The Vikings are serious about the run game

Drafting two DTs, a fullback and a speedy RB is further evidence of the Vikings' commitment to running and stopping the run

Photo courtesy: Journal Sentinel

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By Matthew Coller

I’m not exactly breaking news by pointing out that the Minnesota Vikings have had a troubling relationship with the run game in recent years.

In 2022, the Vikings ranked 27th in Expected Points Added on the ground. Josh Dobbs’ scrambling pushed them to 20th in 2023 but they slipped to 28th in 2024. Maybe a few more successful handoffs in Week 18 against the Lions… never mind.

Last year they improved in EPA, cracking the top half of the NFL, but only ranked 23rd in rushing yards per game.

On the defensive side, the Vikings’ numbers have been very strong, ranking 4th, 4th and 8th in yards per rush attempt allowed.

Yet in 2025, teams leaned on the run against them and the yardage total allowed ended up being 21st. They had 11 games with over 120 yards given up on the ground.

Around the NFL, there has been an increase in teams using the ground game to counteract defenses being aggressive with blitzes/stunts and playing two deep safeties.

The Vikings’ approach to the NFL Draft made it quite clear that they are paying attention to the way that opponents are attacking them on defense and the potential benefits of more success on the ground on offense.

Clearly they are hoping that first-round pick Caleb Banks grows into a monster run defender but that might not be the case right away in the NFL as he will need development in that area. The other defensive tackle that they selected, however, should be able to make a difference from the jump due to his sheer size and strength.

Iowa State defensive tackle Domonique Orange is 6-foot-2, 322 pounds (on a good day) and has enormous hands.

“I met Coach O’Connell and he’s telling me he definitely thinks I can come in and play right away,” Orange said on draft night. “He thinks I can be a dominant force. Shoot, I agree with him. Talking to Coach Flores, talking to basically everyone on staff, they definitely think I can come in and be an impact right away.”

Orange has the potential to shift the way the Vikings have been defending the run since Flores arrived.

In 2023 and 2024, they largely relied on Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard, two defensive tackles with strength but neither had the fire-hydrant body type that we have seen from true nose tackles of the past. Orange is more reminiscent of Green Bay legend Gibert Brown, Pittsburgh star NT Casey Hampton or Patriots centerpiece Vince Wilfork.

The strength-size combo gives the Vikings’ linebackers a chance to play differently than they have in the past. With undersized guys like Blake Cashman, Eric Wilson and Ivan Pace Jr., the more blockers who are slowed down or pushed back at the line of scrimmage, the more opportunity they have to shoot gaps and slice into the backfield to make plays.

An example in the current NFL of a true gigantic nose tackle impacting the entire defense is Baltimore’s Travis Jones, who comes in at 338 pounds and ranked as the third best run defender in the league by PFF. In 2024, Baltimore was the No. 1 run defense in the league and last year they were still strong despite a number of injuries at 11th in YPA allowed.

The big ole nose gives the Vikings an opportunity to play a front that we used to see in years past and has recently made a comeback. It will be possible to play Banks and Jalen Redmond on the 3-4 defensive end spots rather than asking them to get hammered with double teams. The Vikings used five-man fronts toward the back half of last season to mitigate the issues with stuffing the run and it was largely a success. Now they can carry that over when they choose or have Orange and Levi Drake Rodriguez played together in a four-man front in certain situations.

Whatever way Flores chooses to approach it, nothing screams “we want to stop the run” like drafting Orange.

On the offensive side, the Vikings didn’t spent a huge amount of capital on rushing but the players they picked have a very clear goal.

We will start with Demond Claiborne. The Wake Forest running back was a walking highlight reel in college with his explosiveness and ability to wind between tacklers and find gaps to wiggle through. Of his total yardage, 43% of it came on runs that went for 15 or more yards. At the NFL Combine he ran a 4.37 40-yard dash.

The Vikings backfield has two solid players in Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason. There is no smarter back in the league than Jones and Mason can blast forward with the best of ‘em. However, the Vikings were 26th in runs that gained more than 20 yards in 2025. In 2024, they only had four 20+ runs, 29th in the league. They lacked jolt. Claiborne gives them jolt.

“I think being able to put my speed [with] my ability to make people miss in space is definitely something that I can do at a high level,” Claiborne said. “Being able to bring that versatility, that explosiveness, the ability to take every ball to the house anytime I touch it.”

How much will Claiborne play? Well, that is going to be up to him. We have seen previous speedsters Ty Chandler and Kene Nwangwu struggle to get onto the field with O’Connell calling the plays but the emphasis on explosive plays from the run game might be increased to the point where they have to force the issue. With Kyler Murray under center as a run threat and as an effective scrambler, it might mitigate some of the need to

And then there’s the fullback.

When the Vikings picked the top fullback in the draft in the fifth round, it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out a clear connection between the CJ Ham’s retirement, the addition of ex-Miami offensive coordinator Frank Smith and Michigan’s Max Bredeson.

The hard-nosed blocker lined up in the backfield last season 52 times and 188 as a tight end but he often moved over from a tight end position behind the offensive line (some would call it the “sniffer” spot) and sometimes he ended up in the slot as a receiver.

“I think the fullback position is all about versatility,” Bredeson said. “Like guys who play fullback can play a lot of different positions, like play all four on special teams. Like you can line up all over the field. So I think the more versatility that a guy brings with the fullback position, like the more ability is just to help his team win.”

How can they use his versatility?

Let’s let Miami’s tape be our guide.

I watched five games of the Miami Dolphins offense from 2025 when fullback Alec Ingold was on the field.

You can quickly identify the ways in which the fullback played a key role and how Bredeson should be able to become a significant part of the Vikings’ run improvement right away.

Our first play comes against the New England Patriots.

Ingold lines up in the backfield with De’Von Achane in an awkward formation at first where the RB and FB are close to each other on the same side in the shotgun. Then at the last minute, the running back scoots to the other side of the quarterback and takes the handoff. Ingold runs by the DE and up to the second level as the pulling tight end hits the end. The result: Achane finds a hole behind the FB and gets a 9-yard gain.

The fact that Bredeson lined up as a tight end so often is going to likely work to his benefit because Ingold did the same in the Miami offense.

Sometimes he was the lead back and other times he was a decoy. On this play, he is next to receiver Tyreek Hill as the only TE in the set and blocks back across the formation as the run play goes toward his side. He doesn’t end up needing to do much on the play but it forces the Patriots to think about the run going in either direction.