Getty Head coach Kevin O'Connell of the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota Vikings right tackle Brian O’Neill exited the team’s Week 14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders with a left ankle sprain that could hamper him for the remainder of a crucial stretch of the season.
Injuries are mounting on the offensive line as guard Ed Ingram missed the first game of his career with a hip injury and guard Dalton Risner left the game for a few snaps. Minnesota nearly ran out of bodies on the offensive front in its 3-0 win over the Raiders, prompting Bleacher Report to urge the team to sign veteran La’el Collins with four games left in the season.
“It’d be a smart move to bring in a veteran offensive lineman who has experience playing guard and tackle just in case either of those two have to miss time,” Bleacher Report’s staff wrote on December 11.
Collins has seven years of starting experience and is an ideal, versatile player who could replace O’Neill, the team’s prized right tackle who signed a five-year, $95 million deal in 2021, if he misses extended time.
O’Neill was seen in a walking boot leaving Las Vegas, according to the Star Tribune.
La’el Collins Among NFL’s Top Free Agents
GettyLa’el Collins celebrates after a Cincinnati Bengals game.
A likely top-10 prospect coming out of the 2015 draft, Collins went undrafted due to involvement in a police investigation surrounding the murder of a 29-year-old pregnant woman, Brittany Mills.
Collins was not a suspect, but had a previous relationship with Mills, and was asked to speak with Baton Rouge police after the draft. Without police publicly exonerating him before the draft, teams were skittish to invest a first-round pick in the draft, a matter that was exacerbated by Collins’ agent, who threatened Collins would sit out the season if drafted outside the third round.
Collins overcame a rocky start to his career with ease. He claimed a starting spot at left guard his rookie year with the Dallas Cowboys before signing a two-year, $15.4 million extension to become the franchise’s perennial right tackle in 2017.
In 2018, Collins started all 16 games at right tackle, contributing to Dak Prescott throwing for over 4,000 yards and Ezekiel Elliott winning the NFL rushing crown with 1,434 yards on the ground.
Collins garnered a lucrative five-year, $50 million extension ahead of the 2019 season and was part of an offensive line that allowed a league-low 23 sacks that season. He was Pro Football Focus’ fifth highest-graded tackle that season.
Collins sat out the 2020 season with a neck injury from a car accident that ultimately derailed his time in Dallas. He started 10 of 12 games he played in 2021 but was released with the emergence of current starting right tackle Terence Steele.
Landing with the Cincinnati Bengals for the 2022 season, Collins started 15 games for the Bengals before suffering a torn ACL and MCL. He was on the team’s physically unable to perform list (PUP) during the preseason but was released in September.
Vikings RT Brian O’Neill’s Recent Struggles
GettyVikings left tackle Brian O’Neill exited a Week 14 matchup with a left ankle injury.
O’Neill’s injury comes in the wake of some recent struggles for the Pro Bowl right tackle. Before the Vikings’ bye week, O’Neill had allowed two sacks and a season-high six pressures to the Chicago Bears in Week 12.
His struggles to pass protect against Montez Sweat surfaced in Las Vegas on December 10 as well. Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby had two sacks in the first half, including a dominant rush against O’Neill where the Vikings tackle buckled after setting his anchor, resulting in his injury.
O’Neill’s two sacks allowed against the Raiders tie for his career-high of six sacks in a single season. He is also one pressure shy of tying his career-worst 31 pressures allowed.