DAILY CLIPS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2020 LOCAL NEWS: Friday, February 14, 2020 The Athletic State of the Vikings, OL Edition: A tricky path forward to improve on 2019 By Chad Graff and Arif Hasan https://theathletic.com/1606049/2020/02/14/state-of-the-vikings-ol-edition-brian-oneill-riley-reiff-garrett-bradbury-pat- elflein-josh-kline/ For Vikings’ Andre Patterson, a long wait for his NFL dream is finally over By Chad Graff https://theathletic.com/1601183/2020/02/13/andre-patterson-vikings-defensive-coordinator-mike-zimmer-nfl-dream/ NATIONAL NEWS: Friday, February 14, 2020 ESPN Vikings eyeing 'collaborative effort' to take defense to the next level By Courtney Cronin https://www.espn.com/blog/minnesota-vikings/post/_/id/29517/vikings-eyeing-collaborative-effort-to-take-defense-to- the-next-level NFL.com NFC cut candidates: David Johnson, Everson Griffen to market? By Gregg Rosenthal http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001102003/article/nfc-cut-candidates-david-johnson-everson-griffen-to- market USA Today St. John's-St. Thomas game gets moved to Vikings stadium By the AP https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2020/02/12/st-johns-st-thomas-game-gets-moved-to-vikings- stadium/41221335/ MULTIMEDIA NEWS: Friday, February 14, 2020 Vikings All-Decade Team: Tight End By Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/video/vikings-all-decade-team-tight-end Pick 6 Mailbag Featuring PA: Capers' Role on Defense, Rookie Poised To Breakout in 2020, Potential Trade On The Horizon? By Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/video/pick-6-mailbag-featuring-pa-capers-role-on-defense-rookie-poised-to-breakout-in- Total Access: Players That Teams Can't Let Get To Free Agency By NFL Network https://www.vikings.com/video/total-access-players-that-teams-can-t-let-get-to-free-agency VIKINGS ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK: Friday, February 14, 2020 Intensity of Vikings Secondary Impresses New Coach Daronte Jones By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/intensity-of-vikings-secondary-impresses-new-coach-daronte-jones Panel & Fans Vote on Vikings Best TEs from 2010-19 By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/minnesota-vikings-all-decade-tight-ends-from-2010-19 PUBLICATION: The Athletic DATE: 2/14/20 State of the Vikings, OL Edition: A tricky path forward to improve on 2019 By Chad Graff and Arif Hasan Editor’s note: Even if the NFL’s new league year doesn’t begin until March, focus moves to the 2020 season with the start of the scouting combine later this month. With that in mind, Vikings writers Chad Graff and Arif Hasan are teaming for a seven-part series leading to the combine that looks at every aspect of the roster. Today: Offensive line. Coming Monday: Defensive line. Previously: QB | RB | WR/TE Offensive line Season in review It’s easy to be scarred by the nightmare performance against the 49ers in the playoffs, but the group actually took a sizable step forward in 2019. No, the Vikings’ offensive line is not one that is going to be confused for one of the best units in the league any time soon. But they’re decidedly average — and for the Vikings in recent years, that’s pretty darn good. While that’s grading on a scale, they did have at least one elite performance. Brian O’Neill has been even better than the Vikings envisioned when they drafted him in the second round in 2018. He was supposed to be a developmental project. Instead, he was easily the team’s best lineman in his second season and a promising piece to build around. There haven’t been many reasons for optimism for the Vikings on the offensive line this decade, but O’Neill is one. Opposite him at left tackle, Riley Reiff was fine. He didn’t play up to what his five-year, $58 million contract would suggest, but he wasn’t terrible either. Sure, that can be frustrating. But that’s what is to be expected from Reiff, 31, at this point in his career. Riley Reiff Riley Reiff carries a big salary, but he had a fine season. Cutting him and hunting for a better option on the free- agent market may not be worth the risk. (Brace Hemmelgarn / USA Today) At guard, the Vikings got two very different results. Let’s start with the positives. Josh Kline turned out to be a very worthwhile addition at right guard. Is he flashy? No. But with a reasonable three-year, $15.8 million contract, Kline proved effective and was a wise addition from the team’s front office. On the other end of the spectrum was left guard Pat Elflein. He entered the season with hopes that a healthy offseason might return his play to the rookie levels that inspired optimism. Instead, the struggles continued — if not worsened. At this point, it’s hard to imagine Elflein returning as the team’s starting left guard. Perhaps the biggest disappointment, though, was center Garrett Bradbury. With Elflein, there was at least a sense that he’d struggle after a disappointing second season. With Bradbury, though, expectations were high for the first- round pick who was the first center selected in the draft. But Bradbury struggled, especially early in the season. There’s still plenty of time for him to improve and blossom into the center the Vikings initially envisioned, but it wasn’t a rookie year that inspired too much confidence. — CG Biggest question Does one new starter really improve things that much? It’s hard to see how this offensive line undergoes a major change next season beyond just replacing Elflein. That’s because there’s little cap space and it may not be prudent to cut Reiff simply to try to find a replacement without a big contract to offer. It’s hard to ask for much more from O’Neill. And if Reiff and Kline continue to play as steady veterans, then the answer to this question comes down to Bradbury and the left guard. So can those two spots improve enough to make this offensive line an above-average group? If they can, Kirk Cousins has shown he can be a very good quarterback when he’s not under pressure and Dalvin Cook can take advantage of the holes. The offensive line was probably the weakest unit on that side of the ball, but if they can take even a marginal step forward — which seems plenty possible — then they can help the offense get better. It stands to reason that Bradbury will improve, simply because players graded as high as he was typically don’t struggle that much their first two years. But can the Vikings find a left guard — either a veteran in the mold of Kline or via one of their top two draft picks that helps solidify the position? That could make all the difference. — CG Offseason plan In a world where they have all kinds of cap space, it would be a coup to target a player like Brandon Scherff or Joe Thuney, both of whom are great system fits and also happen to be the top guards on the market. That’s fairly pie-in- the-sky — even a lower-priced free agent like Connor McGovern, who would also be an ideal system fit, would be a longshot. Garrett Bradbury Much of the line’s progress in 2020 will hinge on Garrett Bradbury’s development after a tough rookie season. (Brace Hemmelgarn / USA Today) Instead, if they go after a guard in free agency — and I’m not entirely sure they will — they’ll have to find another Kline. That’s pretty difficult — if teams knew Kline was going to be as good as he was, his salary would have been higher and he might not have been cut by the Titans in the first place. Instead, any free agent will have to involve bargain-hunting. They could go after a pair of former Colts draft picks in the athletic Austin Blythe or Minnesota native Joe Haeg, both of whom have played full seasons as starters but primarily profiled as backups. They shouldn’t necessarily be too expensive and they can move well enough for the scheme demands. But honestly, the best move might be to rely on the draft. The Vikings could very well draft a cornerback in the first round or a falling defensive tackle, but it certainly seems like an offensive tackle is probable there. In that case, they would likely push Reiff to the inside to take Elflein’s place. We’ve talked about the tackle depth in this draft class before, but suffice to say there’s ample opportunity in the first round to grab a system fit that plays well. — AH 2020 outlook I’ll call the 2020 outlook “subpar.” I agree with Chad that the Vikings largely ended up with an average offensive line (and so does Pro Football Focus), but I think there’s more room to stumble than improve. There’s not too much capital to work with, in either the draft or in free agency, and much of the pass protection success came from a heavy reliance on bootlegs and play-action, something the 49ers and Packers demonstrated can be neutralized and they are likely to see more of next season. When it comes to straight dropback pass protection, the weakness up the middle is a problem that having one good tackle won’t be enough to overcome. Should the Vikings make another excellent investment in the draft, this will change.