Expensive Line Gets Failure to Launch in Minnesota
This offseason, the Minnesota Vikings knew their plan of attack. They needed to fix the trenches on both sides of the ball. They had the edge rushers on defense, and they had the tackles on offense. It was what stood between them that needed addressing.
The Minnesota Vikings spent a significant amount of money on their offensive line this offseason, but injuries have kept the group from playing together.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah went out and attacked the market. He found opportunities with players that had otherwise suffered injuries or been cast aside due to age or other reasons. Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave have been amazing on the defensive line. Ryan Kelly and Will Fries have been quality on the offensive line. The problem for the offensive side of things has been injury.
Minnesota’s Fancy OL Has Yet to Play Together as a Whole
Early on this season, Christian Darrisaw looked like he would be back. That didn’t happen, and he just made his regular-season debut (on a snap count) against the Cincinnati Bengals this week. Ryan Kelly missed that game because he suffered a concussion in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons. Now, after playing through the injury in Week 2 and 3, Donovan Jackson has undergone surgery that will keep him out for at least three weeks.
The Vikings knew they were going to start a new, young quarterback this season. They wanted to run the ball better, and all phases of their blocking had to improve. They targeted the talent to make it work, and they invested a first-round pick in Jackson to complete the process. Then everything went up in smoke.
Now, through the first three weeks of the season, and already on their second quarterback, it’s likely that Minnesota won’t see their full offensive line play together until at least Week 7. That’s an ok reality if they can hold serve until then. Maybe they’ll all be more well-rested for the stretch run after the bye then. If they lose games because of it, though, it’s going to be problematic in the sense that everything they hoped to accomplish never got off the ground.
It’s going to be a very interesting next couple of weeks for the Vikings. They have the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, but both games will take place overseas. They’ll be favored in each contest, and having both be played at a neutral site certainly doesn’t hurt things. Sticking in Europe for that long definitely changes routines, though, and there’s also the reality that Minnesota must avoid future injuries.
So far, the injury bug hasn’t been something they have been able to avoid. It needs to become something they can build on to sustain success this year.
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