VIDEO: Christian Darrisaw Already Abusing the Opposition
The Minnesota Vikings wound down joint practices in Eagan on Thursday, hosting the Tennessee Titans before the two clubs formally square off in a preseason showdown Saturday night.
Minnesota lost its first preseason game to the Seattle Seahawks 24-13 one week ago.
VIDEO: Christian Darrisaw Already Abusing the Opposition
And one prominent Viking is already in midseason form, bullying his peers rather emphatically. He’s Christian Darrisaw, and he tossed Titans defender Arden Key like a ragdoll in an Aerosmith song.
Here’s the transaction, an ill-fated one for Key:
Key had a wonderful season in 2022, playing for the Jacksonville Jaguars on 475 defensive snaps and tallying a marvelous 81.3 grade from Pro Football Focus. He’s not a reservist chump, making the Darrisaw abuse all the more memorable.
A Titans defender not named Arden Key exacted some revenge, though, on Darrisaw’s teammate, Garrett Bradbury, who was also — you guessed it — exposed to the ragdoll treatment.
That was Teair Tart as Bradbury’s embarrasser. He was later ejected from joint practice.
The Vikings have high hopes and big plans for Darrisaw and the offensive line, on the whole, in 2023. Over the summer, quarterback Kirk Cousins was featured in a Netflix docuseries, Quarterback, which showed the veteran passer battered and bruised ad nauseam. To fix that, Minnesota will return the same five offensive linemen this season, banking on continuity as the fix-all.
Darrisaw, meanwhile, seeks his first career Pro Bowl nod in 2023 and perhaps All-Pro recognition. Within two seasons, the Virginia Tech alumnus has climbed the league’s OT pecking order, excelling at everything and anchoring the left side of the Vikings line.
Last year, the 24-year-old missed three games due to a concussion(s), and that might’ve been why Pro Bowler voters were skittish about his candidacy. Per the metrics, however, Darrisaw is already there, ranking as PFF’s second-best offensive tackle with a 90.4 score, only trailing San Francisco 49ers OT Trent Williams, who just so happens to be Darrisaw’s idol.
Vikings offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said about Darrisaw a few weeks ago, “The best left tackles that I’ve been around, whether it’s Tyron Smith, whether it’s Trent Williams and now Christian, they’re smart guys. They have a real understanding of the game,” said Phillips, “and so they can allow it to slow down a little bit for them. They study tape, they study their opponents, they watch film on their own. There’s a lot of things that go into it, and then they’re elite athletes on top of it.”
Darrisaw kicks off Year No. 3 in 23 days when the Vikings host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start the regular season.
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 Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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