The Minnesota Vikings’ desire to land a quarterback in the first round of this month’s NFL draft is no secret, but whether they will come away with Kirk Cousins’ replacement remains the great unknown.
The one thing that can’t be questioned is the work the Vikings appear to be doing when it comes to vetting this class of passers. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated had an interesting read this week on the process being employed by general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell.
O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah haven’t attended the pro days of the big-name quarterbacks and instead have conducted private workouts with North Carolina’s Drake Maye, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Washington’s Michael Penix, and Oregon’s Bo Nix.
The Vikings have sent new quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and assistant Grant Udinski to the Pro Days, but O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah know those don’t offer a true look at a player. A quarterback throws to hand-picked wide receivers, and the workout is designed to make him look as good as possible.
There is little room for spontaneity.
But what O’Connell, Adofo-Mensah, and the Vikings’ traveling party, which includes McCown, can do during their visits is get a close look at a player under terms they can dictate. That includes going through plays in a classroom setting, watching how those plays are executed on the field, and seeing how a quarterback handles potential adversity when things don’t go as planned.
O’Connell has even discussed attending a quarterback’s favorite restaurant on campus to see how he treats the staff. All of this matters because no detail is too small. O’Connell knows this process from the other side. He was a third-round pick of the New England Patriots in 2008 out of San Diego State. He appeared in two games as a rookie and never took another snap in bouncing from the Lions, Jets, Dolphins, and Chargers.
That experience has given O’Connell the advantage of knowledge when it comes to what he’s looking for from these quarterbacks.
Because it’s really the only access that the draftniks have, those of us on the outside looking in often become obsessed with what the QB showed on his college film and during workouts. That’s important but it’s only a start. The best quarterbacks are often likened to the CEO of a company, meaning there is much more to it than just performance on Sundays.
This brings us to the question of how many quarterbacks the Vikings like and where the list ends. Breer, for instance, leads his in-depth column on how scouts have a different view of Penix than coaches. Scouts see flaws in Penix’s play; Breer has been told that coaches feel they can fix those issues. But coaches see things in Penix’s leadership and talents that can’t be taught and are coveted.
Does that put him above Maye and McCarthy? If it does, do the Vikings feel Penix might fall to them at 11, meaning they wouldn’t have to give up a haul to get into the Top 5?
But if O’Connell decides to give up two first-round picks and more to move up and get McCarthy, no one will complain as long as it proves to be the right call.
Would that be risky? Of course. But that’s why the Vikings are turning over every stone possible in their quest to end this ongoing search finally.
