2 Vikings Signings Among NFL’s “Most Intriguing”
The Minnesota Vikings have conducted a rather flashy free agency in the last week and a half, adding about a dozen new players and watching as approximately nine players from the 2024 depth chart joined new teams.
2 Vikings Signings Among NFL’s “Most Intriguing”
Among the impact signings from general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, two defensive tackles, turned purple last week. The Vikings had notoriously skimped at the roster spot for over a decade but knocked it out of the park, at least on paper, with the two veteran DT acquisitions.
And according to CBS Sports, Allen and Hargarve are two of the “most intriguing” signings in free agency.
Jonathan Allen
CBS Sports’ Jared Nubin named-dropped Allen and Hargrave in an article detailing the league’s most intriguing signings and wrote: “Minnesota already had one of the NFL’s best and most fascinating defenses in 2024, with Brian Flores scheming things up and a host of fast, athletic, versatile players stacking each level of the unit. But the weakness of that unit was on the defensive interior.”
“On runs up the middle, according to Tru Media, the Vikings allowed 1.73 yards before contact per attempt — a mark that ranked 26th in the NFL. Their interior defensive linemen combined for only 75 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus.”
Allen twisted in Minnesota’s trade rumor mill last year, starting in the summer and leading all the way up to the November deadline. Washington ultimately hung onto Allen and later reached the NFC Championship.
Here’s his Pro Football Focus resume to date:
- 2024: 56.0
- 2023: 59.7
- 2022: 80.1
- 2021: 84.9
- 2020: 78.4
- 2019: 60.5
- 2018: 69.7
- 2017: 78.2
Not bad, especially for a team that blatantly never signs or drafts three-technique defensive tackles like Allen.
Javon Hargrave
Nubin added about the new duo, “Neither Allen nor Hargrave was fully healthy in 2024, but when they were in 2023, Allen had 49 pressures on his own and Hargrave had 52. If these two can stay on the field, it will be a massive upgrade.”
Most Vikings fans rejoiced at Allen as a standalone defensive signing. But pairing him with Hargrave could formulate a deadly pairing within the 2025 defensive line that perhaps onlookers haven’t seen from Minnesota since the 1970s. The talent is there.
Here’s Hargave’s PFF scorecard, which is somewhat similar to Allen’s;
- 2024: 60.6
- 2023: 74.9
- 2022: 80.1
- 2021: 67.3
- 2020: 61.2
- 2019: 83.4
- 2018: 80.6
- 2017: 74.3
- 2016: 63.7
The Vikings were hellbent on adding an impactful defensive tackle this offseason. General manager Adofo-Mensah spoke at the NFL Combine in February, acknowledging that his team must improve in the defensive trenches. “To play January football, there’s a certain way you’ve got to play. You’ve got to be able to control the ball, and be able to get after the passer with just four. We need to get better and will,” the Vikings boss told reporters.
He made good on the remarks. A prophecy of sorts.
The DL Group for 2025
The Vikings defensive line is shaping up like this in 2025 — even before anyone has seen a draft class:
- Dallas Turner
- Javon Hargrave
- Jonathan Allen
- Harrison Phillips
- Andrew Van Ginkel
- Jonathan Greenard
That type of talent in the trenches should do tremendous damage on Sunday and improve a 2024 Vikings defense that ranked second leaguewide per EPA/Play.
It’s also worth noting that Adofo-Mensah could choose another defensive tackle in the draft on April 24th, like Walter Nolen (Ole Miss), Kenneth Grant (Michigan), or Derrick Harmon (Oregon), creating an abomination of DT riches.
Not everyone loved the Allen signing, for example. ESPN gave the Allen-to-Vikings move a “D+” grade last week.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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