The play of right guard Ed Ingram has been a consistent source of ire for Vikings fans through the first month of the 2023 season. After giving up more pressures than any other offensive lineman in the league as a rookie, Ingram's 14 pressures allowed this season are fourth-most among guards. He also notably knocked the ball out of Kirk Cousins' hands for a lost fumble in the season opener, which was reminiscent of the two times he stepped on Cousins' feet last year.
Although the Vikings went out and signed free agent guard Dalton Risner a couple weeks ago, they've stuck with Ingram in the starting lineup since then — and his run-blocking ability has been part of the team's turnaround in that area.
This week, offensive coordinator Wes Phillips was asked about Ingram's play and praised his improvement. He also noted that fans may not know how to evaluate offensive line play, so they latch onto narratives and then any negative play for someone like Ingram gets amplified.
"I think Ed has continued to improve and learn from some of the not-as-positive plays," Phillips said. "The thing with offensive line in general, and you see it throughout the league, once a narrative is created — and this can be true with any position, but especially offensive line — a lot of people, fans, per se, don't always know how to evaluate the offensive line position. So it's, 'Hey, this guy can't play.' So everything they do gets magnified. And that's just what you have to live with in those instances. What I've been proud of him, our offensive line in general (for), is blocking out the noise and just going to work and trying to improve every day.
"There are going to be times when every offensive lineman in this league gets edged on a block, gets beat by Chris Jones, right? Those things are going to get highlighted when it's already been a talking point. But I really believe that our offensive line has continued to improve. I thought they had their best game as a five-man group last week that they've had, as far as both run game and protection. There were a lot of good pockets in there, where we had some time to get through some progressions. I just think they're just becoming more cohesive as we go."
Phillips has a point: Most fans, and even media members, don't fully know what they're looking at when it comes to evaluating offensive linemen. There's more that goes into it than just looking at PFF grades, although those can tell some of the story. There are real football reasons why the Vikings have kept Ingram on the field and Risner on the sidelines thus far.
At the same time, it's also not a ridiculous position to criticize Ingram's play, as long as you also acknowledge the things he does well. It doesn't take an offensive line expert to see that Ingram has struggled mightily in pass protection over the first 22 games of his career. You don't have to know football at all to know a lineman isn't supposed to knock the ball out of their quarterback's hands.
Ingram hasn't been good as a pass blocker, but he's still young and could theoretically improve. He has been good as a run blocker, especially over the last couple weeks. The reality of the situation is that he'll need to play fairly well moving forward to keep his job, with Risner and maybe Blake Brandel waiting in the wings.
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