One Unsung Viking Utterly Thrived on Sunday
At least for a week, the Minnesota Vikings employ one of the NFL’s best offensive guards.
One Unsung Viking Utterly Thrived on Sunday
He’s Blake Brandel, a man who utterly stood off the page in a win over the New York Giants on Sunday — to the tune of an ungodly good 91.2 Pro Football Focus grade.
Facing one of the league’s most talented defensive lines — even if the Giants, as a team, stunk in Week 1 — Brandel shined, staving off incoming pass rushers like Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Brian Burns, and Rakeem Nuñez-Roches.
And Brandel wasn’t just serviceable or good; he was brilliant, especially after his interior-line mates, Ed Ingram and Garrett Bradbury, tremendously struggled. Ingram logged a mind-bogglingly bad 9.3 PFF grade, and Bradbury mosied in at 26.8. Terrible.
No such adjectives apply to Brandel, though. His trajectory seems higher than ever, mainly because he won’t face a deadly defensive line like New York’s each week. Brandel saw one of the best units the business offers — and shined.
At June’s minicamp, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell revealed that his team would feature a three-way training camp battle at guard between Brandel, Ingram, and Dalton Risner. Soon after, Brandel had secured the left guard job, while Risner vied for a right guard job but fell injured, handing the job by default to Ingram. Brandel was that damn good in June, July, and August.
Then, the summer smoke for Brandel translated to the regular season in the form of a 91.2 PFF grade.
Brandel joined Minnesota from Round 6th of the 2020 NFL Draft, extending his stay in March beyond a rookie contract for three years and $9.5 million. The veteran started his career in purple at offensive tackle but showed versatility over the years, enabling the promotion to starting left guard in recent months. Some Vikings fans knew that a guy who could immediately demote Risner — a career-long, respected left guard — must be pretty productive. The performance in New York vindicated that belief, and we shall see how Brandel holds up for the remaining 16 games.
Before Risner re-signed in late May — the guy most fans assumed would re-inherit his starting left guard job — Minnesota’s coaching staff sounded extremely high on Brandel as a starter, especially offensive coordinator Wes Phillips.
“I’m really excited about Blake. I feel like he gets bigger every time I see him. He’s just a massive man on the inside. But he’s in great shape, he’s always been very coachable,” Phillps told reporters in May at organized team activities (OTAs). “You talk about technique, fundamentals, footwork, hand placement, all the things that are critical for the O-line — one false step for an O-lineman could be a catastrophe — it’s been very encouraging so far with him stepping into that starting spot on the left.”
Phillips continued, “I think it’ll only grow, the more experience, the more reps he gets. He’s been a guy that, any time he’s been put in a game at several positions, has come through for us. We haven’t forgotten that. I think he’s earned this opportunity.”
The Vikings offensive coordinator knew it four months ago. PFF confirmed it on Monday. Brandel is the real deal.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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