In the offseason, the Minnesota Vikings finally took action to improve the leaky offensive line that had haunted purple passers (and fans) for a decade. A couple of expensive free agents were paired with a first-round rookie to fix the interior, while Brian O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw continue to protect the edges.
Vikings Must Pull the Plug on 1 Experiment
Unfortunately, injuries have sabotaged that plan, and the offensive line has once again been a problem. Four of the planned five starters competed in Sunday’s loss against the Philadelphia Eagles. Ryan Kelly, the club’s center, is on IR after suffering his second concussion of the season and the fifth (documented) concussion of his career. His future in the NFL is in serious jeopardy.
Either way, in the next-man-up league, the Vikings had to turn to backup Michael Jurgens. Unfortunately, a calf problem led to him missing the second leg of the European trip, and guard/tackle Blake Brandel had to make his center debut against the strong front of the Cleveland Browns.
He did a decent job in that game, as did the entire patchwork line. After the bye week, Jurgens was ready to return, but the coaches opted to stick with Brandel against Philadelphia and star defenders Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis.
That decision backfired. Brandel was credited with six QB pressures. The other four starters combined for seven, explaining why Carson Wentz was under pressure in a good portion of his dropbacks.
Furthermore, Brandel botched a snap in the red zone that cost the Vikings a chance at a touchdown and led to Will Reichard having to kick a 59-yarder. He was also the culprit of a (questionable) holding call that negated a touchdown to Jalen Nailor, costing the squad another four points.
Last week, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips talked to the media and praised his versatile blocker, “The way Blake handled this game, I think we might be looking at a situation where this could be his best position of all five across the line. And getting Jurgens back into practice is just a plus for us. And we’ll see where all those guys are at throughout the week as we assess.”
It might be Brandel’s best position, and perhaps he deserves some grace because his opponents were pretty darn good on Sunday. Too, it’s important to note how valuable Brandel’s versatility is — he has already played tackle, guard, and center for the Vikings this year alone — but it’s also just fair to point out that a more experienced snapper could’ve prevented some issues.
Jurgens was the backup plan for Kelly all along, and the Vikings certainly knew they needed a decent backup for a player with Kelly’s injury history. The sophomore was available against Philly; he even played two snaps when Brandel had a brief stint on the sidelines with a helmet malfunction.
Last year’s seventh-round pick has played 128 offensive snaps thus far, and those didn’t go flawlessly either. Still, it’s time to reconsider the center position ahead of Thursday’s game. Brandel hasn’t done enough to change the Week 1 depth chart. It should still be Jurgens’ backup spot.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
