Ed Ingram is the latest name to join a ragtag interior offensive line group for the Minnesota Vikings. He might not be able to right all of Rick Spielman’s wrongs at the guard and center positions, but he could be the reliable body up front the team desperately needs.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is crossing his T’s and dotting his I’s at the guard position.
Since the start of free agency, he has signed Jesse Davis, Chris Reed and Austin Schlottmann to deals. On Friday night, he took things a step further by using the No. 59 overall pick of the 2022 NFL draft to select Ingram out of LSU.
The Vikings ranked in the bottom-half of the league last season along the offensive front, despite having a pair of talented tackles in Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill.
They clearly struggled at the interior positions with Garrett Bradbury and Oli Udoh.
So you can expect Ingram to compete for a starting job right away in this offense. No, he isn’t a player that’s going to blow anyone away from an athletic perspective, but he’s a tough blocker up front that’s technically sound in both the run and passing games.
His versatility also stands out because it gives the Vikings flexibility in their alignments. Sure, he started 11 games last season lining up at left guard for the Tigers, but he also has experience playing at right guard as well.
So he’ll give Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell an opportunity to mix and match to find the best offensive line group.
The Vikings were ranked in the bottom-half of the league in Pro Football Focus’ offensive line rankings last season with Bradbury (60.2) and Udoh receiving the lowest grades (54.7).
Ingram is no savior by any stretch, but he can be part of the solution to a longtime problem in Minnesota.
