Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell has earned a reputation as a quarterback whisperer. Nonetheless, that reputation might be on the line this season if the Vikings don’t make the playoffs and questions remain about the quarterback position.
Before the Vikings’ first preseason game, the team decided to name Kyler Murray its starter over J.J. McCarthy after the two players went head-to-head in the QB competition.
Murray will look to take advantage of this opportunity to show that he’s still a starter in the NFL after the Arizona Cardinals cut ties with him this past offseason. However, on the Aug. 13 edition of “Purple Daily,” Judd Zulgad believes that O’Connell needs Murray to have success or risk losing his reputation as a QB whisperer.
“Never have two men needed each other as much as Kyler needs Kevin O’Connell,” Zulgad said. “Quite frankly, reputation-wise, as far as a quarterback whisperer, Kevin O’Connell will be back up on top of the mountain if he rehabilitates Kyler.
“And if this is Year 2 of the whisperer not whispering, you got problems for Kevin. So it’s such an interesting marriage of two people that are polar opposites as far as what they believe in professionally.”
Murray spent six seasons in Arizona, throwing for 20,460 yards, 121 touchdowns and 60 interceptions while posting a 92.2 passer rating across 87 games, per StatMuse.
Kevin O’Connell’s Reputation On the Line This Season
Furthermore, the Minnesota Star Tribune’s Chip Scoggins agreed with that take that O’Connell has a lot riding on the line now with Murray as QB1. Anything short of the postseason, and the Vikings head coach could have a lot of doubters about whether he can work with any signal-caller.
“He’s staking his reputation as the quarterback whisperer,“ Scoggins said on the same show. “That’s his nickname, that he can pull another Sam Darnold out of his hat, and because he’s banking on him. Whether people want to put the J.J. draft all on Kwesi [Adofo-Mensah], I don’t buy that.
“You can’t tell me that Kevin O’Connell had zero input on that draft. So he had his fingerprints on that, and now he’s having his fingerprints on taking Kyler over J.J. And so he absolutely needs to make this work. And so it is kind of the odd couple. I’m curious to see because I can’t get a read on Kyler’s personality and leadership style yet.”
Vikings GM on Decision to Make Kyler Murray QB1
With the Vikings now having a new QB1, the team’s general manager, Nolan Teasley, recently spoke about the reason for the decision.
“Really excited about what Kyler can do in this system with this level of coaching. K.O., Josh McCown, Frank Smith is on staff here, Wes Phillips,“ Teasley said in an Aug. 12 video from SiriusXM NFL Radio.
“So right then and there, you’re really excited about the direction that he can go and the intricacies of the system, being a wide-zone scheme that is going to implement some keepers and use his athleticism, get him outside of the pocket.
“That puts the defense in conflict. So yeah, I’m just really excited about the direction that we’re headed… Learning Kyler as the starter, what he does well, what he’s comfortable with and being able to focus in that regard, then allow that timing element with whether it’s [Justin Jefferson] or T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison and all the skill players that he’ll be surrounded with.”
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