5 Vikings players who could have bigger roles in 2020

Armon Watts – DT

The Vikings didn’t unleash Watts until almost the midpoint of the 2019 season. His first game was against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10 and he made an immediate impact with half a sack and three tackles.

Watching Watts play is reminiscent of the old Vikings defensive tackle Tom Johnson. Not that they are physically similar or anything, but when Johnson was in the lineup he always seemed to make at least one splash play a game.

Watts is the same way. He only gets a handful of snaps per game, but he tends to make the most out of them.

Minnesota currently doesn’t use a three-technique in their base defense. They roll with Linval Joseph and Shamar Stephen who are both run stuffers. Watts has proven he can create that interior pressure where guys like Hercules Mata’afa and Jalyn Holmes have failed to do so on a consistent basis.

If the Vikings want to get more pressure in the interior next season, Watts could begin to cut into Stephen’s workload. Of course, this could differ on a game-by-game basis, depending on the strength of the opposing offense.

No matter what, Watts will likely be active for all 16 games next season and he should see his snap count multiply exponentially from what it was during his rookie year.