Vikings OL

StickierBuns wrote:
Would love to see Jurgens develop into a player. He's got decent size for a center.

Sean Borman
@SeanBormanNFL
·
1h
#Vikings RT Brian O’Neill said he sees similarities in rookie LG Donovan Jackson and LT Christian Darrisaw:

“He’s got tremendous, tremendous lower body strength and power. His ability to bend and sit down on rushes I would say is similar to in a way that they can bend their hips in ways that most guys can’t, and they’re super flexible with a balanced, strong base. I think that’s something you can’t really teach.”
 via @KFAN1003

The amount of pure power and strength that Minnesota added with Fries and Jackson is going to show out. I absolutely loved they grabbed Donovan Jackson as I thought an OG was the right call there. His teammate at Ohio State went a bunch higher as I loved him as well.

Ryan Kelly is unlikely to play all 17 games. It's critical for Jurgens or another OL (maybe Joe Huber) to step in & play effectively.

Knucklehead wrote:

Ryan Kelly is unlikely to play all 17 games. It's critical for Jurgens or another OL (maybe Joe Huber) to step in & play effectively.

I worry about Jurgens lack of experience. I'm told Kelly is already dealing with an elbow injury and his absence could be a huge blow to this offense and JJ.

Nice read and cut back by Mason on the run.

StickierBuns wrote:

Why wouldn't Ryan Kelly play all 17 games? He just turned 32 years old a few months ago, I don't see the problem? I don't think Minnesota would have any interest in signing a FA center that they thought might not play all season long. Not only is Kelly going to play all season long, he's going to turn out to be a major factor in McCarthy's success. JJM called him already 'one of the my all-time favorite teammates' he's ever met. Plus he's a dawg. 100% zero bullshit guy. If there ever was an offensive captain, its Ryan Kelly. And he's just got a sore elbow and they are keeping him out from precaution, KOC said it was 'absolutely nothing'. Its August 5th.

As I mentioned a few days ago: every single acquisition KOC and KAM made was like 100% strategized, and not just from a football perspective. 2 Irish kids, don't forget that bond. An OG is recognizing in G in McCarthy.

Ryan Kelly has played one complete season out of the last five, two of the last six, three out of the nine seasons in his whole career.

medaille wrote:

Ryan Kelly has played one complete season out of the last five, two of the last six, three out of the nine seasons in his whole career.

In 9 seasons he has played in 121 out of 148 games and before last season, when he missed 7 games due to injury in the previous 5 seasons he missed 6 games total.  He does not appear to have an extreme injury history for an offensive lineman.  I would have preferred a younger center, but think he will be solid and provide great leadership.

JR44 wrote:

In 9 seasons he has played in 121 out of 148 games and before last season, when he missed 7 games due to injury in the previous 5 seasons he missed 6 games total.  He does not appear to have an extreme injury history for an offensive lineman.  I would have preferred a younger center, but think he will be solid and provide great leadership.

Players get dinged, especially centers. Bradbury was mostlly healthy last year, but he missed 3 games in 2023, 5 games in 2022 and 4 games the year before that. In 7 seasons, Frank Ragnow played a full season just once.

MaroonBells wrote:

Players get dinged, especially centers. Bradbury was mostlly healthy last year, but he missed 3 games in 2023, 5 games in 2022 and 4 games the year before that. In 7 seasons, Frank Ragnow played a full season just once.

hogjowlsjohnny wrote:
Plenty of reason to be concerned about the back up center. Is Jurgens capable of making the calls and protecting JJ ? Or should they pick up a guy with more experience?

I'm not so much worried about him making the calls. Plenty of rookies start at center. Jurgens is in his 2nd season, so he should know the offense and the line calls. I'm more worried about him having the requisite skillset to start and not hurt us. He was a 7th rounder for a reason.

MaroonBells wrote:

I'm not so much worried about him making the calls. Plenty of rookies start at center. Jurgens is in his 2nd season, so he should know the offense and the line calls. I'm more worried about him having the requisite skillset to start and not hurt us. He was a 7th rounder for a reason.

Jurgens is a 7th rounder & Huber is an UDFA. I haven't heard of any other OL taking snaps as a Center in camp.

JR44 wrote:

In 9 seasons he has played in 121 out of 148 games and before last season, when he missed 7 games due to injury in the previous 5 seasons he missed 6 games total.  He does not appear to have an extreme injury history for an offensive lineman.  I would have preferred a younger center, but think he will be solid and provide great leadership.

I don’t think he has the worst injury history or anything.  I was just replying to the comment that asked why wouldn’t he play all 17 games, when that was more rare than the norm.  If he’s out for 2 games or something, I don’t think we’ll be too concerned with our depth.  If he’s out for half a season, we’ll probably have to try and bring someone else in.  Not sure we will be SB competitive with a rookie-ish QB and garbage center.  That said, hopefully we’ll have enough quality on our OLine to weather an injury or two.

I think Donavan Jackson is gonna play way better than people are expecting from him this year, as a rookie.

Jackson and Darrisaw will be extraordinary playing next to each other.

Mattyman wrote:
I think Donavan Jackson is gonna play way better than people  are expecting from him this year, as a rookie.

Jackson and Darrisaw  will be extraordinary playing next to each other.

Me too