[OC] Season in Review: Darrisaw's Impact

In Week 5, they mixed Darrisaw in against the Detroit Lions and then the following week in his first start put him up against one of the NFL’s best pass rushers Brian Burns. He allowed one hurry, zero QB hits and zero sacks in 53 pass blocking snaps, per PFF.

“That was a challenge, for sure,” Darrisaw said. “I’m way more prepared now.”

Being more prepared for, say, Week 1’s opposing pass rusher Rashan Gary, starts with his daily battles with Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith.

“Getting these reps out here every day, it’s a blessing. Some teams don’t have those two premier pass rushers for the tackles to practice against. Having [Smith and Hunter], going against them every day it’s great work, it’s real reps like what you’re going to see every Sunday. You’re going to have that top rusher and you got the work in during practice so when the games come it’s easier, it’ll slow down for you.”

Smith in particular has raised the bar for Darrisaw in practice. He isn’t much different on the TCO Performance Fields than on Lambeau Field, where he tortured the Vikings in past years. Darrisaw is now on the other side of his relentless pass rushes over and over during practice.

“There’s no day when I can come out here and be like, ‘Oh I can slack off blocking him,’ you know you have to bring it every rep,” Darrisaw said. “Having that challenge, winning the reps, losing the reps, we’re making each other better.”

Darrisaw also comes into this year understanding how to prepare himself mentally for each freakshow defensive end he’s going to face. In college he began studying pass rushers and NFL offensive tackles when COVID locked everyone down but over the last year he has developed a process for analyzing the opposition. He watches the edge rusher’s pressures and breaks down how he won, which moves he used and where he lined up. Was he set up wide or tight to the formation? Which foot was forward?

“It’s about finding those little things in the game that you can take away and saying, ‘OK I know what he’s about to do right here,’ so there’s no curveballs coming,” Darrisaw said.

He also looks at how other tackles beat a particular pass rusher. How did they set? What angles did they take? How did they counter moves. He takes note of everything he sees. Head coach Kevin O’Connell said that his diligence shows.

“I think it’s an underrated thing we don’t talk about enough – the game makes sense to him,” O’Connell said. “He’s not one of those guys that needs to be told every little thing, every little adjustment. He naturally sometimes just does things based upon the right play – the smart way to hit a block, how to pass off a stunt – just understanding how we want to execute in the screen game, the play-pass game. I couldn’t be more excited about where he’s at right now.”

In total, Darrisaw got 398 pass blocking snaps and allowed 22 total pressures, which ranked 35th of 57 tackles in pass blocking efficiency (per PFF), only slightly behind the top-pick tackle Penei Sewell.

“I like what I’ve seen from him so far,” Hunter said before Monday’s night practice. “He took a big leap from Year 1 to Year 2. Definitely not the same player he was last year. He’s above and beyond what we’ve seen from practice. That’s big time right there because…the potential for him, it’s limitless. He’s going to keep improving as a player.”

If Darrisaw can approach his “limitless” potential in Year 2, the Vikings might make a case for having one of the best tackle combos in the NFL and the offense would suddenly have a weapon at left tackle for the first time in a long time. They can simply dial things up for Darrisaw that they couldn’t with an average player at that spot.

“It benefits you on just about every play,” offensive coordinator Wes Phillips said of having a left tackle with Darrisaw’s physical ability. “When you’re talking about pass protection, his ability to anchor, his ability to pull if we want to run crack scheme type of plays where he’s pulling around, his ability to cut off a 3-technique on the back side of a zone play. There’s a lot of tackles who have a hard time of getting there.”

Getting there is the right way to categorize where Darrisaw stands. It’s true that potential only means you haven’t done anything yet but the Vikings’ second-year tackle is having a training camp that suggests he’s headed in that direction.

“It’s been fun,” Darrisaw said — several times.

Cherry marveled at her son’s willingness to lift weights, even when he was away from his teammates. She also was impressed by his attentiveness to what he ate. Darrisaw transformed from a tall, skinny kid into a big-bodied man the size of a refrigerator.

In Darrisaw’s case, however, he was a refrigerator that could change directions. That could sink down into his hips. That could do everything you’d want from the man whose primary job is to protect the quarterback. This wasn’t a coincidence; Darrisaw, Cherry said, researched the Washington metropolitan area on his own to find a coach to help with his footwork.

One year, at a football banquet in front of the team’s players and parents, Nettles said he believed that Darrisaw would play on Sundays.

“That’s how much he believed in Christian,” Cherry said.

It’s also a reflection of how confounded Nettles was by Darrisaw’s college recruitment.

“Originally, I had concerns of whether or not he was physical,” Vice said. “Because he was always in the perfect posture: hands up, hips down, feet and ground. It was perfect.”

Essentially, too perfect.

“His temperament is a skill to me,” Nettles said. “I honestly believe his ability to maintain the highs and lows, know when he messes up, acknowledges it, is something everybody doesn’t have.”

Before the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Vikings staff interviewed Darrisaw not in person but on Zoom.

In the Vikings’ eyes, there were a couple of themes evident in the responses of the now 6-foot-5, 314-pound tackle: He’s intelligent and he’s soft-spoken.

“That may be another misperception of him,” Spielman said. “Because some asked, ‘Is he a grinder and finisher?’ When you talk to him, he’s a soft-spoken guy. But when he plays, there’s a different switch that comes on in him.”

The Vikings trusted this sentiment leading into draft night. Minnesota initially had the 14th pick but traded down to No. 23 because Darrisaw started sliding. Spielman did, however, attempt to trade back up so the Vikings could be sure to get Darrisaw.

“We couldn’t get a trade done,” Spielman said. “As hard as we were trying.”

They sat waiting anxiously, and when the Indianapolis Colts selected Michigan edge rusher Kwity Paye at No. 21, they breathed.

“The year before, Justin (Jefferson) fell,” Spielman said. “We felt just as fortunate when Darrisaw fell.”

Healthy as he entered his second year in the NFL, the now 23-year-old earned rave reviews from fellow linemen including Trent Williams, who met Darrisaw in person during the preseason joint practices between the Vikings and 49ers.

“He’s a great kid,” Williams told reporters. “He’s open and willing to learn. We know he’s physically gifted.”

Through five weeks of the regular season, Darrisaw has backed up the hype with his play. He has not allowed a sack. His 82.5 PFF grade ranks fourth among all tackles in the NFL.

Darrisaw’s motivation through it all?

“Being underrecruited,” he said. “Proving everyone who thought wrong, wrong.”