What the Vikings' offensive line depth chart looks like now
The Minnesota Vikings have been busy during the free agency period, but one area where things haven't changed is the offensive line.
The Vikings landed 13th on Pro Football Focus's final offensive line rankings for 2022 and with Garrett Bradbury returning to the team, it appears that they'll have the same starting lineup next season.
That's good news and bad news for a Vikings team looking to build off a 13-win season and is looking to take another step forward in 2023.
Tackle
Starters: Christian Darrisaw, Brian O'Neill
Reserves: Oli Udoh, Blake Brandel, Vederian Lowe
There are few teams in the league that can claim a better tackle duo than Darrisaw and O'Neill.
Darrisaw is ascending into one of the NFL's best offensive tackles, allowing just 23 pressures in 15 games last season. Set to turn 24 in June, he may be the Vikings first long-term answer at left tackle since Bryant McKinnie protected the blind side from 2002 to 2010.
O'Neill allowed 24 pressures in 16 games at right tackle, but suffered a partially torn Achilles in a Week 17 loss to the Green Bay Packers. While he may be limited this offseason, he should be good to go when the regular season begins.
That could leave the Vikings searching for depth. After a failed experiment at guard, Udoh rebounded to allow just three pressures in nine games last season and posted a career-high 74.7 PFF grade, which could have paved the way for his return, which was announced on Saturday.
The Vikings also retained Brandel as an exclusive-rights free agent, but he struggled in relief duty, allowing 13 pressures in seven games last season.
While the Vikings don't need a tackle, it could be a target late in the draft – especially if they trade back for more picks.
Center
Starter: Garrett Bradbury
Reserves: Austin Schlottman, Chris Reed
Bradbury was one of the biggest question marks coming into the season and responded with a career year. The bad news is that the bar was low as his 67.5 overall grade beat his previous high of 61.4 in the 2020 season and he still tied a career-high with 29 pressures.
But with a weak free-agent market, the Vikings opted to bring Bradbury back on a three-year, $15.75 million contract. With only $4.9 million guaranteed, the Vikings could look to upgrade their depth or add a center of the future in the draft.
That would be a great idea as there was a gaping hole in the middle of the line when Bradbury missed the final four games of the regular season with a back injury. Austin Schlottman allowed 10 pressures in six game replacing Bradbury and Chris Reed never looked comfortable after converting from guard.
Guard
Starters: Ezra Cleveland, Ed Ingram
Reserves: Kyle Hinton
It's time for the age-old question from Vikings fans: "Can he play guard?"
The Vikings can answer this question better than they could in previous years, but there are still plenty of flaws between Cleveland and Ed Ingram.
Ingram's rookie season was a mixed bag. The second-round pick led the NFL with 63 pressures and graded 77th among 85 qualifying guards in PFF's pass-blocking grades, but he also ranked 27th in run-blocking grades
Cleveland is in his third season as a full-time guard, but was tied for second in the NFL with 55 pressures allowed but was fourth with a 79.7 run-blocking grade. The latter might persuade the Vikings to pursue a contract extension with Cleveland this offseason, but they have to keep their options open when it comes to the draft.
Hinton and Reed are the only options on the roster at the moment and it's possible the Vikings could punt on Ingram to take another swing at guard in this year's draft.
