5 breakout players for the Minnesota Vikings in 2018

3. Brian O’Neill – OT

The Vikings took this athletic, big offensive tackle out of Pittsburgh in round two of the 2018 NFL Draft and the team probably didn’t think they’d be needing him much in 2018.

After he was drafted, there was a lot of talk about how he needed to bulk up and would ultimately be a bit of a project. But as it turned out, O’Neill was starting by Week 6, due to poor play and an injury to starting right tackle Rashod Hill.

The rookie did have a few hiccups during his early appearances with Minnesota as he would get overpowered and he had some trouble adjusting to the overall speed and athleticism of NFL defensive lineman.

By season’s end, he was the Vikings’ best and most consistent lineman. Of course on Minnesota’s porous line, that isn’t exactly huge praise. Still, his play was very promising, and it’s worth debating if the Vikings will eventually move him to left tackle to protect Kirk Cousins’ blindside.

That being said, Minnesota still will likely try to add some weight to O’Neill’s frame this offseason. But the Vikings should feel very good about his year-one progress and they can take comfort in knowing they have at least one part of this sub-par offensive line figured out for the long term.