Following an impressive 2024 preseason, defensive lineman Jalen Redmond got his first chance to make an impact for the Minnesota Vikings in the 2024 campaign in the team's Week 3 win over the Houston Texans.
That game against the Texans was actually Redmond's first-ever appearance in an NFL regular season contest. He played well against Houston and he went on to appear in a total of 14 games for the Vikings in 2024, including the team's first-round playoff matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.
Undrafted out of Oklahoma, Redmond was rewarded for his performance this season on Thursday when Minnesota revealed that they have re-signed him to a new contract. He'll now get to spend the entire 2025 offseason with the Vikings to prepare for an even bigger role with the team next season.
Minnesota Vikings DL Jalen Redmond was a pleasant surprise in 2024
Plenty of players have performed well for Minnesota in the past, but not all of them have been able to continue playing at a high level when the games actually matter in the regular season. That wasn't the case for Redmond in 2024.
After finishing the preseason with the third-highest PFF defensive grade among all Vikings players, he ended his first regular season with the team with the second-highest PFF defensive grade among all Minnesota players with at least 100 snaps on defense.
No Vikings defensive lineman with at least 100 snaps on the field this season had a higher PFF run defense grade or PFF pass rushing grade than Redmond. His 10.2 run stop percentage also ranked first among all Minnesota defensive linemen with at least 50 run defense snaps in the 2024 campaign.
This season, the Vikings ranked fourth in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per attempt and second in expected points contributed by the rushing defense and Redmond certainly had a lot to do with those rankings.
At 25-years-old, Redmond has a bright future ahead of him. Entering the NFL as an undrafted rookie in 2023 probably wasn't how he wanted his pro career to begin, but he appears to have found a home in Minnesota and there's no reason to think he won't perform even better than he did in 2024 when he returns to the field in purple and gold next season.