The Minnesota Vikings agreed to contract terms yesterday with veteran guard Chris Reed. The eight-year veteran got his NFL start in 2016 as an undrafted free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Not a lot of NFL players have come out of Minnesota State-Mankato. The Vikings now have two of them. Reed and Adam Thielen were once Maverick teammates. Over three seasons, Reed started eight of the 25 games in which he played for the Jaguars. His 2019 season was split between the Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers. His first consistent starting experience came in 2020 when he started 14 games at left guard for the Panthers. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts as a free agent last offseason. At least one Colts pundit went so far as to say that Reed’s play in 2021 made him the team’s best free agent signing of that offseason. With All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson in and out of the lineup for much of the season, the Colts desperately needed Reed to play well. And he did. He played well in his six starts. Jonathan Taylor had an MVP-caliber season running behind an offensive line that often had Reed in the middle of it. I feel like I need to go back to last season’s in-season Hard Knocks profile on the Colts. I remember the confidence that the coaches had in their pieced together offensive line but I don’t remember the details. You can often tell a lot about a player’s ability and worth by the reactions to losing him of his previous team’s fans. Many Colts fans are very disappointed that Chris Reed will be playing for another team. It might not carry the weight of a PFF number but I believe that the Colts loss is the Vikings gain.
The Vikings have now added three interior offensive linemen in free agency.
Austin Schlottman
Jesse Davis
Chris Reed
New head coach Kevin O’Connell and common sense say that four of the Vikings five offensive line positions are set.
|
LT |
Christian Darrisaw |
|
LG |
Ezra Cleveland |
|
C |
Garrett Bradbury |
|
RG |
? |
|
RT |
Brian O’Neill |
This disappoints many Vikings fans as many Vikings fans have been praying for a new center. They would prefer to see Garrett Bradbury as far away from Minnesota as possible. The former first round pick is an extremely talented center. Unfortunately, he often has trouble with bigger, stronger defensive tackles. Those troubles come in a professional football league littered with bigger, stronger defensive tackles. The Vikings have new coaches, new offensive coaches, new offensive line coaches. Those new coaches will want to see up close a player as talented as Bradbury before they toss him to the curb. For now, and probably for the season, he’s the Vikings center. Bradbury will be playing for a contract. He may also be playing for his NFL life. I might be the only one but I like his chances. I expect him to be one of the Vikings most improved players.
So, the Vikings will have a thrilling competition for the right guard job. That competition will likely include the three free agent additions, 2021 third-round pick Wyatt Davis, and perhaps even 2020 seventh-round pick Kyle Hinton. Oli Udoh is the returning right guard starter. Based on his play last year, he’s better suited at tackle. He’s the favorite to take on the important swing-tackle role. The Vikings could add further add to the right guard mix in the 2022 NFL Draft. Perhaps it’s a recency bias. Maybe it’s a reaction to the reaction of many Colts fans. At the moment, I like Chris Reed to be the Vikings right guard.
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