The Fresh Wave of Vikings Ready to Start on Offense
Like each season, the Minnesota Vikings will showcase new starters on offense, and 2025 is no different.
The Vikings’ offense will have new starters in 2025, and here’s a peek at those players and some wildcards.
Last year, the team signed or promoted Sam Darnold, Aaron Jones, Blake Brandel, and Jalen Nailor, to name a few examples.
Heading into 2025, these are the Vikings’ new starters on the offensive side of operations. They’re listed alphabetically.
Will Fries (G)
Taking Who’s Job?
Dalton Risner | Ed Ingram
The Vikings put their feet down in free agency, signing Fries from the Indianapolis Colts for five years and $88 million. The deal signified the largest external free-agent contract ever handed out by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Without no debates, Fries will start at right guard this season, ending the Ed Ingram and Dalton Risner eras.
Donovan Jackson (G)
Taking Who’s Job?
Blake Brandel
Who the Vikings would draft in April served as the quite the debate among fans, but when the rubber hit the road, Adofo-Mensah focused on the trenches, onboarding Jackson from Ohio State, the third offensive lineman off the board after Tyler Booker (Alabama) to the Dallas Cowboys and Grey Zabel (North Dakota State) to the Seattle Seahawks.
Jackson became the first offensive guard drafted by the Vikings in Round 1 in about four decades.
Ryan Kelly (C)
Taking Who’s Job?
Garrett Bradbury
Vikings fans thought the franchise might sniff around center Drew Dalman’s free agency, but Dalman landed with the Chicago Bears. And because Kelly is older — 31 — most didn’t have him on Minnesota’s free-agent bingo board.
But Adofo-Mensah swerved, bucking his typical youth tendencies in favor of Kelly. Now, the Vikings employ a four-time Pro Bowl center in Kelly, while Garrett Bradbury joined the New England Patriots.
J.J. McCarthy (QB)
Taking Who’s Job?
Sam Darnold
Captain Obvious here — McCarthy is the highest-profile offensive player and Vikings player, in general, on this list, so his placement is a no-brainer.
Minnesota found McCarthy in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, but his rookie season was canceled by a meniscus tear last August. Sam Darnold took over, promptly leading the purple team to a memorable 14-3 record.
Yet, it’s McCarthy’s time now, and Minnesota even batted away the temptation to sign Aaron Rodgers from the free-agent market.
Wildcard: Tai Felton (WR)
Felton needs a mention because Adofo-Mensah drafted him in Round 3 last month. There’s a world where Felton is so electric this summer that he takes Jalen Nailor’s WR3 job.
That’s a long shot, and Nailor, too, hopes for a splashy 2025 campaign, but don’t forget about Felton. Third-round wide receivers usually aren’t chumps.
Wildcard: Justin Skule (LT)
Christian Darrisaw may or may not be ready for Week 1 after tearing his ACL seven months ago. His injury recovery has proceeded swimmingly, with no setbacks, but onlookers just don’t know if Darrisaw will play Week 1 or later.
This brand of Vikings has a tendency to slow-roll injury recoveries, almost to a fault, so Justin Skule, a veteran free-agent newcomer, could start Week 1 at the Chicago Bears.
Janik Eckardt of PurplePTSD wrote about Skule in March, “The Vikings needed a new backup tackle, an underrated but important position in the NFL. Last year, the team employed David Quessenberry, a free agent, but traded for Cam Robinson after Christian Darrisaw’s devastating knee injury.”
“Skule is a ginormous human, standing 6-6 and 315 pounds. He entered the league as a sixth-round pick in 2019 by the San Francisco 49ers, where he spent three seasons. Then, the organization released him, and he joined the Buccaneers. He had been there between 2022 and 2024 prior to becoming a free agent.”
Skule is 28, and some fans already call him “Justin Skol.”
Eckardt added, “In his NFL career, Skule appeared in 66 games, starting 17 contests. Last season, the Buccaneers relied on his services in five starts and a total of 361 offensive snaps, playing on both sides of the line. He earned a solid 69.2 grade from PFF. Last year’s sixth-round pick, Walter Rouse, is another backup option at the offensive tackle positions.”
Hopefully, Darrisaw is just ready, and that’s that, but keep Skule in mind at left tackle.
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