|
LT |
Christian Darrisaw |
|
LG |
Ezra Cleveland |
|
C |
Garrett Bradbury |
|
RG |
Ed Ingram |
|
RT |
Brian O’Neill |
Since the start of last season, only injuries, and there have been plenty, have kept those five players from being an every game staple. Only the guards have started and finished the past 20 games. That’s a problem. The strength of this group is the terrific tackles. Christian Darrisaw is emerging as one of the best left tackles in the league. Brian O’Neill has been one of the better right tackles for a few years. The wildly inconsistent play of the interior offensive line has been a problem. Garrett Bradbury missing all but the first seven snaps of the season hasn’t helped. He’s expected to return to the field this Sunday. That should help. Will there be another change?
Last season, on five or six occasions, rookie Ed Ingram stepped on Kirk Cousins’ foot as each started the play. The Vikings right guard essentially sacked his own quarterback as many as a half dozen times. This season, he took his absurd miscues to another level by slapping the ball out of Cousins’ hand as he pulled away from the line. It ended a promising drive and handed the ball to the opponent. These are mind-numbing mistakes. Ingram has shown improvement over his 20 games. The problem is that his highs are merely pretty good and his lows are so damn low. It’s great that his pretty good reps are the majority of his reps but his lows have directly led to sacks and a singular turnover. Ezra Cleveland is far from free of criticism. It’s just that his mistakes aren’t as glaring, or as game-changing, as those of Ingram. It’s time for a change on the Vikings offensive line.
Enter Dalton Risner.
Vikings fans have been calling for and begging for Risner for months. He was their offensive line savior. He visited the team during training camp. The fans were teased. The Vikings finally signed him following their Week 2 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The fans were thrilled. Risner’s had a crash course in the offense ever since. It probably helped that Vikings offensive line coach Chris Kuper and assistant offensive line coach Justin Rascati coached him with the Denver Broncos. That familiarity should help the transition. In Week 4, it appears time for this offensive line.
LT | Christian Darrisaw |
LG | Ezra Cleveland |
C | Garrett Bradbury |
RG | Dalton Risner |
RT | Brian O’Neill |
This doesn’t mean the end to Ingram’s time in Minnesota. I actually believe that he has a higher ceiling at guard than Cleveland. Right now, Ingram’s nowhere near that ceiling. For all I know, the Vikings decision-makers might actually see Risner at left guard. That’s where he played during his four years in Denver. I just see Ingram as the bigger problem right now.
The Vikings have pushed the Darrisaw-Cleveland-Bradbury-Ingram-O’Neill offensive line into a second season. It’s easy to understand the thinking. Tremendous bookend tackles and an interior selected with high-end draft picks. It really hasn’t worked as planned or expected. Cousins is hit too often. Running backs are stuffed without options too often. Perhaps this tweak will help. That’s certainly the hope. The Vikings offense has too much playmaking potential to be held back by an under-performing offensive line.
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