Brian O'Neill refuses to give up sacks
Brian O'Neill refuses to give up sacks
A Super Bowl-winning tackle, O-line coach and defensive end break down why Vikings RT Brian O'Neill is so good at avoiding sacks allowed
By Matthew Coller
EAGAN — In the first quarter of the Minnesota Vikings’ matchup with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, right tackle Brian O’Neill will clear 3,300 snaps for his career. Over three years and five weeks of NFL experience against the world’s most dangerous pass rushers, O’Neill has only been beaten for a sack five times.
So far this season, he has allowed Kirk Cousins to be taken down behind the line of scrimmage zero times and in his last 25 contests, O’Neill has given up just three QB hits (per Pro Football Focus).
For context, New Orleans’s star right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who signed a five-year, $96 million contract this offseason, has given up 13 sacks over the same time span. Two other newly-signed right tackles, Carolina’s Taylor Moton and Indy’s Braden Smith, have allowed 10 and 12 sacks, respectively, since entering in the same draft class as O’Neill.
In search of answers as to why O’Neill has been so good at keeping defensive ends from taking down Cousins, Purple Insider spoke with former Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who was an All-Pro in 2019 and allowed zero sacks during Kansas City’s entire 2019 run to a Super Bowl championship, along with Vikings offensive line coach Phil Rauscher and defensive end Danielle Hunter.
What we found in these conversations is that the explanation for O’Neill’s excellence isn’t as simple as just being a good football player. We can, however, break down the backbone of his success into five categories: His technique, practice partner, traits, preparedness and mentality.
We’ll let Schwartz, Rauscher and Hunter explain what they all mean…
Iron sharpens iron
One of the first things Brian O’Neill talked about as a rookie in 2018 was how much it advanced his game quickly to practice against superstar pass rusher Danielle Hunter. When O’Neill was called upon to make his debut in Week 2 of his first year, he hung tight against Clay Matthews, another terrific pass rusher. When he took over as the full-time starter several weeks later, he showed huge gains in his game over a short period of time and gave up zero sacks in 531 pass blocking snaps as a rookie.
Danielle Hunter: Every single day that I’ve practiced against him since he’s gotten here, he’s gotten better. I do moves on him because I’m pretty sure since the years have gone by I’m the only one who has gone against him so much but I put moves on him and I’ll watch him, I’ll see him in the hallway or something and I’ll see him trying to figure out how to defend a move.
You can tell that he’s studious. He definitely has the work ethic. He never takes a play off, which is something I’ve rarely seen in an offensive tackle. In a short amount of time, he came a long way.
When we go against each other, he’ll ask me, like, ‘What did I do,” and I’ll tell him. He’ll ask me what can he not do to stop a move and I’ll explain it to him.
Phil Rauscher: When those two go after each other, it’s like two praying mantises fighting, they’re so lanky. But at the end of the day with Danielle, there’s probably 10-15 complete pass rushers who can beat you with speed, beat you with power, beat you with athleticism and he’s one of them. The chance to block him on a daily basis, you never know what you’re going to get with him so you’re refining your skills in pass protection and all the different types of sets and all the different types of moves you’re going to get without even knowing what you’re going to get on that particular day.
You go against some guys and you know that guy is going to beat you with speed all the time. You get used to blocking that. When we go against ourselves in one-on-one pass protection, we’re a very good power rush team. When Denver came here to practice, they have a different way that they teach rush and it’s more speed. So we’ve been setting for power — brace yourself, get ready to anchor — well, you can’t do that necessarily against the speed [rush]. You get used to that kind of rush but with Danielle you don’t know what you’re going to get so that’s awesome. That helps you in so many different ways.
Mitchell Schwartz: If you know you have to block that guy and he knows the snap count and he’s one of the elite guys, you’re probably getting better work than you ordinarily would. Maybe your pass set is a little bit quicker out of the stance or you get a little bit more practice at firing out of your stance and that can translate over the course of the season.
Going up against a guy like [Hunter] who is so unorthodox, it can get weird if you start compensating to strictly beat him and then all of the sudden those aren’t techniques that are necessarily replicable, so that’s where the fine line goes where you have to trust your core techniques and your base and then hope it applies to a freak like that because otherwise if you get beat by the same couple moves that are so weird and nobody else can do them like Hunter does, moves that nobody else can do, if you start changing what you’re doing too much to that and you have a month-and-a-half of training camp where all you’re practicing against is Hunter and it’s different from what you should be using for the 17 games upcoming, that’s where it can go a little bit sideways.
Hunter: He’s made me better to where I’m going against offensive tackles that aren’t as fast as him, they’re not as strong as him, they’re not as technically sound as him. You can’t really do the same move on him.
He’s always right there. I say that all the time in my mind. Even when I do a move against him, normally with other offensive tackles I’d be way over there but with him, he’s right there still. You have to work a little harder when you go up against him.
Technique
Every position in the NFL demands an understanding of the technical elements of football but offensive line specifically requires players to nail their procedures over and over and over with very little room for error. In pass protection, O’Neill has mastered things like anchoring, setting and recovery. Our experts explain:
Schwartz: The first piece is knowing the launch point and having an understanding of it because at the top of the rush, there are some guys who kind of panic and think, ‘Oh crap, I’m not deep enough, I’ve got to turn and run.’ When you do that and you’re not at the right point and you’re either doing it too early and basically pushing the guy into the quarterback or you’re doing it too late, which opens yourself up for a counter that could get turned into a sack.
I know [O’Neill] has a good sense of that. Take good sense and good balance and he can force his guys to good spots. He dictates the rush by his set, so he’s not going to give up a sack because he’s out of position.
Rauscher: Anchoring is trusting technique. If I went and pushed you, for example, you’re going to want to take your feet and go backward as fast as you can. When you anchor, you have to hop. When you hop and you set your cleats in the ground, you get rooted. That’s a trust issue because there’s going to be a millisecond where both of your feet are off the ground and you’re going to be flying, literally flying, because there’s going to be a 350-pound guy pushing you and all of the sudden you go [sticking noise] and you anchor yourself. Sometimes that first initial anchor doesn’t stop you, so you have to anchor again.
That’s not something that is always taught at the collegiate level. As silly of a technique as it sounds, it’s advanced. It takes time. Sometimes you tell a guy, ‘OK we’re going to hop, hop and we’re going to anchor,’ and they look at you like you have two heads.
A guy like Brian, he went to Pitt, great school, but how many great pass rushers did he go against? Now he gets to the NFL and everybody’s good. Pass protection is a fight but at the end of the day, it’s about your technique. If you have good technique, you have a chance. That’s what he has learned in anchoring.
I weigh 300-and-whatever, you weigh [less than that] but you could anchor me if you used the right technique.
Schwartz: [O’Neill] seems to understand punching and how to defeat bull rushes. It’s probably something he’s always dealt with and he’s had to figure out how to stop the bull rush based on his body type.
Rauscher: Pass protection is 90% technique and 10% where you’re just saying, ‘I’m not going to let my guy get to the quarterback.’ He has that 10%. When he gets beat, that 10% comes out and it has to come out five, six times a game where he gets edged or beat inside and all of the sudden you have to go, ‘Oh s—,’ and just go. That’s what he does extremely well.
He never panics. Some guys get edged and they panic. He has recovery mechanisms in his own body that he knows work for him and then he has 10% that says, ‘I am not going to f—ing let this guy hit Kirk.’
Traits
When the Vikings drafted O’Neill, he only weighed 297 pounds, which is in the fourth percentile of all offensive tackles at the draft. But the Vikings figured if he could even add a little weight to go along with his natural athletic traits, he could be very good. O’Neill ran an outrageous 4.82 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and scored in the 97th percentile in the 3-Cone drill, showing that he had quickness that’s usually connected with elite tackles. Here’s how that plays into his performance:
Rauscher: I think Brian has a very unique ability of matching his athleticism to everyone that he’s going against. If he’s going against a speed guy, he can match him with speed, if he’s going against a power guy, he can be powerful. Not a lot of guys can do that. A lot of guys are really good at setting against edge rushers with speed, other guys are really good at setting power rushers but he has a really good combination because he understands his own body mechanics. You would think everybody would but they don’t. Everybody doesn’t really understand when their feet move to coordinate their arms with it and everything like that, especially the offensive line position, but he’s always, since I’ve known him, been able to relate to who he’s going against.
Hunter: Him coming in, I knew he was a tight end before, so that kind of put off a thing in our heads that he could be freaking athletic. The traits were there and all that stuff. All that was left was for him to have the mindset that he has and him having that mindset, we all knew that he was going to be the player that he’s become today.
Schwartz: Being his body type or his weight or the combination of the two doesn’t make you predisposed to not being strong. If you look at Tyron Smith he’s very lean, that doesn’t mean you don’t have play strength or functional strength. Some of the fat guys are actually quite weak.
Rauscher: He has explosive power. Explosive power can equal raw strength, if that makes sense. His quickness and his ability to play with leverage and his low can match somebody who is much stronger than him, playing a different style. He is strong but he’s not like, farm-man strong. It’s his understanding of using his body and how he bends and uncoiling himself at the right time and with the right mechanism. It times up for him.
Hunter: His speed as an offensive tackle can’t be compared to any other offensive tackle. Most guys, they’ll rely mostly on their technique. He has technique and speed.
Preparation
Everyone watches tape of their opponent but offensive lineman have their own particular process. When they are getting ready to go up against a pass rusher, tackles will track the types of rushes they are expecting to face and break them down into situations. Rauscher also has a unique coaching tactic that helps his guys get ready…
Rauscher: All the moves are broken down. This is how [the pass rusher] likes to do his spin moves, this is how he likes to do his speed-to-power and then from that point you break it down into down-and-distance. Some guys don’t throw their moves on second down, they only throw them on third down. It is a tedious process to get ready for Sunday.
Schwartz: I would typically watch the last three or four games of the defense and scout and chart the guy I’m going against and his pass rush moves and stuff he likes to do…Being able to see a chart and the quantity instead of what I remember of the guy. I would also go back and try to look at other tackles who I thought were similar to me. I was more of a vertical setting guy, so I could go back and watch Lane Johnson who sets similar or Ramczyk, guys who are good players as well and have a similar style. If I went and watched Orlando Brown, that wasn’t exactly apples to apples. I would try to watch the last three games to see what the guy looks like, what types of moves he’s leaning on stylistically and going back to watch myself against the guy in the past or earlier in the season if there’s a style guy of what I like to do.
Rauscher: The thing we do here that is unique is, after they study on Saturday morning they get in front of the group and they teach the rest of the line about what they studied. They talk it out verbally…. At the end of the day, them getting up in front of the group and talking about those guys, I think it solidifies their protection plan. When you teach something, you have some mastery of it. I don’t care who you are, you’re going to study it even more because you don’t want to look like an idiot in front of your buddies. They’ll know if you didn’t do it. It gives confidence that they know they’re an expert on what they’re going to go against.
Mentality
Football isn’t generally for the faint of heart. It takes an extra rare soul to do a thankless job like playing offensive tackle. The increase in visibility for offensive linemen due to All-22 tape analysis and Pro Football Focus data has shined a light on players like Schwartz and O’Neill but they are still most noticed when something goes wrong. O’Neill has embraced the workman-like mentality and shown toughness that has pushed his game to the next level. Our panel breaks down what it means to be tough along the O-line (and Danielle Hunter’s own view of his counterparts)…
Rauscher: If you were to see him in a restaurant, he’s a really good guy. Like, you’d want him to marry your daughter. But when he gets between the lines, he has the ability to flip a switch and play the game that’s supposed to be played. He’s a Football Guy. That term gets thrown around but nothing bothers him. He wants the fight. He wants the challenge. And he’s tough to me because he never f—ing backs down. Whatever is thrown at him, he steps up and he takes it. He takes the fight to that guy.
Schwartz: Guys play in the NFL for different reasons. Competitiveness, some want to prove something to themselves, some play for money, some play for family. Most guys it’s a combination. Most offensive linemen, if you’re in it for the money, you get weirded out pretty quickly because it’s not the most desirable position and something that’s super fun to be judged on your worst two or three plays out of 70-plus play situations. There’s that mental toughness that you almost get weeded out in order to get to his level and then be one of the top guys of the position.
It’s a different mindset to sign up for this idea that you are going to lose and get judged off those bad plays and you have to trust that it’s going to work out and keep going back to it. Here’s a guy who’s steadily improved throughout his career too, so he’s clearly got the want and the willingness to work through an offseason and come back better the next year. That’s what true mental toughness is: To keep improving, to keep getting better, to not be satisfied with where you are because a lot of people get in the NFL and have a little bit of success and, ‘OK that’s good enough for me, I don’t want to push to that next level.’ He’s clearly wanting to keep improving in his work toward it.
Rauscher: As I’ve been here for two years, his leadership has evolved. When I first got here we had Riley Reiff. And Riley Reiff is a man. He was a leader. Brian took a lot of those attributes and took them into his game this year. That’s something.
This may sound dumb, but he never bitches. If I told him right now, ‘For you to get better we’re going to go up and down this whole field and then we’re going to pass set all the way back,’ he would say, ‘OK.’ That’s unique. I don’t think people realize. That’s being willing to put in the work to get better. All of those things contribute to him being a tough guy. Anybody can be a fake tough guy and come out here and yell and scream but tough is coming to work every day and doing your job because it’s in no way a glamorous job.
Schwartz: In practice you have 40 plays against a guy and there’s eight plays that are third-and-long situations and it’s eight straight one-on-ones back to back to back and he’s going against Hunter who has a crazy move and you just have to take it for five out of those eight plays and you’re the reason the period doesn’t work for the offense and that is not super exciting. Sometimes I’d get more nervous for practice because of things like that…To go against those [Hunter and Everson Griffen] for a few years and know that’s what the next day brings, I’m sure Zimmer doesn’t run easy practices, the physical toughness on top the literal physical and mental challenges you’re going through.
Hunter: [Offensive linemen] have to be tough, strong, I see most of them as serious. They don’t try to be too pretty and all that.
Off the field, they are the most frugal group. They all hang out together. They do the most normal stuff. On the field they’re all tough and all that but in real life they’re frugal and do stuff like decorate their rooms with Halloween decorations and stuff. That’s how I see it.
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Fabulous article, thoroughly enjoyable read about an outstanding player. They paid him a lot but he sure has performed. Imagine how good this line could become if Darrisaw learns from O'Neill and we replace the center and guards... we get one draft pick a year in the first or second round hopefully we'll either get a guard or center in addition to someone in free agency. O'Neill has become quite the leader in addition to the excellence you wrote about.
Brilliant article Matthew! Lots of depth and insight from the best possible experts. Thanks!