Kevin O'Connell is potentially halfway home to acquiring some individual hardware.
Mike Sando of The Athletic on Thursday divulged his choices for a slew of midseason awards plus biggest surprises, and tabbed the third-year Vikings head coach as his pick to win NFL Coach of the Year honors.
It's easy to understand why.
Minnesota started 5-0 and is 6-2 with nine games remaining. Vegas set Minnesota's preseason win total at 6.5. The offense is exceeding everyone's imagination outside of the building – internally, belief was never lacking in veteran quarterback Sam Darnold – and the defense is formidable at all three levels.
O'Connell isn't buckling his chin strap or passing the ball to Vikings playmakers, but he's the brain behind the operation on offense and more importantly the steward of a selfless and determined Vikings culture.
Sando prefaced his nomination of O'Connell by surmising that two of this century's legendary coaches, Bill Belichick and Andy Reid, are proof that sometimes a run of dominance results in being overlooked.
Sando wrote of Reid, who last received the distinction in 2002:
His team has an 8-0 record this season and is winning with a different formula, but we are so conditioned to his success, and the resourcefulness of Patrick Mahomes, that Reid's name scarcely even arises for the award. He might be above it. Belichick was a three-time winner from 2003 to 2010, but never thereafter.
Sando made a point that's difficult to argue: Coaches doing more with less are exalted.
O'Connell fits that profile. He's my choice because the Vikings have nearly matched their preseason Vegas win total after losing their starting quarterback to a season-ending injury during the preseason.
It's worth clarifying that rookie QB J.J. McCarthy was not anticipated to be Minnesota's starter in Week 1, but that he performed very well in his lone preseason action and was narrowing the gap in training camp competition with Darnold before suffering a meniscus injury in his right knee. In the same breath, however, prognosticators were uniformly low on the idea Darnold could flip his career script so quickly.
This season, Darnold is off to career highs through his first eight games in a plethora of categories, including completion rate (69.5%), passing touchdowns (17), passer rating (107.8), yards per attempt (8.5) and on-target pass percentage (80.8%). He currently has his best offense (75.1) and passing (74.3) grades in a season, according to Pro Football Focus. Also, he ranks second in the NFL in explosive pass rate, with 22.3% of his throws gaining 15-plus yards in situations where attaining that many is possible.
Go ahead and add "rendering Darnold the tools and trust to reset and ignite his career" to O'Connell's résumé.
Also on Sando's ballot: Lions HC Dan Campbell, Packers HC Matt LaFleur and Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh.
Vikings make best deadline deal
Christian Darrisaw is a pillar of the Vikings, both in stature and significance, so losing him to season-ending ACL and MCL injuries in Week 8 was devastating – a loss that could define the season.
And so could the reactiveness and astute negotiating of Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
On Oct. 30, less than a week after Darrisaw crumbled to the turf in Los Angeles, the Vikings acquired Cam Robinson and a 2026 conditional seventh-round draft pick from the Jaguars in exchange for a 2026 conditional fifth-round pick. Robinson made his 92nd career regular-season start at left tackle in Week 9.
It was his first in a different NFL uniform – and his second this season allowing zero sacks to Indianapolis.
On Wednesday, FOX Sports writer Carmen Vitali ranked the top moves leading up to the trade deadline. Big spoiler alert — Vitali was highest on Adofo-Mensah's acquisition of Robinson, writing the following:
It's not hyperbole to say that Robinson might have just saved the Vikings season. The injured Darrisaw is one of the best left tackles in the NFL, and the tandem of him and right tackle Brian O'Neill is what has allowed this Minnesota offense to thrive under Kevin O'Connell with Sam Darnold at the helm.
Those two tackles were also able to mask some issues along the interior of the line and that, coupled with a well-coached Darnold with a ton of offensive talent around him, propelled the Vikings thus far.
Continuity along the Vikings offensive line was viewed as a team strength entering this season. The consistent All-Pro-level play from its bookends was hugely important in wins over the Giants, Texans and Packers and pass-rush stars such as Brian Burns, Danielle Hunter and Rashan Gary; each went sackless against the Vikings but have combined for 13 on the season. Across 111 pass block snaps per PFF, Darrisaw gave up two sacks and 10 pressures. He was emerging as one of football's best left tackles.
Here's the rest of the first five in Vitali's trade rankings: CB Marshon Lattimore to the Commanders; WR Amari Cooper to the Bills; OLB Za'Darius Smith to the Lions; and WR Diontae Johnson to the Ravens.
Even if Robinson is good and not great, it could wind up being the type of move that puts the Vikings firmly into contention in a league that's shaped by big-armed passers and game-wreckers off the edge.
Robinson impacts both.
