How Dalvin Tomlinson became an impact pass rusher

EAGAN — Dalvin Tomlinson has been one of the most consistent players in the NFL since coming into the league as a second-round draft pick in 2017. He missed zero games because of injury between 2017 and 2021 and graded by PFF between the 10th and 22nd best defensive tackle. He’s always been an elite run defender and “push the pocket” guy against the pass.

This season has been different for the Minnesota Vikings’ veteran defensive tackle. While he’s still grading as one of the top players at his position, his numbers haven’t been driven by run stuffing. Instead he is sporting the ninth best pass rushing grade and the sixth best pass rush win rate in the league. That’s up from 17th and 32nd last year, respectively.

Tomlinson has also had to deal with an injury for the first time. Against Arizona he hurt his calf, forcing him to sit out the past four games.

“[He’s] not always going to get the headlines, the stats, the sacks, all those things, but he’s been a force for us up front,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said of Tomlinson.

His absence has been felt. Last week the Patriots gained 382 yards through the air and Mac Jones was only under duress on 12 drop-backs. Jones posted a 134.6 quarterback rating when the pocket was kept clean.

The Vikings don’t have another interior pass rusher with Tomlinson’s impact. In terms of pass rush win rate, Harrison Phillips ranks 42nd, Ross Blacklock is 47th, Jonathan Bullard ranks 116th and James Lynch 125th. On a team that rarely blitzes, the Vikings’ defense has relied heavily on Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter. When Tomlinson has been absent, opposing quarterbacks have plenty of time to throw if neither Smith nor Hunter isn’t in the backfield.

But that’s likely to change this week. Tomlinson appears on track to return as the Vikings match up with a relatively inexperienced quarterback in Mike White, who is coming off an impressive victory against the Chicago Bears. White was only under pressure on three of 30 drop-backs last week. With Tomlinson back, the Vikings can significantly up that number and test the Jets’ third starting QB of the year.

Tomlinson’s improvement as a pass rusher has been a surprising development to the outside world but defensive line coach Chris Rumph isn’t shocked to see one of his most intelligent players continue to build on his game.

“It’s the questions that he asks,” Rumph said in a sit-down interview with Purple Insider. “It’s great when you get to the point where you can collaborate on some things. I like to say, ‘What did you see?’ It’s as much coach to player as two dudes who love ball trying to figure it out together. How can you get better? How can I help you? Things like that. He challenges me because he’s so smart, I have to be on top of my game every day. I’m blessed [to coach him]. God has blessed me tremendously.”

Tomlinson says that the key to his pass rush improvement has been self awareness. With each passing year he’s come to better understand his own skills. At 6-foot-3, 325 pounds, Tomlinson has always been incredibly strong but maximizing that power as part of a pass rush is something he’s only starting to fully understand.

“Way better, night and day,” Tomlinson said when asked how much better he is now at pass rushing compared to when he first entered the league. “I know I’m way more powerful than I thought I was…Over the years, repping against so many different people, you learn yourself on a whole different level.”

One of the ways he’s come to grips with his own strengths is by studying other similar players. He laughs out loud thinking about himself trying to pull off the same types of pass rush moves as someone like Aaron Donald but says that looking for players who win the same ways can be insightful about his own game.

“The biggest thing is that you have to know yourself,” Tomlinson said. “A lot of players in all different levels of football will watch somebody else and say, ‘I’m going to try what he’s doing,’ but that’s not who you are. I’m not going out there like Aaron Donald and doing his stuff. If I did that my pass rush would be way worse. You have to learn yourself.”

Rumph makes the point that social media can play a role in pass rushers trying to do too much. They can see highlight moves and videos of other players training and want to emulate them even if it isn’t a good fit.

“You can get enamored when you see Aaron Donald doing all these different kinds of moves and on social media you can see guys doing all sorts of different moves and drills and you’re like, ‘That looks cute, I’m going to try that,’ and then all of the sudden you have wasted all this time trying to fit a square in a circle and it doesn’t work,” Rumph said. “You have to be true to who you are and know who you are and try to find guys who have the same game as you.”

“What comes natural? What makes you happy? What can you do as a pass rusher with your eyes closed? If it’s third down, what move can you get off at any time?”

Rumph said that Tomlinson’s style of pass rushing is the most challenging for defensive linemen. It isn’t pretty, it’s power versus power — often in the form of two blockers trying to contain him.

“When you’re talking about power, you’re talking about trying to go through somebody’s face,” Rumph said.

Though Tomlinson has gotten clever when it comes to using his power. He’s learned to mix in some other moves, often when his opponent least expects it.

“I’m a power rusher so I have to use more power moves and sprinkle some finesse in there to throw them off,” Tomlinson said. “The game is four quarters and you have to rush for four quarters so you can’t just run out there and say, ‘This isn’t working,’ and keep trying different things. You have to set stuff up.”

For Tomlinson it’s an endless process of studying others, evaluating himself and trying different things in practice. He even gets feedback from the offensive linemen who see him on a daily basis.

“In practice you’re going against each other every single day and they see that you are doing this or that and they’re like, ‘Let me try to counter this,’ and I have to counter what he just did and we just go back and forth, it’s a back-and-forth dialogue,” Tomlinson said.

“It’s an invaluable tool,” Rumph said of offensive and defensive linemen helping each other. “If you have a bond with your team and you have a culture where you can say, ‘How was that? What did you think? What did you see?’ You’ll go to a move and maybe it didn’t work, so you can say, ‘Hey man, did I show it? How did you know I was going to do that?’ You can get all the information stored up.”

Tomlinson’s 2022 season is the culmination of years of development. It’s come to fruition in part because of his passion for the daily grind.

“You have to enjoy the process and enjoy the growth and the work you have to put in to get to the next level because there’s always room for improvement,” Tomlinson said.

Now the 9-2 Vikings need Tomlinson’s presence in the pass rush more than ever. They have the ninth lowest QB pressure rate, per Pro-Football Reference. As they race for the No. 1 seed over the next six weeks they will face numerous QBs who tend to collapse when under duress.

“[Tomlinson] has really activated some dynamic rush moves and speed to power and different athletic, winning one-on-one matchup tight moments in games….we want to get him healthy as soon as we possibly can,” O’Connell said.