EAGAN, Minn. — Exiting the stadium Sunday night, coming to terms with the fact that the Minnesota Vikings’ season was over, first-year general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah got stuck behind a group of fans.
One of them, a woman, was talking to a friend about the disappointment that comes with being a fan of this franchise, about how she felt this season was going to be different. The loss hurt, she said.
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This affected Adofo-Mensah.
“I can’t lie,” he said Wednesday, seated alongside coach Kevin O’Connell for Minnesota’s end-of-season news conference.
Both men, discussing the future of the franchise they were tasked with leading a year ago, talked about the next phase. “We’re trying to meet a talent threshold that’s a championship standard,” Adofo-Mensah said. O’Connell offered the idea of building-wide accountability to make sure the “standard is championship-worthy.”
These are essential goals in a ruthless business driven almost solely by results. But there will be significant challenges on and off the field.
The obstacles begin, of course, with the defense. The unit ranked 27th in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric, which accounts for strength of schedule and gauges efficiency in several ways.
“I’m in evaluation mode of everything that we did,” O’Connell said.
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Those evaluations began early in the week. O’Connell met with most of the players, including player leadership, to discuss their season. They reviewed each player’s performance and the team-wide strategy.
Once the player meetings were complete, O’Connell turned his attention to the staff. As he explained Wednesday, he felt it was important, given the culture he had established, to spend time with the men he had hired, to listen to their concerns and assess each unit’s level of success.
Scheme was and will continue to be a major topic of conversation. Before the season, O’Connell hired Vic Fangio disciple Ed Donatell to run the defense. As he began a transition from a 4-3 scheme to a 3-4, many wondered whether players’ roles would change and questioned whether those players would be suited for their new roles. Notably, though, as O’Connell pointed out Wednesday, the Vikings primarily played a nickel defense in 2022 (featuring five defensive backs) with four down linemen and two linebackers.
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Still, players’ roles did differ from years past. Danielle Hunter had never dropped into coverage on more than 15 snaps in one season, according to PFF. This season, he dropped into coverage 31 times. Linebacker Eric Kendricks was asked to read different keys in coverage.
Were these some of the reasons the defense struggled? Or had some of the defenders simply aged past optimal production?
“I feel like some of our guys really handled (the defensive transition) with ease,” O’Connell said. “With some of our guys, it was a work in progress to find their premier role and figure out how they can thrive.”
Coach speaks on the goal of building a championship standard. pic.twitter.com/wCXnZW2DuW
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) January 18, 2023
As O’Connell continues to assess the various aspects of the team this week, he said he will critically consider the following: why the defense had such trouble, what the contributing factors were and how quickly he can rectify the problems to set up the 2023 team for success.
The responses to those issues will likely involve personnel, which drifts into the realm headed up by the man sitting beside him. Before last year’s NFL Draft, Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell collaborated on a two-year plan. Their hope, Adofo-Mensah said Wednesday, was to use their 10 selections in the 2022 draft to “build bridges” to the 2023 season.
They spent five of their first six selections last year on defense. Three of those five players — safety Lewis Cine, cornerback Andrew Booth Jr. and cornerback Akayleb Evans — suffered season-ending injuries. Only three 2022 picks — guard Ed Ingram, linebacker Brian Asamoah and defensive lineman Esezi Otomewo — played notable snaps with the first-teamers.
Adofo-Mensah then turned his attention to the 2023 draft, in which Minnesota has just four selections (pending additional compensatory picks), and the team’s cap limitations.
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Over the Cap projects the Vikings to be about $24 million in the red. Their best way forward, it appears, might be to cut ties with several franchise cornerstones, like Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook, Harrison Smith or Eric Kendricks. Simultaneously, they will have to weigh whether to bring back free agents like center Garrett Bradbury and cornerback Patrick Peterson while also considering an extension for superstar Justin Jefferson.
“It’s this complex equation we’re always trying to solve,” Adofo-Mensah said.
The equation, he said, factors in the cultural element of each player and what their presence does for the locker room. This element, he added, has been part of his own education as a first-year general manager.
“It’s so easy, especially from my background, to sit in front of a spreadsheet and make decisions,” he said. “I came from a business where your job is to not be emotional. If you make emotional decisions, you typically make bad ones. So, when you involve people, it can make the job a lot tougher.”
Complicate that difficulty with the cap restrictions the Vikings are facing and there are some immense hurdles to clear. Last week, for example, PFF quantified the resources available to each NFL team this offseason, accounting for draft capital, effective cap space and proratable money. The Vikings ranked 29th.
Wednesday, Adofo-Mensah did not use the lack of draft capital or cap limitations as an excuse. Instead, he provided examples of tools at the franchise’s disposal to best set it on the right path. And by the time the two men finished talking and headed upstairs to their offices, it became clear: The Vikings’ ability to successfully navigate this difficult offseason will largely hinge on the synergy between the franchise’s foremost leaders.
(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)
