What the Vikings can learn from the Colts’ offensive line rebuild
By Chris Schad
Coaching helps
As we saw with the 2018 version of the Minnesota Vikings, the loss of a good coach can be pretty devastating to a team. Mix in the shock at the sudden passing of Tony Sparano and it was understandable that the offensive line had a drop off in performance.
The opposite effect was evident in Indianapolis as Frank Reich took over for Chuck Pagano as the team’s head coach in 2018.
Reich has been a savior for the Colts and he has designed his offense to get the ball out of quarterback Andrew Luck’s hands quickly. This has resulted in less hits and sacks for Luck and a better performance from his offensive line.
As the Vikings head into the offseason, it’s a fair question to wonder if they were asking too much from a unit that had its struggles, but benefited from the playground style of Case Keenum under center in 2017.
With a more methodical Kirk Cousins at quarterback this past season, a lot of Minnesota’s flaws on the offensive line that were masked a year ago, came back into the light.
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The hope is that new offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski can help play to the line’s strengths and get them back to being a functional unit like they were in 2017. Mix in a little more talent this offseason and the Vikings could have a similar turnaround to what the Colts are experiencing in 2018.