Analysis: Vikings offensive line needs new parts, and coach Kevin O’Connell knows it

GLENDALE, ARIZ. – The past two weeks were a not-so-subtle reminder that the Vikings will never be a legitimate Super Bowl contender until they have an offensive line that can physically dictate what happens in big games against elite teams.

That’s what was going through this reporter’s brain when it asked Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell where “improving the offensive line” ranked on his list of offseason things to do in the wake of that unit getting manhandled at Detroit with the NFC’s No. 1 seed on the line and then again in Arizona in Monday night’s 27-9 loss to the Rams.

Thirty-some years of asking these kinds of things made this reporter assume that K.O. would simply dodge the question.

He didn’t.

In fact, it was as if Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth had been wrapped around the young coach’s tongue.

“There’s no question that we got to be able to find a way to give a quarterback [time],” O’Connell said after the Vikings tied a 62-year-old NFL record by allowing nine sacks in a playoff game. “Especially with players like Jordan [Addison], Justin [Jefferson], T.J. [Hockenson], we got to find a way to solidify the interior of the pocket, starting first and foremost.”

Amen, brother!

In between those bookends is an issue that can’t be ignored any longer. It’s the team’s No. 1 issue. An issue so big that the Vikings were prioritizing it ahead of re-signing Darnold even three weeks ago when the general public was thinking Darnold would either be given a giant long-term contract or the franchise tag at about $40 million for the 2025 season.

“There can be a thousand excuses made,” O’Connell continued while in the grips of Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth, listing off losing Darrisaw in Week 8 and losing O’Neill during Monday’s game. “But, for me, it’s the foundation of the interior of the pocket that we’re going to have to take a long look at.

“I thought those guys battled tonight. That’s a good, young, fast, athletic front the Rams have. But really, when you look at it over the course of the entirety of the season, we lost to two football teams, and both of them were able to do some similar things against us, be it pressure, be it some non-blitz pressure. We just weren’t able ever to find that rhythm, find those two or three plays to kind of take a little bit of the steam out of what they were doing and sustain a little bit.”

Right guard Dalton Risner is a great guy. He has been a late free-agent signing the past two years and will be a free agent again. He has been better than what the Vikings have had but, frankly, he’s not good enough. Not powerful enough.

Center Garrett Bradbury is a great guy. He has been the starter since being drafted in the first round in 2019. Frankly, he’s not powerful enough. He will be in the final year of his contract and can be cut with a $3.6 million cap savings.

Watching the other wild-card games also was a reminder of what the Vikings don’t have across the board on the offensive line.

The Ravens ran for 299 yards and two touchdowns on 50 carries (6.0) in a 28-14 blowout of the Steelers. Baltimore should fear no team because of three equal strengths — Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and its offensive line.

The Eagles ran for 169 yards on 34 carries (5.0 per carry) in a 22-10 beatdown of the Packers. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is good, but he’d be a liability without the offensive line Philly has put together.

The Bills pounded Denver 31-7 with a line that dominated in the run game and also gave Josh Allen nearly 10 seconds to find his target on a 24-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-1.

We can sit here and split hairs while assigning percentages of blame between Darnold and the offensive line when it came to those nine sacks. Sure, Darnold didn’t sense all of the different blitzes and stunts and schemes the Rams threw at him. But the bottom line is, well, let’s let Risner deliver the bottom line:

The Vikings don’t have a lot of draft capital, which means any upgrades they make on the interior of the offensive line will have to come via free agency. And not even guards and centers come cheap via free agency these days.

But K.O. made it clear Monday night what needs to be done this offseason. With his general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, sitting in the back of his news conference, O’Connell described what happened to Darnold during that nine-sack beatdown.

“I thought we gave up pressure,” he said. “A couple of those, they were able to scheme up a guy here or there that on paper you have accounted for. But it doesn’t matter on paper.”

In other words, K.O. essentially was coming out and saying he needs the horses inside to physically dictate what happens in big games against elite teams.