Before we dive into the quarterback search by Carlsbad’s own Kevin O’Connell, please take this disclaimer to heart:
Two years ago leading into the NFL Draft, who knew Brock Purdy had such a great football mind?
The answer, courtesy of the Brothers Harbaugh: “Noobody!”
Even the 49ers had their doubts. It wasn’t until the draft’s last call, No. 262, that they chose him.
Eight other QBs went before Purdy, an agile er who’d started 46 straight games for Iowa State but stood 6-foot and had so-so arm strength.
Good luck divining if a college QB has the vision and smarts to read and react to the NFL game with speed and clarity.
“It’s darn near impossible” to project “processing” aptitude, said former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah last week.
O’Connell, 38, gets paid to improve tall NFL odds.
He played quarterback at La Costa Canyon High School and across four seasons at San Diego State under former college QBs Tom Craft and Chuck Long. In the NFL he worked under bright lights such as QB Tom Brady, head coaches Bill Belichick and Sean McVay and line coach Bill Callahan.
Now entering his third season as the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach, O’Connell, 38, partners with brainy General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, a former Ivy League basketball player who holds economics degrees from Princeton and Stanford.
They own the No. 11 pick for draft night, April 25, and eight other chips.
O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah need a quarterback who can ably succeed polished veteran Kirk Cousins, either after backing him up or taking over as soon as this year.
Cousins will hit the open market next week and at 35 is coming off reconstructive surgery Oct. 31 on his right Achilles tendon.
The draft’s candidates include the physically mature, ultra-experienced pair of lefty Michael Penix Jr. and Bo Nix.
Penix played in 49 college games combined between Indiana and Washington. Nix logged 61 contests combined between Oregon and Auburn. Each one will be 24 years old when he enters his first NFL practice.
The best plausible candidate for the Vikings, said Jeremiah, is someone younger.
Like Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, 21.
“I just think everything he does in of accurately delivering the football, his ability to move around a little bit, the way he sees everything and kind of plays under control — Kevin O’Connell would like him,” said the former Christian High School quarterback who leads the NFL Network’s draft coverage.
“And,” the former scout said, “he can still use his legs to get out and get going a little bit.”
Not exciting enough?
It may have to be.
Jeremiah said the Vikings would have to pony up three first-round picks — including No. 11 this year — to trade up to No. 3 and draft a QB such as North Carolina’s Drake May or LSU’s Jayden Daniels.
The Vikings have only a mid-level roster, at best. So, O’Connell and Adofo-Mensah won’t have the luxury of dropping a rookie QB onto a star-laden team, as San Diego’s John Lynch and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan were able to do with Purdy late in the 2022 season.
Michigan’s dominance must be taken into as O’Connell and others evaluate McCarthy.
Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines led the country in fewest points allowed. A fierce ground game overwhelmed many opponents, including Washington in the national title game.
Efficient in his own right but hugely advantaged by a mature roster that sent 17 teammates to this week’s NFL combine, McCarthy never trailed in the second half during the regular season.
Penix threw to a fabulous receiver in Rome Odunze but had to do a lot more heavy lifting than McCarthy.
In the national semifinal, the lefty uncorked several high-caliber plays to send the Huskies past favored Texas.
Jeremiah called it an “awesome” performance.
“He moved around better in the pocket than I had seen him previously, which was good to see,” he said. “He threw some seeds in that game. Just back-foot missiles, where he just hangs on his back foot, and the ball jumps out of his hand.”
Impressive though it was, a San Diego football coach made a detailed case against over-reacting to Penix’s laser show.
Writing for The Athletic ahead of the national championship game, defensive coordinator Diante Lee of Mt. Carmel High School forecast correctly Michigan’s D would pose Penix a much tougher test.
During Michigan’s blowout victory that followed, Lee noted the Wolverines turned “70/30” balls on the perimeter back into “50/50” and “placed a spotlight” on Penix’s limits including working the middle of the field with touch, navigating muddy pockets and winning with velocity.
Factoring in Penix’s concerning medical history, it won’t be surprising if McCarthy stays in the Upper Midwest to launch his NFL career.
McCarthy won’t ever be able to whip NFL strikes with the power of Matthew Stafford, the versatile playmaker and former No. 1 pick who led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory a few days before the Vikings hired O’Connell off Sean McVay’s staff.
But if McCarthy were to live up to Jeremiah’s Alex Smith comparison while wearing purple, O’Connell — and the Vikings — would have a fair chance of contending for the playoffs in most seasons and keeping his job that much longer.
