All along, the solution may have been hanging out in the Twin Cities.
Blossoming young Viking Jalen Redmond continues proving that he’s a diamond in the rough. Soon, that descriptor isn’t going to apply as he works toward being recognized as a weekly game changer. The defensive tackle has been that good, demanding a heartier helping of snaps as a result.
Blossoming Young Viking Looking to Shine
No better venue to show the NFL that he has arrived than Thursday Night Football.
The most prominent stories leading into the game involve who is going to under center for the Vikings: Carson Wentz. There’s then a focus on the injuries to the offensive line alongside re-adding Aaron Jones. Even refocusing the conversation on the Chargers would lead to overlooking Mr. Redmond, most notably due to Jim Harbaugh’s connection to the Vikings via J.J. McCarthy and previously interviewing to be the top coach.
Jalen Redmond will be looking to offer play so sensational that the conversation needs to shift to him.
The 26-year-old defender has been assembling some impressive numbers. There are the 18 tackles alongside the 5 tackles for loss. He has sacked the quarterback 3 times — leading the Vikings — while boasting 3 QB hits, 1 pass defended, and 1 forced fumble.
On PFF, Redmond is bringing down one of the best grades on the defense with a very healthy number coming in at 73.7. Notably, Redmond’s grades suggest that he doesn’t have much of a weak point in his game, earning healthy scores as a run defender and pass rusher.
Coming into the season, the thinking was that Redmond was going to need to scrape and claw for playing time by finding breathing room within a DT position that boasts Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, and Harrison Phillips. Part of the playing time problem got fixed with the decision to exile Phillips (a questionable move).
And then there’s the willingness to lower Hargrave’s snaps in favor of Redmond, as Janik Eckardt observes.
“The veteran just can’t hold up against double teams,” Eckardt writes of Hargrave. “That’s reflected in an abysmal PFF run defense grade, but perhaps even more important, he’s slowly getting benched for teammate Jalen Redmond.”
“Consider this: In the last two games, Hargrave played 33 and 18 defensive snaps. Redmond registered 41 and 37. In the weeks prior, they basically shared the position, but the trend is clearly on Redmond’s side. What else is on Redmond’s side? Well, the former XFL star is evolving into a star. He’s pretty much living in the backfield on running and passing downs.”
Eventually, youthful talent wins out in the NFL since football is a tremendously rugged sport (especially in the trenches). Seeing Mr. Redmond earn more playing time isn’t a huge surprise even if we shouldn’t write off Hargrave, an accomplished veteran who has had nice moments in 2025. The frequency with which Redmond has been making plays, though, suggests that he’s someone who deserves plenty of praise.
Standing at 6’3″ and weighing 291 pounds, Jalen Redmond fits within the Brian Flores trend of opting for smaller DTs who are active and athletic, capable of getting penetration to create confusion and chaos. Most NFL fans don’t know who he is but exploding tonight will change that reality for a lot of people.
He’s currently one of the best bargains for the Vikings since he’s accounting for just $960,000 against the cap.
