When Vikings players don pads during Monday's practice for the first time in seven months, an unheralded defensive lineman is looking to remind observers that he can make the splash plays everyone loves.
Armon Watts, entering a contract year in his fourth NFL season, made nine starts at nose tackle last year for the injured Michael Pierce. He is still running out with the first-team defense during practices, doing so this time as an interior defender in coordinator Ed Donatell's 3-4 system alongside fellow starters Harrison Phillips and Dalvin Tomlinson.
Watts aims to keep the job by making plays in front of the new coaching staff under Donatell, who is looking for which defenders can successfully play the run or pass before assigning them roles accordingly. Watts wants to become a better run defender, but he also reminded a reporter that he led last year's Vikings interior defenders with five sacks, which ranked 21st leaguewide among defensive tackles.
