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So what do we do with Riley Reiff? There's been a lot of talk about restructuring him and moving him inside to guard. Sure would be nice to upgrade two positions by drafting a left tackle. Reiff certainly wouldn't be the first tackle to kick inside, but I have to wonder how open to that he would be, not to mention the pay cut, considering he's still pretty young (31) and he probably just had the best year of his career.
I tend to think the Vikings will approach him about it, he'll refuse and they'll release him, requiring us to upgrade both positions on the left side. But we'll have more money ($8.8M) to do it. That will get you a good left guard, even a Joe Thuney, but probably not a very good left tackle, leaving you with a glaring hole going into the draft. Something teams never like to do because it makes them very predictable.
This offseason promises to be the most drama-filled we've seen in a decade. Cool Breeze definitely gonna earn his paycheck this year.
it would be interesting to see if Kirk is more adaptive to frontside pressure cause we all know he curls up when touched from the blindside. Moving Oneill to LT and rolling with Hill or Udoh/draft pick may be a way for us to sign an impact G if they can be at all serviceable.
I saw somewhere that Elflein was the 12th ranked run blocking G, maybe one more year of growth gets him to average in pass pro? one can dream
Quote: @Bullazin said:
it would be interesting to see if Kirk is more adaptive to frontside pressure cause we all know he curls up when touched from the blindside. Moving Oneill to LT and rolling with Hill or Udoh/draft pick may be a way for us to sign an impact G if they can be at all serviceable.
I saw somewhere that Elflein was the 12th ranked run blocking G, maybe one more year of growth gets him to average in pass pro? one can dream
They all did fairly well run blocking. That is what makes the ZBS special. But Elflein has been such a liability all year. And unlike Bradbury, he didn't show improvement over the course of the season. He'll be good to have as depth, but he shouldn't be starting if we value the health of our QB.
A lot of teams aren't afraid of rolling with guys like Hill or Udoh. Vikings are not typically one of those teams. Zimmer seems to be very measured and cautious with young players, favoring experienced guys like Elflein over trying Samia or Dozier. Rhodes over Hughes. Mannion over Sloter. Sendejo over Kearse. Remember, O'Neill wasn't starting until Rashod Hill got hurt.
for whatever reason Hill seems to look ok when he plays LT
Hill looks god in short bursts when he fills in, but tends to get exposed and have mental lapses when he plays for extended time or a whole game, based on my observations.
Quote: @Magnus10 said:
Hill looks god in short bursts when he fills in, but tends to get exposed and have mental lapses when he plays for extended time or a whole game, based on my observations.
Keith is right. Hill has played a lot better on the left than the right.
Keep Hill as a back-up. I can't imagine that he'll ever get an offer to be a starter... but he has value as a back-up. Move O'Neill... and signing a RT will be cheaper than trying to sign a LT. Plus, it's easier to play RT in the NFL (if we want to draft an OT). But we STILL need to fix our LG position.
Is anyone wishing we had drafted OL differently last spring? I liked Bradbury but TBH, as I was listening to the draft, when Andre Dillard was still on the board I thought we would take him. My primary reasoning was essentially, "LT is the hardest position to fill on the line and if you can get a good one you take him." Dillard sat for his rookie season so maybe he was a disappointment, but can't help wish we had a young prospect to step in for Reiff. Would Elflein have played as badly at C as he did at LG? How much better was Bradbury at C than Elf? I know the idea was that the Bradbury pick would improve 2 positions, C and LG, but that didn't work. Now we're looking for an LT at the 25th pick and still need LG and about to discard Elflein.
I know it's all moot and hindsight now but interested in others' thoughts on the prospects involved, in 2019 and 2020.
Quote: @Jor-El said:
Is anyone wishing we had drafted OL differently last spring? I liked Bradbury but TBH, as I was listening to the draft, when Andre Dillard was still on the board I thought we would take him. My primary reasoning was essentially, "LT is the hardest position to fill on the line and if you can get a good one you take him." Dillard sat for his rookie season so maybe he was a disappointment, but can't help wish we had a young prospect to step in for Reiff. Would Elflein have played as badly at C as he did at LG? How much better was Bradbury at C than Elf? I know the idea was that the Bradbury pick would improve 2 positions, C and LG, but that didn't work. Now we're looking for an LT at the 25th pick and still need LG and about to discard Elflein.
I know it's all moot and hindsight now but interested in others' thoughts on the prospects involved, in 2019 and 2020.
I was surprised Dillard was still there, but taking him would've been complicated. He was undersized, a developmental guy, someone who probably wouldn't be able to help us right away, especially considering that Reiff had just finished the 2nd year of a 5-year contract, and the Vikings were in peak window.
Bradbury was the prototypical zone center we could plug into Kubiak's wide zone right away and he could execute all the necessary reach blocks to make the run game go, which we saw early on. The biggest problem for Elf was that he missed so many of the line calls last year. I think that improved a lot this year with Brad making them.
I think the Vikings made the right decision. It improved our line right away and Bradbury's upside is huge (as is Dillards). I keep thinking that it might make sense to bring in an old guy for 1 year--a Peters or a Whitworth--and draft our own developmental tackle in the 2nd or 3rd round.
If the 2019 draft proved anything, they value O-line positions evenly. Some teams would never pass of an OT for an interior O-lineman. Timing also will come into play since they won't be able to get a good feel for how the draft board will fall until post-FA. That gives Reiff some leverage when it comes to a renegotiated contract. His deal also isn't conducive to a bonus restructure. The leverage MN has is the pre-FA negotiation period where they could conceivably see what else is available.
I also wouldn't put it past them to move up the board for an OT. They've done a ton of work on Iowa this past season and I imagine it was focused more on Wirf's than Epenesa.
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