Now that we’ve reached the OTAs portion of the off-season, teams, fans, and the media are ramping up for the 2024 season and all the chaos that will bring. For the teams, that means installing new offenses, getting the rookies integrated into the league, and getting free agents accustomed to new teammates, systems, and surroundings.
On the media side, it means getting their audience — the fans — ready for the new season with recaps of last year and projections for the year to come. The team over at PFF has been busy getting ready for 2024, dropping their position-by-position rankings for the new year. Today, they hit us with their look at the top 32 offensive tackles for 2024, and the Minnesota Vikings are well-represented.
Coming in at number four on the PFF top 32 is Vikings starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw. Darrisaw has been one of the best left tackles in the league for a few years now, and last season was no exception.
Even in a season that was hampered by injury, Darrisaw could still post an overall grade of 82.4. That’s down significantly from his 2022 grade of 90.4 — which was good for second — but it’s still good enough for one of the best in the league. Darrisaw also put up an 85.3 pass-blocking grade, which was good for third overall at the position.
On the opposite side of Darrisaw is Vikings starting right tackle Brian O’Neill, who comes in at number 23 on the PFF top 32. Like Darrisaw, O’Neill was hampered by injuries in 2023, but to an even greater extent. However, even with the injuries O’Neill was able to notch a grade of 70.0+ in both pass-blocking and run-blocking, one of only 15 players to do so.
The Vikings offensive line was much-maligned over the 2023 season, but the data shows that they have some of the best tackles in the league. A fact that’s going to help in the development of their hopeful future franchise quarterback, J.J. McCarthy.