Vikings OL Is Complete, Sans One Thing.
They’re not kidding. The 2022 Minnesota Vikings, under new management, are embarking on a new season with nearly the same offensive line plan as 2021.
And this is an offseason theme for Minnesota — strip out the old way of thinking and the folks who held those mentalities (Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer), retain the same players, and bank on the notion your method of coaching and general manager will be better.
One of the gruesomest spots on the Vikings depth chart — for approximately a decade — is the offensive line, mainly the pass-protecting acumen of the group. Each season under Mike Zimmer, the Vikings floundered naughtily for pass protection, except for 2017 when the organization was average-but-not-horrid in the trenches. And, if you’re a Vikings fan, you should remember how wondrous, for four months, purple football was that season.
How will the new leadership regime of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell fix the offensive trenches with a pocket passer, Kirk Cousins, behind the bunch? Employ the same guys upfront and hope for better coaching.
That’s the solution. Mark it down.
This isn’t a theory or hearsay. The new head coach used his vocal cords and lips to explain it this week:
“With Garrett, there was a lot to love about Garrett coming out a few years ago. I watched a ton of his tape coming out. And schematically, what we do may be a little bit different overall from what kind of has been done, that I think could maybe put some tools in his toolbox to have some success consistently, snap-in and snap-out. I think Ezra [Cleveland] is going to have a great offseason and continue his progression. I think you see such a great skill set from his feet, to his hand placement, to his power in his hands. That guy’s got a lot in his body.”
– Kevin O’Connell | Vikings HC
The only item up for grabs on the Vikings 2022 offensive line is the right guard position. Between Jesse Davis — the frontrunner to win the gig — Oli Udoh, Wyatt Davis, and perhaps a rookie from the 2022 NFL Draft, those men will battle for the starting job this summer.
In the same batch of OL comments, O’Connell said:
“Jesse [Davis] gives us a veteran presence there to go along with some guys who got snaps there last year. Udoh was one of those guys that I think, we really want to find a spot for him that, whether it is at that swing tackle spot or we’re going to have him compete at guard, I think we’ll get some answers.”
– Kevin O’Connell | Vikings HC
“Compete at guard” is your smoking-gun clue. O’Connell and his pals like the rest of the offensive line — who wouldn’t like Brian O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw? — endorse Bradbury and Cleveland, but will preach competition at RG.
That sure sounds Zimmerian, doesn’t it?
Jesse Davis played a lot of football in Miami, starting 72 games — some at right guard early in his career and recently at right tackle. Adofo-Menah enjoys his value.
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Your takeaway? Barring an out-of-nowhere trade, signing of JC Tretter, or noteworthy OL draft pick — this is the OL group. Pull up a depth chart. This is what the trenches will look like in September. O’Connell is telling you as such.
And just like everything else since O’Connell’s acceptance of the job offer, the Vikings organization is operating under the idea Mike Zimmer was the sole problem in 2021.
Otherwise, Adofo-Mensah would’ve traded players and started fresh.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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