The Vikings did their best to attack the deficiencies they’ve faced on the interior offensive line for some years now.
They gave center Ryan Kelly a two-year/$18 million deal earlier in March during the “Free Agency Frenzy”. They also obtained Will Fries on a bigger deal, a five-year/$88 million agreement. After free agency, the 2025 NFL Draft came around. In the draft, the Vikings selected offensive guard Donovan Jackson out of Ohio State.
This aggressive approach was a response to the Vikings’ lackluster interior offensive line play during the Kevin O’Connell era in Minnesota.
Vikings Cast Off Multiple Interior Offensive Linemen During 2025 Offseason
GettyFormer Minnesota Vikings C Garrett Bradbury #56 prepares to snap the ball against the Seattle Seahawks.
On March 17th, 2025, the Vikings released longtime center Garrett Bradbury. ESPN’s Kevin Seifert detailed that per Adam Schefter, the team attempted to trade him before ultimately deciding to release him to the free agency pool. The Vikings in this time also decided not to give another contract to guard Dalton Risner.
The week before the banishing of Bradbury, the Vikings traded their 2022 NFL Draft second round pick offensive guard Ed Ingram for a 2026 sixth round selection.
Ed Ingram Turns The Corner In Houston
GettyEd Ingram #67, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, now with the Houston Texans.
Per a tweet from the main account of Pro Football Focus, Houston Texans guard Ed Ingram has really turned things around in his new colors. The tweet comes in a thread curated by PFF that details every position’s “breakout player” so far in 2025. Naturally for the Vikings, at offensive guard, it’s the former Minnesota draft pick.
“Ingram has allowed 1 sack across 299 pass-blocking snaps after allowing 21 over the past three years.”
Pro Football Focus on Ed Ingram and the reasoning for him to be named their “breakout player” at offensive guard.”
This is a pretty annoying turn of events for Minnesota Vikings fans, given the context. Ed Ingram was seen as dreadful by most Vikings fans, given his poor performances on the field.
It goes deeper than just that one metric detailed by PFF. Ed Ingram boasts the following PFF grades (and their rank in the league among 78 qualifying guards):
- 73.9 overall grade (8th)
- 65.8 pass blocking grade (23rd)
- 76.6 run blocking grade (8th)
This is a far cry from even just last season, his final season as a Minnesota Viking. Consider his 2024 ratings (with the same comparison among 77 qualifying guards):
- 54.0 overall grade (66th)
- 49.1 pass blocking grade (66th)
- 58.1 run blocking grade (54th)
Many Vikings fans don’t seem surprised, judging by the response on social media. Some blame it on coaching, and some are using it as grounds to defend Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
After all, it is quite ironic that the Vikings traded away who may arguably be the best player in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s disastrous first draft as head of the operation in 2022. It is tough to say who is most at fault, though.
This seems like a clear case of coaching failing a player, but it may also be fair to say it was just a player who needed a change of scenery to thrive.
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