INDIANAPOLIS — As he addressed some of the Vikings’ biggest needs this week at the 2025 NFL Combine, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah acknowledged the importance of being able to generate pressure without having to blitz.
That’s exactly how the Philadelphia throttled the Kansas City on their way to winning the Super Bowl. The Eagles’ interior defensive line was dominant at the point of attack, and it allowed them to make life miserable for the Chiefs without sending a single blitz throughout the entire game.
The best way for the Vikings to try to emulate that model would be to spend significant draft capital on the interior of their defensive line. To say they have rarely done that as of late would be a massive understatement.
The last time the Vikings invested so heavily on the interior of the defensive line came when they selected defensive tackle Sharif Floyd in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. You have to go back another decade for the previous time the Vikings selected DT — Kevin Williams in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft.
It would behoove the Vikings to buck that in a couple of months. They have the No. 24 pick in April 24-26 draft, and if they decide not to trade down, they should consider using it on the best defensive tackle available.
This is widely regarded as deep draft class at defensive tackle. Though it’s a certainty that Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham will be long gone by the time the Vikings are on the clock, there should be a number of options available.
A potential fit could be somebody like Michigan’s Kenneth Grant, whose 6-foot-4, 330-pound frame could help him make a major impact as a rookie.
“Most guys think I’m just a run stopper,” Grant said. “I’m super athletic and can rush the passer.”
Maybe somebody like Ole Miss’s Walter Nolen, who prides himself on an intensity that allows him to play even bigger than his 6-foot-4, 295-pound frame would suggest.
“I feel like I do everything,” Nolen said. “It’s hard to find someone who looks like me and does the things I do.”
Then there is Oregon’s Derrick Harmon, who has the versatility needed to play multiple positions with a 6-foot-4, 315-pound frame to match. “I’ve got that dog in me,” he said. “A real gritty player who’s trying to get to the ball and make a play.”
Now, if the Vikings decide to trade down, they should still have options, whether that’s Toledo’s Darius Alexander, South Carolina’s T.J. Sanders or Kentucky’s Deone Walker, among a handful of others.
“It’s a ‘starter’s draft’ is how I would phrase it,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “Some positions maybe don’t have that super star that we have had in years past. We do have a boatload of starters, particularly the defensive line. A bunch of really, really good players.”
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