Christian Darrisaw is Becoming a Breakout Star on an Improved Vikings Offensive Line
Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw was all over "breakout player" lists coming into this season, and it was easy to understand why. Last year's No. 23 overall pick improved over the course of his rookie season, at times flashing immense upside with his physical tools. Year two is often when players take a big leap, as they're more prepared for the NFL grind and have a full offseason to gain comfort and improve their game.
Darrisaw's hype train grew to the point where he drew comparisons to Trent Williams during training camp — and then received high praise and a few pointers from Williams himself with the 49ers in town for joint practices.
And guess what? It's still very early in the 2022 season, but Darrisaw is already validating the excitement. He played fairly well in the Vikings' first two games of the season, despite facing tough assignments against the Packers' and Eagles' edge rushers. Darrisaw then took his game to another level in Minnesota's dramatic Week 3 victory over the Lions.
This was almost certainly the best game of the Virginia Tech product's young career. Darrisaw was dominant in pass protection, allowing zero pressures on 42 Kirk Cousins dropbacks. When they were matched up, he completely erased Lions defensive end Charles Harris — who had 7.5 sacks last year — from the game. Darrisaw and Pro Bowl right tackle Brian O'Neill also turned No. 2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson into a non-factor.
Darrisaw looked confident and in control all afternoon. When Harris tried to beat him with a bull rush, he stonewalled him with a powerful anchor. When Harris tried to beat him with speed to the outside, Darrisaw calmly stayed with him and directed him deep into the backfield, out of harm's way.
He was equally good in the run game, which was where his athleticism translated more effectively during his rookie season. His size, strength, and mobility off the line of scrimmage helps him open up holes for ballcarriers. Pro Football Focus gave Darrisaw an 89.4 grade against the Lions, second-best among all tackles this week. That includes an 88.4 pass blocking grade and an 86.7 run blocking grade. Dalvin Cook's first rushing touchdown of the season went to Darrisaw's side of the field, one of many big plays he helped make possible.
It was an incredible all-around performance from Darrisaw, who now ranks fourth among tackles in ESPN's run block win rate.
"C.D. has had a really great start to his season," head coach Kevin O'Connell said on Monday. "I think he continues to kind of take the next steps with where he's at in his growth as a player. He was really physical in the run game, really solid in pass pro and just played with a real poise. ... Performances like that from C.D. are really what we expect at this point with where he's at. I’m just really excited about the trajectory he’s on as a player. Just continuing to evolve and becoming one of the premier left tackles in football is where he’s headed."
The Vikings' 2021 draft class, the last of Rick Spielman's tenure as general manager, has been almost entirely cast aside by new GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Out of the 11 players selected, only Darrisaw, Patrick Jones II, Kene Nwangwu, and Camryn Bynum remain on the roster. But Spielman's move to trade back from 14 to 23 and select Darrisaw looks like a great one. The Vikings' new regime is certainly thankful the tackle-needy Raiders decided to take Alex Leatherwood — who was waived this year — with the 17th pick. If Darrisaw pans out, he can make Spielman's final draft class a success on his own.
It was a journey for Darrisaw just to get on the field last year. He had a tricky, lingering groin injury that required multiple operations and cost him most of the offseason. As a result, veteran Rashod Hill started the first four games of the season at LT. But Darrisaw made his debut halfway through a Week 5 win over the Lions in Minneapolis, got his first career start the following week against the Panthers, and didn't look back. Outside of missing a couple games with an ankle injury, he was the Vikings' left tackle the rest of the way.
Darrisaw's potential was immediately evident. The way he moves for a player of his size is unusual, which showed up frequently in run blocking. Out of 68 tackles who played at least 500 snaps in 2021, Darrisaw finished 13th in PFF run blocking grade. He also clearly had the length and brawn to stop pass rushers in their tracks, but his technique in pass protection was inconsistent. Among that same 68-player sample, Darrisaw ranked 45th in pass blocking grade, allowing five sacks.
This offseason, he made a point to improve his technique in that area of the game.
"From a pass game perspective, I feel like last year that was one of my weaknesses and I really took it hard on myself," Darrisaw said. "Breaking down my film, watching my footwork and things like that, just trying to break bad habits that I had in college. The type of stuff that I used to get away with. Now, you'll get exposed on those types of things. Just trying to take it a play at a time, really. Every rep is its own, so when I'm out there I'm trying to be perfect and execute the rep and keep Kirk clean."
The offseason work has paid off so far. Darrisaw hasn't allowed a sack yet and was nearly flawless in pass protection against the Lions. There's a long ways to go — the Saints' Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport will provide a tough challenge in London this weekend — but Darrisaw looks like he's in the process of taking that big year two leap, just like many people expected he would.
"I feel like I’ve been playing very well, especially from last season and coming into this season, I feel like there’s been way more improvement in my game," he said. "And there’s still room for improvement. I’m still watching the film. But definitely I feel like I took that step to become the player that I want to be, and I’m getting there day by day."
It's not just Darrisaw. So far, the Vikings' offensive line is playing well as a collective unit, which is a pleasant surprise for fans who have suffered through so much poor O-line play over the past decade. New position coach Chris Kuper is off to an impressive start.
O'Neill, the Vikings' other tackle, is still the best player on their offensive line. He's a model of consistency who belongs in the conversation among the game's best right tackles. Three weeks into the season, no tackle in the NFL has a better pass block win rate than O'Neill (per ESPN).
Surprisingly, center Garrett Bradbury is off to a strong start in a contract year. His run blocking has always been an asset, but Bradbury's pass protection has actually been adequate this year (again, it's early). Left guard Ezra Cleveland has also been solid. RG Ed Ingram has been the weak link of the group thus far, but growing pains were expected for the second-round rookie. He should improve with experience.
"I thought across the board our offensive line had a pretty solid outing (against the Lions)," O'Connell said. "In those moments where we had to drop back, they gave Kirk enough time where he could go through his progressions and really try to isolate some matchups that we wanted to get after."
The Vikings possess the pieces to have a great offense. They have a bright young coach leading the way in O'Connell, an accurate veteran quarterback in Cousins, and one of the best skill position groups in the league. The offensive line was always going to be crucial in allowing all of those pieces to operate at a high level. So far, with Darrisaw and O'Neill at the forefront, that unit is playing really well.
If that continues for the rest of the season, it raises the ceiling of what this offense can become.
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