Vikings Territory: Christian Darrisaw Part Of ‘Zero Snaps' Club Among 2021 1st-Rounders

Press release from Vikings Territory:

Dustin Baker Dustin Baker

2021-08-27

The Minnesota Vikings drafted Christian Darrisaw with the 23rd overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft with high hopes the Virginia Tech alumnus would start at left tackle out of the gate.

Darrisaw was an extremely limited participant in Vikings training camp and ultimately underwent a second surgery for a core injury in Philadelphia about two weeks ago. In the interim, career reservist offensive lineman Rashod Hill is slated to start for the Vikings unless Minnesota does something funky like signing Russell Okung. There is also a slight chance that Darrisaw rapidly recovers in the next 16 days. But he’d be a longshot to start in Cincinnati with such limited practice time inside the Vikings offense.

He’s not alone, though. Tallying zero snaps in the preseason is not a singularly-Darrisaw circumstance. Around the league, Kyle Pitts (TE, ATL), Alijah Vera-Tucker (G, NYJ), Kadarius Toney (WR, NYG), Rashod Bateman (WR, BAL), and Payton Turner (EDGE, NO) have all missed the preseason so far.

As for the others — Vera-Tucker, Toney, Bateman, Turner, and Darrisaw — the lack of snaps is borne of injury. Vera-Tucker, who was intensely associated with Vikings pre-draft hype, is dealing with a pectoral muscle matter but will return to practice soon. Toney’s malady is mysterious — he contracted the coronavirus, then the Giants sat him down because of an undisclosed injury. Bateman, like Darrisaw, has a core muscle problem, so he’ll be out through at least mid-September. And then Turner from the Saints is plagued by something reportedly minor.

The Vikings will need Darrisaw at some point in 2021. Hill might stave off some of the league’s mediocre pass rushers. However, battling the likes of Myles Garrett or Chandler Jones will be a trickier assignment. If Hill was good enough to earn LT1 duties as a full-time starter, well, the Vikings would not have needed to pluck Darrisaw out of the draft.

Darrisaw’s maturation is vital to the remedy of a Vikings offensive line problem that persists year after year. The sooner he returns — the faster he can develop alongside Ezra Cleveland, Garrett Bradbury, Oli Udoh, and Brian O’Neill.

This press release was produced by Vikings Territory .The views expressed here are the author’s own.