Vikings add necessary upgrade to offensive line with Riley Reiff

Tackle Riley Reiff is expected to sign with the Minnesota Vikings, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The ex-Detroit Lion will play on a new team for the first time during his five-year career.

Reiff was selected in the first round of the 2012 draft by the Lions as a left tackle. He took over as the team’s full-time starter on the left side of the line in 2013, and started nearly every game over a three-year span. He moved over to right tackle last season after the Lions used their first-round pick on Taylor Decker last spring.

He proved to be a solid right tackle last season and was one of the better players on the Lions’ awful offensive line in 2016. He was average at best, though, and was overall terrible at times.

Reiff will join an offensive line that, just like the Lions, had its struggles in 2016. Vikings GM Rick Spielman said fixing the offensive line, which started eight different combinations last season, was a big priority.

“‘What are we doing right or wrong with this offensive line, and how do we get it addressed?’ That was the whole focal point on a lot of the studies and a lot of the analytics that I’ve been doing since the end of the season,” Spielman said last week. “So now I know specifically what we may try to do in free agency or what we may try to do in the draft.”

The first step was adding Reiff. He will most likely move back to left tackle with the Vikings, stepping into the position left behind by Matt Kalil as Minnesota hopes to improve the unit in heading into next season.