We can become enamored with skill-position players in this fantasy football world. They make the highlight reel with 80-yard runs and one-handed catches. Quarterbacks go viral for shaking off an incoming defender, rolling right, and firing a 15-yard strike.
Offensive line play is less sexy. Protecting the quarterback or blocking on a four-yard run on first-and-10 won’t make SportsCenter, but it keeps an offense on schedule. It opens up the entire playbook on second-and-six. In turn, that makes third down more manageable, and so on. That kind of consistency up front often dictates whether the offense is playing on time or constantly behind.
So it isn’t surprising that J.J. McCarthy was the center of criticism this season. He did little to warrant anything else, completing only 57.4% of his passes and tossing 12 interceptions in 10 games.
But did he ever stand a chance to succeed with an offensive line in flux all season? The projected five starting linemen played only 83 snaps together. Only Will Fries – who signed a five-year, $88 million deal last offseason – started every game.
“The guy who came here with a broken leg last year is the only one who played every snap the entire year on the offensive line,” Brian O’Neill told reporters in his season-ending press conference.
Signing Fries was a risk. He broke his tibia in October 2024 while playing for the Indianapolis Colts. The Vikings were hopeful he could recover and become a key cog on an overhauled offensive line.
Fries recovered to play 989 of 1,001 possible snaps in Minnesota this season, although his performance may not have matched his contract in Year 1. His 61.2 PFF grade was second-lowest among the Vikings’ projected starters.
But availability is the greatest ability. Center Ryan Kelly received an 82.2 grade, the highest among all Minnesota offensive players. But he was limited to only eight games. That absence hurt the line’s play and also prevented the 10-year veteran from helping identify defensive fronts for McCarthy.
Christian Darrisaw came back from an ACL/MCL tear he suffered last season, but his situation was even more difficult to prepare for. He participated in team drills during training camp, raising optimism that he could be ready for Week 1.
Darrisaw was a game-time decision for the first game before being ruled out. He then missed Week 2. Those games were critical because they were McCarthy’s first career starts. McCarthy was sacked nine times, with three being credited to backup left tackle Justin Skule. He allowed seven total pressures.
It felt like Darrisaw had finally turned a corner when he was active in Week 3 and allowed only one pressure on 38 snaps.
Kevin O’Connell tried to ease Darrisaw’s workload by putting him on a “pitch count.” The hope was that Darrisaw could get stronger as the season progressed and be a full-time participant once he regained his playing strength.
But that all changed in Week 7. Darrisaw was a game-time decision against the Los Angeles Chargers but was active after a pregame workout. He played only nine snaps, gave up two pressures, and then exited the game.
The Vikings lost 37-10, mustering only 164 yards of offense.
Darrisaw was on and off the injury report all season, leaving coaches wondering whether he would even be able to play that week. Not knowing whether Darrisaw or Skule would play left tackle made it harder to game-plan against the opponent.
Minnesota placed Darrisaw on injured reserve in December. He missed five of the team’s final six games of the season. His 65.9 PFF grade was the lowest of his career.
O’Neill and Donovan Jackson each missed three games. Jackson played through a wrist injury in Week 3 before getting surgery. O’Neill, playing special teams because of all the injuries on the line, was forced to play on the field goal unit in Week 4 against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin.
He went down with a knee injury when a player landed on his leg on a field goal attempt.
“I think the one in Europe with the knee was unfortunate,” O’Neill told reporters. “It happened on a special teams play. Somebody fell on me, but I was able to shake back from that.”
But the timing of his injury coincided with Jackson’s and impacted the following week. The Vikings played the Cleveland Browns in London.
Minnesota’s offensive line, from left to right, was Darrisaw, rookie Joe Huber, Blake Brandel (playing center for the first time in his career), Fries, and Skule.
As part of Darrisaw’s pitch count, the Vikings pulled him from the game in the fourth quarter. The Vikings moved Skule to left tackle and inserted Walter Rouse at right tackle. Minnesota escaped with a 21-17 win, improving to 3-2. But it was an emotionally draining victory. The Vikings wouldn’t be back over .500 until Week 18.
Was it really surprising that McCarthy struggled? He was sacked 27 times on 10% of his dropbacks, fifth-most among all qualified quarterbacks. That trailed Carson Wentz, who was sacked on 10.11% of dropbacks.
The Vikings wanted to improve their interior offensive line when the 2025 offseason began. They got new starters at all three spots. Only Fries started every game, and Kelly played less than half the season.
Darrisaw’s week-to-week status amplified that instability. Game-planning for McCarthy included on-the-fly contingency plans for a reworked offensive line.
O’Neill believes the offseason will be good for everyone, Fries included. He tore his Achilles tendon late in the 2022 season and didn’t believe he played well, even though he came back in 2023.
“I can’t speak for anybody else, but I know after [my injury], the first year back, I didn’t feel like it was my best ball,” O’Neill said. “Not close to my best ball.
The following year was a really good one.
“When you’re just not able to train, and you’re not able to practice, and you’re not able to recover, [and] something’s a little tight,” he continued. “You’re dealing with this, and you’re dealing with that, and you’re not dealing with practice. It piles up.
“Having a full, healthy offseason is good for everybody.”
A healthier, more settled offensive line won’t guarantee success. But it would at least allow McCarthy’s development to be evaluated on more level ground.
