Decision No. 5
Not improving the defensive line
This didn't seem like much of a problem in Week 1, but during Thursday's loss to the Eagles, the Vikings had absolutely no answer for Philadelphia's rushing attack. Minnesota gave up an embarrassing 259 rushing yards to the Eagles on Thursday night, the second-most the Vikings have allowed in a single game since 2005.
This offseason, Minnesota was unsuccessful in their attempt to re-sign defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, someone who has been a solid run defender ever since he entered the NFL in 2017.
To replace Tomlinson, the Vikings decided to sign veteran Dean Lowry in free agency this year. Before signing with Minnesota this offseason, Lowry spent seven years as a member of the Green Bay Packers. He was a solid starter for the Packers, but he wasn't exactly an upgrade over Tomlinson for the Vikings.
This has been made very clear during Minnesota's first two games of the season. So far this year, only cornerback Byron Murphy, linebacker Brian Asamoah, and edge rusher Patrick Jones II have a worse run defense grade from PFF than Lowry.
Minnesota did spend a draft pick on an interior defensive lineman this year in former LSU defender Jaquelin Roy, but he wasn't selected until the fifth round.
It seems like the Vikings were hoping that Lowry was going to step in and be a legitimate replacement for Tomlinson this season. But if that's what they truly thought, then Minnesota needs to hire some new people to evaluate defensive line talent.