It’s not often that a head coach will comment specifically about players they might take in the NFL Draft, but Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell did just that during a Saturday appearance with Rich Eisen and Daniel Jeremiah on NFL Network.
As they watched wide receivers run 40-yard dashes at the NFL Combine, O’Connell was asked if there are any players he’s come to like since the pre-draft event began nearly a week ago.
“I told Kwesi [Adofo-Mensah], our general manager, we had a stretch of about ten straight the other night – I don’t know which night it was – but I literally was standing there clapping as these kids were walking out one after another,” O’Connell said.
“The personalities. You could feel the competitiveness. You could feel the football ownership we’re looking for. You could tell they loved football. I don’t know who selects the order, I don’t know who selects even the players that we’re talking to. When I jump into this process I’m normally pretty far behind everybody else, but I said, ‘Shoot, that’s about eight or ten guys in a row that I would love to have on the Minnesota Vikings.'”
Right about then, Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers ran his 40-yard dash.
“We talked to Zay,” said O’Connell. “I know his head coach at Boston College, Jeff Hafley, really well and he’s a big fan of his. Zay was phenomenal. He was great, very confident. We talked a little bit about what he was going to [in the 40-yard dash] and he in fact was right about what he was going to run, so I’m happy for Zay.”
When NFL Network displayed a graphic comparing Flowers to Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett, O’Connell agreed and explained what makes Flowers intriguing.
“There’s your comp right there, and when you turn on the tape you see basically that. Regardless of where they are, what you’re doing with them, whether you’re handing the ball off to them, throwing the ball, you feel that explosiveness on the field any time they touch it,” said O’Connell. “And then the ability to just run, whether it’s in the move area, vertical, slot game, outside…those are valuable guys that you can do a lot of things with as a play-caller, especially when you’re trying to make things easier on the quarterback position. A lot of times the way you do that is having versatility in the skillsets around those guys.”
O’Connell also confirmed a report that Minnesota met with Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson.
“We had a few of those guys in. I always try to meet them as they come in the room because it gives everybody good bearing on hey, I”m a little over 6’5”, so as players come in… I’ll tell you what, I wanted to get back to my seat in a hurry when he came in,” O’Connell said of Richardson.
“But what a presence. I thought he did a great job, not only seeing him throw today but seeing him go through this whole process all the way through the pro day and the rest of it. He seems like a great kid.”
What does it all mean? Maybe nothing. But this will be good reference points if Richardson or Flowers is still available when the Vikings go on the clock with the 23rd pick on April 27.
