5 Vikings to watch heading into their 2019 training camp

Armon Watts – DT

When it comes to the later rounds of the NFL Draft, a lot of teams throw darts at the wall to see what will stick. For the Minnesota Vikings, the later rounds have usually meant drafting athletic defensive linemen and coaching them up to be part of their rotation along the front four.

While the Vikings didn’t put much stock into their defense in this year’s draft class, they did make the selection of Armon Watts. The Arkansas product had an interesting collegiate career as he recorded just seven tackles in his first three seasons with the Razorbacks. In his senior season, however, Watts erupted for 49 total tackles (8.5 for a loss) and seven sacks.

On-field production is one thing, but as the Vikings have shown, there are other traits that can spell success at this level. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein noted that Watts has the versatility to play at any position along the defensive line and wins by using his hands to make for sub-par athleticism that he showed during his pro day.

While there are several things Watts needs to work on, his size and fundamentals make him a dream project for defensive line coach Andre Patterson, who has helped mold Hunter, Everson Griffen into All-Pros and even the returning Shamar Stephen into an NFL starter.

Linval Joseph remains on the Vikings defensive line, but there’s plenty of opportunity behind him. Stephen will likely be the second starter, but the Vikings would like to see someone step up and become a legitimate three-technique pass rusher. Jalyn Holmes and Jaleel Johnson have yet to do that, so it will be interesting to see how quickly Watts absorbs the coaching of Patterson and whether he can skyrocket to a meaningful role.