The PFF Offensive Line Ranking is Out; Minnesota Does Poorly

K. Joudry |

Sep 15, 2021

Questions Answered: The O'Neill Bad News, Vikings Top Need This Offseason, Chris Reed

Oct 24, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Brian O'Neill (75) celebrates with offensive guard Pat Elflein. Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports.

Is it really news that PFF has a low opinion of our offensive line? Probably not, but they do make a good point regarding our run blocking.

Generally speaking, Minnesota’s offensive linemen do better blocking for runs than passes. Unfortunately for us, that trend didn’t hold up on Sunday: “Minnesota’s biggest offseason move was drafting Christian Darrisaw in the first round, but he has yet to get on the field to show what kind of an impact he can make. The Vikings struggled against Cincinnati in Week 1, and if replacing both starting guards from a year ago has made things better, it has been a minuscule improvement. Perhaps of biggest concern from that first game is that none of the starting five blocked well in the run game.”

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If you head over to the Minnesota Vikings team page on PFF, you’ll see that our individual grades aren’t particularly impressive. Ezra Cleveland’s lukewarm 60.5 score is the best of the group. Rashod Hill will be matched up on Chandler Jones, PFF‘s top-ranked edge rusher after his 5-sack performance. Hill is currently sitting in the 61st spot out of 68 qualifying tackles.

All together, Minnesota’s offensive line is sitting at an uninspiring 26th overall in the NFL.

Keep in mind that the goal of any team isn’t to have a great OL but, rather, to have a great team that wins its games. The OL is simply a means to an end. I suspect Mike Zimmer & Friends care very little about where websites rank their line. Their focus, very rightly, rests in trying to ensure the OL helps the team win on Sunday.

Sunday’s game is going to be a real test for our big guys. Let’s begin by eliminating the self-inflicted wounds and progress from there. If we do so, perhaps we’ll slowly climb up from that humble 26th ranking.