Dalvin Tomlinson Getting Better Week after Week
It was way back in March when the Minnesota Vikings moved to sign former New York Giants defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson. He was the marquee signing of the offseason, signing a two-year deal worth $22 million. An ever-present for the Giants during his four-year tenure, he not only played but started every game for the Giants since being drafted in the second round in 2017.
He was viewed as a great addition as the Vikings looked to shore up the middle of their defensive line, which was a significant weakness on the defense in the 2020 season. Partnering Tomlinson with the returning Michael Pierce, a Covid-19 opt-out in 2020, was the answer to solve those problems.
A Rocky Start
The Vikings defense has had somewhat of a difficult start to the season. Mike Zimmer’s revamped unit was supposed to be a difference-maker making this team into s contender — supporting last season’s high-powered offense to complete an all-around good team. That hasn’t happened. Tomlinson himself struggled in the opening two games of the season. He seems to have found his feet and performed much better the last two weeks. Through four games, he has ten tackles, two QB hits, and one sack.
His overall grade from Pro Football Focus of 79.4 is the fourth-highest on the Vikings roster after four games. It’s also the tenth highest grade for a defensive tackle in the league.
Highest PFF graded DL through Week 4:
1) Cameron Heyward, 91.9
2) Aaron Donald, 91.3
3) Jonathan Allen, 90.7
4) Calais Campbell, 88.9
5) Folorunso Fatukasi, 81.1
6) DJ Reader, 80.9
7) Leonard Williams, 80.8
8) BJ Hill, 79.7
9) Al Woods, 79.6
10) Dalvin Tomlinson, 79.4 pic.twitter.com/v63sNDObr2— Mike Kennedy (@MikeKennedyNFL) October 6, 2021
His grades for the last two games were 84.3 against the Seattle Seahawks and 89.4 against the Cleveland Browns. Clearly he struggled early on, but he has been getting better every week. His pass-rush grade of 77.4 is higher than his run defense grade of 69.3, which is an area that still needs some improvement — something that can be said for the whole defense, as I talked about earlier in the week here.
Partnership with Pierce
The partnership with Michael Pierce in the middle of the line just started to show signs of blossoming in the second half against the Seahawks. A practice injury to Pierce in the lead up to the Week 4 game against the Cleveland Browns has put the partnership on hold for now. Although Pierce did play against the Browns, he’s now expected to miss several games. It’s a blow to a defense that needs to step up over the coming weeks.
There was a thought that Tomlinson might move into the nose tackle position during Pierce’s absence — an idea dismissed by the Vikings coaching staff, a group who seemingly prefers keeping him in a consistent position. Perhaps they believe Piere will return sooner than later.
It will likely be third-year defensive tackle Armon Watts next to him on early downs. The former sixth-round pick has seen the field often in his Vikings career to date, though this will be a first chance as a potential starter for a number of weeks. This increases the need for Tomlinson to step up and be a force and a leader on that defensive line.
And that starts with Sunday’s divisional matchup against the Detroit Lions.