The Minnesota Vikings reworked their offensive line for the 2017 NFL season and wound up having one of the best units in the league according to NFL.com.
The Minnesota Vikings were aggressive in their attempts to improve their offensive line for the 2017 season by signing some high-profile free agents and using their picks in the NFL Draft while developing the unit.
Signing Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers to be the bookends on the line was a huge step in the right direction. Add in the drafting of starting center Pat Elflein and backup interior lineman Danny Isadora helped in a big way as well.
When you add those three new starters to established interior linemen Joe Berger and Nick Easton, the team brought a solid unit to the table to help protect their quarterback and create holes in the running game.
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Recently, NFL.com ranked the 10 best offensive line units in the league during the 2017 NFL season and listed the Minnesota Vikings at #6, stating that they 14th in pressures allowed and sixth in average yards gained before close.
Here is what they had to say about the team’s efforts in the offseason as well as the huge improvements they made, especially in the run game, during the 2017 season.
"“The Vikings brought in several mid-tier free agents last offseason, and the offensive line gelled as a result, especially in the run game. Consider that in 2016, Minnesota backs gained an average of zero yards before defenders closed within a yard, ranking dead last that season. In 2017, the figure jumped all the way up to 0.53 and into the top six.”"
Next: Vikings 2018 forecast for offensive line
Of course, the Minnesota Vikings will need to do some work on their offensive line again as they look forward to 2018. Nick Easton and Joe Berger are scheduled to become free agents and could either be signed back to the team or join a different squad next year.