Reuniting with a high-value offensive starter in 2024 is demanded by the Vikings.
A few games into the season, the Minnesota Vikings made a smart acquisition of offensive lineman Dalton Risner to a value contract; they may be able to duplicate that performance in 2024.
A reunion between Risner and the Vikings was highlighted in a list of the top team fits for each of the greatest remaining NFL free agents by ESPN’s Matt Bowen.
“For Risner, who recorded a pass block win percentage of 95.5% last season (fifth among guards) while allowing just two sacks, a return to Minnesota makes the most sense at this point,” Bowen wrote on Monday, May 20. “As a run-blocker in Kevin O’Connell’s offense, he demonstrated a rugged play style and could drop anchor in pass protection to shut down interior rush lanes.” Ed Ingram and Blake Brandel are currently scheduled to start for Minnesota.
The Vikings and other NFL teams continue to “undervalue” Dalton Risner, which upsets him.
The offensive lineman has been open and honest about his feelings that the Minnesota Vikings have undervalued him following a strong campaign, which may be the largest barrier to his return.
The most recent remarks made by Risner were made last month at a charity golf tournament during an interview with Topeka, Kansas’s WIBW, a CBS affiliate.
“I’m a guy who knows I’m not the best guard in the league, but over my five-year career, I have started 75 games,” the player said. On April 17, Risner stated, “I don’t miss games because of injury, and I definitely don’t miss [them] due to anything other than injury.” You will be able to count on me every single Sunday. I won’t claim to be an easy task, but I will be able to hold my own and block players like Chris Jones. And I continue to be underappreciated.
Throughout His Entire 5-Year NFL Career, Dalton Risner Has Been a Reliable Starter
In the 2019 NFL Draft, Risner was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round out of Kansas State. Before the franchise let him depart in free agency after the 2022 season, he started all 62 of his games while he was a member of the Denver Broncos.
Prior to the Vikings adding him in Week 3 on a $3 million deal on September 19, Risner was a free agent. After four weeks, Risner was given the starting position, which he kept for the whole year. Throughout his five-year career, the four games he did not start are the ones he played in Minnesota before earning the starting spot.
After the 2023 regular season, Zoltán Buday of Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked the Vikings offensive line as the 12th best in the league, although he also listed Risner as one of the starting lineup’s weakest players.”Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill, the Vikings’ offensive tackle tandem, is among the best in the NFL, but they only played together in 12 games in 2023,” Buday said on January 10. Furthermore, even though Garrett Bradbury made progress in his pass protection early in the season, this team is hindered by their interior offensive line.
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