Kevin O’Connell Says Overlooked Defender “Flashed” in Raiders Tilt
The opening depth chart may have listed him as the S7, but Kevin O’Connell walked away impressed.
Bobby McCain got the chance to show off some of what he can do on Saturday when the Raiders visited U.S. Bank Stadium. Per O’Connell, the veteran safety “flashed,” a term that suggests the head coach was impressed with some moments from the defensive back: “Bobby McCain flashed to me a little bit tonight.” Getting noticed by the head coach and then receiving press conference praise afterwards is a great way to get more opportunities.
Kevin O’Connell Uplifts Bobby McCain
The play everyone is going to think of is the massive hit. SI’s Will Ragatz shared a replay:
For whatever it’s worth, the McCain hit from the preseason game isn’t the only highlight going around on social media. Consider the pass breakup from training camp practice:
Go ahead and re-watch both clips. Notice any similarities? In each instance, the veteran arrives at the receiver at basically the perfect moment to knock the ball loose. Obviously, the in-game hit is far more violent, but both plays involve a safety arriving at the precise time to disrupt a pass.
McCain, who stands at 5’9″ but is a sturdy 196 pounds, was brought into the NFL as a 5th-Round selection back in the 2015 NFL Draft. Since then, the defender has played in 131 games while starting 87. Notably, he overlapped with Brian Flores in Miami, where McCain played from 2015-2020. He has since picked up work with Washington and then in New York as a Giant.
Part of what makes McCain appealing is that he’s versatile. In his career, the defender has scooped up 2,336 snaps as a free safety and then 2,099 snaps as a slot corner. Sounds like a Flores DB, doesn’t it? Keep in mind, too, that he has been a boundary corner on 720 snaps and has had 679 snaps in the box.
In the end, McCain snagged a pair of tackles and had the pass defended in the Vegas game.
Of course, it’s hard to think of the strong effort from McCain and not think of the broader roster. More specifically, one thinks of Lewis Cine, someone who received playing time but who didn’t have the “wow” plays that a lot of his teammates had. Cine had a tackle on defense and on special teams, but it wasn’t a dominant performance from the 2022 No. 32 pick.
Last week, the Vikings moved on from Andrew Booth Jr. via trade, someone from the same draft class as Cine who had actually shown more promise given that Booth was active for more games and snagged far more snaps with the defense. Are Cine’s days numbered? Both of the defensive backs appeared on PurplePTSD‘s trade list from before training camp.
Bobby McCain is going to turn 31 on August 18th. In other words, he’s closer to the end of his career than the beginning, but he has impressed the head coach and has a fan in DC Brian Flores. Does that allow him to leapfrog Cine and steal away the S6 spot?
Last season, Minnesota kept six safeties and may do so once again, especially since a lot of them will pickup snaps at slot corner.
McCain’s cap charge sits at a modest $985,000.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.
