For Vikings defensive tackles, it's the mind that matters

EAGAN — Neither Harrison Phillips nor Armon Watts was considered an elite prospect when they came out of college.

Phillips was projected by NFL.com as a third rounder and ultimately landed in Buffalo with the 32nd pick in the third round and Watts was expected to go in the latter rounds and ended up with the Vikings as a sixth-round pick.

The odds aren’t particularly good that either a late-third or sixth-round prospect would turn out to be highly effective in the NFL but that’s the case with Phillips and Watts. The ex-Bill signed a three-year, $19.5 million deal with the Vikings this offseason after producing the 13th best Pro Football Focus grade among defensive tackles in 2021 and Watts developed from a reserve as a rookie to an effective rotational rusher, ranking 20th in pass rush grade and collecting 5.0 sacks last season. Based on his role in training camp, it appears the Vikings’ new staff will be leaning heavily on Watts as part of a rotation with Phillips and Dalvin Tomlinson.

While NFL.com identified Phillips as “determined” and Watts as “committed,” it would have been difficult for any analyst to know that both players would adapt to the mental challenges of the defensive tackle position at the professional level. But the Bills and Vikings likely had a sense for it when they drafted Phillips and Watts. Former Vikings GM Rick Spielman said in 2019 that the team valued intelligence higher at the defensive tackle because of the amount of information the best players can process quickly.

“A lot of people think we just put our hand in the dirt and just go but really there’s more to it,” Watts said.

Before the play starts, defensive linemen have to take stock a number of factors that could give them hints about what’s coming and tell them what types of techniques they will need to play when the ball is snapped. They need to do gather that information instantly, in the way that a concert violinist reads music.

“You have to read formations, you have to read the backfield and the more you get comfortable with that the faster you can play and the more plays you can make,” Watts said. “Mentally that was the biggest hurdle I had to get over…once you get comfortable with it then all it does is takes a second for you to see it and then you can put your hand in the dirt and read whatever block you get. ”

Edge rushers often talk of the preparation that goes into matching up with an offensive linemen but interior D-linemen need to know what they are up against with two guards and a center — and in Watts’ case tackles when he plays the five-technique spot on the line. Last year he lined up 230 times between the center and guard (A-gap), 337 times between the guard and tackle (B-gap) and 101 times over the tackle, per PFF.

“The coaches get us an early gameplan with tendencies like the O-linemen’s stances, the pass set, run set,” Watts said. “I look at certain tendencies, look at if he’s a high-hand shooter, low-hand shooter, is he a heavy guy, light guy, all that plays into your rush plan.”

One of the things that defensive line coach Chris Rumph and defensive coordinator Ed Donatell are emphasizing with the defensive linemen is to understand the entire picture. They want the big men up front to grasp how their role is impacted by everyone else on the field at the same time and how they fit into the bigger picture.

“They’ll do their job better if they know the ‘why,’” Donatell said. “The first thing we tell them is what the call is, why we’re doing it and how we’re doing it. If they cover all those things, good things will happen.”

“I don’t think there’s anything extremely difficult in our playbook but the tools that we can learn are very, very vast,” Phillips said. “The more you want to break down offenses and understand coverages, it’s only going to make you a better defensive tackle.”

Phillips said that he has gotten an advantage in the NFL by staying for the coverage part of the defensive meetings so he can get a better feeling for what’s going on behind him while he’s rushing the passer or filling a gap against the run.

“What’s the shell look like? What’s our rotation? Are we in a light box or heavy box? With some of those things I can anticipate what types of blocks I’m going to get,” Phillips said. “There is a ton of information that we can take in…there’s a lot of tendencies you pick up on.”

Another difference between defensive tackles and edge rushers is balancing their attacks. Not that defensive ends/outside linebackers can ignore the run game but their minds are more one-track toward attacking the backfield. The large men in the middle have to understand exactly when they can take opportunities to attack and when they need to stuff a gap.

“I can’t be an upfield attack type of guy in certain defenses we play because if I do that it will open a big hole and exposes our defense so you don’t want to be that odd man who goes and does the wrong thing and hurts the rest of the defense,” Watts said.

After playing nearly 700 snaps last season, Watts is the most mentally ready that he’s been over his career. He’s aware that part of his game has played a major role in overcoming his draft status to become a significant part of the Vikings’ defense.

“Trust me, there’s a lot that goes into it,” Watts said. “It’s not easy. If it was then everyone would be able to do it.”