The Vikings Make More Moves on the Offensive Line
On Wednesday evening, the Vikings made a couple transactions regarding their offensive line in training camp.
The team decided to cut ties with OT Sam Schlueter, a Minnesota native, while also bringing in OT Christian DiLauro. On Thursday, we saw the Vikings make more moves on their offensive line.
The team announced via social media that they have also signed OT Jarrid Williams while cutting OT Bobby Evans. They tweeted, “The #Vikings have signed T Christian DiLauro (@cjdilauro67) and T Jarrid Williams (@Jwill62_). The team has also terminated the contracted of Bobby Evans.”
The Vikings signed Evans just a couple weeks ago to fill out their tackle room.
Evans, 26, was drafted in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams after spending his collegiate years with the Oklahoma Sooners. He started three seasons with the Sooners, spending two years at right tackle and another at left tackle.
With the Rams, he played nine games during his rookie season, starting seven games. He has played a total of 35 games over his first four NFL seasons, making 12 starts.
Evans has had his fair share of struggles over his early NFL career, particularly in pass protection. In 2022, Pro Football Focus gave him a pass blocking grade of just 16.4 in 203 snaps in those scenarios.
Meanwhile, Minnesota’s addition of Jarrid Williams gives them a direct replacement for the former Ram. Williams spent a whopping seven seasons at the college level from 2015-2021. The offensive lineman split time with Houston (2015-2019) and Miami (2020-2021). He did not get on the field at all during that 2015 season for the Hurricanes, and he was largely just a rotational player during both 2016 and 2017.
In 2018, Williams finally got onto the field as a starter, and he thrived at the right tackle spot for the Cougars. He would make his home at that position for the final four years of his collegiate career, but following the 2019 season — a season that limited him to just three games due to injury — he decided to transfer to Miami.
In all, he played a grand total of 2615 snaps at the right tackle spot in college. During his four years as a starter Pro Football Focus gave him the following grades:
- 2018: 77.4
- 2019: 67.8
- 2020: 69.8
- 2021: 84.1
However, despite a strong final season, Williams went undrafted in 2022. He ultimately signed as an undrafted free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles, but he did not get any playing time with the team. He’s also had short stints with the Detroit Lions, and most recently, he was waived by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Interestingly, it seems that Williams was working as a third-string guard while in Pittsburgh, so with Chris Reed’s injury keeping him off the field, that could be something to watch.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.