Minnesota Vikings add another offensive lineman to the mix

Just as the first batch of players are reporting to training camp on Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings announced the addition of another offensive lineman.

Last season, the Minnesota Vikings definitely saw their offensive line take steps in the right direction. How good or bad they performed varies depending on who is asked, but last year’s unit was arguably the best the Vikings have had since Mike Zimmer became the team’s head coach in 2014.

Heading into this season, Minnesota returns the majority of their top offensive lineman from a year ago. There are some new blockers on the roster, but the Vikings’ projected starting five for this season (Riley Reiff, Nick Easton, Pat Elflein, Mike Remmers, and Rashod Hill) all saw the field a lot in 2017.

As Minnesota gets ready to begin training camp this week, there are still some questions surrounding the health of the team’s offensive line as both Easton and Elflein are coming back from ankle injuries.

Minnesota Vikings

Both are expected to participate in camp this year, but a recent move by the Vikings might indicate just how healthy the interior of their line actually is right now.

Minnesota announced the signing of center J.P. Quinn on Tuesday. In order to make room for Quinn on their roster, the Vikings also released tight end Josiah Price.

Prior to joining Minnesota on Tuesday, the 6-foot-4, 302 pound blocker spent the last five years at Central Michigan as part of the school’s offensive line. Quinn was not selected in last April’s NFL Draft, but he was later signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free-agent.

At Central Michigan last season, he started in all 13 of the school’s games and his performance earned him a Third-Team All-MAC selection. Quinn spent time in college playing as both a center and a guard, so he has the versatility that the Vikings look for in their offensive lineman.

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What does the signing say about the current health of Easton or Elflein? Probably not much, but Minnesota is at least taking some precautions in case either one of these two players are unable to go by the start of the regular season.