The Minnesota Vikings are reeling after losing two games in five days. The defense—the Vikings’ strong suit during the first five games of the season—has faltered in a big way the last two weeks. Quarterback Sam Darnold has started to show cracks in his armor, and perhaps worst of all, the Vikings lost Christian Darrisaw for the season.
Late in the first half of the Vikings’ loss to the Rams, Darrisaw was injured when the Vikings handed the ball off to running back Aaron Jones to get out of their own endzone and Rams’ safety Jaylen McCollough fell into Darrisaw’s knee. That collision resulted in Darrisaw tearing his ACL and MCL, and leaves the Vikings with a huge hole to fill along the offensive line.
Just how they go about filling that hole remains to be seen, but one NFL analyst is suggesting the Vikings look to a former division rival as the answer. In their weekly column at Bleacher Report, NFL analyst Matt Holder suggests the Vikings sign former Chicago Bears left tackle Charles Leno.
The Vikings should be plenty familiar with Leno and his game, as the left tackle spent seven seasons with the Bears before being released in 2021 and spending three seasons with the Washington Commanders.
Leno has yet to sign with a team and play in the 2024 season, but last season with the Commanders, Leno gave up just 34 pressures in more than 600 snaps of pass protection at left tackle, and allowed just three sacks on the season. Those numbers led Leno to a PFF grade of 72.5 that season, making Leno a strong option for a team suddenly looking at a major hole in their offensive line.
