Vikings Pushed to Bench Struggling Starter for Veteran Backup

Minnesota Vikings right guard Ed Ingram‘s struggles have not ceased, leading to a call for the team to make a change.

The Athletic’s Alec Lewis appraised the Vikings’ offensive struggles in their Week 5 win over the New York Jets. While they came away with a 23-17 win, Sam Darnold did not throw a touchdown for the first time this season.

In fairness, Minnesota has faced a gauntlet of vaunted pass rushers through the first five weeks of the season — but Ingram’s porous pass protection is not a new development.

Of 66 guards who have played 150 snaps this season, Ingram has allowed the second-most pressures (17), per Pro Football Focus (PFF).

Lewis urged the Vikings to consider benching Ingram for veteran Dalton Risner, who is on injured reserve but could be ready coming out of the bye.

“One potential fix may be Dalton Risner, who injured his back during training camp and was placed on injured reserve. Risner flew to London with the team but did not participate in Friday’s practice,” Lewis wrote on October 8. “The bye week could give him time to mix in at right guard.”

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The Risks of Starting Dalton Risner

Last year, Risner won the starting left guard spot as an in-season arrival, prompting the Vikings to trade Ezra Cleveland to the Jacksonville Jaguars at the trade deadline.

Minnesota invested in Blake Brandel this offseason, signing the former backup tackle to a three-year, $9.5 million extension to be their starting left guard. The move has paid dividends as Brandel has allowed just five pressures all season.

Benching Ingram for Risner seems like an obvious upgrade. Risner has never allowed more than 30 pressures in a season compared to Ingram, who has paced the league with pressures since entering the league in 2022 (122 pressures in 39 career games).

However, it’s not so simple considering Risner’s abysmal run-blocking. He has struggled in free agency the past two seasons, remaining unsigned beyond the peak signing period for a reason.

But the Vikings’ offensive woes weren’t entirely on poor pass-blocking against a rabid Jets front, but also Minnesota’s inability to run the ball with Aaron Jones out.

Jones has averaged 4.9 yards per attempt with the current starting five linemen in front of him and the Vikings may not be comfortable shaking that group up at the detriment of the running game.

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Key Stat Shows Aaron Jones Making Up for Run-Blocking

While there are concerns about Risner’s run-blocking in making a change at guard, the Vikings’ run-blocking has not been the engine of Jones’ success this season.

“Let’s begin with Aaron Jones, who is averaging 4.9 yards per carry this season, more than all but six starting NFL running backs. A more insightful data point explaining his impact might be his average yards after contact (3.55 yards), the fourth-best number in the NFL,” Lewis wrote.

“Think of it this way: Jones has generated nearly triple the amount of rushing yardage after contact than before it, making up for poor blocks and even enhancing the yardage when the rushes have been blocked correctly.”

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