Daily Norseman
The offensive line was greatly improved in the offseason, but I think another unit has a possibility of being the best in the league.
If you ask Vikings fans about which line improved the most in the 2025 offseason, the majority (of Daily Norseman readers at least) will say it was the offensive side of the ball. That view is completely warranted in my opinion. The fact that Will Fries is even on the team is a testament to the culture that the Wilf’s have built. Common wisdom contends that offensive lines take time to mesh, which could be a concern going into the 2025 season. However, our two biggest free agent acquisitions on the offense already played together for years! That will impact the learning curve tremendously. Perhaps surprisingly, the national media seemed to like the Vikings first round pick (even though it only received roughly 3 seconds of airtime on the night of the draft). I think it is a FACT that Donovan Jackson is in the best position to succeed of any guard drafted in 2025. He will be mentored on either side by two high IQ, battle-tested veterans. It is not just about just one player, but the cohesion on the offensive line. I believe the offensive line will improve considerably this season, with even more potential down the road. It doesn’t hurt that 4 of our starters will be under 30 years old when the season starts.
Considering how the 2024 season ended, there was vastly more room for improvement on the offensive line than the defensive line. This was largely due to the injury to Darrisaw. Kudos to Cam Robinson, but we saw in week 18 and the wild card round just how good number 71 really is. Much like how many licks it takes to get to the center of a certain brand of lollipops, the world may never know what a fully healthy 2024 season for Christian Darrisaw would have looked like.
Fortunately for us, the defensive line does know the answer to what it looks like to have their two biggest stars healthy for an entire season: a pair of all-pro selections for Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, respectively. There were some departures from the defensive line in 2025: journeymen Jonathan Bullard and Jerry Tillery, along with Pat Jones II (the dude with the scariest arms in the league other than Danielle Hunter). However, there is no argument that the benefits of the new additions to this unit immensely outweigh the detriment of the players lost. The Philadelphia Eagles showed this past season, and in 2017, that having a stable of maulers and stalwarts on the defensive line can be a key to winning championships.
In 2025, I believe the Vikings will boast a rotation of 7 players who have all shown tremendous ability and upside. Among the ones I would call the “maulers” are Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner. The...
