When Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season rolls around for the Minnesota Vikings, don’t be surprised if Garrett Bradbury isn’t snapping the ball to Kirk Cousins.
Finding long-term answers on the offensive line has been a problem for the Minnesota Vikings in recent history despite investing a lot of draft capital into securing those spots and spending a lot of money in free agency.
Thankfully, it looks as though the purple and gold have locked down their right tackle in Brian O’Neill, has a potential answer at left tackle in Christian Darrisaw, and see potential in left guard Ezra Cleveland.
Minnesota has already declared an open competition for the right guard spot, but now it seems as though the Vikings aren’t sure who will be the starting center when the 2022 NFL season rolls around.
Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press recently tweeted some news about the position learned from today’s training camp session.
However, #Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell said there's still competition at the starting center spot and isn't ready to say that Garrett Bradbury is definitely his guy for Week 1.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) August 6, 2022
What is wrong with Garrett Bradbury and the Minnesota Vikings?
Expectations were high when the Minnesota Vikings selected Garrett Bradbury with Pick 18 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. However, he has failed to live up to that hype and has struggled to control the line of scrimmage.
One of the biggest knocks against Bradbury is that he lacks the size and power to win battles. Bigger defensive tackles have had their way with the young blocker in numerous matchups and it is being reported that new Vikings defensive tackle Harrison Phillips has been consistently beating him in padded drills.
Will Ragatz of Sports Illustrated observed the young center and noted that the major concern surrounding Minnesota’s center is still quite apparent.
Garrett Bradbury got run over by Harrison Phillips a couple times in 1-on-1 drills today. Phillips is really strong and powerful, but it's concerning that Bradbury's No. 1 issue doesn't seem to have gone away.
— Will Ragatz (@WillRagatz) August 1, 2022
It appears as though the Vikings are trying 30-year-old Chris Reed at center to see what kind of results the team gets. In addition, Minnesota signed backup center Austin Schlottmann from Denver to add depth and competition.
It will be interesting to see how this competition shakes out. The Minnesota Vikings need to be serious about protecting Kirk Cousins and creating holes in the run game for Dalvin Cook and opening up a position battle for the starting center is the right way to go about being successful.