As in any organization, most success is realized when the right combination of the wisdom of the aged and the vitality of the youth exists for the players and the coaches.
Without doing a formal breakdown of rosters for teams who have experienced the most success, it does seem to generally happen where there’s a good breadth of experience across the locker room.
Minnesota is admittedly young in some parts of the roster (starting QB, for instance, but recent addition Carson Wentz is there to help McCarthy). I’d be remiss also if I didn’t point out the Vikings addition of four-time Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly.
It’s almost impossible to not love what the Vikings have taking shape at defensive line with longtime game impactors Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave leading a group of up and comers. I truly expect the interior defensive line to be a major strength of this year’s team.
O’Connell on Saturday was asked specifically about Kelly’s addition helping McCarthy. He pointed out Kelly, Brian O’Neill, Christian Darrisaw and Will Fries offer ample experience on the offensive line to go along with rookie left guard Donovan Jackson. Although it also will be his first start, O’Connell noted the national champ has played big-time games in big-time locales.
“Donovan’s played in some of the meccas of college football, including his home stadium,” O’Connell said. “I don’t think it was as loud as when he was playing as it’s going to be at Soldier Field when we’re out there on offense, but certainly, when you when you talk to him, and you realize just the experience he does have, and then the fact that he does get to play next to Ryan Kelly, making the calls, making sure we’re all on the same page.
“Ryan’s dynamic with J.J. being a young quarterback and then my dialog with Ryan, of really understanding — I feel like many times, I’m at the line of scrimmage with the group,” O’Connell continued. “Because of Ryan’s ability, not only in the present, to communicate, but then after those things, I think that’s going to be huge for our whole team. One of the huge reasons why we were so adamant about getting Ryan here — it was not just to make sure Will wanted join his friend — he was a huge part of our plan offensively, and that’s exactly how it’s played out.”
O’Connell was also asked about second-year defensive lineman Levi Drake Rodriguez making a jump this offseason after flashing as a rookie.
“He’s a big, strong guy with some real twitchiness that translates to pass rush. But what he’s done a really good job of is he’s really starting to figure out how to apply that skill to all rounds: be a tough guy to block, whether you’re trying to double him, whether you’re trying to single block him, whether trying to confuse him within different run schemes and angles and things like that,” O’Connell said. “He’s now applying a lot of those things to different aspects of his game. Jalen Redmond had a phenomenal camp, Ty Ingram-Dawkins.
“When you have guys like J.A. (Allen) and ‘Grave, your hope is good, talented young players absorb some of one of those traits, and it’s happened, and we feel like we’ve got a really deep group playing D-line on Monday night, and we’re going to need them,” O’Connell added. “Hopefully, the goal is we can keep our group as a whole fresh and keep the pressure and intensity on that other side by having real depth.”
Minnesota has a good blend. Time for the first sip.