The Vikings’ Opening Depth Chart Tosses a Young Guy into Starting Spot
The Vikings’ opening depth chart (one with a disclaimer at the top suggesting changes could arrive) may not be ironclad evidence of who will be on the field for the first snap of Week 1. Nevertheless, it’s a fascinating clue for how things are looking.
After moving on from Harrison Phillips, the Vikings are listing Jalen Redmond as a starting defensive lineman. Keep in mind, folks, that he’s someone who spent time on the practice squad last year. He kept working, climbing onto the 53 before stealing Jerry Tillery’s starting job before 2024 ended. Going into 2025, Redmond has now positioned himself alongside Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave as the potential top DT trio.
The Vikings’ Opening Depth Chart Has a Starter in Jalen Redmond
Start off with a simple reality: Redmond is an impressive athlete.
He’s a touch undersized at 6’3″ and 291 pounds, but that’s the way the NFL is trending. Coach Flores doesn’t appear to mind smaller tackles, often going for versatile, active players rather than the traditionally monstrous 1-techniques who would be immovable. Part of the trade off for the smaller size is someone who is very explosive. Redmond ran a 4.81 forty, a tremendous time for a defensive tackle.
Goodness, step back and assess the overall RAS profile and one can’t help but be intrigued. He came in at a sizzling 9.68 out of 10.00, only getting dinged for being a bit smaller. Knowing just a bit of his story — an UDFA before impressing in the spring football league before a practice squad spot — suggests that he’s resilient and hard working.
Last year, Redmond was added into the mix for the Vikings. Most, if not all, thought that he was someone who was in town merely for training camp and the preseason.
Before 2024 could conclude, though, Redmond had proven to be someone capable of creating chaos on an NFL football field. Within his thirteen games (two starts), Redmond was involved in 208 defensive snaps (roughly 208 more snaps than most onlookers anticipated). He rewarded the Vikings with 18 tackles, 1 sack, 1 QB hit, 6 tackles for loss, and 2 passes defended.
One wonders how high the 26-year-old defender can soar in the upcoming season.
Last year, Harrison Phillips got into the game for 675 snaps across all seventeen games. Jonathan Bullard was on the field for 574 snaps in all seventeen games. Jerry Tillery was on the field for 467 snaps within all seventeen games. All three of these defensive tackles are out in Minnesota.
Obviously, Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave are going to soak up huge workloads. Each has accomplished much in their NFL careers, proving to be among the foremost DT options over these past several years. When healthy, they’re a handful.
But then the reality is that each has battled injury recently and each is a touch older. So, room for Jalen Redmond to get worked into the mix for what should be a hearty workload. He is, after all, being listed among the starters.
Seeing Mr. Redmond end up somewhere around 400-500 snaps won’t be surprising. What Minnesota will be looking to see is someone who is disruptive at the line of scrimmage, consistently getting into the backfield as both a run defender and while chasing down the passer.
If successful, then Jalen Redmond’s $960,000 cap charge is going to look like one of the best deals on the books in 2025. Keep ascending and Redmond is going to arrive at a strong payday before too long.
Redmond’s first assignment is to make Caleb Williams skittish in the pocket on September 8th when the Vikings battle the Bears on Monday Night Football.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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