With Rare Candor, Kevin O’Connell Spills the Beans on Vikings’ Hope
Pretty commonly, coaches fall back into the standard way that coaches talk, discussing the need to earn and compete for a starting spot. Not Kevin O’Connell. Not this time, at least.
The head coach chatted with the Minnesota media after drafting Ohio State left guard Donovan Jackson. In that press conference, O’Connell ventured into a quick quip about how the offensive line could look. Consider what the coach had to say: “Envisioning [Jackson] being on a front with potentially Ryan Kelly and Christian Darrisaw, Will Fries and Brian O’Neill. That’s a pretty formidable group on paper. We’ve got to make it come to life on the grass.”
Kevin O’Connell on How the Front Five Could Look
Easy to forget, perhaps, but Justin Jefferson didn’t start initially.
The NFL’s best wideout began his career pretty modestly, coming off the bench in his opening pair of games as a Viking. His first ever professional game involved 3 targets going for 2 catches and 26 yards. He then turned 3 targets into 3 catches for 44 yards.
In Week 3 of 2020, Jefferson snagged the start against the Titans. The losing effort nevertheless revealed an important truth: Mr. Jefferson belonged on the field. He exploded, earning 9 targets that went for 7 catches, 175 yards, and a score (very fittingly, with the Griddy making an appearance while scoring).
Consider, as well, last year’s No. 17 pick: edge rusher Dallas Turner.
Long and strong, Mr. Turner didn’t earn a starting role as a rookie. In fact, he was often the fifth option within the edge rusher hierarchy. Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, of course, were the main options, putting together excellent seasons as the top twosome. But then a pair of veterans — Patrick Jones II with 459 defensive snaps and Jihad Ward with 467 defensive snaps — outpaced Turner’s 300 snaps (and zero starts).
Now, go ahead and reconsider what Kevin O’Connell had to say.
The team’s head coach is merely “envisioning” a possibility, something that appears promising “on paper” while acknowledging that there needs to be corresponding excellence “on the grass.” The simple reality, however, that he’ll publicly dabble with the potentially “formidable group” that features Donovan Jackson as the LG1 speaks to the confidence that is already present for the 2025 1st-Round selection.
From outside of TCO Performance Center, there’s a widespread expectation that Jackson is hopping into the starting unit before long.
Over on PurplePTSD, Janik Eckardt unpacked the expectations that accompany a guard who is picked so high: “Returning left guard Blake Brandel can’t be too happy about it because teams don’t select first-round guards to let them sit on the bench.”
Brandon Thorn, a leading authority for o-line analysis, offered a thought on social media: “Darrisaw-Jackson-Kelly-Fries-O’Neill is a rock solid starting five heading into 2025 for the Vikings.” To be sure, others made similar comments about the potential new front five (Exhibit A & Exhibit B).
None are more important, though, than Kevin O’Connell, the team’s head coach and offensive mastermind. When the top coach discusses the possibility, there’s a bit of extra weight and significance.
Earlier in the offseason, Kevin O’Connell said that Blake Brandel would need to compete to retain his spot as the LG1, mentioning Michael Jurgens while pointing toward the team’s upcoming draft picks. Well, the highest of those draft picks — No. 24 — went toward a left guard.
The competition is still going to take place, but the safest guess at this stage is that Donovan Jackson is in the lead.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and Bluesky (@VikingsGazette). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.
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