same unit that allowed Alvin Kamara to rush for six touchdowns on Christmas day five months ago. You know the guys — the ones with the league’s worst pass rush in the same season.
Jinxes might be a thing — but can it really get worse? Probably not. Especially with starting-caliber DTs in the house for the Vikings in 2021. Or as one might call them — two Top 26 DTs in the league.