The Vikings' offensive line had its share of critics last season with new starting center John Sullivan and right guard Anthony Herrera seeming to be the most frequent targets.

However, Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports recently ranked the NFL's offensive lines and, with an assist from www.FootballOutsiders.com, the Vikings finished a respectable 11th.

That put them ahead of all their NFC North foes. Chicago ranked 21st, Green Bay's was 23rd and Detroit was 26th. But that didn't mean the Yahoo! Sports/Football Outsiders critique was all positive.

The paragraph from Yahoo! Sports on the Vikings read: "The Vikings were ranked surprisingly low last season in both running efficiency (No. 20) and pass blocking (No. 14). The biggest problem is that left tackle Bryant McKinnie has gone through a terrible regression. The fact that he made the Pro Bowl last year is almost a joke, to say nothing of how disgraceful he acted when he got to Miami for the game and eventually got kicked off the team. Guard Steve Hutchinson is still something special with his ability to pull and hold up the point of attack. He may be the best guard since John Hannah, and that's saying a lot."

The Vikings hope is that Sullivan will be improved after a year of starting and Herrera will show progress after being able to concentrate on improving his game this offseason. Last year, Herrera spent much of his offseason rehabbing a shoulder injury after he underwent surgery. As for McKinnie, the Vikings likely are just hoping he stays away from Twitter as much as possible.

The top 10 offensive lines were New Orleans, New England, Baltimore, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, New York Jets, New York Giants, Indianapolis and Dallas.