Vikings Unlikely to Draft Best Center in Draft
One of the Vikings issues that need to be fixed this offseason is the offensive line. Both the center and right guard positions should be top priorities. The Vikings appear to be content with Garrett Bradbury at the center position, making it unlikely they will draft the best center in the draft, Tyler Linderbaum.
Kevin O’Connell mentioned in a recent press conference how the team would utilize Garrett Bradbury. The expectation is that the scheme will be built to highlight his skill set and hides his flaws. So, it is apparent that the team does not wish to replace Bradbury.
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This will upset a large section of Vikings fans. Many fans, myself included, believe that Bradbury is a weak link on the offensive line. This is not crazy considering his PFF stats:
- 2019 – 4 sacks allowed, 58.1 PFF grade
- 2020 – 5 sacks allowed, 61.4 PFF grade
- 2021 – 2 sacks allowed, 60.2 PFF grade
It’s difficult to look past all the times a big defensive tackle bullied him. How often do we need to watch him get pushed straight back into Kirk Cousins?
Well, we will see it for at least one more year. Although, it’s certainly possible that O’Connell’s scheme will hide Bradbury’s strength issue. If that’s the case, I would be happy to take the L on this one.
What does sticking with Bradbury mean moving forward?
Tyler Linderbaum Will Not Be a Viking
The biggest problem many fans will have is that the Vikings are unlikely to select Tyler Linderbaum. According to PFF, Linderbaum is the best center that they have ranked to come out of college. That is really saying something, considering how many centers come out every year.
He certainly could have been the heir apparent or the outright solution to Bradbury. However, you should have some reservations about Linderbaum. While he might look great in college and have excellent athletic scores, he does have a glaring issue.
Linderbaum is not very big. Although being a little lighter helps with today’s zone scheme offenses, it could pose an issue. When he has to block behemoths like Akiem Hicks, how will he hold up being 50 pounds lighter?
To me, this seems like the same issue that Bradbury has right now. So, if the Vikings elect not to go with Linderbaum, don’t get too worked up about it.
JC Tretter Is Out of the Equation
The bigger loss for the Vikings is that they will not be pursuing JC Tretter. Although, it’s not entirely clear that they were ever truly in on him anyway. Regardless, the salary Tretter commands will likely not work for the Vikings.
However, if, by some miracle, they figure out a way to gain the cap space to bring him in, that would be amazing. The offensive line would potentially go from one of the weakest parts of the team to one of the strongest. This would be music to fans’ ears.
That said, let’s not get our hopes up. Based on the comments made by O’Connell, Bradbury will be the starting center in 2022.
Whether this is good or bad remains to be seen. Although, if we look at the last three years, it’s difficult to imagine having Bradbury start as a super positive thing. Regardless, we should allow O’Connell to prove that he can coach Bradbury up and make this offensive line unit the best we have had in years.
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