The Number of the Least

Poor Kevin O’Connell. Vikings mandatory minicamp doesn’t even start until Tuesday, yet he already sounds so weary.

KOC is trying to conduct a sham quarterback competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy before naming Murray the starter after the first preseason game in August. He’s doing so to save organizational face, preserve the last shreds of McCarthy’s dignity and perhaps keep Murray from mentally wading into a Twitch stream. Unfortunately, no one is willing to play along.

You heard the soundbites last week, and the reactions to them. Murray is trying to portray the seasoned, philosophical journeyman, but he learned everything he knows about leadership from Call of Duty cutscenes. McCarthy sounds like a grad student ready to storm out of a history lecture because he disagrees with the professor about the Avignon Papacy. Carson Wentz, who combines the worst personality and quarterbacking traits of Murray and McCarthy, is also hanging around Vikings headquarters.

McCarthy’s snippy comments went viral, as snippy quarterback comments always do, particularly in May. Poor KOC had no choice but to douse the bonfire. So he leapt into the fray with a can of gasoline, a Roman candle and some old newspapers:

I didn’t make a lot out of it. I know there was some... some reaction to it, and that’s probably not the first time there’s going to be a reaction to those guys kind of answering questions about the situation, and that’s what part of the competition is all about. It’s going to be, look, we’re not trying to, there’s no hiding anything. It’s going to be displayed on the field. – KOC

Thanks, Coach! That was … oh, you’re not finished.

Those things are always tough for me because I’m in it. I’m around it every day. So, another’s interpretation of those comments is going to be what they are. I would just say that, in the room, in the actual day-to-day, the dialogue between those guys, the interactions, have been very professional. It’s been a positive room. – Still KOC

Okay, that covers it, Coach!

What actually matters is what I care about: Did we take the right footwork on a play? Did we have our eyes in the right spot? Did we make a protection call against one of Flo’s [Brian Flores’] blitz looks? Did we do our jobs to manufacture the starting point and potential path to success for the offense? And there’s enough that goes into that, that I don’t have a ton of space left over for who says what and how they say it. – Still more KOC

That’s more than sufficient, Coach, I think you answered …

I want players who are smart, tough guys that love football. Guys who – I don't even want to say are great teammates – you need to attempt to be a great teammate. You need to repeat that time and time again because that process never stops.

"But it also doesn't mean that everybody has to be smiling every day. When they speak to [reporters], I want them to be open. I want them to be honest, because I think it's all part of having a transparent quarterback competition that allows these guys to truly demonstrate that they can consistently be the same guy every day and stack really good days. And when they do that, the team grows, and that's what I ultimately care about is that position being an igniter of our team getting to what our ceiling may be for this year. And we're far from that right now, this early in the process. – An unhealthy amount of KOC

Some portions of the quotes above come from Matthew Coller’s Purple Insider newsletter. Others came from Jakob Camenker’s USA Today article. KOC overshared so loquaciously that Vikings reporters – with little else to write about – chose to trim whole paragraphs from his responses to Murray/McCarthy questions, lest fans in Skol country realize that their coach has been reduced to gibbering, sleep-deprived madness.

I felt like a Mafia lawyer when reconstructing KOC’s responses from various sources. Say less. You will end up sleeping with the fishes if you are not careful. Remarks about players not smiling every day and attempting to be great teammates betrayed a little too much information, Coach. 

The Vikings quarterback room is a roiling quarter-life crisis. KOC is so totally not mad about it that he can’t stop talking about how not-mad he is. And there’s no way he’s wishing he got fired with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah so he could be the Rams assistant head coach instead of Kliff Kingsbury right now, pouring Matthew Stafford’s coffee and explaining to Ty Simpson what a Mike linebacker is. 

Every Vikings source with boots on the ground in Mankato is suggesting, if not outright stating, that Murray is far ahead of McCarthy. Anyone who ever watched football will likely agree that the Vikings’ job is Murray’s to lose, with the caveat that Murray is perfectly capable of losing a job. Yet Murray and McCarthy reportedly continue to split starter’s reps, with Wentz mopping up the second string. 

It sounds like everyone is trying far too hard to make the most of McCarthy’s last chance except for McCarthy, whose churlish little comments touched off this whole mess. 

I can’t help but feel for McCarthy. He stunk last year. He’s increasingly coming across like a bit of a bristly weirdo. But that 2024 end-of-summer meniscus injury derailed his career before it could start. He didn’t have very much control over the Golden Child narrative that the Vikings crafted around his rehabilitation last year. He must feel like he’s being set up to publicly fail right now, making it hard for him to “say all the right things.” And he may be right.

My guess is that Murray will start the season as QB1, Wentz as QB2, and McCarthy in baby jail, unless the Vikings can pry a Day Three pick out of some team like the Dolphins or Chargers for him. 

The last two weeks of Vikings chatter will be a barely-remembered farce by the time the Back to School sales end. It makes you wonder why KOC is putting himself through all of this in the first place. Just name Murray the starter on Thursday, Coach. It will make your summer a little sunnier.

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WARNING: The Following Segment Contains Positive Remarks About the Atlanta Falcons

Drake London caught 10 passes for 158 yards and one touchdown in the 24-14 Week 6 Falcons upset of the Bills last year. He nearly caught two touchdowns in that game, but he was knocked out of bounds at the pylon at the end of a 40-yard catch-and-run just before halftime. London and Bijan Robinson took over the game, embarrassed the Bills defense and made Michael Penix, and the Falcons in general, look capable and competent.

London caught nine passes for 118 yards and three touchdowns three weeks later against the Patriots in Foxboro. London got open against Christian Gonzalez a few times, though his first two touchdowns came on short catches against Marcus Jones. London leapt over Gonzalez to snag a 40-yard wobbler from Penix midway through the fourth quarter. Gonzalez suffered a concussion on the play. London caught his third touchdown pass with Carlton Davis in coverage, then caught a 25-yarder against Davis to get the Falcons near midfield while trailing 24-23 with 2:13 to play.

The Falcons loss to the Patriots ended with Michael Penix suffering some sort of aural hallucination. Falcons coach Raheem Morris accused the Patriots of illegally simulating the snap count by clapping when Penix was waiting for the snap. The baffled Penix began spraying passes and incurred a grounding penalty. The Falcons ended up punting, which was very Falcons of them.