Future of the Vikings, Part 4: Solidifying the offensive line
The Vikings line was solid for most of the year... until it wasn't good enough in the biggest games
By Matthew Coller
You might be surprised to find out that the Minnesota Vikings finished the season ranking 15th in pass blocking and 14th in run blocking by Pro Football Focus. However, those numbers were mostly forged toward the beginning of the season. As the year went along — and especially in the postseason — the weaknesses on the line were exposed and Christian Darrisaw’s absence at left tackle was felt more and more.
In the first 13 weeks, the Vikings only scored below average by PFF in two games. After Week 14 they had just one game that was passable (versus Green Bay). The struggles seemed to begin following the last-second win over Arizona. In that game, the Cardinals appeared to discover that the Vikings had issues picking up blitzes and got flustered by different rush patterns along the line. Opponents repeated that time and time again down the stretch. On a number of occasions, Sam Darnold was able to turn those miscues into highlight reel plays (see: Atlanta, Seattle) but when the best teams ramped up to playoff speed, he could not pull any rabbits out of his helmet.
Rarely do we hear head coach Kevin O’Connell point fingers at areas of need on the team publicly but he was not shy about identifying the interior of the line as an area of obvious need going forward.
So let’s have a look at the things that went right and wrong and the options going forward…
RT — Brian O’Neill
It’s unfortunate that O’Neill’s season ended with an extremely tough game against the Rams because he had arguably the best year of his stellar career. The captain ranked 11th out of 60 starting tackles in PFF pass blocking grade and posted six games where he allowed zero QB pressures. His Pass Blocking Efficiency (pressures per snap weighted for sacks) was fourth best in the NFL, only a shade behind All-Pro Tristian Wirfs.
With two years left on his contract, one of the levers the Vikings front office could pull is a contract extension to reduce his $26 million cap hit. They could also restructure and save around $8 million on the cap, per OverTheCap.com.
RG — Dalton Risner
Midway through the season, Kevin O’Connell decided to make the switch from Ed Ingram to Risner. It turned out to be a game changer for the Vikings O-line. Among linemen that had more than 500 snaps, Risner posted the ninth best PFF pass blocking grade, allowing zero sacks and 16 pressures.
It speaks to how badly the Rams outplayed the Vikings O-line that Risner allowed his only sack of the year in the playoff matchup and five QB pressures.
On a one-year, $2.4 million contract, the Vikings got a ton of bang for buck by bringing back the veteran interior lineman.
However, Risner’s Achilles heal was still the same as last year. He graded below average again in run blocking, which raises the question of whether the Vikings would consider bringing him back with their need to improve the push from the interior, especially in short yardage situations.
C — Garrett Bradbury
Speaking of Achilles heals, the late-season struggles of the Vikings’ center in pass protection struck again in 2024. Between Week 5 and Week 13, Bradbury ranked as the 15th best pass protector and 8th best run blocker. But after Week 13, he ran into a slew of tough matchups and ended the regular season with the third lowest pass blocking grade in the NFL. He also led the league in QB pressures allowed.
While he’s always been undersized and struggled with power rushers, it had appeared that Bradbury turned a corner under O’Connell. He was 18th in pass pro in 2023 and 14th in 2022.
The regression could also be based on defenses getting more and more nasty when it comes to sending interior pressure. Only five centers graded better than 70 in pass protection. That’s a trend that has applied to both centers and guards in recent years as defenses emphasize stunts and twists and utilize DTs who can create pressure over run stuffers.
What the Vikings do with Bradbury now will be worth watching. O’Connell said specifically that he wants to improve the interior offensive line in pass protection and cutting Bradbury could save them either $3.6 million on the cap or over $5 million if they do it with a post June 1 designation. The question they will have to answer is: How much of Bradbury’s numbers are based on the QB setting protections? The guard play next to him?
LG — Blake Brandel
The Vikings have had some bizarre experiments at guard in the recent past, including starting long-time backups Tom Compton and Dakota Dozier for full seasons. Toss this one in the bin. After years as a backup tackle, the Vikings moved Brandel to guard and gave him zero competition in training camp, going as far as moving Risner to right guard. After starting off fairly strong, Brandel faded down the stretch and finished as a bottom 10 guard by PFF grade and he gave up the third most pressures among all guards.
Brandel proved over several years that he could be a quality swing player on the O-line but the Vikings’ bet on him proved costly and they can’t do that again next year. They need to either sign one of the biggest name free agents or take the approach of bringing several players to fight for the job.
LT — Cam Robinson
Cam Robinson both saved the Vikings’ season and was responsible for its downfall. When he arrived via trade to take the placed of injured Christian Darrisaw, the veteran tackle provided stability at the most important position on the O-line. He had seven straight games where he graded over 60 in pass blocking and four of them were over 70 (which is an above average performance). But in the waning weeks of the season, he seemed to land mismatches and opponents appeared to figure out that they cause confusion between him and Brandel and it went down hill. In the final two games, he gave up 21 pressures on Sam Darnold. There aren’t many QBs who are going to thrive when their left tackle performs that way, just ask the other Sam that played in Minnesota in 2016.
Robinson’s struggles at the end of the season may have cost him a bigger contract, which might in turn cost the Vikings from getting a higher comp pick when he signs elsewhere. Overall it was a good move to acquire him because the other options were catastrophic but it was also clear that Darrisaw is a rare, rare talent and was deeply missed in the biggest moments.
RG — Ed Ingram
O’Connell had no choice but to bench Ingram after he posted the third worst Pass Blocking Efficiency rate in the NFL among guards with at least 500 snaps. While he was billed as a better run blocker than Risner, his big errors lowered his grade to nearly identical to Risner in the run game.
The Vikings decided to reach on Ingram in the draft and then give him two-and-a-half to prove them right. Instead he proved them wrong and was a costly weak link for nearly 3,000 snaps. Again, the regime changed, the missteps on the interior O-line did not.
While drafting a guard will be talked about often in the coming months, Ingram represents the risk of picking one high rather than using free agency. Teams are bound to give them more leeway in the name of development and if they don’t take the next step then it was all for nothing.
The Vikings can cut Ingram and make $3.3 million on the cap. They should plan to do so this offseason rather than continuing to hold out hope.
LT — Christian Darrisaw
The former first-rounder emerged over the last two years as one of the 5-10 best tackles in the sport. He opened the season at his typical high level but suffered a bad break when a Rams defender fell into him causing a season-ending injury.
The Vikings will be thrilled to get him back next year but there will be questions about where he stands in terms of his recovery going into training camp. They may need to be prepared to have another tackle ready, whether that’s a veteran or last year’s sixth-round draft pick Walter Rouse.
ST — David Quessenberry
The veteran swing tackle was called upon in some difficult spots this year, including against the Rams when Darrisaw went down. He gave them a good enough game to have an offensive explosion against the Bears at Soldier Field, which is about what you would expect from a veteran backup. At 35, we may see Quess call it a career after this year. It would be surprising of he was back with the Vikings considering the Rouse draft pick.
LT — Walter Rouse
While Rouse was rarely active during the regular season, he showed enough in training camp to be intrigued. He has size, agility and pass blocking chops that made him one of the best in pass pro in college. The Vikings could start working on a transition to guard for him next season if they believe he’s a future starter or he might need to be ready to play tackle Week 1, depending on how Darrisaw comes along.
C — Michael Jurgens
It’s a good sign for Jurgens that he was active this year. The seventh-round pick should continue to develop next season.
C/G — Dan Feeney
As a depth signing, Feeney was often inactive. With his previous experience and draft status, you would have thought he might have competed at left guard but that never came to fruition.
Free agent options
First tier free agents
There is a clear group of interior offensive linemen who are going to demand top dollar, which is around $20-$25 million per year. Here’s a look at those players…
Trey Smith (Kansas City) — 9th ranked guard overall by PFF and in his prime. Will be the highest paid at the position this offseason. Could stay with KC.
Kevin Zeitler (Detroit) — Will be 35 years old and finished with the 3rd highest PFF grade among guards. Could return to Detroit.
Teven Jenkins (Chicago) — 27 years old, 13th by PFF
Drew Dalman (Atlanta) — 26 years old, 4th among centers by PFF in 554 snaps. Graded as an elite run blocker, average pass blocker
Will Hernandez (Arizona) —Suffered an injury this year but ranked 21st overall and 13th in pass protection in 2023
Brandon Scherff (Jacksonville) — Still ranked top 10 in pass blocking at 33 years old
Mekhi Becton (Philly) — Developed as a guard this year, ranking 15th
Second tier free agents
Ryan Kelly (Indy) — 32 years old, ranked 11th overall and 4th in pass pro
Evan Brown (Arizona) — Former Lion who made strides this year. 26th overall, 14th in pass pro
Austin Corbett (Carolina) — Started for the 2021 Rams. Has been banged up but has a good history in pass pro
Aaron Banks (San Fran) — Enormous guard who ranked 29th of 59 and improved in pass pro this year
Matt Pryor (Chicago) — Another giant at 6-7, 335. Finished 19th and 5th in pass pro
Coleman Shelton (Chicago) — 29 years old, ranked 12th overall, 7th in pass pro
Laken Tomlinson (Seattle) — 33 year old guard, 40th overall, 33rd in pass pro (out of 59)
Takeaway:
There are different paths the Vikings could take with their free agent dollars.
Path A: They could look to sign one massive difference maker like Smith, Jenkins or Becton to a contract worth $20+ million per year and then bank on that player moving the needle significantly on one side of the line. Think about Smith and O’Neill dominating the right side or Jenkins and Darrisaw walling off the left side, that could be scary for opponents.
Path B: Trying to find three players who are imperfect improvements in a weak-link system. For example, if they signed Ryan Kelly at $7 million and Matt Pryor and Evan Brown at $8 million each, they could spend $23 million and it would completely overhaul the middle
Draft options
If the Vikings are looking to find difference makers in the draft then, well, they might have a tough time with that. PFF’s big board only has two top-100 guards in Alabama’s Tyler Booker (66th) and Georgia’s Tate Ratledge (89th). The Vikings could move down out of the first round and try to land a defensive player alongside one of these guards but they will still need to project a development curve because we’re not talking about the next Quenton Nelson in this draft. The other potential option would be taking an offensive tackle and moving that player to guard. That seems to be happening more and more around the league because interior lines are struggling so much.
Even with a shortage of picks, the Vikings have to continue to find ways to take shots at development linemen. They have Rouse and Jurgens in the mix but Rouse is the only lineman on the roster who is under 25 years old. That might mean taking a lot of swings in the UDFA market or looking to sign free agents who are less experienced and have developed elsewhere.
The bottom line:
Overall, the Vikings had a better offensive line than in years past and it was good enough to help them get into the top 10 in scoring offense. But when they reached the postseason, all the weaknesses were on display. A large percentage of that was due to Darrisaw’s injury and some was because they made a bad bet at left guard. In an offense that throws the ball down the field often and needs great improvement in the run game, ranking in the middle of the league is not going to be good enough.
The way forward is clear: Spend, spend, spend. Whether they spend on the right players will determine if we’re still having the same conversation next year or not.
Perhaps if KOC improves his screen and quick passing game the O line wouldn't need to hold their blocks so long for the routes to develop.
Matthew's already stated he wants a DT in the first round which makes sense given a) this team doesn't pass rush well there (at all),b) other teams do and as we’ve seen first-hand that can be lethal, c) the value of the DT position, and d) they can produce as rookies. And e) Corners in the first round, as we all know, are way less predictable than linemen (on either side of the ball). So an alphabet of excellent reasons to go that route--and hell, it's my favorite position in football so I'm a fan of the idea, but let's play devil's advocate and look at IOL in the draft with a little more nuance.
One can cherry pick O-line draft options using PFF rankings, aka one guy, Trevor Sikkema (because if you want to base it all on one guy then you could also say that Mike Renner, Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson all think the Vikings should take Donovan Jackson at Guard in the first round [but that's cherry picking and clearly I'm on record as being against that]) and ignore that many good DTs are found after the first round (as Will Ragatz pointed out the other night Milton Williams, Osi Odighigisuwa, and Alim McNeil all were drafted in the 70s. Also Kobie Turner was 90th, and Nnambi Madubuike was 71st! Osi is one of the 3 players Coller would most like to see the Vikings sign, which would be fantastic). It would be great to see a Grant, Harmon, Nolen in Purple, but DT is considered one of the deepest positions in this draft class (Consensus Board has 12 in the top 100), if not the deepest so let's take another look at the IOL possibilities.
No one is more down on the IOL in this draft than the aforementioned Sikkema (why not use the Consensus Board?), and PFF puts guys who could be Guards or Centers strictly as OTs so when you expand it a bit the list does improve. Given most OL picks outside of the top 60 provide little in their rookie seasons so let's list those guys on the Consensus Board. They include not only Tyler Booker at 27, but Armand Membou 36, Jonah Savaiinaea 39, Donovan Jackson 40, Wyatt Milum 49, and Marcus Mdbow 50. Ratledge is 73 on the Consensus Board. Not awesome, but doing the math...carry the one... 6 is better than 2 guys mentioned. 7 if we include Ratledge. Hopefully the Vikings do solve the O-line problem in free agency and we can debate which DT we like best in the draft or gasp(!), Revel vs Morrison at CB, but the point of all this is that the O-line opportunity in the draft is more nuanced--IMO--than this article presented.