The Minnesota Vikings made their biggest investment of the off-season in their offensive line. They acquired free agent right guard Will Fries in a 5-year, $88 million deal, free agent center Ryan Kelly in a 2-year, $18 million deal, and spent their first-round draft pick on top left guard prospect Donovan Jackson. Additionally, left tackle Christian Darrisaw looks increasingly likely to return as the starter to begin the season, and Brian O’Neill returns as right tackle.
So what kind of return might the Vikings expect from their investment?
Comparing Blown Block Rates
One way to assess the performance of offensive linemen is to look at their Blown Block rate. This stat is compiled by Sports Info Solutions (SIS) and is defined as, “any time a blocker does not successfully block the defender they attempted to engage with and, as a result, gives the defender an opportunity to negatively affect the play.” That’s a pretty simple definition. Did he complete his blocking assignment or not? Sometimes a blown block leads to a sack or a stuffed run. Sometimes it could result in a missed tackle or a pressure. And sometimes none of those. But in every case a blown block means the offensive lineman failed his blocking assignment- and often that leads to an unsuceessful play. It’s also important to note that on some plays an offensive lineman does not engage in a block and those plays don’t count.
Looking at the Vikings’ offensive linemen last season, here is how they fared in Blown Block and Penalty rate:
Player(s) |
BB % |
Run BB% |
Pass BB% |
Penalty % |
Run BB# |
Pass BB # |
Penalty # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darrisaw/Q/Robinson (LT) | 4.1 | 2.2 | 5.3 | 1.3 | 9 | 34 | 14 |
| Blake Brandel (LG) | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 10 | 20 | 11 |
| Garrett Bradbury (C) | 4.2 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 0.4 | 19 | 24 | 4 |
| Ingram/Risner (RG) | 3.2 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 0.2 | 8 | 25 | 2 |
| Brian O’Neill (RT) | 1.9 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.5 | 5 | 14 | 5 |
| Average Rate / Totals | 3.3 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 0.7 | 51 | 117 | 36 |
Source: SIS
I”ve compiled the data by position and where more than one player played the position last season, I’ve combined their stats together to create a total for each offensive line position.
To give you some relative background, Garrett Bradbury had the most blown blocks in the league (43) among all interior linemen. The Ingram/Risner combo at right guard had 33 blown blocks, which would’ve been tied for third-worst if they were a single lineman. Blake Brandel, with 30, ranked 9th worst. So, if you have the worst, 3rd worst, and 9th worst interior linemen, pretty good chance your at or near the bottom of the league in interior offensive line blown blocks.
The Darrisaw/Quessenberry/Robinson combo at left tackle also had 43 blown blocks- and 14 penalties- while Brian O’Neill had just 19- really the only good position on the Vikings’ offensive line on a season-long basis in terms of blown blocks.
Now let’s take a look at this season’s starting offensive line and how they fared last season in blown block and penalty rates.
Player |
BB % |
Run BB % |
Pass BB % |
Penalty % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Darrisaw (LT) | 2.8 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 1.1 |
| Donovan Jackson (FBS) (LG) | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.1 |
| Ryan Kelly (C) | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| Will Fries (RG) | 1.6 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 0.4 |
| Brian O’Neill (RT) | 1.9 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.5 |
| Average Rate | 2.0 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.5 |
Source: SIS
Looking at the new slate of starting offensive linemen this season, suddenly Darrisaw looks like a bum in comparison. But if Darrisaw proves to be the weakest link this season, that’ll be a champagne problem for the Vikings, to use Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s words.
Overall, using the average blown block rate above, that would mean a reduction of 65 blown blocks from last season, or nearly four per game. That may not sound like a lot, but having four more successful plays a game can make a huge difference – maybe one more scoring drive per game, for example. It would also result in about ten fewer penalties- some of which can be drive killers.
In calculating the Average Rate for this season’s starting offensive line, I doubled Donovan Jackson’s rates at Ohio State last season to allow some adjustment from FBS to the NFL.
Donovan Jackson
It’s worth noting that by SIS’s player point rating system, Donovan Jackson was the highest rated FBS offensive lineman in the 2025 NFL Draft, not just among guards. Among all FBS offensive linemen, Jackson ranked 2nd in run blocking points and 13th in pass blocking points last season. And that was a season where Jackson had nine starts at left tackle, which he hadn’t played before, including a matchup against top draft pick Abdul Carter in his first start. Jackson will play left guard for the Vikings, his natural position where he’s had nearly 2,000 snaps at Ohio State. The Buckeyes also ran primarily a zone blocking scheme just like the Vikings, so between retaining the same position and having a similar run blocking scheme, there is continuity for Jackson that should make his transition a bit easier.
Jackson also appears to be holding his own against NFL veteran defensive linemen as he learns the offensive scheme and adjusts to NFL-level competition in training camp. He’s earned praise from Kevin O’Connell recently for being able to stick with a block even when he may have been beat initially or surprised by a move he hadn’t seen before. He then is able to learn from that rep so the next time it happens he is no longer surprised or beat by it.
I have seen some clips of Jackson getting beat by Javon Hargrave in a one-on-one drill and once in 11-on-11s, but he’s not the only one Hargrave has beat to be sure. In fact, there probably aren’t many interior linemen in the league Hargrave has faced and hasn’t beaten over the years. But overall, Jackson appears to be settling in well and seems to holding up well and improving over the course of training camp. He also appears to be a noticeable improvement over Blake Brandel from the get-go.
Will Fries
Fries has started for three seasons in Indianapolis (he played just 22 snaps his rookie year) and has gone from a 2.9% blown block rate in 2022, to a 2.4% rate in 2023, to a 1.6% rate in 2024 in the five games before he was injured. It’s that progression that the Vikings bought into when the signed Fries in free agency this offseason. It’s interesting that Fries (and Kelly) achieved that low blown block rate last season playing against the Bears, Packers, Steelers, Jaguars, and Texans. The NFC North experience is noteworthy. Often when an interior offensive lineman is able to crack the 2.0% blown block rate in his rookie contract, he is able to sustain that rate in later years. There are exceptions, and sometimes a player dealing with a nagging injury can have reduced performance in a given season, but Fries’ progression is encouraging.
Ryan Kelly
Kelly is another interior lineman who was able to get under the 2.0% blown block rate early in his career and has maintained it now for the last five seasons. The main issue with Kelly at this point in his career is his durability. He’s missed games in most of his NFL seasons and it would seem to be unlikely he’ll be healthy for 17+ games this season as well. We’ll see. Hopefully his absences, if there are any, will be limited.
Christian Darrisaw
Given that Darrisaw is participating in team drills at this point in training camp, I would be surprised if he was not starting week one. Darrisaw is not performing as well in the blown block metric as Brian O’Neill at the same time in his career, but still on par with Penei Sewell last season in terms of blown block rate and is considered a top left tackle in the league.
Brian O’Neill
O’Neill remains a model of consistency at right tackle. He had a bit of an off year in 2023 with a 3.2% blown block rate, but otherwise has hovered around the 2.0% rate since his sophomore season. Age doesn’t appear to be an issue yet for O’Neill, who turns 30 in September. But like all offensive linemen, he deals with minor injuries most of the season and so hopefully his body will continue to hold up well enough to play through and recover from them without missing time or suffering reduced performance.
Comparing the Vikings’ Offensive Line to the Best of Last Season
The Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions were generally considered to be the two best offensive lines last season. Here’s what their starting lines fared last season in terms of blown block rates:
Philadelphia Eagles 2024 Offensive Line
Player |
BB % |
Run BB % |
Pass BB % |
Penalty % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Mailata (LT) | 2.0 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.8 |
| Landon Dickerson (LG) | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 0.9 |
| Cam Jurgens (C) | 3.0 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 0.4 |
| Mekhi Beckton (RG) | 2.5 | 1.4 | 3.5 | 0.6 |
| Lane Johnson (RT) | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 0.9 |
| Average Rate | 2.06 | 1.64 | 2.42 | 0.72 |
Source: SIS
Detroit Lions 2024 Offensive Line
Player |
BB % |
Run BB % |
Pass BB % |
Penalty % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Decker (LT) | 3.4 | 1.3 | 5.1 | 0.2 |
| Graham Glascow (LG) | 2.9 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 0.7 |
| Frank Ragnow (C) | 2.2 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
| Kevin Zeitler (RG) | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| Penei Sewell (RT) | 2.8 | 1.2 | 4.2 | 0.5 |
| Average Rate | 2.48 | 1.82 | 3.04 | 0.42 |
Source: SIS
As you can see from comparing the Vikings’ offensive line from a season ago, and adjusting (doubling) Donovan Jackson’s blown block rate to account for his move from FBS to the NFL, the Vikings perform slightly better than the Eagles last season and significantly better than the Lions.
All that is very encouraging for the Vikings’ offensive line this season, their offensive performance, and that of new starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Depth Remains a Concern
As the Vikings move through training camp, the second team offensive line from left to right looks like Justin Skule, Blake Brandel, Michael Jurgens, Henry Byrd, and Walter Rouse. There are a couple others that have mixed in but the upshot at this point is that none of them have looked particularly good when going against the first team defense. There are some good reps to be sure, but also plenty of lowlights. Brandel and Skule are the only ones with NFL game experience and perhaps the biggest concern right now may be at center. Michael Jurgens hasn’t looked particularly good in his second training camp and with Ryan Kelly’s durability perhaps more of a concern than the others, there may be a need for the Vikings to acquire a veteran to upgrade that backup spot.
At guard Brandel is experienced and serviceable at both guard spots and while Skule has provided some training camp highlight clips for Jonathan Greenard, he did perform well last season in six games and change filling in at tackle in Tampa Bay.
Bottom Line
The Vikings have assembled a starting offensive line that has the track record to be amongst the very best in the league this season, if they can stay healthy. Brian O’Neill and Christian Darrisaw are well established solid performers and among the best tackle duos in the league. And the new interior linemen are all looking good so far in training camp, particularly Will Fries and Donovan Jackson.
Let’s hope they can stay healthy all season.
Follow me on X/Bluesky @wludford
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