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Judd Zulgad breaks down multiple Minnesota Vikings storylines, including miscues with Nick Mullens and Ty Chandler as RB1.
Nick Mullens became the fourth starting quarterback this season for the Minnesota Vikings when he took over last Saturday for an overtime loss in Cincinnati.
Despite throwing two crucial interceptions in Bengals’ territory in the opening half, coach Kevin O’Connell said he saw enough to stick with the veteran for Sunday’s game against Detroit.
But is there anything that could change that? Let’s examine that issue, and a few others, in this edition of four-and-out.
The Minnesota Vikings could be in for a quarterback change. Judd Zulgad examines what that means heading into the bye week.
The Minnesota Vikings’ bye week promises to be anything but quiet for head coach Kevin O’Connell. While players will have the week off, O’Connell will be making a decision on who will be his starting quarterback when the Vikings resume the season a week from Sunday in Las Vegas.
Starter Kirk Cousins was lost to a season-ending Achilles’ injury in Week 8 at Green Bay and while Joshua Dobbs was a great story in his first two appearances with the Vikings, he has six turnovers in the past two games. Dobbs had a fumble and an interception in a loss at Denver and threw four picks in Monday night’s loss against Chicago.
O’Connell gave no assurances Dobbs would keep the starting job after that game or during his press conference on Tuesday. So who will get the start against the Raiders?
Let’s examine the situation.
From @jzulgad: Free agency might be six weeks away, but it’s never too early to start having conversations about who the Vikings should sign
The NFL season has yet to come to a conclusion, but that hasn’t stopped football’s version of the Hot Stove from heating up with speculation about what teams might do and where free agents could be headed.
The process doesn’t officially start until March 15, so much of the talk is focused on Senior Bowl practices and the prospects for the April 27-29 draft in Kansas City. Free agency scuttlebutt will take off later this month when the NFL Combine is held in Indianapolis.
That’s where team executives and agents have been known to have conversations involving players who are still under contract. Some call that tampering, but we here at Vikings Wire refer to it as good old-fashioned fun.
We also figure why wait until the combine to begin speculating on whom the Vikings might target. The Vikings are expected to part ways with a few veterans to open cap space, so who might replace them?
Pro Football Focus and ESPN (subscription) both published their lists of the top 50 free agents. Some of these players could have the franchise tag put on them or return to their current team, but many will sign elsewhere.
Here’s a look at whom the Vikings could target, focusing on the positions at which they could use help.
With the Vikings’ defense in shambles, @jzulgad looked into who was to blame and how to fix this paltry unit
Could Ed Donatell return as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator in 2023?
Coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t give Donatell a vote of confidence on Wednesday at his season-of-season press conference, but he also didn’t say that Donatell was one-and-done in Minnesota.
“That is an ongoing process that is continuing as we speak and will continue throughout the rest of this week,” O’Connell said of his coaching staff. “I think it’s important to do, and I think after the success we had this year and coming up short of where we ultimately wanted to get to. I think it’s the right thing to do and I’ll make sure I go through that thorough process in doing so.”
Despite winning their first NFC North title since 2017 with a 13-4 record, the Vikings finished next to last in the NFL in total defense and were near the bottom of the league in scoring defense. Things didn’t improve in the playoffs as Minnesota gave up 431 yards in a 31-24 first-round loss to the New York Giants last Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.
So what were the problems, and more importantly, what are the solutions? Let’s take a look.
From @jzulgad: The Vikings don’t look primed for a playoff run, they are in danger of an early exit
The Vikings had plenty to play for late Sunday afternoon against the Packers at Lambeau Field. Minnesota already had clinched the NFC North title with 12 wins, but after the Eagles lost to the Saints in an early-afternoon game, the possibility of finishing with the top seed in the NFC increased. The Vikings also had a chance to put an end to Green Bay’s playoff hopes.
What a perfect way to ring in 2023.
It looked as if the Vikings were eager to do exactly that when Josh Metellus blocked Pat O’Donnell’s punt early in the first quarter to give Minnesota the ball at the Packers’ 1-yard line. What no one could have guessed was that would be the highlight of the day for the visiting team. After losing a yard on three plays, Greg Joseph kicked a 21-yard field goal to give the Vikings a 3-0 lead.
Keisean Nixon returned Joseph’s subsequent kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown and the Vikings were never again in the game. The Packers’ 41-17 victory — which included 14 garbage-time points from the Vikings — was the second time this season the Vikings have embarrassed themselves. The first was a 40-3 loss to Dallas on Nov. 20 at U.S. Bank Stadium.
“I think it just comes down to the fact that when we’ve lost lopsided games, we’ve directly contributed to those,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said when asked for his thoughts on the one-sided losses. “The score can get out of hand in a hurry when you turn it over for touchdowns the other way, you give up a 100-yard kickoff return, you don’t score when you block a punt and end up on their 1-yard line and come away with three.
This game is a momentum-based game and when you turn the football over, you do not sustain drives offensively, eventually it’s just too much for your team to overcome. That’s where we’ve got to find ways in all phases of our team to do whatever we can to limit the momentum being that avalanche that has tended to happen when a couple of these games have gotten away from us.”
The margin of defeat Sunday might not have been as bad as it was against the Cowboys, but the loss might have been worse given the timing and the opponent. For much of the season, it looked like the power in the NFC North had shifted from Green Bay to Minnesota. But Sunday will only strengthen the argument for those who think the Packers are getting hot at the right time and the Vikings were never really that good.
The Packers are 8-8 and remain in contention for the seventh and final playoff spot in the conference. The Vikings fell to 12-4, the same record as the San Francisco 49ers have after edging the Las Vegas Raiders in overtime. San Francisco, which closes its regular season against the 4-12Arizona Cardinals next Sunday, holds the tie-breaker on the Vikings and is almost certain to finish ahead of Minnesota.
The Vikings will play the 3-13 Bears next week in Chicago and could consider resting starters with the expectation it’s unlikely the 49ers will lose to the Cardinals. Resting key guys for an opening-round playoff game at U.S. Bank Stadium might make the most sense.
This will mean the final memory of these players before the postseason won’t be their 11 one-score wins, or the resilience they have shown in various games, including an NFL-record 33-point second-half comeback against the Indianapolis Colts in mid-December. Their last memory will be of a one-sided loss to their arch-rival in which the Vikings were intimidated both mentally and physically.
Justin Jefferson, who had 184 yards receiving and two touchdowns in the Vikings’ 23-7 victory over the Packers in Week 1, finished Sunday with one catch for 15 yards. He did not have a reception in the first half.
Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander called Jefferson’s success in Week 1 “a fluke” and then, as part of Green Bay’s coverage plans on the receiver, went about backing up his words. Alexander broke up a pass for Jefferson in the first quarter and then copied Jefferson’s “Griddy” dance in front of him.
If the Vikings had any confidence before that, it was gone. Jefferson’s frustration was obvious and he wasn’t the only one. Cousins threw one touchdown and three interceptions, including a pick that was returned 75 yards for a touchdown by safety Darnell Savage.
Cousins also lost a fumble before being replaced by backup Nick Mullens in the fourth quarter. Joseph, who hit a franchise-record 61-yard field goal to give the Vikings a walk-off win last week against the Giants, missed field-goal attempts of 46 and 50 yards in the first half. In other words, the Vikings might have a kicking problem at the worst time.
That’s only a start. There were plenty of other poor performances and a finger must be pointed at O’Connell for not having his team prepared. O’Connell’s concerns will go beyond Sunday’s performance. Standout right tackle Brian O’Neill suffered a calf injury in the first quarter and did not return. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI and, for now, will be replaced by Oli Udoh.
Backup center Austin Schlottmann suffered a broken fibula in the first quarter and was replaced by veteran Chris Reed, who struggled to get on the same page with Cousins. Starting center Garrett Bradbury has missed four games because of back injury and the Vikings likely will hold him out until the playoffs.
The loss of Bradbury or O’Neill in the postseason would be a significant blow to the line. If both are sidelined, it’s hard to see the Vikings winning more than one game and this once-magical season might be a one-and-done.
Of course, if the Vikings put forth a performance as they did against the Cowboys or Packers, or, for that matter, the first half of the Colts game, then their early exit from the playoffs will be richly deserved.
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com
From @jzulgad: The Vikings defensive coordinator has his head buried so far into what he wants to do that it’s clouding his judgement
Kevin O’Connell has made it clear since being hired as the Vikings’ coach in February that accountability will be key, that responsibility for any problems that arise falls on leadership and that adaptability is of the utmost importance.
So how on earth did he end up hiring Ed Donatell as his defensive coordinator?
The simple answer is that as the Broncos’ defensive coordinator the past three seasons under defensive-mastermind Vic Fangio, Donatell watched his boss run a 3-4 scheme that O’Connell thought would be perfect for his new team. In part that’s because Fangio’s scheme often caused problems for the offensive-minded O’Connell, who was the coordinator for the Rams.
What O’Connell must not have missed in the interview process is that the 65-year-old Donatell’s playbook includes the old “bury your head in the sand,” call. Three days after the Vikings’ defense gave up 464 yards in an ugly 34-23 loss to the Detroit Lions, Donatell put the blame for the Vikings’ issues more on execution than scheme.
This came after O’Connell talked a few times this week about the need for improvement and the role coaching plays in making immediate improvements. It wasn’t too hard to read between the lines and figure out O’Connell wanted Donatell to get his act together.
The head coach wasn’t wrong. The Vikings have given up 400-plus yards in a franchise record five consecutive games, they have the NFL’s worst total defense when it comes to yards allowed (403.7 per game), are also last in pass defense (287.2), rank 16th in run defense (116.5) and are 25th in scoring defense (24.1 points per game).
There needs to be an urgency to get this fixed that borders on a crisis situation. Donatell, however, spent Thursday preaching patience with a dose of Pollyanna mixed in. “Eventually we’ll be there,” he said. “We know what we’re doing and how to do it.”
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Really? Could have fooled those of us who watched Sunday’s game, or the Dallas game, or any other game where yards came far too easily. And that doesn’t even get to the eventually part. There are four, four!, regular-season games left and the Vikings are sitting at 10-3 and on the verge of clinching the NFC North.
So does that mean Donatell’s defense will start to click in three weeks, or in the playoffs, or next season after an upset loss in the first round that was the result of another defensive meltdown?
Is this the assurance he gave O’Connell, who clearly realizes the need for immediate improvement? The Vikings are having the type of season that can’t be counted on to repeat itself, and Donatell sounds like a guy who is a coordinator for a six-win team that is hoping for better luck next year.
The biggest issue with Donatell’s “it’s the execution and not the scheme” stance is that it puts the onus on the players. The insinuation being that his players aren’t doing a good enough job. The problem with that is the Vikings are 13 games into their season and if the players aren’t executing the scheme than significant adjustments should already have been made.
It’s also not comforting to know that Donatell is running a scheme because O’Connell’s admiration for Fangio caused him to hire the guy who knows the guy who was the brains behind the operation.
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The argument from the apologists will be that it’s far too late to overhaul the scheme. That is true, but nobody is asking Donatell for an overhaul. What would be nice is in-season adjustments — something that is common during an NFL season — that would put the Vikings’ best defensive players in a position to succeed.
This defense isn’t bereft of talent. That talent pool includes former Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter, who has seven sacks in 13 games and is being employed more as an outside linebacker in the 3-4 look.
Hunter, who still plays with his hand on the ground in certain looks, was one of the NFL’s best defensive ends before missing most of the past two seasons because of injuries. But the 28-year-old has been healthy this year and still puts out favorable grades, according to Pro Football Focus.
The issue is that Hunter has only two sacks in the past five games, including none in the past two, and far too often goes lengthy stretches without making a noticeable play. “I think he’s getting more comfortable every week,” Donatell said. “It’ll take the whole year. Standing up and playing in our base is a little new to him, still…”
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New to him? Thirteen games in? Donatell is saying that Hunter still isn’t comfortable in the scheme and — unless you think Hunter can no longer play — the answer making sure he was put in a role to be comfortable weeks ago.
Donatell’s thoughts on his defense are very close to what Brad Childress said back in 2006, when the team’s offense was struggling late in the season and there were some questions about the West Coast scheme the first-year head coach had employed with the Vikings. “I know it’s a kick-ass offense when it’s executed properly,” Childress said at the time.
What Childress ignored then, and Donatell is ignoring now, is that it’s up to the coach and coordinators to marry their schemes with the personnel they are given. The Vikings had several defensive starters back this season and, thus, it was up to Donatell to make sure that his scheme worked for those players.
Unfortunately, he has failed and preaching patience for a team that has increased expectations seems like another losing call.
Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com
From @jzulgad: Stefon Diggs was right all along and it’s allowed Justin Jefferson to blossom into an MVP candidate
The Associated Press has named an NFL MVP since 1957, and because the NFL doesn’t have its own MVP honor, this is the one that’s considered the most prestigious when it comes to recognizing the best regular-season performer.
The night before the Super Bowl the award — which is voted on by a panel of 50 sportswriters — will be given out for the 66th time. There have been co-MVPs on two occasions so that makes it 67 winners. This includes 18 running backs, a defensive tackle (the Vikings’ Alan Page in 1971), a linebacker (the Giants’ Lawrence Taylor in 1986) and, believe it or not, Washington kicker Mark Moseley in 1982.
The other 46 MVPs were all quarterbacks. The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers is coming off back-to-back MVP seasons and quarterbacks have won the past nine times. The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is the current favorite. The last time a non-QB won was in 2012 after the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson rushed for 2,097 yards.
Amazingly, a wide receiver never has been recognized as MVP. Not Jerry Rice, not Larry Fitzgerald, not Randy Moss and not Cooper Kupp, who did receive one vote last season after leading the NFL with 145 receptions for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. It was one of the best seasons ever by a wide receiver, earned him AP Offensive Player of the Year award, and he got one stinking MVP vote. (There will be changes in how the AP does the MVP voting this year.)
The acceptance that wide receivers, more important than ever in today’s game, should simply be happy with being named Offensive Player of the Year is preposterous. It will be even more asinine if the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson and Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill aren’t given serious consideration this year. Hill leads the NFL in receptions (87) and yards (1,233) and is tied with Jefferson for the league lead in catches for more than 20 yards (21).
Jefferson is 1 yard behind Hill and is third in the league 81 receptions. Vikings followers don’t get to see Hill on a regular basis, but watching Jefferson has provided an appreciation for him. Jefferson provides a highlight-reel catch or two each week — a one-handed grab in Buffalo, at least two ridiculous receptions last Thursday against New England — and continues to put his name in the NFL record book for a wide receiver in his third season.
Kirk Cousins has been very good this season, and his ability to lead fourth quarter comebacks is a far more important than the fact his overall stats are down. Cousins can put a football where many can’t.
But Jefferson is the Vikings’ best player and without him this team isn’t sitting at 9-2 and on the verge of clinching the NFC North. There is no victory at Buffalo without Jefferson and there is no fourth quarter touchdown pass to Adam Thielen to win the game against New England. (Why? Because Jefferson’s incredible 36 yard reception set up the touchdown, and the fact the Patriots put so much coverage on Jefferson resulted in the touchdown.)
What the Vikings seem to have figured out is that Jefferson is never truly covered and failing him to throw the ball because of concern about coverage is making life too easy on opponents. Kevin O’Connell likely knew this the day he took the Vikings’ job, but Cousins, until this season, was reluctant to routinely make the dangerous throw.
What O’Connell, Cousins and Jefferson now all seem to understand is that Cousins has the arm talent to make that throw and Jefferson, more often than not, will catch it. It’s not always going to work — Cousins’ nine interceptions this season are two more than he had all of last year — but when it’s worth the risk because the reward is so often great.
It’s those memorable plays that make Jefferson an MVP candidate who shouldn’t be ignored because he plays the wrong position in the minds of voters. One has to wonder how Stefon Diggs feels watching this from Buffalo. This is exactly what Diggs wanted when he was with the Vikings. Diggs eventually forced his way out, not because of Cousins, but because he was treated as an outstanding player but not a superstar.
Far too often, Diggs and Adam Thielen were lumped together as a 1A and 1B. Thielen is an excellent receiver and at his best was very good. But he never possessed the overall talent of Diggs, and the passes that now go to Jefferson likely should have been thrown Diggs’ way. Instead, the Vikings’ risk-averse, run-first philosophy stayed away from dangerous throws.
Diggs has done just fine with Josh Allen as his quarterback. Diggs is second in the league with 84 receptions for 1,110 yards and has caught nine touchdowns. Diggs’ dissatisfaction in Minnesota worked out for everyone.
His trade to Buffalo landed the Vikings the 22nd pick in the first round of the 2020 draft, and former general manager Rick Spielman turned that into Jefferson. He has now turned into a superstar who might be the NFL’s best wide receiver at the age of 23.
Could this success land Jefferson an MVP trophy to add to his resume? History says no but it’s hard to dismiss the possibility with a guy who seems determined to make the impossible seem routine each time he sets foot on the field.
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From @jzulgad: The Vikings are ascending just as the Packers’ quarterback success seems to be ending. Now is the time to take advantage
The Vikings’ 5-1 start has provided them a 2.5-game cushion in the NFC North and an opportunity to win the division for the first time since 2017. That’s good news for the short term, but long term things might be looking up even more for the Vikings.
While Minnesota has managed to win five games despite its flaws, the Green Bay Packers are on a three-game losing streak that’s dropped them to 3-4 and will be facing one of the NFL’s best teams on Sunday night when they play in Buffalo.
Aaron Rodgers, the team’s 38-year-old quarterback, appears to be more prickly than ever and one has to wonder how much longer he intends to continue playing for a team that lacks star talent around him.
In other words, Kevin O’Connell’s timing might be perfect.
The first-year Vikings coach was 7-years-old when Brett Favre made his Packers debut on Sept. 20, 1992 and led a comeback victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. Since that time, Favre or Aaron Rodgers have started at quarterback for the Packers (except for when Rodgers was injured), and Green Bay has won 15 of 30 NFC Central or North titles and two Super Bowls.
The Vikings have won eight division titles, the Bears five, the Lions one and Tampa Bay one (from the NFC Central) in the same time period. Dennis Green, Mike Tice, Brad Childress and Mike Zimmer spent their coaching careers knowing they were scheduled to face a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback twice a season.
O’Connell, now 37, shouldn’t have to spend long worrying about this. This is assuming Jordan Love, the Packers’ first-round pick in 2020, isn’t going to follow in Favre and Rodgers’ footsteps and that Green Bay’s ridiculous fortune at QB is coming to an end.
If the Vikings win the North this season, they will end a three-year run by Green Bay in which the Packers won 13 games each season, going 39-10 and making it the NFC title game twice.
This might be a bit premature, given Rodgers has bounced back from rough stretches and being miserable before, but the fact is the clock is ticking on his NFL career. Tom Brady is 45 and playing in his 23rd NFL season, but he had to move from the Patriots to the Buccaneers to continue his career.
Is Rodgers really going to try to follow that plan and do the Packers want the recalcitrant QB to question everything they are doing for years to come? At some point a dip in play, any dip in play, makes a player who enjoys giving ultimatums too much of a pain to keep around.
The end of the Canton Quarterback Factory in Green Bay will present the Vikings with an opportunity to get a leg up on their division competitors. Kirk Cousins is 34 and has one season left on his contract. While Cousins has had a statistically underwhelming season through six games, he has come through in the clutch when it matters.
But part of the reason the Vikings hired O’Connell was to help find the type of franchise quarterback the team has far too often failed to develop. Yes that can take good fortune — Rodgers fell to the Packers with the 24th pick in 2005 — but the Vikings also have seemed to lack an evaluator with the ability to identify a QB who can make life miserable for opponents for a decade or more.
O’Connell, a college quarterback with an eye for offense, should have that ability. If he does, the Vikings could build around a top quarterback on a rookie contract and finally be in a position to turn the tables on their arch-rival to the East. Suddenly, adding at other positions wouldn’t be as difficult because the quarterback’s salary cap hit would be reasonable.
That’s the best case scenario. But even if that doesn’t happen, the Vikings’ days of having to face a Hall of Fame passer wearing green soon should be in the past.
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Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com
The latest from @jzulgad:
The Vikings have seen struggles on offense this season. and that’s because it’s a work in progress
The Vikings’ opening possession of the season could not have gone better.
Kirk Cousins capped the 10-play, 78-yard drive with a 5-yard scoring pass to Justin Jefferson on fourth-and-1 in a 23-7 victory over the Green Bay Packers. It was the type of production many expected when offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell was hired from the Super Bowl champion Rams to install a similar scheme as Vikings’ coach.
Unfortunately, the majority of series that have followed have fallen well short of expectations.
In 19 possessions since the Vikings have only two touchdowns. The team’s possession and drive chart in an ugly 24-7 loss on Monday night in Philadelphia read like this: Punt, punt, touchdown, punt, punt, interception, interception, punt, interception, end of game.
Cousins’ three second-half picks came from the Eagles’ 19-, 27- and 9-yard line. This wasn’t what anyone had in mind when O’Connell was hired to replace Mike Zimmer, with the expectation he would create a Cousins-friendly offense. While Zimmer and Cousins rarely had meaningful conversations, O’Connell is the guy calling plays into Cousins’ helmet on game day and working with him during the week.
The coach and quarterback are in this together, but so far that partnership isn’t paying off with points. As ugly as Monday’s loss was for the Vikings, the Eagles made numerous mistakes and gave Minnesota a chance to rally.
Watching the Vikings go through training camp practices, it was clear that the installation, and execution, of this system was going to be a work in progress. Cousins and wide receiver Adam Thielen were among those who talked about the complexities of the system, and Cousins acknowledged the scheme had evolved in many ways since O’Connell was his position coach in 2017 with Washington.
There will be some who argue that Cousins and the offense — not to mention O’Connell — might have gotten some valuable reps during the preseason if the first-team skill position players had been used. But O’Connell wisely went along with the trend of not wanting to risk getting key players hurt in any of the three meaningless exhibitions.
There was a time when the first team on both sides of the ball played the opening half of the third preseason game, but that has been altered now that the exhibition schedule is down to three games per team. Getting Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Cousins and others in for a few plays wasn’t going to alter how the offense is currently performing and the risk would have been too great.
The Vikings are averaging 15 points in two games, placing them 25th in the league in scoring. Jefferson has 15 receptions for 232 yards and two touchdowns, but Thielen has only seven catches for 88 yards and wasn’t targeted once in the first half on Monday night. K.J. Osborn, the Vikings’ third receiver, has only five catches for 39 yards.
Cook had a career-low six carries on Monday and the Vikings only ran the ball 11 times. In the opening two games, Cook has 26 carries for 107 yards. He had 20 or more carries in seven of the 13 games he played in last season and 42 in the opening two games of 2021.
Zimmer’s overreliance on the run game drew justified criticism, but 11 rushing attempts in a tough road game isn’t going to cut it. O’Connell knows this and knows there are adjustments to be made and plenty of things that need to be quickly ironed out. The first will be making sure Cousins has far better games than he did against the Eagles, when he looked nothing like the quarterback who showed poise in the pocket against the Packers.
“I thought we definitely could have helped him out a little more,” O’Connell said, “and I think Kirk would be the first one to tell you there were some plays across the board there where, in the second half, we — myself included — pressed a little bit, trying to make a lot back up in a hurry. When it really comes back down to it, you watch that tape real closely. Offensively, we left a lot of yards out there. We left a lot of plays out there to be made, whether it was catching a football or just the detail in what we did.”
So when will this offense start to click?
Sunday’s game should present an excellent opportunity. The Lions (1-1) are second-to-last in the NFL in scoring defense (32.5 points per game), ahead of only the Arizona Cardinals (33.5). O’Connell talked about getting Cook more involved, and it’s unlikely that Thielen again will be a forgotten man.
As much focus as there will be on Cousins to see how he rebounds, O’Connell knows the spotlight also will be on his play calling. He acknowledged he fell short in that area in Week 2.
“Looking back on it, did we have to get it all back at once?” O’Connell said of his approach. “Did we have to try to get that score tied quickly, or did we just need to play smart and kind of play the right way? I think that’s where it kind of starts with me, and then it trickles down to our staff and players, first and foremost. That’s 100 percent why I think I could have been better for our group.”
O’Connell likely will get a few more weeks to get it right before impatience sets in. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the clock is ticking for this work in progress offense to turn into a finished (and successful) product.
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The battle for Mr. Mankato was a close one this year
The prestigious Mr. Mankato award was won by rookie linebacker Brian Asamoah.
The third-round linebacker holds on to win Mr. Mankato after an impressive training camp, edging out RB Ty Chandler, who was a fifth-round pick. Asamoah’s performance in practices was a huge factor in him winning this prestigious honor. @PhilMackey @DexsTweets pic.twitter.com/SA1WC5CMjM
— Judd Zulgad (@jzulgad) August 29, 2022
The award was created by Vikings analysts Judd Zulgad and Phil Mackey from SKOR North back in 2014. The rules are as follows:
1.) Player MUST be a 3rd round draft pick or later (undrafted/signed from a practice squad counts)
2.) Player must not be an “established NFL player”
3.) If a player does not fall into category 1 or 2, a committee member may put that player up for review — and that player must receive more than 50% of the vote to be put on the ballot
4.) The competition runs through the entire preseason-not just the Mankato portion. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Even though the Vikings don’t attend training camp in Mankato anymore, the heart of the award remains intact.
Asamoah was a stud on defense for the Vikings in both preseason games and at practice. His explosiveness and instincts showed up in a big way.
His biggest competition was running back Ty Chandler, who looked fantastic in all three preseason games with his elite explosiveness and surprisingly powerful running style.
With the Mr. Mankato competition finished, the future is bright for the Minnesota Vikings.
