The Minnesota Vikings are in the process of gathering for training camp at TCO Performance Center, in Eagan. As of Monday morning, there were nearly 40 players who had arrived. Veteran reporting day is Tuesday, but every quarterback on roster arrived over the weekend.
Around 12:30 CT, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah met with media for their annual start of training camp press conference. Both guys started the presser by talking about Khyree Jackson, who died tragically in a car accident near his hometown of Marlboro, MD a couple of weeks ago.
From there, they took questions regarding the injuries of TJ Hockenson and Andrew Van Ginkel , among others. Then, KOC got the one question he should have been most ready for, regarding the Minnesota Vikings QB depth chart entering camp.
Kevin O’Connell wishy washy on Minnesota Vikings quarterback depth chart?
It wasn’t that O’Connell seemed surprised by the question. But for whatever reason, he answered it as if he wasn’t ready for it. The Vikings head coach wouldn’t name Sam Darnold as the team’s QB1, and wouldn’t even repeat what he had previously about Sam getting most of the first team reps during camp.
Judd : “Kevin, you said on radio I think it was on Friday that there’s going to be a competition. You were talking about, and this doesn’t contradict it, but at the end of the the workouts that Darnold was going to go in as the top QB. So what do you envision here? Is JJ going to push. Darnold. Is Nick going to start as the number two. Like how is this going to unfold in your mind.”
KOC : “Yeah I have no you know preconceived preset depth chart in my mind beyond I believe I said, you know, at the end of spring, Sam was, you know, the number one quarterback. He had taken a lot of the reps and most of the reps with the ones. And Sam had a great spring.
JJ came in here after being drafted and had a really productive, spring as well. So really, my message to those guys is I want a really competitive situation. Sam will, you know, obviously be, you know, taking the majority of his reps with that first group. But I think you’ll see, JJ maybe get some as well.”
When I listened to the above video live, I thought KOC said that Darnold “will take the majority of the reps with the ones”. But he didn’t. If you noticed, the head coach actually said that Sam “will take the majority of his reps with the ones”. Those are two very different things, with two very different meanings.
Nearly all of the reliable steam that has come out of the Vikings organization, since the draft, has pushed Sam Darnold up the depth chart and JJ McCarthy down it. That’s why KOC’s clear determination not to name a QB1 on Monday was a bit surprising.
Kevin O’Connell no longer sold on Sam Darnold as Vikings QB1?
I highly recommend that you listen to the video 1.5 minute above because it is impossible to catch the proper tone, just by reading the transcript. Just the difference in how he said that Darnold’s offseason was “great” was much different than the way he said McCarthy’s was “productive”.
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Reading that KOC quote, you might think Sam’s offseason has been the more impressive one, of the two QBs. But you do NOT get that feeling, when you watch the video. After some gobbly gook about McCarthy’s “holistic” development program and individualized QB plans, O’Connell said he expects to find out a lot more about Sam Darnold and JJ McCarthy when preseason games and joint practices start playing out.
“But also it’s about the, the quality and as much as the volume of those reps throughout camp to really kind of continue to holistically, attack this quarterback development program and process for JJ while also knowing that doesn’t mean the expectation is that Sam doesn’t have a process either.
We’ve got individualized plans for all of our guys. And, where that depth chart falls you know, for our first game, we get a whole, a whole lot of time on the grass and, three preseason opportunities, two joint practices to really work through exactly where each individual guy is at this point in time, going into the season.”
Sam Darnold vs JJ McCarthy could be a real competition
It’s difficult to know what the Minnesota Vikings will end up doing at quarterback, come week one. And after watching this press conference, I strongly believe that’s because the head coach doesn’t know what is going to happen either.
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We know JJ McCarthy has spent a lot of time at TCO Performance Center this summer. During that time, has he changed Kevin O’Connell’s mind on his development timeline? If one month ago, KOC was touting Sam Darnold as Minnesota’s week one QB1… then the answer to that question is yes, because he was not willing to go that far today.
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