The Minnesota Vikings’ offensive line has gone through several changes over the season. First, Rashod Hill got himself outright benched for Christian Darrisaw. After a stint on COVID-19/IR, Garrett Bradbury lost the starting center job to Mason Cole. Just as that began to gel, Darrisaw hurt his ankle and has been out ever since. Oli Udoh moved from right guard to left tackle to replace him. Cole shifted to right guard, and Bradbury took the center job back over.
Udoh has struggled, but the interior of Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradbury, and Mason Cole is thriving. In the last two games against the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers, that interior has been more of an asset than a liability. The three of them all had major issues to sift through and have made progress this season. We’ve only seen this combination for two games against relatively weak interior defensive lines (Cam Heyward excepted). But if we look closely at each player, we can see apparent changes regardless of the opponent.
Ezra Cleveland
Since Ezra Cleveland played tackle throughout college, putting him at right guard last year was a suspect choice. Instead of moving him back to his natural position when Riley Reiff became a cap casualty, the Vikings drafted a brand new left tackle in Darrisaw. That meant Cleveland would play guard again but could at least move back to the more familiar left side. Still, Cleveland experienced some of the classic issues that tackles have on the interior.
Still, Cleveland’s athleticism has been useful, even since the beginning parts of the season. Cleveland can pull to the outside like the best of them. While a tackle playing guard has plenty of disadvantages, this is an advantage. He’s used to playing out in space. It wasn’t worth Cleveland’s other issues, but at least it took the edge off (no pun intended).
Pass protection as a tackle is something of a timing game. As edge rushers come at you, they can delay their attack or hasten it. That means tackles have to be somewhat reactionary with their hands. Tackles have to deal with speed. On the contrary, guards and centers deal with power. Defensive tackles start the play right in your face and try to get their hands on you immediately. A passive, timing-based approach against a bull-rushing nose tackle is a recipe for disaster.
That initial hand from Cleveland is a very important development. It’s a commitment to the interior in muscle memory. The first blow in the battle between an interior blocker and an interior defender can often decide the battle. Strike first, and strike hard.
Another habit that a tackle has to break before excelling at guard is the tendency to set with depth. Some protections call for a deeper pass set, but you have to stay in line with your teammates if the protection slides. On the “wall” of pass protection, guards will often have help to the inside and outside. Tackles make up the end of the line, and therefore, have much more space to cover. To cover that space, they have to set with appropriate depth as it relates to the quarterback’s drop depth.
At guard, that depth may help your opponent more than it helps you. After all, the bigger interior defenders are coming straight at you. They aren’t finessing perfectly rehearsed martial arts moves like edge rushers are. Again, it’s important to get that first strike. Pass protection isn’t passive, and a deeper drop is much too passive. If you get too much depth, it gives your opponent too much space to work with. Either a head of steam or space to set up misdirection can doom you. Cleveland has done a better job of denying that.
Mason Cole
Cole’s journey from backup center to starting center to fill-in right guard has been a story for some time. He’s obviously earned consideration as a starter, either at center or right guard, but right guard is a much better fit for Cole. As Nick Olson pointed out back in March when the Vikings traded for him, Cole is much better without the challenges the center position presents.
Think about the mechanics of playing center. You have to use your dominant hand to snap the ball before using it in any sort of technique. Nose tackles know this and will prefer to attack the snapping shoulder (usually the right shoulder). They won’t dilly dally — they’re coming at you, and fast. With one hand occupied, the other hand needs to buy some time. That hand needs to slow up the defender for a split second to give you time to catch up to your opponent.
Cole’s issue getting set after the snap dates all the way back to college. He’s a better fit at guard, so why force it? Taking the snap out of Cole’s hands solves enough problems to make him a starting-caliber player. Mason Cole can block. He struggled to call protections, snap the ball, and overcome the disadvantages that come with that. But at guard, he doesn’t have to worry about any of that.
At guard, Mason Cole can forget the complexities of working a snap into his technique. He can use his recovery ability, his natural second-level athleticism, and his low center of gravity to excel. Considering the issues Udoh has had at the position and Wyatt Davis has yet to see the field, Cole should keep this job.
Garrett Bradbury
If our hearts are set on Cole replacing one of Udoh or Bradbury, the last two games show us that Bradbury should be the one in the lineup. Setting Udoh’s struggles aside for a moment, Bradbury’s play has seemingly improved. Next to an improved Cleveland and Cole, Bradbury has had a much easier time on double teams and combo blocks. Beyond that, he has improved in subtle ways as a pass protector.
“The Grim Reacher,” as some in the building call him, has always been able to reach block at an elite level. It’s what the Vikings drafted him for. A reach block is a critical zone block in which a lineman has to cross the face of a defender, flip his hips, and seal him off the other way. It requires incredible flexibility and a quick get-off. Bradbury’s reach block highlight reel has only grown, even if he has struggled in other areas. Here’s just a small sample:
Obviously, that’s no longer the headline with Bradbury. The real battleground comes when Bradbury is one on one in pass protection. How does he do in those situations? Since Bradbury’s return from COVID-19/Reserve, his pass protection has improved. He has only ceded one pressure since returning last week against Detroit, per PFF. This has come from a combination of a tweak in the Vikings’ protection schemes, and some improvement in his leverage and technique.
Applying some of the lessons we learned from watching Cole and Bradbury, we can better understand the differences in Bradbury’s play. The flatter protections allow Bradbury to be more aggressive in his pass protection, and even anchor in a way he was so famously unable to before.
Combining the three
At all three positions, better play compounds on itself. With Cleveland playing more aggressively, his combination blocks with Bradbury become more formidable. Cole’s quicker hands allow him to combine with the linemen on either side of him as well. A combination block starts as a double team on one lineman, then the two separate. One lineman climbs to the second level, and the other has to finish off the original block, often having to execute a reach block.
To execute these, everyone must be on the same page, and nobody can pull a punch. The result looks a lot like what we saw Thursday night against the Steelers. Giant creases, no tackle opportunities, and an explosive day of fantasy football for Dalvin Cook or anyone else.
The long-standing bugaboo for the Vikings was actually a strength. At least for one game. Of course, we must respect the caveat that these improvements won’t continue. Rashod Hill improved his footwork, only to regress back into old habits to begin this season. It happens, and there’s no way for us to know if it will happen this time. It’s at least nice to see steady progress. Few things in football are prettier than the big uglies kicking ass. It’s nice to be on the right end of that for once.
