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Minnesota Vikings playoff hopes put immense pressure on OT duo

By Kevin Parvizi

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As was fully expected, the Minnesota Vikings placed standout right tackle Phil Loadholt on the injured reserve with a torn Achilles’, as per ESPN’s Adam Caplan, officially ending the season for one of the league’s best right tackles. With all due respect to rising Washington Redskins tight end Niles Paul, no injury so far this preseason has bigger ramifications than the one to Loadholt. Not only is he a great right tackle and a key part of the Vikings offensive line, which sorely lacks depth at offensive tackle, but he’s a key player on a young playoff contender that needed its steady veteran linemen to stay healthy.

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Loadholt’s injury robs the Vikings of a solid pass blocker for Teddy Bridgewater, and it also hurts Adrian Peterson, as Loadholt is easily one of the best run blocking tackles in the business. Thankfully for the Vikings, T.J. Clemmings, who would have started his career off as a backup guard if not for the season-ending injury to Loadholt, has the physical tools to be a mauling run blocker from the get-go.

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The issue is that Clemmings could have pass blocking concerns as a rookie, and that could form a very unfavorable combination for Bridgewater with Matt Kalil operating as his blindside protector. After dominating the competition as a rookie (which is extremely rare in his league at left tackle), Kalil has been one of the worst tackles in the league since then. Whether the issues are psychological, born by injury, or come from something else, he’s been terrible; you can’t sugar-coat a league-high 12 sacks allowed in 2014, as per Pro Football Focus.

There isn’t an offensive tackle pairing around the league that is under more pressure going into the 2015 season than the Kalil-Clemmings bookend. The pressure stems from the fact that the Vikings seem loaded at the skill positions on paper with Bridgewater looking like a future star QB, AD back in the squad, Mike Wallace ready to rack up some more TDs, a healthy Kyle Rudolph, young speed demons Stefon Diggs and Cordarrelle Patterson, and the always-intriguing Charles Johnson and Jarius Wright.

We saw how much better Bridgewater was last season when he wasn’t faced with rapid-fire interior pressure, and he already dealt with enough offensive line injuries and ineffectiveness in his rookie season. Bridgewater’s uncanny decision-making chops, poise, and general quarterbacking skills made up for the offensive line issues as the season wore on, but if the Vikings want to reach their potential, then they had better hope the line isn’t their Achilles’ heel.

But the fact that Kalil and Clemmings are under so much pressure isn’t an indication that they will be weaknesses, because if they were truly bad players with no hope at being good, they wouldn’t be under pressure; we would assume they stink. Given that Clemmings was a touted draft prospect despite his huge draft-day fall and that Kalil was high first-round pick and stud rookie, the pressure on the Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle duo stems from their potential.

If Clemmings can play to his potential as a run blocker while avoiding being a big liability in pass pro and if Kalil can turn back the clock to his rookie season, then the Vikings could have an excellent offensive line. I mean, the interior looks solid with Brandon Fusco slotting in as an above-average starter with center John Sullivan busy being criminally underrated.

But if Clemmings struggles and shows why he fell to the 110th draft slot and Kalil continues to be arguably the worst tackle in the NFL, then the Vikings line is in serious trouble. They have no real depth at the tackle position, so they have to trust that two talented-but-unproven starters can fare out well at such a critical position.

The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears both have excellent pass rushers with names like Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers, Pernell McPhee, Jared Allen, Willie Young, and Lamarr Houston littering their rosters. You don’t want to be in a problem spot at the offensive tackle position in the NFC North, because it’s an unforgiving division that also continues Detroit Lions explosive DE Ziggy Ansah.

While the Vikings young offensive tackles could form an oft-beaten pairing that undermines the success of the rest of the team, they also have the upside to form a top-notch tandem. It’s that huge variance that puts them under so much pressure, because we just don’t know what we’re going to get from these two. Take Clemmings, for example. This is a guy who just oozes athleticism with almost every tool in the box that you could ask for, but he’s hard to trust, especially since teams didn’t trust him enough to take him in the first three rounds of the draft.

The Vikings have more than enough talent to bust the roof and leap into the playoffs, but will Kalil and Clemmings be a part of that “talent” or will they hold the “talent” back? Winning the NFC North seems like a dream given the Packers dominance, so fighting for a Wild Card spot is the more realistic option.

That won’t exactly be easy either with the St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, and New York Giants all lurking, but if the Vikings young OTs play to their potential, then their team’s potential is even more massive than the pressure these two players find themselves under right now.

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