The Minnesota Vikings are 8-2, which is very surprising considering the low expectations the crew had going into the season. It was supposed to be a transition year in the first season without Kirk Cousins under center, but Kevin O’Connell’s crew is, in fact, competitive and in a great position in the playoff race.
Kevin O’Connell Explains Offensive Line Change
In the club’s tenth game of the season, the coaching staff made a change on the offensive line, benching third-year player Ed Ingram for veteran guard Dalton Risner. After the game, head coach O’Connell was asked about the change.
“[We] wanted to take a look with Dalton being healthy now, seeing if we could get a little bit more of a veteran presence in there consistently,” O’Connell said. “It was a tough challenge to have Dalton’s first start on the right side be against (Jeffery) Simmons and (T’Vondre) Sweat. That’s two of the best interior guys right now playing in this league and they’re a huge part of how they are able to play all that shell coverage and really eat up combinations.”
Risner had never played at right guard in the NFL. He handled the left guard spot in his four seasons in Denver and the 2023 campaign with the Vikings.
Of course, O’Connell isn’t throwing his player under the bus at a presser, but it’s pretty obvious that the coaching staff wasn’t fully pleased with Ingram, and that’s why they made the change.
The veteran has started 74 of his 80 career games. He arrived in Minnesota ahead of the Week 3 contest last year, and after a few games as the team’s backup, he entered the starting lineup because of an injury to starting left guard Ezra Cleveland. Risner ultimately kept the job and allowed the Vikings to ship Cleveland to Jacksonville.
In the offseason, Risner hoped for a starting gig somewhere, but he was left disappointed for the second straight year and returned to Minnesota. Similarly to last season, he has a decent chance to end the year as a starting lineman.
O’Connell addressed the plan with the competition between Risner and Ingram and he left the door open for the 2022 draft pick to get another shot.
“We’ll look at the tape and see how Dalton did. I just felt his play style, I felt [that he was] totally into the game,” O’Connell expressed. “At the same time, I was proud of how Ed handled the week as well. He [knew] he’d be one snap away; he was asking great questions, and he was prepared and ready to roll. So we’ll continue to try to find that best five. It’s definitely not going to be a week-to-week thing but we are going to allow some competition to play out while the season is still seven games left and the ability to try to hunt the best five and get the most out of those guys.”
O’Connell remains non-committal, and there’s certainly a chance Ingram will get the nod at some point in the near future.
The former second-rounder out of LSU is the superior run blocker, and the Vikings had quite a disastrous game on the ground. However, Risner is a better pass protector, and this might be a question of philosophy going forward.
For now, Risner, 29, should be expected to start next week’s contest in Chicago.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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