Vikings’ middling run game makes it abundantly clear — they need help on the interior OL

Think about everything the Minnesota Vikings have tried to do to create a consistent run game over the last three seasons.

They have used three different starting running backs: Dalvin Cook, Alexander Mattison and Aaron Jones. They added a physical tight end in free agency: Josh Oliver. They traded left guard Ezra Cleveland last year, replaced him with Dalton Risner in the middle of the season, and then replaced him with Blake Brandel this offseason.

The Vikings streamlined their run concepts, leaning even further into vertical runs involving double teams. They emphasized ball security and have talked ad nauseam about “play style,” which is coachspeak for the importance of heightened physicality. Sunday, the Vikings made another move affecting this unit, benching right guard Ed Ingram and replacing him with Risner.

There has been so much tinkering, such a constant focus on one specific facet of the offense. And yet, the results have hardly changed. The table below compares the Vikings’ rushing attacks in the last three seasons — since Kevin O’Connell became the head coach in 2022.

Running the football better for the duration of the 2024 season is one of the staff’s primary focuses.

“When we’ve been at our best as an offense,” O’Connell said Monday, “we’ve been able to establish the run. It’s easier said than done sometimes.”

One of those times is when you play against the Tennessee Titans’ front. Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat almost scare you away from trying to run between the tackles. That’s why the Vikings utilized a handful of pitch plays angled toward the outside. But they didn’t make much of a difference. The Titans limited the Vikings to 69 yards on 28 designed rushes (2.5 yards per carry). Minnesota’s 22.6 percent success rate was its lowest of the entire season.

It would be one thing if that game were a one-off, but the Vikings’ average of 3.8 yards per carry is the lowest in the NFL since Week 5. Who and what are to blame? As always with running struggles, there are multiple factors at play.

First, Jones hurt his hamstring in London against the Jets, then absorbed a helmet to the ribs last week in Jacksonville. He has not eclipsed 100 yards since Week 3 and has not run for a touchdown since Week 7. The advanced data, however, indicates that he has not lost his burst.

Jones began the season well, scoring the team’s first touchdown at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants. Matchups with the Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers — two defenses that often lined up with the same, static, four-down front — lent themselves nicely to the types of north-south push the Vikings seek.

It’s no coincidence then that Jones ranked as one of the NFL’s premier running backs. Now? The table below shows where he stands among the 29 qualified players with 100 or more carries.

The Vikings’ run game has also been hampered by the injury to left tackle Christian Darrisaw. Last year’s hopes of running the ball effectively were torpedoed when superstar receiver Justin Jefferson strained his hamstring and quarterback Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles. Defenses could load up the box against them without fear of being hit deep over the top.

Darrisaw’s injury — a torn ACL and MCL suffered in Week 8 against the Rams in Los Angeles — does not impact defenses in the same way. But his absence is a relevant data point in the overall evaluation. His fill-in, Cam Robinson, is not as mobile around the left edge.

As for the rest of the offensive line, well, this is where the analysis wades into the anecdotal and the subjective. Pro Football Focus ranks the Vikings O-line as the league’s eighth-best run-blocking unit, while ESPN’s run-block win rate ranks the Vikings 17th. Average yards generated before contact is another worthwhile statistic in gauging offensive-line play, and the Vikings come in at 15th, according to TruMedia.

Film from Sunday verifies what it looked like in real-time — and what it has looked like for most of the last few years. Missed assignments at the interior offensive-line positions prohibit explosive runs and lessen the amount of success on efficient runs.

Here is a play from the first half with Simmons knocking back Risner:

This play shows Simmons moving Brandel into the backfield:

And here is Sweat pushing center Garrett Bradbury back toward the ball carrier:

“There’s always some things you can do better from a technique, fundamentals and play-style standpoint,” O’Connell said after the game. “It’s just the small things that can turn a 3-, 4- or 5-yard run into a 20-yard run. And we were close on some of those.”

O’Connell wasn’t wrong, but his comment mirrored many from the past few years. It’s why the Vikings sought different running backs, targeted Oliver and troubleshot some of their rushing concepts. They have pulled seemingly every lever except maybe the most impactful one: upgrading the interior of the offensive line.

Notably, the Vikings’ only interior offensive lineman who costs more than average for a starter is Bradbury. Now that Ingram has been benched, they also don’t have a starting interior offensive lineman on his rookie contract. The Detroit Lions pay center Frank Ragnow a premium. So do the Philadelphia Eagles with guard Landon Dickerson. The Baltimore Ravens drafted center Tyler Linderbaum in the first round. The Bills scooped up undrafted free agent Alec Anderson, and he has ascended to a high-level starter at right guard.

Those are the league’s four most efficient rushing teams, and while it helps to have a running quarterback (like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hurts), spending premium resources on the interior O-line positions can be useful, too.

The Vikings will have plenty of needs this offseason, especially on defense. But they are also likely to have a rookie quarterback who would benefit from reliable pass protection and advantageous downs and distances. If this isn’t the time to spend salary-cap dollars on the interior offensive line, then when is?

(Photo of Aaron Jones: Rich Storry / Getty Images)