Brian O’Neill, Josh Oliver, and Josh Metellus are good candidates
What player do you think gets the next extension? I think is could/should be O’Neill due to his massive cap hits the this year and next year.
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
Kevin O’Connell explains why J.J. McCarthy hasn’t been named Vikings’ starting QB
Why haven’t the Minnesota Vikings declared J.J. McCarthy as the starting quarterback yet? It’s clear that he’s the guy, but why won’t head coach Kevin O’Connell say publicly what appears to be so obvious?
The reigning NFL coach of the year provided an answer to that question when asked by Kay Adams.
“We can’t even line up defensive players from our own team against him yet. So we really don’t have a need to have anything more than just development time, learning time, teaching phase for our entire team,” O’Connell said in an interview that was released via Up & Adams on Wednesday.
“But trust me, J.J.’s going to get all of the prerequisite work for us to come out of the spring feeling great about where he’s at and heading into training camp. As those days and weeks click off the calendar here, I’m sure he’ll be in a great position to do a lot of good things for us.”
“We’re going to have a great offseason program and take it day-by-day with a plan for J.J. to allow him to leave for the summer before he comes back here for training camp feeling like he’s absolutely ready to go,” O’Connell explained.
“He’s done his part, I’ll tell you that. He’s killed the rehab process. He’s got his weight back up. He’s strong. He’s probably, metric wise, a lot further along beyond than he was before the injury last year. Very excited to officially get this thing going with him.”
J.J. McCarthy Impressing Vikings Vets with Energy & Work Ethic
When J.J. McCarthy wasn’t able to throw a football, he picked up a gratitude journal.
McCarthy spoke Tuesday to media members for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair the meniscus injury that sidelined him for his rookie season.
The Vikings QB, who feels “even better than before” the injury, spoke about looking ahead but also reflected on the past 8 months of rehab. McCarthy noted the impact of returning to the gratitude journal, a practice he initially picked up during his collegiate career at Michigan but had strayed from.
He said it was the tragic passing in September of Greg Harden, former Michigan performance and life coach, that prompted him to revisit a daily journal session.
“It was one of the things that I felt benefited me the most during my first injury in college, and bringing that back up was something I was very grateful to do,” McCarthy said.
“As simple as that seems, you know, the little things that go overlooked and underappreciated when you’re healthy, or you can walk, or just the ability to see, that’s been a great anchor for me every single morning — along with my meditation — to put great perspective into my days,” he explained.
McCarthy, wearing a backward baseball cap atop hair now long enough to flow over his ears, demonstrated a calmness that’s become characteristic.
A question from the front row, ESPN’s Kevin Seifert:
J.J., do you think you’re ready to start?
“I know I’m ready to start,” McCarthy said without hesitation. “I appreciate that question, Kevin.”
Why?
Again, no pause.
“Because all of the work that I put in and just the confidence in my skills and abilities and being able to do my job and simplify things to the best of my ability every day,” McCarthy responded. “Just take it on day at a time. One play at a time. And, you know, I have a tremendous coaching staff, a tremendous group of guys around me; I can lean on them, and they can lean on me.”
“I think the more pressure, the better; that’s something I thrive off,” McCarthy said with a smile. “It’s a cliché, ‘pressure is a privilege,’ but that’s something that you sign up for when you play in the National Football League, especially at the quarterback position.
“I like pressure. All it does is bring out what’s inside of you — and I feel pretty good about what’s inside of me,” he added.
McCarthy noted that welcoming a high-stress (or what some may consider high-stress) environment isn’t new for him but is something he identified in himself years ago.
“I came across this quote, people with ADHD, they find calm in the chaos and chaos in the calm,” he said. “And I’ve felt like, ever since I was a kid, any competitive environment I was in, I just felt like I was at home. Obviously playing at Michigan, there’s 110,000 [fans in the stadium] and you’re at one of the most prominent universities out there — that’s just where I feel most comfortable.
“When the lights are brightest, the stage is the biggest stage out there,” he added. “And yeah, I know it’s going to be a lot more of that to come.”
Just as McCarthy’s fun-loving side has enabled him to easily connect with teammates in the locker room, his unflappability and unwavering commitment to the game has garnered their trust.
Right tackle Brian O’Neill called McCarthy’s energy “infectious” in the building.
“You can tell he wants it really bad. He does all the right things. He was here all winter, got his knee fully healthy — or, he looks fully healthy to me,” O’Neill said. “He’s out there running around, throwing it around, and it’s good to have him in a lot more meetings.
“He was in a lot of quarterback meetings last year, but it’s good to have him in our [offensive line] meetings,” he continued. “I mean, we went over our entire snap count roster today with him, all the different snap counts we do. It’s good to have that kind of interaction with him, knowing he’s gonna be the guy.”
The mutual respect doesn’t come only from the offense, either.
Outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard and safety Joshua Metellus also talked with media members Tuesday and shared similar sentiments around McCarthy.
Metellus noted his unique perspective, having been a senior at Michigan during McCarthy’s recruiting visit:
“You felt his energy [then],” Metellus said. “To have poise the way he does, I think it goes a long way, especially for a team — especially for the leader of a team. For our quarterback to not even [have stepped] on the field yet and already have that poise, that energy when he walks in the building, is very special. I could talk about his abilities on the field all day … but for a guy to be the person he is in the building is something to look forward to.”
Greenard pointed out McCarthy’s constant presence in the team facility, even throughout the offseason.
The quarterback’s work ethic is, to say the least, impressive.
“Seeing J.J. continue to work his tail off, be that same guy as the first day I met him, still checking in on guys, ‘How you doing?’ A lot of people don’t do that. They ask it, [but] they’re just saying, ‘How you doing?’ to check off a box,” Greenard said. “I mean, he genuinely wants to know like, ‘Hey, how are you doing? How’s your family doing?’ And that’s what you want out of your quarterback, a younger guy, as well, especially when he has this grand opportunity in front of him.
“Man, we’re all behind him,” Greenard added. “We’re all standing 10 toes with J. He’s definitely a likable guy, and you want to see a guy like him succeed. So it makes it easier for us to root him on.”
As McCarthy looks ahead to upcoming OTAs, minicamp and training camp, he knows he’s got the entire team behind him and is prepared to continue proving himself in the best way he knows how.
“I’ve gotta win it myself every single day, win competition with myself,” he said. “It’s putting your best body of work, my best body of work, out there. It comes with looking myself in the mirror every night. ‘Did I get better?’
“I’ve got to do everything I can to make sure I’m the best version of myself come game day,” McCarthy later added. “Just put out that body of work they’re going to see on a day-to-day basis. You know, show up. Be consistent, be dependable, be a true pro, and the rest will take care of itself.”
Colin Cowherd doesn’t hold back discussing the Vikings, J.J. McCarthy
While discussing the NFC North and the changes around the NFL, he made a bold prediction related to them and the NFC North.
“Fourth place finish. . .I am all in on the Lions winning it and the Bears winning a Wild Card spot. . .Minnesota could win eight games with J.J. and be a really good team, but they are not pulling off last year’s win total. That is the easiest team to predict a pullback of their win total.”
Note: Kind of a, what do the kids call it, “click bait” title no?
Brian O’Neill Building Rapport with Newcomers Ryan Kelly, Will Fries & Donovan Jackson
Players have returned to Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center for spring workouts and meetings, and smiles from faces new and old are plenty.
Among those excited to be back at work is Brian O’Neill, who spoke with Twin Cities media members Tuesday about J.J. McCarthy’s work ethic and taking things up a notch for the upcoming season.
O’Neill also discussed the focus by General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Head Coach Kevin O’Connell on Minnesota’s interior offensive line. In addition to signing former Colts Ryan Kelly and Will Fries in free agency, the Vikings used their first-round draft pick to tab guard Donovan Jackson.
Though it’s personally difficult to part ways with friends and former teammates Garrett Bradbury and Ed Ingram, O’Neill understands and appreciates the business of an ever-evolving roster.
“The team is always trying to get better,” O’Neill said. “That’s the environment you want to play for … that’s always striving to get better, to improve.”
He’s excited to work with Fries and Kelly, whose existing rapport with each other should help as the 2025 position group works to gel.
O’Neill noted the three have already gotten out on the golf course together, as well.
“Have a lot of respect for Ryan, just following his career. I got to meet him a couple times over the years, whether we played him or at different NFL events,” O’Neill said. “Will, we’ve started watching film together, kind of understanding how each other plays. It’s going to take some time and reps for all three of us, all five of us, really, to get to be one cohesive unite.”
Vikings offensive line coach Chris Kuper has reminded O’Neill and his linemates that while communication may need to be simpler at this stage, it will pay off down the road.
“Hopefully we can play together for a long time and then … you just kind of give them a look and you’re ready to go,” O’Neill said. “So it’s on us to start at the baseline and build it up the right way.
“Will is a big dude,” he added with a laugh. “I shook his hand was like, ‘Whoa, OK.’ So yeah, I’m really excited about them both.”
O’Neill is thankful for another season with Kuper, whom he says he “loves” to play for, even when there’s constructive criticism given.
“He’s known me for a couple years. He can get after me a little bit more than he thought he could at the beginning,” O’Neill quipped. “And we kind of see things the same way. He can shoot me straight and tell me that wasn’t good enough, and I just take it on the chin and keep it moving.
“He’s continually found ways to push me to get better in different areas of my game,” he continued. “As we get on the grass next week, I’m sure he’ll have a few things for me like, ‘That wasn’t good enough last year.’ Or, ‘Here’s how we need to take your game from here to here.’ Yeah, I totally respect his way of coaching and how he handles the guys.”
Kuper brings eight seasons of NFL playing experience to Minnesota’s offensive line group, which continues to benefit guys like O’Neill, Christian Darrisaw and Blake Brandel and will be especially helpful for young players like Jackson.
O’Neill already is impressed with the rookie, though. He and his wife Bryn went out to dinner with Jackson and his family Friday and enjoyed making an initial connection.
O’Neill said he has “a lot of respect” for players like Jackson who demonstrate selflessness the way he did at Georgia (Ohio State), as well as the talent it took Jackson to slide from his typical guard spot outside to left tackle when 32nd overall pick Josh Simmons suffered a season-ending injury.
“It’s really hard to do that,” O’Neill said. “I remember my third year, about a week after the first game, we weren’t sure if Riley Reiff was still going to be here, and they said, ‘Hey, if he’s not here, you’re playing left tackle.’
“I was freaking out,” he laughed. “I even played in college, and I was like, ‘This is not going to go well for anybody involved.’ So I have a ton of respect for somebody to be able to do that.”
Schrager: Vikings are ‘really fired up’ about their 2025 draft class
The Vikings took just five players in the 2025 draft, tied for the fewest in the league. Only one of those — their first-round pick, Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson — came in the top 100 selections. Nonetheless, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell appear to be pretty thrilled with the way the draft unfolded and the guys they were able to add to their roster.
“I spoke with both guys in Minnesota today,” Schrager said. “The Minnesota Vikings were really fired up about their draft. And I can’t even tell you, I think they took Donovan Jackson in the first round, an offensive lineman. I literally cannot recall who they got in other rounds, and yet both of them were like fired up. They didn’t go timidly into this thing, they had their interests, what they wanted, and talking to Kwesi, talking to O’Connell, (they’re) fired up and like ‘we did very well this week.’”
Ex-Nebraska CB, praised by Travis Hunter, to attend Vikings rookie camp
Former University of Nebraska cornerback Tommi Hill will attend the Vikings’ rookie minicamp as a tryout player, according to the Nebraska football program’s official Instagram account.
But Hill isn’t a typical rookie minicamp invitee. This is a guy who was a projected sixth-round pick before the draft, was viewed as a possible first-rounder prior to the 2024 college football season, and drew praise from Heisman winner and No. 2 overall pick Travis Hunter at the NFL combine a few months back. If there’s a tryout player who could emerge from this year’s rookie camp, it might be him — if he’s healthy.
The hype around Hill grew in Nebraska’s Week 2 victory over Colorado last September. He had a pick-six off of Shedeur Sanders in the first quarter and battled all game with Hunter, who caught ten passes for 110 yards but had to work hard for it. Hill had an 82.7 coverage grade in that game.
“Toughest corner, probably from either Nebraska or Oklahoma State,” Hunter said at the combine when asked about the toughest players he faced in college. Though he didn’t say his name, that’s undoubtedly referring to Hill, who was his primary matchup in that game.
“Hill is a good-sized man corner with the competitiveness and athleticism to push for early playing time in the NFL. Drafting him will require a leap of faith that he’ll return to his 2023 form, but it won’t be surprising if he outplays his draft spot,” Brugler wrote.
The Vikings didn’t draft a cornerback this year and only signed two — Utah’s Zemaiah Vaughn and Kansas State’s Keenan Garber — as UDFAs. If Hill’s foot is OK, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him impress at rookie minicamp and potentially earn a contract in Minnesota.
“They counted me out, this s*** make me go 10x harder,” Hill wrote in an Instagram story after the draft.
Don’t look now, but the Minnesota Vikings may have the best offensive line they have had in a very, very long time. After the acquisitions of Will Fries and Ryan Kelly in free agency, the team decided to draft former Ohio State standout Donovan Jackson to come in and compete for the other starting guard spot. Combine that with offensive tackles Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill returning, and you have arguably the best line in the entire NFL heading into the 2025 season.
One very interesting addition came agree the 2025 NFL Draft when Minnesota signed former Kansas right tackle Logan Brown as an undrafted free agent. Brown is a talented player who is a little rough around the edges, but offers plenty of upside.
His fit with the Vikings is extremely interesting. With his lateral mobility, Brown is an ideal wide zone offensive lineman, doing his best work on the move. There aren’t many clearer fits as a run blocker than working under head coach Kevin O’Connell.
If not for the durability issues, there is a good chance that Brown would have been drafted. The value is there for this to be a huge steal.
Minnesota Vikings post-draft depth chart: Position battles, sleepers
Lunchbreak: Donovan Jackson & Kobe King Make ESPN’s List of Top 100 ‘Picks, Steals, Fits’
In reflecting back on this year’s draft and players tabbed by all 32 NFL teams, ESPN’s Matt Miller created a Top 100 list. He noted the list doesn’t only take talent into consideration (“That’s why we had pre-draft prospect rankings,” he said) but also looks at “scheme fit, how the selection addressed a need, what the prospect brings on the field and whether additional assets were gained or lost in draft-day trades to acquire him.”
Miller placed Jackson, a guard out of Ohio State, at No. 45 on his list and wrote the following:
This was a slight reach, but with Grey Zabel off the board, Minnesota grabbed the only remaining interior lineman with a starting rookie grade. Jackson’s experience at left guard, and the ability he showed at left tackle in a pinch last season, made him one of my favorite players to scout. He’s super steady and fills a giant need.
Miller highlighted King, a LB the Vikings were excited to snag out of Penn State, at 97.
King can develop under Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores in the middle of the Vikings defense. Plus, I had him 53 spots higher on my board.
PFF names favorite pick for all 32 teams
Trevor Sikkema of analytics site Pro Football Focus is doing some evaluating of his own.
Sikkema recently spotlighted his favorite draft pick of all 32 NFL teams, and for Minnesota he looked at Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins. The Vikings used the 139th pick to grab the defensive lineman out of Georgia. Sikkema wrote:
I would have preferred the Vikings to trade back from No. 24, but Donovan Jackson gives them an ideal starting five, so I get it. I did not love the Tai Felton pick, but Ingram-Dawkins is a good bet. He is a high-scoring athlete (weight-adjusted) who can play anywhere from 3-technique to 5-technique.
Yore Way Too Early 2026 Mock
Trade Recap
Minnesota Receives: 2026: Round 1, Pick 25, 2026: Round 3, Pick 89, 2026: Round 5, Pick 165
Cincinnati Receives: 2026: Round 1, Pick 18
…
Minnesota Receives: 2026: Round 4, Pick 129, 2026: Round 6, Pick 188
Detroit Receives: 2026: Round 4, Pick 118
…
25. Dillon Thieneman S Oregon 6’0” 207 (4.35 forty)
50. Nyck Harbor WR South Carolina 6’5” 235 (4.24 forty)
82. Domani Jackson CB Alabama 6’1” 197 (4.28 forty)
89. Darrell Jackson Jr. DL Florida State 6’5” 330 (5.05 forty)
97. Jaydn Ott RB Oklahoma 6’0” 210 (4.46 forty)
129. Logan Jones IOL Iowa 6’3” 293 (4.93 forty)
165. Riley Mahlman OT Wisconsin 6’8” 308 (5.20 forty)
174. Robert Spears Jennings S Oklahoma 6’1” 219 (4.44 forty) Thaddeus Dixon CB North Carolina
188. Trey White EDGE San Diego State 6’2” 245
232. Patrick Jenkins DL Tulane 6’2” 293
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