Adofo-Mensah, O’Connell Were Successful In Year 1, But Vikings Need Much More Going Forward

The optimistic point of view is that the Minnesota Vikings are on track for a period of growth and success under the regime of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell.

In their first year together, they helped turn the organization completely around. There was a toxic environment in the last year under head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman, and that negativity was eliminated during the 2022 season.

The Vikings got everything they could out of the roster as they won the NFC North, built a dynamic passing game and demonstrated a propensity to play their best football when the game was on the line in the fourth quarter.

Those were key accomplishments and Vikings opened eyes around the league with some of their most impressive wins, specifically a Week 1 win over the Packers and a Week 10 triumph over the Buffalo Bills.

But the good feelings stopped shortly after the miracle win over the Bills that saw Justin Jefferson make perhaps the greatest reception of the season and a shocking fumble recovery in the end zone that allowed the Vikings to turn a 27-23 deficit into 30-27 lead with 41 seconds remaining. Minnesota would win the game on a Greg Joseph field goal in overtime.

Embarrassment was to follow in blowout losses to the Cowboys and Packers, and they also dropped an NFC North meeting with Detroit. The defense got beaten up in all of those defeats, and it was more of the same in their Wild Card loss to the Giants.

Not only did the Vikings fail to win that game on their home field, but they also let New York quarterback Daniel Jones carve up the secondary by offering almost no resistance.

The decision to part company with defensive coordinator Ed Donatell and his soft scheme that included very few blitzes and allowed receivers to run free and easy on short- and medium-length routes is a start, but it’s the Vikings personnel on defense that is the much bigger issues.

They have problems throughout, as the pass rush was fairly weak despite the presence of Za’Darius Smith and Danielle Hunter, the linebackers were a step slow, and the defensive backs were beaten up on a regular basis.

Smith and Hunter should be the stars of this unit, but they failed to dominate. Smith had 10 sacks, but most came in the first half of the season and he lost effectiveness as the year went along. Hunter was the team’s superstar in 2018 and 2019, but he was relatively quiet even though he had 10.5 sacks. Opponents did not fear him as they had in the past.

Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks will both be 31 at the start of the 2023 season, and both struggled when it came to putting their imprint on games. Kendricks recovered the fumble in the end zone in the memorable win over the Bills, but that was the only takeaway that he made. Hicks had one interception and one forced fumble during the season, but neither player did enough.

The Vikings thought they had upgraded the secondary when they drafted safety Lewis Cine and cornerback Andrew Booth a year ago, but both saw their seasons ruined by injuries. Cine had flashed excellent skills in practice and looked like he might develop into a playmaker before he suffered a compound fracture of his left leg and dislocation of his left ankle. He should be ready for a full training camp this summer.

In addition to those injuries, Akayleb Evans suffered multiple concussions and that prevented him from becoming an impact player.

Veteran safety Harrison Smith is about to turn 34, and there are questions how much more he can contribute. Donatell did not take advantage of his ability to wreak havoc on the blitz, and that’s one of Smith’s greatest assets. A new defensive coordinator may give him that opportunity.

Compounding the defensive problems are salary cap issues. Adofo-Mensah must make all his decisions knowing the team is $24.5 million over the salary cap. That cannot be an excuse for the general manager, who was brought in because of his expertise in that area.

The planning for the 2023 season is going forward with remarkable speed, and the Vikings cannot be left behind.