Tag: Kevin O’Connell

Zulgad: 2024 NFL draft set to be biggest for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

The 2024 NFL draft could very well make or break GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s future with the organization.

The very plugged-in Dianna Russini of The Athletic had an eyebrow-raising item on Monday in the digital version of the publication’s Scoop City newsletter. It was more of a tease for her Wednesday column, but if you follow the Minnesota Vikings, it caught your attention.

Russini wrote:

I have a list of five GM’s who I believe need to nail this draft for their own job security and, more importantly, their team’s future. This Wednesday, my column will go live. But I’ll give you an exclusive here: The GM under the most pressure in this draft is the Vikings’ Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

Three years into his regime, his Vikings are 20-14 but without a playoff win. After letting Kirk Cousins walk — despite his head coach’s public desire to keep the QB — Adofo-Mensah is running out of time. This might be the best opportunity he has to add a franchise-altering passer.

I expect the Vikings to do everything they can do move up on Thursday to get their guy.

There is no mention of Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell being on the hot seat, yet Russini’s sources are telling her that if Adofo-Mensah doesn’t get this right, he could be shown the door. Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell will be entering the third year of four-year contracts, and this marks the first time the two aren’t being linked together.

There are a couple of things at work here.

Russini appears to be indicating that if the Vikings don’t come away with a quarterback in the first round, quite possibly by paying a steep price to move into the top five, Adofo-Mensah will be the one to take the fall. That is, unless the Vikings grab a quarterback with the 11th pick or get into the top 10 and are able to get one of the top quarterbacks available in this draft. There are some who will tell you the Vikings would be happy coming away with Bo Nix at either Nos. 11 or 23, but that is up for debate.

Quarterback is the most pressing position for Adofo-Mensah, but if his job is in jeopardy it goes far beyond one spot. Adofo-Mensah’s first draft appears to be nearly a complete bust, and it’s likely owners Zygi and Mark Wilf are looking at their chief decision-maker and wondering what happened.

Adofo-Mensah’s defenders will point out that the 2022 draft came only three months after he was hired, meaning he didn’t have much of his staff in place. His critics will point to Adofo-Mensah’s decision to trade back from No. 12 to No. 32 — thus passing on star safety Kyle Hamilton at No. 14 — and taking seldom-used safety Lewis Cine.

That wasn’t an isolated blunder. The Vikings had 10 selections in that draft, and the only real contributors are right guard Ed Ingram, who had a miserable rookie season before showing some improvement last year; cornerback Akayleb Evans; and running back Ty Chandler. Evans has started 17 of 25 games in two seasons but isn’t guaranteed a starting role in 2024. Chandler is likely to be the backup to veteran free agent addition Aaron Jones.

Adofo-Mensah had better fortune last spring, taking promising wide receiver Jordan Addison at No. 23 and then grabbing cornerback Mekhi Blackmon in the third round. But the Vikings released a video from their draft room in the first round where Adofo-Mensah appeared to be discussing a trade of the 23rd pick as O’Connell encouraged him to take Addison.

So was Adofo-Mensah trying to work another trade of a first-round pick when there was a very productive player already available? That’s how it looked, and it looked as if O’Connell might have saved the day.

It was interesting that O’Connell said in a public appearance last week that he had shot down the front office’s desire to take a quarterback in the past two drafts.

“I have had to, in a lot of ways, fight off some mistakes from being made (previously), mainly because in the evaluation process I go through, I think about the things that are fixable,” O’Connell said.

It’s fair to assume that means that Adofo-Mensah might have been interested in drafting quarterbacks in either 2022 or 2023, or both, and that O’Connell stepped in to make sure what he considered a mistake wasn’t made.

O’Connell’s comments also made it obvious that if the Vikings do get a quarterback, it will be his decision. That would mean Adofo-Mensah will be in charge of getting the Vikings in the right position before getting out of the way.

The Wilfs made an interesting decision to replace former general manager and football lifer Rick Spielman with an Ivy League-educated data expert who once worked on Wall Street.

Adofo-Mensah was a commodities trader and portfolio manager before joining the San Francisco 49ers in 2013 as a research and development specialist. He was the vice president of football operations for the Cleveland Browns for two seasons before getting his first shot as a GM with the Vikings.

The Wilfs knew they were taking a gamble by turning to Adofo-Mensah as their GM and, clearly, there are some in the Vikings organization who are skeptical about whether this is working. If the Vikings get their franchise quarterback, Adofo-Mensah might not get much of the credit, but his job should be safe. But if O’Connell comes away from this draft unhappy with the process and the Vikings miss the playoffs for a second year in a row, Adofo-Mensah could find himself as a convenient fall guy.

Zulgad: Kevin O’Connell isn’t likely to dash Vikings’ desire for QB

Kevin O’Connell has been vocal over the past couple days and it may finally be a hint towards him being accepting to the team’s need.

Kevin O’Connell made it clear during a speaking engagement at a Twin Cities church last week that in his first two seasons as the Minnesota Vikings’ coach he has played the role of quarterback Grinch during the NFL draft.

Maybe it involved putting the breaks on taking Desmond Ridder or Malik Willis in the third round in 2022 before Atlanta and the latter by Tennessee selected the former. It could have been last year when projected first-round pick Will Levis fell to Tennessee with the second pick of the second round.

“For a couple of years I’ve, you know, I’ve been kind of known as the ‘quarterback killer’ when it comes to the draft in Eagan,” O’Connell said in response to a question about draft philosophy.

O’Connell’s willingness to say this publicly was a bit surprising — even if it did come in a place of worship. In part because it shed light on something many of us assumed but didn’t know for sure. That is how much power O’Connell has when it comes to making the call on a quarterback. It can be assumed that one of those who previously might have been pushing for Kirk Cousins’ successor included general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

There could have been a couple of reasons for O’Connell’s insistence on passing on a quarterback in the early rounds. 1) Cousins remained under contract and was going to be the starter; and 2) O’Connell wasn’t sold on any of the quarterbacks who were available to his team on the first or second day of the draft. (Jaren Hall was a fifth-round pick last April.)

As the first round of this long-awaited (at least for Vikings fans) draft approaches on Thursday, the Vikings’ circumstances have changed. Cousins opted to bolt for the Atlanta Falcons in free agency, and the Vikings could find themselves in a far better position to land the type of top level quarterback that O’Connell hasn’t had the option of getting in his first two years on the job.

Getting the type of quarterback O’Connell wants almost certainly will mean trading up from the 11th overall pick. That’s an area in which O’Connell can weigh in, but the final say belongs to Adofo-Mensah. Both men know their futures could be determined by what happens on Thursday and whether the Vikings come away with Jayden Daniels (unlikely), Drake Maye (possible), or J.J. McCarthy (more possible).

Give up multiple first-round picks to move up — a very realistic scenario — and the price will be forgotten, if the pick turns into a franchise quarterback. But if the player struggles, Adofo-Mensah, O’Connell or both might not be around for long.

“The feeling … that I feel from our fan base is when we get this next guy, he’s gonna be the guy,” said O’Connell, a former backup quarterback in the NFL who spent two seasons getting the most out of Cousins. “And I feel it. I know you guys all feel it. So I have had to, in a lot of ways, fight off some mistakes from being made (previously), mainly because in the evaluation process I go through, I think about the things that are fixable.

“I think about the things that are coachable and then you think about the things that you could coach another 15 years with the player, and you might not be able to fix. Hope and faith are wonderful things, (but) I do like them to not necessarily be strategies.”

If the Vikings do move into the Top 5 to select a quarterback it will mark the first time in the franchise’s 63 seasons they have taken a QB in the Top 10. The Vikings have only taken four quarterbacks in the opening round: Tommy Kramer at No. 27 in 1977; Daunte Culpepper at No. 11 in 1999; Christian Ponder at No. 12 in 2011; and Teddy Bridgewater at No. 32 in 2014.

There will be many inconsolable Vikings employees and fans if that number doesn’t reach five on Thursday evening. O’Connell is likely to be one of them.

Vikings coach jokes on buttering up Patriots for No. 3 draft pick

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell hilariously joked on buttering up Patriots owner Robert Kraft for the No. 3 draft pick

The New England Patriots remain steadfast in their desire to hold on to the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. However, that hasn’t stopped several teams from trying to get New England to trade down.

The Minnesota Vikings are one of the teams who want the third overall selection in hopes of landing one of the top quarterbacks in the draft. Minnesota could use a younger signal-caller to fill the position, following the departure of Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons.

However, it would probably take a large offer for the Patriots’ organization to even consider moving the draft pick.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that multiple teams, including the Vikings, have tried to move up to the third overall selection. Vikings coach and former Patriots quarterback Kevin O’Connell tried to do his part in a hilarious way.

“Ultimately, when you feel like you find that guy, then you got to hope that 31 other teams are complicit in making sure they can become a Minnesota Viking,” said O’Connell, when appearing on the “Faith & Life” series. “But we only need one team to be complicit, and hopefully, we can find that team. …I may or may not have sent a nice bouquet of flowers to Robert Kraft the other day.”

Minnesota could more than likely be in a position to select Michigan quarterback J. J. McCarthy at 11th overall, rather than Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels at No. 3.

New England seems unlikely to trade the pick, and if they did, it would take a massive haul to get it.

Kevin O’Connell jokes about trading for third overall pick

While taking questions at his church, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell joked about sending flowers to Patriots’ Robert Kraft.

It’s no secret that the Minnesota Vikings are likely looking to draft a quarterback in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft. It’s also no secret that if they want to draft one of the top prospects, they’re going to have to trade up. One of the more likely options for a trade-up scenario is the New England Patriots, but they also need a quarterback and likely want a haul for the pick.

The Vikings are going to have to put together a pretty sweet deal if they’re going to convince the Patriots to move off the #3 pick. During an interview at his church, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell joked about sweetening the deal by “sending Robert Kraft a bouquet of flowers the other day”.

Jokes aside, O’Connell and the rest of the Vikings’ brass know they’re going to have to put together a great deal to convince the Patriots — who have a significant need at the position as well and are already in place to grab one of the top prospects — to move down. Doing whatever they can to butter up Kraft and the Patriots’ decision-makers isn’t a bad strategy to try and lessen that demand.

Will they be able to make something happen before Thursday’s first round kicks off? We’ll find out in a couple of days!

Zulgad: Drake Maye is a fit with Vikings due to their approach

Drake Maye is a fit within a lot of teams looking for a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft but the Vikings could be the perfect fit.

In a quarterback draft class that is considered one of the deepest in recent years, Drake Maye might be the most polarizing in the group. Once considered the second-best QB behind USC’s Caleb Williams, many have given that spot to LSU’s Jayden Daniels and have dropped Maye to third or, in some cases, behind Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.

Listen to the concerns about Maye, about his foot work, about his mechanics, and it makes sense that if he’s thrown into a starting role on Day 1 for a team such as the nowhere-close-to-competing New England Patriots that the quarterback from North Carolina could be set up for failure.

The Carolina Panthers thought so highly of Bryce Young last year that they traded what turned out to be the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, and plenty more, to the Chicago Bears for the right to select him. The Panthers handed Young the keys to the car and little else. The result was a 2-15 finish and a rookie season that has many thinking he might be a bust. Is that all Young’s fault? No.

So how can Maye avoid the same fate?

By going to a team with a good infrastructure. A franchise that has a coaching staff in place that can develop him, be patient with him and, when they do play him, give him a supporting cast that puts him in a position to succeed.

That’s why bringing Maye to Minnesota makes a lot of sense. The only question is whether Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah can trade up high enough to take Maye and whether he is willing to pay the Patriots’ asking price.

It’s no secret the Vikings want to move up in the first round of next Thursday’s draft and Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf said his team is “open for business” to trade the No. 3 pick. Wolf also said he would be comfortable staying at three and taking a quarterback.

Wolf, 42, is the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame executive Ron Wolf and certainly understands the Patriots have many needs that could begin to be addressed by acquiring multiple picks, including a couple of first-rounders (the Vikings have picks 11 and 23).

Meanwhile, Maye appears to have many skills that Vikings coach and former NFL quarterback Kevin O’Connell would like to have from a young QB who is under team control at a reasonable rate on a five-year rookie contract.

O’Connell hired another former NFL quarterback, Josh McCown, as his coach for that position in February. McCown knows plenty about Maye’s plusses and minuses, having helped to coach him at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, N.C., and reuniting the two makes a lot of sense.

The Vikings certainly have pressure to win, but one has to think that O’Connell and McCown would also be well aware that forcing Maye to start as a rookie could be a mistake. O’Connell was a third-round pick of the Patriots in 2008, and although he never became a starter, he has firsthand knowledge of where mistakes were made in helping him develop.

McCown was in the NFL for 18 seasons and started 76 of the 102 games in which he appeared. He also got valuable experience serving as the quarterback coach for the Carolina Panthers last season. McCown was one of the assistants who was fired, along with coach Frank Reich, in late November and saw what Young went through starting for a terrible team.

The Vikings already have created a security plan by signing 2018 third-overall pick Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal to help replace Kirk Cousins. The New York Jets drafted Darnold- a franchise that has done little right in recent years- and started as a rookie. He lasted three seasons with the Jets before playing two years in Carolina and then serving as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers last season.

McCown was the backup to Darnold in 2018 and watched the rookie struggle in playing 13 games during a 4-12 season. If O’Connell, McCown, and, even Darnold agree on one thing, it likely would be the fact that it’s far better to develop a quarterback than rush him and risk ruining him

It will be worth it if that means a season of Darnold starting and Maye learning. It’s more important that if the Vikings do trade up and draft a quarterback, especially a guy like Maye, they get the pick right for the long term. Patience might not sit well with the fan base, but if the end result is postseason success for years to come, no one will be complaining.

Vikings flying down to Baton Rouge to visit Jayden Daniels

NFL teams are wrapping up visits with prospects and the Vikings are following up a private workout with Jayden Daniels with a dinner.

NFL teams are wrapping up visits with prospects as we are just seven days away from the 2024 NFL Draft. Workouts are done but dinners are still able to be had, in steps the Minnesota Vikings brass.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reported on Thursday morning the team would be traveling to Baton Rouge to see LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. Many expect the reigning Heisman Trophy winner to be taken second overall by the Washington Commanders. Despite that, the Vikings are showing they are doing all the homework they can on this quarterback class.

Aside from Daniels, the team has done private workouts or visits with Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy as well. Draft pundits and fans alike have it almost in stone. The team is trading up for one of them, but that has proved to be easier said than done.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been vocal about the need, but he has also made it known the team is ready for Sam Darnold to be their guy. A very busy seven days are ahead for everyone involved within and around the franchise.

Vikings continuing dialogue with Justin Jefferson despite workout absence

Despite opting out of voluntary workouts with the team, the Minnesota Vikings are continuing contract talks with star WR Justin Jefferson.

Minnesota Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson is entering his fifth season in the NFL and has quickly established himself as one of the top receivers in the league. With that stellar performance comes the desire for a new contract, and with that comes the inevitable contract dispute.

That’s where the team and the talented receiver find themselves now, with Jefferson wanting a new contract but with no agreement having been reached yet — which means Jefferson has taken the ‘skip voluntary workouts‘ approach to contract negotiations.

The move, however, seems to be little more than a hiccup to head coach Kevin O’Connell, as he stated Monday that he’s “had a lot of great dialogue with Justin” and that they “hope we can get him around the team”.

Jefferson has certainly earned the right to advocate for a new contract with his play with the Vikings over the past four seasons. He’s been one of the most productive wide receivers in NFL history through his first four seasons. Perhaps most impressive in the growing laundry list of achievements is what Jefferson accomplished last season.

Despite missing seven games throughout the season and dealing with all the turmoil at quarterback, Jefferson still managed to top 100 yards receiving in five games and put up a 1,000-yard season.

With production like that, it’s clear that Jefferson is an integral part of the Vikings offense, and he has more than earned the right to be paid like one of the top players at his position. It’s also clear that Jefferson is going to produce regardless of his surroundings, and has earned the right to skip out on voluntary workouts. The Vikings brass seems unconcerned about his absence, and fans shouldn’t be, either.

Zulgad: Vikings leaving no stone unturned in search of franchise quarterback

The Vikings are facing an uphill battle when it comes to finding a franchise quaretrback. To fix it, they need to leave no stone unturned.

The Minnesota Vikings’ desire to land a quarterback in the first round of this month’s NFL draft is no secret, but whether they will come away with Kirk Cousins’ replacement remains the great unknown.

The one thing that can’t be questioned is the work the Vikings appear to be doing when it comes to vetting this class of passers. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated had an interesting read this week on the process being employed by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell.

O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah haven’t attended the pro days of the big-name quarterbacks and instead have conducted private workouts with North Carolina’s Drake Maye, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Washington’s Michael Penix, and Oregon’s Bo Nix.

The Vikings have sent new quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and assistant Grant Udinski to the Pro Days, but O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah know those don’t offer a true look at a player. A quarterback throws to hand-picked wide receivers, and the workout is designed to make him look as good as possible.

There is little room for spontaneity.

But what O’Connell, Adofo-Mensah, and the Vikings’ traveling party, which includes McCown, can do during their visits is get a close look at a player under terms they can dictate. That includes going through plays in a classroom setting, watching how those plays are executed on the field, and seeing how a quarterback handles potential adversity when things don’t go as planned.

O’Connell has even discussed attending a quarterback’s favorite restaurant on campus to see how he treats the staff. All of this matters because no detail is too small. O’Connell knows this process from the other side. He was a third-round pick of the New England Patriots in 2008 out of San Diego State. He appeared in two games as a rookie and never took another snap in bouncing from the Lions, Jets, Dolphins, and Chargers.

That experience has given O’Connell the advantage of knowledge when it comes to what he’s looking for from these quarterbacks.

Because it’s really the only access that the draftniks have, those of us on the outside looking in often become obsessed with what the QB showed on his college film and during workouts. That’s important but it’s only a start. The best quarterbacks are often likened to the CEO of a company, meaning there is much more to it than just performance on Sundays.

This brings us to the question of how many quarterbacks the Vikings like and where the list ends. Breer, for instance, leads his in-depth column on how scouts have a different view of Penix than coaches. Scouts see flaws in Penix’s play; Breer has been told that coaches feel they can fix those issues. But coaches see things in Penix’s leadership and talents that can’t be taught and are coveted.

Does that put him above Maye and McCarthy? If it does, do the Vikings feel Penix might fall to them at 11, meaning they wouldn’t have to give up a haul to get into the Top 5?

But if O’Connell decides to give up two first-round picks and more to move up and get McCarthy, no one will complain as long as it proves to be the right call.

Would that be risky? Of course. But that’s why the Vikings are turning over every stone possible in their quest to end this ongoing search finally.

Is the best quarterback in the draft whoever Minnesota lands?

A handful of teams need a fresh start at quarterback. The best situation may be set up for the quarterback who makes his way to Minnesota.

A handful of teams need a fresh start at quarterback, but only so many will get it. The Chicago Bears are in the driver’s seat at first overall, and the Commanders and Patriots follow. The question remains, though: Who is the best quarterback in the draft?

According to a report from Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson, one general manager told him it would be whoever the Vikings draft.

On a recent Yahoo Sports podcast, Robinson said he spoke to one general manager who believes the Vikings will shape the best quarterback of the 2024 class.

“You’re going in with an offensive-minded head coach who’s been effectively an offensive coordinator. … You saw what he was able to do with Kirk Cousins. … In that scheme, had gotten Cousins to the point where he was arguably playing the best football of his life,” Robinson said.

O’Connell has shown that he can get the most out of his quarterbacks in a similar way to San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Whether it be Cousins being on a career-year pace or Nick Mullens passing for 411 yards against the Lions, he maximizes their potential.

Insider Believes Kevin O’Connell Sent Message to Patriots, Cardinals

The Vikings have the pieces to trade up in the 2024 NFL Draft and one insider believes Kevin O’Connell is doing his best to make it happen.

The Minnesota Vikings need to trade up in the 2024 NFL Draft to get one of the class’s star quarterbacks. They have the pieces to do it; now, they must find a partner to make it happen. Kevin O’Connell is doing his best to help facilitate a move between one of the teams picking at the top of the draft.

When O’Connell was speaking at the League Meetings last week in Florida, he made some interesting comments.

He made the point that history shows that a king’s ransom can be had for a top pick but Minnesota’s two first-round picks are something of “greater value.” When the 49ers traded up from 12 to two in 2021, they had to give up three firsts, but two of them were in the future. The Vikings have two in this current class is thought to give them an advantage since a team would know what they are getting.

Ben Volin of The Boston Globe shares this thought. He states, “O’Connell’s point is valid, but it also sounds like he is sending a message to the Patriots and Cardinals that two first-rounders in this year’s draft should be enough for the No. 3 or 4 pick.”

The Vikings need to make a move, and they have some chances to do so. The 2023 draft class is one of the better quarterback groups since 2020. That class has given the league three franchise cornerstones, and Minnesota is hoping that in 2023, they find one.