O’Connell elaborated: “That means that we’re doing a lot of things in an effective way; that everybody that has a role feels strong within their role — that’s me, that’s our coaches, that’s our personnel, that’s who we end up inevitably hiring [as GM]; that’s leaning on guys like Rob Brzezinski, like we’re doing at this moment because Rob has great experience. He’s unbelievable with people. He knows how to connect to people and bring out the best in people, and that’s what we need right now. And that’s what Rob has brought and will continue to bring. And to me, it’s about understanding that I think this is going to be a really unique opportunity for someone, because I know the confidence I have in our organization.

“I know how fortunate I feel to work for our ownership,” O’Connell added. “And it’s not to say that we don’t have a lot of the challenges that 31 other teams do — but what makes our league so unique and so great is it’s the most competitive league in the world. And year over year you see teams that are constantly growing, evolving, changing and trying to maximize themselves. I think that takes everybody.”

Between the Combine, and free agency and draft meetings, as well as Top 30 visits in Eagan, the Vikings will be gathering crucial information on prospects; and O’Connell envisions Brzezinski “galvanizing” the college and pro personnel staffs to best utilize the info and come to conclusions that will pay dividends.

“We can canvas a lot of the country from a standpoint of Pro Days and getting touchpoints with these guys in every possible way we can,” O’Connell said. “Then I think at the end, we’ll be the collective group coming together to really stack the board and make sure we’re in total alignment with [our goals].”

Brzezinski’s work with the Vikings draft process since 1999 has strengthened his belief in “setting the board objectively based on talent,” he said. “Because if Player A is [available] and he is a solid starter at a ‘non-need’ position, and then you go down and you take a player down here at a ‘need’ position, you think you fill that need, and then short term, you’re going to find out you haven’t, so you have a hole anyway, when you could have filled another hole with a solid starter. I really think that’s the biggest key.”

Brzezinski also shared “there’s a lot of luck involved” with players staying healthy, adjusting to money and a new market, and the dynamics created by families; the humanness that goes beyond performance.

“There’s a reason why first-rounders historically, are, whatever they are, a 40-percent chance [of panning out],” Brzezinski said. “And there’s a lot of factors, I think, that go into it. But the core belief that I have in my experience, in sitting in all these meetings, is you have to get the board stacked objectively. When we go into the draft, you’re obviously trying to fill your needs, but you can’t do that if you trick yourself and you’re pushing guys up for need through a variety of meetings, or you want the board to look a certain way so it falls and you feel comfortable: ‘Hey, look, our number one need just happens to align with the best player on the board.’ … We’re obviously going to have players that we want to target and want to identify, and then we figure out how to acquire those players, building on the ‘best player available.’ “