The Vikings’ FA Signing Who May Punch Above His Weight Class
At present, Christian Darrisaw is working back from a torn ACL that ended his season in Week 8. The most recent update is that the franchise left tackle is doing well.
Keep in mind, though, that the Vikings tend to be cautious when it comes to players recovering from injury. One only need to think of T.J. Hockenson waiting until Week 9 to make his season debut despite plenty of positive reports about how his body was doing. To that end, the Vikings’ FA signing who may punch above his weight class (so to speak) involves backup offensive tackle Justin Skule.
The Vikings’ FA Signing to Watch: OT3 Justin Skule
Plenty of people were pleased to see Minnesota invest in an OT3 upgrade.
On social media, The Athletic’s Alec Lewis shared this thought: “Justin Skule started five games last year for Tampa. Was effective. A nice swing tackle for the Vikings, thinking smartly knowing Christian Darrisaw is coming off torn ACL.”
On PurplePTSD, Janik Eckardt praised the move: “In his NFL career, Skule appeared in 66 games, starting 17 contests. Last season, the Buccaneers relied on his services in five starts and a total of 361 offensive snaps, playing on both sides of the line. He earned a solid 69.2 grade from PFF.”
If, for instance, Justin Skule can offer even average play as a left tackle, then that’s an excellent outcome for the Vikings.
Make no mistake: the Vikings want elite play at left tackle. The critical detail to keep in mind is that they won’t be expecting that level of performance from a late-round, backup lineman. Darrisaw got a four-year extension coming in at $104 million so that he could do that heavy lifting. While Darrisaw recovers, Skule’s job will be to offer solid play. If he does so, the Vikings’ offense has enough talent at other spots to keep functioning at a high level.
Skule, 28, stands at 6’6″ and weighs 315 pounds. He first entered the NFL in 2019, putting in work in San Francisco before then moving onto Tampa Bay. So, some recent NFC playoff teams that have either won a Super Bowl not too long ago (the Bucs) or challenged for one (the 49ers). Note: Skule hasn’t won a Super Bowl, but he went to the game with SF following the 2019 regular season; overall, he has been involved in half a dozen playoff games.
Last season, Skule played 126 snaps at left tackle and 232 snaps at right tackle. He even tossed in a trio of snaps as a jumbo tight end, recalling memories of Blake Brandel before he turned into the LG1.
According to PFF, Skule was responsible for allowing 4 sacks, 2 QB hits, and 12 pressures. He also got dinged for committing a penalty.
The more positive detail is simply that he earned a healthy 69.2 PFF grade. Toss that reality into the mix with his excellent size, history in a system similar to Kevin O’Connell’s, relative youth (compared to David Quessenberry, at least), plus his position versatility and it’s easy to see the appeal.
One could certainly envision a world where Justin Skule gets the nod in Week 1 as Darrisaw continues to work his way back into being able to be the weekly LT. The backup OT could get help in the form of Josh Oliver, C.J. Ham, and/or Aaron Jones functioning as blocking buddies to keep the league’s ferocious pass rushers off balance.
Holding down the fort by offering steady sturdiness would suggest that the Vikings did well in signing the backup lineman during free agency.
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 social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.