Fantasy Football: 8 Offensive Line Takeaways From 2016

The Vikings Are Ready for a Rebound

We can't really provide splits for the Minnesota Vikings with this guy or without that guy. Everybody was hurt right away, and things just got progressively worse as the season went along. It shows up pretty much no matter where you look in their advanced metrics.

We'll start with the sacks because poor Sam Bradford did not receive a warm welcome to the frigid north. The Vikings finished the season 29th in Sack NEP per drop back, which measures the expected points the team lost on sacks and divided by the total number of drop backs. This was despite a shift in offensive philosophy to favor short drops under offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, an attack you'd assume would help mask these shortcomings. Nope.

On the ground, the Vikings finished 2015 ranked third in Adjusted Rushing NEP per play. They were dead last this year, almost twice as bad on a per-carry basis as any other team in the league. Adrian Peterson lost over two touchdowns (-14.42 Rushing NEP) on just 37 carries, only nine of which increased the team's expected points for the drive.

The others in Jerick McKinnon and Matt Asiata were better, but not by much. It's just unfair to pin the blame on them when you consider what they were dealing with up front.

The Vikings started three different players at left tackle, three at left guard, two at center, two at right guard, and three at right tackle. It's hard to rack up that many injuries as is, and many of the healthy assets underperformed when they were on the field. It all sets up well for a solid rebound in 2017.

Despite the injuries up front and sacks, the Vikings finished 13th in schedule-adjusted passing efficiency. Bradford -- when he was able to throw the ball -- really wasn't bad, and the trio of Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, and Kyle Rudolph gives them the assets to excel through the air. If they can fix some things up front, this could be a fun offense to target in season-long drafts for 2017.