State of the Vikings Defensive Line: Too Much May Hinge on Recent Additions

With the dog days of the Vikings offseason providing little news outside of tired Justin Jefferson contract drama, it’s the right time to assess the post draft and free agency outlook for the 2024 roster. Starting with Minnesota’s defense, no position was under more scrutiny going into the offseason than the Vikings defensive line. While most other 2024 starters on a young defense seemed relatively set, the defensive front was essentially a black box.

To highlight that uncertainty, the Vikings kicked off free agency with a grand total of two reserve edge players slated to return in Patrick Jones and Andre Carter. Predictably, Minnesota addressed the position early and often as the offseason unfolded. They spent heavily on the position in free agency with the acquisitions of Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel.

Minnesota then spent a borderline absurd amount of draft capital to move up and draft Alabama edge Dallas Turner. With so much attention on shoring up their edge situation, it left the interior Vikings defensive line somewhat neglected. Let’s assess whether that strategy will be a net positive for what looked like an ascending defense in 2023.

Veteran Journeymen Anchor Interior of Vikings Defensive Line

While generally overlooked, the Vikings did make a few lower publicity moves on the interior of their defensive line. They resigned free agent defensive end Jonathan Bullard and inked former Raider Jerry Tillery both to low-cost, one-year deals. They’re both tentatively penciled in to start alongside fellow veteran presence Harrison Phillips. Phillips and Bullard returning as starters from an unproductive interior group in 2023 may seem a tough sell initially. Bullard made a few splash plays a season ago, however he’s never consistently produced throughout his career. Phillips, on the other hand, had been a stalwart throughout his NFL career prior to a very down 2023.

Starting with the potential for Phillips bouncing back in his age 28 season there are reasons for optimism that the group can outperform how they currently look on paper. Even if he appeared to be missing his trademark strength, the statistics were there logging a career high in tackles. His lack of interior penetration last season could simply be chalked up to a nagging back injury that he managed to play through all season. If injuries were indeed the reason for his regression, he could return to his role as anchor for the group.

Even if Phillips returns to form though, the Vikings will need more contributors on the interior. The depth behind their journeyman starters isn’t great, with lots of unproven and lowly drafted talent. That may leave Tillery, the former first-rounder out of Notre Dame, as their best bet for improved production. Coming off another paltry season that featured two sacks as a Raider role player, those breakout odds don’t seem great. That leaves the new set of edge rushers to hopefully carry the mantle for the Vikings defensive line.

Turner’s Transition to the NFL will be Critical to this Pass Rush

The Vikings have had the benefit of consistent excellence off the edge for most of the past decade. That can be traced all the way back to the emergence of Everson Griffen and eventually Danielle Hunter under former Head Coach Mike Zimmer. Now with Hunter departing for Houston this offseason coupled with the loss of fellow starting edge D.J. Wonnum, continuing that trend of quality pass rushers is going to come down to a brand-new cast.

Of that new group, nobody is going to be a bigger X-Factor than Dallas Turner. Turner was considered by many to be the best defensive player in the entire draft. If Turner can flash dominance off the edge early things could really open up for Brian Flores’ blitz heavy defense. Even while blitzing at a roughly 50% clip in 2023, the Vikings finished below league average in pressure rate. A large part of that was due to edge rushers not consistently winning the one-on-one matchups Flores’ blitzing created. If Turner can prove early that he can take advantage of those matchups against single offensive lineman, the pass rush could take the defense as a whole to another level in 2024.

Another benefit of Turner showing he can contribute early opposite Jonathan Greenard would be freeing up Andrew Van Ginkel to show off his versatile skillset. In Miami Van Ginkel moved around the formation, displaying elite pass rush win rates and quality play off the ball. Flores would love to be able to feature Van Ginkel in a variety of spots. Ultimately, that all comes down to Turner living up to his billing. With so much for this unit relying on a rookie, expectations should be conservatively tempered going into the season for the Vikings defensive line overall.

2024 Defensive Line Outlook: C+