Line will guide Vikings’ offense

By Krupka  |   Tuesday, September 05, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

Minnesota Vikings
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Key additions: LG Steve Hutchinson (free agency); RT Artis Hicks (trade with Eagles); RB Chester Taylor (free agency); FB Tony Richardson (free agency).

Key losses: QB Daunte Culpepper (trade with Dolphins); WR Nate Burleson (Seattle); RB Michael Bennett (Kansas City); RB Onterrio Smith (released); WR Koren Robinson (released); RB Moe Williams (free agency); C Melvin Fowler (Bills).

Biggest strength: The offensive line. A unit that experienced plenty of ups and downs in 2005 has new starters almost all around. The only true holdover from last season is left tackle Bryant McKinnie. The addition of Steve Hutchinson, arguably the best guard in the NFL, stabilizes the line, and quite possibly gives the Vikings the best left side in football. All-Pro center Matt Birk is back from a hernia injury that cost him the entire 2005 season, Marcus Johnson is the new right tackle as the struggling Mike Rosenthal is relegated to backup duties, and Artis Hicks, acquired in a Draft Day trade with the Eagles, assumes the right guard position.

This preseason, the coaching staff really tried to pound the ball to the right side to get Hicks and Johnson acclimated to playing with each other. Hutchinson and McKinnie study film together and Birk, among the best pulling centers in the NFL, puts together what should be a dominant line. While the fruits of its labor weren't seen directly in the rushing statistics in the preseason, the line deserve credit for keeping Brad Johnson off the ground and giving him an inordinate amount of time to deliver the ball. Johnson's jersey remained spotless as he wasn't sacked at all.

The unit's most important player: Brad Johnson. The Vikings' starting quarterback must remain healthy or the offense will be dealt a huge blow. Backing up the soon-to-be 38-year old Johnson is newly acquired Brooks Bollinger. Bollinger played for head coach Brad Childress at Wisconsin, and saw significant playing time last season with the New York Jets, thanks to a plethora of injuries to the quarterback position. However, he is only an ample backup for a short period of time.

The most promise comes from third-string rookie Tarvaris Jackson. The Vikings' second-round pick performed admirably with the second- and third-string offense in preseason and looks to have a bright future. Nonetheless, Minnesota's offense really revolves around Johnson.

Area of most concern: The wide receivers. When the expected No. 1 wideout, Koren Robinson, was involved in a drunken driving police chase and subsequently released last month, the team's depth at the position took a huge hit. Eagles castoff Todd Pinkston was brought in to help a beleaguered unit.

As a whole, the corps isn't horrible, but merely average. Second-year man Troy Williamson assumes the role of the No. 1 receiver, followed by Travis Taylor, Marcus Robinson, Pinkston and another former Eagles receiver, Billy McMullen. Taylor is a nice complement to Williamson, and Robinson provides a tall target in the red zone.

Still, the group isn't overly impressive, so the tight ends and backs will have to pick up some of the slack in the passing game. Fortunately for the Vikings, they have two very good tight ends and starting running back Chester Taylor has great hands out of the backfield.

So, while the receiving corps may be the main concern, unless it is hit by a rash of injuries, there are enough options to sustain the passing attack.

Breakout player: Chester Taylor. Although he had an unimpressive preseason, don't take the stats for anything more than they are -- meaningless preseason numbers. The offense was the flavor of the month, "vanilla," and the coaching staff really wanted to establish the run behind the right side of Marcus Johnson and Artis Hicks, because they already know what they have on the left side with All-Pro Hutchinson and very talented McKinnie.

The goal was to get some cohesion between the two, so Viking fans shouldn't be worried about the 2.7 yards per carry Taylor averaged in the preseason, since the Vikings have an offense suited to match the burgeoning talents of their running back. Oh, and by the way, he did average 7.1 yards per catch. Now that he isn't stuck behind Jamal Lewis in Baltimore, the rest of the league will see what Ravens head coach Brian Billick knows: Taylor is a big-time player ready to emerge as a star.

Final outlook: The offense has plenty of talent at the skill positions and on the offensive line to propel the team to victory. Brad Johnson is the perfect leader for the Vikings with their new look West Coast, ball-control offense. It may score fewer points than they have in recent years, but that doesn't mean the unit won't be good. A slightly above-average offense statistically should be expected; and with the Vikings' strong defense, should be enough to make the playoffs a real possibility.

Eric Krupka is a senior writer at RealFootball365.com. He can be contacted at ekrupka@realfootball365.com

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