Vikings Message Board.Com

Maelstrom88 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:09 pm

RandyMoss84 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:06 pm I never heard of him but it seems like a nice signing to go with Pierce, it looks like Vikings will not be drafting a defensive tackle in the first round

I never watch the Giants and didn't know anything about him either. He looks stout though. I'm excited.

I’m from NY and watch them quite a bit. Tomlinson is a stud and has been since entering the league in 2017. He’s never had a PFF grade lower than 75.1 in 4 years either. Which is impressive in itself

I will say from a pure strength standpoint, we easily have the strongest interior of any team in the nfl. Him and Pierce can literally move mountains. They are both arguably the strongest two players in the nfl let alone on this team. That’s going to be extremely tough for an interior OL to handle because only one can take on a double team.

Man if we figure out hunters deal and can add a top DE in the draft like Rousseau or Paye, this defensive line might go from worst to first REAL fast.

Love this signing

Pondering Her Percy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:46 pm

Maelstrom88 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:09 pm

I never watch the Giants and didn't know anything about him either. He looks stout though. I'm excited.

I’m from NY and watch them quite a bit. Tomlinson is a stud and has been since entering the league in 2017. He’s never had a PFF grade lower than 75.1 in 4 years either. Which is impressive in itself

I will say from a pure strength standpoint, we easily have the strongest interior of any team in the nfl. Him and Pierce can literally move mountains. They are both arguably the strongest two players in the nfl let alone on this team. That’s going to be extremely tough for an interior OL to handle because only one can take on a double team.

Man if we figure out hunters deal and can add a top DE in the draft like Rousseau or Paye, this defensive line might go from worst to first REAL fast.

Love this signing

Totally agree. I'm hoping Zimmer's defense is fun to watch again.

The more we talk about it, the more the pairing of Pierce and Tomlinson looks like it could be the best interior run defense in the league next year.

Think of all the ways this helps the team as a whole:

1.) Hunter(?) and whoever happens to be on the other side, are free to pass-rush with impunity. If Hunter stays, offensive lines will now have to choose to double up on one of the three while the other two decimate their blocker. This leads to many scenarios on passing plays where the interior line either falls apart or the Edge comes from the outside to kill the quarterback. On rushing plays it means that running it up the middle will likely only garner a yard at best.

2.) Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks can add tremendously on passing plays via disguised blitzes, straight blitzes, and blitz-disguised coverage. Anthony Barr especially in the pass-rush will be deadly with the offensive line occupied. Expect him to get a *lot* of sacks next year. In the Run-defense, Kendricks and Barr can back up the outside and allow for running it outside to also no longer be a viable strategy.

3.) Run-first teams will have a tough time setting forth a gameplan and will force them to pass, which is where we want them with this new Defensive Line. Our cornerbacks will have to take the step forward, but Tomlinson's signing makes it so that plays end much earlier than usual since the D-Line won't be thrown around like a sack of potatoes. Pass-first teams will also not be able to run on short-yardage situations leading to some very interesting 3rd down plays where they only need a few yards. This possible set-up of:

• Odenigbo-Tomlinson-Pierce-Hunter

• Kendricks-Barr

• Gladney-Hughes-Dantzler

• Harris-Smith

Could be a winner to me. Dunno about you guys though.

I remember discussions on him pre-draft here (or was that Laken? Lol). Anyway, as I mentioned in another thread, Zimmer’s D-lineman are generally tasked with stopping the run first but we seemed to have gone away from this as of late. Perhaps we’ll get some old school Zimmer back with this signing, with more pressure from LB’s and corners. We definitely needed some anchors on the D-line as stopping the run was a big problem last year.

The one thing I like about this guy more than his run stopping abilities is his durability. He has never missed a game and plays a good amount of snaps.

Good signing that should help an area in much need of an upgrade.

Let's be real here. Pierce is the nose. If he plays the whole year dude is almost 350, he's dead center being an immovable object. Went from wet noodles to damn near 500 lbs of brute force up the gut , gonna be really hard to get anything going between the tackles for any team.
And for what it's worth, consensus from giants fans is that they're all pretty salty about this

It's interesting that this is a 2 year deal.....and Barr's deal was restructured to end after 2022. Maybe its just a coincidence but it looks like they're structuring deals to end with Cousins' contract. Maybe they plan on blowing the whole thing up after 2022??

My initial reaction to this was "why another NT"....but the more I read about him, the more I like this signing. This should really shore up the interior DL (Williams Wall 2.0???) and also should open up options for the 1st Rd pick since they are no longer desperate for a DT.......hopefully OG, OT, QB, or DE.....but most likely another CB

This also got me thinking of the history of NT for the Vikings. Over last 15 years or so, they have drafted 3-Tech (Floyd who didn't work out due to injury, and of course KWill)...but when was the last time they spent an early pick on a true NT? Think about it, going all the way back to the '90s, they have always plugged that hole via FA. Going backwards....
1. Pierce
2. Joseph
3. Fat Pat
4. Ball
not a criticism or a complaint, just an observation.....they have had great success over the years signing NT if FA

So now does Shamar Stephen get cut or asked to take a pay cut?

VikingPaul73 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 16, 2021 8:47 am It's interesting that this is a 2 year deal.....and Barr's deal was restructured to end after 2022. Maybe its just a coincidence but it looks like they're structuring deals to end with Cousins' contract. Maybe they plan on blowing the whole thing up after 2022??

My initial reaction to this was "why another NT"....but the more I read about him, the more I like this signing. This should really shore up the interior DL (Williams Wall 2.0???) and also should open up options for the 1st Rd pick since they are no longer desperate for a DT.......hopefully OG, OT, QB, or DE.....but most likely another CB

This also got me thinking of the history of NT for the Vikings. Over last 15 years or so, they have drafted 3-Tech (Floyd who didn't work out due to injury, and of course KWill)...but when was the last time they spent an early pick on a true NT? Think about it, going all the way back to the '90s, they have always plugged that hole via FA. Going backwards....
1. Pierce
2. Joseph
3. Fat Pat
4. Ball
not a criticism or a complaint, just an observation.....they have had great success over the years signing NT if FA

And they seem to like to pilfer the Giants when looking for DTs.

Maelstrom88 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 16, 2021 9:16 am So now does Shamar Stephen get cut or asked to take a pay cut?

Saving 3.75 mil in cap room, I'm betting cut. Pierce and Tomlinson are already the first backup to one another at nose, and I would guess they want to hold on to some 3rd down pass rush potential at backup DT rather than a 3rd player with redundant though inferior skill set and little pass rush or upside.

Maelstrom88 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 16, 2021 9:16 am So now does Shamar Stephen get cut or asked to take a pay cut?

He just got cut

Good signing from a run defense and short yardage defense point of view.

If you're Kendricks, you're thrilled with this signing. Absolutely thrilled. Kendricks is going to have the Mother-of-all-years next year with Tomlinson and Pierce occupying the interior.

If you're itching for improvement in the pass rush, then this signing isn't for you. Neither Pierce nor Tomlinson is going to bring much to the table for that, at least from the interior perspective.

Will be interesting to see if the Vikings rotate the two of them or put them in together. My guess is rotational play on early or long distance downs, while we could expect both on the field in short yardage situations.

Great signing overall. Shows Spielman and Zimmer have their focus where it needs to be and that is on improving the defensive line play.

Now let's see what they do to improve the OL play...

VikingLord wrote: ↑Tue Mar 16, 2021 4:35 pm Good signing from a run defense and short yardage defense point of view.

If you're Kendricks, you're thrilled with this signing. Absolutely thrilled. Kendricks is going to have the Mother-of-all-years next year with Tomlinson and Pierce occupying the interior.

If you're itching for improvement in the pass rush, then this signing isn't for you. Neither Pierce nor Tomlinson is going to bring much to the table for that, at least from the interior perspective.

Will be interesting to see if the Vikings rotate the two of them or put them in together. My guess is rotational play on early or long distance downs, while we could expect both on the field in short yardage situations.

Great signing overall. Shows Spielman and Zimmer have their focus where it needs to be and that is on improving the defensive line play.

Now let's see what they do to improve the OL play...

It looks like both will be starting with a rotational line between three DTs.