The mailbag is back! You had questions. As always, I had answers …
Minnesota Vikings
From Arthur Jaramillo (@ArtC_Jaramillo): What has allowed Kevin O’Connell to have success with a revolving door at QB? Cousins, Darnold and looking like McCarthy is next?
Arthur, I’ve had great conversations with O’Connell on this over the past few years, so I figured I’d dig through some of my old notes to help you out on this one. I found a quote I liked from August 2024, just before J.J. McCarthy sustained a torn meniscus in a preseason game against the Raiders. O’Connell was telling me how McCarthy was where he’d figured he’d be, and how they’d reward him—and then drilled down on how he constantly worked to get the result from the process for his players.
The trick, for O’Connell, was balancing making sure his quarterbacks were going through the proper process, which would include bumps, while finding enough positive results for them to maintain their confidence, which would impact their ability to let it rip in games.
“I’ve used this term—progress is the process,” O’Connell said. “I’ve always said process over results, but what is process? It’s just progress. Good, bad, how do I get better? Compartmentalize the results as you’re learning, but never miss the chance to stack some confidence from the s--t you’re doing well. That’s where it’s really cool, the intangibles, the work ethic, the physical traits of playing the position, the athleticism. I’ve seen all the things I hoped to see from J.J. and more.
“Now it’s just a matter of how comfortable and how second nature we can get him playing the position at an NFL level from a consistency standpoint. Everybody thinks that when this guy eventually plays, it’s going to be perfect. No plan involves no adversity when you start playing quarterback in the NFL. Talk to Patrick Mahomes. He experiences it every single week. That’s the nature of quarterback development that I don’t think everybody always understands every layer to it.
“It’s not just, O.K., how are you going to respond to an interception? It’s stacking plays of doing your job, regardless of the result, and then when the results don’t happen, identifying why and moving forward to make sure you try not to make the same mistake twice. You try to make sure you’re able to do some things to help that player get back into a rhythm, get back into a place where they can consistently operate.
“I don’t know if that always happens without some litmus test of millions of people deciding that this guy can or can’t in that moment. That’s always what I have viewed as one of the main issues with how these situations play out.”
McCarthy, interestingly enough, faced that litmus test in-game on Monday. He didn’t look great for three quarters. He threw a pick-six. But with his own psychological wherewithal, and all of the stuff O’Connell is talking about, instilled, he put his foot in the ground and turned everything around in the fourth quarter.
And Monday night’s outcome says everything about how O’Connell works with his quarterbacks. He balances leaning into what they do well while continuing to develop them and prioritizing their confidence in playing the position as well as anyone. What’s resulted from it, of course, tells you all you need to know about O’Connell as a coach.
Indianapolis Colts
From HEEMLANTA (@heemlanta): Could Daniel Jones be the new Sam Darnold this year?
Heemlanta, the Colts believed Daniel Jones could be when they signed him—and I think it’s instructive in the way that we look at quarterbacks, and their development, and how they’re discarded.
I’m not telling you Jones can turn into Josh Allen, so let’s establish that first.
Now, if you dive into his background, you’ll find a few things. The first is that in his first four NFL seasons, he had three head coaches (Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge, Brian Daboll) and four different play-callers (Shurmur, Jason Garrett, Freddie Kitchens and Mike Kafka). After breaking through in 2022, he hurt his neck in Week 5 of 2023 and then, upon his return in Week 9, tore his ACL. And last year, coming off the significant knee injury, it went really poorly.
Out of fairness to everyone, I’d say, at that point, there’s little question that Jones’s time as a Giant had run its course, the same way, say, Sam Darnold’s time with the Jets did a few years back, or Justin Fields’s time with the Bears did 20 months ago. However, that didn’t mean those guys’ time as pro football players was over. They were all drafted in the top half of the first round for a reason, were good guys, and, if channeled correctly, their scars could be assets.
When Colts coach Shane Steichen took a clean, unbiased look at Jones this offseason, he saw, when Jones was right physically, a quarterback who could find completions, had a solid IQ for the game, and saw the field well. Then, Steichen got to see him in-house.
“His work ethic—the way he works, practices and the way he brings the receivers in on his own time, his time with the O-line—is outstanding,” Steichen told me Sunday. “We had a whole bunch of challenges, and he got us in the right play during critical situations.”
We detailed some of those in the Takeaways on Monday, if you want more on that.
But, to answer your question, sure, he could be. Does that mean he’s going to be the Colts’ quarterback for the next decade? No. What it could mean, though, in the short term is getting a whole lot more from Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, Jonathan Taylor and Tyler Warren, while allowing a revamped line some time to grow. And in the long term, it at least buys the Colts time to find their star at the position, in that they won’t have to force anything in the draft the way they did with Anthony Richardson in 2022.
Alex Smith, by the way, was once that guy for the Chiefs, and I’d say that worked out both in the short term and long term for Kansas City.
New York Giants
From alise (@ajdavis22800): When is Jaxson Dart going to play?
Alise, I think when the Giants’ offensive line is back at full strength, and if Russell Wilson continues to struggle, we can have that conversation. They were without Andrew Thomas on Sunday, and that’s no small deal. The hope is that when Thomas returns, things will fall into place for the other four guys, and that, I think, opens up the possibility of starting Dart—again, if Wilson’s play warrants such a move.
What you can say for Dart is that the coaches would be totally comfortable putting him in a game right now, which is a big thing for a rookie quarterback. The staff told us as much with the move to make Dart the primary backup, when an experienced starter such as Jameis Winston was already in the quarterback room. But I see this as a two-way street, in that the Giants have to be ready to support Dart as a rookie quarterback, just as much as he has to be ready to play.
From Jimmy T (@jimmy_tomredle): If the Giants are 0–6 after Week 6, could we expect Giants ownership to fire Daboll and Schoen in season?
Jimmy, I don’t think so. It’s just hard for me to see owner John Mara pulling the trigger on something like that, unless things have descended into a pretty serious level of chaos.
I think, at the very least, he’d want to see the results that the current staff might be able to get with the young quarterback in there—because you’d assume that if the Giants fall out of the race, the time to throw Dart out there would probably come.
Arizona Cardinals
From Maxwell Hagedorn (@Hagedornmax): Will Kyler be on the Cardinals in 2026?
Maxwell, Kyler Murray is inching closer to the point in his contract where the team will have a lot of flexibility—but we aren’t there yet. Releasing him after this season would come with eating $36.8 million guaranteed (minus the offset when another team picks him up). His contract actually could be tradeable, given that he’s due a relatively manageable $78.9 million over the next two years, and Murray could be a high-end bridge quarterback for someone.
That said, if he’s going to be that for another team, why wouldn’t Arizona want him in that role?
Let’s say, for argument’s sake, GM Monti Ossenfort and coach Jonathan Gannon conclude that they’ll eventually want to find a young quarterback to replace Murray. If that was the case, wouldn’t it make the most sense to go forward with a guy you know, and the franchise has won with, on his existing contract, rather than dealing with the cap and cash ramifications of moving on?
The new regime has worked well with Murray. Maybe he’s the answer. Maybe he’s not. But pulling the plug for the sake of pulling the plug wouldn’t make a ton of sense. Now, if there’s someone they love in next year’s NFL draft, and they’re in position to take him, and Murray doesn’t play well the rest of this year, we’re having a different conversation.
Miami Dolphins
From Henry Matthews (@henrymHuss26H): If the Miami Dolphins really did trade Tyreek Hill, what could they get in return? The off the field news about him can’t help things.
Henry, obviously, the allegations from Hill’s estranged wife will have a material effect on all that—and I’d admit I’m a little hesitant to talk about his trade value with that going on.
But if he’s cleared, and that’s obviously a big if, I think you’d probably be talking about something in the range of a third-round pick and maybe a Day 2 pick on top of that. Hill’s last 100-yard game was in Week 1 of 2024; he’s 31 years old, and there’s the baggage any team acquiring him would assume, too. I don’t see a big market, which is why many folks are ruminating on the idea of Hill returning to Kansas City in midseason.
NFL draft
From Outsidezonepod (@outsidezonepod): The Rams, Cowboys and Browns are all sitting with multiple first-round picks in 2026. Which team will join them?
Outside zone, I’d say Dolphins, because I could see some in-season roster retooling there (GM Chris Grier has already started a little bit of a rebuild). Still, I don’t know who they’d get a first-round pick for, unless they were willing to trade Jaylen Waddle or Chop Robinson.
The other team I could see being aggressive, if things go the wrong way, would be the Saints. But, again, you’d need pieces that teams would give up a first-rounder. If New Orleans is out of it by the trade deadline, I would think a trade offer might include, say, Alvin Kamara? I don’t know. But it seems a little far-fetched given that Kamara is now in his ninth year as a running back.
Super Bowl
From Tim Bailey (@timbailey27): How many years until we have the Super Bowl on President’s Day weekend? I know that 18th game is the key to the schedule rearrangement. And will the Super Bowl go behind a paywall within 10 years? Does the NFL plan to broadcast direct to consumer some day?
Tim, the full-on move will coincide with the league’s transition to 18 games, and I think the target will likely be the 2027 season. But there’s a twist here in the scheduling of Super Bowl dates. This year’s Super Bowl, set for Santa Clara, is scheduled to be played Feb. 8. Next year’s Super Bowl gives the NFL a test case—the second Sunday in February happens to be Feb. 14, meaning the Inglewood Super Bowl will be on President’s Day weekend (since President’s Day is on the third Monday in February).
After that? The 2027 Super Bowl, set for Atlanta, is scheduled for “February 2028”. The lack of an actual date has frustrated the planners in Georgia, who have had to block more weeks out for hotel and convention space as a result of the uncertainty. Why would the NFL make things more complicated for the planners? It stands to reason that it’s because they want to leave open the possibility that the game would be played on Feb. 20, 2028, rather than Feb. 13, 2028, to accommodate an 18-game schedule.
That also would leave the league time to go to market with a full 18-game schedule when it (inevitably) pulls the trigger on the 2029 opt-out in the broadcast deals. For now, I’d say, the ongoing upheaval with the union will prevent movement. But as soon as there’s a new boss in charge with the NFLPA, I’d guess they get going.
And, no, I don’t anticipate the NFL putting the Super Bowl behind a paywall any time soon (they make everyone pay for a lot of games as is, and I can’t imagine they’d want to do anything to drive away the casual viewers that boost the Super Bowl’s astronomical numbers). I also can’t see anything in the foreseeable future that pushes the NFL to a full-on direct-to-consumer model. You could argue they already tried that with the NFL Network.
Chicago Bears
From beej (@beej2991): Do you believe the Bears are committed to Caleb for the entire season?
Yes, Beej, I think they will stick with Caleb Williams. He needs time. They’ll give it to him, even if Tyson Bagent’s been impressive. The ceiling with Williams remains high. They just have to find a way to get him playing faster in general, and get him playing the position more efficiently. That doesn’t happen overnight.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Secret to Kevin O’Connell’s QB Success.