The Often Overbearing, But Otherwise Ordinary Offensive Line

[SteelKing728]

I think sack numbers are down across the league, minus us and Cleveland.

[SotanKing]

Ezra has significantly improved this year..ONeil has been solid as usual and Darrisaw also has been ok. But OLine is still only as good as your weakest lineman and that's where Udoh has really hurt the team. He has been so bad in pass protection since Week2. If Vikings can find an average guard that can start over Udoh for next season, then I would say they are finally going to have a decent pass blocking OLine for the first time in ages.

[VikeManDan]

I think Cole should be re-signed. I thought I saw that Bradbury had a career high 84.0 PFF pass-blocking grade on Thursday?

Anyways, re-sign Cole, who turns 26 in March, and have an open competition between Cole, Udoh, and Davis. That should be the bare minimum.

[SteelKing728]

Bradbury has 4 more games to prove his worth, 2 are against Aaron Donald and Kenny Clark.

If he can hold up, maybe the Vikings give him the 5th year option. If not, perhaps it would be better to move on from him, start Cole at Center, and leave RG as an open competition.

Wyatt Davis fits in here...somewhere.

[SemperFeist]

There’s no reason to pick up Bradbury’s 5th year option, even if he does play great in the next 4 games. He’s still under contract next year and can earn a new contract with good play then. 

In general, there is no reason to pick up a 5th year option on a player who is not a top 5-10 caliber player. If you wouldn’t put the franchise tag on that player, don’t pick up the option. 

[dc_vikingfan]

I want to see how the line plays with Darrisaw Ezra Bradbury Cole and O'Neil. While wouldn't be the greatest they could look like a solid OL.  I've given up on Wyatt Davis in 2021. Udoh must go to the bench if Darrisaw returns.

[ArcticNorseman]

As much as Udoh's tangible characteristics say, "Give him playing time, he'll become dominant," Cole is a 51-game starter from Michigan.    Elon isn't Michigan so, the battle tested Cole should be solid, plus, he's been in the NFL a bit longer.

That said, Cole's floor may be higher than Udoh's, but his ceiling isn't.  Cole's smart enough to know that not committing penalties and staying on the field keeps Udoh from getting more battle-tested.    

That said, the line of Darrisaw, Cleveland, Bradbury, Cole and O'Neill should be the way we finish the season.   And that band should be kept together for a three year tour.   

[wcblack34]

11 hours ago, ArcticNorseman said:

As much as Udoh's tangible characteristics say, "Give him playing time, he'll become dominant," Cole is a 51-game starter from Michigan.    Elon isn't Michigan so, the battle tested Cole should be solid, plus, he's been in the NFL a bit longer.

That said, Cole's floor may be higher than Udoh's, but his ceiling isn't.  Cole's smart enough to know that not committing penalties and staying on the field keeps Udoh from getting more battle-tested.    

That said, the line of Darrisaw, Cleveland, Bradbury, Cole and O'Neill should be the way we finish the season.   And that band should be kept together for a three year tour.   

Udoh is still very, very inexperienced at Guard, but has made enough splash plays to warrant further consideration at the position. Cole should definitely start the rest of the way, but I think Oli has potetial to be solid if he an develop technique and cut down on the penalties. If nothing else, he's a decent depth piece. 

Bradbury has a ways to go before I'm ready to see him as our starting Center for another three years or more. He's looked very good as of late, but it's going to take more than 3 or 4 good games to show he's turned the corner. I hope he finishes the year strong 

Mason Cole. People give Spielman a lot of crap on this forum, but it's pretty undeniable that Cole for a sixth round pick has been a home run. It's also clear that Guard is the position that suits him best. I think he's probably the most "must re-sign" of our pending free agents. 

I think there's little doubt that our O-Line is in the best shape it's been in for probably a decade or more. Obviously a lot of room for improvement, but if Ezra and Darrisaw continue to develop, I think the unit has Top 10 potential. 

 

[SemperFeist]

Brian O’Neill on KFAN just said that the o-line room was told that they have set the franchise record for most games without allowing a sack. 

EDIT**: Which is either really sad, or very inaccurate. As they only had 3 games without allowing a sack. 

Although, they have only allowed 18 sacks on the year. Which is the league’s 2nd best total, behind Tampa Bay who’s allowed 17. 

Edited December 14, 2021 by SemperFeist

[wcblack34]

2 hours ago, SemperFeist said:

Brian O’Neill on KFAN just said that the o-line room was told that they have set the franchise record for most games without allowing a sack. 

EDIT**: Which is either really sad, or very inaccurate. As they only had 3 games without allowing a sack. 

Although, they have only allowed 18 sacks on the year. Which is the league’s 2nd best total, behind Tampa Bay who’s allowed 17. 

I think we would all have laughed if we were told we’d be at only 18 sacks at this point. There’s definitely room for improvement, but they are definitely looking like a unit on the upswing!

[vikesfan89]

It seems like Cousins is also taking less bad sacks

[Robb_K]

On 12/12/2021 at 4:51 AM, SteelKing728 said:

Bradbury has 4 more games to prove his worth, 2 are against Aaron Donald and Kenny Clark.

If he can hold up, maybe the Vikings give him the 5th year option. If not, perhaps it would be better to move on from him, start Cole at Center, and leave RG as an open competition.

Wyatt Davis fits in here...somewhere.

Cole plays much better at RG.  I'd say, re-sign Cole, and pick up a competent centre from outside, and go with Cole or Davis at RG.  Then, IF the new centre gets injured, Cole can fill in for him as a backup, or can move to C from starting RG, IF he wins that over Davis, and Davis can play at RG temporarily, in that emergency.  I wouldn't let Cole walk, as he has been proven to be a competent guard (which are not so easy to find, in the form of a young, really low salaried player, who also knows your system, and knows how his OL mates play).  He is likely to want to stay at a very reasonable pay level.  Bradbury will need to play really well the next 4 games for me to want to pick up his 5th year option.  Let's see how he looks in pass protection against The Rams DL, especially if Donald lines up between him and Cole, rather than him and Darrisaw.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Robb_K

[SemperFeist]

3 hours ago, wcblack34 said:

I think we would all have laughed if we were told we’d be at only 18 sacks at this point. There’s definitely room for improvement, but they are definitely looking like a unit on the upswing!

If you told people that the Vikings would lead the league in sacks and be 2nd in sacks allowed 13 games into the season they would have had the Vikings as a top 3 team in the NFC. 

[vikingsrule]

10 hours ago, SemperFeist said:

If you told people that the Vikings would lead the league in sacks and be 2nd in sacks allowed 13 games into the season they would have had the Vikings as a top 3 team in the NFC. 

They’d be top 3 in the NFC if those sacks came at opportune moments. 

[VikeManDan]

15 hours ago, Robb_K said:

Bradbury will need to play really well the next 4 games for me to want to pick up his 5th year option.

That ship has sailed, he'll have to earn his next contract next season. If I'm reading this chart from OTC right it would have Bradbury's 5th year projected salary at $12.745M.

https://overthecap.com/fifth-year-option-projections/