How Good Exactly Was Brian O’Neill?

Brian O’Neill and Colby Gossett ran a blocking drill on July 25 in Eagan. Photo by Jim Mone, Associated Press

When the Vikings drafted Brian O’Neill, many wrote him off as a project – a long term draft pick that will only be relevant in later years. But O’Neill’s first preseason game has created a bit of buzz. So how good was it? I decided to pay special attention.

O’Neill played about three quarters of the game on Saturday night, and in all that time, I only noticed six mistakes – two in the pass and four in the run. Overall, O’Neill was a lot cleaner than some of the other linemen in the game, and notably cleaner than Rashod Hill, who committed seven mistakes in three drives.

The best thing about O’Neill is how quickly he can move – it’s why the Vikings drafted him so high. That was definitely showcased at Mile High.

I mentioned pad level in that tweet. Brian O’Neill is extremely undersized – as of Monday in camp, he reported being just over 300 pounds. Getting underneath your man is a way to win leverage battles against bigger defensive ends. He didn’t face a ton of size on Saturday, but seeing that habit is a good sign for when he does.

This encompasses the vast majority of O’Neill’s night. But there’s a lingering caveat that always gets brought up when a reserve has a good preseason game – the level of competition. O’Neill took a lot of reps against UDFA rookies and camp bodies, which does dilute his result a little bit. Here’s an example of how that actually materializes:

One issue I’d noticed in camp with O’Neill was with his cut blocking. He never quite got the dive he wanted, and the coaches have been audibly disappointed during those second level drills. Here, that shows up, and it wasn’t the only time:

O’Neill’s footwork has been another focus of the coaches during camp, and has bitten him during one-on-ones. If he doesn’t get the right steps, he’ll “over-set,” or run too far before going for the engage. That makes it easy for a defensive lineman to cut upfield and leave O’Neill swinging. Here, it would have created a pressure if the bottom-barrel DL wasn’t stunting at a snail’s pace.

O’Neill’s two pass protection mistakes went by without either of them causing a pressure, so the Pitt product gets awarded with a clean bill for his first outing in the NFL. Not a bad result. He’s still got to work on some fundamentals before he earnestly competes to start, but this is a lot farther along than many of us expected him to be.

Thanks for reading!

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