Kwesi Adofo-Mensah occasionally talks about champagne problems. It could be negotiating a contract with Justin Jefferson or deciding what to do with Sam Darnold after he outperformed a $10 million deal. Regardless, there are worse issues in the football world.
For example, how do the Vikings win a playoff game after a successful regular season? That’s a genuine issue.
Trying to find another quarterback to bridge to J.J. McCarthy? That’s a champagne problem.
Panicking about Joe Flacco and Drew Lock coming off the board is okay. Everyone is entitled to lose it occasionally; the Minnesota Vikings have frayed everyone’s emotions. That’s what losing to Daniel Jones and the New York Giants in the playoffs, then the Los Angeles Rams in Phoenix two years later, will do to anyone.
Still, remember that we’re talking about Joe Flacco and Drew Lock. The Baltimore Ravens drafted Flacco in 2008, the same year the New England Patriots took Kevin O’Connell in the third round. Matt Ryan (third overall) and Flacco (18th) were the prized quarterbacks in the draft. Draft experts considered O’Connell (94), Chad Henne (56), and Brian Brohm (57) to be in the tier below them.
That was a long time ago. The last time we saw Matt Ryan, he led the Indianapolis Colts to a 33-0 halftime lead over the Vikings in 2022. However, to borrow a phrase, Ryan looked like Kirk Cousins’ grandfather, and Minnesota won the game in a historic comeback. Flacco won the 2012 Super Bowl, but he’s become a little flaccid.
Minnesota probably thought Daniel Jones would be their bridge guy. However, they’re also the victim of their success with him.
Jones’ playoff win over the Vikings earned him a $160 million contract from the New York Giants. However, they cut him after a 2-8 start, and he learned under O’Connell and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown as part of Minnesota’s practice squad last year. The Indianapolis Colts offered him an opportunity to compete with Anthony Richardson for the starting job, which is a better situation than bridging for McCarthy.
O’Connell’s next step with his “quarterback club” is to generate value for Minnesota with the quarterbacks he develops behind the scenes. His priority will be turning McCarthy into a franchise quarterback. However, the Vikings must be convinced McCarthy will pan out because they spurned Aaron Rodgers, who presumably would have been their starter all season if they had signed him.
Assuming O’Connell works his magic with McCarthy, he should continue to develop quarterbacks in the background. They would provide valuable depth in case McCarthy gets hurt and would become assets the organization can flip to earn more draft capital or depth at other positions.
The only nitpick with O’Connell’s quarterback development side project is that it hasn’t yielded much long-term return. Jones helped get them a compensation pick, valuable in a draft where they’re light on capital. However, he’d have more value as the bridge to McCarthy.
Joshua Dobbs became the Passtronaut but came back to Earth. The Seattle Seahawks priced the Vikings out by giving Darnold a $100.5 million contract. However, they only guaranteed $52.5 million, meaning he’s bridging them until next season when the quarterback draft class is better. Jaren Hall wasn’t ready to start two years ago. Still, he was so good in Minnesota’s final preseason game last year that Seattle snatched him off waivers.
Ironically, after the Patriots drafted O’Connell, one draft analyst believed Bill Belichick took O’Connell to develop and flip him.
“What’ll happen with New England,” said Michael Lombardi, who worked with Belichick in Cleveland and New England and is his general manager at the University of North Carolina, “they’ll play Kevin in a preseason game. He’ll look spectacular, and there will be some team who needs a quarterback who will say, ‘You know, that O’Connell kid looks pretty good.’ Maybe I’ll give up my [first pick] next year and for him.”
Who knows if Lombardi knew what Belichick was thinking at the time? Still, it’s interesting that Lombardi thought Belichick was drafting O’Connell as a developmental quarterback. Draft analysts liked his size and felt O’Connell was athletic for a 6’5”, 225 lbs. player. However, their chief concern is that he played in the Mountain West Conference.
New England didn’t get value for O’Connell. He played in two games as a rookie, and the Detroit Lions claimed him off waivers a year later. In 2010, the New York Jets traded a seventh-round pick for him, then unceremoniously cut him on Hard Knocks. O’Connell looks back and jokes about his career. Still, while the Patriots over-drafted him in the third round, it feels like he was worth the risk.
O’Connell had the size and athleticism to be a great player; he broke records at San Diego State. His game didn’t translate to the next level, but he fits the profile of a player who may succeed in a low-pressure situation with the right coaching. O’Connell will never get the opportunity to draft himself. Still, his experience as a developmental quarterback may have influenced how he coaches the position today.
