KEVIN O'CONNELL: Office, people that put so much into this, the collaboration with the coaching staff was real, and I really felt such a genuine connection with Kwesi, how we went through the process, and I really leaned on him and kind of asked for, hey, how can I help you in any way through this whole process, and what came out of that was a really smooth night for us and really how everything played out was a really great scenario for the Minnesota Vikings, and we added a really good player, impact player at a very, very important position that continues to be a major position in our league as this game continues to evolve.
I'll open it up to you guys.
Q. Did you want a receiver because of your scheme and your needs, or was he just the best player available?
KEVIN O'CONNELL: Yeah, I think a lot of people always talk about the best-player-available thing. It was one of those scenarios where the way the board kind of fell for us, it allowed it to kind of check both boxes. It was a need for us, obviously, did the departure of a great player like Adam Thielen, so we wanted to make sure that if a true impact player at that position was available at our pick that we were prepared for it. We did a lot of work on that group and felt like Jordan Addison was one of the premier players at that position available, and we were very fortunate that he was there at 23. Really, really excited to add him to our team.
Q. How excited are you to get in with the offense, and what type of things do you envision?
KEVIN O'CONNELL: Yeah, I think that's one of the things, as a starting point, a lot of times if you've had a chance to evaluate different positions and things like that, you start to find the things that are important to you regardless of the position, and with the receiver position, the things that jumped out were the position flex is one thing, but being a separator, lining up inside, lining up outside, having a plan versus press, his ability to run off the football with explosiveness and then suddenness, with an understanding of how to use his body and that great body control he has, and then super competitive at the catch point, extends his hands away from his body and can pluck it and create yards after catch with his efficiency catching the football. Really enjoyed getting to know him on the 30 visit. There was a reason we brought him in here.
I had a lot of great conversation about that 23rd pick with him, and we got right into almost coaching him as if he was already a Minnesota Viking.
We've already had a chance to watch some tape together, really dive into his tape, show him some things we do, and I think he's very well aware of how we plan to use him, how he fits with Justin and KJ, Jalen and Jalen and the rest of our receiver room, but also T.J. and our ability to activate the rest of our tight ends and our backs in the passing game. It truly gives you a pretty versatile skill set, and now adding that impact player at such a priority position for how we like to move the football and kind of put it all together, it's a big deal for us.
Q. How do you envision starting him in one of those three spots, or do you try to train him to play a number of different positions?
KEVIN O'CONNELL: Yeah, we talked about that on his 30 visit because I think it is very important that any receiver that plays in our offense, regardless of personnel group, that you're in the game with Justin Jefferson, for us to have the ability to move him around and then activate you versus some of the premier coverage looks you can get with how people defend Justin.
I think this player gives us a chance to do a lot of different things, and then pair him with KJ, possibly working against single coverage and working away from some of the overloaded looks that Justin tends to see. We want to make people pay for that.
Regardless of how we do that, at what level of the defense, what we're attempting to accomplish within that play, it's all got to be something that times up for the quarterback. It's all got to be something that you can do in a way that gets people open within the rhythm and timing against really good pass rush, which is a weekly thing in our league, and it all adds up to just efficiency and having separators at that position.
Once they get the ball in their hand, we feel like we added a really good guy after the catch, as well, which is always a bonus as the play caller to know you can call something to get eight and you end up with 16 or more. That's a positive.
Q. What do you think this addition of Jordan Addison will do for Kirk Cousins' game next year as he's in year two under your offense and has a chance to really grow?
KEVIN O'CONNELL: Yeah, I think it's just continuing. The one thing about Kirk, the year one to year two growth for him, and just -- not really growth but just comfort of understanding where his eligibles are on concepts, what's the rhythm and timing like for me to set my feet and eyes to the left side, and we have a progression there, and then we can build full-field reads for him to attack voids and vacancies regardless of coverage. But the feeling of what that's like, where these players are going to be showing up for him because he's got great big-field vision and he'll stand in there and find those guys, depending on the look.
So now we just added another player that we feel, like I said, combining him with our skill group as a whole, we feel like we're going to be able to attack some premier match-ups and go win some one-on-ones and try to dictate that way if the people want to defend us certain kinds of ways. We feel like we've added a real weapon to combat that.
Q. You talked about Keenan before and how impressively coached he is, but when you bring a guy like this in, to have a coach like that kind of bringing him along, how important do you see that aspect of it?
KEVIN O'CONNELL: I think it's huge just because when you talk about the journey that Jordan is about to go on in his career, you talk about the journey Justin is currently on or KJ, they all have a position coach that they can go to, and not only hear how to do it, not only hear what the techniques and fundamentals are and how to improve, but a guy that's been there and done it and been asked to do similar things. He understands how hard it is to play the position at an elite level and what it takes daily, individual, walk-throughs, how professional you need to be to truly play with a quieted mind on a Sunday and know that you've earned the right for Kirk to trust you and know where you're going to be and go play at a really high level as a group, and he can get that out of that group, and he has.
I think -- I know I've mentioned it to you, like I said, but I felt so fortunate a year ago to come to a place where a receiver coach like Keenan McCardell was in place, and from the first moment I talked with him, I was excited about it. I was pretty excited to give him a big old hug and tell him, hey, man, we've got you another one, and we can't wait to see you work with this guy.
Q. With all the conversation you had with him on his visit, anything about any of his answers or anything that was particularly enlightening to you learning about him?
KEVIN O'CONNELL: You know, we talked to him about some of the comps that I kind of had for him watching certain things, and he brightened up, and I watched that guy, I watched that guy on YouTube and I watched that guy's film, and it hit me right away, he's a really -- clearly a talented player with the accolades both at Pittsburgh and then at USC and the type of year he put together.
But you feel a hungry player that wants to be great. I think he's very confident, but also understands that he's going to have to work and really come prove it on a daily basis and understand he's stepping into a receiver room with the best player at his position in football.
What an opportunity for him to learn from Justin, to watch the way Justin works and his attention to detail and how much things matter to him on a daily basis to constantly improve and chase the dreams that he has.
So I think it's going to be a great learning environment. People don't talk about that a lot at that position, or at certain positions, but that room you're going into with the type of leadership we have with Justin and KJ, and then just the competitive situation that we're always looking for, roles, responsibilities, based on skill sets to give our team the best chance to move and score the football.
Q. Kwesi talked about trusting the organization and being able to evaluate quarterbacks beyond the first round, and we all know about the first few guys that were picked and there's still a lot more. As you went through that process, what's your sense of what's left out there and the potential for matching what you guys do?
KEVIN O'CONNELL: Yeah, I think as I evaluated really the whole class for this year, there was a lot to be excited about. I think that goes for what lies ahead as far as what potentially could be there. We don't have a ton of picks. We need to be really aware of -- regardless of the position we take, we've got to have a real plan not only for how that player will impact our team this year but moving forward, and then as I've challenged our coaches to do, even at the start of our off-season program a couple weeks ago, it's about the development. It's about can we train, can we try to get the most out of every single player on our roster, and then regardless of whether we drafted them, traded for them, signed them in free agency, an undrafted free agent after the draft, I really don't care how you are acquired to come in this building. It's a real privilege and an honor to join that locker room with the type of people we have in there, go compete, and let's see kind of how things shake out.
We'll continue to ask ourselves the word value matters, but also the fit and where we kind of see a player's potential and future amongst our team is a huge part of it.
Q. People make a lot about the measurements and the athletic testing. You and Kwesi have both talked about Jordan having a natural feel for the position. Is wide receiver a position where maybe that ability matters a little more than just the raw numbers?
KEVIN O'CONNELL: Yeah, I think one thing that I like to talk to our players about on certain plays is I use the phrase, the game makes sense to you. When you're going to play that fast, when you run 4.45, when you're that sudden and you have the ability to play underneath yourself, that can be a weapon, but you have to use it, understanding you're being covered by really athletic people, as well, so every blade of grass matters. When you can efficiently eat up grass and then be in attack mode at the top of routes, whether you're at the short area, the intermediate area, you're going down the field. The only thing that matters is your ability to understand the leverage, the technique, the coverage being applied. Then there's different tools you can go into your toolbox and use to defeat that coverage, and then it's how you do it, how efficient can you be with your movements.
I'm not sure we're ever going to find an actual test where we can all go to Indianapolis and watch this drill and be able to tell. That's why I think I always tend to rely on the film as much as I possibly can, and then use certain things to validate what you thought you saw, and then if there's some things that cause you to go back and say, I didn't think that was going to be this time or this vertical or this broad jump, what did I miss, did I miss anything, maybe I did, maybe I didn't, but that's the process we go through. You lean on other people's evaluations. Kwesi and I spent a ton of time together going through our evaluations, and the beauty is when you really preach the things we talk about around here, we can disagree on players and at least have the type of conversations and discussions that lead to personal growth for each one of us.
I've learned a ton from him in regards to so much about not only our team but also individual positions and how it all works together, and I'm really thankful that we get that time together, and I felt like that -- this year much more so than last year, I just felt the right word is probably just comfort in the work and the preparation that we put in to kind of be in the moment today and feel like we finished this night with a really good player added to our team.
Q. Him being a little bit slighter build but a smaller receiver in some sense, dealing with press coverage in the NFL, you mentioned the suddenness. Is that the way he counters that, or is he going to have to figure out some of the things when corners get physical with him?
KEVIN O'CONNELL: Yeah, I think it's definitely going to be something that at our level we're going to have to give him the tools regardless of how he does it, whether it is sudden, quickness, whether we condense formations, stack them, move him, slight motions, whatever you can do. Sometimes you can put -- you're going to want a guy to win versus press coverage because you want the fear of if you do press him in a one-on-one situation, some bad outcomes can happen for you defensively.
He's proven that he can do that at obviously the major college football level. He'll come in, and I'm sure with Keenan and the rest of that receiving room and Coach Sorrentino, as well, that's our job to make sure we're equipping him with that, and I still think he's got great physical traits. His tape, his film was very, very good, but I think there's some upside from a physical standpoint, too. He's able to get in with our program.
We talk a lot about Tyler and Uriah and Josh and Remi and what that looks like for his personal development. That's why you take players that you feel really strongly about their tape and their athleticism and their complete makeup when you're looking at the player, and then you bring them into a building that we feel very strongly about, that development word and what that looks like, not only in the short-term for our team but the long-term future for Jordan Addison. Really excited, appreciate you guys sticking around with us late tonight, and I'm sure we'll be right back at it tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports