By end of Spielman era, Vikings defensive line was as big a problem as offensive line

Draft neglect and free agency misses left the Vikings vulnerable up front.

March 15, 2022 at 2:55PM
Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Linval Joseph reacts during a game in 2019 (Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A porous offensive line, influenced by years of neglect, was a big factor in preventing some of the best years of the Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman partnership from being even better.

Bad offensive line play sabotaged the 2016 season, contributed to the lopsided 2017 NFC title game loss and has made life more difficult for Kirk Cousins since he arrived in 2018.

Of late, though, it has been less about neglect and more about hits and misses. Spielman's Vikings picked an offensive lineman in the first or second round of every draft from 2018-21 in a quest to get it right, and there is some evidence that three of those pieces (tackles Brian O'Neill and Christian Darrisaw plus guard Ezra Cleveland) can form the foundation of a functional line even if 2019 first round pick Garrett Bradbury's ineffectiveness leaves a hole at center.

Instead, as the Vikings enter 2022 under a new regime, there is this to ponder: By the end of the Spielman era, the defensive line was as big a problem as offensive line and was suffering from neglect — something I talked about on Tuesday's Daily Delivery podcast.

This shows up in two big ways.

The first hadn't occurred to me until reading Andrew Krammer's story Tuesday about the Vikings' first free agency move of the offseason: reportedly signing Harrison Phillips, a defensive tackle, from Buffalo.

As noted in the story, this is the third consecutive offseason the Vikings have made a defensive tackle their first signing: Michael Pierce in 2020, Dalvin Tomlinson in 2021 and now Phillips, whose arrival will mean the end of Pierce's time in Minnesota.

Some of this year's change could be attributed to a scheme change to a 3-4 defense and a new regime wanting new players. But it also speaks to an inability to find stability on the interior of the line ever since parting ways with Linval Joseph after the 2019 season.

In 2017, the Vikings were No. 5 in NFL run defense, allowing 3.7 yards per carry. That figure went up every year thereafter: 4.1 in 2018, 4.3 in 2019, 4.6 in 2020 and 4.7 in 2021, when the Vikings were in the bottom five of the league.

They couldn't stop the run and couldn't get consistent QB pressure, which speaks to a combination of injuries (Danielle Hunter) and more importantly the second factor in this defensive line analysis: years of draft neglect.

The Vikings under Spielman didn't pick a DL in the first or second round of any draft from 2014-2021. The last was Sharrif Floyd in 2013. Eight years, all with a defensive-minded head coach who likes to rush the passer, and nobody in the front four chosen with a high pick.

Of course it's hard to address every area of need, especially when you are investing so much draft capital to compensate for years of offensive line neglect.

Perhaps the new regime led by Kwesi Adofo-Mensah can find a way to address both lines at the same time.

about the writer

about the writer

Michael Rand

Columnist / Reporter

Michael Rand is the Star Tribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer and host/creator of the Daily Delivery podcast. In 25 years covering Minnesota sports at the Star Tribune, he has seen just about everything (except, of course, a Vikings Super Bowl).

See More

More from Randball

card image

When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.

card image
card image