Kevin O’Connell Thinks He Has an Ace Up His Sleeve
Don’t overlook the presence of Ryan Nielsen. That’s what Kevin O’Connell thinks as it relates to adding Caleb Banks and how to get the most out of the young defensive tackle.
The new DL coach has previously been a head coach and defensive coordinator. His speciality is the defensive line and his official title with the Vikings is to be the Defensive Running Game Coordinator.
Coach O’Connell thinks that Coach Nielsen is going to be a major part of the winning formula, at least as it relates to bringing the best out of the young defensive lineman. In fact, he has been coveted for a while, with the top skipper explaining that the team had previously tried to hire Nielsen but failed until the current offseason.
Alongside DC Brian Flores and assistant DL coach Patrick Hill, Nielsen is being viewed as a major part of how the Vikings are going to unlock Caleb Banks.
Kevin O’Connell, Ryan Nielsen, & Developing Caleb Banks
According to Rob Brzezinski, Banks has a ceiling that extends to the sky. He can develop into a true monster in the middle, someone who can wreck plays. Likewise, Kevin O’Connell thinks that the potential is massive. Bringing excellence out of Banks is going to involve getting coached up.
I asked O’Connell about Banks being raw in his development. Possibly bristling a touch at the wording – the Vikings’ top coach reframed the discussion, bringing things to a more optimistic “flashes” descriptor – O’Connell reflected on the broader promise that exists within the defense as a whole. Banks will be well supported within a talented, well-coached facet of football.
Not long afterwards, there was an explicit turn toward the impact that Ryan Nielsen can have: “But also there’s an individual development standpoint where – that’s why you go get a guy like Ryan Nielsen. That’s why Flo and I identified him very early on. And quite honestly, this year wasn’t the first time we attempted to bring Ryan here because of that, the love of the development of that position, the experience of working with different types of players along that defense, not only throughout his time in New Orleans, but then obviously his experience of being able to understand the big picture as a coordinator in two spots.”
In essence, there’s a multi-layered bet that’s taking place.
Start off with the player himself. Sure, Caleb Banks wasn’t always a dominant force on a snap-to-snap basis, but he has several moments where his excellence shines through (O’Connell’s “flashes”). Digging into who he is as a person means feeling confident that Banks will put in the necessary work to arrive at the best version of himself. He’s smart, works hard, and cares, attributes that should coalesce to create improvement.
There’s then a bet on the coaching. That’s where the Vikings feel like they’ve got an edge.
At this stage, Flores has more than earned some faith. He’s not perfect – who is? – but he’s a very good coach. The ingredient that may have been overlooked is the presence of Ryan Nielsen. Leaning on Nielsen’s experience – he coached in college for several years before NFL stops with the Saints, Falcons, Jaguars, Bills, and now the Vikings – to coach up the huge lineman is understood as being key.
In 2002, Ryan Nielsen began his college coaching. In 2003, Caleb Banks was born. Nielsen and Banks are going to working together very closely. Kevin O’Connell foresees good things.
