The Vikings recently re-signed left guard Dalton Risner to a one-year deal which sent some excitement to Minnesota fans. It would appear that the Vikings would trot out the same offensive line in Week 1 that fans got used to seeing last season.
But not so fast — maybe.
According to Andrew Krammer with the Star Tribune, he was told even after re-signing Risner, the plan is to start Blake Brandel at LG this season. After the signing of Risner, Brandel wasn’t around, but it appears that was due to some personal reasons.
“And then they bring Risner back, and then Brandel’s not here today,” said Krammer on his podcast. “And you start wondering, okay, did Brandel go down, what happened? But it turns out, I was told [Brandel] wasn’t here for personal reasons and that they actually still expect him to be the starter, despite Dalton Risner coming back.”
This does sound shocking. Risner started for Minnesota from Week 7 on and has been around the league since 2019. He has been a starter everywhere he’s been since entering the league and has been above average — at least — playing left guard. It would be a little strange if the Vikings started an unproven player like Brandel to start the season.