ClutchPoints
The pressure will be on Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell right from the start of training camp. He has earned a reputation as one of the top offensive coaches in football, and he has a special gift of working with quarterbacks.
He is starting his fifth year as the Vikings head coach, but it is also his first under new Vikings general manager Nolan Teasley. After working the previous four years with former GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, he has to show that he is the right man to serve as the team’s field boss.
It won’t be easy. O’Connell has led the Vikings to two playoff appearances in his four years, but they were bounced out of the playoffs in the postseason after brilliant seasons in 2022 and 2024. The Vikings were not playoff contenders in 2023 and 2025. A bounce-back season that includes a postseason win may be needed for O’Connell to maintain his position.
The most critical decision that O’Connell has to make this season is his starting quarterback. O’Connell has said that newcomer Kyler Murray and third-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy would battle for the starting position. Insiders suggest that Murray will be the likely winner of the job, but O’Connell has not revealed his hand. He is unlikely to do it until both quarterbacks have a chance to show what they can do in the preseason.
Murray has been a brilliant athlete throughout his career with the Arizona Cardinals, but injuries have slowed him in 2 of the past 3 seasons. If he is healthy, he will find the best group of receivers he has ever had to work with in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and Jauan Jennings.
Jefferson has been ranked as the top receiver in the NFL in multiple seasons, but that was not the case last years as McCarthy was neither healthy nor consistent, and his receivers could not reach their potential.
Addison has had problems off the field, but he has explosive speed and he is a major deep threat. If the Vikings have their 1-2 punch in the lineup this season, it should provide the Vikings with a big-play offense.
However, Jennings as the team’s No. 3 receiver could be an impact player. The former 49er has had a couple of explosive seasons in 2024 and ’25. He caught 77 passes for 975 yards with 6 touchdowns two years ago, and he was also solid last year with 55-643-9. Jennings is a 6-3, 213-pounder from Tennessee who is entering his sixth season in the NFL.
The Vikings have some decent No. 3 receivers in the past, but Jennings is the real deal. He could step into the No. 2 role on most teams and the No. 1 position on some. He will give O’Connell and Murray options that opposing defenses may not be prepared to contend with.
Jennings has the ability to turn a solid offense into an...
