Vikings Urged to Add Rams Veteran to Patch O-Line Problem Area

The Minnesota Vikings have a couple of big questions on the offensive line, and a veteran free agent can answer at least one of them.

Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus on June 28 pitched the idea that Minnesota sign NFL journeyman Oday Aboushi to bolster a guard position that proved a weak point for the Vikings last season.

At guard, 2020 second-round pick Ezra Cleveland is entering a contract year and 2022 second-round pick Ed Ingram earned a 44.4 pass-blocking grade as a rookie that ranked 66th out of 71 guards with at least 250 pass-blocking snaps.

Aboushi has been a reliable depth piece at either guard spot everywhere he goes, most recently with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell’s former team in the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. Aboushi has three straight seasons earning grades above 65.0, with grades of at least 60.0 as a pass blocker and run blocker each year.

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Oday Aboushi Offers Vikings Insurance at Guard Position

Aboushi will enter his 10th professional season in 2023 at the age of 32. He has made the rounds across the league, playing for seven different teams, though he has been a reliable option at every stop.

The New York Jets drafted the offensive lineman out of the University of Virginia with the No. 141 overall pick in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played one season there before joining the Houston Texans for two campaigns. Aboushi then played a year for the Seattle Seahawks, followed by a year for Arizona Cardinals. He followed that up with a two-year stint as a member of the Detroit Lions, landed with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021 and played last season with the Rams.

Aboushi has appeared in 85 regular season games over the course of his career, earning 51 starts, per Pro Football Reference. He played 15 of 17 contests for the Rams in 2022, starting four times.

While he isn’t likely to usurp either Cleveland or Ingram in their starting roles, Aboushi offers a quality backup option on both sides and can be procured at value. He signed a one-year deal worth $1.6 million with the Chargers in 2021 and initially signed on with the Rams as a practice squad player in 2022.

Spotrac projects Aboushi’s market value at $2.1 million annually over the course of a two-year contract, though the Vikings can likely add the guard at a more favorable number with only partial guarantees in the first year. As of July 5, Minnesota had north of $17.8 million in salary cap space for the upcoming season.

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Vikings Offensive Line Struggled Against Pass Rush in 2022

An Aboushi addition should prove worth the price considering how much Minnesota struggled to keep its quarterbacks clean in 2022.

The Vikings allowed 47 sacks last season, finishing 25th in the league in the category. The offensive front must be better at protecting Kirk Cousins this year, especially after the team cut bait with four-time Pro-Bowl running back Dalvin Cook in the interest of $9 million in salary cap savings.

Alexander Mattison may prove a viable a starter in place of Cook but until he does, opposing defenses should be emboldened to pin their ears back and make hard runs at Cousins, selling out against a Vikings passing game that is far more dangerous than the rushing attack, at least on paper, as the team heads into the 2023 campaign.

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