KOC on Christian Darrisaw: 'I'm really excited about the trajectory he's on'

The Vikings left tackle continues to impress in his second season.

Author:
Chris Schad
Publish date:
Sep 27, 2022 10:26 AM EDT

The Vikings left tackle continues to impress in his second season.

Back in training camp, Minnesota Vikings coaches could not stop raving about Christian Darrisaw. The second-year offensive tackle was drawing comparisons to Trent Williams and many believed he could make a big jump this season.

Three games in, the superlatives haven't stopped and Darrisaw looks like a cornerstone on the offensive line.

"[Darrisaw's] had a really great start to his season," Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said Monday. "I think he continues to kind of take the next steps with where he’s at with his growth as a player."

According to Pro Football Focus, Darrisaw has become one of the NFL's top linemen, with his 75.5 overall grade ranking 22nd among offensive tackles with at least 20% of the league lead in snaps. The 23-year-old has been especially effective in pass blocking, grading 19th out of 71 qualifying linemen and allowing just five pressures in 133 pass-blocking snaps.

Darrisaw's biggest challenge came on Sunday afternoon when he went against Detroit Lions rookie Aiden Hutchinson. One week after collecting three sacks in a win over the Washington Commanders, the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft didn't register a single pressure as the Vikings picked up a 28-24 victory.

"He was really physical in the run game, he was very solid in pass protection and just played with a real poise in understanding the matchup that you talked about with a good, young player and just was consistent across the board," O'Connell said. "Performance like that from CD are something we expect at this point with where he’s at."

The Vikings' offensive line has been a work in progress for what seems like an eternity, but Brian O'Neill has become one of the NFL's top right tackles and Ezra Cleveland has been serviceable after making the conversion to guard. Ed Ingram has also had impressive moments while Garrett Bradbury is a former first-round pick who graded quite well against Detroit.

The hopes of the offensive line evolving into an elite unit rest on the shoulders of Darrisaw, who has the task of protecting Kirk Cousins's blind side. O'Connell believes his progression will take him near the top of the left tackle world.

"I’m just really excited about the trajectory he’s on as a player," O'Connell said. "[He's] just continuing to evolve and becoming one of the premier left tackles in football is where he’s headed.”