https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7122822...l-vikings/

Ted Nguyen
Alec Lewis
By Ted Nguyen and Alec Lewis
March 17, 2026 6:00 am EDT

This football experiment features two fascinating ingredients. You have Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, one of the league’s most respected passing game designers. And you have former No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray, an undersized but electric quarterback talent.

Blend the two, and what will the end product look like? The results could go a long way toward defining the 2026 season.

Already, skepticism exists. Under O’Connell, the Vikings have taken an under-center, timing-based approach. Murray, meanwhile, is perceived to be primarily an out-of-structure playmaker. When Murray signed last Thursday, the first question posed to O’Connell was about how these two worlds planned to coalesce.

“When you actually dive in and really study Kyler’s experience at the position,” O’Connell said, “you do see a lot of really, really great qualities that fit into some of the things we ask quarterbacks to do.”

Our goal with this story? To take a clear-eyed look at this alliance by evaluating the tape, advanced metrics and conversations with staffers around the league.

The summary of findings supports O’Connell’s perspective. This coach and quarterback marriage makes sense when you dig beneath the surface — even if both sides will need to adapt some to maximize their partnership.

Deeper dive/Rest of article. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7122822...l-vikings/

Lots of interesting questions still out there...

https://www.si.com/nfl/albert-breer-take...s-decision

Very good read here for everyone, regardless of your thoughts on the move. **cough**...anyone STILL think JJM isn't done in Minnesota?

"And while Murray still has to win the job from McCarthy, what O’Connell said to Murray did stick with him—that he was the one guy on the market that they could see as a potential longer-range answer, rather than a one-year Band-Aid. The idea of growing with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Christian Darrisaw and O’Connell and his staff was already wildly attractive to begin with. The chance to, perhaps, put down roots only made it more so."


@TPPSkol
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9m
The Vikings initial plan in 2025 was to bring back Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones to compete with J.J. McCarthy, per
@AlbertBreer
.
Breer continued saying that the Vikings decided to move in a different direction at QB when they were 4-8 last season and Kyler Murray identified as one of top candidates ?

"Meanwhile, the Vikings were 4–8, and J.J. McCarthy’s growing pains had led to discussions about Minnesota’s next steps at QB—with a reclamation project, like the one the team undertook with Sam Darnold in 2025, a logical option for 2026. That would essentially run back the initial plan for 2025, which was to bring back Darnold or Daniel Jones to compete with McCarthy, before those guys found greener pastures. Murray was one of a handful of guys Minnesota dove into and studied."

Dianna Russini
@DMRussini
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4m
Trade: The New York Jets are trading QB Justin Fields to the Kansas City Chiefs, sources tell The Athletic.

Ian Rapoport
@RapSheet
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3m
It's a future 6th rounder for Justin Fields -- a 2027 6th.

The Tank for Arch begins....although the rumor is there is ZERO way Manning plays for the Jets

Adam Schefter
@AdamSchefter
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8m
The Jets current QB room:

-Geno Smith
-Brady Cook
-Bailey Zappe

still #1 rb on this team? Or does that now fall to Mason?

I dont expect it to be a rook RB, even if that is somehow Love.

I have found the array of comments about Murray not fitting into KOC's offense puzzling.  Shouldn't a really good coach, which I believe KOC to be one, be able to adapt their offense around the talent they have instead of forcing players into one specific scheme.  I know there are a lot of system coaches who look for players to fit their system and I find that is like drafting for need instead of best player.  I think talent is much harder to come by than Xs and Os. I think the really talented coaches are the ones who adapt to their talent. 

I have always thought of Don Shula as one of the best coaches of all time, because he coached to his players strengths and not a scheme.  When he had Griese, Csonka, Morris and Kick, the offense was varied to their strengths, Griese was not a strong arm QB and played more a game manager in the offense and they pounded the ball with Csonka while having more open plays for Morris.  When they drafted Marino, one of the best passers in the history of the game he didn't force Marino into that offense, but changed it to his strengths.  Conversely, Jimmy Johnson came in and forced Marino to run his offense which was more run first and short passes.  He really wasted the last years of Marino's career and had little success in Miami.  He gets a lot of credit as a great coach, but I think that mostly was because of the Vikings and the abundance of talent they were able to acquire in a short period of time of time.

Well, at least its interesting to me. Watching CBB conference games yesterday afternoon and doing a bit of a dive on Murray. His dynamic aspect comes from his mobility, scrambling and then some hero ball off of that mobility: but the actual passing for the most part is mostly efficient and workmanlike. I see why his completion percentage is high...he throws a bunch of shorter passes. Usually to the TE on screens/underneath dumps or RBs....mid-range passes to crossing WRers in the middle. Its not at all unusual for him to have a stat like 11/15 for like 68 yards to start games. If you want a dude that is throwing 20-25 yard strikes consistently to WRers down the field, that really isn't his game. Not saying he doesn't do it occasionally, all QBs do, but the offense with Arizona wasn't set up that way. He's more meat and potatoes than most fans would guess considering his highlights show off the hero ball escapism, which is incredible honestly.

Just my fan layperson observation, take it for what you will, but this is a different kind of QB for KOC. Not saying that's a good or bad thing, I have no idea. I'm not going to shit on anything, because I'm curious to see how it all goes down, but I'm not going to overhype it either. Anyway, it was interesting to do a deeper dive.

Atlanta Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham said definitively Friday that the team is bringing in Tua Tagovailoa to compete with Michael Penix Jr. for the starting quarterback job.

The Falcons signed Tagovailoa to a one-year, $1.3 million contract this week following his release from the Miami Dolphins. Cunningham said Tagovailoa is in the Falcons' building Friday in Flowery Branch, Georgia, taking his physical.

"For Tua coming in here, he knows he's coming in to compete," Cunningham said during a virtual news conference. "Just like Michael knows that he's coming in to compete and everybody, quite frankly -- not just those two at the quarterback position -- but everybody's coming in to compete."

Penix is still recovering from left ACL surgery in November after tearing the ligament in Week 11. He has said in interviews that he will be ready for Week 1, though it remains unclear. Typically, the injury has a recovery time between nine and 12 months.

The previous Falcons' regime was adamant that Penix would be the starter as soon as he was healthy. The new group has not made that same commitment.

The Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot after the 2025 season, a second straight 8-9 campaign. Atlanta has hired former Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski as its new head coach and Cunningham, formerly the assistant general manager of the Chicago Bears, as GM.

The Falcons also added a new position: president of football, which has been filled by former franchise quarterback Matt Ryan. Cunningham noted Friday that Stefanski spoke with Penix, and Cunningham himself spoke with Penix's agent before the signing of Tagovailoa.

"You don't want to blindside somebody, and that's just how we operate," Cunningham said. "We want to have open conversations and communication, and I feel like we did that in regards to Michael and Tua."

Then-Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins was surprised and confused when the Falcons drafted Penix in 2024 at No. 8 just weeks after signing Cousins to a $100 million guaranteed contract. Cousins lost the starting job to Penix late in the 2024 season, then filled in for Penix after the torn ACL last season. The Falcons released Cousins on Wednesday.

Cutting Tagovailoa, 28, will cost the Dolphins a $67.4 million dead cap hit, though he represents a low-cost, high-upside signing for the Falcons. Tagovailoa has a concerning history of concussions and threw 15 interceptions last season, losing his starting job. But he made the Pro Bowl in 2023 and was the NFL's completion percentage leader in 2024.

Tagovailoa, a left-handed quarterback like Penix, has completed 68% of his passes for 18,166 yards with 120 touchdown passes and 59 interceptions in his six-year career. Penix, 25, has made just 12 career starts. He has completed 59.6% of his passes for 2,757 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions.

ESPN

How does Murray fit into O’Connell’s offense?

Play-action: Not all play-action is the same. A seven-step drop from under center is different from an under-center rollout or those from shotgun or pistol distances. They require different footwork and lend to differing preferences among QBs. 

That said, Murray’s preference is clearly not under center. 

He’s been an effective play-action passer from the shotgun and pistol formations, which account for 3,080 of his 3,342 dropbacks in the NFL — or 92.2%, per Sports Info Solutions.

This would require a shift from O’Connell. Cousins led the NFL in under-center dropbacks in 2022, and Darnold ranked second in 2024.

STRIB