The Minnesota Vikings have made several tremendous strides throughout the 2010s. They found a quarterback who gave them steady play for six years. They cracked the code and won the NFC Championship in 2017. The Vikings also found a playmaker to replace Stefon Diggs, only for him to become the face of the franchise, and they created a defense that was one of the best in football.
The Vikings have answered several questions throughout their history, but there’s one that seems to be too great to overcome:
Can he play guard?
Over the past decade, the guard position has become Minnesota’s ultimate Rubik’s Cube. What used to be a franchise that relied on Hall of Famers like Randall McDaniel and Steve Hutchinson has been a revolving door since the latter left in 2011.
Many are rightfully focused on the quarterback situation. Others want more weapons on defense. But are the Vikings ignoring their biggest Achilles heel over the past decade? That depends on what you think about the offensive line.
Minnesota’s offensive line had a renaissance last season, especially regarding pass protection. Pro Football Focus gave the Vikings the league’s third-best pass-blocking grade, trailing only the Baltimore Ravens and the Philadelphia Eagles last season. Kirk Cousins was only pressured on 32.6% of his dropbacks – his lowest pressure rate since signing with Minnesota in 2018.
A big reason for the offensive line’s success is their cornerstone tackles, Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill, who earned the Vikings’ top two pass-blocking grades for the third-straight season. But Ed Ingram’s improvement and adding Dalton Risner in free agency also improved Minnesota’s interior play.
Ingram was Minnesota’s second-round pick in 2022, and they immediately played him as a rookie. His 42.6 pass-blocking grade ranked 76th among qualifying guards and his 63 pressures allowed ranked first among all offensive linemen.
Risner’s playing time in the preseason hinted that he was on the hot seat, especially when Risner lurked in the bushes at TCO Performance Center last August. But Ingram’s improvement was evident. He cut his sacks down from 11 in his rookie year to five last year and cut down his pressures allowed by 33%.
While Ingram took a step forward, Risner was waiting for an opportunity. A free agent throughout the offseason, Risner signed in Week 2 and made his way into the starting lineup in Week 7 after a brief acclimation period. From that point, Risner had Minnesota’s second-best pass-blocking efficiency rating behind Bradbury, and the Vikings started to show promise until Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.
While there were bumps in the road, Minnesota’s O-line performed admirably in 2023. When the Vikings evaluated their offensive line one year ago, they relied on continuity instead of upgrading it, laying the foundation for this group’s success. But they took a different approach this time, letting Risner walk and signing Blake Brandel to a new contract.
Brandel has been a swing reserve since the Vikings took him in the sixth round of the 2020 draft. At 6’7”, 315 lbs., he looks like a tackle rather than a guard. But the Vikings plugged him in for emergency duty after Ingram got banged up toward the end of last season.
The results were promising. Brandel allowed a 7% pressure rate in three games and had his best game in Week 14, allowing three pressures on 47 pass-blocking snaps in a win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Still, his overall track record doesn’t inspire confidence. Brandel has never recorded an overall PFF grade above 55 in his three seasons.
There’s also the fact that after years of being blamed for the interior’s performance, Cousins did more to help his offensive line last season. PFF charted Cousins with some responsibility on just 4.5% of his pressures, the third-lowest rate of 41 qualifiers.
While Cousins is known for getting on the spot and refusing to move off of it, Minnesota’s backups did more harm than good in this regard. Nick Mullens created 7% of his pressures, and Joshua Dobbs created just over 14% of his. The prospective quarterbacks in this year’s class didn’t do much better. Drake Maye had some responsibility in 25.6% of his pressures, while Michael Penix Jr. had a 21.4% rate, Jayden Daniels had a 17.4% rate, and McCarthy had a 13.4% rate.
Current projected starter Sam Darnold is also a modest improvement in this group. However, he still created 9.6% of his pressures in 2022 and 18.2% in a Week 18 start against the Los Angeles Rams last season.
Put it all together, and it’s easy to see why Minnesota’s guards are a concern, even with more pressing needs on the roster. The Vikings could solve that deficiency with a mid-round pick or another free-agent signing this summer. But if Brandel doesn’t stick and Ingram doesn’t take another step forward, it could throw Vikings fans back to their favorite question this upcoming season.
Can he play guard?
