Before the Minnesota Vikings fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, he openly admitted that he had gotten the 2022 draft wrong.
“When I entered the building trying to compete [with an] aging roster, salary cap stuff, I think there was times where I felt down 33-nothing,” Adofo-Mensah said in 2024, referring to Minnesota’s 33-point comeback over the Indianapolis Colts in 2022. “And as we all know, that game, it starts with one play, one drive, and you build. And I think at times I might’ve been guilty of trying to maybe have a 33-point play all at once.”
Adofo-Mensah was signaling a change in draft strategy at the time. Instead of constantly trading down to get value, he’d stick and pick if there were players the Vikings liked.
He was also trying to explain Minnesota’s misses in 2022. The Vikings had hired Adofo-Mensah in late January. He then hired Kevin O’Connell in mid-February because O’Connell was the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator, and they had just won the Super Bowl. The short turnaround between when Minnesota hired them and the April draft likely accounted for some of those misses.
After firing Adofo-Mensah in late January, the Vikings didn’t immediately hire his replacement. Trying to avoid making the same error twice, they didn’t want their next general manager to face a similar turnaround between when they hired them and April’s draft. Instead, they promoted longtime cap wizard Rob Brzezinski to interim general manager.
In doing so, they’ve recreated the “Triangle of Authority.” From 2006 to 2011, Brzezenski, Rick Spielman, and Leslie Frazier or Brad Childress ran the team in equal measure. The issue with Minnesota’s Triangle of Authority is that no one had ultimate responsibility for critical decision-making.
In theory, each principle focused on its area of expertise. Spielman oversaw personnel, Frazier and Childress offered input when they were the coach, and Brzezinski fit the contracts under the cap.
In practice, it didn’t work. Teams need an ultimate decision-maker with a vision for the team and accountability for shortcomings. After the Vikings drafted Christian Ponder and failed to capitalize on Adrian Peterson’s prime, ownership elevated Rick Spielman to general manager.
Minnesota has a “Triangle of Authority” again, only this time it’s temporary. Rob Brzezinski is the acting GM, but he will lean on Kevin O’Connell for offensive picks and on Brian Flores for defensive picks.
That’s not entirely different from Minnesota’s previous arrangement, where Kwesi Adofo-Mensah emphasized collaboration. Adofo-Mensah had an analytics background and wasn’t previously a scout, so he relied on experts in the building for player evaluation. Similarly, Brezinski is a lawyer by trade who negotiates contracts and manages the cap.
Typically, teams employ a general manager who’s a “super scout.” Rick Spielman had a scouting background before going into management. He could evaluate players on his own and then compare his evaluations with those of his scouts. Adofo-Mensah and Brzezinski are more reliant on the talent evaluators in the building to make final decisions on Minnesota’s draft targets.
Therefore, Minnesota’s process probably won’t be drastically different this year, assuming Brzezinski leans on O’Connell and Flores for player evaluation. In a vacuum, general managers are wise to consult with their coaches on draft picks. There’s a nature and nurture aspect to every prospective player. They must be talented, but the coaches must know how to bring out the best in them.
Still, if Minnesota’s process under Brzezinski was like it was with Adofo-Mensah in charge, why should they expect different results?
Brzezinski will likely use more standard methods in the draft. He’ll be less concerned with analytics – getting the most value out of each pick – and probably be focused on getting as much cost-effective talent under the cap. Still, he’ll be collaborating with O’Connell and Flores, as Adofo-Mensah previously did.
Ultimately, the Vikings had reason to move on from Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. They only received 172 starts from the players he drafted from 2022 to 2025, the second-fewest in the league. Minnesota is also probably wise to wait to hire a GM until after the draft to avoid a rushed process like the one in 2022.
Still, without drastically changing the dynamic between interim GM Rob Brzezinski, Kevin O’Connell, and Brian Flores, will the draft results be much different this year?
