Kevin O'Connell praises Vikings rookie OL ahead of first NFL start

Due to a seemingly never-ending wave of injuries, the Vikings' offensive line is going to look quite a bit different for Sunday's game against the Browns in London. Justin Skule will play right tackle. Blake Brandel will play his first game at center. And to Brandel's left, rookie Joe Huber will make his NFL starting debut at left guard.

On the surface, Huber debuting against the Browns' menacing defensive line seems like a challenge not unlike the one Cleveland QB Dillon Gabriel is going to face against Brian Flores' defense in his first career start, just with much less of a spotlight. But the Vikings seem pretty confident that Huber is up for the task. Kevin O'Connell had high praise for the undrafted rookie out of Wisconsin in his press conference on Friday.

"Yesterday was a little bit more of a physical practice," O'Connell said. "And you're watching Joe in there during the reps he was in, and (he) just feels so rooted and strong. He's got some pretty unique power to him. And then enough movement skills and athleticism to pair that together and still use the power, even when he gets out of position at times, which is gonna happen."

How he got here

Huber, an Ohio native, didn't start playing offensive line until his senior year of high school and joined the Cincinnati football program as a walk-on. He eventually became a starter in his third season, then transferred to Wisconsin and was a two-year starter at guard who earned third team All-Big Ten honors in 2024. The Vikings signed him after he went undrafted in April.

Since then, Huber has done nothing but impress. He earned a remarkable 94.7 PFF grade for his preseason debut against the Texans a couple months ago. Across the entire preseason, Huber played 185 snaps — spending time at both guard spots — and received a 74.1 grade. He was excellent in run blocking and allowed just three pressures and one sack on 126 snaps as a pass blocker. That performance helped him become one of seven undrafted rookies to make the Vikings' initial 53-man roster.

"He was able to show that (skill set) in the preseason," O'Connell said. "Joe was one of those guys that probably — I don't always tell you guys this — but he probably made the team a heck of a lot earlier than the cutdown day, at least in my mind, with what you could not only see in the present with the player, but where we think he can go in the future. He's done nothing but enhance a lot of those opinions with his time leading up to now, and he's gonna get an opportunity to show us where he's at on Sunday."

To be clear, this is a very difficult test for Huber, who is playing only because three Vikings interior linemen (Donovan Jackson, Ryan Kelly, and Michael Jurgens) are hurt. Myles Garrett gets all the attention on the Browns' defensive line, but Maliek Collins is PFF's highest-graded defensive tackle in the league through four weeks. Cleveland also has No. 5 overall pick Mason Graham, who is off to a strong start, and they'll line up Garrett all over the place to try to exploit any weak links on an offensive line. This is a massive step up in competition from preseason action.

It's also worth noting, given the Vikings' penalty issues, that Huber was flagged four times in three games during the preseason.

Still, the Vikings seem to have real belief in the rookie and his readiness for this moment. It's why he made the team. If Huber can simply hold his own and not be a liability on Sunday, it would go a long way towards helping the Vikings move the football and put points on the board in a must-win type of game.

How he got here

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