One Viking is Still Battling to Keep His Starting Job
By definition, every NFL player is continually earning his starting spot. After all, there’s no shortage of talent that would be willing to hop into the starting lineup.
However, there’s one Viking in particular who looks like he needs to continue earning his starting spot: right guard Ed Ingram. Going into Year 3, the offensive lineman still has quite a bit to prove even though he has been in the starting unit since getting drafted.
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There’s a bit of a runway for the RG1.
The main player who would replace Ingram is Dalton Risner. The issue, of course, is that Risner is working on getting back to 100% on the IR. Had he been healthy, then it’s possible that the veteran Risner would have already snagged the starting spot.
The other option would be Dan Feeney, a versatile veteran who is being leaned on to slide into the Austin Schlottmann job. Feeney is the C2 but can also play guard if there’s a need.
Finally, one thinks of offensive tackle Walter Rouse. While chatting with KFAN’s Paul Allen, Kevin O’Connell mentioned the possibility of shifting Mr. Rouse inside to a guard spot. Could that happen during the season? Is he being prepared for the guard position as a potential replacement?
Ingram, though, will be looking to prove that there’s no need to hand things off to someone else. Consider what the numbers look like across his opening pair of seasons:
| Year | Sacks | Hits | Pressures | Penalties |
| 2022 | 11 | 18 | 58 | 4 |
| 2023 | 5 | 15 | 42 | 7 |
Notably, there’s some improvement, but the numbers are still discouraging overall. The most recent evidence, the preseason, hasn’t exactly been lights out:
In the Cleveland game — the second preseason tilt — every offensive line starter got the chance to sit … except Ed Ingram. Will Ragatz commented on Ingram getting reps on Saturday, concluding, “Ed Ingram being out there with the twos to open this game tells you his starting job is not guaranteed.” Does that lack of guarantee extend into the season?
Sam Darnold is taking over as the QB1. A surefire way to make his life more difficult is to allow him to get suplexed with great regularity.
Ingram spoke to the media earlier in the week, expressing confidence in the work he has done: “I feel like I’m confident going into Week 1, I feel like I’m where I’m at, where I want to be at.” Not too long afterwards, the guard indicated that he’s looking to take a step forward in his game, eliminating the errors from his opening years in the league.
“For me, [the 2024 season] it’s pretty big,” the offensive lineman explains, “it’s Year 3. Going out there and showing my worth. And just going out there and just playing fast, having fun, and eliminating all of the mistakes from Year 1 and Year 2.” He went on: “Just growing pains, young player coming into the NFL. Now I see things a little bit differently just because I am three years into the NFL now so I feel like everything is going to start slowing down a bit.”
Living up to those words would be a major boost for Minnesota, especially since Dexter Lawrence threatens to undermine the Week 1 effort.
The best thing Ed Ingram could do is to begin by being a road grader, someone who busts through defenders like a Minnesota plow in a winter snowstorm. But then there’s the pass protection, especially when there’s something funky going on along the defensive line like a stunt.
Being able to handle some DL games will be vital for Ingram. If I was the opposing DC, I would be running a stunt directly at Ingram early and often to see if he can handle the twisting linemen. I would also be looking for ways to get Lawrence onto the right guard. Minnesota will need to be ready, especially Ingram himself.
Ingram, 25, stands at 6’3″ and is listed at 307 pounds. He was chosen at 59th overall back in 2022, a high placement for an interior lineman.
He is carrying a $1,635,811 cap charge into the season.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.