Sure, it may not be good as a fresh bowl of General Tsaos Chicken, but it beats not having Chinese food at all. Under O'Connell, Rams quarterbacks have thrown for 1,517 passing yards (third in NFL), 11 touchdowns (fourth in NFL) and a 106.4 passer rating in playoff games (second in NFL). O'Connell also helped Vikings all-time leading rusher Adrian Peterson eclipse 1,000 scrimmage yards (1,040) at the age of 34. In July 2017, Kirk Cousins became the first quarterback to play under the franchise tag for the second consecutive year. It is highly recommended that you use the latest versions of a supported browser in order to receive an optimal viewing experience. O'Connell's NFL coaching career began in 2015; he held various assistant coaching roles on the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, and Los Angeles Rams (where he won Super Bowl LVI, as offensive coordinator, in the 20212022 season). [But you] sit in exit meetings with players, and it becomes personal at that point," Adofo-Mensah said. He believes he's the best receiver in football -- I happen to agree with him -- and a lot goes with that. As a four-year captain at San Diego State, O'Connell finished his career after appearing in 40 games while ranking third in completions (664), fourth in passing yards (7,689) and fifth in passing touchdowns (46) in school history. Kupp, who was named The Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year at last week's NFL Honors, had one of the best receiving seasons in NFL history, leading the NFL in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving touchdowns (16), earning AP First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. Really excited about Lewis and his mental growth through how he handled the adversity of that injury, OConnell said. He also held the same position for Washington in 2019 after serving as the team'spassing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. But in between 16-point wins against the Packers in Week 1 and Bears in Week 18 were plentiful memorable moments during a wild ride. When Kwesi Adofo-Mensah stepped up to the podium at the NFL Scouting Combine, he had several questions to answer about the Minnesota Vikings future. He was 11-of-21 for 147 yards, and completed the pass which resulted in the Kai's only score of the game.[6]. How do you go forward building it from here? O'Connell won his first game as head coach against the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 of the 2022 season by a score of 237. O'Connell has an older sister, Kelly, who is an attorney. None of that is to say OConnell is not evaluating quarterbacks in this years draft. There are a few fundamental things that will influence decisions, starting with whether Cousins signs an extension. If not, they have the luxury of having Cousins to buy more time. The Vikings head coach compared all of the moving parts to puzzle pieces but its more like a choose-your-own-adventure book because each choice with Player X impacts Player Y and the combination of all of the decisions takes you to a different endpoint. The Vikings Will Benefit From Their Revamped Team Culture, Theres One Ideal Way To Deal With Danielle Hunters Contract. "He understands what is critical to leading a team that wins at the highest level, and he has an ability to simplify the complex, which will help us in problem-solving in all football areas. The 33-year-old quarterback's $35 million base salary for 2022 became guaranteed last March . The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. Along the way, personal relationships grew. The Vikings are coming off a 13-win season, but also a disappointing first-round exit in the playoffs. I believe in him as a player.. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott's cap hit might be rising in 2023, but owner Jerry Jones believes his quarterback has the ability to bridge the gap in any talent the roster might lose because of it. Under the guidance of O'Connell, Rams QB Matthew Stafford and WR Cooper Kupp both had career years in 2021. As a senior, he was named his team's Most Valuable Player, and selected to All-League, All-North County, and All-San Diego teams. You do hope it was a perfect world where you can have everybody and have everybody finish their careers where they should and feel great about it, but its just so hard to do and still build for the future the way the rules are set up, OConnell said. Teams that typically played with one-high safety against most opponents often utilized two-high safeties against the Vikings. When you visit any web site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Were having conversations with our players, their representation, and ultimately how all of those things shake out will be done in a way where we just want to make sure we stand by what we believe in as an organization.. Part of their jobs during the comprehensive evaluation process will be setting aside those personal relationships and not letting them interfere with the process of building the 2023 Vikings to have the best chance at a championship and be within the constraints of the NFL's salary cap. The day the Vikings introduced defensive coordinator Brian Flores, OConnell mentioned the thorough self-evaluation process that took place when the season ended. The other was that the Vikings werent in a position to draft a quarterback, picking in the mid-20s for a majority of Greens tenure. "He is a strong leader, an innovative coach and an excellent communicator. A year later, they have far more expertise of the Vikings' roster. The direct work together began in April when Minnesota could start its offseason workout program and was followed by Organized Team Activities before a summer break that was followed by training camp, he preseason, regular season and postseason. Theres a reason why I feel so strongly about Kirk, OConnell said. 2023 Minnesota Vikings Football, LLC , All Rights Reserved. It's supposed to hurt. If the Vikings parted ways with Thielen via outright release or trade, theyd face three plausible options for 2023s WR2: For now, OConnell views Thielen as an unabashed team leader, but the front office must determine the fair compensation for his cap hit. The coach has made it a priority to educate himself on the particulars of the teams cap constraints. The Vikings announced their agreement in principle with Cousins on a one-year contract extension Sunday the latest high-leverage deal that Cousins has successfully bet on himself with and the clearest sign yet that the Vikings aren . [24] In O'Connell's second season with the Rams, their offense ranked 2nd best in receiving touchdowns (41), 5th highest in total yards (4,893), 8th best in total touchdowns (63), and the team won Super Bowl LVI (defeating the Cincinnati Bengals, 2320). View photos of new Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell in photos from his time with the Rams. [10], He was named a team captain for the September 20 game against the New England Patriots.[11]. Doing so could mean some hard decisions on key contributors from last season like Dalvin Cook, Eric Kendricks, ZaDarius Smith and others. Is there a chance to add somebody maybe with different skill sets? Maybe its not even for any one particular year.. Kevin is currently the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings and his salary is $84 million for three years. The victories and records set on the way to winning the NFC North for the first time since 2017 enabled Minnesota to host a playoff game for the first time in five years, but that excitement ended abruptly Sunday when the Giants topped the Vikings 31-24. The Minnesota Vikings have an intriguing decision on Adam Thielens future with the franchise, a team that has employed him since 2013. "I came from a business where your job is to not be emotional and if you make emotional decisions, you typically make bad decisions. "Unbelievable talent. A necessary condition is having a starter-level quarterback, Adofo-Mensah began. He noted that hes always going to evaluate all the quarterbacks out of habit and that he finds himself often looking at evaluations from years past, even when someone is coming available who came out in the draft a long time ago. The Patriots gave no explanation for releasing O'Connell, who was in competition with veteran quarterback Andrew Walter, signed after his release from the Oakland Raiders, and undrafted free agent rookie Brian Hoyer of Michigan State. O'Connell was instrumental in aiding mid-season free agent signee WR Odell Beckham, Jr., to five receiving touchdowns in eight games played with the team, the most since his 2018 season with theNew York Giants. O'Connell played quarterback at San Diego State University, and was selected by the New England Patriots in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and has written for Yahoo, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Kansas City Star, among many other places. Sometimes how you have to mold and adapt how you play while still staying true to your football philosophy at its core and its not always easy to do, but hes demonstrated that hes been very successful doing it time and time again.. But the things we did accomplish, I think, were incredibly impactful. Even as other quarterbacks such as Willis, Desmond Ridder, and Sam Howell were there in the latest rounds of the draft, the Vikings didnt pull the trigger. Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports. Prior to joining the Rams, O'Connell worked in Washington, serving as the quarterbacks coach in 2017-18 and the offensive coordinator in 2019. Brad Childress urged Minnesota to draft Tarvaris Jackson upon his arrival in the 2006, and then recruited Brett Favre as an act of desperation to lead the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game. It meets that first threshold, and thats a question that a lot of people cant answer with a yes. So we have got to make sure that we treat that in the proper importance it is.. O'Connell joins the Vikings after serving as the offensive coordinator for the Los A. Those are all questions we got to answer. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. But there was a sobering line of questioning from a New York reporter pertaining to Giants head coach Brian Daboll. Scouting Combine live updates Top 150 free agents Beat writer . Were going to continue to take a look at whats the best route to go moving forward in that room, as are all the other rooms. Kevin O'Connell, fresh off a Super Bowl victory as the Los Angeles Rams' offensive coordinator, was introduced as the Minnesota Vikings next head coach on Thursday, and the big takeaway from . Sometimes how you have to reinvent yourself week in and week out, OConnell said. Thats the byproduct of trying to do things the way we do. The offensive line's sack rate, 4.5%, was the fifth-lowest in the NFL over the past two years. Adofo-Mensah shared an anecdote from after the game when he was walking the concourse behind a group of fans. Anchored by T Andrew Whitworth, the oldest offensive lineman in the NFL, the Rams offensive line only allowed 56 sacks in the two years O'Connell was in Los Angeles, which was good for the seventh-fewest among NFL clubs.
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