Aloha, Skoloholics! There isn’t normally a lot to report during the early days of the off-season, except the occasional signing or two. Well, we have one of those to report today! It’s not a signing, but a re-signing of one of the Vikings’ key depth players on the offensive line. According to PFT, the Vikings re-signed offensive tackle Blake Brandel.
Brandel was the Vikings sixth-round pick in 2020, having played college ball at Oregon State. He’s a monster at 6’7″ tall and 315 pounds. In his two years in the league, Brandel has appeared in 22 games, and started three. All three of his starts came in weeks 12-14 in 2022, amidst a five-week period where he filled in for Christian Darrisaw for several games. He tore his MCL late in the loss to the Lions (link to SI.com), and remained on IR until the Vikings activated him prior to the playoff game.
This is a good player for the Vikings to sign, as good O-line depth is not easy to come by. With O’Neill and Darrisaw both coming off of seasons where they were injured, the Vikings will want to have solid depth at the tackle position.
