The Vikings' idea turns into a reality in camp
Kevin O'Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah talked about their vision for the 2025 Vikings on Tuesday
By Matthew Coller
EAGAN — I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the 2025 Minnesota Vikings roster is the first that was truly built in the vision of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. It’s the quarterback that this regime drafted. It’s the free agents that this regime targeted. The stars that they have extended. The concept that was hatched when he was hired in 2022.
On Wednesday when the team hits the field for its first full practice, the GM will be able to see a roster that has been crafted over the last three years in action.
“We've spent the offseason really focusing on building the idea of the 2025 Vikings, and this is the time for Kevin, his great staff, our football operations staff, to really build the reality of what this team's gonna be like,” Adofo-Mensah said during Tuesday’s camp-opening press conference. “So we're excited to see that.”
Everything about the idea of the 2025 Vikings centers around first-year starting quarterback JJ McCarthy.
During camp, we will start to see how McCarthy manages the juxtaposition of his youth and inexperience in comparison to his veteran teammates versus the need for him to take command of the team.
“It's just a presence, leadership,” O’Connell said. “JJ has proven from day one after selecting him that he has that. We knew that before we were lucky enough, fortunate enough to select him, that he had that kind of makeup. And I think the teammates here have responded to that.”
Though KOC also noted that McCarthy doesn’t have to do it all himself when it comes to the leadership element.
“We've built a team with leadership on both sides of the ball, with experience on both sides of the ball, all designed to help [McCarthy] be comfortable in his role,” O’Connell said.
McCarthy looked like he was in his element during OTAs and minicamp operating the offense. Last year the team invested a lot of effort into teaching McCarthy behind the scenes, including using virtual reality and one-on-one meetings with O’Connell, but nothing replaces actual practice reps. It has been almost a year since McCarthy has actually put pads on and played 11-on-11 football in any capacity. O’Connell identified the steps that they will be looking to take with him in camp to build on his strong spring.
“We now we have the element of those fronts and the rush and how rushing coverage can work together to make things uncomfortable on quarterbacks, so we can see a new layer of information and he's had the ability to kind of progress to these reps,” O’Connell said. “I think that there's a layer now where you start having real conversations about managing situations. What does a second, or what does a first and 10 decision look like versus a third down got-to-have-it type situation?”
If we zoom in and look closely at the veteran roster that the Vikings have put around McCarthy, we can see another clear idea of the 2025 Vikings: They didn’t just try to add talent, they aimed to become deeper and more dynamic and more prepared for the playoffs.
“It's just the type of team that can show up to a fight, not knowing what the fight is going to be, and be the last one standing,” Adofo-Mensah said. “The different types of game you can play in an NFL season, but single elimination playoff situation, you might have to play a certain type of game. And so we just want to build a type of team that was versatile, could win different ways. And we think we've done that. Obviously, that comes with great schemes and different things like that. But that's the type of team we're trying to field. And we're hoping we're accomplishing that.”
The idea of the 2025 Vikings includes a sense of urgency within the roster. The players made a clear statement during offseason workouts when they wore “more is required” shirts based on a Jonathan Greenard tweet. Brian O’Neill said that he didn’t care if they ran 75 times per game or passed 75 times, he just wants to win. A high percentage of the roster has seen close calls and all sorts of almosts. It’s time to go beyond another what-coulda-been season.
On Tuesday, O’Connell danced between acknowledging their need to win with this star-laden group without putting too much pressure on his quarterback.
“It goes back to the day after [losing to the Rams],” O’Connell said. “We're definitely not looking backwards. But at the same time, it's important that we -- especially those that were here and the new players that come in, they've got to know where we're at right now in our journey as an organization.”
KOC was avoiding cliches like “win-now” and “Super Bowl or bust” by using “journey as an organization” but everybody knows that you don’t win 14 games and then spend big in free agency with hopes of being just OK.
That brings us to the reality of camp.
The Vikings have a quarterback who has a heap of knowledge in his head but only a handful of reps with his body since being drafted. Think about it like watching YouTube golf lessons but never getting out on the course. They only have a few weeks to get the quarterback up to full speed while also preparing a group of championship-hungry players who could probably play in a week if needed. O’Connell will have a delicate dance of pushing the quarterback in his aggressive system while also avoiding pushing too hard and stagnating his progress. The head coach is focusing on getting McCarthy to make the right choices with the football first.
“People want to talk about the game manager position of the quarterback, all 32 guys better manage the game or your team's going to lose,” O’Connell said. “The best quarterbacks that have ever played this game and the best guys in the league right now do a great job managing their decision making throughout games.”
What O’Connell believes will guide McCarthy through a speed-learning process is his energy and preparation.
“He's absolutely had a phenomenal offseason from the time before the offseason program started through the nine weeks that we were allowed to be on the grass,” O’Connell said. “And then I think it's been awesome this summer seeing these guys getting together working whether it was you know, and I think at Nashville and then here locally with the full group… just really you feel the energy and the enthusiasm.”
One of the other realities is that health will play a significant role in whether they get back to the heights of last season. That starts over the next few weeks. O’Connell said that he isn’t putting a timeline on superstar left tackle Christian Darrisaw’s recovery but he indicated that things are going to plan as he returns from an ACL tear midway through 2024.
“He'll be working through individual [drills] and then eventually, he'll work into some of the combination periods, working across from some of our defensive players,” O’Connell explained. “And then we'd like to start progressing him to work in the team periods…basically we have a plan in place….. I cannot give him any more credit Hopefully I've made that I've emphasized that enough because he has been phenomenal His presence in the building every every day. And this is all part of a plan that has been set in motion a long time ago.”
Guard Will Fries, who is returning from a leg injury, is physically ready per O’Connell.
“He's clear he's ready to go,” KOC said. “It's just a matter of ramping him up football wise in our offensive systems from a comfort standpoint.”
The only two players on the Physically Unable to Perform list to start camp are undrafted outside linebacker Chaz Chambliss and tight end Gavin Bartholomew.
There is another balance O’Connell will have to strike during camp: Keeping his team healthy versus preparing his team to play playoff football.
Last year we heard O’Connell emphasize “play style” often, wanting his team to be more aggressive and physical. He said on Tuesday that he plans to have another physical training camp like 2024 when things were ramped up from 2022 or 2023. This season, the Vikings have a lot more players known for their physicality i.e. interior O-linemen Donovan Jackson, Will Fries and Ryan Kelly along with running back Jordan Mason. At the end of camp, the Vikings will push the gas pedal down on physical play by hosting joint practices with the New England Patriots, who are now coached by Mike Vrabel.
“I spent a lot of time talking to coach Vrabel about what those joint practices are going to look like to make sure that it's in alignment with what we're trying to build,” O’Connell said. “And then you have to leave enough air and enough space for this team and the personality and the makeup of this team to be solidified by them as we go here. Knowing that it's a long season, we're not going to be a finished product coming out of training camp.”
While they may not be a finished product in a few weeks when camp breaks, we should have a feeling about whether they are close in reality to the idea of the 2025 Vikings. Is McCarthy ready to run the full offense and lead the franchise? Are they healthy? Are they ready for any kind of fight? We’re about to find out.
F O O T B A L L .
It's not watching youtube videos, it's spending the winter at the simulator with one's swing coach. Is that the same thing as playing in Scottish weather at the Open in front of a hostile (by golf standards) crowd? Rhetorical question. But, it's still night and day from not knowing what city one is living in until May.
Everyone wants their team to be physical, but gosh, there were two major injuries in Miami already. KAM made big bets that the Vikings could do a better job keeping guys healthier than their previous spots did. It would really suck if key players go down during camp, or even worse, in a preseason game.