A lot of injury has been added to the Minnesota Vikings' insult after their Week 2 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The headliner is quarterback J.J. McCarthy, of course, but others were banged up during the game (center Ryan Kelly, running back Aaron Jones, offensive tackle Justin Skule).
To put it nicely, Skule has been overmatched filling in for Christian Darrisaw at left tackle over the first two games of the season. He left the Falcons' game due to a concussion, but he might have been removed from the game without the head injury to mandate it.
With Carson Wentz now stepping in as the starter for the Vikings under center while McCarthy is out, Darrisaw getting to the finish line of his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered last October has taken on even greater importance.
At least McCarthy could escape the pocket at times. It's safe to assume the 32-year-old Wentz won't have that ability to the same level.
Minnesota Vikings insider invites nightmare offensive line scenario continuing for another week
In a recent episode of "The Alec Lewis Show", The Athletic's Alec Lewis addressed Darrisaw's situation based on a question that was submitted to him.
"Christian Darrisaw has not played yet. You always knew there was a chance he might not play early in the season. And then even if he did play from the get-go, there's no guarantee, coming off the injury he's coming off, that he's just gonna pick up right where he left off."
Lewis noted the poor Pro Football Focus data that fully backs up the eye test with Skule, and how the Vikings' shoddy offensive line play goes beyond the issues with Darrisaw's fill-in.
With Skule's status naturally in doubt for Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, and Darrisaw's status a question mark, Lewis eventually got to answering the question of who he thinks the Vikings left tackle will be in the game.
"I guess if I had to peg it now, I'd probably say Walter Rouse is starting the game [against the Bengals]".
Rouse played 12 snaps in place of Skule against the Falcons. He committed a holding penalty on his first play, then he allowed one pressure on nine pass blocking snaps, according to PFF.
Rouse played left tackle throughout his college career. During his season at Stanford (2023), he did not allow a single sack, and PFF gave him the highest pass blocking efficiency among FBS offensive tackles with at least 317 pass blocking snaps that season (99.3).
For as good as Rouse was at left tackle during his final college season, he has almost zero experience as an NFL left tackle with Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson coming to town on Sunday.
The Vikings are right not to rush Darrisaw back into action, and maybe there's something we don't know regarding the end of his recovery.
But the poor performance of the offensive line has roots in having an overwhelmed left tackle, and Lewis thinks that nightmare will continue for at least one more week.