Will Christian Darrisaw FINALLY Grab Individual Honors?
During his four seasons in the league, Christian Darrisaw has become recognized as one of the best offensive tackles in the game. However, to date, he has received no individual honours. There has been no All-Pro selection and not even a vote for the Pro Bowl. Will that change in 2025?
Will Christian Darrisaw FINALLY Grab Individual Honors?
The Minnesota Vikings drafted Darrisaw in the first round of the 2021 draft. Seen as a possible choice for the Vikings with the 14th overall pick, the general manager executed a trade down to 23, which also netted two extra third-round picks and still landed Darrisaw. The move saw the Vikings have four third-round picks that year and seemed to set them up for a great draft. Unfortunately, four years later, Darrisaw is the only Vikings’ 2021 draft class member on the roster.
There was success with Cam Bynum, who was a fourth-round pick that year and left this offseason for a big contract in Indianapolis, and Patrick Jones, who was a third-round pick that year and left this offseason for Carolina. The rest of the draft class has long since departed, including the other three third-round picks — Kellen Mond, Chazz Surratt, and Wyatt Davis — all major flops.
Darrisaw was the stand-out star of that draft class and was rightly rewarded with an early contract extension last year. The Vikings signed him to a 4-year, $113 million contract, ensuring he will be the left tackle in Minnesota for years to come. That is top-end tackle money, the level Darrisaw has played at since the Vikings drafted him. His only downside has been his injury record.
Darrisaw’s Career So Far
Darrisaw’s rookie season was delayed until Week 4 because of a groin injury, and injuries have been the only disappointing theme of his career to date. He hasn’t completed a full schedule of games in any of his first four seasons in the league. His best season to date was in 2022, when he earned an elite overall grade of 90.4 from Pro Football Focus. That was the year he most deserved some individual recognition; however, missing three games with a concussion in the second half of the season likely went against him.
His PFF grade was down to a very respectable 82.3 in 2023 in a season where Darrisaw battled both ankle and groin injuries. His pass blocking grade of 85.3 was the third best across the league. Darrisaw had another solid season in 2024 before his knee injury abruptly ended things in Week 8. His overall grade from PFF was 81.4, with his pass blocking grade at 79.9 and his run blocking grade at 82.3.
One of Darrisaw’s strengths has always been that there’s never been much disparity between his pass and run blocking grades. He is equally adept in both skill sets, which makes him one of the best tackles in the league – often, linemen will excel in one over the other. When you get one that excels in both, like the Vikings have here, then you have a special talent on your hands.
Prospects for 2025
After two seasons heavily disrupted by injury, can Darrisaw return to that 2022 form and consistency where he was undoubtedly a top 5 tackle in the league? The first question is where he is on his recovery timeline from his ACL and MCL injury, and whether he will be ready for the start of the season.
The most recent update from Kevin O’Connell was upbeat, but there was no timeline for his return yet. “Christian has absolutely knocked it out of the park so far,” O’Connell said. “He’s had a really, really good offseason up to this point. The latest update I got, he’s lifting, he’s running. … The player that I see right now and the player I know, his teammates came back to see today, people were pretty excited about where he’s at. Now it’s just a matter of maintaining, and he’s had such a professional focus really from day one, remarkably. He’s just had such a good attitude about attacking it.”
Whether it’s Week 1 or not, when Darrisaw slots back into the Vikings’ offensive line, he should be in a stronger group than when he last played. Minnesota has invested heavily in the OL this offseason after coach O’Connell pointed his finger at the interior as a big reason why his team failed in the playoffs again. Ryan Kelly and Will Fries were signed for big money in free agency to play center and right guard, respectively.
Then the Vikings used their first-round draft pick on Donovan Jackson to play left guard. With Brian O’Neill still on the opposite flank, this should be the best OL Darrisaw has been a part of in Minnesota.
Will this all add up to individual honors for Darrisaw in 2025? Time will tell, but it will be long overdue if it does.
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