The Minnesota Vikings are off to a 3-0 start thanks to their offense and defense working together. They rank third in scoring offense and second in scoring defense. As a result, they upset the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans in back-to-back weeks.
Almost everything is clicking for the Vikings, and it can be hard to find flaws in their game. However, Ed Ingram looks like a potential hole on their offensive line.
Pro Football Focus releases grades for the previous day’s game every Monday. Beat writers and aggregators often break these down into the top-five and bottom-five performers. Ingram consistently appears among the bottom five. Through three games, he is the third-lowest-graded offensive player on the team, with a 56.6 overall.
The metrics themselves don’t help, either. Ingram has allowed two sacks and 10 pressures through three games. His 10 pressures allowed are tied for the 10th-most among all offensive linemen across the league. Regarding pass-blocking, Ingram grades out at 27.2, the second lowest among all linemen in the NFL.
Through three seasons, Ingram has been consistent. PFF gave him a 57.1 grade as a rookie and 59.5 last year. The easy answer would be to bench him in favor of sixth-year guard Dalton Risner, who is eligible to return from injured reserve following Week 4. But would that be in the team’s best interest in the long term?
First, we must consider who the Vikings have played. In Week 1, they played the New York Giants, whose strength is their defensive line. Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was PFF’s highest-graded defensive tackle last year. He gave up six pressures and one sack on the day.
But Ingram wasn’t the only player to struggle against Lawrence this year. Over the next two weeks, he terrorized the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Browns with 11 total pressures and two sacks.
A week later, Ingram had another challenge when the Vikings faced San Francisco’s defensive line. This line featured Javon Hargrave, another one of the league’s top interior pass rushers. Over the past three seasons, his pass-rush grade has been 86.5 or higher, and he racked up 30 total sacks.
Ingram rebounded well this game, only allowing one pressure against the Niners. He was also crucial in protecting Sam Darnold on his 97-yard touchdown pass from his own end zone. Ingram held his own on the play-action pass, allowing Darnold to survey the field and throw a bomb to Justin Jefferson.
This past week wasn’t quite as strong for Ingram. PFF credited him with three pressures and a sack allowed against a Texans defense that entered the week ranked second in sacks. However, it was a significant improvement over Week 1 when he faced Lawrence and didn’t negatively impact Minnesota’s passing game.
Although Ingram has been inconsistent in pass blocking throughout his career, he is showing he is a plus-grade run-blocker again. He has a 64.6 run-block grade so far this year, slightly higher than his previous career-high of 64.4 during his rookie season. That has helped the Vikings rank 13th in the league in total rushing and 10th in yards per rush at 4.8 yards per carry.
The Vikings have an effective run game for the first time in Kevin O’Connell’s tenure. That has helped the team achieve balance on offense, averaging six yards per play.
Risner started 11 games at left guard during the 2023 season. Although PFF graded him as an above-average pass-blocker (67.4), he was a below-average run-blocker (50). The Vikings may have switched him to right guard to push Ingram this offseason. However, Minnesota also didn’t re-sign him until May.
During mini-camp, Risner revealed that this was the first time he had ever played right guard during his college or pro career. Although Ingram can be frustrating, the Vikings at least know what they have in him. Risner could be an improvement, but as Vikings fans have seen before, the guy on the bench isn’t always an upgrade. (I’m looking at you, Dru Samia.)
And for all of Ingram’s faults, he hasn’t committed any penalties. Left guard Blake Brandel, who has had an excellent start to the season, has three penalties, as does center Garrett Bradbury. Not only is Ingram not pushing the team back with pre-snap penalties, but he also isn’t bringing back big plays with holds or hands to the face.
Ingram isn’t the second coming of Randall McDaniel. However, he has been a serviceable guard on a unit in one of the league’s highest-scoring offenses. Now isn’t the time to mess with what has been working. The offensive line is a five-man unit, and Ingram’s tenacity is something the Vikings need and can count on moving forward.
