How the veteran center could impact the Vikings’ offense
One of the Minnesota Vikings’ first moves in free agency was the acquisition of center Ryan Kelly, a nine-year veteran formerly with the Indianapolis Colts. The deal is a 2-year contract for $18 million ($9 million AAV), with $9.25 million guaranteed. That gives him the 7th highest AAV contract among centers in the league. His previous contract made him the highest paid center in the league.
The move was a bit of a surprise, given first-round pick Garrett Bradbury on the roster, but Bradbury has continually struggled as a pass protector since he was drafted and last season led the league in pressures allowed among starting centers.
The Vikings’ interior offensive line has been the weak spot of their offense for many years now and now that they don’t have a big financial commitment at quarterback, they’re able to direct some of that salary cap savings toward bolstering the offensive line. That started with acquiring center Ryan Kelly.
Ryan Kelly’s Background
Kelly played his college football at Alabama, where his success rate (snaps when he successfully completed his assignment) was over 99% in both his junior and senior years. He was named first-team All-SEC his senior year (2015), won the Rimington trophy for best center, was a consensus All-American, and won the CFP National Championship with Alabama that year as well.
Kelly was drafted 18th overall in 2016 with a 9.54 RAS by the Indianapolis Colts. Over his nine seasons with the Colts:
- He was named to the Pro Bowl four times (2019-21, 2023)
- Received second-team All-Pro in 2020
- Named team captain in 2023 and 2024
- Coming off his rookie contract in 2020, his new veteran contract made him the highest paid center in the league at the time.
- Achieved a career 98.2 PFF pass blocking efficiency grade, tied for 7th best among active centers with Frank Ragnow.
- Has never allowed more than 19 quarterback pressures in a season.
- Only one season when he allowed more than 2 sacks.
- In 2024, he had the 4th highest PFF Pass Protection Win Rate among centers, winning 147 of 152 (96.6%) pass blocking snaps, not including RPOs, screens, and spikes.
- Has been middle-of-the-pack and more varied as a run blocker, both year-to-year and between gap and zone scheme PFF grades but has graded similarly in both schemes over his career. Last season he graded better on gap scheme runs. In terms of run blocking PFF grade, Kelly has generally ranged from the mid 60s to mid 70s, which is average to above average.
Injury History
Kelly, who turns 32 at the end of May, has missed 24 games over his nine-season pro career due to injury.
- In 2024, he missed two games due to a neck injury and five following knee surgery.
- In 2023, he missed three games due to a concussion.
- In 2022, he played the full season.
- In 2021, he missed two games- one due to a knee injury and the other, non-injury related following the stillborn death of his baby daughter.
- In 2020, he missed one game due to a neck injury.
- In 2019, he played the full season.
- In 2018, he missed three games due to a knee injury and one due to a neck injury.
- In 2017, he missed the first four games of the season with a foot injury, then was placed on injured reserve for the last five games of the season with a concussion.
- In 2016, he played the full season.
Overall, Kelly has had reoccurring knee, neck, and concussion injuries, and has only three complete seasons in his nine with the Colts. And at age 32 when the upcoming season starts, Kelly will carry a higher risk of injury given his age.
This is the biggest risk with Kelly at this point in his career, as he’s been otherwise a consistent performer even after he turned 30. With a decent backup, the Vikings could handle Kelly missing a couple games due to injury, but another stint on IR could be more difficult to overcome without some downside to offensive performance.
What Kelly Brings to the Table for the Vikings
Comparing Kelly to the Vikings former starter at center, Garrett Bradbury, Kelly is a much better pass protector that has allowed roughly half the quarterback pressures that Bradbury has allowed. This should be the expectation for Kelly as a starter for the Vikings.
I would not expect him to be much better as a run blocker overall, although he may do better in gap scheme runs than Bradbury has in the past. Bradbury’s strong suit was his ability to zone block, and he has proven to be a better zone run blocker than Kelly. Overall, I wouldn’t expect a big difference in run blocking performance between the two.
Kelly’s other strong suit besides being one of the better pass protectors among starting centers in the league, is his ability to decipher defenses pre-snap and make the correct protection call. He has a reputation for being particularly good in that aspect of his position. That’s not to say Bradbury struggled in that area, but Kelly is likely to be at least as good in that regard.
Lastly, Kelly is a stronger leader than Bradbury. Kelly was a team captain for the Colts the past two seasons and received many accolades from his teammates for his leadership ability. Bradbury has never been named a team captain nor really mentioned much as a leader among the offensive linemen- Brian O’Neill has been the leader of that group for several years now.
Bottom Line
Kelly will be a clear upgrade to Garrett Bradbury provided he can stay healthy, particularly in pass protection. Kelly has better size and arm length than Bradbury, which helps against the bull rushes Bradbury struggled with his entire career. Kelly is also known to be good at making second-level blocks in the run game, which Bradbury occasionally did too.
But overall, the Vikings are likely to benefit from Kelly’s greater presence up front making the protection calls and his sound technique in pass protection. This will be a great benefit to young quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and make his job easier as he learns the ropes.
