The process and personality behind Christian Darrisaw's success

EAGAN — Many years ago, we would have had a feeling that Christian Darrisaw was very good last season simply by watching him each Sunday but these days we can pinpoint just how exceptionally he played in 2022. Pro Football Focus graded him as the second best tackle in football, only behind NFL legend Trent Williams. He allowed just 20 pressures (12th best) and ranked as the third best run blocker in the game.

Darrsaw’s big leap in Year 2 gave the Vikings the franchise tackle they had been seeking for years during the previous regime. Now they enter 2023 feeling confident that the most important position on the offensive line is locked in.

Why did Darrisaw take that leap forward? How does he prepare? What about his personality makes him the player he has become?

On Wednesday afternoon, we sat down with Vikings offensive line coach Chris Kuper at TCO Performance Center to talk about how Darrisaw ascended to his elite status and the things we don’t see behind the scenes that will keep him there…

PURPLE INSIDER: Chris, when you arrived here Christian Darrisaw was still a major question mark. He showed flashes during his first season in 2021 but had an injury that kept him out of camp that held him back during his rookie year. Then last season became one of the best players in the NFL. What was your first impression of him when you got here? Did you know he was ready to ascend like that?

CHRIS KUPER: When I first got here I was watching the previous year’s tape and he sticks out on the film. But it doesn’t matter how talented you are, if you aren’t getting reps in training camp and you expect to just roll him there are going to be some growing pains. Last year I definitely saw that transition. Eight games is one thing but when you get 16, 24 games under your belt and you’ve seen all these different looks and responses from rushers and you start to feel comfortable with what you’re doing on a daily basis, that’s when you hone in on the craft. That’s a big part of a mantra in our room: Master your craft…. One thing about Christian is that he takes what he’s learns and applies it so quickly.

PI: What in your mind makes him such a force? Is it that he’s a rare athletic for a man of that size?

KUPER: The starting point for a left tackle is talent, athleticism, length, size — the stuff you need to get in the door. It gets you a job alone for a few years to have all that with your body. When a guy like Christian puts his head down and says, ‘I’m going to make my best effort to become a top tackle in the league,’ that’s when you see the transition to guys being elite. When you have a player that has all the talent in his body and is willing to put the work in, that’s when you get an elite talent.

PI: For a guy like Christian, how hard is that jump from college to playing in the NFL to becoming a big-time player when it comes to the preparation for playing against the best pass rushers in the world?

KUPER: I think you have to have someone show you how to watch film, to segment parts of the games. Meaning, we have these tools we can use in these downs and distances and there is a reason why we are watching this [part of the game]. If you just watch a whole game, it’s hard to put it all together. It’s our job as teachers to help with that. As a player, you are looking at the player across from you [and thinking], ‘the guy across from me really good, is he going to beat me?’ That’s human nature but how can I get guys to understand past that. How can I block him using this protection and this scheme?

PI: Can you take me through what a week of preparation looks like? Let’s say he’s facing Myles Garrett or TJ Watt, how would you approach that to help him get ready for such a difficult matchup?

[Assistant offensive line coach] Justin Rascati and I look for patterns in rushes. What does he like to do and how can we defend it? Especially if you’ve played a player multiple times, they know you and you know them. In that case the player knows more than I do because they are out there feeling it but that’s not usually the case, you’re usually playing a multitude of different players from other divisions that you might not have looked at for two years. My job is to give them the bullet points and practice the way that we want to play. Set them up in individual drills to block the guy they’re going to block and the way we want to block them for that game.

PI: So you have a different practice plan each week for each rusher he’s going to face?

KUPER: Players are different, this [D-linemen] is different from the guy you faced last week, he’s quicker or bigger or wider. There’s a bunch of things we have to process and yet minimize the overthinking at the same time so they are not thinking about all those things at once. This is the technique, these are the responses. Make those connections shorter through repetition, individual drills and doing it over and over.

PI: One thing that stands out to me about Christian is his personality. I remember Kirk saying that he didn’t even notice him in the huddle during his debut because he was so quiet. He’s laid back, calm and doesn’t seem to get too worked up. Do you feel like that plays to his advantage?

KUPER: You don’t want the ups and downs. You want them to stay even keeled throughout a game. That’s why you hear coaches say, ‘next play, next snap, next down.’ It’s hard for players to move on but the next play is going to be just as difficult. He does have that patience and mental mindset and it probably has a lot to do with his belief in himself and what he’s proven to himself that he can do. My job on a daily basis is to bring more and more out of him and as that grows, that’s when a player becomes elite... We talk about it all the time in our room. We can’t stack bad plays, bad practices.

PI: How about from your perspective, do you think you connect with these guys differently because you played the game? Are there things you can tell them that coaches without playing experience might not be able to say?

KUPER: I think so but it was a process of learning how to coach and how to teach first. Some people assume because you played that you know all this information. You might but how do you structure that and make a teachable program for players to follow? That’s where the secret sauce is when you become a coach. As a player you are looking at things selfishly because I’m blocking the guy across from me but I have to make sure that everybody understand who’s blocking and where the stress is.

As a former player, being able to say that I’ve been in the situations and I’ve felt how the blocks feel. As you go down the road, less and less are you able to do that. Can you make it palatable for the players without demonstrating at some point? I can say, ‘You know how you get stuck on this block and your hand is here, put your hand here.’ I’ve been in that situation so I can help. I also feel like I can push these guys outside their comfort zone because I’ve done it. But the game changes so fast. It’s a different game from when I played.