Report: Christian Darrisaw to start at left tackle against Carolina

It took a little while, but it appears that the Minnesota Vikings’ first pick in the most recent NFL Draft is going to be right where he belongs on Sunday when the purple battle the Carolina Panthers.

Per Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Christian Darrisaw will be making his first ever start at left tackle this afternoon when the Vikings and Carolina kick things off in Week 6.

Darrisaw was limited for much of offseason activities and Training Camp as he recovered from a core muscle injury. That injury required a second surgery just before the start of the regular season, leaving Darrisaw inactive for the first three games of the year. He made his NFL debut in Week 4, seeing time on the field goal unit (which gave him one whole snap) and rotated with Rashod Hill in last week’s game against Detroit.

With Darrisaw officially in the fold, Hill will go back to being the swing tackle for the Vikings. He had plenty of issues in protection this season, particularly in the loss to Cleveland, but can still be a solid backup for both tackle spots as a short-term fix.

We’ll be looking forward to seeing how Christian Darrisaw performs today, as Carolina’s front seven is very solid across the board. It’s a bit of a trial by fire for the 23rd overall pick, but it’s something that we’re quite happy to see.