The Often Overbearing, But Otherwise Ordinary Offensive Line

[swede700]

1 hour ago, Ozzy said:

LT O'Neill
LG Cleveland
C Bradbury
RG Samia
RT Udoh

 

I would love that offensive line because one is getting some action for Udoh.  I am surprised they would not have Udoh at guard but I do believe Cleveland can play guard.  Is a great athlete and surprised they would not put him at OT but clearly I would rather seem him on the field than not on the field.  Why not give it a try and if it does not work with Cleveland or Samia put in Elflein, they already know what he can do and cannot do.  

Reiff would be nice to have this year but I would not be surprised if they just cut him.  Because unless Cleveland can hang at OG, it would cause there to be Cleveland and Udoh both sitting on the bench along with Hill as well.  But that is Hill's role, it would be kind of foolish to put that many decent players on the bench when there are issues on the OL.  Might as well give the young guys a shot.  Personally I would have put Udoh at guard because he is stronger but Cleveland is quicker so maybe that is why they got him in there, Udoh did look good at RT last year at the end of the season.  

Considering Reiff agreed to the paycut, they aren't going to just cut him now.  

[Ozzy]

27 minutes ago, swede700 said:

Considering Reiff agreed to the paycut, they aren't going to just cut him now.  

I was not aware of that, either way with Reiff for me that is way too many players sitting on the bench that need some time unless one of them plays guard.  Either way, Cleveland or Udoh has to play guard I think this season, or at least should with or without Reiff.  I honestly do not think Reiff could make that switch to OG, and who knows if Cleveland even can but someone should be able to at least for this season.  I would just not be comfortable with the Vikings having say tackles in O'Neill and Reiff and then sit Udoh, Cleveland and Hill.  That just does not make sense really to have that many backup OTs just sitting when OG is such an issue.  

[SemperFeist]

There’s really been nothing to indicate that the Vikings view Cleveland as a tackle at this point. 

Right now, he’s the team’s #2 LG. 

[Ozzy]

1 minute ago, SemperFeist said:

There’s really been nothing to indicate that the Vikings view Cleveland as a tackle at this point. 

Right now, he’s the team’s #2 LG. 

Good, but they are working him at the guard because it is stupid to sit him on the bench at tackle, guard is the need so work him there.  Cleveland is a great run blocker obviously but I believe he played LT his entire college career and has not played guard, might be wrong on that though.

 

But fact is he and O'Neill bought did great things at the combine, and considering how athletically similar their combine numbers were, yeah Cleveland could play OT if they wanted him to and at some point I am sure he will get his shot depending on how the Reiff situation goes and how Udoh plays at the position.  No way Cleveland could not play OT with those athletic numbers, they were impressive for a dude his size.  

 

O'Neill 

6-7, 297, 4.82 40, 29.5 vert, 22 bench, 107 broad, 7.14 cone, 4.50 shuttle

 

Cleveland

6-6, 311, 4.93 40, 30 vert, 30 bench, 111 broad, 7.26 cone, 4.46 shuttle

 

 

They clearly need more athletic ability at guard so it is a good move and will hopefully kick Elflein to a backup OG/C.  

[JDBrocks]

42 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Good, but they are working him at the guard because it is stupid to sit him on the bench at tackle, guard is the need so work him there.  Cleveland is a great run blocker obviously but I believe he played LT his entire college career and has not played guard, might be wrong on that though.

 

But fact is he and O'Neill bought did great things at the combine, and considering how athletically similar their combine numbers were, yeah Cleveland could play OT if they wanted him to and at some point I am sure he will get his shot depending on how the Reiff situation goes and how Udoh plays at the position.  No way Cleveland could not play OT with those athletic numbers, they were impressive for a dude his size.  

 

O'Neill 

6-7, 297, 4.82 40, 29.5 vert, 22 bench, 107 broad, 7.14 cone, 4.50 shuttle

 

Cleveland

6-6, 311, 4.93 40, 30 vert, 30 bench, 111 broad, 7.26 cone, 4.46 shuttle

 

 

They clearly need more athletic ability at guard so it is a good move and will hopefully kick Elflein to a backup OG/C.  

Then why didn't they play him at tackle with the 2s, instead of at G? The Vikings haven't done anything that suggests they see him playing tackle.

Edited September 2, 2020 by JDBrocks
said guard, meant tackle

[Ozzy]

14 minutes ago, JDBrocks said:

Then why didn't they play him at tackle with the 2s, instead of at G? The Vikings haven't done anything that suggests they see him playing guard.

Don't you mean "they see him playing tackle?  Either way many great guards were tackles throughout in college so the transition is not out of this world and is clearly the biggest need for the team right now.  That is why he is only seeing OG action, but no freaking way he could never play OT at any point in his career.  Thinking an athlete like him could never do that when that is all he ever did at the college level is just foolish.  

Hell there will be zero preseason games so a ton could change in a very short amount of time since they have never actually played a real game against anyone, but this year no question Cleveland at guard I would like to see just to get him some game action.  And for their system Udoh is possibly a little too slow of foot to play guard but could clearly be a mauler at RT.  

[JDBrocks]

4 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Don't you mean "they see him playing tackle?  Either way many great guards were tackles throughout in college so the transition is not out of this world and is clearly the biggest need for the team right now.  That is why he is only seeing OG action, but no freaking way he could never play OT at any point in his career.  Thinking an athlete like him could never do that when that is all he ever did at the college level is just foolish.  

Hell there will be zero preseason games so a ton could change in a very short amount of time since they have never actually played a real game against anyone, but this year no question Cleveland at guard I would like to see just to get him some game action.  And for their system Udoh is possibly a little too slow of foot to play guard but could clearly be a mauler at RT.  

Yes that is what I meant. 

I didn't say anything about his ability to play the position, only that the Vikings haven't indicated that they see him playing tackle.

[Guest]

Serious question...what gives you any optimism that this season the offensive line will perform better as a unit than last season?

My concerns continue to center on Reiff, whoever plays left guard, Elflein, and will Bradbury be significantly stronger at center.  O'Neill is the only starter that I don't have any questions concerning...except hope that he doesn't get injured.

[vikesfan89]

6 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

Serious question...what gives you any optimism that this season the offensive line will perform better as a unit than last season?

My concerns continue to center on Reiff, whoever plays left guard, Elflein, and will Bradbury be significantly stronger at center.  O'Neill is the only starter that I don't have any questions concerning...except hope that he doesn't get injured.

2nd year with the coaches and Bradbury should be better. 

It's not a lot.  I was really hoping Samia would be able to make the jump to starter but it looks like that was a pipe dream

[swede700]

I have hope, not really optimism.  The only player, outside of O'Neill, that I have optimism for is Bradbury.  The biggest jump is usually from Year 1 to Year 2, so I'm optimistic that he'll make a big jump.  I'm really just hoping that the 2 guards will be good enough to be competent.  Reiff, we know what we're going to get.  He will be competent, but has his flaws.    

[Krauser]

25 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

Serious question...what gives you any optimism that this season the offensive line will perform better as a unit than last season?

Is anyone expecting them to be better?

They lost a starter (Kline) and only added depth (and another year's experience I guess for the young guys), so there's no reason to be confident in improvement.

Having said that, the upside is that Bradbury improves (pretty good chance but no guarantee), Elflein improves as a pass blocker (not likely, but not impossible), O'Neill gets even better (he's pretty good but could be near elite), Reiff stays half-decent and Dozier or whoever ends up playing LG (maybe Cleveland by mid-season?) doesn't stink. 

Kubiak's scheme will mitigate the pass protection limitations as long as the score is close enough that it's plausible to sell play action. And they should be a good run blocking line. 

But it's still the most obvious weakness on the team. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Krauser said:

Is anyone expecting them to be better?

They lost a starter (Kline) and only added depth (and another year's experience I guess for the young guys), so there's no reason to be confident in improvement.

Having said that, the upside is that Bradbury improves (pretty good chance but no guarantee), Elflein improves as a pass blocker (not likely, but not impossible), O'Neill gets even better (he's pretty good but could be near elite), Reiff stays half-decent and Dozier or whoever ends up playing LG (maybe Cleveland by mid-season?) doesn't stink. 

Kubiak's scheme will mitigate the pass protection limitations as long as the score is close enough that it's plausible to sell play action. And they should be a good run blocking line. 

But it's still the most obvious weakness on the team. 

I agree with this!  It makes me think that going forward, if the Vikings continue to follow the same system of acquiring talent along the OL, then they need to draft a more athletic QB.  No more pocket guys...they just need to draft the next Mahomes or Jackson!!  Couldn't be easier!!! 😉

[vikesfan89]

1 hour ago, Virginia Viking said:

I agree with this!  It makes me think that going forward, if the Vikings continue to follow the same system of acquiring talent along the OL, then they need to draft a more athletic QB.  No more pocket guys...they just need to draft the next Mahomes or Jackson!!  Couldn't be easier!!! 😉

They do have a2nd rounder on the bench.  If he becomes a good starter and they draft 1 more fairly high next year they could be in good shape.  That doesn't do much for this year though

[TENINCH]

On 9/1/2020 at 2:27 PM, SemperFeist said:

 

This article made me feel much better about Bradbury. Really hope we see a big change this season.

[HeydudemanG]

Well the sad thing is we put so many resources into the D-line just to trade for Yannick that now we aren't even going to keep a lot of those new young guys. We could have used those 4th rounds and under to try to hit on a guard. Some of the best guards coming out went mid round in the draft this year.

Edited September 2, 2020 by HeydudemanG