Vikings Looking For Big Things From Armon Watts in 2020

The second-year defensive tackle is a breakout candidate who could help fill the void left by Michael Pierce.

One of the most notable developments during the stretch run of the Vikings' 2019 season was the play of rookie defensive tackle Armon Watts. The sixth-round pick out of Arkansas was supposed to essentially take a redshirt year, but was thrust into action when Linval Joseph missed a couple games in mid-November.

With just one season of starting experience in college, Watts was seen as a fairly raw prospect. But he stepped up and was highly impressive, earning a rotational role at defensive tackle even when Joseph returned to the field. Then, with starters resting in Week 17, Watts capitalized on his first NFL start and wound up as the Vikings' highest-graded defensive player for the game, per PFF. 

Heading into 2020, Watts was expected to compete with Shamar Stephen and others for the three-technique job. But with nose tackle Michael Pierce opting out of the season, there are suddenly a lot of available snaps at DT for the Vikings. Based on how he played last year, Watts has to be considered a favorite to seize a bunch of those snaps.

Both head coach Mike Zimmer and co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson had good things to say about Watts recently.

"Armon's played really well, I think," Zimmer said. "He's done a nice job when he's been in there. He's a big, strong, athletic guy, so we're looking for another big jump out of him this year."

Patterson gave a more detailed assessment of Watts's strengths when asked about the second-year tackle.

“He’s got really good strength, he plays with really good contact balance, he’s got quick feet," Patterson said. "He’s a physical football player, but the one thing that Armon can also give you is he does have some natural feel in transition on his pass rush. He was able to make some plays in games and make the quarterback feel him. So I’m just hoping that he continues to improve in his progression. I was very pleased with how far Armon came at the end of the season. It’s too bad he got injured, because I would’ve loved to see him continue to play those last two football games.”

As Patterson mentioned, Watts suffered an injury in Week 17 that held him out of the Vikings' two playoff games. But he showed more than enough upside in the seven previous weeks to have plenty of positive momentum heading into this season.

What stands out about Watts are his size and pass-rush ability. At 6'5", he made his presence known by batting down a Russell Wilson pass attempt that turned into a pinball Anthony Harris pick-six in Week 11. Watts also showed off some impressive burst and power as an interior pass-rusher, and seems to have a high ceiling in that area. Where he needs to keep improving is in run defense, but that should come with continued reps.

Check out my full player preview on Watts from June for more.

Watts briefly landed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, but was activated after just two days, so it likely was a false alarm.

Check out all of our Vikings 2020 season preview content right here.

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