New Vikings Duo Ranked among NFL’s Best
One of the major issues the Minnesota Vikings faced last season was that they were a playoff team but not a genuine contender — and a complete lack of interior pass rush contributed to that problem.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah moved to remedy that with two significant signings in free agency, and the new Vikings duo is ranked among the league’s best, according to Pro Football Focus.
Vikings Territory looks at where a new Vikings duo ranks amongst their counterparts across the league.
The two men in question are Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. Two veteran interior pass rushers with a reputation for getting after the quarterback were exactly what Minnesota needed to boost its defense. Both men experienced injury problems in 2024 that led to down years, which in turn improved their availability.
Hargrave suffered a torn triceps in Week 3 last season, which ended his season. San Francisco decided to release him in March, and the Vikings pounced to sign the 32-year-old immediately to a two-year, $30 million contract.
Allen was also released in March after Washington failed to find a trade partner. Having missed a significant portion of the middle of the season due to a partially torn pectoral muscle, Allen returned at the end of the season and Washington’s playoff run.
It was a surprise they were so keen to move on from the man that have been the dominant force on their defensive line for the last eight years. Minnesota quickly moved to sign the 30-year-old to a three-year, $60 million contract.
PFF has been releasing a series of articles where they rank the top 32 players for each position group. In their interior defender rankings, both Allen and Hargrave made the list. Allen came in at number 29 while Hargrave was one place lower at 30. Let’s take a look at what PFF said about the new Vikings duo and their respective rankings.
Jonathan Allen
The younger of the two, Allen should have more tread left on the tires — hence the longer contract. He also finished last season healthy, so his higher ranking is to be expected. A two-time Pro Bowler, Allen has been one of the best interior defenders in the league over recent years, but what are the Vikings getting in 2025? Here is what PFF had to say:
Allen is getting up there in age, now 30 years old, and will be settling in with a new team in 2025. But he should still be a strong veteran presence for the Vikings.
His 56.0 PFF overall grade last season was a career low, but he also earned a 68.5 PFF pass-rush grade and is only two years removed from back-to-back single-season grades in the 80.0 range.
It was a down season for Allen last year, but if he can stay healthy, he is still young enough to recapture form close to his best. That’s what everyone will be hoping for in Minnesota. I expect him to be one of the Vikings’ top players on defense this season.
Javon Hargrave
Hargrave has moved around the league during his nine-year career. Spending time in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and now Minnesota — possibly his last stop. Before last year’s very shortened season, Hargrave had been voted to two of the previous three Pro Bowls with 25.5 sacks across that period. Here is what PFF had to say:
Like Jonathan Allen, Hargrave will don new threads this season. Also similar to Allen, he is coming off a career-low 60.6 PFF overall grade. But his 73.3 PFF pass-rush grade hopefully hints that there is still an impact role for him to play on the Vikings’ defensive line. Hargrave recorded PFF pass-rush grades above 82.0 in each of the previous four seasons.
Hargrave’s success in Minnesota will largely depend on his role. If all has gone well with the rehabilitation of his injury, there should still be plenty of juice left in Hargrave’s pass-rush repertoire.
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