Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Bonus episode: Draft simulations and Q+A from Purple Insider live locker room app session

Episode Date: March 20, 2021

Every Thursday and Saturday night around 9:30 CT, Matthew Coller goes live to simulate the draft and talk Vikings with fans on the Locker Room app. His Thursday night session included talk about Orlando Brown, the offensive guard position, how the first round will play out, why trading down makes so much sense and why a YOLO draft with Trey Lance might be better than the more likely options. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get Coors Light in the new look delivered straight to your door with Drizzly or Instacart, Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado, and as always, celebrate. Hey everybody, welcome into a bonus episode here of Purple Insider presented by Scout Logistics and by Symbol. On every Thursday night and Saturday night, I'm doing a draft simulation and a Q&A on the Locker Room app, which is an app where we can kind of do a live broadcast and have people jump in with their comments and have a discussion and things like that. And it's been a really fun experience. So I'm usually doing that around 930, 945 on every Thursday and Saturday night. If you ever want to join in with one,

I always tweet out the link. So feel free to check that out. And I wanted to bring you the audio of that discussion here, where we talk about the draft, how free agency has impacted the draft, how the Vikings are going to fill their offensive line and a lot of other fun subjects as well. So here you go.

This is a Wacken Room production. Hey there, everybody. Thanks for joining in to our little draft simulation and Q&A. And Brayden, nice to see that you are excited about a guard already. Can somebody give me a thumbs up that you can hear me? Always need to get that so I'm not talking to myself. Okay, great to hear, great to hear. And Brayden, you're not wrong.

They do need a guard really badly. And I've got to say that here we are and there is no guard that's going to play on the left side so that should be interesting to figure out how that gets solved right uh do we want to take a quick poll of the room about how they fill the guard position at left guard um because right now your ideas guys are just about as good as mine um austin blythe is definitely one that could happen. Alexander, also Forrest Lamp. Does anybody get excited about Forrest Lamp? I can tell you that he was 37th in pass blocking by PFF, which is better than dead last like Dakota Dozier.

But Braden, yeah, you're right about Forrest Lamp overall. I mean, that one's putting lipstick on a pig if you're trying to to get excited about forest lamps, NFL combine, which happened four years ago, but he does have the combine results that look like someone who plays for the Vikings where he's undersized and runs real fast. But he also has the PFF grades that look like someone who plays for the Vikings, which means second to last overall grade in the NFL. And it is really not a shock that they've put themselves in this position, but kind of remarkable that they can repeat the same mistake again. And, uh, Kenny, I hope that I don't have to watch Drew Samia start at guard again. Um, he looked about as overmatched as you can look, but it would be like the Vikings though,

to put an overmatch player in again. They did that with TJ Clemmings. They did that with Jaleel Johnson. We knew that Jaleel Johnson was in over his head trying to start NFL games. And that's exactly what he did for all of them last year. Alexander, you know, you're right that Ezra Cleveland, just because he was better at guard than Dozier was, doesn't mean that he should play guard. And he was better than Samia at right guard as well. But again, that's a very low bar. And I agree. I, I can't wrap my head around why Ezra Cleveland is not just the one that's put in for left guard. But the other part of it too, guys, that's interesting is we have not had a chance to talk with Mike Zimmer about these matters at all this off season.

Now, normally we would have had a talk with him at the NFL combine, which is always usually one of the best ones that we have with him all year, but there was no NFL combine. So we have not spoken with him to ask him what he thinks of Ezra Cleveland. And even when Rick Spielman the other day introduced Delvin Tomlinson, he didn't take any questions. So it's hard to ask him what is going on with the offensive line. Brayden, it's interesting that you mentioned the Ravens and the Vikings because to start my draft simulation and feel free to throw in questions.

One of the best parts of this is that we always get a bunch of questions and get off on tangents and talk about Bucky Hodges and things that are fun. But in my draft simulation, I pulled off a trade with the Ravens. It did not include Orlando Brown, which they actually could work with the salary cap because Orlando Brown is only scheduled to make three and a half million right now. And so they would trade for him, sign him to a big contract extension and then go forward. So that is possible, but wouldn't it seem pretty odd though, to draft Ezra Cleveland in the second round, play him in games and be fairly happy with the results and then suddenly turn around and trade for a left tackle after you just spent a second round

pick on one last year that you're not sure whether he can play left tackle or not. Rob, that's a good point about admitting bad draft picks. Jalen Holmes is another good example, a guy that they decided to change positions right away, which seems like something they're really into doing every single year. They changed positions for Jalen Holmes, then tell him to go switch back to a position that he never successfully rushed the passer anyway. So I don't know, Brayden, if they would take that deal. If the Ravens would, they could tell Orlando Brown sorry buddy you're just going to have to play right guard next season and then you can hit the free agent market

and do whatever you want they're not obligated to trade him just because he wants to but you know you make a good point about not signing a guard if they haven't done it yet are they really going to move Ezra Cleveland over to left tackle and leave both guards wide open um Kenny first round pick should be offensive line I agree with you and that takes me to where we are right now so in my draft simulation and I'll kind of tell you guys how the first round played out in just a minute but I traded down which I think is the most likely scenario here because the Vikings need draft picks. So I traded with the Baltimore Ravens down and I got a kicker slash punter back. No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. No Corey Vedvik this time. But instead now we're in the second round two at pick number 58. And so just if we're doing a three round mock, it is is or a three round sim 27 58 78 and 90 which i feel like has a lot of talent there so on the board at 27 we have a pretty good prospect on the offensive line and on the

defensive line in tevin jenkins the offensive lineman from oklahoma state and we've also got elijah vera tucker on the board and then we've got jaylen phill Tucker on the board. And then we've got Jalen Phillips on the board here too, as a defensive end. And any one of those would be pretty good. Also Samuel Cosme, who I'll give you an interesting stat on Samuel Cosme, is I saw that the website Relative Athletic Scores, which gives you the percentile of athleticism of each player versus their position. They gave him the best score they've ever given for a tackle. So the most athletic tackle that they've ever had, Sam Cosme.

Vera Tucker, I am very high on too, Rob, because I like the fact that the guy could go from guard to tackle. That to me is impressive. And that says he could come right in and play guard or compete a tackle. They can decide what they want there there and maybe he's the long-term left tackle uh alex leatherwood is also on the board here carlos basham uh walker little is another guy that maybe they could get in the second round but interior offensive lineman landon dickerson is maybe a good choice there now a good point david that andrew thomas was not good last year and that it so often happens that guys who are drafted very high who are thrown into tough situations where they have to start right away and are relied upon to start right away don't always work out other guys do tristan wirfs

worked out great um jedrick wills worked out great it's very difficult to tell at any position who's going to make an impact right away. And that's one of the reasons that when you draft for need, as opposed to best player available, it gets difficult. And when the Vikings are in a position that they're in now where they spent so much money on two players, now they have to rely Braden, as you call it a crap shoot. I totally agree. Um, that, I mean, uh, a draft shoot, a crap shoot in this way in that, you know, everybody knows who the top talented players are, whether they work out or not is a crap shoot. Um, I think they get it right. Like the guys who are drafted at the very top of the draft are much more likely to work out than the second round, third round, but which ones will work

out right away, which ones need development, which ones end up being busts. I mean, they have a million different ways that they try to figure it out and they never really have. Um, Jalen Phillips is a really impressive prospect and has, I think, the best package of pass rush moves of anybody. And the concussions are a problem, for sure. That's where I'll be really interested to see what the NFL has to say about Jalen Phillips, because he's a first-round talent. There's no doubt about that. But in years past, I'm thinking of like Daquan Bowers, remember him? That there was all of a sudden some issues with his knees,

and I know that concussions are a little bit different but that's a thing that i think the nfl would be very concerned about and brayden you're fair in saying that you want to trade away the pick or trade down and try to get orlando brown back the the difference though and maybe this plays in less with the fact that the tv deal is going to happen and the cap is going to go up. But if you draft Tevin Jenkins and he becomes a good player, which I think Orlando Brown is a good player, but not a great player. So if you get Tevin Jenkins and he becomes a good player, you get him for four years,

very cheap to be a good player for you. Brian O'Neill has provided great value. Justin Jefferson is going to provide incredible value. The problem is that with Orlando Brown, if you trade for him, now you've got two tackles that are going to make a lot of money. And I wonder about Brian O'Neill and how he and his representation feel about this off season. he might want to go play left tackle and get the left tackle money. I don't know. I mean, if I'm him, I'm calling the Vikings. If I'm his agent and saying, well, you guys can do this since you lost Riley reef, move my guy over to left tackle and then pay him like it. And you know, that's an option that they could take and they could

either play, um, you know, Rashad Hill at right tackle or play Ezra Cleveland at right tackle. Good question. Alan is a Broncos fan. Curious to see what George Payton does based on his track record with the Vikings. Well, I mean, you're seeing some good signings by them. Getting fuller today was, I think, a really good signing. Let's see what they did in this draft sim for the Broncos. They must have picked a quarterback, right?

Yeah. Trey Lance in this draft sim. And I think that that is what they'll be aiming for is a draft pick um alexander isn't brown one double cheeseburger away from being in trouble with his weight well i mean he is like six foot nine or something though so i mean there is that that the weight is pretty well spread out i mean i think he's a good player and he's proven that the NFL combine should not have dropped his status from a first round talent all the way down to a third rounder. And he's been able to maintain that weight without a problem. I don't think it's any, um, any type of an issue with

Orlando Brown that I would be concerned about. He seems really dedicated to the craft. It's only that he would be very expensive. That is the thing that would point, you know, to me a little bit down for him, um, is that you can't just, you know, trade for him and then not sign him to a contract extension. Maybe if you're super, super desperate, but if you're giving away something like a first round pick, you don't want to be doing that. Um, this team though has acted desperate so far. They getting Delvin Tomlinson and getting Patrick Peterson. Um, it is, yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it sort of says that, uh, you are right, Braden, that moving an offensive lineman, uh, would be par for the course. They seem to do that a lot

where they're always shuffling players positions around. So, you know, I think in this situation, if the Vikings were to trade down, which is very likely, and they were looking at an offensive lineman, a defensive lineman, I do think and call me crazy here because Mike Zimmer is still in charge, but I do think that they would take Elijah Veritaker in this case, somebody who could play guard right away with the potential to be a long-term left tackle. And I don't see, this is what's going to be interesting about our draft sims and our Q and A's and stuff as we go forward is how many different ways can we look at this when the team is no longer changing things? They're, they're not going to change a whole lot between now and then, but they could get

someone like Forrest Lamp and then that makes it much less desperate. But I still think you'd want to take Elijah Vera Tucker because anybody that you're getting, whether it's James Carpenter or Forrest Lamp or even Austin Blythe, you're not signing those guys to big contracts to be your star guards. They're all kind of just taking shots.

And then you'd be totally fine with Elijah Vera Tucker and somebody else competing for jobs, whether it's left tackle or, or left guard. Um, yeah, Braden, I don't think that Orlando Brown's taken anything less for his contract extension. I think that he's taking left tackle money because he believes he proved he could play left tackle. Ian, you're right. That's my point, is that taking Forrest Lamp would not make it any less desperate than it already is. I totally agree that someone like Forrest Lamp or James Carpenter, some veteran who you're going to bring in, even Austin Blythe, who I think is a good player, they don't change

that you absolutely need to continue to upgrade on the offensive line. Now, my question is, do they think that Steven Weatherly can start? Oh, you mean, I'm sorry, Braden, you mean Brian O'Neill. Well, that's the thing. If you're Brian O'Neill, you're not signing a contract extension until you know whether they're moving over to left tackle. So that would be if you're O'Neill's representation, you are making sure that you've got assurances that you are moving over to left tackle before you sign or you're not, because there is a difference in money. We may look at the value and say, it's not that much

different when you break it down statistically. It's, you know, there's a case to be made that it's closer than it ever has been before. But when it term, when it comes to the money, um, we see that left tackles are still being paid a lot more. So who do we think they would take here? Is Steven Weatherly going to start or are they going to leave it to one signing of a very cheap veteran guard? I tend to think that they would rather have Steven Weatherly and DJ Wanham, who they seem to be high on. Um, I think they would rather have Steven Weatherly and DJ Wanham, who they seem to be high on. I think they would rather have those guys battle it out and they would take Elijah Veritaker here. So that's what I'm doing. And since I traded down to 27, we also have the 58th pick here.

Kenny, interesting you say that you could see the Vikings staying at 14 and getting quitty pay, because that's actually exactly who Todd McShay mocked to the Viking. You know, I mean, an edge rusher right now, even if Daniil Hunter is coming back and edge rusher still remains a priority for long-term unless, you know, they somehow think that DJ Wanham is that answer. And if they do, then they shouldn't, I think, um, Lance Zierlein, by the way, of NFL.com has Elijah Vera Tucker going really high, uh, 13th to the chargers. Now that, um, I think would be a bit of a surprise based on where everybody else has Elijah Vera Tucker, but you know, the Vikings have been mocked him a few times. Uh, PFF is a little bit lower on him, but I like him a lot. Now, Ian, that's exactly what I'm thinking about Elijah Vera Tucker and why I like him as the pick, because if you let those two battle it out for

left tackle, Ezra Cleveland and Elijah Vera Tucker, then, you know, the other one can play guard. And then you get one more veteran and you put the whole thing together and it might not look that bad. It probably will still not look great though. that's the unfortunate part of spending so much on one defensive lineman and one cornerback is that you couldn't get even like a middle tier offensive lineman there were a couple of really high guys on the offensive line market really only one after brandon sheriff got picked up so you weren't going to get that guy but then the next wave of a couple of players went off the board pretty fast and they couldn't afford them.

Let's see here. Well, you know, Dylan, that's a good point. You could see them stay at 14. They could. Yeah, they could do something like that and look toward the future. The linebacker position that you bring up is really interesting because I think that the smart play in the draft is always to look two years down the road, but I also don't think that the Vikings are in a position to do that.

And so you're referring to Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoa, which I mean, spell it out, Dylan. Come on. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah. I also saw Matt Bowen today that he looks at Owusu-Koromoa as someone who could also end up at safety. Remember we were having this talk with, who was it? Who was it?

A couple of years ago, it was linebacker. Oh, Derwin James, linebacker or safety or nickel corner. Like what is he? And it turned out great safety. I mean, they need a safety too. So if you were taking someone that could fill multiple positions, who's just a talented playmaker,

I'm not against it, who would clearly be needed as a long-term fix, whether it was at linebacker or safety, and then you can try a lot of different things with them. But I also think that the guard situation is pretty desperate at this point. Yeah, you're right, Kenny, that the Chargers did add a couple in free agency, long-term solutions. I don't know good point about patrick peterson feeling like last year's yanni kongakwe i mean part of it is that it's you know that sort of desperation and let's get the big name kind of guy and let's overspend for it can i go through the first 32 rapid fire why not i think i can and i'm if that drives everybody sorry, but let's go through it. So the Jaguars picked Trevor Lawrence.

Zach Wilson went to the Jets. Jamar Chase drafted by the Dolphins at number three. This is where that one's probably going to get traded, I think. Jalen Waddell ends up going to Atlanta. They would have one heck of a wide receiver group then. Penny Sewell, the most obvious pick on the board since Riley Reif's going to play right tackle, goes to the Bengals. justin fields to the eagles it seems like every time i do a draft sim no matter the settings they've got justin fields to the eagles kyle pitts to detroit so i'll play another playmaker there for jared goff micah parsons to carolina i don't see that one i feel

like they want a quarterback trey lance to den. Devante Smith goes to the Cowboys, which also doesn't seem like that would happen because the Cowboys already have three good receivers. Rashawn Slater to the giants. Another one that I'm not sure that that's really their biggest position of need. I think they'd be looking about, uh, to get a wide receiver there. Patrick Sertain to San Francisco could see that one. Trayvon Morig to Los Angeles Chargers. Then the pick we traded out of Baltimore takes Caleb Farley. Quiddy Paye goes to the Patriots. Rashad Bateman to Arizona. Christian Derrissaw to the Raiders. Nick Bolton to Miami. Mac Jones to Washington. Now that one is going to happen. Mac Jones to Washington, I feel like is just, if you pick up Ryan Fitzpatrick in free agency, you are drafting a quarterback. There is no question about it.

Christian Derrissaw, all the way at 20 to Chicago. Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoa to Indianapolis. Jason Owe to Tennessee. Rondell Moore goes with the Jets. JC Horn, the cornerback from South Carolina. He's

with Pittsburgh. Now Pittsburgh, they're a team that I could also see trading up. Aziz Edulare to Jacksonville, Gregory Russo, Cleveland, and then the Vikings with Elijah Vera Tucker, the Saints taking Kyle Trask. Do we think Kyle Trask is going to sneak in to the top round of the first round? I don't know. Zayven Collins to Buffalo, Tevin Jenkins to Kansas City, and Jalen Phillips to the Tampa Bay Bucs. So there's your top 32. I feel like we did that efficiently. So here I am at 58 on the board, and I think I've got the pick.

So let me read through your comments, because I think I know exactly who they would go with if they did this trade down in order to get a second round pick. So let me read through your comments because I think I know exactly who they would go with if they did this trade down in order to get a second round pick. Hey, everybody want to tell you about our friends at Symbol. Symbol is a new sports marketplace where you can trade shares of professional teams like stocks. So as we jump fully into free agency season, you're going to want to get in on teams now before your team's stock rises. Go to symbol.app. That is S-I-M-B-U-L-L dot A-P-P. Sign up using the promo code purple and get a $10 deposit bonus if you're a first time user.

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sports and soda stick has you covered with Minnesota sports themed gear. The hockey team is headed down the stretch, so you've got to check out the dollar bill krill shirts and baseball is ready to get started. Go to SodaStick.com. Check out the touch them all shirts, the Twinkies hats and the tomorrow night hoodies. If you use the promo code Purple code purple insider you can get free shipping so go to sodastick.com to get your original minnesota sports inspired goods all of their apparel is screen printed here in minnesota on super soft super comfy shirts and hoodies you will love it that is sodastick s-o-t-a-s-t-i-c-k.com original minnesota sports inspired goods code purple insider for free shipping That's interesting, Dylan, that Brett Coleman said he thought that Sewell might fall out of the top 10.

The teams are higher on Slater. It would be classic NFL for teams to talk themselves out of it. Absolutely. For a guy to miss the year and then to say, Oh no, no, no, no. Well, actually Rashawn Slater did too. So I don't know. That's an interesting one. Maybe they feel like Slater is a little more polished than Sewell is. And Sewell is more of a freak athlete. I just think the NFL tends to overthink these things sometimes. And maybe that I'm just leaning on, Hey, you should have just taken Patrick Mahomes instead of overthinking it.

Would Zimmer actually trade out of Caleb Farley? Now that they have Peterson and they're an immediate need team, I would say that they're not going to take a corner. I never underestimate their ability to take a corner because they do. But I don't know if I believe that they would take a corner in the first round. I think there'll be taking corners in the second and third round. Um, okay. So Matthew, your, your hot take is that five quarterbacks and two left tackles are going to go in the first 10 picks. I think that's a good take because, well, the Mac Jones one is interesting though, because

I could absolutely see a team getting talked into Mac Jones as a top 10 pick, because if those top four guys go off the board and then you're say like Denver and you were trying like crazy to trade up and you're stuck with Drew Locke and you didn't trade for another quarterback, you didn't sign another quarterback and you're just kind of looking around saying, we just got a new general manager. We just signed all these players. courtland sutton is coming back we can't let it sit on the shoulders of you know drew lock um i could absolutely see that good point kenny that ryan pace i mean the last time he traded up for a quarterback he gave up a lot to do it they would have to give up a lot

to move all the way up if they wanted to get Mac Jones, if there is indeed interest in the top 10. One of them always drops though. That just seems like when we talk about there are X number of quarterbacks in a draft, that one of them always ends up falling farther than we think. Maybe that's Trey Lance. Maybe that's Justin Fields. Justin Fields seems to be getting a lot of criticism about a couple of bad games. Although I'm not sure what quarterback in the draft has ever played all great games in college. That's why they're prospects, I guess. Right. So, but Justin Fields seems like the guy that might drop. We have not Scott identified the weed guy. When I do, I will let you know. But people don't care about weed anymore.

It's kind of ruined my bit. Every year it was, oh, this guy tested positive for weed at the combine. Oh, no. And I would always say, take him. Because that doesn't make a big difference for his success or not. But now it's just, you know, no one cares about it anymore. So I'm going to have to find some other always draft the blank. But I've got the guy in the second round.

So we've taken Elijah Veritucker, Greg Newsome from Northwestern. He ran a 4-3, I believe it was, at his pro day. And everybody was talking about Greg Newsome after his pro day. This year, on throws in his direction, This comes through PFF 31 quarterback rating. Other teams completed 12 of 34 when throwing at Greg Newsome. He has great footwork. He's tall at six foot one. And he's a guy that just seems like he'd be perfect for Mike Zimmer.

So I am taking him. And this is right here. Exactly why trading down makes so much sense is if you, if you trade down and get into the back into the second round, there's going to be good players who could be potential starters for you. So we've got an offensive lineman and we've got a cornerback we've made everybody happy um i agree joel that would not be surprised if um you know newsom was taken in the first round after his pro day absolutely that he had such a great pro day and the 40 that he ran anybody who doesn't go to like alabama or georgia they always seem to worry about that 40 like i mean this was antoine winfield last year

like you needed to show that you can run the 4-4 okay we can pick you rob newsome yeah newsome six foot one i don't think they would take another short corner after they've been doing that recently so here we are now at pick 78 and i think that we could go in in many different directions but i'm thinking about a couple of different places like linebacker safety, you know, edge rusher here might be a good pick because I think the third round is going to have a lot of edge rushers. So I see on my board here, Rashad Weaver from Pittsburgh. Uh, I really like Rashad Weaver from Pittsburgh in the pro, uh, in the, what was it? The senior bowl. He was really good. Cameron sample is also on my board.

And that's another guy that they could take. Trey Brown, the nickel corner from Oklahoma. He interests me quite a bit. Dimitrik Felton, kind of a playmaker there. I don't know that they would do that. But at some point, they have to decide that they're going to take another receiver here, right? I would think so. I agree, joel that if

you're taking wide receivers in the fifth to seventh round you're usually lighting them on fire except for stefan digs and scott you make a good point about the pro days instead of the combines because as much as they can try to even those things out pff did a study on this and just found that the pro day data is different. Even if they try to use the same, you know, clicker and everything else, it's just different. You think about the pressure that's on you in Indianapolis and all the buildup to that versus you get to do it where you're doing it, where you're used to running and all those things that where you're comfortable, you're in front of your coach, all that stuff. I think it impacts it. So when we're talking about, yeah, this guy's got the best 40 ever

and so forth, you probably have to readjust that in your mind. So a lot of really good options here though. Anyway, so are we interested in Davis Mills though? I mean, the Vikings are in a position where drafting a quarterback in the middle round here, if he's got some sort of high upside, would make sense. And I know Mills is considered like a non-mobile quarterback, which might drive people crazy. But I also think that if you put a quarterback that's similar to Kirk Cousins in this situation with good wide receivers

and then create a bunch of cap space to fill out the rest of the roster that you might end up in a really good spot. I can't see them actually doing it either guys. That is true, but they, you know, they just have this tendency to surprise us sometimes. So maybe when we're thinking that there's no chance, that's what they would do. Well, how about we take Davis mills and then we'll look at what we have with the 90th pick. And then we'll look at our whole draft hall and we'll see what we think of it. So there's a couple of addressers here that are left after I take Davis Mills.

I agree, Scott Yolo. Like that's, I mean, if somebody is on the board that would have had a chance, and I guess this goes for Jamie Newman too, and maybe Kellen Mond, if somebody is on the board that would have had a chance, and I guess this goes for Jamie Newman too, and maybe Kellen Mond, not really convinced on Kellen Mond, but maybe if you have a chance to take those guys with a third or fourth round pick, and there's any shot they could work out with this system and become your starting quarterback, Kirk Cousins' contract just sets up for that. Any draft talk about the quarterback is not so much about Cousins' contract just sets up for that.

Any draft talk about the quarterback is not so much about Cousins, but about how his contract just is designed. That after this year, they more or less have to make a decision to trade him or extend him. And at worst, if you draft a guy in the third round and he becomes your backup quarterback, that is a very cheap backup quarterback with potential upside. So here's what we got on the board right now for our second, third round pick. This is 27th overall. Rashad Weaver, who I think is a great one to pick. Joe Tryon, the edge rusher from Washington.

We've got a corner Shakur Brown, Ben Cleveland, the offensive lineman, Benjamin St. Joost, who comes up seemingly every time here as a potential late third round pick Trey Brown, Demetrik Felton. It's like, we should do one. We should, we should do one of these where it's just like, no regrets, like the no regrets drafts him. Maybe that'll be next Thursday. We do the no regrets drafts him. Uh, Christian up off is on here as well. He is from Illinois state, a good, maybe a good safety. Now we already drafted. I know you guys want the offensive line. We already drafted one offensive lineman. Maybe it's not

a bad idea to take more, right? Maybe it isn't. Uh, I think, think uh yeah ben cleveland is still there and he is a monster the one thing that i wish they would sort of move off is well you know that guy he doesn't really fit how we want our guys to block it's like yeah i get it but you should also just take good players and figure that out how they block best uh cameron sample got taken so he's off the board but we have a lot of good potential picks here amin ross st brown is on the board christian upoff jordan smith the edge rusher from uab he's another one quinn uh quinn mannerts is one or is it minors is another one who is on the board here it might might be a good pick. Quincy Roche is the edge rusher from Miami. There's a lot. This is why I think if there's any chance they don't take, um,

a defensive end in the first round, I think this is why, because there are so many good prospects in the third round. And I think that's where we have to go here, guys. I really liked the idea of Demetrik Felton, though, because that's your playmaker. Hmm. It would be hard for me not to take Demetrik Felton. If this is my draft, instead of trying to project what they might do in this situation,

I would take Demetrik Felton, and I think we should do a quick YOLO draft right after this. So let's take Rashad Weaver and see how it looks because I do think it's possible that the Vikings would take a third round quarterback. If it's Davis Mills and he's there just to say, well, we've got our backup and we always have a developmental quarterback, which is true. They do always have a developmental quarterback. So here's what our draft looks like. Now I was given an A minus here by PFF. So your guys' grades for me can't be lower than that. Elijah Veritucker,

Greg Newsome, Davis Mills, Rashad Weaver for the first three rounds. I think that that is a home run if they came away with something like that. And that is exactly why trading down is so good because if you could get somebody in the second round, I mean, I think that, you know, somebody who's got starting potential right away, I think that's how you, you know, quote, win the draft. If you're the Vikings, Vera Tucker can start a guard, could be your long-term left tackle. Newsome can wait for the beginning of the season at corner, but see how things turn out and maybe rotate in eventually with Patrick Peterson, but you've got a long-term option there and depth because corners always get hurt

and the Vikings kind of forgot that last year and had Chris Jones playing football for them. Davis Mills, I like that pick and Rashad Weaver. Yeah, you're right about that, Rob, that a quarterback does get an A-plus every time and maybe they should stop that past the first round. In the first round, you always should get an A-plus if you're picking about that, Rob, that a quarterback does get an A-plus every time. And maybe they should stop that past the first round. In the first round, you always should get an A-plus if you're picking a first-round quarterback because you don't know which one's going to work out, and it's probably a good pick for your franchise.

But third-rounders, fourth-rounders, those don't deserve A-plus grades probably. But mine does. And Rashad Weaver, he ends up being the 90th pick that I think is a really good fit with Mike Zimmer. Hey, everyone, I want to tell you about our friends at Scout Logistics. And I really do mean it when I say friends. They are fans of Purple Insider over at Scout Logistics. And since they reached out wanting to support this show, I want to tell you about what they do. Scout Logistics is just-in-time transportation for full tractor-trailer loads. And if you're wondering what that means exactly,

well, if you own or work for a company that needs shipping solutions, they are the preferred carrier of Fortune 500 companies across North America. And we have quite a few of those in Minnesota, right? They can ship perishable, non-perishable, FTL or LTL, and they have on-time delivery rate of over 99%. So if you're like them and you enjoy the show and you have shipping needs, check out scoutlogistics.com or call 855-217-2688 extension 232 to connect with them directly to find out how Scout Logistics can minimize risk and overperform and go the extra mile for your company. So let's do another one and let's do it like this.

Let's do it only if we were in charge and saying, let's help Kirk. Let's do one of those before we wrap up. Let's help Kirk Cousins here because the defense got the picks, got the free agent money so far, and the defense kind of got a couple of picks the last time. So if we're trying to help Kirk, what's the first thing we do? Do we trade up? Try to trade up to like nine or ten?

Let's try to trade up to, let's see if Dallas will do a trade up for ten. Let's try that. I think you're trading up if, yeah, right. Step aside trade up for 10 let's try that i think you're trading up if yeah right step aside rick and zim right i think you're trading up so do we give up like let's see let's see what it takes let's try to figure this out i'll try this this trade quick all right we got it we just traded some later picks and we move from 14 to 10 so let's start this thing out it's a great place to be 10 if If you want a playmaker Trey Lance, our goal was going to be to help Kirk, but Trey Lance is on the board at number 10. So in the YOLO draft, we've got to take Trey Lance. I think if we're doing the YOLO draft, if we are trying to help Kirk in this draft, uh, we kind of got screwed still with all the top playmakers coming off the board before 10.

So Devante Smith, Kyle Pitts, Jamar Chase, and Jalen Waddle all off the board. But if we're just going to go straight YOLO, let's take Trey Lance here. And the plan will be for Kirk to play one more year and then be traded the Alex Smith plan. Why not? So now we don't have another pick since we traded up until number 78. So I'm waiting to run through that. You're right. Trey Lance is one of us. And that doesn't mean anything, but it would be loved by Minnesotans.

That's for sure. If I've learned anything about living here, Minnesotans would love that. All right. So here's what we got. We got Jalen Darden, wide receiver. We've got Ben Cleveland. He could pass block as an offensive lineman. That might be the way to go here. Even though it's a YOLO draft, it might make the most sense to still take an offensive lineman. Wouldn't it? Because you're going to have to protect Kirk Cousins slash Trey Lance. So we're

going to take Ben Cleveland, the giant fat offensive lineman who can actually pass block. And now with the other third round pick, um, let's see here. Dimitri Felton makes so much sense. Wide receiver slash running back playmaker. You can do anything with him. So would anybody, um, not when it comes to drafting, uh, Alexander, when it comes to drafting, I don't think one of us should be a thing that matters. Um, if they draft it as opposed to what we just went through, which was a much more reasonable draft with Elijah Vera Tucker and Greg Newsome and those guys, if they instead went with Trey Lance, Ben Cleveland, Dimitri Felton in the first three rounds. Who's in? I mean,

I'm in with Trey Lance because of Kirk Cousins contract situation because of the upside for Trey Lance. I mean, drafting a quarterback, if one drops to where the Vikings can get them, just makes sense. It doesn't make sense with what they did in free agency, but that to us in the YOLO draft does not matter. Trey Lance, Ben Cleveland, Dimitri Felton. I'm giving that an A. If they shocked us all on draft night and we've got to do our, you know, we're doing our draft post podcast locker room analysis here on this app. I mean, I can tell you, I'm giving them an absolute a plus if they draft anything to help Kirk cousins or a future quarterback, those things will get an a, uh, imagine Lance running play actions and RPOs. The funny thing is about the Kirk, um, uh, the Kubiak system is

that it's always quarterbacks like Kirk. It's always these like non-athlete quarterbacks who are pretty accurate and can execute the offense. You're like Brian Greasy types and your Jimmy Garoppolo's and stuff. If you put a freak athlete in this system, I think it would be amazing. They can run those play actions. How many times do other teams send their defensive end up field and then Kirk has to throw the ball away? Happens all the time. Well, if you do that at Trey Lance, he'll run away from that guy and run for 20 yards. do other teams send their defensive end up field and then Kirk has to throw the ball away happens

all the time. Well, if you do that at Trey Lance, he'll run away from that guy and run for 20 yards. What about a world where we trade down and pick up Rashad Bateman? Yeah. Yes. I mean, it's a yes for me, but I don't think it's a yes from them, but it's a yes for me. That's, that's the umbrella. If it helps cousins or it's a quarterback, I think it's a yes for me. That's the umbrella. If it helps Cousins or it's a quarterback, I think it's a good idea in the first round. If it's an edge rusher, I get it. And I'm not going to destroy them for it, but it's going to be a lot invested on the defensive side

when your offense doesn't seem that far away from being really, really good. Here's the question. If Lance, hold on. If Lance is there, uh, what do you, let's see if Lance is there, do you take him or trade back? I would take him. I would take him. If Lance is on the board and it's take him or trade back. I think the Vikings would trade back, but I would a hundred percent take him because there's nothing more important than that. There's nothing more important than knowing the long-term future

at quarterback. And if you've got a plan that's set in place by draft night for what you're going to do at quarterback, you would feel like you're in a great spot. Even if Trey Lance doesn't work out, sometimes they don't, but think about what you can give Trey Lance. You can give Trey Lance doesn't work out, sometimes they don't. But think about what you can give Trey Lance. You can give Trey Lance Justin Jefferson, and we'll assume Delvin Cook will continue to be good. You can give him more offensive linemen that you can sign because Kirk Cousins' contract will be gone. You can build up the defense more because Kirk Cousins' contract will be gone. But you could start with one elite receiver, one other elite receiver, probably in the first few years of Trey Lance, or at least Thielen will still be good. You can add receivers to that. You can spend, you can fill out the roster. Like you can give

any quarterback you draft a lot of different chances. Yeah, no Dylan. Great point about Aaron Rogers. If he were to run the same offense that he runs now when he was younger, well, I mean, that would have been good for the Packers, but not good for the Vikings. That's for sure. Quiddy Pay might be really good. Yeah, that's, I mean, that's true, David, but here's the thing when it comes down to, you know, somebody like Quiddy Pay. I mean, yeah, that's, that could be a good pick, but it reminds me of Chase Young last year where Washington

ignored their quarterback and could have taken Justin Herbert. They also could have taken two on, maybe it wouldn't have worked out, but they took an edge rusher and that was great. And he's very helpful, but I bet they wish they took Justin Herbert. Now, uh, who's the journeyman that's a, an Uber athlete and nobody was where Josh, Josh McCown. Yes. Josh McCown is a 98th or 99th percentile athlete. And he at 40 years old can still dunk a basketball. Unbelievable athlete. You know, who's also a great athlete. Sometimes journeymen turn out that way because that's why they're drafted. They're drafted for their, for their athleticism and not necessarily for how well they play the game. And they ended up becoming journeymen. You know. Blaine Gabbert is actually kind of that way, but he was obviously a high pick.

And my buddy Sage Rosenfels, he was drafted fourth round for his athleticism. You look up his numbers in college for Iowa State, he threw like 10 touchdowns or something per year. I mean, not impressive numbers, but really good combine. Let's see. San Francisco suffers through 2021. Then we can unload Kirk. Yeah, that is a very realistic scenario would be if San Francisco lets Jimmy Garoppolo go and wants to trade for Kirk Cousins.

David hoping that Panay Sewell drops. Hey, if he does, then that's the guy. There are only a handful of guys you would trade up for in this draft to try to get to nine or 10. I think Penny Sewell might be one of them. Um, Scott, even having an off ramp would be nice. Well, the way that I look at it is with Kirk cousins is you took your shot and missing the playoffs two out of three years. Didn't it didn't really work. And you know exactly what you have if you continue to go forward with him. And something different is probably better either way it goes.

If you draft Trey Lance and he doesn't work out, then you probably lose a lot of games and draft high again and take someone else. If Trey Lance works out great, you've got an unbelievable situation with a young quarterback who's athletic and has a monster arm and is very cheap and then it starts to sound like russell wilson in seattle and then you can build from there um i'm watching football this year because of journeyman quarterbacks yeah well there are a lot still out there man they will be there forever so anyway uh the washington sharks will have yes the ability was having, yes, you're right.

They'll have, they'll be fun to watch. I will love watching the Washington Sharks. I don't think they're ever going to change from football team, which is sort of funny, but you're right. Lots of, lots of good playmakers there. So guys, I'm going to wrap up for the evening, but this was really fun. Every time it is that we come on here and we do ridiculous draft Sims. And David, good point that if they ever made a journeyman quarterback channel,

I would subscribe to that channel. Maybe that's my next sub stack is just focusing only on journeyman quarterbacks, or maybe that's what I should have done instead of covering the Vikings. I don't know. But great stuff, stuff guys really enjoyed this Q and a slash draft sim slash Yolo draft sim. And, uh, Matthew, yeah. Um, I I'm glad to be doing it, Matthew, to, to be doing this in, I'm not referring to myself. I'm referring to Matthew in the comments, uh, to be doing this again, where we can do a little live stuff and I can get your feedback in real time. It's fun. And I'm, I'm really enjoying it. So every Thursday and Saturday, guys, we can come in. We'll make up different scenarios for draft sims.

We'll talk about the roster. And, you know, we could do different things for this too. It doesn't have to be like a draft sim every time. Maybe I'll go through everyone's mock and make fun of them at some point. So thanks again, guys. And we will catch you next time.