PFF: Vikings Should Sign Veteran Guard Oday Aboushi For Depth
With four months remaining in the offseason, the Vikings don't have to be done adding to their roster. They don't have much cap space right now, but after some of their eventual, inevitable moves — which could include extensions, releases, and trades — they'll have the room to add another free agent or two.
PFF's Brad Spielberger recently matched one available free agent to every NFL team. Instead of going defense for the Vikings, he chose to add a veteran guard who would provide depth and insurance at a position that's still a major question mark in Minnesota. The player is Oday Aboushi, who turns 32 this summer and is headed into his 11th season in the league.
Question marks remain in their secondary and on the interior of the defensive line, but not due to a lack of recent draft picks and free-agent additions, so they probably just need to let things play out on a new-look defense.
At guard, 2020 second-round pick Ezra Cleveland is entering a contract year, and 2022 second-round pick Ed Ingram earned a 44.4 pass-blocking grade as a rookie that ranked 66th out of 71 guards with at least 250 pass-blocking snaps. Aboushi has been reliable depth at either guard spot everywhere he goes, most recently with Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell’s former team in the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. Aboushi has three straight seasons earning grades above 65.0, with grades of at least 60.0 as a pass blocker and a run blocker each year.
It's not a move that would generate much fanfare, but it would make a lot of sense for the Vikings. Ezra Cleveland, a former college tackle, has been good but not great in three seasons at guard since being drafted. He's an excellent run blocker who has never had a pass-blocking grade above 55.5; Cleveland's 53 pressures allowed last season were third-most among guards.
But this move would be more about having quality depth and potential insurance if Ed Ingram doesn't take a sizable step forward in his second season. Ingram was arguably the worst pass-blocking guard in the NFL as rookie, leading all offensive linemen with 58 pressures allowed. The Vikings will undoubtedly be patient with the LSU product in his development, but if things don't improve at all, there could come a point where a team in win-now mode needs to make a switch.
Right now, the Vikings' backup guards are Chris Reed and Austin Schlottmann, two players they seemingly didn't trust much last season. That's not an ideal scenario if a starting guard gets hurt or struggles mightily.
Aboushi was drafted in the fifth round by the Jets a decade ago. He's been a total journeyman in his NFL career, making stops with the Texans, Seahawks, Raiders, Cardinals, Lions, Chargers, and Rams. Aboushi has appeared in 85 games and made 51 career starts, playing mostly right guard in recent years after starting his career on the left side. And as Spielberger said, he's been reliably solid everywhere he's gone. Most importantly, he's a good pass blocker who has four seasons with a pass block grade above 70.
This would be a smart, low-cost move for the Vikings to add depth to the interior of their offensive line.
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