Arguably the most controversial player on the Minnesota Vikings is right guard Ed Ingram.
The 59th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, he’s been a starter since day one and has struggled throughout his career. One of the things that has bothered people is his Pro Football Focus grades.
2022: 63 pressures, 57.0 overall grade: 42/54
2023: 42 pressures, 59.5 overall grade: 34/54
2024: 21 pressures, 51.8 overall grade: 56/59
The PFF grades haven’t been great for Ingram, but his play has been much better than that, something that I’ve written about multiple times, including after Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Ever since the bye week, Ingram is playing much better. He is handling stunts with more consistency and driving players back in the run game.
If Pro Football Focus grades are your thing, His pass blocking grades over the last three weeks have been improving steadily
vs. Lions: 64.8, 1 pressure
at Rams: 75.9, 2 pressures
vs. Colts: 77.6, 1 pressureI haven’t been a big fan of the PFF grades Ingram has earned throughout the year, but lately, they are finally starting to match the quality of his play. Before the bye, Ingram was charted with 17 pressures. In the three games since, he’s been charted with just four. The level of play has increased significantly and it will be a big help for the Vikings as they try to move forward towards a division title.
Kevin O’Connell praises Ed Ingram
Despite showing real improvement over the last three weeks as listed above, Ingram continues to get blamed for the issues on the interior of the Vikings’ offensive line, even if it’s not his fault.
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His improvement hasn’t gone unnoticed either, as head coach Kevin O’Connell praised him on the latest episode of X’s and O’s with Paul Allen on the Vikings’ YouTube channel.
“He’s been, from a play style standpoint, you start talking about putting it on tape of really coming off the rock, physicality, he’s probably a guy that uncoils as good as anybody we have. Really making a dent into fronts. I think him and BO (Brian O’Neill) have played a lot of football side by side, so they know, in those combinations, whether it is a zone combination, a gap combination, whether we’re going vertical or we’re going horizontal, whatever it is, those guys have a lot of time on task together.”
Ingram’s play-style is a really good shoutout, as it’s a really big factor with both his successes and failures. My comparison for Ingram is former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. He wants to punch you and knock you out rather than beat you in the clinch like a lot of linemen will do. When he hits right, Ingram is tremendous, but that does create a level of inconsistency, which is the one thing O’Connell wants him to improve on.
“Now ultimately, what we all want to see from Ed after 41 games is just consistency. The ability to do it snap in and snap out without any letdown is kind of the next step for him, and I think he’s very much capable of doing it, and I continue to look forward to seeing it.”
If you’ve been paying attention to Ingram over the last few weeks, you would have seen the growth. Over the last few weeks, the consistency with stunts has been there, which is a more than welcomed development.
Has Ed Ingram figured out how to pick up stunts consistently? pic.twitter.com/wzmc6RRcIA
— Tyler Forness (@TheRealForno) November 5, 2024
Playing offensive line is difficult and it can often take 2-3 years to fully develop and become the player that they will be. Ingram has had plenty of flaws, but the ability to move players in the running game has set him apart and why the Vikingsh ave stuck with him over putting in Dalton Risner.
The next few weeks will be critical for Ingram in continuing to establish himself as the player he’s proving himself to be: a quality starting guard in the National Football League.