Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Minnesota Vikings Left Tackle Options

The Minnesota Vikings have a big decision to make. Perhaps worse than last Thursday’s 30-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams was the loss of left tackle Christian Darrisaw. Worrisome from the moment the injury happened, the worries were confirmed when Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said that Darrisaw was done for the season with torn ACL and MCL ligaments. The left tackle was putting together an outstanding season and emerging as one of the best at his position in the league. He is right there with Sam Darnold and Justin Jefferson on the short list of players that the Vikings could be considered irreplaceable. Now, the Vikings must replace him. 

What now?

Option #1
The simplest option to replace Christian Darrisaw is to go with the player behind him on the depth chart. David Quessenberry is an experienced, competent offensive tackle. In his seventh season, he has 30 starts. He started all 17 games at right tackle for the Tennessee Titans in 2021. Quessenberry is a solid player. 

Option #2
This season, Blake Brandel has found a positional home at left guard. With each game, he improves and becomes more comfortable. He and Darrisaw were fast becoming an intriguing left-side duo. Until finding a home left guard home this season, Brandel had been a tackle. He even had a few spot starts at left tackle in place of an injured Darrisaw. With guard Dalton Risner on the verge of returning to game action, Brandel could slide to left tackle and Risner could assume the left guard spot that he held last season. 

Option #3
Seek an external option. The Vikings could trade for or sign a left tackle. From a pure talent standpoint, acquiring a left tackle from another team’s roster would be the better option. There’s a reason players are still available at this point of the season. They are either old, injured, or marginally talented. Trading for a player would require draft capital that the Vikings really don’t have. 

Never say never but I don’t really think Option #3 is an option at all. I doubt that an added player would be more talented than any of the internal options. Then there’s the adjustments that come with adding a new player to this offense. 

So, it comes down to Options #1 and #2. Typically, I hate seeing changes at one position force changes at another. Option #2 would require a new left tackle and a new left guard. Replacing Darrisaw with Quessenberry is simple. I like Quessenberry for spot starts. Playing 10 games, hopefully, 13/14 games, isn’t spot starts. It’s for the long run. For the remainder of the season, I believe I’m leaning to Brandel moving to left tackle and Risner taking over at left guard. 

There might be an added twist to all of this. Whether confirmed or not, there was a sense around the team that Risner was getting ready to replace Ed Ingram at right guard. If that’s the case, shifting Brandel to left tackle, Risner to left guard, and keeping Ingram at right guard would mean that the Vikings are going with the less than preferred option at three of the five offensive line position. That doesn’t feel like the best way to deal with this situation. With all of that in mind, maybe the best option really is the simplest option. Simply replacing Darrisaw with Quessenberry. O’Connell mentioned that they’d be trying to get the best five offensive linemen on the field. Which is the best five?

David Quessenberry
Blake Brandel
Garrett Bradbury
Dalton Risner
Brian O’Neill

or

Blake Brandel
Dalton Risner
Garrett Bradbury
Ed Ingram
Brian O’Neill

It probably depends on the moment but I can seriously go with either one. I suppose it all comes down to how I feel about Ingram. He still has horrendous moments. Just flat misses. He also has many solid moments. After two-plus seasons as a starter, he shouldn’t be having any of those horrendous moments. Those that feel that Ingram is hopeless probably see this as an easy decision. Those that have some hope for Ingram probably have a more difficult decision. 

I’m glad the real decision isn’t mine. 

The Vikings lost one of the best players at his position in the league. They lost one of the best players on the team. They were never going to come out of this unfortunate situation in better shape than they were before. Despite the two-game slide that dropped their perfect record to 5-2, the Vikings are still in a good spot. The playoffs are probable, if not likely. Any continued success this season likely hinges on how they handle this offensive line situation. 



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