No More Excuses: 1 Vikings Position Group Needs an Overhaul
Throughout the last few years, folks have (for good reason) complained about the subpar defenses, starting in 2020 under Mike Zimmer’s watch. The departure of some key defenses and the failure of numerous draft picks didn’t help the since-sacked head coach.
No More Excuses: 1 Vikings Position Group Needs an Overhaul
His successor on the defensive side of the ball, Ed Donatell, coordinated a horrendous unit in the 2022 season. Brian Flores had to work some magic to field a decent group in 2023. This year, the defense has finally been fixed.
On offense, meanwhile, the Vikings have a position group that has struggled for the better part of a decade now: The interior offensive line.
Every single offseason, Vikings fans are hopeful that the front office will sign a couple of dominant interior linemen and draft a third one, and every single year, they leave free agency and the draft disappointed.
Acquired players never live up to the hype when they indeed spend some draft capital. Third-rounder Pat Elflein, second-rounder Ezra Cleveland, second-rounder Ed Ingram, and first-rounder Garrett Bradbury never reached their expectations.
And in free agency? Well, the Vikings usually sign some low-end starting guard and roll with three players who don’t have a chance to be an Eagles-like group. The cap situation never allowed the front office to spend big, but now that Kirk Cousins’ money is off the books, they might get the chance to invest.
The good news is, in the last couple of years, the offensive line has not been the disaster it used to be; the bad news is it is still far from being able to impose its will.
Bradbury is under contract for two more years after signing a three-year extension in the 2023 offseason. He is somewhat cheap, with an annual salary of $5.25 million, but the Vikings could get out of his contract and save $3.6 million by releasing him.
He has been a consistently bothersome center who is getting overpowered by two or three defensive tackles every season, but he is an excellent run blocker because he can move pretty well.
The Vikings seem to like him, and having a veteran center to help the QB with protections is certainly an advantage. He is the most likely of the starting trio to be back in his spot in 2025. Quite frankly, it would be surprising to see him leave in the upcoming offseason.
His neighbors have been quite problematic over the years. On the left side, the Vikings employ Blake Brandel, a longtime backup tackle who the franchise moved to guard. PFF lists him as the 64th of 77 eligible offensive guards with below-average numbers in both the passing and the running game. He signed a three-year, $9.5 million contract last offseason.
His counterpart on the right side is Dalton Risner. The veteran guard didn’t get much traction in free agency in back-to-back years, and the Vikings got him pretty cheap both times. As always, Risner is a decent pass blocker but not a great run blocker. Still, he has likely been the best of the four interior linemen.
That brings us to Ed Ingram. The 2022 draft choice was benched after Risner’s return from injury halfway through the season. It’s his third campaign, and he has yet to make the jump into serviceable territory.
Brandel and Ingram will be under contract for another season; Risner is a pending free agent. Neither of the trio is a dominant guard, someone who can bully opposing defensive tackles like Christian Darrisaw regularly does on the left side of the offensive line.
The Vikings have some cap space available and could attack free agency with the intention of acquiring one or two of the best guards (Chiefs guard Trey Smith) on the market. Spending either the first or the third-rounder in the draft is also an option, but it should be noted that a new cornerback, running back, or defensive tackle would also be helpful, and the resources need to be used wisely.
In pass protection, the line has gotten way better since O’Connell has been calling the shots, allowing Sam Darnold to stand in the pocket forever. But in the running game, it is still a gamble on any given run if the line is holding up.
That’s a problem anywhere on the field, but the red zone struggles on the ground are especially frustrating, as The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling proves with his post on X.
The Vikings have the 22nd most efficient ground game according to the metric EPA/run. O’Connell’s running attack ranks 19th in yards and 29th in touchdowns, with only nine scores. In yards per run, the Vikings are 25th (4.1).
Aaron Jones, Cam Akers, and Ty Chandler don’t form a great running back room, but they are capable of producing better than that with more help from the front.
Adding a more dynamic runner out of the backfield (although Jones has played a solid season) and finding interior linemen who can match the level of the offensive tackles Darrisaw and O’Neill is the key to forming an offense that can carry a team deep into the playoffs, and with an average defense, is good enough to make it to the big game.
Vikings fans have had enough of watching an offensive line that can be pushed around with underwhelming patchwork solutions, while other NFC contenders have offensive lines that could make a blind running back look good.
Editor’s Note: Information from Over The Cap, PFF, rbsdm, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
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Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt