Vikings Have Taken an Unexpected Loss
The offensive lines in the Twin Cities over the last decade have not received good reviews from Minnesota Vikings fans. That’s why everyone was excited to part ways with some of the culprits in the past offseason in favor of some supposed upgrades. Injuries have derailed the plan, as the planned starting five hasn’t played together.
The Bizarre Case of a Traded Vikings Blocker
Dalton Risner is a starter for the Cincinnati Bengals, and his issues remain. He’s just not a good run blocker, which certainly isn’t helping Cincinnati’s abysmal running game. Garrett Bradbury is the starting center for the New England Patriots. PFF has currently ranked him 21st among centers, strangely (for him), with a better pass-blocking grade than on the ground.
Well, then there’s guard Ed Ingram. He was benched in the 2024 campaign and ultimately traded to the Houston Texans. Through the first five weeks of the season, Ingram has been secretly good, says Pro Football Focus. In fact, he’s the league’s top guard according to the company.
His numbers are driven by his godlike run-blocking grade, while his pass blocking remains average. Still, that is a massive jump from his first three years in the league. Here’s his PFF resume.
- 2022: 57.0 (57th of 77 eligible guards)
- 2023: 59.5 (38th/79)
- 2024: 54.0 (66th/77)
- 2025: 84.0 (1st/78)
It should be noted that Ingram has played 253 offensive snaps in four games. He missed the season opener due to an injury. That’s still a small sample size. Furthermore, PFF is not infallible in any way.
Still, let’s take their grades at face value, for the sake of the argument.
What could be the reasons for his emergence? For one, Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has a quick time to throw of 2.71 seconds. Last year’s Vikings QB Sam Darnold had a time to throw of over three seconds. Not having to sustain the block as long certainly helps.
But that’s just adding context. No player is going from “too bad to start” to “Pro Bowler” within 12 months because the quarterback is passing the ball three-tenths of a second faster.
It might be time to consider coaching. The Vikings hired offensive line coach Chris Kuper in the 2022 offseason. He arrived with Kevin O’Connell. Ingram was drafted a couple of months after his designation, and he had three years to get more out of the second-rounder.
Ingram has always been a good run-blocker, even in a Vikings uniform. His pass protection was unacceptable, nevertheless. Perhaps the Texans have found some magic trick to unlock that second-round potential after all.
Ingram was benched for Risner halfway through the 2024 season. When the Vikings acquired Will Fries in free agency, there was no room for Ingram, and he was shipped to Houston. Skol Nation was happy to part ways with their former draft pick, especially since Kwesi Adofo-Mensah got something in return.
That pick was quickly redirected to San Francisco as part of the Jordan Mason deal. Overall, the Vikings got a decent player out of the swaps.
The trade felt like a wonderful transaction from a Vikings perspective for months, but if Ingram is suddenly the real deal, nobody can be too happy about it in the long run.
That’s where patience is required. Just like rookies and young players in general need time before they can be labeled as hits or busts, trades need time for a final conclusion. Somebody surely claimed the Stefon Diggs/Justin Jefferson trade was bad after two weeks.
Ingram’s play and PFF grade could fall off a cliff in the upcoming months, and the entire conversation is moot. It deserves some attention, though.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.