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          NFL Nation

          Vikings Twitter mailbag: Offensive line, Greenway and Jennings

          • Ben Goessling, ESPN Staff WriterOct 25, 2014, 08:00 AM ET
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            • Previously covered Vikings for St. Paul Pioneer Press
            • Also covered Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Wild and Washington Nationals
            • Twin Cities native and University of Minnesota graduate
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          EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Welcome back to the weekly Minnesota Vikings Twitter mailbag, which returns Saturdays after we took a break during the first part of the season. As always, you can tweet your questions with #VikingsMail throughout the week.

          @GoesslingESPN: Good morning, everyone. We'll get started here. Adrian Peterson's absence is an obvious factor in the Vikings' offensive struggles and might be the biggest single reason for why they've got the third-lowest scoring offense in the league. But it's far from the only factor. The Vikings' receivers haven't done a good enough job getting open. There's a rookie quarterback on the field who doesn't have a tight end (in Kyle Rudolph) that could help bail him out of trouble. And of course, a lot of this starts with an offensive line that hasn't protected Teddy Bridgewater effectively enough or opened enough holes for running backs. The difference with Peterson is, he's probably the one Vikings player who's good enough to overcome many of those problems by himself. There's no way the 2012 Vikings team -- with Christian Ponder at quarterback and a fairly unexceptional defense -- gets to the playoffs without Peterson carrying it there; the Vikings gave up at least 400 yards in all four games they won at the end of the season to reach the playoffs. We didn't get to see enough of Peterson to tell if he would have been as dynamic in this offense at age 29 as he had been in the past, but he'd certainly occupy enough attention to create more favorable matchups for everyone else. I'd put him at or near the top of a sizable list of reasons for the Vikings' offensive problems.

          @GoesslingESPN: No, and here's why: Jerick McKinnon gained 57 of his 103 rushing yards after contact Sunday, according to ESPN Stats & Information. On his 29-yard run, 24 of the yards came after contact. You can still give the offensive line credit for opening a hole big enough for him to get the first five, but McKinnon also had runs in which he had to bounce off his first hit at the line of scrimmage or in the backfield. We have to grade the offensive line's performance last Sunday on a curve, considering it was without its most consistent blocker (John Sullivan) and playing with a right guard (Mike Harris) who hadn't seen time there since youth football. But left tackle Matt Kalil and left guard Charlie Johnson -- playing in their third season together -- were again responsible for many of the lapses in pass protection, and right tackle Phil Loadholt got beat at key moments, as well. It's been too big of an issue to overlook, especially on a day when McKinnon had to do plenty to make things happen on his own.

          @GoesslingESPN: I can't see that for a couple reasons. First, Kalil is 6-foot-7 and has such a high metabolism that he struggles to keep weight on during the season. He wouldn't be an ideal fit to take the pounding typical of a guard, and I'm not sure he plays with the nastiness you often need at that position. More importantly, I don't think Kalil is at a point where we should be talking about a salvage job yet. He was a Pro Bowl tackle as a rookie, and he handled impressive pass-rushers down the stretch of that season as the Vikings reached the playoffs. Has he been disappointing this year? Yes. Is he at a point where he's incapable of turning things around? I don't believe so. That said, it needs to happen soon; the Vikings will have to make a decision before next season whether to pick up the fifth-year option on Kalil's contract.

          @GoesslingESPN: If Greg Jennings and Chad Greenway are back next season, it's possible both of them would have had to restructure their contracts. Greenway will be a free agent after next season, and the Vikings would save $7.1 million by cutting him. There would be benefit to keeping him with a young linebacking group, but with Gerald Hodges pushing him, he might need to give back some money in exchange for guaranteed money in his base salary, like he did this year. Jennings is an interesting case; he hasn't produced numbers anywhere near the level of his contract, but he's played with four quarterbacks in 22 games with the Vikings. He also showed Sunday he can still be an effective receiver when he has someone who trusts himself enough to deliver the ball. He's still a good route runner, and he, too, would be able to lead a young group at his position. But he's getting paid like a No. 1 receiver, and he's due to count $11 million against the cap next season. The Vikings would save $9 million by cutting him after June 1, so he could also be asked to restructure before a season in which he'll turn 32.

          That'll do it for this week, everyone. We'll be back with another edition next Saturday, and you can submit questions throughout the week in the meantime. Enjoy your Saturday!