One Minnesota Vikings Grand Plan May Never See the Light of Day
Remember during the summer when the Minnesota Vikings were on track to showcase their very best offensive line in ages? That grand plan may never materialize.
After a summer of enthusiasm about the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive line, there’s a chance the grand plan just never comes together after injuries.
Injuries have utterly rattled the purple team’s trenches, so much so that the proposed OL fivesome from the spring and summer may never actually play as one.
It’s a terrible development, on the whole, especially with a young quarterback in Minnesota developing on the fly.
Minnesota Vikings’ Offensive Line Plan May Be Dead in the Water
The group has not stayed healthy — at all — through four games.
Vikings 2025 OL Plan May Never Come to Fruition
In March, Minnesota signed two keynote free agents — from the same team. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah shelled out the big bucks for center Ryan Kelly and guard Will Fries, both leaving Indianapolis for the Twin Cities.
Six weeks later, Adofo-Mensah used his 1st-Round pick on Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson, and instantly, a plan formed.
The Vikings would trot out this offensive line combination in September:
Christian Darrisaw (LT)
Donovan Jackson (LG)
Ryan Kelly (C)
Will Fries (RG)
Brian O’Neill (RT)
But less than a month into the regular season, it’s clear that unit may never take a single snap in unison, or if it does, not until weeks or months from now.
RT Brian O’Neill, C Ryan Kelly, and LG Donovan Jackson All Out
So, what’s wrong? A lot.
Donovan Jackson played with a wrist injury against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, September 21st, and promptly travelled to Los Angeles for surgery a day later. He’s out for another game and is tentatively — hopefully — slated for a return after the team’s bye, also known as three weeks from now.
Brian O’Neill suffered a knee injury in Ireland, and with the acronym “MCL” floated on Sunday, well, Vikings fans cynically fear the worst. An update on O’Neill should arrive early this week.
Then, center Ryan Kelly encountered his second concussion in two weeks, an incredibly scary situation. In short, they’re dropping like flies in Minnesota, and there’s just no other way around it.
The Replacements
In Jackson’s stead, last year’s starter at left guard, Blake Brandel, took over and actually played quite well against the Steelers. He’ll be on tap again versus the Cleveland Browns in London.
At center, second-year late-rounder Michael Jurgens is on deck as Kelly’s replacement, and even he had a brief brush with injury in Dublin. In limited action before Week 4, Jurgens checked in as the NFL’s second-worst center, according to Pro Football Focus.
For O’Neill, free-agent newcomer from March, Justin Skule, filled in Sunday and tabulated a 66.7 PFF mark. Not bad.
O’Neill’s Injury Severity, Kelly’s Concussion
Now for the “will the plan ever come to fruition?” part.
O’Neill may or may not be lost for all of 2025. If his MCL is torn, that’s a wrap on his 2025 campaign. For Kelly, his fate is murkier. Two concussions in two weeks are not events to take lightly, and he may have to evaluate his playing future altogether.
Therefore, there’s a decent chance that Minnesota’s offensive line looks like this for the foreseeable future:
Christian Darrisaw (LT)
Blake Brandel (LG)
Michael Jurgens (C)
Will Fries (RG)
Justin Skule (RT)
And let’s just face it: that’s not what anyone envisioned as recently as a few weeks ago.
Our Affiliate on O’Neill
At our partner site, PurplePTSD.com, Kyle Joudry remarked on O’Neill: “What’s known is that Brian O’Neill is a great right tackle. He hurt his knee during the Week 4 Dublin game and was subtracted from the lineup for the remainder of the day. Per O’Connell, there was some desire from the player to attempt a return, but that didn’t come to fruition.”
“The Vikings followed the well-worn path of being cautious with player injuries. More medical tests are going to be done to determine the precise nature of the injury and what the recovery timeline looks like moving forward. Skule stepped into the vacancy at RT1. Presumably, he would be the one who gets the nod yet again if O’Neill needs time off. Even something that was deemed short-term in nature could result in not having O’Neill for Week 5.”
It certainly doesn’t make anyone feel better, but it’s worth noting that Vikings fans are long-familiar with poor offensive line play. The possibly piecemeal trenches won’t catch anyone off guard.
Joudry continued, “After all, the Vikings will get a built-in rest week afterwards due to the arrival of the bye in Week 6. Letting Brian O’Neill soak up multiple weeks of rest — again, if his knee only succumbed to a minor injury, as everyone hopes — would appear to be wise. Regardless of whether the knee injury sidelines O’Neill for a short- or long-term time frame, the Vikings may opt to start Walter Rouse.”
“The sophomore tackle was snagged in the 6th of the 2024 NFL Draft and has generated plenty of optimism in the Twin Cities. Perhaps the move is to lean on a young guy to settle into the opening. Curiously, Rouse didn’t dress for the game versus Pittsburgh. A small chance exists that Blake Brandel could get a look, but he’s filling in at guard.’
The best-case scenario? Minnesota dodges the worst news on O’Neill, and Kelly somehow returns in a few weeks.
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