Film review: Vikings getting ‘competitive edge’ with new guard Will Fries, center Ryan Kelly

The Vikings shoved a combined $43 million guaranteed last week to acquire two offensive linemen from the Indianapolis Colts.

Guard Will Fries, owner of a roughly $17.5 million annual deal, and Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly, signed for $9 million annually, are the faces of the Vikings' offensive line rebuild that was promised after last year’s 14-win team was derailed by a NFL playoff-record nine sacks in the Jan. 13 loss to the Rams.

With guard Ed Ingram and center Garrett Bradbury gone, Fries and Kelly are locked into the starting right guard and center spots for next season. Below is a look at what the Vikings are getting in both blockers.

Fries, who turns 27 in April, played four different positions at Penn State — both guard and tackle spots, primarily right tackle — before he was drafted in the seventh round by the Colts in 2021. That was 162 picks after former Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman took guard Wyatt Davis out of Ohio State in the third round; Davis did not make an NFL roster last season.

Not to rain on your NFL draft parade, but despite getting passed up 247 times before he was selected, Fries eventually developed into a reliable starter who took a job from journeyman Matt Pryor in the middle of his second season in 2022, and didn’t let go.

Fries has started only one full season (2023) after suffering a tibia fracture in Week 5 last year. But Vikings executives and coaches saw enough off 31 starts to make him the 10th-highest paid guard at $17.5 million per season.

Below is a seven-play clip of the Colts' Week 1 loss against the Texans last season. You’ll see Fries excel in various situations (in order): climbing to the second level on a zone run; turning a defensive tackle on a gap run; leveling a Texans linebacker on an inside split zone run; winning solo on a defensive end in pass protection.

Fries was primarily a tackle in college, making him a relatively big guard at 6-6 and 305 pounds. Between Fries, Kelly (6-4, 307 pounds) and last year’s left guard, Blake Brandel (6-6, 315), the Vikings will have a larger interior than they had with the 6-3, 300-pound Bradbury at center. However, Brandel might well be in a competition this summer to keep his job.

When Fries came out of college, he was considered “just average” on his NFL.com draft profile. He was a limited athlete whom draft analysts and NFL teams did not value as a high-ceiling player.

But after selecting him, Colts scouts told Indianapolis reporters about his intellect, character and versatility. He’s also demonstrated a mean streak.

“He’s done a nice job playing with a little bit of that competitive edge that you like out of your offensive line,” Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said in 2023.

Fries said he focused on getting stronger ahead of his first full year as a starter in 2023, benefiting a Vikings O-line in need of some muscle.

“It starts with strength,” Fries said in 2023. “Improving my overall strength level, putting a lot of time in the weight room and getting stronger, and then have a little more mobility. Those two things helped me a lot.”

Kelly has reunited with Ryan Grigson, the Vikings vice president of player personnel, after being drafted by the Colts in the first round in 2016, Grigson’s final year as general manager there.

Kelly lived up to expectations in Indianapolis, where he was named to four Pro Bowls over nine seasons. He was a second-team All-Pro in 2020.

He was also a stabilizing force in the middle of a talented Colts offensive line that once paved the way for 13 consecutive runs in a 2023 win over Pittsburgh.

Injuries have been one of the only things holding back Kelly, who turns 32 in May. He has started 124 of 151 possible games, including three playoff starts.

But he missed three games after suffering a second concussion in the 2023 season. And he missed seven games last season, including two games because of a neck injury. Upon returning, Kelly left the following game because of a calf injury. The Vikings tied $760,000 of Kelly’s pay into per-game roster bonuses, meaning he’ll earn 1/17th of that for each game he’s active.

Kelly’s worst-graded game by Pro Football Focus came in the Colts' Week 9 trip to U.S. Bank Stadium. But it was Kelly’s final start before undergoing surgery on a lingering right knee injury that caused him to miss the next five games.

Kelly did not look like the same player as he did at the beginning of the 2024 season, and Vikings defensive tackles Harrison Phillips and Jerry Tillery were among those who physically overpowered Kelly in that Minnesota victory.

“It’s frustrating,” Kelly said about missing games, according to the Indianapolis Star. “It’s frustrating, going into Year 9, going into the last year of my contract and not being able to help my team on the field.”

At the start of the season, Kelly and Fries formed a reliable tandem that coach Shane Steichen, the offensive play-caller, often ran behind. Below you’ll see a 16-yard run by Jonathan Taylor, who jukes Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark thanks to Kelly holding up just enough on the reach block.

Kelly, a two-year team captain, was a leader off the field in Indianapolis. He was the Colts' representative with the players' union, and a vocal one.

He also had a one-on-one chat with Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, who is 22, after Richardson took himself out of a game because he needed a breather.

“We had a conversation about it, and I think he knows that’s not the standard that he needs to play up to and the rest of the team holds him to,” Kelly said in October. “I’ll kind of leave the conversation that we had at that. I’m sure he’s going to take some criticism for that, and rightfully so. That’s a tough look.”

“He’s also out there giving it all for his team. … He’s young. I’m sure it’s a learning moment for him.”

Upon returning from knee surgery to play the Colts' final three games, Kelly alluded to contemplating retirement.

“The one thing I do know is I still love the game,” Kelly said in December. “You’re not 23 anymore. You’re not a rookie where you can bounce back from a lot of things, but you learn how to be smarter with your preparation and your body. … I never make the decision in-season. I always make the decision after the season. But I still love the game.”

Having started 28 games together over three seasons, Fries and Kelly bring their own rapport that doesn’t typically come with free-agent signings.

They’ll have to get used to the Vikings' way of doing things, but they each will be learning only one new teammate next to them; Fries gets Pro Bowl right tackle Brian O’Neill, and Kelly a left guard to be named later.

Below, you’ll see an eight-play clip from the Colts' Week 1 loss to the Texans. Neither Fries nor Kelly won every rep, but both played well. The second, third and fourth plays are runs vs. light, six- and seven-man boxes (like the Vikings see often against Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and others), and illustrate their abilities to win solo blocks and climb to the linebacker level.

The Vikings offensive line often struggled last season to adjust to stunts, or twists, by defensive lines. In the video below, you’ll see Fries and Kelly go 4 for 5 in picking up the Packers' D-line movement in Week 2.

It’s a lot easier to see these coming from a bird’s-eye view, and was not so simple for the Vikings' interior trio of Ingram, Bradbury and Brandel. Ingram, especially, did not read and react very well.

Below is another example from the Colts’ Week 1 game vs. Houston.

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