Takeaways from Week 2 of Vikings OTAs

Kevin O'Connell talked about the QB situation on Thursday

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By Matthew Coller

Kevin O’Connell did not add to the QB competition drama

Last week JJ McCarthy gave the debate shows plenty to discuss when he gave some unexpected answers to questions about working with Kyler Murray, including saying that they were sitting on opposing sides of the room during meetings. In his first comments about the “quarterback competition” since the Vikings started OTAs, O’Connell downplayed McCarthy’s press conference, saying that the interactions between Murray and McCarthy had been “very professional.”

“I didn’t make a lot out of it,” O’Connell said. “I know there was some... some reaction to it, and that’s probably not the first time there’s going to be a reaction to those guys kind of answering questions about the situation, and that’s what part of the competition is all about. It’s going to be, look, we’re not trying to, there’s no hiding anything. It’s going to be displayed on the field.”

On the field on Thursday, the Vikings did not have an intense practice and both quarterbacks had their moments. Murray had several anticipation throws that landed as completions but two passes were picked off and McCarthy had a pair of tosses over the middle that whipped between defenders but also airmailed a couple throws. The two QBs mostly split reps while Carson Wentz took the QB2 snaps.

“What actually matters is what I care about: Did we take the right footwork on a play?” O’Connell said. “Did we have our eyes in the right spot? Did we make a protection call against one of Flo’s blitz looks? Did we do our jobs to manufacture the starting point and potential path to success for the offense? And there’s enough that goes into that, that I don’t have a ton of space left over for who says what and how they say it.”

In terms of how Murray has been learning his new role and performing during practices, O’Connell talked about him adapting to the offense and improving with each practice.

“It’s been fantastic just to see the daily growth for a guy that was with one organization, but really two schemes throughout his time in Arizona and our scheme’s a little different than what he’s most comfortable doing from the time on task there,” O’Connell said. “Just the daily growth, just as simple as comparing day one of calling plays versus today. It’s like two totally different guys.”

It has been clear in practices open to the media that Murray’s accuracy is very strong. That hasn’t been lost on O’Connell.

“His physical talent throwing the ball has been on display every day,” O’Connell said. “The ability to throw to all three levels, layer the ball, anticipation that veteran players bring to the position.”

We will see more on display on minicamp next week when three practices are open to media and the practices are more intense than in OTAs. However, we won’t really know for sure about whether the competition is actually ongoing with Murray/McCarthy until training camp.

The wide receiver depth battle is fascinating

I want to couch this in as many ways as possible because it’s only OTAs and the defensive backs can’t play physically against the wide receivers but… the player who has emerged as someone to watch from OTAs is UDFA Dillon Bell. The former Georgia receiver has made a number of impressive catches during both open practices. In particular, he has flashed burst and speed that sets him apart.

Over the years, it has been common to see receivers that shine in the spring end up making a difference when the team gets to training camp i.e. Bisi Johnson, Chad Beebe, KJ Osborn and Jalen Nailor. So it will be worth watching to see if Bell continues to stand out.

As far as the other receivers, O’Connell talked about seeing progress from the presumptive WR4 and WR5 Tai Felton and Myles Price, who were both rookies last year that saw work on special teams.

“You look at Tai Felton and his improvement and his traits that he brings to the room it’s clear every single day…from a speed and explosiveness standpoint,” O’Connell said. “He continues to grow. And obviously Myles Price… he would be right up there as far as impactful springs in his growth and development so far through six days and even beyond that in phase two.”

The element that both Felton and Price can bring to the depth group is yards after catch. Felton has blazing speed and Price showed an ability to break tackles and create with the ball in his hands.

Will that actually translate over to the offense? We’ll get sense for that as the offseason goes along.

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