The Minnesota Vikings have some defined needs heading into the offseason. Free agency is going to take care of the majority of them, especially at cornerback, safety, and defensive line.
The one interesting thing about where the Vikings is how they will attack the offensive line. Head coach Kevin O'Connell made it clear after the wild ard game against the Los Angeles Rams that they needed improvement on the offensive line and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah gave a very unclear answer.
"I think having studied it, I would agree with what he said. What I would say is though, I think a lot of times everybody hears that and thinks the answer is kind of simple. And the answer can come from different ways. It can come from a different player. It could come from a player year over year improving. It could come from how we do things from a pass protection standpoint. Those two games revealed some issues in there that were tougher to overcome. How do you overcome them? And that's what's beautiful about football. It's this complex sport. If you want to run the football, there's a lot of ways to do it. You could maybe get better at receiver and make them play you a certain way. We’ll approach this off-season trying to fix the team with that creativity, that mindset in place. We'll collaborate with Kevin, but yeah, we want to be in a place where we're still playing football. And to win these last games, any potential places where teams can attack, you've got to be ready for, not just from your starting lineup, but from your two deep. And so we want to set ourselves up to be in that position and going from there."
Vikings take interior offensive linemen in latest mock draft
With how unsure we are about how the Vikings will approach the offensive line, the idea of taking one in the first round has credence. Our own Ryan Roberts at A to Z Sports has the Vikings taking Alabama guard Tyler Booker in his latest mock draft.
Minnesota needs to get better inside offensively. Booker is an imposing presence from his offensive guard position, and plays with some bad intentions. He could help the Vikings run game immediately.
Booker is a monster of a guard on the interior. He's a large, powerful beast on the inside. With powerful hands and a solid anchor, Booker is nearly impossible to move on the inside.
Booker's lack of quickness and spotty footwork are interesting. He doesn't move very well in space, which could be an issue for the Vikings in the run game, as they love to use outside zone concepts.
Would Booker be a fit? That's a tough sell, especially with how they like to use the run game.
