Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins had his fair share of pressures on Sunday, against the Atlanta Falcons. Though he attempted ten passes, the Vikings offensive line allowed five pressures to the Falcons, according to Peter Bukowski of SB Nation.
Though ten attempts is a small sample size, allowed 50% of passes to be pressured isn't a good sign for a Vikings line that struggled to protect Cousins in 2018.
Minnesota did work — despite significant cap constraints — to fix their offensive line in the 2019 offseason. Their first-round pick was invested in the group, as they opted to take Garrett Bradbury out of N.C. State, a center.
In his debut game, Bradbury didn't do too hot. According to 24/7 Sports' Jake Morley, Pro Football Focus graded the center at 35.1, worst in the NFL for Week 1. As Morley says, “Bradbury was an excellent mover coming out of NC State, but struggled to anchor.”
Bradbury didn't exactly have an easy task, however. In his first-ever NFL game, the Falcons used defensive tackle Grady Jarrett to torment the rookie center; he did just that. Next week, against the Green Bay Packers, he'll have to face defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who like Jarrett, may help introduce Bradbury to the league.
The Vikings have spent considerable assets fixing their line, including Bradbury. They added free agent right guard Josh Kline to the mix, as well as drafted Pat Elflein, Dru Samia, Brian O'Neill, among others in the last three years; the group, considering all the turnover, may take a few weeks to gel completely.
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