Matthew Coller: The reality is, there is no replacing Christian Darrisaw

Minnesota has options at left tackle, but there is no replacing one of the best offensive linemen in the league.

Oct 4, 2024; Watford, United Kingdom; Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw (71) during practice at The Grove. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

LOS ANGELES — Over the past few years, Christian Darrisaw has established himself as one of the best left tackles in the NFL. After signing a four-year, $113 million contract extension this offseason, Darrisaw spent the first seven games of the season backing up the Minnesota Vikings’ belief in him. He ranked in the top 10 tackles in the NFL by PFF and gave up just 10 total QB pressures.

Unfortunately Darrisaw’s terrific season came to an end on Thursday night when a Rams defender fell onto his knee. He will require surgery on an ACL and MCL-related injury and miss the rest of the year.

“It’s tough, he’s definitely one of the best tackles in the game,” receiver Justin Jefferson said. “That’s definitely Sam’s blindside, it’s an important position. Tough to have him go down.”

Darrisaw’s performance was particularly outstanding because of the competition he faced off against this year — from New York’s Brian Burns to San Francisco star Nick Bosa to Houston’s Will Anderson — he was able to handle any rusher that opponents sent his way. He also was an impact player for the Vikings’ ground game, ranking ninth among tackles in run blocking.

“Christian really developed into one of our core leaders,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “Clearly one of our offensive pillars that we have leaned on a lot and it's going to be a significant loss. But we all got to do a little bit more, starts with me, and the other 10 guys that will be in the huddle.”

How will the Vikings fill Darrisaw’s enormous shoes?

“When you talk about that mentality of trying to get the best five guys in there and …then what's the rest of the depth look like?… we'll figure out what the best plan of attack is moving forward. And I do think there's multiple options on the table with that," O'Connell said.

They will have several options. One approach could be to bump left guard Blake Brandel to left tackle and place veteran Dalton Risner into the starting lineup at left guard. Risner has been on IR but is practicing and expected to return soon. Brandel was a college tackle and played 273 snaps at left tackle in 2022. The concern with that direction is that Brandel allowed seven sacks in that limited number of reps and he hasn’t practiced there in two years.

“He's definitely going to be in the conversations as far as what that best five for us moving forward,” O’Connell said of Risner. “Definitely part of multiple scenarios here where he's absolutely in the mix.”

The Vikings could start veteran backup David Quessenberry, who filled in for Darrisaw after he went down versus the Rams. The 34-year-old journeyman has 719 career snaps at left tackle, 94 of which were last year for the Vikings. He had a slightly above replacement level 61.8 PFF grade during his longest stretch as a LT in 2020 and solid 68.3 grade last year in limited duty.

Deeper on the bench is rookie Walter Rouse, a sixth-round pick from Oklahoma who showed his pass blocking prowess during training camp and preseason. He gave up just four QB pressures on 88 pass blocking snaps in preseason. Of course, playing against the best of the NFL’s best is a totally different story.

“He's a big, strong guy. He's very smart. He's on a great trajectory as far as his development goes and absolutely will be somebody that I know we feel very strongly about the future, but he's got to be in the conversation,” O’Connell said.

There could also be a trade option for the Vikings. While they are short on draft capital, they could see if the market has any available tackles with experience that could be had for small return similar to the way they acquired RB Cam Akers for a conditional pick swap earlier this month.

The reality is, there is no replacing Christian Darrisaw. Teams draft and develop players for years without finding a player of his caliber. Making up for his absence will also take schematic adjustments. So far this year, Sam Darnold is the third slowest QB in the NFL in terms of snap to release time. The two ahead of him are scramblers. Darnold has also taken sacks on 10.0% of his drop-backs, which ranks among the highest in the league. The ball has to come out faster now.

As far as the bigger picture, a key injury doesn’t end the Vikings’ season. They are 5-2 with winnable games ahead. It does, however, make the road to them winning the NFC North much more difficult.