Lost in the Shuffle, The Vikings Will Soon See a Former Player Who Wants to Bulldoze the Defense
Over the past week, previews of the upcoming Bengals game have considered how the Vikings will take on a pair of former quarterbacks: Jake Browning alongside Brett Rypien.
Is a different player getting lost in the shuffle?
Dalton Risner, once lauded as a needed reinforcement for the Vikings’ offensive line, is now putting in work for Cincinnati. Every interior offensive lineman likes to be a bulldozer, a truth that may be especially true when the lineman is squaring off against his former employer. Can Risner hang with the Vikings’ reinvigorated defensive front?
The Vikings Will Face Dalton Risner on Sunday
Very obviously, the Vikings ventured into the offseason with the goal of beefing up the trenches.
The team welcomed a brand new interior offensive line. Donovan Jackson (someone also dinged up), Ryan Kelly, and Will Fries got plugged into the top trio of interior o-line spots. There was then Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen on the other side of the ball, the high-priced defensive tackles who are being entrusted with pushing the Brian Flores front to a new level (consider one instance of Flores’ front doing tremendously).
Welcoming all of these promising players inevitably meant saying goodbye to others. Dalton Risner was among them.
A 2nd-Round selection from the 2019 NFL Draft, Risner got his career started with the Broncos. He offered sturdy play, proving to be better at pass protection than with run blocking. He then ventured over to Minnesota, putting in work as a left guard in 2023 before then being the right guard in 2024. In both instances, Risner leapfrogged a starter to earn his spot in the lineup: Ezra Cleveland at left guard in 2023 and Ed Ingram at right guard in 2024.
Oddly enough, Dalton Risner was unemployed for a long time. No NFL team, quite evidently, met Mr. Risner’s asking price.
Things changed in late August. Jordan Schultz offered the update: “Sources: The #Bengals are signing former #Vikings G Dalton Risner. Risner has allowed zero sacks over the last two regular seasons, per PFF. A proven and respected veteran lands in Cincinnati to help protect Joe Burrow.”
Yet again, Risner is making modest money. His single-season deal comes in at just $1,337,500, a bargain of a deal for someone who is capable of offering at least average play along the offensive line.
The issue confronting Cincinnati — apart from the brutal injury to Joe Burrow — is that Mr. Risner hasn’t been operating at a pristine level. Or, at least, not according to the assessment that’s coming out of PFF.
As things stand, Dalton Risner sees himself coming in at 83rd out of the 88 guards for PFF’s grades. The 43.1 PFF grade is very poor, the kind of low-level guard play that Vikings fans grew accustomed to seeing over the past several years.
Within his 105 snaps at right guard, Risner has gotten dinged with committing 1 penalty, allowing 1 sack, 1 QB hit, and 4 pressures.
Dalton Risner is looking to get his season going in a better direction when playing at U.S. Bank Stadium. Unlike in past seasons, Risner will be wearing the opposing team’s jersey. His capacity to withstand Hargrave, Allen, and the Vikings’ other DTs — maybe even bulldozing a few running lanes along the way — will have Cincinnati in a much better position to keep their record perfect.
Kickoff takes place at Sunday, September 21st at noon.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
