Perhaps worse than the ugly 41-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers were the first quarter injuries to right tackle Brian O’Neill and center Austin Schlottman. One could even uselessly argue that the former wouldn’t have happened without the latter. There’s no argument that the Vikings were much worse off for the Packers and the playoffs after the loss of the offensive linemen. The “simple” center-quaterback exchange turned into a nightmare after Schlottman broke his ankle on the fifth offensive play of the game.
Until there isn’t, there’s always a next game. The Vikings have, at least, two more games. They play the Chicago Bears in the regular season finale on Sunday. Then it’s the playoffs. Head coach Kevin O’Connell said yesterday that the injuries to O’Neill and Schlottman put an “ultimate stress” on the team’s offensive line depth. The Vikings placed both players on injured reserve yesterday. With a calf injury of some sort, it’s possible O’Neill could return if the Vikings were to plow their way into the Super Bowl. With a broken ankle, Schlottman is most likely done for the season. For an offensive line group already playing without top center Garrett Bradbury and swing tackle Blake Brandel, the loss of two more offensive linemen puts serious stress on the team’s depth. To deal with that stress, the Vikings signed center Greg Mancz to the active roster and offensive tackle Bobby Evans to the practice squad.
Greg Mancz most recently was on the 53-man roster of the Cleveland Browns. He was released on December 23rd so he hasn’t been sitting on the couch for months waiting for a call. After a strong college career at Toledo, the 30-year center was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Houston Texans. After five-plus seasons in Houston, he had stints with the Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and the Browns. Mancz has started 32 of 64 games, including all 16 games for the Texans in 2016. For this late in the season, the Vikings were fortunate to find a freshly released player with this sort of experience and starting experience. Hopefully, Bradbury will be on the field for the playoffs and Mancz simply provides depth. The nightmare center-quarterback exchanges from Sunday can never be seen again.
O’Connell and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips are familiar with Bobby Evans from their time together with the Los Angeles Rams. Evans was a third-round pick of the Rams in 2019. As with Mancz, Evans was released over the holidays. He never reached the heights expected of a third-round pick. He started 12 of 35 games for the Rams, including four this season. He’s played at guard and tackle. Now, Evans will provide offensive line depth from the Vikings practice squad. Linebacker Chris Garrett was released from the practice squad to create a spot for Evans.
So, moving forward, where does this leave the Vikings offensive line? In terms of playing starters, the team’s strategy for the Bears game has yet to be revealed. One would think that the reorganized offensive line would need some game time with the starters before the playoffs. We’ve already seen all that can go wrong when the center can’t get the ball back to the quarterback. If Bradbury is ready to return after about a month on the sideline, the offensive line should be ok with Oli Udoh stepping in for Brian O’Neill at right tackle. It’d still be nice for that offensive line to have a warmup game before the playoffs. If Mancz has to play in place of Bradbury, that warmup game is even more vital.
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