The Minnesota Vikings had struggled on the offensive line for years before selecting two of the best tackles in the National Football League. They hit major home runs with both Brian O'Neill and Christian Darrisaw and their performance has them at the top of the NFL.
When ranking the offensive tackles in the NFL, Pro Football Focus' Zoltan Buday has both Darrisaw (4th) and O'Neill (23rd) in the top 25.
Darrisaw enjoyed an elite 2022 season in which he earned a 90.4 overall grade, which ranked second at the position. However, injuries slowed him down and forced him to miss time in 2023. As a result, his overall grade declined to 82.4, though his 85.3 pass-blocking grade was still good for third.
O’Neill was slowed down by injuries in 2023 and was not able to replicate his amazing 2022 season, but he still put together a solid campaign. He finished top-25 in both pass-blocking and run-blocking grades and was just one of 15 players at the position to earn 70.0-plus grades in both facets of the game.
The rankings also have the Vikings with the third-best offensive tackle duo with only the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles holding a better average ranking with their tackles. That's rare territory for the Vikings, as they have elite-level players at two of the most important positions in the game.
What's scary about the Vikings tackle duo is that Darrisaw hasn't come close to hitting his ceiling. The comparisons to San Francisco's Trent Williams is going to come up more and more throughout the year.
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