BFFFS (Big Fine Fellows up Front)

Armchair Distillery

5-26-2022

The need for BFFFs

For several years there has been an issue with the OL of the Minnesota Vikings. The performance of what some refer to as the “Minnesota Moving Company” has tended to leave the QB1 exposed to significant harm while constantly running for his life. Offensive performance suffered as a result as the opponents knew that the run game would be emphasized so the pocket and rushing yardage totals shrank together. Especially so if the team fell behind and had to start passing in an effort to catch up.

This is NOT to say that every player on every down was performing at a substandard level. There were plenty of times when everything worked well enough to win and even occasionally dominate games. Individual efforts, overall scheme, game planning and weekly matchups always play a role in how any particular player might look on any given Sunday, but it is the consistency of the results we are talking about here. To produce this the team needs Big Fine Fellows up Front…

Barring any unforeseen events like injury or player-approved trade, our QB1 is going to be Kirk Cousins until at least the end of the 2023 season. One of the most important things to do if you have him as your quarterback is to reduce the pass rush to give him a clean pocket. He is somewhat a stationary object back there and IF (and that is a CRITICAL “IF”) an area of solace can be created consistently, I personally believe that Kirk Cousins possesses another gear that nobody has EVER seen from him. This is a tale for another time, but there can be no argument that if KC gets enough time in the proper scheme and has quality targets to throw to, he WILL pick a defense apart most of the time.

This means that the OL is far more critical than the previous regime was willing to commit to. Currently the easiest place to begin is the Tackle position. Darrisaw and O’Neil will start. Depth behind them is only a little fuzzy. IF Udoh stays with the team, he probably becomes a swing tackle now that Hill is no longer here.

As a side note, Udoh was moved to Guard for two reasons. First was a lack of warm bodies to occupy the space. Secondly, because Gary the elder had previous success in Denver taking a surplus Tackle and putting him inside to create a mismatch at Guard. Tackles are typically taller and larger and with longer arms, this tends to put the opponents interior linemen at a physical disadvantage. In this case though, Udoh has been literally HOLDING on for his life while he had previously displayed some promise in limited service at the LT spot. (i.e. keeping Khalil Mack at bay in his last notable performance in Chicago.)

The mystery begins

There are now NO shortage of rumors as to what to expect on the interior positions. This is compounded by the lack of a managerial track record from which to draw any inference from. KAM and KOC seem to hold their cards very close to the vest. They will not say anything negative about anyone. Presumably this is not just because of the interior chaos and hard feelings that would occur, but it also may reduce the value of any asset that might be traded away. (Think something like this: “Bradbury is our guy, has a HUGE upside and is CRUCIAL to our new offense, but we would accept your offer of a 6^th rounder and a water boy in trade…” Anything to get some kind of value on the way out of his contract.)

Conventional wisdom says that the LG should be Cleveland. He has been making some progress since being converted from a LT to a LG (Sound familiar?) and KOC has mentioned that a quantum leap forward was to be expected from him in the new system. Meanwhile Ingram was drafted in the 2^nd round and there was some buzz about his becoming the new LG and Cleveland potentially moving to C. (This was a rumor so we put it out there for reference…) Chris Reed would be a decent 2^nd man up and Kyle Hinton probably penciled in at the 3^rd spot.

Making the assumption that Udoh goes back to Swing Tackle, RG is an interesting proposition… 2^nd round OL picks do not typically sit on the bench and unless something strange happens at LG, Ingram is the favorite to try to stabilize this position. The Davises would back that up in some order… unless…

Bradbury is now in a prove it year with everything on the line at C. Whilst there are rumors of the possibility of a trade, KO has also waxed nostalgic about Garrett’s upside. Then you have Austin Schlottmann and Wyatt Davis and possibly even Ezra Cleveland being rumored as potential starters.

Note: JC Tretter is in my opinion NOT coming to Minnesota. He couldn’t practice on his bad knees last year in a system he was familiar with. The Vikings would want him to practice a lot in a new system so don’t hold your breath on this my purple bleeding friends…

Another aside is that Wyatt Davis has taken this off season very seriously and has come back in great shape and presumably very well coached on how to improve. If that training included time at C as well as G, he adds a potentially valuable and interesting piece to the OL puzzle.

Distilled thoughts

The obvious and cliché answer is that the brain trust will evaluate for and put the best five people out there that they reasonably can. To some extent I believe that this will be the plan. Most of the interior linemen have some positional flexibility. This however only adds to the never ending complexity and creativity of the rumor mill that surrounds the Vikings OL.

With so many possible options including some we have not seen yet and the uncertainty of just how this front office will operate, anything could and probably will happen. You could probably get a dart board and make just as good of a guess as to just what will transpire on the interior of the OL. There are a lot of variables and even writing this article is knowing that it will be obsolete in the morning.

Enjoy the debate with your friends and family over the holiday weekend!

Skol!

Armchair Distillery is the musings of a fan with 50+ years of experience in the Purple. Acutely shaped by his childhood surroundings, the author makes no representation of any in-depth knowledge of the game other than its value to society as a form of mass entertainment that he has enjoyed for over half a century. Feel free to pick apart and disagree with any thoughts put forth. Everyone has a Distilled View from their Armchair, and all are welcome.