Vikings Must Prioritize Offensive Line in Free Agency
Mitchel Massman
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Kevin O’Connell is a pass-first coach, which means fixing the offensive line is a priority in free agency. The Vikings offensive line has been its Achilles heel for years. If the Vikings want to run a pass-first offense, they must be aggressive in adding to the offensive line.
In recent years, the Vikings spent significant draft capital on the offensive line. This approach has resulted in a mixed bag of outcomes. The starting group in 2021 consisted of all Vikings’ draft picks. O’Neill has been a steady right tackle, Darrisaw showed promise in his rookie campaign, and Cleveland made improvements in his second year as he transitioned to left guard.
However, Bradbury and Udoh struggled throughout the year. At various points in the season, Bradbury and Udoh lost their jobs to Mason Cole. Because of these struggles, The Vikings should upgrade at center and right guard for 2022.
How Did the Group Grade?
The Vikings starting offensive line ranked 23rd as a group, per PFF, and individually they graded:
LT – Darrisaw 71.8
LG – Cleveland 68.1
C – Bradbury 60.2
RG – Udoh 54.7
RT – O’Neill 73.7.
Clearly, the right interior was an issue all year, but why?
Bradbury is an excellent run blocker, especially as a reach blocker. However, he is undersized and as a result, he struggles to anchor against big nose tackles. This anchoring issue is going to be a cause for concern in a pass-heavy offense.
Udoh is another great run blocker and has excellent size. However, he has a bad habit of holding the moment he gets beat. His holding penalties were the reason why the Vikings had so many 1st and 20 downs in 2021. Because of his holding habit, it’s hard to imagine the coaching staff sticking with him in 2022.
Potential Free Agent Targets
With the obvious issues that Bradbury and Udoh have, this group needs some reinforcements. The Vikings need to target a center and a right guard. There are some draft prospects, but the Vikings need a lot of help at edge and cornerback. They should utilize draft capital to address the defense and free agency to add some beef upfront. There are a few free agents the Vikings could target including Bradley Bozeman and Trai Turner.
Bradley Bozeman played for the Baltimore Ravens from 2018 to 2021. He is now an unrestricted free agent and ranks 31st of the top 50 free agents. In 2021 he had a PFF grade of 73.3 and according to overthecap.com his cap valuation is $6-7 million per year. He would be a good candidate to compete or replace Bradbury at center.
Trai Turner played six years with the Panthers and one for the Chargers and Steelers. In 2021 he had a PFF grade of 68.1 for the Steelers at right guard. He is now an unrestricted free agent with a valuation of $7-8 million per year, according to overthecap.com. Although, he did play on a $3 million contract for the Steelers, so perhaps a more favorable deal could be achieved.
The tampering period opens on March 14th. The Vikings pro scouting staff is hard at work identifying potential free-agent signings. They will have their eyes on more players than Bozeman and Turner. However, Vikings fans should be ecstatic if they can land either one of these guys, let alone both.
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