Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Part of what makes O'Neill so successful is the way he fits perfectly into Minnesota's outside zone blocking scheme.
"All you've gotta do is watch Brian run out of the tunnel and you realize how athletic he is. He looks like a wideout when he comes out there," Kubiak said. "Guys like that are hard to find. Guys who have that type of athletic ability.
"Players usually, if they're going to be a good player, they make their biggest jump from year one to two, and that's exactly what he went and did," Kubiak added. "I'm very excited about his future."
So then, what about second-year center Garrett Bradbury, the Vikings first-round draft pick in 2019?
The young lineman out of N.C. State had ups and downs throughout his first pro season, but Kubiak was pleased overall with his performance.
"He did really well. You know, you go back to OTAs, he walked in the building, and we didn't say, 'OK, let's do this for a month and figure it out.' No, we said, 'You're the starting center. Pat [Elflein], you're going to move to guard,' " Kubiak recalled. "I think that was a tremendous move on Zim's part to say, 'We're not going to waste any time here. We're going to go to work.' And Garrett will benefit from that in the long haul. He played against a lot of great players.
"That's the way you get better in this business," Kubiak added. "He loves to play. He's very bright. He's got good people around him. He got to sit there next to Riley [Reiff] every day, and Pat, those types of players. Those guys really benefited from the quality of people we have on our team."
This season may be Kubiak's first as the Vikings offensive coordinator, but it will mark the 24th NFL coaching season for the former head coach and four-time Super Bowl champion.
Having garnered a well-revered reputation across the league over the years, Kubiak will continue to bring that expertise to a Vikings offense that includes young players as well as more established veterans, such as quarterback Kirk Cousins.