Stephen A. Smith urges Jefferson trade, blaming O'Connell's offense

ESPN's fast-starting First Take clip draws attention alongside a very different Vikings argument: Dan Orlovsky's Super Bowl optimism after the Kirk Cousins deal.

Channel: ESPN Story of November 11, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 210,142 views a day, 22 times a normal first day on this channel (9,612).

Stephen A. says Kevin O’Connell is lucky Justin Jefferson even talks to him 😳

Kevin O'Connell was hired for his offensive expertise. For Stephen A. Smith, that makes Minnesota's sputtering offense his responsibility, especially with Justin Jefferson waiting for passes.

"This man should ask to be traded," Smith says at the start of ESPN's First Take Short. Addressing the Vikings head coach directly, he adds: "You're lucky Justin Jefferson even talks to you."

The clip drew about 150,000 views in roughly half a day, far beyond ESPN's usual first-day audience for Shorts. Its comment section was also already many times busier than a typical full first day.

Smith's argument goes beyond one loss to Buffalo. He recalls Jefferson being discussed alongside Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens, then holds the coach, ownership and front office responsible for an offense he believes is undermining the receiver's career. He contrasts Minnesota's defensive strength with its inability to move the ball. His closing demand is straightforward: an offensive specialist should deliver an elite offense.

But ESPN's Vikings coverage also contains a strikingly different assessment. In a separate NFL Live upload about Kirk Cousins returning to Minnesota from Las Vegas, Dan Orlovsky argues that the Vikings can still win the Super Bowl. That discussion, the Pat McAfee Show's instant trade reaction and the longer First Take segment all drew unusually strong audiences for regular videos.

The Cousins deal has reached the Short's comments, too, with viewers announcing that they arrived after the trade news. Others invoke great receivers whose teams struggled to build around them. Smith's focus remains on O'Connell: the quality that earned him the job is precisely what Smith wants to see on the field.

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The numbers

The First Take Short has already drawn far more views and comments than ESPN usually receives on a Short's full first day. Several longer Vikings discussions also ran well ahead of their usual pace.

the video's first day

usual first day here

9,612

this video

210,142

subscribers

14,600,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

20,935,182,227

views per day

1,523,055

typical day: 4,312,764

the video

views

149,180

likes

3,152

comments

321

days online

1

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

ESPN

14,600,000

NBC Sports

5,430,000

Bleacher Report

5,090,000

MaxPreps

3,500,000

Whistle

3,220,000

The Pat McAfee Show

3,000,000

As of November 11, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.