Bleacher Report Names Almighty Breakout Player for Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings have engineered a 3-2 record to start the season, needing a couple of breakout showings from little-known players to floss the winning record. According to Bleacher Report, the guy at the top of the ticket for standing off the page is defensive tackle Jalen Redmond. Yes, the guy who used to play in the UFL.
The regular season has five weeks in the books, and the Minnesota Vikings already have a clear breakout player, according to Bleacher Report.
Redmond has continued his 2024 emergence in 2025, showing no signs of slowing down and solidifying his role in Brian Flores’ defense.
Bleacher Report’s Breakout Player for Vikings? It’s DT Jalen Redmond.
Yes, Bleacher Report nailed it.
Jalen Redmond Gets ‘Breakout Player’ Love
BR’s Brad Gagnon took on the task of identifying a breakout player for each NFL team this week, and for the Vikings and Jalen Redmond, he made it short and sweet.
“The undrafted third-year Oklahoma product hardly contributed to the Vikings in 2024 but now has three sacks in his last four games, and his impact goes well beyond that,” Gagnon wrote.
Redmond has translated his miniature 2024 epiphany to 2025, so Gagnon knocked this one out of the park. By leaps and bounds, Redmond is Minnesota’s sweetest surprise story in 2025.
A Breakout Indeed
Redmond has tallied a Pro Football Focus score of 75.0 through five games, and in fact, leading into his team’s win over the Cleveland Browns in London, Redmond ranked as the NFL’s second-best defensive tackle through four games.
The ranking dipped after Week 5, sending Redmond to No. 15 in PFF’s DT pecking order, but his performance out of the gate in 2025 cannot be ignored. He’s on pace for double-digit sacks this season and seeing the field on defense about 60% of the time. Minnesota has endured many, many injuries this season, but the defensive tackle spot is not one of them, meaning Redmond is playing frequently because he’s that damn good — not due to another player’s injury.
Surpassing Notable Veteran Peers
Back in March, Minnesota signed two premier interior defensive linemen: Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah invested heavily in the pair and the DT spot, in general.
But to date this season, Redmond has turned heads, while Allen has struggled compared to his contract price, and Hargrave has mostly performed well.
At defensive tackle during the offseason, Adofo-Mensah bought Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies, but the off-brand tastes better.
Other Purple Breakouts?
Redmond isn’t wholly alone in breaking out for the purple team.
Newcomer cornerback Isaiah Rodgers has become a revelation, setting the world on fire in Week 3 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals with one of the best individual performances in Vikings history. Many consider Rodgers the team’s most productive and trustworthy corner after five games.
Running back Jordan Mason has stolen the RB1 job after Aaron Jones injured his hamstring. Mason fumbled last week, but aside from that gaffe, he’s proven his chops as a genuine RB1.
Young defenders Levi Drake Rodriguez, also a defensive tackle, and safety Jay Ward have also pleasantly surprised the masses. But because Redmond came from the UFL, a guy nobody had ever heard of, he takes the cake as the almighty breakout personality.
More Breakout Players vis-a-vis Minnesota’s Rivals
Other BR breakouts? Gagnon tabbed Chicago Bears WR Rome Odunze and explained, “Quarterback Caleb Williams has also taken a big step forward in his second season, but it’s another sophomore first-round pick who gets the nod here. Odunze has five touchdown grabs in just four games, after scoring just three times as a rookie in 2024.”
For the Detroit Lions, EDGE rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad got the nod: “So many Lions have broken out in recent years that there aren’t a lot of good options here. Still, Muhammad has a top-10 pass-rushing grade at PFF thanks to 3.5 sacks on just 135 snaps.”
In Green Bay, Gagnon rolled with wideout Romeo Doubs: “Jordan Love has also made strides in his third year as a starter, but it’s Doubs who already has four touchdowns in four games as the quarterback’s top target in that receiving corps. The fourth-year fourth-round pick is likely to set career highs across the board in 2025.”
And defensive lineman Moro Ojomo got the call for the Philadelphia Eagles, a team Minnesota will face in 10 days: “This is basically a tie between two 2023 draft picks for the Eagles, as both Ojomo and guard Tyler Steen have come out of nowhere-ish to play huge roles this season. Ojomo had zero sacks in his career before recording two in the last four weeks, and he has the 11th-best qualified PFF grade at his position.”
Redmond is currently playing on a one-year contract worth less than a million bucks. The value is off the charts.
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