The Minnesota Vikings have a rich history of defensive tackles, and Jalen Redmond is making a case to add to it. Redmond has a way to go to be on the same level as Hall of Famers like John Randle or Alan Page, but he made a similar impact on Sunday to help the Vikings defeat the Chicago Bears by a score of 9-3.
Redmond finished Sunday’s game with four total tackles, and PFF credited him with a pair of quarterback pressures on 40 pass-rushing snaps. But all four of Redmond’s tackles were run stops, and he came up with one of the biggest defensive plays of the game in the third quarter, stripping D’Andre Swift at the goal line for what could have given Chicago a 10-6 lead.
In a game that had a razor-thin margin for error, Redmond’s performance mattered, and it’s the latest for a player who is becoming the type of defensive tackle the Vikings have been looking for since Linval Joseph left town after the 2019 season.
Jalen Redmond has become the Vikings’ biggest surprise in the trenches
Joseph was a strong defensive tackle who was one of the cornerstones of the Mike Zimmer era. But after his release, the Vikings have had trouble finding an interior defender who can create pressure while also clearing the way for linebackers to make plays.
For the final years of Zimmer’s tenure, the Vikings tried to sell Shemar Stephen as the answer, and former defensive line coach Andre Patterson even referred to him as “The Real Deal.”
But Stephen rarely stood out on tape, and free-agent pickups like Michael Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson didn’t do much to fill the void before Zimmer was fired after the 2021 season.
A new regime led by Kevin O’Connell and former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah also went into free agency to try to fix the problem.
But while Harrison Phillips brought leadership, he wasn’t an impactful defender. Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave were also supposed to be difference-makers in the trenches, but became two of the biggest busts in a cursed 2025 free-agent class.
In the end, the best pickup may have been Redmond, who joined the Vikings as a free agent in the summer of 2024 after playing for the UFL’s Arlington Renegades.
Before that, Redmond was an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma who signed with the Carolina Panthers in 2023, but injuries led to his release and eventually his way to Minnesota.
Success didn’t come right away for Redmond, who played just 236 total snaps during the 2024 season, per PFF.
But even with Allen and Hargrave on the team, he forced his way into a significant role, recording 35 quarterback pressures and six sacks on 369 pass-rushing snaps and making 39 run stops on 369 snaps against the run.
Vikings may have finally solved their interior defensive line problem
That development has continued in the first two games of this season. Redmond only has four total pressures on 74 pass-rushing snaps, but he’s managed five run stops on 38 snaps against the run.
With Sunday’s key play, he’s also only getting better, which may give the Vikings a stable of difference-makers they haven’t had in a while.
Dallas Turner will rightfully get the headlines after he ended the game with a sack of Tyler Bagent. But the interior of the defensive line got a big lift from Redmond and 2026 first-round pick Caleb Banks, who finished with a career-high six tackles and a tackle for loss.
Levi Drake Rodriguez and third-round pick Domonique Orange also played key roles in the season-opening win over the Green Bay Packers, and with Banks having monster upside, the Vikings could have the stable of interior defenders they haven’t had since Joseph was making plays in purple.
The group won’t remind anyone of the Purple People Eaters, but Redmond is becoming a standout leader who is making plays on a weekly basis. With Redmond hitting his stride, Brian Flores’s defense is hitting another gear, and it could be enough to make sure the Vikings’ 2-0 start isn’t a mirage.
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