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An Overview of the Minnesota Vikings Defense
The Vikings have played championship-caliber defense for the last two seasons. They might even have been a little better in 2025. Both teams held opponents under 20 points per game. Both were among the best in the league at getting to the quarterback, to the tune of 49 sacks. The 2024 unit led the league in interceptions; the 2025 team led the league in fumble recoveries. The 2025 pass defense allowed the second-fewest yards, had the seventh-best completion percentage, and allowed a league-low 32 plays of over 20 yards. Yet, the run defense was the most improved. Last year's group ranked sixth in yards per carry with the fourth-fewest runs of 20+ yards, despite facing the second-most attempts.
Minnesota lost a few good players, including Jonathan Greenard, Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, and Harrison Smith. The average age of those guys is 32.5, with Greenard the youngest at 29. If the goal was to save money and get younger, mission accomplished.
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Greenard became expendable when 2024 first-round pick Dallas Turner blew up last season. First-round pick Caleb Banks and third-rounder Domonique Orange are good young players who will replace Allen and Hargrave. Third-round pick Jakobe Thomas will take the roster spot of the 37-year-old Smith, who is expected to retire. The team expects Thomas to replace Smith on the field at some point as well.
The Vikings also added a future starter at linebacker with the second-round selection of Jake Golday and helped a thin corner position with fifth-rounder Charles Demmings, who could contribute early. They were not very active in free agency, however, with corner Pierre James being the only significant signing.
The scheme and coaching staff remain the same, and they swapped veteran talent for young talent. There is no reason to expect anything short of another excellent campaign from this defense. If only the offense can score some points...
Minnesota Vikings Defensive Linemen
The team had a pair of young players step up big in 2025. One was expected; the other not so much. Dallas Turner was the 17th selection in the 2024 draft and brings a ton of talent to the mix. He checks all the boxes. He is blazing fast, highly athletic, has an explosive upfield burst, and put up impressive sack numbers at Alabama. As a junior in 2023, Turner totaled 53 tackles, 10 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles over 14 games.
Turner played much of his rookie season on a sore knee. He opened the year with a week one sack, hurt his knee in week two, and then finished the year with two sacks over the last four games to go 12-8-3 with a takeaway on 300 plays. He opened 2025 as the third man behind Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel. When Van Ginkel missed five games early in the year, Turner moved into the starting lineup. Then, Greenard missed five games late in the campaign, so Turner made five more starts. When all the numbers were in, Turner sat at 66 tackles, 8 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and was the 14th-ranked edge defender. This time around, he doesn't have to wait for someone to get hurt. Turner is a talented 23-year-old player in a great situation, with a strong supporting cast. He has barely scratched the surface. I expect he will be a perennial top-twelve guy starting this year.
Van Ginkel remains one of the fantasy game's most underrated players. That is probably because he was not such a factor early in his career, when the Dolphins couldn't figure out what to do with him. He has always been productive on a per-snap basis, but Miami insisted on making him a sub-package specialist instead of putting him on the field. The Vikings have no such issues.
Van Ginkel had 17 sacks over five seasons in Miami. He landed in Minnesota in 2024 and went 50-29-11.5 with 3 turnovers, 6 passes defended, and 2 scores. Those numbers made him the number one edge defender by a wide margin over T.J. Watt, who was second. Van Ginkle was hurt early in 2025 and was not fully healthy until week 10, so his overall numbers of 28-26-7 and 3 turnovers are misleading. At just a hair under twelve points per game, he ranked fourth at the edge position. He is healthy heading into camp and ready for another big season.
Unlike the last two seasons, the Vikings don't have a young, up-and-coming number three at the edge position. Instead, they have Chaz Chambliss, Bo Richter, Tyler Batty, and a handful of other young, undrafted, and former undrafted guys competing for backup snaps. An injury to Turner or Van Ginkel might be a big blow to their hopes. On the other hand, the team has a good track record of finding diamonds in the rough and having them make big contributions.
A great example of this is the unexpected player I mentioned earlier, who stepped up big last year. Tackle Jalen Redmond made the team as an undrafted free agent in 2024. He played sparingly as a rookie, recording 18 tackles, a sack, and 2 batted passes. He won the starting job last summer and was a big factor in the success story.
Redmond does a great job of getting under the pads of blockers and using leverage to escape and make plays. He initially turned heads as a run defender, but it didn't take the coaching staff long to figure out that he can get after the quarterback as well. He played mostly on early downs for the first month or so. After the team's week six bye, Redmond's playing time increased. He logged at least 70% of the snaps in every game the rest of the way, seeing over 80% in most. The result was an impressive stat line of 62 tackles, 6 sacks, 3 turnovers, five batted passes, and a top-five finish among interior linemen. It was one season, so there is always the chance that he will turn back into a pumpkin, but I would bet against it.
Some project first-round rookie Caleb Banks as the starting nose tackle, replacing Hargrave. It is possible, but don't count on it. Nose tackles in 3-4 schemes see a lot of double teams. The great ones are often big guys who can take on blockers, hold the ground, and slip off to make plays. That description sounds more like third-round pick Domonique Orange. Banks is undersized for that role and is more of a one-gap penetrator who beats single blocks quickly to be disruptive. One thing that is assured: he will be on the field a lot.
Banks was not a stat guy during his three years at Florida. That doesn't necessarily mean he will not become one at the pro level. The talent is there, and there will be plenty of opportunity. I just have a hard time getting excited about a player who had 48 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 27 games.
Orangs, Levi Drake Rodrigues, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, and free agent addition Eric Johnson II will all be in the mix for playing time. We will have to see how this pans out. There could be a second good IDP target among this group, but there is none that can be identified at this early stage.
- Edge Andrew Van Ginkel – Solid ED1 with top 5 potential
- Edge Dallas Turner – Rising star who could land on the elite tier
- Edge Bo Richter – Injury sleeper
- Edge Chaz Chambliss – Injury sleeper
- Edge Tyler Batty – No impact expected
- DT Caleb Banks – Not much production at the college level
- DT Jalen Redmond – Strong DT1
- DT Levi Drake Rodriguez – Watchlist guy
- DT Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins – Deep sleeper at best
- NT Domonique Orange – No impact expected
- NT Eric Johnson II – No impact expected