After releasing Riley Reiff, the Minnesota Vikings have a hole to fill at left tackle.
During the 2020 NFL season, the Minnesota Vikings employed one of the worst pass-blocking offensive lines in the league. Their brightest spots belonged to their offensive tackles, Riley Reiff and Brian O’Neill, who outperformed all other linemen when it came to protecting Kirk Cousins from opposing pass rushers.
In somewhat of a surprising move, however, the Vikings announced the release of Reiff on Wednesday. Although the move creates more than $11 million in cap space, it takes away one of the few solid pieces from the offensive line.
Now, the Vikings will need to find a way to replace Reiff’s high level of play. There are a few ways the franchise can go about this, but each has its own pros and cons that could impact the Minnesota offense going forward.
Let’s take a look at six players who might be given the daunting task of holding down the ship at left tackle for the Vikings in an attempt to fill the gap left by the release of Reiff.