VT Exclusive: Blake Brandel on His NFL Journey, Almost Catching a TD Pass, and What to Expect from #64

Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports.

Blake Brandel is the starting left guard for the Minnesota Vikings. So far, the assignment has been going well.

Originally, though, things began in a more modest manner. The No. 203 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Brandel came in alongside fourteen other players in a historically-large draft class for Minnesota. He began on the practice squad but eventually started getting some reps as a sophomore as a jumbo tight end — a 6th offensive lineman — in Klint Kubiak’s offense in 2021.

Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports.

In 2022, Kevin O’Connell took over as the team’s head coach (which is to say nothing of Chris Kuper becoming the offensive line coach). Brandel continued to work at his craft, earning some starts at left tackle when Christian Darrisaw needed to miss time.

Across the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Brandel was a bit of a utility player. Just as a baseball team needs someone who can jump into multiple positions, so, too, did Minnesota need someone capable of backing up the various positions along the offensive line. To that end, Mr. Brandel was the solution since he can play all five spots up front.

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports.

I spoke with him earlier in the week to learn a little more about his story. Below, the “KJ” portions represent my questions and the “BB” portions represent Blake Brandel’s answers.

The interview has been gently edited to iron out some of the minor blips. Otherwise, the full interview is included.

Enjoy.

VT Exclusive: Blake Brandel on His NFL Journey

KJ: At Vikings Territory, we’re pleased to be joined by Blake Brandel, the starting left guard for the Minnesota Vikings. Originally, he joined the team as a 6th-Round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft and has worked his way up from the practice squad into the starting lineup. During the offseason, he signed a three-year deal to stick around in Minnesota. Blake, thanks for agreeing to do the interview.

BB: Absolutely, great to talk to you guys.

KJ: OK, so I kind of wanted to start of, kind of like a rapid-fire, getting to know you questions. And I wanted to start off, I don’t know if you’ve heard these comments, but Wes Phillips has made comments about how he appreciates how large you are and how having a large guy inside at left guard kind of brings him great comfort. So I wanted to ask you, depending on where you look, you’re either 6’6” or 6’7”, listed at 315. Can you clarify the 6’6” versus 6’7” debate and also what’s your playing weight.

BB: Yeah, it’s probably 6’6” and a half, 6’6” and three quarters, so I think I’m technically 6’6”. I play, you know my weight fluctuates, but typically somewhere between 310-315 is kind of where I hover around, so yeah, it’s pretty spot on.

KJ: OK, fair enough. Now I was wondering, not to get like too tangled in the weeds or anything like that, I hear 6’6”, I hear 6’7”, it’s a bit more of a tackle’s build, it seems. And obviously you played left tackle in college. Are there ever any leverage issues going up against d-linemen?

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

BB: Yeah, I think that’s probably one of the first things you learn when you move inside. You’ve got typically shorter guys, stockier, more bigger guys, more powerful, so it is a leverage battle. But I think what I’ve learned is if you play low when you’re tall, it can really help. Standing guys up, kind of taking their power away, you’re able to get under guys that are maybe a little bit shorter than you, that’s always a challenge, but when you’re able to do it, I think it makes the position a little bit easier.

KJ: Yeah, OK. I wanted to ask you about your fellow offensive linemen because no offensive lineman exists in isolation. You kind of have to work with these other four dudes and if you don’t you’re going to kind of get in trouble in a hurry. So I was wondering if I could just list out your four starting offensive linemen beside you and if you could even give me a like one or two-word description for these guys. What do you think?

BB: OK, yeah, for sure. It may be a couple more or a few more than two, but I’ll try my best.

KJ: If you have to throw some hyphens in there to connect words, it’s all good. So let me just start you off on your left with Christian Darrisaw.

BB: Absolute beast. Freak. Monster. Also great guy.

KJ: Love it. Garrett Bradbury.

BB: Intelligent. Leader. Also I’d say a freak. And also a great guy.

KJ: Fair enough, OK. Ed Ingram.

BB: Ed we call the monster. Ed’s nickname is monster. Ed just absolutely can hound on people. Also a great guy, also smart.

KJ: Final one is going to be Brian O’Neill.

BB: Super technical. Great leader. Smart guy. Incredibly hard worker. Also an athletic freak.

KJ: So then final question during this rapid-fire, kind of getting-to-know-you thing, you kind of brought it up. You play on a team with Matt Daniels as the [special teams] coach, who’s kind of a nickname machine. Do you have a nickname?

BB: I do not have a nickname. Sometimes, my rookie year, I was called Beaver a lot ‘cause I went to Oregon State. The Oregon State Beavers. But, no, I typically just get called Blake or Brandel. No cool nicknames for me, unfortunately.

KJ: OK, well maybe I’ll put that out to the fans and if there’s any tremendous suggestions then they can send those out.

BB: Ha, love it.

KJ: OK, so would it be fair to say, you’re the starting left guard at this stage in your career, but would it be fair to say that your NFL career began modestly insofar as you come in as a 6th-Round selection, you’re part of a 15-person draft class during Covid, and you start out on the practice squad, I believe? And at that time, the Vikings had all kinds of offensive tackle depth. So basically I’m wondering, what’s your perspective when you first come into the NFL and what’s your objective as you first get going with the Vikings?

BB: Yeah, I think my mindset throughout my career has continued to just continuing to get better, progressing as a player, and you can do that multiple ways. Knowing the scheme, the techniques, taking care of your body, getting stronger, all that. If I had to describe my career to this point, it’s just been about getting better and improving. And you’re totally right, it’s been humble beginnings. It’s made it really gratifying starting on the practice squad and kind of working my way up to this spot, so it’s been an awesome experience. I’m incredibly grateful.

KJ: Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, to your left is Darrisaw and he’s a 1st-Round pick; to your right is Bradbury and he’s a 1st-Round pick. And then go a little bit further right and you’ve got Ingram and O’Neill and they’re both 2nd-Round dudes.

BB: Yeah.

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports.

KJ: And so, it is quite the journey, it’s, I don’t know, quite admirable, if I could say so. So I was wondering, with all that tackle depth, were you thinking early, “Hey, I need to kick inside” or were you thinking of yourself as an offensive tackle? Or what was your mindset?

BB: So, I saw myself as a tackle when I got here to Minnesota. And it was clear that we had a lot of tackle depth, we had a lot of good tackles. So as my rookie year went on, I just started trying other positions. My kind of goal for that first and second year was to eventually make the roster. So I knew what I was going have to do was probably learn how to play all five, so that meant snapping, playing guard, and playing both tackles. And I have great coaches around me who wanted me to succeed and helped me through that. So, I wasn’t afraid of a position change, and I knew it was something that I was probably going to have to be able to do, play multiple positions in order to get where I wanted to go.

KJ: Yeah, that’s fair enough. And, actually, not to disagree with you, but I wanted to, in a sense you kind of played six positions because I’m thinking back to 2021 and one of the most memorable Blake Brandel moments is where you’re the jumbo tight end. Do you remember the play I’m talking about with you and Tyler Conklin?

BB: Yeah, against the Chargers, I ran a crosser route and ran their guys into each other. I was really scared because I came open and I was afraid Kirk was going to throw me the ball. And I was like, “Oh, man, I can’t see him, I better catch this.” But lo and behold Conk came open and caught the ball. But, yeah, that was probably the highlight of my career, honestly, going out and running the route successfully.

KJ: I mean, that’s the offensive lineman’s dream, is it not?

BB: Absolutely. Yeah, don’t get me wrong, I was ready, but my heart was racing because we splashed those two guys onto each other and I broke open and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t see Kirk.” Looking back at the offensive line, great protection, but yeah we scored. That was awesome.

Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports.

KJ: And I don’t know if you, maybe you remember this, maybe you don’t, but there was a Chargers defender who was reaching up, was very, very close to tipping the ball away before Conklin could catch it. Do you remember who that is?

BB: I’m assuming it’s Jerry Tillery, it’s gotta be.

KJ: Yeah, that’s exactly right.

BB: That’s awesome.

KJ: Of course, now you’re teammates. I was fairly confident you would remember the moment well and I wanted to know, was there ever a world in which the ball could actually be thrown to you? Like when you’re doing install that week, are you actually catching the pass sometimes?

BB: Yeah, I remember they threw it to me during like a jog-through type situation and I caught it. But I was, to be clear, the last read and the last resort. Thankfully Kirk didn’t have to go deep into his progression and just threw it to Conk who I think was 1 or 2 on that progression. But yeah, don’t get me wrong, I was running out there with the intention of running a good route and then catching the ball. It just didn’t come my way, which I guess fortunately I was a little nervous going out there getting ready to catch it but I feel like I would have caught it as well.

KJ: Would you have hit the griddy if you have scored a touchdown? Did you have a touchdown dance?

BB: Yeah, I think that probably would have been a bust to hit the griddy. Probably a nice ball spike, we might have had something coordinated with the offensive line, I can’t fully remember. There was definitely going to be a celebration.

KJ: Yeah, I will say it would be remarkably bold of Klint Kubiak had you been the first read within that progression, so it makes sense with you explaining that you were the final read. Fair enough.

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports.

So I wanted to ask you a couple more questions here. Kevin O’Connell, [o-line coach] Chris Kuper, they take over in 2022. What’s kind of the initial meeting like? How are they kind of describing your role with the team?

BB: So I was a tackle when they got here, and that was kind of the plan all along, or at least to start, I should say. We went through OTAs and I took tackle reps. Year went on and I got some starts at tackle, it was my first time really getting on the field during the regular season, which was great.

As the year progressed, I started getting more reps inside. You take all those scout team reps, if you’re not a starter, you’re on the look team, and so just kind of continuing to progress. Like I was saying, I knew in order to stick around I was going to have to play multiple positions, so I started playing guard, started playing center. And just trying to show them that I was willing to kind of learn whatever it took in order for me to stick around and they were super helpful through that process, coaching me up and getting me better.

KJ: Can you maybe, again, not to get too tangled in the weeds, but can you maybe explain for the fans, it’s different footwork going from left to right. It’s different going against Dexter Lawrence as opposed to Danielle Hunter. So you’re prepping for maybe four and five positions, what kind of challenges go into that?

BB: Yeah, I mean, I think what you started with that might be the biggest challenge for most guys: playing more than one side. It sounds simple, but in reality it’s not like you’re just flipping your feet and saying OK everything is the same other than that.

I think most guys would agree that you’re a different player on one side than you are on the other. And that goes for any swing guy, any guy that’s had a ton of reps at both sides. I think that on the right side, there’s things I do better. Throwing my outside hand is a big thing in offensive line play and pass pro, I think I’m a better puncher with my outside hand on the right side whereas on the left I think it’s something I have to drill everyday. Things kind of come more naturally to you on each side. I thought that there were things I did better on the left side and there were things that I did better on the right side. It’s a constant challenge, you’re just constantly working on your craft.

And then, yeah, you’re also totally right in terms of it’s, you’re going against completely different body types. On the outside, you got these guys that are running 4.6 screaming off the edge, they’re quick, and they can spin inside, they can power you, they can dip around the edge. And then you work inside and you get more guys who are just trying to run straight down your face, they’ve got some quick twitch, too, but it’s a completely different body type and completely different type of player.

Yeah, with multiple positions you better do your studying and know what you’re going to get all throughout the line. Our coaches do a great job of communicating what we can expect from guys, but you’ve gotta watch a lot of film, you’ve gotta prepare.

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports.

KJ: So I got two more questions for you. Going back to Wes Phillips. Earlier in the offseason, he noted that he felt that you “earned this opportunity” to step into the starting lineup to be the left guard. Do you make note of those comments? What does that mean to you for the coaching staff to think, you know what, Brandel has fully earned this?

BB: It’s awesome. It’s something that I’ve worked really hard for. For them to kind of recognize that and have the trust in me to kind of go out and do my thing is awesome. But at the same time I always try to maintain my perspective of my first year here I was on the practice squad, it’s been a grind, it’s been a long process. And so not necessarily being comfortable, but also working everyday and continuing to try to improve because that’s, in reality, what got me to the position I’m in today. I always try to maintain my perspective but it’s awesome to hear that the coaches have trust in me to go out and play.

KJ: Alright, final question for you, Blake. You’re going to be heading to London here soon, you’re going to be taking on the Jets, a team that in some ways feels familiar to the Vikings just insofar as Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback. I’m not going to ask you for any bulletin board material or anything like that, but I just want to know for fans who are kind of, they read this piece and they’re thinking about #64 and they’re watching you on the field, what can they expect to see?

BB: Yeah, I think I try to focus on, first and foremost, on my assignment, my technique. It comes down to really being coachable, putting yourself in a position to succeed. Always trying to do that. And then I’m always going to play as hard as I can. That’s another important thing about offensive line play, there’s times where a guy gets on your edge, everyone gets beat in the NFL, there’s a lot of good players, but effort will get you out of a lot of bad situations. Just going out, playing the right way, trusting my coaching, trusting my technique. And then if someone does get on my edge, you’re going see me work my tail off to make it right.

KJ: Blake, thanks for doing this, man, and safe travels and good luck on Sunday morning.

BB: Absolutely, thank you very much.

Editor’s Note: Vikings Territory extends a sincere thanks to Blake Brandel for agreeing to do the interview. Fans can see the LG1 in action on Sunday morning at 8:30 CT when the Minnesota Vikings look to climb to 5-0 against the New York Jets.

K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.