Vikings Territory: Christian Darrisaw Is Returning, And That Is A Big Deal

Press release from Vikings Territory:

2021-09-06

Alas, Minnesota Vikings rookie left tackle Christian Darrisaw is joining the team for practice. To date, the Virginia Tech alumnus has only practiced four times — not ideal for a player that was supposed to start Week 1.

September 6, 2021

Darrisaw underwent surgery on his core muscle in August, an event not expected by most of the Vikings universe. Previously, the new Viking went under the knife in January, but Minnesota’s brass believed that was the end of it.

Hill might do great. He might be terrible. That uncertainty is the penalty to Minnesota for leaving the left tackle job to chance during the offseason. General Manager Rick Spielman drafted Darrisaw in the 1st Round, and men from that section of the draft are tasked with starting sooner than later. Because Darrisaw is hurt, the Vikings will waltz into a penultimate 2021 season seemingly on eggshells for the left side of the offensive line.

If Darrisaw gets to Wednesday and is still noticeably hurt, well, that’s a different story. That hypothesis is speculative for now.

The other reason is more important to the team. The Vikings need Darrisaw to be decent in Year One. This is the basket the front office wove. Left tackles such as Orlando Brown, Alejandro Villanueva, Eric Fisher, and others could have been explored by Minnesota in March. Nevertheless, Spielman chose the rookie route, and it must pay off sooner than later. Otherwise, the Vikings are in a miserable-but-familiar place with porous pass protection. The only football item that has routinely plagued the Mike Zimmer brand of Vikings is bad pass protection. Well — and some kicker-related stuff.

This version of Vikings does not have the luxury of bumbling through another season of poor offensive line play. It just doesn’t. For three seasons, fans imagined how productive Kirk Cousins might be if his pockets on Sunday were clean like many other NFL passers. Darrisaw and Davis were the dudes to actionize that great hope. This Sunday, though, Rashod Hill and Oli Udoh are the men tapped for duty.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday along with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

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