Takeaways from Kevin O'Connell's chat at the owner's meetings

The Vikings head coach addressed many of the team's biggest moves this offseason

Photo courtesy Minnesota Vikings

---

By Matthew Coller

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Over the first few weeks of NFL free agency, the Minnesota Vikings both retained some of their top talents and added potential impact pieces on both sides of the football. The new additions were the main subject (not quarterback!!!!!!) of Kevin O’Connell’s annual owner’s meetings press conference on Tuesday.

Here’s the biggest takeaways from his 31-minute discussion with Purple Insider, The Athletic, the Pioneer Press, ESPN and the Star Tribune and several other reporters who dropped by KOC’s table to ask the head coach questions…

Bringing back Byron Murphy Jr. was a priority

During the lead up to free agency, the Vikings extended the void date deadline on their top cornerback’s contract in order to continue negotiations. When that date passed and Murphy Jr. became a free agent, it wasn’t clear whether the Vikings were going to be able to get him back. Their investment on his three-year contract with nearly $35 million guaranteed demonstrated just how badly they wanted to keep him in the building.

In a free agency year that featured a number of high quality corners, why was Murphy Jr. their guy?

“There are scheme fits and guys that make sense playing in your system and then there’s guys like Byron Murphy which go beyond that,” O’Connell said. “What I mean by that is that he’s an inside-outside guy that’s a hub of communication.”

“As a corner, the days of…Matt, I’m covering you and I only have to worry about covering you [are over]…now there’s 10 other guys that you have to be linked with. A layer of above-the-neck that Byron brings to our team. He loves football, he’s tough, he’s available for us and making a lot of plays and he turned the ball over a lot last year getting his hands on the football. He earned us wanting him to be here and the contract that came with that.”

Last year Murphy Jr. played 1,056 snaps, posted his highest career interception mark (six), highest PFF grade and gave up only an 80.5 QB rating into his coverage. The veteran corner also split snaps between outside corner and the nickel position, which is clearly a priority for defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

Isaiah Rodgers is a Brian Flores special

Speaking of Flores, O’Connell revealed the thinking behind signing veteran cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, who spent last season with the Philadelphia Eagles and previously played three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

“Isaiah was a guy that Flo identified pretty early,” O’Connell said. “Historically, when Flo has that tone in his voice about guys, he has been pretty darn accurate. That guy, whether playing for us or somebody else, has immediately shown up. No pressure on Isaiah but he definitely got that evaluation from Flo.”

While his performance came in a small sample size as a backup/rotational player, Rodgers has posted strong underlying numbers. In 1,339 snaps as a pro, he has never graded by PFF below 71.8 (out of 100) and the 27-year-old CB has allowed just an 86.6 QB rating on throws into his coverage. In 2022, he scored particularly high grades (85.2, third best in the NFL by PFF) in zone coverage, which the Vikings tend to play more often than man-to-man.

O’Connell went into detail about the entire cornerback unit, saying that he feels the room has become quite deep.

“A guy like Jeff Okudah, who we’ve had some experience playing against, we see him as a boundary corner in nickel defense and let him get physical and get his hands on people. Mekhi and [Dwight McGlothern] coming off the years they had, Mekhi was injured and [McGlothern] coming off a development year, we feel really good about those five. Our roster is pretty full at that position right now so it’s going to be competitive throughout the spring especially if we’re able to do anything in the draft.”

The question is whether they will do anything in the draft regarding corner. With Blackmon missing 2024 due to an ACL tear and Rodgers having never played in a full-time role, the Vikings could look to a corner draft that has been touted as particularly strong in the back end of the first round into the early second round.

Jordan Mason can help maximize Aaron Jones

Two things were true about the Minnesota running game in 2024: Aaron Jones was very good and the running game had some serious deficiencies. Jones ran for over 1,100 yards and caught 51 passes while averaging 5.1 yards per touch. The last time a Vikings running back was over 5.0 yards per touch was Dalvin Cook in 2020. From that perspective, Jones was a success.

However, the fact that Jones had to set a career high in touches was not ideal. They wanted Jordan Mason to allow Jones to be the best version of himself.

“The big thing we learned about Aaron Jones is that he can be an every-down back…but what we wanted to make sure we were doing is using him in a way that allows him to be his most impactful self, which is early-down runs, pass game, he has third-down value,” O’Connell said. “When he has historically had that 1A, 1B backfield structure, he can be a total game-changer every time he touches the ball. It was always about bringing Aaron back. Huge leadership role on our team. He assumed that from Day 1. But what are we going to pair him with?”

O’Connell is referring to Jones’s time in Green Bay in which he averaged 12.1 carries per game and 5.0 yards per carry as opposed to 15.0 carries per game in 2024 and 4.5 YPC.

The Vikings didn’t just like the fact that Mason had the potential to give Jones a rest, they viewed him as a thunder to Jones’s lightning.

“Heavy runner, slash runner, tough to tackle, gets into space and has burst and explosion to finish runs,” O’Connell said. “Also a guy that doesn’t get enough credit for his pass protection, just every-down versatility. We really aren’t pigeonholed into any particular scheme or in the run or pass phase.”

Where Mason can greatly improve the Vikings’ running game is in short-yardage, where they struggled immensely in 2024.

“I think Jordan’s going to bring something to the table in short-yardage situations, goal-line situations, goal-to-go, where we really left a lot to be desired as a football team and that starts with me to improve in that area because we certainly improved personnel wise,” O’Connell said.

Using Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave

The Vikings made an enormous investment on the interior of the defensive line by adding the two proven veterans but they are not exactly walking into an empty defensive tackle room. Harrison Phillips played 838 snaps in 2023 and 672 snaps last season. Those reps were split between him playing the left and right sides over the A gaps and the traditional nose tackle position. It seems likely he will play more directly over the center than in the past with Allen and Hargrave mixing in.

“Jonathan Allen has the ability to play all spots as does Javon so it’s really about how does it work, is [Harrison Phillips] more of a nose in base defense and those guys working at the 3, 5 or 4i?” O’Connell said. “You have HP and he’s flanked by either one of those guys or both and then you have your edge players in JG, Dallas and Van Ginkel.”

O’Connell added that the presence of Allen and Hargrave doesn’t mean that the development process of the young players that started to get their feet wet in the NFL last year is going to end.

“I think what these moves allow us to do is really see guys like Levi [Drake Rodriguez] and Jalen Redmond and Taki [Tiamani], these guys are going to be impactful depth positions that can get some high-quality snaps throughout the game and different sequences of the season that can keep those other guys fresh,” O’Connell said. “Bringing in some older players in that room, we can be impactful with their snaps knowing that we have good young depth that we want to see develop.”

Best player available? Sorta

With all the free agency additions, the Vikings have put themselves in position to go nearly anywhere they want with the 24th overall pick. There are good arguments for taking a guard, safety, defensive tackle, cornerback and, yes, even wide receiver. Though O’Connell didn’t seem as sold on the idea of drafting any position where the player wouldn’t have an opportunity to quickly find his way to the field.

“Best player available is good but at some positions the best player available has such a tremendous road block to getting on the field in front of them,” O’Connell said. “When you look at development of positions, some really need to be out there whether it’s physicality or speed of the game, just the reps that come with getting a real opportunity. I think we can be in a best-available mentality but we want to draft players who are going to be high-impact players especially with our first-round picks.”

Purple Insider will remain committed to the wide receiver opinion, regardless.

Anyway, O’Connell was also asked about Jalen Nailor’s position and the confidence in him if Jordan Addison faces a suspension this year relating to a DUI charge last summer.

“For two-and-a-half games we didn’t have [Addison] and we were able to beat the 49ers and the Texans with Jalen Nailor playing huge roles in those games. Speedy, what we were always hoping for was to see what it looked like when he stayed healthy. He learned over the season the different unique ways that Justin gets defended has a direct impact on how he needs to prepare to play. I think Speedy is going to have a great year and I think this is a massive, massive year for his career.”

“We want to make it competitive, whether it’s Rondale or Tim Jones coming in or potentially drafting one, we want to have impactful players in that room because no matter what throwing the football is something that defines the Minnesota Vikings and we’ve done it at a high clip because of our players.”