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Vikings Plan To Hire Rams’ Kevin O’Connell

By | at February 2, 2022 7:00 pm

Shortly after the Jim Harbaugh news surfaced, the Vikings appear to have their new top choice identified. They are targeting Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell for the job, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

The Vikings appear serious here, with ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano adding the team called its other finalists to inform them they are no longer in the running for the job (Twitter link). That points to a strong indication O’Connell is on board to succeed Mike Zimmer. Minnesota had Giants DC Patrick Graham and Rams DC Raheem Morris positioned as its other finalists, having given each second interviews along with O’Connell.

Although an O’Connell deal cannot be finalized until after Super Bowl LVI, this chain of events points to the Vikings being confident they have their next coach. This process burned the Colts four years ago, with Josh McDaniels backing out of an agreement after Super Bowl LII. But O’Connell does not have the track record of HC hesitancy the ex-Patriots OC did. O’Connell was also a finalist for the Broncos job that went to Nathaniel Hackett, conducted a second interview with the Texans and was on the Jaguars’ second-interview radar.

Harbaugh interviewed for the Vikings’ HC job Wednesday, but the seven-year Michigan coach is staying at the college level. O’Connell, 36, has been the Rams’ offensive coordinator for the past two seasons, joining Sean McVay in Los Angeles after Washington changed regimes in 2020. O’Connell served as Washington’s quarterbacks coach from 2017-18 and moved up to OC in 2019. O’Connell and new Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were also both with the 49ers in 2016.

O’Connell will be the Vikings’ first offensive-minded head coach since Brad Childress. The team moved in the defensive direction with its past two HCs — Zimmer and Leslie Frazier — but will now bring in a new play-caller. O’Connell has only been a play-caller for a three-month stretch, doing so after Washington fired Jay Gruden early in the 2019 season. Equipped with Case Keenum and a scuffling Dwayne Haskins, Washington ranked last in offense under O’Connell that year. Matthew Stafford‘s performance in his first Rams slate certainly made a better case for O’Connell this season.

The Vikings choosing O’Connell will mean Graham stays with the Giants as DC. Brian Daboll signed on for Graham to stick around were the Vikings to choose someone else as their head coach. Graham, 43, has been with the Giants for the past two seasons. Daboll and Graham previously worked together in New England. The Vikings going with O’Connell means the Rams will not have another one-and-done defensive coordinator, with Morris not connected to any other jobs. The Chargers made Brandon Staley a one-and-done with the Rams last year.

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Broncos Plan To Hire Ejiro Evero As DC

By | at February 2, 2022 1:38 pm

The makeover of the Broncos’ new coaching staff continues. The latest addition is set to be Ejiro Evero coming aboard as defensive coordinator, according to 9News’ Mike Klis (Twitter link). 

[Related: Broncos Hire Justin Outten As OC]

It became clear that Evero was a strong candidate for the role last week. In fact, Klis tweeted recently that any other coach landing the job would be a “big upset”. The 41-year-old has a close relationship to newly-hired head coach Nathaniel Hackett dating back to their playing days in college.

Evero has been with the Rams since 2017, the year Sean McVay took over as HC in Los Angeles. He held the title of secondary coach/passing game coordinator this season, his fifteenth in the NFL. This Broncos’ role will be his first as a DC.

While maintaining the standard set during the Vic Fangio era on the defensive side of the ball will be a tall order, Evero does have a connection to Denver’s former HC. Evero has experience working alongside ex-Rams’ DC Brandon Staley, a member of the Fangio coaching tree. That background should help keep the defense a top-ten unit, which could be crucial during the team’s formative first year under a new offensive coach and scheme, not to mention, in all likelihood, a different quarterback.

This hire cannot be made official until after next week, due to the Rams being in the Super Bowl.

 

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Rams Want To Re-Sign Von Miller, OBJ

By | at February 1, 2022 7:06 pm

The Rams’ splashy midseason acquisitions came through to help them to Super Bowl LVI, and the team in perpetual win-now mode wants both Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. back for next season.

The NFC champions are interested in extending both Beckham and Miller, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Both standouts are set to be free agents in March. Neither has hit the market to start a league year previously, though Beckham was available after his in-season Browns exit.

Projected to be more than $14MM over the cap for 2022, the Rams have not let financial limitations interfere with big-ticket moves. They have been forced to let role players walk in free agency annually, however. But the team paid up to keep Leonard Floyd last March, doing so after eating a then-record dead-money sum as a result of the Jared Goff trade. Interest in retaining Miller and OBJ also comes as Matthew Stafford enters the final year of his Lions-constructed contract. An extension that bumps Stafford toward the top of the quarterback market would stand to free up money in the short term.

Miller said recently, via SI.com’s Greg Bishop, he wants to stay with the Rams. Prior to the former Super Bowl MVP playing a game with his new team, the sides discussed extension parameters. No such talks with Beckham are known to have taken place. Both players have done well to help push the Rams back to the Super Bowl. The NFC championship doubled as Beckham’s first 100-yard game since 2019, while Miller registered seven sacks from Week 15 through the Rams’ divisional-round win in Tampa.

Beckham, 29, might have a greater interest in hitting the market, considering his unconventional November free agency was not centered around money. More money will be available come March, with the cap spiking and additional teams likely interested. The Rams also have Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods tied to lucrative extensions, and the former’s dominance this season makes his $15.75MM-per-year deal look like a bargain for the Rams. This stands to complicate Beckham staying in Los Angeles. Miller, 33 in March, has never been a free agent. He is finishing up his six-year, $114.1MM extension. Despite his advancing age, the future Hall of Famer would command considerable interest on the market.

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Raheem Morris Gets Second Vikings Interview

By | at January 31, 2022 8:11 pm

Raheem Morris is a finalist for the Vikings head coaching gig. According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin (via Twitter), the Vikings conducted a second interview with the Rams defensive coordinator. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter), that second interview took place this evening.

[RELATED: Vikings To Conduct Second Interviews With DeMeco Ryans, Kevin O’Connell]

Morris, 45, has an NFL coaching background dating back to 2002. He has spent time primarily as a defensive backs coach, serving in that role in Tampa Bay (on two different occasions, including the Super Bowl XXXVII-winning squad) and Washington. However, he also took over as the Bucs’ head coach after the firing of Jon Gruden in January of 2009. He had an encouraging year in 2010, posting a 10-6 record, but the one preceding and following that campaign saw the team put up a combined record of 7-25.

After a three year stint in Washington, Morris got his next prominent coaching positions in Atlanta. He served as an assistant head coach and pass game coordinator from his arrival in 2015 to 2019. Then, in 2020, he became the team’s DC until taking over as interim HC following Dan Quinn’s firing. This past offseason, Morris was hired by the Rams to take over for now-Chargers HC Brandon Staley as the team’s defensive coordinator.

49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans and Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell also got second interviews for the Vikings gig.

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Kevin O’Connell Gets Second Texans Interview

By | at January 31, 2022 4:59 pm

Kevin O’Connell‘s focus over the next two weeks will be on the Cincinnati Bengals, but the Rams offensive coordinator carved out some time for an interview today. According to Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com, O’Connell had his second interview with the Texans on Monday.

We heard earlier this month that Houston had requested permission to speak with O’Connell, but as Wilson notes, the Texans never publicly confirmed the first interview. That first interview presumably took place over the past few weeks.

O’Connell, who spent the 2019 season as Washington’s OC before joining the Rams in that capacity in 2020, oversaw an offense that finished in the top-10 in terms of both points per game and yards per game in 2021. A member of the popular Sean McVay coaching tree, O’Connell was a finalist for the Broncos’ HC job that ultimately went to Nathaniel Hackett, and the Jaguars also want to sit down with O’Connell.

The current list of candidates for the Texans HC vacancy includes:

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Latest On Jaguars’ Head Coaching Search

By | at January 31, 2022 10:48 am

The search for a new head coach in Jacksonville has taken a bizarre turn, but also added a new name. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the team is not currently able to interview Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell due to a timing issue; in a follow-up, he then tweeted that the Jags will be interviewing former Raiders interim HC Rich Bisaccia. 

O’Connell was thought to be the new favorite for the job in Jacksonville. However, as Schefter reports, the Jags “didn’t request an interview in the initial interview period”. That, along with the fact that the Rams won the NFC championship yesterday, means he can’t meet with Jacksonville until after the Super Bowl. Since O’Connell is also a finalist for the Vikings’ HC role, the Jags’ opportunity to get him may have already ended before it began.

This news comes after the initial report of the team hiring Byron Leftwich as HC and Adrian Wilson as a replacement for Trent Baalke as general manager was refuted. The current Bucs’ offensive coordinator, it is believed, would only accept the HC job if Baalke were to be let go. Baalke being retained, then, would seem to also take Leftwich out of the running.

Meanwhile, Bisaccia represents another late addition to the list of coaching candidates. He finished this season, of course, as the interim HC in Vegas after the resignation of Jon Gruden. While he interviewed to stay on full-time, that was always seen as an uphill battle; the Raiders made it official he won’t be coming back when they hired Josh McDaniels yesterday. He has also been named the favorite for the special teams coordinator role in Chicago, as newly-hired Matt Eberflus begins building his staff.

Given all of that, here’s the latest look at the HC search in Jacksonville:

 

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Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

By | at January 31, 2022 8:54 am

Championship Sunday has come and gone, and with it, we now know the matchup for Super Bowl LVI. The Rams’ win on Sunday guarantees that the Lions’ other first round pick will be in the bottom two, slightly devaluing it relative to if they had lost. Still, it is one of the bargaining chips they hold if they were to attempt to move up into the top spot, from their current position of second. As one of four teams with multiple picks in the opening round, Detroit will certainly be a squad to keep an eye on in April.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.

Here is the updated order after this weekend’s results:

  1. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
  2. Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
  3. Houston Texans: 4-13
  4. New York Jets: 4-13
  5. New York Giants: 4-13
  6. Carolina Panthers: 5-12
  7. New York Giants(via Bears)
  8. Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
  9. Denver Broncos: 7-10
  10. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
  11. Washington Football Team: 7-10
  12. Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
  13. Cleveland Browns: 8-9
  14. Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
  15. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
  16. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
  17. Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
  18. New Orleans Saints: 9-8
  19. Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
  20. Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
  21. New England Patriots: 10-7
  22. Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
  23. Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
  24. Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
  25. Buffalo Bills: 11-6
  26. Tennessee Titans: 12-5
  27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4
  28. Green Bay Packers: 13-4
  29. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
  30. Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5
  31. Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7*
  32. Detroit Lions (via Rams)

* = Remaining playoff teams

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Latest On Rams’ TE Higbee

By | at January 30, 2022 10:59 pm

During the NFC Championship game tonight, the Rams saw starting tight end Tyler Higbee go down with a knee injury in the first quarter. They’ll be eager to determine the severity of Higbee’s injury this week, as they prepare to host Super Bowl LVI. 

The sixth-year tight end was second on the team this year in receptions and third on the team in receiving yards and touchdowns. Coming into tonight’s game, Higbee had 7 catches for 97 yards in the Rams’ first two playoff games. He had reeled in 2 receptions for 18 yards before leaving tonight.

With backup tight ends Brycen Hopkins, Johnny Mundt, and rookie Jacob Harris all injured, Los Angeles turned to Kendall Blanton. The former undrafted free agent showed up when his name was called, catching all five of his targets for 57 yards.

The Rams will likely look into Higbee’s injury early this week and determine their course of action from there. Whether they can return him to practice immediately, need to hold him out to rest, or need to prepare to play a Super Bowl with Blanton in the starting lineup, the Rams have two weeks to come up with a plan.

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