Luke Braun's Film Room: Ed Ingram, Dalton Risner, And The Vikings' History Of Overthinking It

The Vikings started Dalton Risner over Ed Ingram in their win over the Tennessee Titans last Sunday. Luke Braun goes over the film to see if that decision made any sense

Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images

September of 2014 was a whirlwind of Minnesota Vikings history. On September 7th, Mike Zimmer debuted with a 34-6 dismantling of the Rams on the road. Five days later, that high violently collapsed. News broke of Adrian Peterson’s child injury indictment, ultimately landing him on the Commissioner's Exempt list for the rest of that season. The legacy of one of the most electrifying Vikings of all time would never be the same.

After that, Tom Brady and the Patriots handed them a 30-7 sandblasting, and the road ahead didn’t get any easier. The Vikings, still sore from their 2009 playoff run and reeling, would travel to the Superdome where starting QB Matt Cassel’s foot would explode, ending his season and thrusting rookie Teddy Bridgewater into action. 

There was a lot going on. You’d be forgiven if you forgot about the other crucial domino that would fall in that week 3 loss to New Orleans. Brandon Fusco, the final piece of a well-regarded Vikings offensive line, tore his pectoral. 

He’d get season-ending surgery, which gave the Vikings a problem up front. You could argue it still hasn’t been solved.

The 2014 Vikings swapped between Vladimir Ducasse and Joe Berger while the offensive line continued to deteriorate. Players started, switched sides, moved positions, got benched, and got hurt. From David Yankey and Mike Harris through Jeremiah Sirles and Tom Compton, the Vikings haven’t been able to get a group to stick together.

Some of this could be chalked up to unforced error. After Fusco got healthy, the Vikings moved him to left guard. Everyone regretted it. They signed Alex Boone to a four-year, $28.6 million deal and cut him after the next camp. They signed Mike Remmers as a tackle where he played well, moved him inside to guard, then cut him.

They’re closer than they ever have been. Since Christian Darrisaw took over for Rashod Hill in 2021, he’s been one of the best left tackles in football. Garrett Bradbury, Ed Ingram and Brian O’Neill have each held their jobs down since their rookie seasons. At least until this last game.

So far in 2024, the Vikings’ offensive line has been more of a strength than a weakness, even after Christian Darrisaw’s season-ending knee injury. But it isn’t without its drama. Cam Robinson had to take the mantle on the fly after the Vikings scrambled to trade for him. Now, eleven weeks into the season, the Vikings pulled right guard Ingram and slotted in Dalton Risner, who spent most of the season on short-term IR. 

It’s the latest in a long line of controversies on the interior, but now it has come to fruition. Is it a solution or another unforced error?

We’ve Been Here Before

In 2021, Vikings fans grew weary of Bradbury. In his third year, the undersized center still struggled in pass protection often enough to become Public Enemy #1 on the line. Similarly to Ed Ingram, fans started to wonder if a better solution couldn’t be found elsewhere in the building.

Mason Cole, a cast-off trade acquisition from the Arizona Cardinals, served as his backup. There’s a decent chance you wanted him to go in well before he did. Bradbury missed a few games in November on the COVID-19 Reserve list, giving Cole every opportunity to take the job.

Looking at today’s roster, you can guess how it went.

Bradbury returned to the lineup on the first game of December and has held the role ever since. The Vikings went through all of training camp with Bradbury as the starter and Cole as the backup. It shouldn’t be too surprising that the backup didn’t sustainably outplay the starter.

Whether it was Dru Samia replacing Pat Elflein, T.J. Clemmings replacing Matt Kalil, or Cole replacing Bradbury, we’ve seen plenty of these stories before. It shouldn’t be taken as a given that the guy riding the pine is any better than the guy he couldn’t beat out in camp.

On the other hand, sometimes a Brian O’Neill is waiting in the wings behind a struggling Rashod Hill. The only way we have to understand which side of the coin we’ve fallen on this time is to examine the tape.