Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - A draft simulation with Vikings Entertainment's Gabe Henderson and Eric Smith

Episode Date: April 6, 2022

Matthew Coller is joined by Gabe Henderson and Eric Smith of Vikings Entertainment Network and Vikings.com to do a draft simulation. Who are some players Gabe and Eric expect to step up next year from the 2021 draft? Why Gabe wants to build on defense. Eric's top pick is looking to help Kirk and the PFF grades from the draft simulator to assess all of their picks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

hello welcome to a very special episode of purple insider matthew collar here along with eric smith vikings.com and a Vikings entertainment host Gabe Henderson. I'm sure you know these folks. Guys last year we got together and we did our very first ever draft sim. The Vikings we'll call it the Vikings entertainment draft sim and so it's time and I would have waited a little closer to the draft but Eric's wife is going to have a baby so we needed to really do this now. So congratulations to you, Eric. And welcome, guys. Thanks for coming on. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate it, Matt. I'm on a time crunch right now.

So we are three weeks away from our due date. So could be any day. Could be tomorrow. Could be the night of round one. I just don't know. Yeah. Every time I talk to eric the first question i ask is does he have his back spec yet and i think he said he exactly yes he says he has his back spec so he's good to go that's great and uh i guess the baby gets named after whoever is taken first by the vikings that's how you make the decision it's easy now you don't have to worry about it um so before we get into the draft simming, we'll do three rounds. We'll each pick different players, and then we'll talk about the ideas behind them.

But I just want to know what you guys think is left to do on the slate for the Vikings offseason. I wrote a piece for our website where I looked at some of the remaining free agents. And, I mean, there's still people out there. And what we know is that they've been willing to move around cap space and money. So maybe you can each, if you want to start, Eric, give me an opinion on what you think is left to do to fill out the rest of this roster and free agency. Not much. I would say, you know, the team has made a lot of moves so far.

You know, I'm sure you've talked about it a lot. We've talked about it at VN. talked about it at ven um they're kind of running it back right they're they're bringing back the core essentially everyone from last year um that group is coming back they've added some new pieces right and harrison phillips and the darius smith and all those guys but in terms of what's next, I think maybe a veteran safety is a possibility. But even then, that's not for sure because Cam Bynum could be the guy next to Harrison Smith going forward. So, you know, I honestly don't know. Honestly, what's next is the draft, I think, is really because the team doesn't have a bunch of money left to spend.

They have restructured some contracts, reworked some contracts. The team is what it is right now. I think next up is probably the draft. I can't really think of any position off the top of my head that they need to just get... Eric zoinks out.

I just actually closed him out when he said they should sign no more free agents. What do you think, Gabe? I'm glad you shut him out when he said they should sign no more free agents. What do you think, Gabe? Yeah, I'm glad you shut him out when he said that, too, because now I'm joking. But I do think there is a couple of safeties out there that I think the Vikings can

or should possibly target. There's the Landon Collins of the world. There's some veteran cornerbacks out there that could add some depth and presence for their secondary unit. I mean, you got two corner Bryce Callahan, Kendall Fuller, who was under the Ed Donatel scheme last year in Denver. So those guys are pretty much the two that stand out to me. I'm interested to see if the Vikings will go after a tight end.

I'm actually tight end in the draft. I, not the draft, but the free agency. You got Michael Pruitt from Tennessee that's, you know, still not a young guy, but is a seasoned veteran that can make some plays. So the holes are starting to be filled as far as, you know, a pass rusher or a cornerback or, you know, offensive guard. But I do think you can add to more depth that positions. And I think cornerback and safety are two that really stand out to me. Let me throw one out there, and Eric is back. I didn't actually shut him off for saying they shouldn't sign anyone else. But along the defensive line, you know, where Kweisi Adafo-Mensah was before, which is Cleveland, and then even before that, San Francisco,

they seemed to always feel like – you remember how Mike Zimmer felt like you can never have too many corners? They felt like you could never have too many rushers. So I was looking at guys like Melvin Ingram or Chris Campbell if he's not returning to the Ravens. I think if you're going to give yourself a chance in the secondary, you have to create the pass rush. And Daniel Hunter and Zedaria Smith have both had the injury issues in the past. It feels like, you know, one more defensive lineman, one more veteran pass rusher might not be a bad idea.

Another guy. And you remember this from 2018, Eric, this name is Jerry Hughes, who individually destroyed the Minnesota Vikings in that game against Buffalo. But Hughes is one of those guys who's going to be 34, but still had very good pressure numbers last season.

So what do you guys think of like adding to the depth of the defensive line yeah i like it um i think justin houston is also available you know he's been in a three-four system um yeah i think that's a possibility because if we look at hunter and smith when they're on and they're healthy they're both really good players but there are question marks with both of them, just given the injury, the nature of their injury history the last year or two. And you're right. Maybe it's better to have three or four veteran guys. You can kind of rotate them or mix them around like Smith. Obviously, he doesn't have to line up at the outside linebacker spot every play you know he his uh versatility had really been on display with green bay and you know mike smith and my pet mike petting are um

really going to hone in on that too so what if smith kind of moves inside or moves around then on the outside on on third down let's say you have hunter and and justin houston right or huge or some other veteran like that. Yeah, I think that could be a possibility for sure. Yeah, and I mean, that's a really good point. Justin Houston is a guy, like Eric said, that is getting up there in age but still can make plays. I just remember game planning for him last year. He was their leading sack, the Baltimore Ravens' leading sack leader

when we were playing them, and he was a presence on film. And granted, you probably don't game plan for him as much as you will like a Danil Hunter or a Darius Smith, but having that depth also helps. And I think a guy that not a lot of people are talking about is Jason Pierre-Paul. He's had over 40 sacks in his past five seasons. Granted, last year wasn't the best year, but that's quality depth right there. That's veteran presence.

That's a guy that has played in the Super Bowl, played with really good defenses, understands his role, and maybe could be a lot cheaper if you continue to wait it out to see where he's going to go. So there's a few guys that you can add there, but having added a veteran pass rusher, like you said, you can never have too many of those guys. So I'll never say no to that,

especially when you have a secondary like the Vikings that are still trying to figure it out. Let me ask you one more question before we draft Sim. Last year's draft class, really only Christian Derrissaw got a chance to make a difference outside of Kenny Wongwu as a kick returner. But we see this every year where somebody from the previous draft class takes a step forward in the following season. That was KJ Osborne. Eventually, Tyler Conklin kind of became that guy and showed that he could play in either year two or year three who from last year's draft class do you guys think has a chance to take the biggest step forward this year yeah i'll give you two names i'll give you two names um i mentioned one earlier in bynum just because right now he's probably the most likely internal candidate to

start at safety like I said next to Harrison Smith uh the other safeties on the roster I think are Josh Metellus and Miles Dorn and neither of them have ever started a game before so as it stands right now Bynum is probably the starter next to Harry um but again that could change in the draft um if like I said if a veteran free agent safety kind of becomes available and is a good fit. But the other guy I'm going to give you is really off the radar, and you mentioned Conklin. Maybe Zach Davidson, the tight end.

And that's just because there's an opening for him if he wants to take it. With Conklin gone now to the Jets, we know Irv is coming back, but he's going to be working slowly, I think. I think he kind of comes back from that meniscus injury. So other than that, I think you have Johnny Munt. And that might be about it on the tight end room. There's probably a guy or two I'm forgetting, but the door is open for Zach Davidson to be tight end two, tight end three,

if he can step up. And he has to step up because I think we can all agree, you know, coming from a D2 school, he looked a little bit lost last year in off-season program and in camp. You know, hopefully a year on the practice squad helped him, helped his development. You know, no pressure with on the practice squad helped him, helped his development. You know, no pressure with that, kind of grow at your own pace. He didn't have to worry about playing on Sundays.

So, yeah, I'll go with Davidson. Yeah, I mean, when you're Zach Davidson and you're 6'7", and you're on a 4'5", there's going to be plenty of opportunities for you to make plays. So, like Eric said, the opportunity is there for him to compete for. It's up to him whether he wants it or not. I've seen him in the building pretty much every day this entire offseason. So that says a lot about his mindset, what he's trying to do

to be able to win that job. And Johnny Mutt hasn't really proved himself either. I mean, he's only got, what, one or two catches. So there's an opportunity there. Maybe the Vikings draft another tight end. But I'm going to go with two other guys. First, Amir Smith-Marset. The way he splashed onto the scene towards the end of last year,

it's only right that he makes another step in his career. And with the offense that likes to throw the ball, you know we're going to be spread out a lot, a lot of 11 personnel, which is taking a fullback out of the offense and putting a receiver there. So him and Amir Smith, him and K.J. Osborne may have to fight for that slot receiver, but there's going to be a lot of four wide. So there's going to be opportunities for him to make plays there. And then I'm going to go on the defensive side of the ball.

A guy similar to Eric that didn't make any plays last year, didn't really do much, is Janarius Robinson. A guy that's 6'5", very long, ran a 4'6", got hurt in the preseason. So he had a year under his belt to gain weight, to figure out the NFL, the business, how he needs to take care of his body. And you team that up with a legit pass rushing coach and then learning from Z'Darrius Smith and Daniel Hunter, I think he's

poised to make a big step in his career next year also it feels like somebody if they don't sign our suggested free agents somebody is going to step up it's just that's sort of another one of those battles that we're going to be looking for down the road when we get to training camp I'm not ready for that conversation yet but it will come up of you know you got kenny willekes james robinson patrick jones like they've been drafting these guys and so somebody has to emerge as a rotational rusher and you know show something for the future because uh you know zedarius smith is up there in age and his contract isn't that long and we don't know what the situation is with daniel hunter and it seems like every team is running five, six, seven guys in rotations on the defensive line.

So who's going to step up? In recent years, we haven't seen too many people do it. Janarius Robinson is in the mix for someone who, you know, we'll be watching for sure. All right, let's draft Sim. Let's freaking draft Sim. I feel like you guys are like a three out of ten energy right now. Once we start draft Simming,'s gonna fire up so do do do do do do do do let's do some draft

simming let's draft sim all right okay let's start let's start with this you guys got your are you using the pff simulator or your simulator of choice yeah pff so so how slow to fast do you go are you like right in between or you go like really fast or really slow when it comes to your simulator? Super fast. Really fast. Let's go. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah, I got no time to wait. Gabe, like I don't know how many you do a day, but I'm sure Matt does maybe about 30 a day. I'm about 15. I don't have time to wait. Like let's just get to pick 12 and let's go. How do you know if you can trade up?

That's the thing. I need to see what people are picking. Okay, well, I know the Falcons need a tight end or a running back where they're not going to pick. So I like to take my time, but I'll go faster there. Okay, that's fair enough if you're trying to make trades to trade up. In this situation, I try to do my trades beforehand and then go after that. But, I mean, I know Eric's been doing them.

Even when I was doing jury duty weeks ago, Eric is texting me, hey, in the middle of the trial while you're deciding guilty or not guilty, here's a draft sim. I'm trying to keep you entertained. I was not all that entertained. Well, no, your draft sim I was not all that entertained by, well, no, you drafted him while I was, but by being a juror. But anyway, so let's just talk about the very top. Here's how mine plays out.

It's Aiden Hutchinson, Kyle Hamilton, Kayvon Thibodeau, and then Sauce Gardner are the top four picks, and then Icky Aquanu are the top five picks on mine. I feel like at this point, like, do you guys believe pre-draft smoke screeny buzz? Cause I feel like there are teams that want Kyle Hamilton and cave on Thibodeau to drop. And that's why we're having these conversations about if cave on Thibodeau

is too confident, which I always thought for an edge rusher might be fine. And, uh, if Kyle Hamilton is too slow because scouts said he ran a certain 40, like I feel, I still feel like both of these guys are going to go super high. Is that how it played out?

Yeah. Yeah. Kyle Hamilton went number one in my draft. Oh, wow. Kayvon Thibodeau went to Aiden Hutchinson went three in a mod guard. Well, sauce Gardner went four.

So those four, I feel like are kind of interchangeable there, but I was surprised to see Kyle Hamilton go number one overall. Hamilton went second for me. So Hutchinson went one, Hamilton two, Aquanoo three, and Thibodeau four. I feel like with Hamilton the big question is whether teams are thinking that that position just isn't worth taking that high. But I don't know. Like, safety is a very tricky one to put positional value on, because if you have great ones, we've seen it right here with Harrison Smith, what the impact can be. I want to, Gabe, get your opinion on my draft sim before we get to our picks for the vikings because it has malik willis

liberty quarterback going to washington and of course you went to liberty as well um first did you ever dream that you would see a liberty quarterback in the first round but second washington not exactly a place that you want your what what is liberty the liberty liberty oh the flames okay your your fellow flame uh did fellow Flame, you don't want to see him in Washington, I don't think. No. That and Detroit are the last two teams or the only two teams that do not want to see him a part of their franchise. Granted, I'm not making the picks, but as far as longevity and understanding that we went to the same alma mater, I'm like, dude, just go somewhere where either you can learn for a year or you can play right away and play under a really good O-line and have a solid career. But to your question of did I ever think there would be a quarterback drafted in the first round? Absolutely not.

Well, especially not this soon. We've had a few people that were I mean, we had Antonio Gandy-Golden that went third or fourth round a few years ago. And I think the last person that got drafted was a guy that I played with. So this is going to make Liberty a lot of money and it's going to put Liberty on the map and, more importantly, make a huge impact in Malik Willis' life. Okay. Well, why don't we get to our options here? So, I mean, there's a lot of different ways that the Vikings could go with,

with my pick and I, and I put out a questionnaire for everyone to fill out, to tell you what it says deep into your heart for what you actually think position wise, the Vikings can pick. But I will, I will let Eric go first here as I mull my options of which way I want to go. So who are you picking at number 12 overall, Eric? I'll give you who I have available. How about that?

Okay. So the three corners went early, and that is Stingley, Gardner, and McDuffie. They all went in the first 11 picks. So I think a top top tier cornerback is not available um there were no quarterbacks that went for me in the first 11 um so all the quarterbacks are available and off I'm on it's funny right because this is the first year in a long time so Vikings don't need a tackle and it seems like most of the time when i do these these draft sims there's one of the good tackles available at 12 but it's a coincidence or whatever

it's not the year we need to tackle um so the top couple guys available for me uh the purdue edge rusher george karloftis ohio state wide receiver garrett wilson uh the central michigan tackle um devin lloyd utah linebacker and then like i said all the corner all the uh the quarterback excuse me um so matt said i can't trade so i have to stay here at 12 which is a bummer because in this case for real i would probably try to trade down um there are eight teams willing to trade uh beginning with new orleans at 16 so i might i might think about that in real life um but here i will make a pick um and i will go with ohio state wide receiver garrett wilson um and i know people think that most people probably think that defense is the way to go.

I said last year at the end of the season on a show that defense was going to be our first round pick. But I give myself the right to change my mind. And here's why. I think if you're going to run it all back like the vikings are going to do then you might as well go all in on offense and try to have the best offense you can because even though the defense i think will be better it's not going to be the 2017 vikings right or the 2018 or 2016 vikings it's not going to be a top 10 defense i don't think i think it's going to be vastly improved it's not going to be at the bottom of the league but even if you're a middle tier defense that's enough to get you into the playoff

as long as your offense is really really good and the vikings have on paper plenty of pieces to have that top 10 offense you With Kirk coming back and Dalvin, I know you guys know all the names, JJ and Adam and Irv. And I agree with you, Gabe, with what you said earlier about Amir Smith-Marset and Matt with what you said about KJ Osborne. I think both of those are good young receivers. But I think you have to load up

on skill position players if you can. And Garrett Wilson, Drake London went already in this draft but i think gary wilson from the people i've talked to is the number one prospect at his position um i talked to jordan reed and he said that wilson is his number one guy and that he reminds him reminds him a lot of stefan diggs and that's a good comparison for wilson so i would just load up on offense you know try to score as many points as you can uh the league is trending towards offense it has been for a while now um and with with thielen you know even though his contract was reworked he's not going to be here forever i think you do have to look a little bit down the road you know even though i think he's not going to be here forever. I think you do have to look a little bit down the road,

even though I think he's still going to make an impact this year, probably next year. But if you just load up on wide receiver, give Kirk as many options as possible, try to stress out opposing defensive coordinators as much as you can, I'm going to go with a wide receiver at number 12. Folks, Minnesota sports teams are competing for the playoffs, and it's time to load up on your Minnesota sports-inspired gear from SodaStick.

Use the promo code PURPLEINSIDER for 15% off your wildflower Marc-Andre Fleury design, or if you're excited for baseball, get your fast as buck byron buxton shirt or hoodie go to sodastick.com use the promo code purple insider for 15 off all right well you know i support it uh as far as uh leaning into kirk cousins and giving him more options and i think they haven't done that quite enough uh in previous years How about you, Gabe? What do you got? So we're just going to ignore the fact that neither one of you guys believe defenses win championships. If that's the case, Garrett Wilson, I would go there. But my draft board had Garrett Wilson going ninth overall to the Seattle Seahawks.

So there's a trade between the Seahawks and the Denver Broncos. Denver Broncos moved back one. Seahawks moved up one. And, well, no, no, no. The Seahawks moved back more. I mean, the Broncos moved back more because they traded with the Jets. So nine is Garrett Wilson and ten is Drake London. But similar to Eric, Derek Stainley and Ahmad Sauce Gardner were off my board.

However, we know the cornerback is the number one priority for this Minnesota Vikings team, and Trent McDuffie was still on the board. So understanding that, Trent McDuffie, I like him a lot. A lot of people say he's an undersized corner. I mean, he's 5'11". He reminds me of Jair Alexander, runs a 4'4", really good impressed man coverage, and we know this defense is going to be, well, crazy Adolfo Mitz has said in his press conference,

this defense is set, is built to make life easier on the cornerbacks. So I think a rookie cornerback is going to be able to make a lot of plays and be able to grow immensely in this defense, just understanding that it's going to be a little bit more simpler and he's going to have the opportunity to learn from a guy in Patrick Peterson and Harrison Smith. So I ended up going Trent McDuffie with my 12th overall pick. He was the best player available. I think once you get past Derek Stingley, well, Sauce Gardner and then Derek Stingley, Trent McDuffie is the next best corner. And there's a good crop of corners this year. But when you talk about those top two, Derek Stainley and Sauce Gardner,

those guys are on a different level. So I'm going to go with the next best player available, which is crazy because, Matt, Kyler, you were talking about Malik Willis going to Washington. He went to Washington on my draft simulator also. So maybe we're seeing a trend there. If I would have known that I would have traded up just to trade back again to get Malik I mean trade back again so another team

would get Malik Willis so I got Trent McDuffie and I'm okay with that you know I think with Eric if you were taking the 12th pick and didn't take Malik Willis I think you listened to my show enough to know I would bring it up forever. Especially if he became good. It would be like, remember when they could have taken Malik Willis? I get that. I get that. I'll respond to that real quick. I just think

with the extension with Kirk, he's probably here for two years and yes, he can be traded next year with his no-trade clause, but I don't know that for sure. Kirk has to decide that. Right. So I would rather have a quarterback sit for one year than two,

and Kirk's going to be making a bunch of money next year. But if he doesn't waive no trade clause, then you're either – he's either playing for you, starting, right, and your rookie quarterback is in for a second year in a row, or you are starting your rookie or your second year quarterback and you have a very expensive backup on the bench. So I thought about it for sure. I just think that Kirk is the guy internally here for the next few years. quarterback and you have a very expensive backup on the bench. So I thought about it for sure. You know, I just think that Kirk is the guy, you know, internally here for the next few years.

So that's why I went with the receiver to help Kirk who will be here. Well I think Gabe, if they did draft Malik, Willis would jump through the roof for his, his fellow flame. Okay. So, well, since you took a receiver and made a very compelling argument for it i won't take a receiver here on my board uh garrett wilson did go before i could get to number 12 but chris olave is here and drake london is here and i might lean that direction because i think it's the the way to go but since you took receiver and made a good case i will go with george karlaftis from from Purdue, the edge rusher. One of the reasons that I like him is that he's 275 pounds. And with a defense like this, that is the three, four base, which you like is guys who can line up right over the tackle or

guys who can even kick inside a little bit to rush between the tackle and guard. I think that having somebody with a little more size and the numbers he put up were great his pass rushing grades for pff were really good and his combine was really strong adding someone young who can come in after daniel hunter and zadari smith but also help right away i i think you mentioned earlier um one of you mentioned earlier the idea of just with zadari smith moves around you have all these options you can use them more like chess pieces and put them in different spots for pass rushing. And I just think that it is an effective model to build yourself around pass rush because Gabe, you mentioned defense wins championships, which what we've seen is that

a defensive line can win a game in the playoffs and you usually need that to happen is whether it's the whole playoffs probably not but one game you need your d-line to win so i don't have any problem with them loading up on uh defensive ends so all right a successful a successful first round and since i have it on ultra speed boop we're in the second round 46th overall pick uh eric what are you thinking here and who is available at number 46? Yeah, so let's see who's available here. A couple linebackers are available, a couple edge guys. Mostly linebackers and edge at the top. Wisconsin guy, a couple Oklahoma guys.

But I'm going to go with the position that I did not address in the first round, which I still believe is the team's number one need now, and that is cornerback. And I'm going to go with Washington cornerback Kyler Gordon at number 46. He's got pretty good size. He's 6'200". He played inside and outside, so he had versatility. And one thing, so I wrote about this earlier this week in the mailbag. You can find it on vikings.com.

With Patrick Peterson coming back, it takes the pressure off of a young guy. If the Vikings were to draft one in the first three rounds, let's say, because first three rounds, you kind of expect that guy to either start or contribute early on. And this would be a good situation for Kyler Gordon or for any young cornerback to come in. You know, Peterson is probably going to start. At this point, Cam Dantzler is your other starter. And then Shannon Sullivan is probably the starter in the nickel.

So you already have your three starters per se, but there's no reason that Kyler Gordon can't come in and earn his way and earn playing time at his own pace. You know, like he doesn't have to start from day one and you know, Peterson, what I was trying to get at, Peterson will be a mentor for him. Like I wrote in mailbag that Peterson would be a mentor for Derek Tingley Jr. mostly because of that LSU connection and, you know, being a first round pick. But it doesn't matter what round the cornerback is or could be drafted in.

I think Peterson is going to play that mentor role. So I did not address corner in round one. I'm going to go with it in round two, and I'm going to go with Kyler Gordon from Washington. Got to rep the Pac-12. Fill in needs. Well, I like the idea. I also think that where I picked a defensive end, what you see when I get to the second round is there are a lot of pass rushers that are still there that have that potential. So if they don't take, you know, a pass rusher and they take a corner, then you can have that opportunity.

But I like Gordon and I like his versatility. So I think that's a good pick. How about you, Gabe? Yeah, you know, I'm big on defense wins championships. And right when I'm getting to this point of the 46 overall pick, I have three guys that all made plays in college available. So I have Leo Chennault, which is the linebacker from Wisconsin that had over 990 tackles last year, eight sacks. And then I have Nick Bonito, the edge rusher from Oklahoma, who is everyone was talking about can be a game changing defensive end. Then on top of that, I have Brian Asamoah, a guy that a lot of people here in Minnesota have linked to the Vikings simply because of, you know, his fit. I mean, just, you know, his metrics, the way he fits with this scheme.

He played in the 3-4 defense. I think he's six foot, about 240, ran a 4-5, and understanding that this Minnesota Vikings team doesn't really have much depth at linebacker outside of the Blake Lynch, Blake Lynch's of the world, Eric Kendricks, Jordan Hicks. And, I mean, a lot of people say Troy Dye needs to make another step in his career. So I do think the Vikings should go linebacker in this situation and add some depth. We know Eric Kendricks, he's getting older in age.

Well, he's not getting any younger. And granted, he's still playing at a high level. But in my draft, I'm going to go with Leo Chennault just simply because of his – I mean, his PFF grade is a 91.7. The way he attacks the ball, he runs around the ball, he's a physical player. He's pretty good in coverage also. He had eight sacks, had an interception this past year. So I think he will be a guy that

can learn and probably make an impact immediately, whether that's special teams or certain packages where we put them in. And I think, you know, just you can never have enough linebackers in a 3-4 scheme. You have four. So having extra linebackers always helps when you're trying to

sub in and keep guys fresh. So Leo Chennault, linebackers always helps when you're trying to to you know sub in and keep guys fresh so leo chanel linebacker from wisconsin is who i'm selecting with the 46th overall pick this would have to be one where quacey comes out and says now look guys we're not drafting for this year with our second round pick this is depth right away but jordan hicks is not a long-term free agent signing it's not like he signed a five-year contract and he's 25 years old like he is kind of a placeholder at that position and i think that if there's edge rushers and receivers which is what i'm going to take on the board at that time i might lean in that direction rather than linebacker um but i i totally understand the logic of your pick, which is.

But Leo, you know, he played a lot of outside linebacker too last year. They moved him inside and out. And I think a lot of those, his sacks and pressures came from rushing the quarterback. So a lot of people are comparing him to Michael Parsons, which I think is a reach. But to have that comparison, I think that says a lot about how this guy can be versatile in using his defense. So, yeah, I agree with you. You're using this pick for the future. But let's say someone goes down, you can plug and play this guy in and he can make plays immediately instead of just being put in a box as just a box linebacker.

But also, it feels like it's very Vic Fangio-ish and Donatel is bringing a lot of that to have guys that are versatile, that it can be outside linebackers, can be pass rushers, can play at other positions at the linebacker spot. And so if you're looking for that, it's like I saw that Mike McCarthy the other day was asked, like, why didn't you guys just have Micah Parsons just rush the passer? Like, dude, he was amazing at everything. I don't think they used them wrong. He was one of the best defensive players in the league. So that's a good point. If he could rush the passer, then that is kind of a game changer in terms of the opinion.

I'm going to go Sky Moore here from Western Michigan, the wide receiver, somebody who has really risen up draft boards and made a good impression. I think it was at the Senior Bowl where he really started to shine, and you saw his name pop up quite a bit. Had a really good season last year and is a guy who can play a lot in the slot, which I think is important for having guys in this system. We saw, of course, Cooper Cup is the ultimate example, and they're going to use Jefferson more in the slot, I'm sure of it.

But guys who can all get in the slot, I'm sure of it. But guys who can all get into into the slot and make plays. So I'm going to go with the wide receiver from Western Michigan there, Sky Moore. Now, the Vikings recent history of Western Michigan draft picks with Willie Beavers was not as great, but I don't think it has anything to do with Sky Moore. OK. All right. One more pick anything to do with Skymore. Okay. All right. One more pick, guys. On to the third round where now you have an opportunity to fill your final needs of fringe guys that might be able to play this year. So, Eric, why don't you kick us off with the third round?

So there's some guys available here. Kirby Joseph, the safety from Illinois. Dylan Parham, the guard from Memphis. I consider them both. But I'm going to give Bynum a chance to win and earn that starting job. And that guard, I mean, maybe two weeks ago I would have drafted Parham, but it feels like there's just too many bodies there now for him to even really have a chance to compete. I mean, I understand having like two, three, four guys compete,

but five, six guys competing for the starting right guard spot, probably not going to happen. So even though, unlike Gabe, I do not believe that defense wins championships, I'm going to go defense here, and and i'm gonna go with the kentucky edge rusher and josh pashal i think is his name um he's available there he drinks 71st on pff's big board so pretty good value um but what i like about him is that he's 6'3 and 278 so that's a little bit bigger than sort of the mold the v the Vikings have drafted in recent years at defensive end. You know, they've really tried to go, as we all know, for this Daniel Hunter clone type, you know, 6'3", 6'4", but more like 250, 255 and kind of that long lean. So this Kentucky guy has a little bit more beef on him. You know, it's around 280.

And I think that probably needed whether he plays defensive end in the 3-4 or whether he's outside linebacker. I kind of like his size inside and there a little bit more. So I went offense round one, looking for the future, and then corner in round two, and then round three I will go with defensive end. I will go with the Kentucky guy. Maybe he does believe defense wins championships. How about you, Gabe?

Yeah, I know I went cornerback and then linebacker in my first two picks, and right now with the 77th overall pick, Carson Strong is on the board. Linebacker Darian Beavers is on the board. Edge rusher Josh Pascal is on the board. Linebacker Darian Beavers is on the board. Edge rusher Josh Pascal is on the board. And if I was, I mean, if we could trade back, I would probably trade back just to find someone, you know, maybe a receiver or a bigger receiver or maybe a defensive end or something that has made, you know, some big time plays in college. But since I have to pick, and I'm not Eric, I'm not going to go Carson Strong with this pick.

I'm actually going to go Josh Pascal, edge rusher from University of Kentucky. He had four sacks last year at Kentucky. I think about 6'3", 270. Really good edge rusher. Ran a 4'6 at his pro day. So the guy can get around the corner, and this is another way for another opportunity for him to learn behind a guy in daniel hunters adarius smith and having

those two guys to learn from on top of i think it's mike daniels as the uh pass rush coach here for the mike smith pass rush coach here for the vikings i think that allows the opportunity for a guy and him to be able to come in and just be a third down rusher or come in and make plays and keep legs fresh. So like I said, if it was a normal draft, I would probably trade down and try to get some more assets for this since, in my opinion, I don't think the Vikings need a quarterback right now in the draft. And Carson Strong has still a lot of medical problems. So I think that would be high risk, maybe high reward, high risk, medium reward. So playing it safe and going to edge rush.

Those inside Vikings building love Josh Paschal is my headline, if that's how it's pronounced. I can see it on PFT now. I'm going to go with a corner, Marcus Jones, out of the University of Houston because I didn't pick a corner yet. And he has really good numbers, and that's my entire logic. He allowed a 53 passer rating into his coverage. He is kind of a playmaker. He got interceptions.

He returned punts. I think you want to see those guys make plays if you're going to draft them past the first round. Sometimes you can sell me on, oh, he didn't have picks because nobody threw at him but if it's the third round guy that's a little less easy to believe so i'm going to go with uh marcus jones as my third round pick so why don't we just uh go around the zoom room here and make our case for why we think we had the best out of our three drafts. And then people can, I'll probably post them on Twitter,

our three mocks and have people decide, uh, which one they decided, uh, was the best one. So PFF is currently grading my draft. I got an, I got an a for my draft.

Uh, so Eric, why don't you make your case for why your draft sim was the best? Yeah, I got a B plus, uh, and I'm very disappointed in myself because that's probably one of the lowest grades i've gotten in the last month um i don't post my uh my five or six draft

sins that i do every day but yeah b plus is pretty low so i'm uh i'm kind of bummed out uh but why it's the best because you have the best wide receiver prospect in the draft, according to most people, I would say, on your team, and that will help fill a need both now and in the future. You know, it'll help Kirk Cousins in 2022, and in three or four years, maybe if that wide receiver room changes a bit, you'll still have Justin Jefferson, but you'll have another hopefully really good wide receiver

on a rookie contract. We know that cornerback depth is needed. And while I didn't get a top tier guy, I think Kyler Gordon is still a pretty good player. And like I said, he didn't have to come in right away and start. He could be a guy they can groom for the long term. And then Josh Paschal, as you said, Collar, I think they still need some help at edge and defensive end. He seems maybe a little bit raw. He has some good tools that the team can work with.

There's a chance that none of these guys help out right away and that's okay. You know, I think for a long time, you know, we would all agree the Vikings have tried to draft players who can help out in week one. And while I understand that, the moves they've made already show they're trying to win now. And like, I feel like they, if it's going to be a competitive rebuild you have to kind of shift it back a little bit and have some moves that go towards the future too um and so yeah that's why i uh kind of went with a future focus on my draft picks

and why it is uh number one i'm on three drafts. Yeah. Collar, similar to you, I got to nail my draft. So clearly our drafts are better than Eric's. Eric is thinking the future. I think we kind of got a balance of now and the future. And I got an A-plus actually on Trent McDuffie. Like the cornerback is the obvious hole here.

And I think if Derek, like I said, if Derek Stingley's not there, he fits. He can play man-to-man. He can play zone. This defense is built for the cornerbacks for their job to be easier. So there's opportunities for him to thrive. And then with the linebacker from Wisconsin, having him there as a guy that can be versatile, a guy that's already made plays, that fits this defense already. That's more future, but there's a balance between him making plays now but also being looked at as a guy for the future

when some of these older guys start to figure out what's next for their career. And then lastly, I had the edge rusher, Josh Paschal. I think he's a guy that's versatile, a guy that can make plays, a guy that can learn from Daniil Hunter and as a Darius Smith and be able to come in and make plays when asked upon. He's not going to be called to come in and start every down, but to keep those guys' legs fresh, I think he can do a really good job of that and learn from some of the guys that's already in this building.

So I went all defense, and that's why I think my draft is the best, because if you haven't seen what the Vikings put on film last year or what the stat sheet looked at towards the end of the year, you understand why I went all defense in the first three rounds. Well, why I think mine is the best is because I kind of went best of both worlds, an immediate impact rusher in Carol Laftis, an immediate impact wide receiver that also could be down the road effective for them as maybe a 1B or a number two to Justin Jefferson. The bar for 1B, I guess, is very high, so probably a number two. And then with a project type of corner who comes from a little bit of a lesser, um, top university and, uh, might have some potential there. I think when we get into the third, fourth, fifth rounds, giving actual hot takes on how good Marcus Jones is becomes much tougher, but at least on paper, uh, somebody that might have some potential.

So clearly I won, but we'll create a, uh, and the objective Twitterers can decide whose draft was the best. Well, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to get together with me to do this. We'll do this every year. We'll get together more often this year. Back in locker rooms, fellas, I mean, how great is that for this year? I mean, just these last couple of years. Gabe, you moved here in the middle of the pandemic. I mean, you haven't been able to do like regular stuff.

This is, this is the third year where I don't know what normal is. So this would be a brand new year for me trying to figure out, Oh, this is what we, this is what we do now. So I'm expecting more change in year four. So it was just more so just adapting to change and just having fun while doing so, but having guys back, having us all back in the locker room,

able to be around the guys. And I think that's what makes all of our content better because we're able to find those stories and guys are able to share other different things that they wouldn't share

over a Zoom screen. So it'll be all fun and games. And hopefully that fun and games ultimately turns into wins for this Minnesota Vikings team. Well, glad to have you here, Gabe and Eric. Best of luck to you and your wife in having your baby, and sorry that you won't be able to grind the tape immediately

after the Vikings draft someone in 12th overall, potentially. So thank you guys so much for all the time. This was really fun. Thank you. Thank you, Matt. Appreciate it.