Kevin O’Connell reportedly drawing consideration as Eagles OC

The Washington Redskins are letting Kevin O’Connell explore other opportunities. And he is reportedly connected to the Philadelphia Eagles now.

Earlier in the week, the Washington Redskins made a decision to let offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell explore other opportunities. The team hired Scott Turner to be their new offensive coordinator. The 37-year-old worked with Ron Rivera in Carolina and will implement his offensive system in Washington next.

That said, there was some momentum to keep O’Connell around before Turner emerged as the favorite. The 38-year-old had spent three season with the Redskins and received a promotion each offseason. He started as quarterbacks coach before being elevated to passing game coordinator and was finally named offensive coordinator before the 2019 season.

O’Connell did some solid work with Dwayne Haskins in the back end of the 2019 campaign. But the Redskins ultimately decided to go in another direction while it also seemed that O’Connell was considering moving on as well.

While O’Connell’s name has been mentioned in connection to New England Patriots offensive coordinator and Cleveland Browns head coaching candidate Josh McDaniels, another team may be interested in him. And that’s the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles just made the decision to part ways with offensive coordinator Mike Groh. They needed a new voice on offense and one who can get the most out of current quarterback Carson Wentz.

O’Connell could qualify. While unproven as a coordinator, he did help Case Keenum to find success early in the Redskins season. And down the stretch, he did well to help Haskins improve from week to week. Perhaps he could inject some life into a too-often-lifeless Eagles offense and add some more creative plays to the playbook.

In looking at the stats, O’Connell’s resume may not look all that impressive. After all, the Redskins offense ranked dead-last in the NFL last season. But that had more to do with interference from Jay Gruden and Bill Callahan in the play-calling than O’Connell’s system. As we saw late in the season, the Redskins offense was better when O’Connell was given free rein. A team willing to let him have that could get the most out of him.

O’Connell undeniably has some upside. And the Eagles’ interest is noted. It seems that the bright, young mind will land a coordinator job at some point in the near future. It’s just a matter of where that ends up being.