Vikings Matchup Nightmares: Week 1 vs. the Falcons

Grady Jarrett vs. Vikings interior offensive line

One of the biggest deficiencies of the Vikings last season was the play of the interior offensive line. The trio of Tom Compton, Pat Elflein and Mike Remmers allowed a whopping 107 pressures last season according to Pro Football Focus and that doesn’t include the decline in Minnesota’s running game that torpedoed from seventh in 2017 to 30th in 2018.

The Vikings went to many lengths to address this issue in the offseason as Compton and Remmers are now gone and Elflein was moved back to his natural position at guard to accommodate first-round pick Garrett Bradbury at center.

The addition of a zone-run scheme inspired by offensive consultant Gary Kubiak should also help, but Minnesota will get their first test of the season in Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.

Jarrett was a great find by Atlanta as a fifth-round pick during the 2015 NFL Draft. After a solid college career at Clemson that ended with 10 tackles for loss in both his junior and senior seasons, he didn’t test well in terms of size at the combine as he tested in the ninth percentile in height and 19th percentile in arm length.

While teams paid attention to his lack of size, the Falcons saw some of his positives such as a three-cone drill in the 81st percentile and a broad jump in the 87th percentile. With more explosiveness, Atlanta took a chance and tapped into some of his raw potential with his sack total increasing every season, including six in 2018.

With the ability to throw a wrench into opposing offenses up front, the Vikings new interior offensive line will have an early-season test that could determine just how great their new scheme looks on Sunday.