The Minnesota Vikings made a big move this summer, hiring Seattle Seahawks assistant general manager Nolan Teasley. And while he probably hasn’t even unpacked his suitcases yet, Teasley has already met with the Vikings media a few times, giving some insights into how he might handle this offseason.
Below are three quotes that provide some clues into his thought process for setting up the roster ahead of the September 13 opener.
The Quarterback Competition
I think it’s deep. It’s competitive. There’s a lot of talent in there. There’s football experience. There’s upside. And that applies to everybody because of the developers we have at that position. So, iron sharpens iron. May the best man win. They’re going to compete hard. They’re going to be developed to a really high level because of coach [Kevin] O’Connell and the offensive football staff.
The Vikings have been trumpeting that the starting quarterback job is a wide-open battle for much of the offseason, and Teasley seems to be going along with the company line. It’s unsurprising that he didn’t make any bold proclamations in his first week, but he did give a little clue into his thought process.
Teasley has said on multiple occasions that much of his reason for coming to Minnesota was Kevin O’Connell’s brilliance. For a general manager, the job is to assemble talent for the coaches to then extract, and there aren’t many who do it better than O’Connell at the quarterback position.
It’s hard to have a better ball of clay to mold than former No. 1-overall pick Kyler Murray, and harder to see how he won’t succeed under this staff with these weapons. J.J. McCarthy was also a highly touted draft pick, but it’s also clear he’s starting from a much lower floor from a development standpoint. Teasley and the Vikings clearly aren’t in a rush to name a starter. Still, it’s no secret Murray was largely failed by various coaching staffs in Arizona despite his talents.
The new GM did the smart thing by not choosing favorites. Instead, Teasley’s admiration for O’Connell might say more about how he views this competition than he realizes.
Process
The way that we look at it is that we’re going to be guided by evaluation. We’re going to be anchored by data. And then the final piece – as we work through our three pillars of acquisition and evaluation – what’s really important is the coach’s vision for the player.
Moving on from Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his Wall Street background was also going to lead the Vikings back towards a traditional scouting and evaluation approach. They found that in Teasley, who spent the last 13 seasons working his way up from an intern in Seattle. However, the trait they like most in Teasley might be his ability to connect with the staff, something that never landed with the last hire.
The Vikings could have easily gone with a full reset after letting go of Adofo-Mensah. Instead, they kept O’Connell in a rare twist. Finding a GM that acknowledges his strengths and abilities as a coach and an evaluator was the No. 1 priority this offseason.
So while ownership has said that Teasley has the final say over the 53-man roster, Teasley has indicated that his say will also include a lot of collaboration. Brian Flores and O’Connell seem poised to maintain a big say on the final roster, and Teasley seems cool with that.
Former Vikings head coach and Seahawks assistant Leslie Frazier praised Teasley for that humbleness and cooperation that Minnesota so desperately desired.
“He just wants to come to the correct conclusion,” Frazier told The Athletic. “It’s not about who gets the credit. That’s rare.”
Loading up on defense?
It’s a very tough division. It’s always division first to an extent. We’re gonna be cognizant of who were playing twice a year, and that’s gonna impact your build somewhat.
It was a quick, throwaway statement, but Teasley briefly mentioned that the division’s makeup would affect how he constructs a team. Well, take two seconds to look at Jordan Love, Caleb Williams, and Jared Goff, and it’s not hard to see that things are going to be tough without a strong defense.
Luckily for the Vikings, Flores could make a high school JV team competitive in the NFL, but it doesn’t hurt to have a talented roster either. So could that mean defensive reinforcements are on the way? Edge rusher could still be a need, and there are plenty still available for the taking.
The Vikings already went heavy on defense in the Rob Brzezinski-led draft, and that theme may continue with Teasley, who seemingly indicated it could be a defensive arms race to slow down these high-powered NFC North offenses. Once a black-and-blue division, it’s quickly turned into a battle of who can score 30 first, and the Vikings are well aware.
