Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's decision to roster 3 rookie defensive linemen could prove to be a brilliant move
When looking at the Minnesota Vikings' initial 53-man roster, there are quite a few things that stand out. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is entering his third year running the Vikings front office and the path the franchise is currently on raises a lot of questions. The way Adofo-Mensah has constructed this team currently is unique. […]
When looking at the Minnesota Vikings' initial 53-man roster, there are quite a few things that stand out. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is entering his third year running the Vikings front office and the path the franchise is currently on raises a lot of questions.
The way Adofo-Mensah has constructed this team currently is unique. Despite having a poor interior offensive and defensive line, Adofo-Mensah hasn't gone for a large-scale approach yet to fix it. That element has some in the fanbase frustrated but the approach could pay some major dividends.
Vikings' approach draws intrigue and criticism
The construction of the defensive line has been really interesting to watch. After the 2022 season, the Vikings tried to bring back Dalvin Tomlinson but they were strapped with the salary cap and couldn't match what the Cleveland Browns were offering in a three-year deal worth $39 million.
They did bring in Harrison Phillips on a three-year contract worth $18 million and he's been the best defensive lineman on the roster. That has been part of the problem for the Vikings. He is a solid player, but is more of a complementary piece than a dominant force.
That element is something the Vikings have lacked. Now, they have had talent at edge rusher led by Danielle Hunter. He was a monster for the Vikings on the edge no matter who was on the opposite side.
This offseason, the Vikings had Hunter depart and Adofo-Mensah chose to fortify and maximize the edge rusher group. He replaced Hunter and D.J. Wonnum with Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. It was smart to fill the edge room up with talent after the Vikings saw Hunter, D.J. Wonnum and Marcus Davenport all leave for other opportunities. The one thing they didn't do was fortify the defensive tackle room.
Now, that wasn't because they didn't try. The Vikings were in on free agent Christian Wilkins who signed a massive contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. What they ended up doing was signing multiple low-cost and low-upside players who can be solid in a rotation. The tough pill for Vikings fans to swallow was that the group didn't seem to improve at all during the offseason.
Then came the NFL Draft. After securing J.J. McCarthy at 10th overall, the immediate thought went to the Vikings potentially selecting one of Texas DT Byron Murphy II or Illinois DT Johnny Newton. Both of them were viewed as high-upside pieces who could be a massive difference maker on the interior for the Vikings. Murphy ended up being selected at 16th overall by the Seattle Seahawks and Newton had foot issues that likely contributed to him falling out of the first round.
The Vikings shifted and selected edge rusher Dallas Turner with a trade up at 17th overall. The move to select an edge rusher in the first round with a poor defensive line was questioned greatly, so much so that the talent of Turner was often overshadowed.
Defensive line approach could pay dividends
Fast forward to the Vikings defensive line group now. They only selected one in the NFL Draft and that was Levi Drake Rodriguez at 232nd overall. He was Kalyn Kahler's "Prospect X" and the Vikings fell in love with him during the predraft process. He plays a pivotal role in this discussion, as the Vikings defensive line is going to rely on Rodriguez heavily this season.
The Vikings initial 53-man roster has six defensive linemen in the room with the three backups being a seventh-round pick (Rodriguez), a UDFA in Taki Taimani and a 2023 UDFA in Jalen Redmond that the Vikings signed from the Arlington Renegades in the UFL. That is a strange room to look at with only one guy who is truly at the level of a starter and your three backups haven't taken a single snap in the National Football League, it's a puzzling choice.
There is, however, a lot of intrigue with the process that Adofo-Mensah is using. Last season having a similar defensive line, the Vikings were the 13th-ranked defense and the 17th-ranked scoring defense. That is partly due to the genius of defensive coordinator Brian Flores and the talent that surrounded the defensive line.
It raises the question: Do the Vikings need a good defensive line to succeed?
This season is going to show a lot about the defensive scheme as a whole as well as a potential team-building strategy. If the scheme doesn't need a great defensive line, which would go against conventional wisdom, it would be an interesting paradigm shift. Historically. some of the best Super Bowl winning teams have dominant defensive lines. It's one of the easiest ways to control the game by dominating the line of scrimmage.
The Vikings are so aggressive, creative and multiple in how they attack opposing offenses that having an elite defensive line wasn't necessary last season. Now, that doesn't mean it wouldn't be helpful. If you have better players, it will make your job easier.
The intrigue here is the Moneyball approach the team decided to use. Bring in players to fill certain roles and push your chips in the middle so that the three young players who dominated in the preseason can continue growing and developing will be enough to stay competitive and win football games.
It also provides a certain advantage for the Vikings in the future. Phillips, Jonathan Bullard and Jerry Tillery are all free agents after the season. If you have three young players that all get significant snaps in their first season, they could theoretically give you 1-2 starters for 2025 or at the very least, rotational backups that will continue developing.
That strategy is a bold one, but it makes sense. The Vikings do want to compete in 2024, but the 2025 season is when the supposed Super Bowl window is set to begin. Adofo-Mensah has shown an impressive ability to find talent in the undrafted ranks. Last season, the Vikings kept three UDFAs and they did so this year as well. All of them were on the defensive side of the football. Linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. is set to wear the green dot and will be a starter for the entirety of the 2024 season.
The Vikings are taking a calculated risk that this strategy will pay off. They did sign defensive end Jonah Williams to the practice squad and they can elevate him for the first few games to help ease the transition for the rookies.
If this ends up working, the Vikings won't just have talented players on the defensive line with little investment, they can have three rotational players for $1 million each, a huge benefit when it comes to continuing to build out the depth of the roster.
If it doesn't work, the Vikings can just heavily invest into the defensive line group next season where the NFL Draft class is very deep. In the salary cap era, you have to find a way to cut costs somewhere and developing three young players is a great bet to make.
Minnesota Vikings finalize initial practice squad with 17 players
A lot of familiar names
