Minnesota Vikings: Scouting offensive line remains weakness for Rick Spielman

Scouting offensive linemen remains the biggest weakness for Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman.

Throughout the tenure of general manager Rick Spielman, the Minnesota Vikings have never had an elite offensive line unit. For all the credit Spielman gets for building the roster in other ways, whether it be through the draft or free agency, scouting offensive linemen just hasn’t been his forte.

It’s not like he hasn’t tried patching the holes left by the departed, either. Spielman has overseen 12 drafts since arriving in Minnesota in 2006. His track record for drafting offensive linemen hasn’t been pretty.

Notable draft picks he’s spent on the O-line include a 2008 sixth-rounder on John Sullivan, 2009 second-rounder on Phil Loadholt, 2012 first-rounder on Matt Kalil, 2015 fourth-rounder on T.J. Clemmings, 2016 fourth-rounder on Willie Beavers, 2017 third-rounder on Pat Elflein, and 2018 second-rounder on Brian O’Neill.

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Among those picks, Sullivan and Loadholt were viable starters for six seasons each, but were never spectacular. Elflein showed promise in his rookie season but regressed heavily in 2018. O’Neill had an up-and-down rookie season, but looks to be the right tackle of the future.

As for the rest, many have been misses by Spielman. Kalil made the Pro Bowl in his rookie season, but regressed and flared out of Minnesota in 2016. He remains the only offensive linemen drafted by Spielman to be named to a Pro Bowl berth.

Spielman has made strides drafting other prominent positions, though, most notably on the defensive side of the ball. Harrison Smith, Danielle Hunter, Xavier Rhodes, Eric Kendricks, Everson Griffen, Trae Waynes and Anthony Barr have all been a part of a core group of players on defense in recent years.

That leaves plenty of room for the Vikings to sign offensive linemen in free agency, right? Not so much.

The Vikings have struggled finding free agent linemen, as well, and it’s coming back to bite them. Minnesota gave current left tackle Riley Reiff a five-year, $59 million deal in 2017. Originally a right tackle, Reiff hasn’t performed up to expectations on the left side.

The Vikings also gave current right guard Mike Remmers a five-year, $30 million deal in 2017.  Remmers was originally signed as a right tackle and performed admirably at the position last season. Due to other injuries, however, he was forced to kick inside to guard. It’s not unlikely the Vikings move on from him this offseason.

Finally, Minnesota tried patching together the left guard spot in Nick Easton‘s absence (neck) with Tom Compton, who was signed to a one-year deal last offseason. That experiment also ended horrifically.

In Pro Football Focus‘ final offensive line rankings for the the 2018 season, the Vikings landed at No. 29 overall. As author Mike Renner wrote:

"“Outside of left tackle Riley Reiff — who himself had some ugly outings, most notably Buffalo — the Vikings didn’t have a single offensive lineman with a top-80 grade this season.”"

Currently, the Vikings only have a projected $6.7 million in cap space for 2019, according to Spotrac, the third-lowest in the NFL. Of course, Minnesota will likely do some restructuring of the cap and release a few veterans, but as of now their free agency budget doesn’t look pretty.

The good news is the Vikings’ O-line woes can likely only go up from here. The bad news is Rick Spielman doesn’t have a great track record in evaluating offensive linemen, and it looks like he may have to rely on drafting some replacements. Minnesota fans can only hope that Kirk Cousin’s protectors improve next season.