Kevin O’Connell didn’t need much prompting to revisit one of the Vikings’ biggest draft regrets.
Ahead of Thursday’s joint practice with Baltimore, the Minnesota coach was asked whether he ever looks at Kyle Hamilton and thinks about the 2022 draft. O’Connell’s answer was brief, but it said plenty: “I have a time or two, yes,” O’Connell said.
It’s easy to see why. Hamilton has turned into a two-time first-team All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler. Lewis Cine, the safety Minnesota took with the No. 32 pick after trading down from No. 12, never started a game for the Vikings and is now with the Eagles.
The gap between the two players is stark. Hamilton, drafted 14th overall by Baltimore, has played in 64 career games and started 52 of them.
He has 355 tackles, eight sacks, five interceptions, 36 pass breakups and six forced fumbles. Cine, by contrast, spent three years in Minnesota, appeared in just 10 regular-season games and recorded one tackle.
That mismatch is one of the clearest examples of why former general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s draft record has come under such heavy scrutiny. His first draft in 2022 began with a stunning trade-down from No. 12 to No. 32 in a deal with the Lions, who moved up to take wide receiver Jameson Williams. Minnesota then used the pick on Cine to fill a need at safety.
With Hamilton in town for two joint practices and a preseason game, the miss is impossible to avoid. It also gave O’Connell a chance to add a little more heat to the conversation.
Judd Zulgad of SKOR North followed up by asking whether defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who arrived in Minnesota in 2023, might look at O’Connell and ask, “Why didn't you draft him?”
“He doesn't always look at me when he says it...”
O’Connell’s line landed with a sharp edge, even if it was delivered with a smile. There was also an obvious truth sitting underneath it: Flores would have loved to have Hamilton in his defense, but the chance was gone before he got to Minnesota.
O’Connell did praise Hamilton’s development and pointed out how lucky the Ravens are to have him. Still, the combination of his admission and the joke about Flores’ criticism read like another subtle shot in Adofo-Mensah’s direction.
That has become a familiar theme around the Vikings. O’Connell has, directly or indirectly, helped steer a lot of the blame for Minnesota’s struggles last season and the team’s rough stretch of drafts onto the former GM.
Adofo-Mensah deserves plenty of that criticism, especially for a miss like Cine over Hamilton. But he was not the only voice in those decisions, and O’Connell cannot separate himself from the process behind J.J. McCarthy either.
Even so, it does not seem likely to stop him from keeping the pressure pointed at Adofo-Mensah until that storyline runs its course.
In Other News...
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Claiborne has been one of the more intriguing names in camp and preseason, flashing enough promise to keep the position group interesting well beyond the top two spots. For a team that wants dependable depth behind Jones and Mason, the competition has become less about filling a final seat and more about deciding which runner offers the best mix of upside, versatility and immediate value. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin OConnell Just Reopened A Painful Vikings Draft Debate
The Vikings 2022 draft has become one of those decisions that refuses to fade, mostly because the class left so little behind in Minnesota. Under then-general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the team made 10 selections, and none are still on the roster now, a stark outcome for a class that was supposed to help reset the franchises future.
The debate only gets sharper because of what happened with the first pick the Vikings moved away from. Minnesota traded down from No. 12 to No. 32 and took safety Lewis Cine, while Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton went soon after and has already turned into a multiple-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro. Kevin OConnell has admitted there is regret around not ending up with Hamilton, and every reminder of that choice keeps reopening one of the more painful what-if questions from the teams recent history. [Read more 🡒]
J.J. McCarthy Has Plenty Riding On Vikings Preseason Game
The Vikings are back at U.S. Bank Stadium for their second preseason game, and the focus is less on the scoreboard than on the players trying to sort out their place on the roster. Baltimore is coming to town, the starters figure to get only limited work, and that leaves room for the evaluation process to tighten around a few key names, especially on the back end and among the younger pieces trying to make a case.
J.J. McCarthy sits near the center of it all, because his performance has to take a step forward if he wants to firm up the QB2 conversation. Jacob Thomas also bears watching after an impressive Week 1 showing, and Caleb Banks remains an intriguing project after a rough preseason debut while he continues working back from injury. For a team still shaping its depth chart, this is the kind of game where a few snaps can carry a lot of weight. [Read more 🡒]