{"id":430881,"date":"2025-10-08T20:51:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/430881\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T20:51:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T20:51:09","slug":"jalen-redmond-has-risen-to-the-occasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/430881\/","title":{"rendered":"Jalen Redmond Has Risen To the Occasion"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2023, the Minnesota Vikings took a chance on Jalen Redmond<\/a>, an undrafted player out of Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Redmond played behind<\/a> Harrison Phillips<\/a>, Jerry Tillery<\/a>, and Jonathan Bullard<\/a> last year. Still, the 6\u20193\u201d, 291 lb. defensive lineman played in 13 games, with 18 tackles, one sack, and two passes deflected.<\/p>\n

This year, the Vikings lost Bullard and Tillery in free agency, but they added Jonathan Allen<\/a> and Javon Hargrave<\/a>. Therefore, it looked like Redmond would at least start<\/a> the season on the bench.<\/p>\n

Then they traded<\/a> Phillips.<\/p>\n

Someone was going to have to step up and show out in Brian Flores\u2019 blitz-heavy defense. While he was an under-the-radar signing in 2024, Redmond has stepped up to the challenge.<\/p>\n

Redmond has only played<\/a> organized football since his junior year of high school. Still, he\u2019s showing why he garnered rave<\/a> reviews after his 2023 combine performance. During that performance he placed a position best at the broad and vertical jump and second in his position at the 40.<\/p>\n

The Carolina Panthers signed Redmond after the draft, but they cut him before the season.<\/p>\n

Redmond kept his playing career alive by joining the Arlington Renegades of the UFL, where he played in only five games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Still, that short stint showed the Vikings everything they needed to see to be willing to take a chance on the former four-star high school recruit.<\/p>\n

Only three other players, Brandon Aubrey<\/a>, KaVontae Turpin<\/a>, and Jake Bates<\/a>, have made NFL rosters after playing in the UFL.<\/p>\n

While Minnesota\u2019s season has already created whiplash, Redmond has deserved high praise. Even in defeat, some moments<\/a>\u00a0highlight that he deserves every chance he gets.<\/p>\n

In Minnesota\u2019s Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Redmond showed up in some key situations to keep the team in it. Although he jumped early on fourth-and-one, which led to the only touchdown of the game, he had six tackles and his first sack of the season.<\/p>\n

Since then, he has been a massive contributor on defense.<\/p>\n

Entering the bye week, Redmond has 14 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble, and a pass deflection. His three sacks lead<\/a> the team, and he also leads the team in tackles for loss with four. Redmond\u2019s 76.4 PFF grade puts him 17th of 179 interior defensive linemen.<\/p>\n

While Redmond\u2019s ascension as a starter is noteworthy, his ability to be a future star in the NFL is even more tantalizing.<\/p>\n

As stated earlier, Redmond is still learning the game. Add in his athletic ability and the fact that he\u2019s learning under a defensive coordinator who many people feel deserves another shot at being a head coach. He has the true potential to make a name for himself.<\/p>\n

The other unknown is what this guy can do if he stays healthy.<\/p>\n

Fans got to witness Redmond display glimpses of his brute force periodically during last season, but he has never completed a full football season. He dealt with blood clots and a knee issue in college<\/a>, then suffered an injury in the UFL, and a concussion<\/a> last season.<\/p>\n

He has garnered high praise<\/a> from head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell<\/a> as well as others<\/a> in the locker room who have watched his development firsthand.<\/p>\n

If he can stay healthy this season, Redmond can make a name for himself in the NFL as a perennial starter. His unique blend of current production and future upside demonstrates why I am predicting that, barring injury, Jalen Redmond will have multiple Pro Bowl and All-Pro seasons in the near future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2023, the Minnesota Vikings took a chance on Jalen Redmond, an undrafted player out of Oklahoma. Redmond…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,38851,233,259,2529,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-430881","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jalen-redmond","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-vikings","12":"tag-minnesotavikings","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115340527941216902","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}