What the Vikings can learn from the Colts’ offensive line rebuild
By Chris Schad
With the Minnesota Vikings looking to revamp their offensive line, they can turn to the Indianapolis Colts for inspiration for a quick turnaround.
Entering the 2019 offseason, one of the main objectives for the Minnesota Vikings will be to upgrade their offensive line.
While there are plenty of other reasons why the Vikings’ season didn’t go the way they had envisioned in 2018, the offensive line was a big scapegoat with Pro Football Focus ranking the unit 29th in the NFL.
To build an offensive line, there are a variety of ways a team can go about it. For the Los Angeles Rams, who rank seventh in Pro Football Focus’ rankings, their line was bolstered with a series of free agent signings including Andrew Whitworth and John Sullivan.
Unfortunately, Minnesota can’t afford to go that route considering they only have just over $10 million in cap space. With limited funds available, the Vikings will have to figure out another way to improve their effort in the trenches.
One team they can look up to is the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts are one of the NFL’s most intriguing stories in 2018 as they began the season 1-5 and have since won 10 of their last 11 games to set up a divisional round matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.
One of the factors behind this resurgence has been a rebuilding of an offensive line that went from 25th in last year’s offensive line rankings to sixth this season.
There were several key factors for the leap that the Colts took this season and in some ways, that blueprint could be duplicated by Vikings general manager Rick Spielman to help rebound in 2019.