The Minnesota Vikings aren’t hiding that they felt rushed before the 2022 draft.
“The Wednesday I was introduced [as coach], the combine might have been a week and a half later,” said Kevin O’Connell, who the Vikings hired on February 15, two weeks before the combine started on March 1. “We were compressed for time, trying to trust in building some immediate processes that we believed in and talked about during the interview process.”
Minnesota hired O’Connell so late because he won the Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. O’Connell rewarded the Vikings for their patience, leading them to a 13-win season in his first year and a 14-win season last year.
O’Connell has mostly had the same coaching staff since taking over, a rarity in the NFL. However, he fired defensive coordinator Ed Donatell after one season, and Donatell likely influenced some of Minnesota’s decisions in the 2022 draft.
The Vikings have yet to win a playoff game under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell. While they addressed many of their needs in free agency this year, they paid a premium to fill out their roster. It’s always more efficient for teams to use the draft instead of free agency to address roster needs.
Had Lewis Cine panned out, he would have filled the void Camryn Bynum left at safety. Instead, they will rely on Theo Jackson. Andrew Booth could have filled a spot opposite Byron Murphy Jr., and Ed Ingram would have created less urgency to fill out the offensive line. That isn’t to say the Vikings would’ve added free agents this year. Instead, they’d have a more complete roster.
After running the Rick Spielman core back for one season, Adofo-Mensah spent two years overhauling the roster. He let Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, and Danielle Hunter go and replaced them with Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones, and Jonathan Greenard.
Adofo-Mensah knew he’d have to turn over the roster when he took over. However, he admits that he rushed the process. He wishes he had been more methodical like the Vikings were in their 33-point comeback over the Indianapolis Colts.
“When I entered the building, trying to compete; aging roster, salary cap [problems],” Adofo-Mensah said. “As we all know from that [Colts] game, it starts with one play, one drive, and you build.”
“I think at times I might have been guilty of trying to maybe have a 33-point play all at once.”
Still, another reason why the Vikings had a weak 2022 draft class is that they selected players who fit Donatell’s defense.
Unlike Brian Flores’ blitz-happy Belichick scheme, Donatell came from the Vic Fangio coaching tree. Instead of confusing opposing quarterbacks by lining up players along the line of scrimmage and making them guess which ones are rushing, Donatell used his version of the illusion of complexity to prevent explosive plays.
In the Dona-shell, as people derisively called it, defenders would split between different coverages in the backfield. Sometimes, one half would play Cover 4, and the other Cover 2. On other downs, they played half-zone and half-man coverage. The goal was to generate pressure with the front four and keep everything in front of the secondary while making the quarterback quickly decipher the coverage.
Fangio was the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator last year, and they allowed the fewest yards per game (278.4) in the league. In the Super Bowl, Philadelphia held Patrick Mahomes to 21 of 31 passing for 257 yards and sacked him six times. When executed correctly, the scheme keeps seven sets of eyes on the quarterback while the front four makes him get rid of the ball quickly.
However, Donatell’s defense broke against Mike White and the New York Jets in Week 15. The Vikings didn’t have the personnel to execute it, and Donatell didn’t coach the scheme as effectively as Fangio. O’Connell moved on from Donatell in the offseason, replacing him with Flores, and Minnesota’s defense meaningfully improved.
The only issue with the change is that the Vikings took Cine, Booth, Brian Asamoah, and Akayleb Evans with Donatell’s defense in mind.
Donatell’s defense requires fast players who can scramble to the ball. However, they don’t have to be effective tacklers because the Fangio scheme fosters gang tackling. Conversely, Flores’ scheme requires versatile players who can blitz and cover. They must also be effective tacklers because there are fewer defenders in the backfield when so many players are blitzing.
Adofo-Mensah is wise to highlight his own mistakes rather than blame Donatell for the 2022 draft flop. Donatell presumably only had a say with the defensive players, and organizations shouldn’t blame past employees for the collective decisions the team made. Still, part of the reason some of those top picks didn’t pan out is because the Vikings drafted them to play in a different scheme.