The Minnesota Vikings learned a harsh lesson in 2024 with their offensive line, and it was that despite how well it looked on paper, it needed some new pieces.
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah recognized the need and made some changes by waiving starting center Garrett Bradbury after signing the Colts‘ starter Ryan Kelly. He also added two new guards in the former Colt Will Fries and first-round pick in April’s draft, Donovan Jackson.
Advertisement
A recent article by PFF highlights the need for changes to the interior offensive line for the Vikings.
They highlighted each team’s achilles heel from the past couple of seasons, and for the Vikings, it was the Titans‘ monster defensive line monster, Jeffrey Simmons. They write, “Something about facing the Minnesota Vikings brings out the best in Tennessee’s Jeffery Simmons. He has played against them only twice, but he recorded the two highest single-game PFF pass-rush grades of his career in those outings: 92.6 in Week 11 of 2024 and 92.3 in Week 3 of 2020. In those matchups, Simmons generated 14 pressures and a 22% pass-rush win rate. The Vikings are surely glad they won’t face him and the Titans in 2025.”
In two career games against the Vikings, Simmons has nine tackles, one sacks, and four QB hits to his credit.
For the Vikings, they do not face Simmons in the regular season this season, but they do face off in the preseason. How much he plays in that matchup remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to see if the performances remain to be up to previous ones for the former Mississippi State Bulldog.
This article originally appeared on Vikings Wire: Which player has dominated the Vikings the most in recent years?