B/R Lists Brian O'Neill as Vikings' Top Building Block

The Vikings' right tackle has already become a key part of the team's present and future.

Vikings right tackle Brian O'Neill is the team's "most promising building block," according to Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport.

Rick Spielman and the Vikings took a chance on O'Neill with the 62nd overall pick back in 2018, and he has proven to be both a perfect fit for their zone-blocking scheme and a rising star in the NFL. O'Neill always had great athleticism, but he has improved his strength and technique since entering the league. He's already the Vikings' best offensive lineman and is quickly becoming a strong player in both the passing and running games.

In his first season in 2018, according to Pro Football Focus, right tackle Brian O'Neill played 800 snaps for the Minnesota Vikings without allowing a sack. The following year, O'Neill played 967 snaps and allowed just one sack. Not a bad start.

Part of the reason why O'Neill is so important is that the Vikings have a lot of uncertainty elsewhere on their offensive line. Garrett Bradbury struggled as a rookie, both guard spots are question marks, and the left tackle position is in the process of being passed down from Riley Reiff to Ezra Cleveland.

The Vikings made the playoffs last year on the back of their ground game — only five teams in the league gained more yards.But that ground game faces substantial questions. Center Garrett Bradbury struggled as a rookie. Left guard Pat Elflein has had three up-and-down seasons. The left tackle spot is also uncertain — veteran Riley Reiff has struggled, and second-round rookie Ezra Cleveland is far from a sure bet to start in Week 1.

Those uncertainties put that much more pressure on the 6'7", 297-pound O'Neill to be the foundation for the line. There's going to be a lot of strong-side off-tackle work for Dalvin Cook in 2020.

O'Neill was an outstanding pick two years ago and has an arrow pointing upwards. But is he the Vikings' best building block? 

That depends on how you define that term. If you're just going with players drafted in the past couple years, O'Neill is an easy choice. Dalvin Cook (2017 draft) is also up there, but it's hard to consider a running back a key building block in the modern game (which is perhaps why Cook still doesn't have an extension yet). 

If you're just going by age, I think it has to be Danielle Hunter. The Vikings' star defensive end is still just 25 years old and has a lot of dominant seasons ahead of him, even though he has already played five years in the league. O'Neill, Bradbury, and Cook are all 24, so they're not much younger than Hunter.

It'll be interesting to see what this conversation looks like a year from now. We could be talking about Irv Smith Jr. (21), Justin Jefferson (21), Mike Hughes (23), or Jeff Gladney (23) as important building blocks. For now, I think it comes down to O'Neill and Hunter.

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