Pat Elflein returns to lead Minnesota Vikings offensive line
After two surgeries in the offseason and extensive rehab work, Minnesota Vikings second-year center Pat Elflein will return to the playing field on Sunday. What makes Elflein so special–and crucial to the Vikings’ future?
In 2016, the Minnesota Vikings ranked last in the NFL in rushing yards. An early season-ending injury to Adrian Peterson left the team relying on running backs Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata for the Viking ground game.
They averaged 3.2 yards per carry for the year.
But that wasn’t even the bad part. After starting the season with five straight wins and cascading praise from pundits across the board, the Vikings were quickly figured out. With injuries to starters and backups resulting in eight different line combinations as well as subpar play from newly signed guard Alex Boone and veteran left tackle Matt Kalil, they just couldn’t block anybody.
In losing eight of the next 11 games, Vikings fans watched their team’s offensive line being crushed like a tin can on nearly every snap. Quarterback Sam Bradford used a quick tap passing attack to put up superlative completion percentages, but the Vikings couldn’t win games and ended a highly disappointing season at 8-8.
In 2017, general manager Rick Spielman made several huge moves. He let Matt Kalil walk to Carolina. He cut Alex Boone. He opened up the team purse and made two excellent offensive line signings in former Detroit Lions right tackle Mike Remmers and Carolina left tackle Mike Remmers.
And in the third round of the college draft, the Vikings took a kid out of Ohio State, Pat Elflein. Elflein had recently won the Rimington Trophy as the NCAA’s best center and was a finalist for the Outland Trophy, awarded to the best offensive lineman in the country.
Elflein started at Vikings center in Week 1 of the 2017 season.
Against the New Orleans Saints, Elflein and the new Minnesota offensive line lead the Vikings to a smashing win, as rookie running back Dalvin Cook ran for 127 yards with a 5.8 average and quarterback Sam Bradford threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns.
In nearly consecutive weeks, the Vikings faced physical mishap after mishap. In Week 2, Bradford was lost for the season with a knee injury. During a close loss in Week 4 to Detroit, Minnesota lost their magnificent rookie tailback, Cook, to an ACL tear. Not soon after, injuries again started piling up on the offensive line and coach Tony Sparano was again examining his roster and juggling lineups.
From that situation, the Vikings won eight in a row.
In those eight games and in all but two of the 2017 season that ended with the Vikings finishing a remarkable 13-3, rookie center Elflein captained his squad like a true veteran, displaying a near complete turnaround of that unit from the previous season, as the Vikings finished second in the league in rushing and 11th in passing.