The Specters of Spielman & Zimmer - What has really changed?

Good post, I agree with most of it. It is an interesting change to win those close games that breaths confidence into the entire team.

The roster isn't there and KAM had a low impact draft and free agency and whether it be ownership or this management's wishes or a bit of both, people got extended that are not breaking out and producing more with O'Connell and Donatell.

The most Spielmanish and Zimmerian thing right now is rushing. Rushing efficiency and stopping rushing from RBs, QBs and receivers is still a problem. The whole execution of rush offense and rush defense still stinks.

That quantity over quality comment is pretty far off and I'm quite surprised you made it.

Spielman regularly traded down and/or out of the middle Rounds to accumulate 6th and 7th Round lottery tickets.

In a Draft that was light on bonafide 1st Round talent but deep in 2nd Round talent Kwesi moved around and made several selections. Right in the sweet spot of the Draft, not in the 6th or 7th Rounds.

And the reason he did it was the utter lack of depth. The picks haven't contributed a ton because the Starters have been remarkably healthy. Which is in part credit to Kwesi and Kevin completely reworking the Training Staff.

It would have been nice to see Cene contribute but he hadn't got the scheme down enough. Booth hasn't been healthy. That was always the gamble with him and I didn't see one single Draft commentator say it was an unwise risk to take. Evans has some upside. Ingram has room to grow. Chandler has the potential to replace Cook. Asamoah also has some upside.

Coming into the Draft what Starting spots were needing an upgrade besides RG? You want to see competition for Dantzler and they got some. Competition for Bynum. Check. Depth at LB that can take over in a year or two. Yep. Those guys haven't proven anything, of course. But they've not been asked to so far.

The reason everything looks familiar is that the Wilfs wanted to see if a fresh approach to Coaching could help a Team that lost a gazillion close games last year while being an Epic Fail in the last 2 Minutes of halves.

So far, the answer is No. O'Connell is as bad at in-game adjustments as many of the Vikings recent OCs. His Game Management has not been appreciably better than his predecessor. Especially the galling lack of a killer instinct.

The DC is using a very popular scheme that is factually very conservative in nature. And he appears to be calling it in the most conservative manner he can.

And yet here they sit at 3-1. With the only loss being an blowout on the road in Primetime against the lone remaining Team that is undefeated that also happens to have the best combination of Offensive and Defensive Line in the League. With good Corners and LBs and tons of weapons for a QB that is becoming a Franchise guy right before our eyes.

The reality is that under Zimmer Minnesota likely loses one of the last two games. Instead, they have a serious chance to be 4-1. This is not and never was a Superbowl contender. It should have been a teardown and full rebuild. But the Wilfs aren't smart enough about football to see that. So ugly wins against lesser Teams is to be expected because the Vikings are frankly not that much better than the Lions or Taints. And they certainly aren't getting the boost from changing Coaching that we all anticipated.

The good news is that there is a chance that the Coaching improves. And that some of the inconsistency is due to learning new schemes. But even if it does the ceiling is making the Playoffs and winning one game at the most. The Floor just looks lower than last year because they look like last year's Team except with a better record and a weaker schedule.

Moving down 20 spots in the first round for a swap of 2nds and an extra 3rd is quantity over quality, full-stop. The other trades were fine, but I just don't think taking the third best safety in the draft at #32 was a worthwhile move when safeties are relatively easy to find in the 2nd-4th rounds. It just reeks of a Spielman move, like how he moved down several picks in 2021 to take Darrisaw and acquire 2 3rds for the same reason - depth.

Spielman's acquisition of 6th/7th rounders was never truly detrimental (moving down 6 picks in the 3rd round to get some late round picks was the least of his issues), simply more annoying. And yes, that was also quantity over quality but a different type of quality.

The problem is that any teardown really needed to happen several years ago. Instead, we have a bunch of high-priced vets with huge cap hits that are unmovable. The trade ideas that were thrown around by fans in the offseason were comical. After this season, however, the dead cap numbers will drop and there will be the opportunity to move on from guys like Cook, Kendricks, and maybe even Smith and Thielen. We also get to see if they give Kirk the Alex Smith treatment and draft a QB early.

I guess I'm an outlier in that this actually feels totally different to me than other seasons. Not all in a good way mind you. There are some similar things going on as I wouldn't expected a complete 180 on EVERYTHING. A lot of it, to me, is just related to having similar personnel.

Kwesi -
I saw a different draft strategy. Optimizing the number of picks on early day 2. Cine (up until his injury) and Booth are pretty much as expected for second rounders so far - and especially guys in the secondary. We saw those types get thrown to the wolves on a reg before and it was generally a sh*t show.
He's taken a confident approach to trying to 'make it work' with the existing crew he was handed. As he's clearly acknowledged that Kirk isn't an elite QB. He's tried to patch holes as expected relative to payroll and talent but he does seem to be trying to improve depth. At least in certain areas for now.

KOC
His players like him and bust their ass for him. He's somehow help coax two wins in the last two weeks. Yes, there's been some luck, but they've still had to make plays when it counted and they did.
Zimmer kept it simple. O'Connell looks like there are physics equations rattling around in his head when he's trying to call plays. It definitely shows that he's never been a play caller, and frankly, he just seems too damn distracted right now to do a good job of it. Of all the things out of whack right now, that is at the top of my list. It's almost like he so engrossed in what plays to call, he's losing the forest for the trees of what is actually happening in the game - and especially on offense. It was way way different for Zim. He just had his general plan and stuck with it.
I also see a lot more responsibility in Kirk's hand from O'Connell. Kirk switching up plays and pointing out assignments etc. That's also way different. And frankly, that's been a failure for the most part so far.
The run blocking scheme is different and I don't like it. I'm not technically knowledgeable enough on the x's and o's to probably make my point clear on this, but what I see is a lot of need for an RB to break tackles and find holes or even make them by shifting from side to side. Cook is absolutely not that guy. He's a patient, one cut guy who finds his one gap and then he's off to the races with a huge burst. Arm tackles disrupt his momentum pretty easily.
We're giving KOC crap for not emptying the bench with some of his newer weapons but the guy can barely get the plays out there with the guys on the field (haven't we had a bunch of delay of game penalties so far?). And we want to see tricks and sub packages? I think that would just make thing even more messy.
The pass pro has been much more effective. And that's with Kirk holding the ball longer. That's a big change.
The offense, overall, looks disorganized and being poorly executed by both the coaching staff and some of the players. The old offense was limited and predictable but executed well. We'll see if KOC can get his sea legs.

Donatell
First of all, they're not giving up points at critical moments as of yet.
The problem on defense is kind of the opposite of the problem on offense.
It's kind of simple and boring. I'm not sure it's being executed to it's optimal level as of yet though, but a lot of that has to do with the lack of talent in my opinion.
It seems wholly intent on protecting the secondary as much as possible
Zimmer brought pressure all the time and from every direction. ED seems content with relying on the front few to create it individually.
Guys are rarely cheating and crashing boxes.
The secondary is playing way off and allowing for a lot of space to keep the other team in front of them. Zimmer's pressure and coverage schemes seemed a lot more complex. To the point that it was easily exposed if guys weren't exactly where they were supposed to be at all times.
In other words, the weaknesses feel much different. Can't consistently control the run game. Which is originating from a lack of talent up the middle. Pretty much at all levels. Can't cheat to help from the secondary because our corners aren't good (expect PP has been solid but Sullivan in particular is a waste of a roster spot right now). LB's can't come with pressure. SS can't come with pressure or assist in run stopping because it exposes our FS who hasn't been very good. It's a cascade. Anyway, it feels much different when I watch this defense fail vs. how it was failing over the recent past.

What has really changed? With the exception of the Eagles game, we have made more crucial plays during games to help get wins. We also have a better special teams unit.

What hasn't changed? The ungrateful Vikings fans.