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Vikings O-Line Looks Locked In; Darrisaw Injury Update Positive Too
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- Vikings O-Line Looks Locked In; Darrisaw Injury Update Positive Too
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings will gather for mandatory minicamp this week from Tuesday through Thursday. It will be the final time the team gets together before the NFL calendar takes a short breather until late July, for the start of training camp.
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This week's practices are mandatory, which is a change from voluntary OTAs, which is all they've had to this point. While time on the field has been limited and that with pads has been zero, we've still learned a few things about this Vikings team the last few weeks.
It's been difficult to look away from the Vikings' quarterback "competition" this spring. Kyler Murray vs JJ McCarthy will continue to dominate headlines until Kevin O'Connell officially names his guy, which may or may not be coming soon. But believe it or not, there are other things happening out at TCO Performance Center.
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Credit: Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings
In fact, we got a new update on Christian Darrisaw over the weekend. The Vikings starting left tackle has been out with injury or limited in about half of Minnesota's games the past two seasons , after suffering a season-ending knee injury in 2024.
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Darrisaw wasn't ready for either of the Vikings' first two games . When he did return, the 2021 first round pick was limited in his capabilities, which made him more of a competent offensive tackle, rather than a dominant one.
Christian Darrisaw looking like old self
However, there are signs this spring that we could see that old Darrisaw back in 2026, and hopefully participating in practice on a regular basis, which was not at all the case in 2025, where Christian probably appeared in more games than he did practices.
On Thursday, Darrisaw told reporters that his knee "feels great", even adding that it's the best he's felt in two years. Head coach Kevin O'Connell seemed optimistic as well.
Darrisaw : "Best it's felt in two years. I'm trending in the right direction. Full motion, everything feels great."
O'Connell : "Christian's had a great spring. We're being smart with him, but at the same time we're making sure that he's part of this collective O-line group elevation that's happening. That group has a high standard for themselves.
Christian has a very high standard for himself. That's one of the reasons why we're so excited to have him back and feeling healthy and feeling good. Now we just need to continue to progress that way in a way that allows him to feel great starting the season."
Related: KOC Addresses JJ McCarthy's Comments on Vikings QB Room
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Last season, Christian Darrisaw played in 14 of the Minnesota Vikings' 17 games. However, his stats and PFF grades looked just like his play on the field, which wasn't like the All-Pro caliber offensive tackle he was prior to injury.
The newly-turned 27-year-old allowed just 2 sacks and 19 pressures, according to PFF . Given he played in just 504 snaps, those stats aren't that far off his career averages (2023: 6 sacks and 31 pressures allowed in 982 snaps).
However, his tape did not look as good because Darrisaw posted just a 65.6 PFF grade, built on a 69.8 run block grade and 71.3 pass block grade. Those were far and away the worst grades of his career. In 2024, before injury, Christian posted an 81.4 PFF grade (82.3 RBLK, 79.9 PBLK).
Darrisaw, MN Vikings o-line practicing with new sense of urgency
The Athletic insider Alec Lewis certainly sees a left tackle at TCO Performance Center who resembles the old Christian Darrisaw much more so than the Darrisaw Lite we got last year.
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Then again, Lewis has noticed something very different, in general, about the Minnesota Vikings' offensive line — which he says "there's no question in his mind at all whatsoever" is practicing with a different kind of intensity and sense of urgency this spring.
"Christian Darrisaw was present and he was really active, looked good, looked like he was really engaged. And I said this after the first OTAs, but there's no question in my mind like at all whatsoever that the offensive line is practicing with a sense of urgency and kind of a direction that um just is different.
Now again, as I said on the last, you know, time I talked about this, we will see whether or not that makes an impact come the fall. Um, but I would be inclined to think that physicality, you know, does translate."
Revealed: Why JJ McCarthy Left Vikings Practice in Haste
The Minnesota Vikings swapped out offensive line coaches for 2026, firing former OL coach Chris Kuper and elevating assistant Keith Carter in his place. While you don't want to glean too much from OTA practices, this little nugget from Lewis stood out to me.
Alec's been around the team for the past few seasons, so if he is noticing a different edge in the trenches, then it must be pretty significant, especially when there aren't any pads on.
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