3 Takeaways from Vikings Press Conference at NFL Combine
The NFL Combine is underway in Indianapolis, and on Tuesday, Minnesota Vikings leaders Kevin O’Connell (head coach) and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (general manager) stepped up to the microphone.
3 Takeaways from Vikings Press Conference at NFL Combine
Minnesota finished the 2024 campaign with a 14-3 record but flamed out in the Wildcard Round of the postseason. Oddsmakers forecasted the team for six or seven wins back in September.
And while the press conference from the two men didn’t showcase fireworks, these were the three main takeaways.
1. Christian Darrisaw’s Recovery = Fantastic
O’Connell said Darrisaw was “doing really well in his rehab” after tearing his ACL last October.
Darrisaw missed the season’s remainder, and the Vikings later traded for offensive tackle Cam Robinson to stop the bleeding.
O’Connell also proclaimed, “He’s absolutely killing it every step of the way.”
Most Vikings fans expect Darrisaw back sometime midseason in 2025, but the optimism from the Combine might convince some that a start-of-season return date is realistic. Stay tuned.
2. O’Connell Walks Back iOL Replacement Theories
A reporter asked O’Connell if he’d follow through with his commitment to replace interior offensive linemen this offseason after his team allowed 9 sacks to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wildcard Round. O’Connell immediately shot down all “replacement” theories.
“The ‘replace’ word — I don’t know if I necessarily used that. It was more of an emphasis on how we need to play,” he replied.
The young coach then pivoted to Darrisaw’s recovery, evidence that he believed Darrisaw’s injury absence sunk Minnesota in the playoffs.
While the Vikings could obviously sign or draft some new interior offensive linemen, O’Connell isn’t utterly fixated on replacements. The solutions could be in-house.
3. Mum’s the Word at Quarterback
O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah very explicitly avoided endorsing a quarterback plan for 2025. In fact, the duo complimented all passers in their roster orbit, including J.J. McCarthy, Sam Darnold, and Daniel Jones.
“I was telling my staff if I could have thought of a brain teaser, of an experiment to think through, that would have been a pretty tough one where, Pro Bowl quarterback, win all those games and then lose to two teams twice. And so that was really kind of the core of our offseason, really thinking through that holistically, trying not to be overweighted by those eight quarters, but not to underweigh those last two games,” Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said about the oddity of his team losing to the same teams four times with Darnold at the helm.
O’Connell mentioned about his quarterback strategy, “We’re evaluating the short-term and long-term aspects of it. It’s still early in the offseason process.”
And he said about Darnold: “I’ve had great dialogue with Sam from the time the season ended up until very, very recently. Sam is in a position where the NFL thinks he can play football at a very high level. We’ll see where it goes.”
Darnold’s immediate fate remains a mystery, with free agency 13 days away.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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