Levi Drake Rodriguez - 2024 seventh-round pick
Jalen Redmond - signed out of the XFL in 2024
Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins - 2025 fifth-round pick
Elijah Williams - 2025 undrafted
Caleb Banks - 2026 first-round pick
Domonique Orange - 2026 third-round pick
Until using high-end picks on Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Vikings had gone the bargain route to build their defensive line. Jalen Redmond emerged as a difference-maker last season. Another leap this season and he’s in the conversation with the league’s best. Levi Drake Rodriguez and Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins might be on a similar trajectory. Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange have the physical talent to be early draft picks. Both immediately add large and physical presences to the Vikings defensive line. Both have the size, talent, and potential to dominate. Elijah Williams made the roster and flashed at times as a rookie last year. His biggest obstacle to getting on the field is his five linemates.
I really like this Vikings defensive line group. I liked it last season when the undrafted and late-round youngsters were outplaying high-priced additions Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. I liked the group even more when high-end talents Caleb Banks and Domonique Orange were added. This really is a talented group with a high ceiling. For his first three years in Minnesota, defensive coordinator Brian Flores really had to scheme much of the pressure. Now he has the defensive line talent that can only enhance those schemes. Jalen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Elijah Williams, Caleb Banks, and Domonique Orange are fun and talented football players. I can’t wait to see how they grow, work, and evolve together. I believe that they are already a very good group. They might become a great group. How great? If the Vikings have had a history of riches at any position it's been the defensive line. Strong defensive fronts are a tradition in Minnesota and that tradition started with one of the most disruptive defensive lines in the history of the NFL. The Four Norsemen. The Purple People Eaters. Three Dots and a Dash. No matter how they were known they were great.
DE Jim Marshall
DT Alan Page
DT Gary Larsen
DE Carl Eller
Alan Page and Carl Eller are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Many feel that Jim Marshall belongs there as well. Gary Larsen was the least acclaimed of the four but he was solid. He even played in a couple of Pro Bowls. All four made the Pro Bowl in 1969. The Vikings had the best defense and one of the best teams in the league for several years beginning in 1969 and the four up front were the reason. Doug Sutherland eventually replaced Gary Larsen in 1974 but this line played together for a remarkable ten years. That sort of consistency doesn't happen much these days.
DT Gary Larsen
DE Carl Eller
Alan Page and Carl Eller are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Many feel that Jim Marshall belongs there as well. Gary Larsen was the least acclaimed of the four but he was solid. He even played in a couple of Pro Bowls. All four made the Pro Bowl in 1969. The Vikings had the best defense and one of the best teams in the league for several years beginning in 1969 and the four up front were the reason. Doug Sutherland eventually replaced Gary Larsen in 1974 but this line played together for a remarkable ten years. That sort of consistency doesn't happen much these days.
The Vikings drafted some solid defensive linemen in the mid- to late-1970s that the team hoped would step up when the greats that preceded them stepped down. Doug Martin was often outstanding. Mark Mullaney was solid. The Vikings just couldn't put together a complete group. That was the case until the late 1980s when another great defensive front popped up in Minnesota.
DE Chris Doleman
DT Keith Millard
DT Henry Thomas
DE Al Noga
This line had a few seasons of outstanding play. Chris Doleman is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Keith Millard played a couple of seasons like few defensive players ever have. He was Defensive Player of the Year in 1989. If injuries hadn't derailed his career, he'd be in the Hall of Fame with Doleman. Henry Thomas did all of the dirty work. He ate up blocks. He took up space. He stopped the run. Al Noga was a terrific pass rushing threat opposite Doleman. This front probably would have received much more attention if the team had more success. The Vikings were really good at times but never great. They also played in the same conference as dominant, even dynastic, teams like the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, and Washington Redskins. The Vikings did manage to knock off one of those 49ers teams while on their way to the NFC Championship game in 1987. Millard, Doleman, Thomas, and Noga swarmed Joe Montana and the 49ers offense into utter frustration in that playoff game.
One of the greatest players in the history of the Minnesota Vikings is defensive tackle John Randle. Through most of his brilliant career he was the lone threat on the defensive line. His first Pro Bowl and All Pro selection came in 1993. That Vikings defensive line was probably the best of his 11 years in Minnesota.
DE Chris Doleman
DT John Randle
DT Henry Thomas
DE Roy Barker
Doleman was traded to the Atlanta Falcons after that season and Randle never again had a line partner close to his caliber in the destruction of opposing offenses.
It wasn't until the latter half of the 2000s that the Vikings tradition of strong front fours returned. That front was completed when the Vikings acquired defensive end Jared Allen from the Kansas City Chiefs in a trade. The Vikings had their missing pass rusher and another dominant defensive line.
DE Jared Allen
DT Kevin Williams
DT Pat Williams
DE Ray Edwards
This defensive line was great. No one ran on the Williams Wall. Jared Allen and Ray Edwards could just tee off on opposing offensive tackles. Kevin Williams could also apply some pass rushing pressure up the middle. Allen and both Williams' made a couple of Pro Bowls. Allen is the fifth Vikings defensive lineman to have a bust in Canton. Kevin Williams should soon be the sixth. Brian Robison was the link between this great defensive line to the next one.
DE Chris Doleman
DT Keith Millard
DT Henry Thomas
DE Al Noga
This line had a few seasons of outstanding play. Chris Doleman is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Keith Millard played a couple of seasons like few defensive players ever have. He was Defensive Player of the Year in 1989. If injuries hadn't derailed his career, he'd be in the Hall of Fame with Doleman. Henry Thomas did all of the dirty work. He ate up blocks. He took up space. He stopped the run. Al Noga was a terrific pass rushing threat opposite Doleman. This front probably would have received much more attention if the team had more success. The Vikings were really good at times but never great. They also played in the same conference as dominant, even dynastic, teams like the San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, and Washington Redskins. The Vikings did manage to knock off one of those 49ers teams while on their way to the NFC Championship game in 1987. Millard, Doleman, Thomas, and Noga swarmed Joe Montana and the 49ers offense into utter frustration in that playoff game.
One of the greatest players in the history of the Minnesota Vikings is defensive tackle John Randle. Through most of his brilliant career he was the lone threat on the defensive line. His first Pro Bowl and All Pro selection came in 1993. That Vikings defensive line was probably the best of his 11 years in Minnesota.
DE Chris Doleman
DT John Randle
DT Henry Thomas
DE Roy Barker
Doleman was traded to the Atlanta Falcons after that season and Randle never again had a line partner close to his caliber in the destruction of opposing offenses.
It wasn't until the latter half of the 2000s that the Vikings tradition of strong front fours returned. That front was completed when the Vikings acquired defensive end Jared Allen from the Kansas City Chiefs in a trade. The Vikings had their missing pass rusher and another dominant defensive line.
DE Jared Allen
DT Kevin Williams
DT Pat Williams
DE Ray Edwards
This defensive line was great. No one ran on the Williams Wall. Jared Allen and Ray Edwards could just tee off on opposing offensive tackles. Kevin Williams could also apply some pass rushing pressure up the middle. Allen and both Williams' made a couple of Pro Bowls. Allen is the fifth Vikings defensive lineman to have a bust in Canton. Kevin Williams should soon be the sixth. Brian Robison was the link between this great defensive line to the next one.
DE Everson Griffen
DT Sharrif Floyd
DT Linval Joseph
DE Brian Robison
DT Sharrif Floyd
DT Linval Joseph
DE Brian Robison
That terrific line evolved into this one with the emergence of the freakishly talented Danielle Hunter. If Sharrif Floyd hadn’t had his career ended by a surgical mishap, this defensive line would’ve been ridiculous.
DE Everson Griffen
DT Tom Johnson
DT Linval Joseph
DE Danielle Hunter
DT Tom Johnson
DT Linval Joseph
DE Danielle Hunter
Danielle Hunter is still building on his likely Hall of Fame career. Unfortunately he’s doing so with the Houston Texans. It was a sad day when he departed Minnesota. Despite his ridiculous talent, he wasn’t an ideal fit in a Brian Flores defense. That doesn’t take away from his presence on one of the great defensive lines in the Vikings great history of defensive lines.
The first, great Minnesota Vikings defensive line set an incredibly high bar for the franchise. That bar is one of the best in NFL history. The current line is loaded with talent and very young. There’s great potential in the group. Who knows? Maybe they'll take a run at the Purple People Eaters. That's a bold suggestion. A Super Bowl title(s) would certainly help their cause.
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