bleedspeed177 wrote:Darisaw is supposed to practice this week. Rashid Hill is solid backup but has not been good as a starter. Hopefully Darisaw can get healthy and play 12 games or more with top 20 LT results.
I'll be happy and relieved when Darrisaw actually gets in there and practices a couple days.
Hill is a solid backup tackle. There are a couple reasons to not panic too much until Darrisaw comes back.
1. Hill has been able to get lots of reps at LT instead of splitting reps. Yeah he is a vet guy that's been at this for a while but it still probably helps to be at one spot and do it with the same guy most the reps.
2. Is Cleveland is even average (or even slightly below average) at LG that would be an upgrade over Dozier and help the LT out too.
3. This group has been practicing together for a while now so it should be reasonably ready to go. I'm not expecting great things but if Cleveland and Udoh are legit starting guards than this line has potential to take a worthwhile step forward if it can get and stay healthy. Of course LT could end up being the weak spot and that's just a little scary.
Darrisaw practicing for a few days is not enough to make me happy. I think this is a huge season for the team. It is post-season or rebuild year and I think he is an important part of this team being a playoff team.
We still have to hope Bradbury can be a decent center too. We had a great run at the position and having him be a first-rounder he needed to be much better. If Bradbury struggles I wonder if we will start hearing about Wyatt Davis getting more practice at center. Then you mentioned Cleveland. It is interesting they boxed him into guard without letting him compete at LT with Darrisaw. Do they have that much confidence in Darrisaw or that little confidence in Cleveland playing outside?
One thing for sure this might be the most athletically gifted OL in the league. We will see if they can block.
bleedspeed177 wrote:Darrisaw practicing for a few days is not enough to make me happy. I think this is a huge season for the team. It is post-season or rebuild year and I think he is an important part of this team being a playoff team.
We still have to hope Bradbury can be a decent center too. We had a great run at the position and having him be a first-rounder he needed to be much better. If Bradbury struggles I wonder if we will start hearing about Wyatt Davis getting more practice at center. Then you mentioned Cleveland. It is interesting they boxed him into guard without letting him compete at LT with Darrisaw. Do they have that much confidence in Darrisaw or that little confidence in Cleveland playing outside?
One thing for sure this might be the most athletically gifted OL in the league. We will see if they can block.
To clarify: My first step is Darrisaw actually being healthy. When I feel good about that then I will move on to whether or not he is actually any good this season.
I don't think most teams draft a LT in the first round and have Cleveland battle for the spot especially when you have Hill as a solid backup. They decided they were going to play him at guard. I think that's likely what they were thinking before the draft but after they were able to get Darrisaw that was finalized. The interior of the online has been a big problem for a couple years. IF... Cleveland is actually a solution then they will have one spot figured out. I think the other issue about him as a tackle was he has shorter arms than what most teams like. It would be nice if these guys skills meshed together. I think that's probably an underrated part of oline play. Some guys might have flaws that are magnified when they play next to another guy with similar flaws even if both guys are solid players.
Udoh's promotion may come with additional responsibilities. With the team's typical swing tackle, Hill, starting on the left side for injured rookie Christian Darrisaw, there's a possibility Udoh becomes the backup tackle. Udoh has also taken practice reps at tackle while offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak prepares for injury replacements. "He could be the starting right guard, or starting left tackle at any time," Kubiak said.
Sounds like if Hill struggles and Darrisaw is not healthy they would insert Wyatt Davis at RG and move Udoh to LT. I know there are some that would rather see this against the Bengals. KFAN has a lot of Wyatt Davis fans.
Udoh's promotion may come with additional responsibilities. With the team's typical swing tackle, Hill, starting on the left side for injured rookie Christian Darrisaw, there's a possibility Udoh becomes the backup tackle. Udoh has also taken practice reps at tackle while offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak prepares for injury replacements. "He could be the starting right guard, or starting left tackle at any time," Kubiak said.
Sounds like if Hill struggles and Darrisaw is not healthy they would insert Wyatt Davis at RG and move Udoh to LT. I know there are some that would rather see this against the Bengals. KFAN has a lot of Wyatt Davis fans.
Thanks for posting.
I like hearing about Mike Harris he seems like a good dude. Every team has injury losses but sometimes fans forget about some of the oline guys the Vikings lost during what became some really lean years. Harris looked like maybe a solid answer at an oline spot and he had to retire. Loadholt tore his Achilles and then retired when he was 30. People probably forget about Loadholt that was a pretty solid draft pick. They basically lost 2 starting olineman in 2016.
Yes let's start a guy at LT that has never started there before so we can start another rookie. I get Rashod Hill isn't amazing but I probably feel better about him at LT than when a couple guys were playing guard last year.
The OL is a very young unit with Hill and Bradbury being the only guys over 25 years old.
I am not a fan of Udoh at LT for the reason you said. He has never played there, but I could see him at RT with O'Neill making the switch to LT like the plan was last season if Reiff wouldn't have taken a pay cut. People seem to be pretty excited about Wyatt Davis and PA was pushing for him to start over Udoh. I didn't pay attention, but it sounds like he was wiping people out. Hill is a tackle version of Dozier in my eyes. Good for a backup, but will get exposed as a starter. I say play your best 5. I think we have not seen bigger moves because the team is betting Darrisaw plays this year. Darrisaw not going on IR was a good sign, but honestly, I can't see him playing before then anyway. Does being on IR impact the ability to practice with team? Moving forward there will not be a lot of live reps in practice due to games so he has a tough road ahead of him this season to physically get used to the league.
bleedspeed177 wrote:The OL is a very young unit with Hill and Bradbury being the only guys over 25 years old.
I am not a fan of Udoh at LT for the reason you said. He has never played there, but I could see him at RT with O'Neill making the switch to LT like the plan was last season if Reiff wouldn't have taken a pay cut. People seem to be pretty excited about Wyatt Davis and PA was pushing for him to start over Udoh. I didn't pay attention, but it sounds like he was wiping people out. Hill is a tackle version of Dozier in my eyes. Good for a backup, but will get exposed as a starter. I say play your best 5. I think we have not seen bigger moves because the team is betting Darrisaw plays this year. Darrisaw not going on IR was a good sign, but honestly, I can't see him playing before then anyway. Does being on IR impact the ability to practice with team? Moving forward there will not be a lot of live reps in practice due to games so he has a tough road ahead of him this season to physically get used to the league.
From what I remember reading that Davis has looked good in the run game but less good in the pass game. It's a 17 game season and if this team comes together I want the 5 best guys oline ready to go later in the season not for a couple games before having to shuffle everyone around when Darrisaw begins playing. This is why Hill is on the roster he is a solid depth player not every team is able to play their best guys every week. Again IF...the Vikings have solidified their interior oline that's gonna be big. We have seen plenty of times the past couple years Cousins has had no chance with rushes up the middle.
He ranked first among all offensive linemen in run block win rate at 80.5% last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information and NFL Next Gen Stats. O'Neill was 26th among tackles in pass block win rate.
He ranked first among all offensive linemen in run block win rate at 80.5% last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information and NFL Next Gen Stats. O'Neill was 26th among tackles in pass block win rate.
Glad the deal is done it is expensive but that's the market value and to be honest in a couple years of the cap keeps rising the market for tackles will probably be 20-25 million.
