Vikings: Key Ingredients to a Winning Recipe in 2015

Dec 7, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings tackle Mike Harris (79) and guard Joe Berger (61) and center John Sullivan (65) and guard Vladimir Ducasse (62) prepare to block against the New York Jets in the third quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikings win 30-24. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

So far, a big theme of this post has been Teddy Bridgewater, and with good reason. Bridgewater is the brand new face of the franchise in Minnesota, and a large part of how the Vikings perform will be on him.

So, you can understand that protecting Bridgewater will be another important key to success in 2015.

In 2014, the Pro Football Focus ranked the Vikings offensive line as the 25th ranked pass blocking unit. This ranking won’t surprise too many people, as anybody that watched the Vikings last season would’ve noticed Bridgewater being pressured what seemed like every time he dropped back to pass. Left tackle Matt Kalil was horrendous for most of the season last year, and as the protector of Bridgewater’s blind side that’s a scary thought.

Here’s one example of something that happened all too often in 2014.

Now, Kalil was able to pick it up a little bit down the stretch last season, but he’ll have to be much more consistent. Besides Kalil, the Vikings should have center John Sullivan, guard Brandon Fusco and tackle Phil Loadholt back. These three are all fairly solid pass protectors, and hopefully they can stay healthy in 2015.

The left guard position is still a question mark for the Vikings after they released the underwhelming Charlie Johnson. One possibility is promoting backup David Yankey to the starting role. Although Yankey never saw any snaps in 2014, he was worked in the offseason to get stronger and has the talent and size needed to be a capable starting offensive lineman in the NFL. Additionally, the Vikings could draft a guy like Brandon Scherff in the first round of the NFL Draft who could play either left tackle or left guard.

Regardless of who’s playing on the offensive line, protecting Bridgewater will be important. While Bridgewater was actually phenomenal under pressure in 2014, he can’t be expected to keep that up in 2015. Additionally, any injury to Bridgewater would be a huge problem for the Vikings. There’s no doubt that protecting Bridgewater will be very important in 2015.

Next: 3. Improve the Run Defense