Vikings’ Potential New Strength is Overshadowed by McCarthy Mania
Since Kevin O’Connell became the Minnesota Vikings’ technical face-of-the-franchise when he agreed to become the franchise’s tenth head coach in team history in 2022, the purple and gold team have often struggled to get a consistent and legitimate running game going with a full head of steam over the course of an entire season, let alone half of one, despite the team employing runningback-names like Dalvin Cook and Aaron Jones.
Sure, Dalvin Cook was indeed a bit “cooked” by the time O’Connell arrived to the Twin Cities, and Aaron Jones is just about at that point too in the next season or two (as the Vikings just agreed to an extension with the man), so I don’t bring up the names to necessarily slight the now fourth-year head coach.
He’s obviously one of the best coaches in the NFL, and was recognized as the best in 2024 (during the regular season) when he was rewarded with the Coach of the Year Award at the most recent NFL Honors show. Also in his defense, he hasn’t had a potential running game look nearly as promising as the one the Vikings plan to field starting this coming September.
It isn’t just the addition of former San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason, who is a welcome face after Ty Chandler fell short of the expectations thrust upon him as the team’s RB2 in 2024. Mason has been regarded as the Vikings’ RB2 (and could be used as more of a RB1b, as he and Aaron Jones were scarily similar in multiple metrics last season), as Chandler was immediately demoted to RB3 on paper, and he was also demoted legitimately by the team during the 2024 season after they decided to re-acquire Cam Akers from the Houston Texans.
That move hasn’t gotten lost in the fold, and neither have the Vikings’ additions along the team’s recent-historically lacking interior offensive line. Everyone is absolutely stoked about the new-look, beefy interior wall of Donovan Jackson, Ryan Kelly, and Will Fries. However, the biggest reason that everyone is excited about them is because of the high level of protection they can provide for the new face that runs the place, J.J. McCarthy.
Of course, a new QB that everyone expects to be the guy for the better part of the next two decades into the 2040s if everything goes right is going to garner the most attention when it comes to additions that directly impact the team’s ability to maximize him in his very first NFL action.
The thing that does get a bit lost in the headlines, speculations, and predictions of how McCarthy will fare behind this new-look frontline? The potential of a legitimate running game returning to Minneapolis for the first time since around the turn of the decade.
Since year uno of Kevin O’Connell in 2022, let’s go over the Vikings’ running game year-by-year (and where some of the numbers rank against the rest of the NFL).
- 2022
- 404 attempts (T-28th)
- 1,661 yards (T-28th)
- 78.5 PFF rushing offense grade (21st)
- 2023
- 393 attempts (28th)
- 1,553 yards (29th)
- 75.2 PFF rushing offense grade (24th)
- 2024
- 457 attempts (14th)
- 1,855 yards (20th)
- 77.1 PFF rushing offense grade (20th)
Funnily enough, the Vikings’ PFF team run-blocking grade has been at least average since 2022, and they were actually considered an elite run-blocking team by PFF in O’Connell’s first year. Here are there team run-blocking grades from PFF since 2022:
- 2022: 74.3 (3rd)
- 2023: 65.0 (10th)
- 2024: 65.9 (14th)
These grades are, of course, in large part due to the brilliance of the Vikings’ tackle duo in Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill. There’s even credit to give to former Vikings’ interior offensive linemen Garrett Bradbury and Ed Ingram, both of whom have been axed during the 2025 offseason, and both of whom you would definitely consider to be much better run-blockers than they are pass-blockers.
I’m all bought into the J.J. McCarthy hype just like (almost) everyone else in the purple fandom, but don’t let it distract you from the fact that the Vikings will have one of the most dominant offensive lines in the NFL, and not just in the passing game.
They had their worst season-long rushing performance of the KOC era in 2022, somehow behind the 3rd-best run-blocking line in the NFL, but in 2025, the line is way better, and the talent in the running back room is better too.
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