Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Bonus episode: Locker room app chat -- a final draft sim and what the Vikings will do

Episode Date: April 29, 2021

Matthew Coller chats with Vikings fans on the Locker Room app the night before the NFL Draft and plays the role of Vikings GM, attempting to predict who they would pick. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Folks, do you feel like everything these days is go, go, go? It's non-stop, from work, to friends, to family, and a million pressing issues. Sometimes you just need to take a playoff and hit the reset button. That's when you reach for a Coors Light. It's made to chill. Hey, it's that time of year in Minnesota again to get out on the lake, go to the cabin, sit back, watch the baseball. Coors Light is the perfect refreshment to chill during these summer months. There's only one beer out there that's made to chill. The mountains on the bottles and cans turn blue when your beer is cold,

and that way you know it's time to chill. Hit that reset button with some mountain cold refreshment. Coors Light is cold lager, cold filtered, and cold packaged. It's literally made to chill. It's crisp and refreshing as the Colorado Rockies. Coors Light is the one you should choose when you need to unwind, when you want to hit the reset button, reach for the beer that is made to chill. 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. This is a record-breaking production. Yo, what is up, guys? Somebody let me know that you can hear me, and we can get started with this one, of which I am going to, thank you, Alex, appreciate appreciate it I am going to do a draft simulation as if I am Rick Spielman and that does not mean that I'm going to make a million trades when we get to the seventh round but I'm going to approach it as if I'm doing it with what the Vikings are

going to do yes Aaron I am Jax now I mean when we put and yes Brayden I probably will draft a kicker because this is going to be the what I think the Vikings would actually do draft simulation and no I'm not going to trade for all the seventh rounders when we get to those picks I'm just going to be picking guys because every year they I mean I should just spin a wheel when we get to the sixth round picks because every year they draft people that, I should just spin a wheel when we get to the sixth round picks. Because every year they draft people that none of us have ever heard of. Yes, that's right. Carter Cheeseman, the long snapper, is a lock for me.

J.C. Horn, I think, would actually be a good pick. But I don't know that that would be what they're going to do in the first round. So I'm going to try to approach it by actually figuring out, I think when we get to the later rounds, because I'm going to go through the whole thing here. When we get to the later rounds, I'm going to try to figure out maybe just what positions they might be looking for for long shots. But honestly, like once we get there,

I know the players on the board still, like I've done enough, you know, research to kind of know the names, but I mean, whether they like those guys or not, or see them as fits, who knows, right? But the early rounds will be the most important. What's going on, Danny? How are you? Hey, how's it going? Can you hear me, Danny?

Yeah, can you hear me? Yep. What's up, buddy? Hey, hey, just curious what you think about just how they are, the Vikings are looking at this idea of sort of these tiers of tackles and guards and what it means in terms of sort of trade down at 14. Do you think they have players in mind where if it's player X, Y, or Z, they'll pull the trigger, but if not, they're ready to sort of, you know, trade back. Yes.

So I'm going to get to that in just a second. Thank you, Danny. Thanks for popping in, buddy. Appreciate you coming by. I'm going to get to that in just a second because I've already started. And when I look at my pick at 14, well, I'll explain in just a second. But let me answer some of these questions. Does Teddy Bridgewater make the Broncos less likely to pick a quarterback i say it does not make them less likely i think

that they are every bit as likely still to draft a quarterback for sure that uh after getting teddy i mean i think teddy is now and this you know is not a pun is a bridge quarterback at this point um you know i i think that if they were to draft Trey Lance or something, and that's right, Travis, I'm thinking the same way. If they drafted Trey Lance, then they could sit him and they can have Teddy and they can have a sure thing. Also, if they drafted somebody that didn't work out, that they have a sure thing of someone who can play NFL quarterback. So I'll get to the offensive line situation in just a second. Kenny, you're starting

to get really excited for the chance of Justin Fields. You probably are going to be disappointed, to tell you the truth. I don't know if he's going to go to the 49ers. Now, this draft simulation does have him going to the 49ers. That seems like it's less likely now. It feels like it's Mack Jones or Trey Lance, but what do we know going into the draft? Nothing. So I wouldn't be surprised if it is Justin Fields, even though the Vegas markets have moved all over the place. I do also think Evan Ntete-Ridgewater will start this year and that George Payton does like him.

But if they have a quarterback on the board there at nine, I don't think that they can pass. My thought on Tom Palacero's report that they're looking to trade up to take a tackle. I think Alex, that that applies to two guys. I think that applies to Rashawn Slater and it applies to Penny Sewell. And I think that is a possibility, but trade up how far it probably can't be very far. I mean, just based on their draft capital, without a second-round pick, and you really don't want to dip into the next year just to move up to get a tackle. So are you throwing two-fourths at somebody?

How far can that really get you, a third-round pick or something like that? Evan, I agree that Teddy is a much better fit for Denver than what Carolina wanted to do with him. In fact, Carolina signing him, I just think overall was kind of an odd choice considering where they were. So let me tell you guys how this played out and the first 13 picks. And then we can go over what I think the Vikings would do in this situation. So Trevor Lawrence goes number one, Zach Wilson, two. Those are obvious. The PFF simulator still has Justin Fields going number three.

We'll see. We'll see. I've been convinced that draft reporting is just, you know, it's just like seventh round picks. It's throwing a lot of darts and not a lot of them hit. Jamar Chase, in this case, goes to the Atlanta Falcons. And then Devante Smith, this would be a bit of a surprise to the Cincinnati Bengals. Penny Sewell in this simulation goes to Miami.

And then it's Kyle Pitts to Detroit. Now that one would be a surprise because they have TJ Hawkinson. I wonder if they would take Trey Lance in that position because in this simulation, Carolina takes Trey Lance. I don't know if that would happen. Mack Jones goes to Denver, which I could totally see. Then Jalen Waddell to Dallas. Can't see that one. Micah Parsons to New York. I think

those picks would probably flip. I think Micah Parsons to Dallas might happen, and Jalen Waddell in that case would go to the Giants. Patrick Sertain, doesn't matter who Detroit takes, they still suck. Yes, they do. They have a long way to go, a very long way to go. They are a team that is so obviously trying to trade out of the pick that that will be interesting because they need more football players. They're in bad shape. Good job, Matt Patricia. Way to go, buddy.

At least your reporters didn't sit up in their chairs or whatever. Patrick Sertain to the Eagles, and then Rashawn Slater, in in great disappointment to the Vikings ends up going number 13. So that leaves us with lots of options, including two offensive linemen, Christian Derrissaw and Elijah Vera Tucker. In this case, I think, yeah, no, you're right, Rob. And I did turn the needs up quite a bit, but I, uh, I think maybe it was because Kyle Pitts is so good that they would not, you know, um, pass on Kyle Pitts just because he is so special. Uh, Alex, really appreciate that, man. Um, I, I, the only insight I could tell you to what they're thinking is that, uh, Rick Spielman told us, it sounds like it's just all based on what happens before

them. And so that's kind of what we're doing right now is we're looking like, what would they do if? And I think they have a bunch of different paths. So it's if Rashawn Slater falls, then you take him. If Rashawn Slater is taken, then you trade down. If Christian Derrissaw is gone, if Elijah Veritucker, then you trade down. If Christian Derrissaw is gone, if Elijah Veritucker, then you trade down. If a quarterback is there, then you take him. I think that that is how

they're approaching it. And that's pretty much what Rick Spielman laid out for us the other day in a press conference that I think was more revealing than he usually is before the draft. So at number 14, I decided to trade down here. And what I got back was the 49th pick and moved down to 16th. So I traded with Arizona. And I think that they would do this. Now, maybe not Arizona, but they would trade down if the two offensive linemen that they like were still on the board. So now I also had to add in number 90.

So now I have a second round pick and one third round pick. Nick, I agree that Rick Spielman knows how important this draft is. I mean, to his future and also to the immediate future of this team. I mean, PFF ranked their entire roster, the 19th strongest roster in the league this year, as of right now. And Spielman reminded us that there is a plenty of off season to go. There's free agents still out there. They could chase Melvin Ingram. I think that would be a good idea to tell you the truth. There are other Eric Fisher, there are other free

agents who are out there, but he knows they have to improve from here. I think that was quite clear in talking with him the other day that this roster is not ready to go compete for the NFC and they need draft night and they need the rest of free agency to go well for them. So, Alexander, I agree with you that I think they would favor Elijah Veritaker over Christian Derrissaw. Now, I don't know that. It's not like Rick Spielman told me that or that anyone behind the scenes has said, hey, we actually like Vera Tucker but here's

what I think the league seems to be high on Vera Tucker that he was mocked by some people who are kind of in the know like your Daniel Jeremiah's you're pretty high I think early on and maybe you know his average draft position PFF now lists those, is now 21. So if you're moving back, that ends up pretty close to it. It just seems like the people who you follow who are kind of in the know. And there's a newsletter that I follow that's like some former executives and stuff in the NFL, and Mike Tannenbaum runs it. And it feels like they've been very high on Barrett Tucker. So I kind of like try to glean things from here or there to figure out what the league thinks I think that the fact that he can play guard or tackle and Alex yeah exactly the fact that he could play guard or tackle is pretty

important to them because if you're thinking about it as they need to improve right away with Derrissaw at left tackle right away is a lot to ask but Vera Tucker at guard would be an improvement almost no matter what I mean he would have to be one of the biggest busts on the offensive line in years to not be an improvement so I'm going to go with Vera Tucker and and Evan I understand where you're coming from with not valuing offensive line, but in the recent years, they have invested quite a bit on the offensive line in these early picks. So it's just not the spending. They were 32nd in spending, so they haven't really put a lot of money into it,

but they have definitely done that when it comes to the draft. And I think they would continue to do it here. I'll tell you some other players who are on the board other than actually, I didn't tell you this, but Christian Derrissaw and Elijah Veritaker are both on the board here. I'll tell you some other players who are on the board other than, actually, I didn't tell you this, but Christian Derrissaw and Elijah Veritucker are both on the board here. So, and I agree, Alex, that's my pick is Veritucker, and that's why I'm going to pick them here. But just to give you an idea of the other options, Trayvon Morig, Rashad Bateman, Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoa, who I am kind of enthralled with. Greg Newsome might be hard for Mike Zimmer to be pried away from him. Quidipe, Jason Owe, those guys are on the board.

Jalen Phillips, too. And I noticed that Daniel Jeremiah's final mock had Jalen Phillips going to the Vikings. And I think that those two guys, those three, Quidipe, Elijah Ver Tucker, Jalen Phillips, I'll even add, you know, Derisaw to this too. I think that those guys are all in the mix here for who they would pick. And maybe they would even trade down again because there's four players they like, but I'm just going to go with Elijah Veritucker because he's my prediction for who they're picking. So I got to make sure I get my guy that i'm predicting in this draft sim so i took vera tucker and now we have the 49th pick because i traded down with arizona was able to

get their second rounder i had to give up 90 but i feel like that's a pretty fair pick uh for them to move up so now we're here in the second round which that feels that feels nice doesn't it rick to have that second rounder back? So now we've got to take a look at the needs here. Who did Arizona draft? Good question. Let me scroll back up and find out the answer to that question. Hang on real quick. Let's see, Arizona traded up to take Christian Barmore actually, who, you know, I really do think that the league is high on Christian Barmore. I get that feeling just from people you follow who tend to kind of have a sense of some of these things, of just where the league stands on certain players.

And then in between, the Patriots took J.C. Horn. So let's see. We get to number 49. And that is an interesting suggestion, Evan, to take Kellen Mond here. And let me see if Kellen Mond is still on the board. Kellen Mond is still on the board along with Davis Mills. I think I'm going to try to roll the dice here and wait until the 78th pick to go with a quarterback. And this is, again, what I think they're going to do is to try and pick one of these middle round quarterbacks. So let me take a look at

who's available here and who they might take. Actually, Rob, I really like that pick. Joseph Osai is also here along with Peyton Turner. And I think Joseph Osai is a little bit undersized for them. But at the same time, Joseph Osai also is a freak athlete and they really like those guys. Rashad Weaver is also here, but I like the Peyton Turner pick. Who was the analyst that, Tim, that was the hated Davis Mills. That was Derek Klassen who writes for Football Outsiders and for Roto World. And Derek is great. I mean, he has a really good sense for this. But he is not somebody who is going to mince words when he thinks a quarterback won't be good. And that's why I love having him on the show because he absolutely roasted Davis Mills and basically said he's uninteresting was the word that he used.

And, you know, where I get my QB information is usually from JTO Sullivan QB school. He does these amazing breakdowns. And even when you watch Kellen Mond, you go, okay, you know, I don't know if this is really exciting, if this is a guy that has the potential to be a franchise quarterback. I don't really, I don't know if I see it there. There's just too many easy misses and things like that. So for me, I would be out on the middle round quarterbacks,

but I'm going to try to draft one here in doing what I think the Vikings would do. But since they took an offensive lineman in Elijah Barrett Tucker in the first round, I feel obligated to go with a defensive lineman. So it kind of comes to Peyton Turner or Joseph Osai. And I agree with you, Rob, that Peyton Turner is more of the mold of a true defensive end. He weighs 270 pounds and he's six foot six. So he had a decent production in the last couple of years. He had five games, five sacks, which is pretty solid and had really great numbers from PFF. He graded a 90 pass rush grade. Basham, let's see, I think Carlos Basham was taken. Yeah, Carlos Basham was taken late in the first round. So I could see that. Carlos Basham

is another guy that I really like for them. But Peyton Turner is going to be my pick here because I think he exactly fits what they want. He's a big guy and, you know, a pass rusher that they're going to need. So now we've got our offensive lineman and we've got our defensive tackle, and now we're here at 78. So let's check on that quarterback market at number 78. The two guys are gone. Davis Mills and Kellen Mond are both off the board. So here's what we're left with. We're left with Jamie Newman, the dude from SMU, Felipe Franks, Sam Ellinger, like the guys who are seventh rounders after that. I think at this point, do we wait on Jamie Newman and see if he's still there in the fourth round?

I think the answer is yes. I don't think that you want Jamie Newman here. He's going to be 24. He didn't play last year. He didn't have a very good senior bowl week. I just find it very tough to think that they would go with Jamie Newman here. I think that their eyes are probably on Mond and Davis Mills. Wide receiver three or cornerback. I agree with you guys. Danny, I really like Cade Johnson. Cade Johnson is on the board here. Benjamin St. Juice is on the board. He's another guy that we've seen almost every one of these draft sims shows up. So let's specifically look at, and I'll tell you, there's a wide receiver who I really like and has gotten no buzz that is kind of interesting to me is the guy from um

Oklahoma State Talon Wallace I don't know if you guys are Tyler Wallace he um just really has gotten no like buzz but had great numbers averaged 16 yards to catch graded really high by PFF um he was a guy that was into the slot and And then, you know, we saw how that worked for Justin Jefferson. Diami Brown is not available. He was taken. Yeah, you're right, Scott, that they seem to really pass on these gophers. Yeah, I mean, even if they're good. I kind of want to take Tylan Wallace here.

Josh Palmer, I also like, Rob. But, I mean, if we're looking for somebody, another guy, too, that they could be interested in in 78 would be Baron Browning, the linebacker from Ohio State, to be that number three linebacker and then, you know, eventually have him take Anthony Barr's spot if Barr leaves. Tim, you know, when it comes to the weed guys, I think my always draft the weed guy thing is probably like RIP because no one cares about

weed anymore. So that's what, you know, I guess I'm going to have to kind of put that away. I'll have to come up with something else. Always draft the what? Always draft the like ridiculously criticized guy for having epilepsy or something. That's not as catchy as always draft the weed guy. So what do you guys think here? Because I'm kind of struggling between Baron Browning, Tylan Wallace, and I'm looking at corners too. And we have someone like Tay Gowen, who's from UCF. I don't know a ton about him, but he's the top corner that's on the board. Benjamin St. Juice, you're right that they don't take a ton of guys who are from the U for some reason. Kendrick Green is on the board, but would they take Kendrick Green here if they've already taken Elijah Vera Tucker?

I'm going to say probably not. They probably would not go to offensive linemen here, even though that's not a bad idea, and I'm not arguing with that. And I think that's, yeah, Rob, you would do it, and that's not a bad idea and I'm not arguing with that. And I think that's, yeah, Rob, you would do it. And that's, that's fine. I think Zimmer overrules Clint Kubiak for corner, but I'd prefer wide receiver. Hmm. Yeah. This is a tough one because we're, we're also in a spot where since I traded the 90th pick,

we don't pick again until one 25. So I, I agree with you guys though, that cornerback is probably the pick as much as I am enticed by Talon Wallace. Talon? Talon? Talon. Let me look at who's there for corners. So Trey Brown is one of my guys that I really like as a slot corner, but I just can't see it. Sean Wade is another one that has, like, a high ceiling

but did not play very well for Ohio State. I think this would be too soon for him. Trill Williams is another one from Syracuse who's on the board. I think we probably have to go with Tague Owen or Benjamin St. Juiced. I like Benjamin St. Juiced here. So I'm going to put their previous not drafting gophers aside and say the Vikings would draft a corner here in Benjamin St. Juiced because he's got the right size and the right profile. And they do care about the Senior Bowl.

They have made this very clear. And St. Juice was a guy who emerged in the Senior Bowl. So I'm going to go with him. So far, just if you're just joining, we traded down and took Elijah Veritaker in the first round and then took Peyton Turner, the pass rusher from Houston, with the 49th overall pick that we got from Arizona. And then now Benjamin St. Jude. So that's kind of how it's going. So here we are at 125.

It feels like that's a long drop. But, you know, I also think that, you know, Travis, yes, they still could look at someone like Danny Amendola. Would he sign here? I don't know. But the receivers have really kind of run out of free agency, I think, unless I'm forgetting somebody. It seems like I saw the other day that Greg Rosenthal keeps a running top 101 remaining free agents, and he has no receivers left.

So that's not really a great sign. I think in this fourth round, right now I'm at the 20th pick of the fourth round, wide receivers should really be a priority for them. but let's check back with the quarterbacks. Okay, so Jamie Newman is off the board, which says to me, I just don't think you could draft any of these guys. Felipe Franks is kind of fun, but I mean, he's just not somebody you're spending a fourth round pick with. So we're going to leave cornerback off and we're going to have to look for a wide receiver safety, potentially a two, two at well, let me check out. Let's check on these wide receivers. So a lot of interesting. Yes.

Two, two at well is available. And this is one where, you know, I think I said this the other day on the show, but like give, give Vikings fans, somebody fun, right? Give Vikings fans, somebody fun. Uh, two, two Atwell would be a lot of fun. He is a really entertaining player. So I don't know if they would go that way. Cornell Powell is also here. Amari Rogers. You're right. Evan, Mike Zimmer trying to say two, two Atwell would be pretty fun. Uh,

Dwayne Eskridge is, is a guy who I think is a bigger wide receiver from Western Michigan. He's there. I don't know if there's any great value wide receiver picks since Kay Johnson is gone and Jalen Darden is gone. We might have to kind of do a little bit of a best player available thing here and then wait and see. I'll tell you, there's a couple of guys here that I'm sort of interested in. Tyree Gillespie is a safety out of Missouri, and I don't think it's crazy to look at safety. Danny, I don't think they would go with D.D. Westbrook in free agency because of what just happened with Jeff Gladney and D.D. Westbrook's pass.

I don't think that you really want to follow one up with the other. So we've got Jonathan Cooper is also a guy who really impressed me at the senior bowl. He is a pass rusher, which I don't think it's really crazy. Milton Williams is gone. I think safety is a good play here too, Luke. I think that I'm going to go with that because they really have not spent any high picks on safeties and not that fourth round is super high, but they need to have another option if Xavier Woods is not sticking around or just to fill in if somebody like turns an ankle or something. So let me just take a quick look at Tyree Gillespie. You know, didn't grade

insanely well in 2020, but had good 2019 grades from PFF. So let's go with a safety here it's not as exciting as a wide receiver but i think we'll try to look for that with the next pick because a lot of the guys are kind of pretty equal and i like to look at kind of the average draft position versus the rank here from pff and kind of get a sense for if i'm getting some type of value and uh gillespie's not great value but there's not a ton of other great players in terms of value that are there. So I took, I took Gillespie and decided to go with him. Let me look at what other safeties were there. Let me take a look. Let's see the, the guy from Pitt, DeMar Hamlin. I don't know anything about him. Jamie and Sherwood. I mean, these guys, Christian Uphoff, I know PFF likes a lot. Richard LeCount

is another one. I think he had a really terrible pro day, drops way down the board. So I mean, nobody's super exciting. All right. So now we're at another fourth round pick of many, of many fourth round picks. Harrison Hand. Yeah, look, I mean, Harrison Hand might move to safety. Maybe that's what they'll do. Harrison Hand should really focus on special teams. If he wants to stick around, that's what he has to do. So here we are with another fourth round pick. And this is where it sort of gets fun. And we're just trying to figure out like who these guys are and what positions they might take with these fourth round picks. And we have Cornell Powell here is the top wide receiver and cornell

powell when there was a picture of cornell powell and he's like super jacked up and i thought oh man this this is this year's dk metcalf or something but then his pro day was just underwhelming but i'll tell you who i like that is here and that is shy smith out of south carolina another guy who is just i'm just kind of a ball player, right? Like if you've seen Shai Smith at all, he just gets open and just makes plays. And he is on the shorter side. He's 5'10", 190. But I think now, so like a few years ago, you might have heard, oh, he's a slot wide

receiver or whatever. And you would have really criticized that if a guy was a slot wide receiver. But I think Justin Jefferson single-handedly changed that. and you would have really criticized that if a guy was a slot wide receiver. But I think Justin Jefferson single-handedly changed that. That now when someone's a slot, you go, oh, well, that's good. And Shai Smith, I think, is that guy. He has, you know, his scouting report says he's going to struggle through contact. But I think what we see is that teams are really good at getting these guys free releases.

Seth Williams, let me take a look here. I do not see Seth Williams on the board. Another guy who's kind of interesting is Anthony Schwartz from Auburn, but he's kind of pretty far down PFF's board. So I think I'm going to go with Shai Smith. Foku, if that's how you say it, is gone at the moment. And this is the thing. I was really surprised.

There was a big run in this simulation on wide receivers. I thought I could kind of hang around to get a Kay Johnson or something. I also, I agree with you that Anthony Schwartz has crazy speed. I just wonder if he's like too much of a track star and not necessarily a wide receiver. But I mean, you know, his numbers are okay. He had, you know his numbers are okay he had you know 54 catches it for somebody who runs with his type of speed you kind of wonder like why you aren't roasting people more often that kind of thing um yeah and if and that's the thing as a returner like after the kj osborne debacle like i don't want to talk about guys as returners. So I'm going to take Shai Smith here because I think he's a good player. I'm going to go with him.

What's up, Sean? How are you? Hey, not too bad. You got me, Sean? Yeah, I got you. I got you. Go ahead. Well, you already took a wide receiver three.

I was going to try to get in and see if Jalen Darden was still there. I know he's a guy you talked about in the past that you really liked his athleticism. Yeah. And if you've seen his highlight reel, it's super fun. No, unfortunately he was not there. Otherwise I would have jumped to draft him. Shai Smith is sort of like the ripoff version. It's like the less, the less exciting, but still is very good with the ball in his hands. And I feel like that's what they're missing is somebody who you can just put the ball in their hands and they'll do something

it's like Chad Beebe is going to run seven yard outs and he can get open but he's not like a game breaker unless the Lions forget to play defense that did happen once that the Lions just forgot like a speed guy though like a deep threat you know uh we haven't really had anybody since like what aldrick robinson or whatever his name really burned yeah you know he was a one-trick pony but he was good at that trick yeah that's that's a great pull aldrick robinson is a great pull um you know anthony schwartz would be that guy so i went for this the smaller get the ball in his hands playmaker but maybe with their offense and the fact that they want to go down the field, they would go with someone like Anthony Schwartz. Luke, no longer. You do not any longer have Anthony Alexander Holland. Sorry, man. Sean,

thanks for checking in, buddy. Appreciate you coming by. Aldrick is available. Yes. You'd be amazed at how many players, Sam Ekstrom and I went through this on the website, like how many players the Vikings signed. And then the next year we're out of the league at wide receiver. Aldrick Robinson is one of them. Great guy though. I mean, he was really fun to talk with.

So here we are now we're in the fourth round still after making several fourth round picks. And there's a guy on the board that I just really like, and I'm going to take. And I think that they would pick some edge rushers later in the draft here because they just don't have too many to get excited about on the roster that are developmental players.

I mean, you have DJ Wanham, who they talk about excitedly, but I didn't really see it last year to convince me that he's a key piece going forward. They signed Weatherly to a one-year deal. So you just kind of shrug your shoulders at that. You know, James Lynch, I don't know what they think his role is going to be. I think this is Jalen Holmes' last training camp probably. So I want to go with Jonathan Cooper here from Ohio State. And I will admit that I did watch very closely Senior Bowl week and some guys impressed me. And so, you know, going with like I have learned as a reporter, you have to watch Senior Bowl week closely because the Vikings really do.

And so I'm going to go with Jonathan Cooper because he impressed there. And so we've got another edge rusher for the Vikings. I do think, yes, Travis, I do think that the Vikings should be looking at late round replacements for Mike Boone as a running back. I know that they have Alexander Madison and Delvin Cook, but when you get really late in the draft, sometimes running backs are still hanging around and, you know, you look for somebody who can be a good player. Let's see. I'm sorry if I don't know how to pronounce it.

Is it Kandoa or Doya? I don't know if he was available. Let me take a look. Defensive end? Let me see if he was available. Let me just take a look here real quick before we get to the next pick. This thing is being a little slow on me scrolling around. Let's see.

Yeah, actually he was. So I guess two of you like him, huh? There's another guy from Florida State, Janarius Robinson, who I actually like maybe a little more, and Ellerson Smith, too, from Northern Iowa. So there's a couple of defensive ends that are still there that I think with these last three picks I want to get even more defensive ends to try and just, you know, take shots at those guys. But I think I have my next pick here. And it's another offensive lineman, a guy that I will admit, my friend Brandon Thorne,

who runs Trench Warfare, is really high on this guy. And I know he's a center, but offensive lineman, you know, you can move center guard he really fits the profile Drew Dallman out of Stanford he really fits the athletic profile is a terrific run blocker also did not give up a sack in three seasons he's kind of a perfect outside bit uh zone type of fit so I'm gonna take Drew Dahlman here as a late offensive line pick. And because I think he's got a good athletic profile, you hope that he can develop and be a backup or potentially a starter in the long run. So I'm going to take him. And I think that they should take more late round offensive linemen. So I have two picks left to take a kicker and then

somebody else. You got to take a kicker. You're right, Travis. else you got to take a kicker you're right travis we absolutely have to take a kicker so here's our one last pick before the kicker now uh ellerson smith makes a lot of sense to me um shot in the dark with an anthony bar replacement that's an interesting idea that is an interesting idea maybe you know someone like jordan smith they it's not that they've totally ignored the three four outside linebackers. You know, Steven Weatherly was that at one point, but I don't know, like finding a linebacker at this point who could replace Anthony Barr. I'm not sure if I'm going to have a chance to do that. I'm not seeing too many guys that I recognize at the linebacker position, but I'm thinking that taking even another pass rusher would make sense here with

either a generous Robinson or with Ellerson Smith. Danny, I agree. Don't let some of the fourth rounders that have gone poorly influence it. I get, you know what? I will trade down because I care about you guys. I'll trade down and try to get somebody seventh. It's just tradition. It just has to be done. Let's see. Can we do this? Can we throw in a next year's pick to trade down? Or can we get two picks from somebody for whatever? We'll see.

Let me see if I could trade down. Hang on. We've got to do it. We've got to do it. Let me see here. All right. We traded down to get a seven. Just for you guys.

Just because I care. I got number 249. Let's make that our kicker, okay? So we're going to take Ellerson Smith because I like him. And because at this point, it makes sense to just take guys that I've heard of and who I like. I really, I mean, Ellerson Smith really has an amazing profile athletically and played great in the Senior Bowl. So I know I've said that kind of a bunch of times, but it makes sense to me. Let's see.

Patrick Jones is still here. That's a little bit of a surprise. Any running backs you guys are interested in? The Spielman Infinity Draft Gauntlet is complete. Yes, I told you guys I was going to try to do it like they would do it. So that's what I'm doing. Chuba Hubbard is here. I don't know if he's a good running back prospect or not,

but, I mean, he was kind of a big college name. You know what? Okay, I've got it. I've got it. The late tight end, folks, the Vikings love their late tight ends. They absolutely love their late tight ends. They absolutely love their late tight ends. So I think I'm going to do that because they always need to get somebody. So John Bates out of Boise State is a guy that is here.

That's the best I could do for you. He's the best tight end on the board according to PFF. And, I mean, it's just the Vikings do this tight end on the board, according to PFF. And I mean, it's just the Vikings do this. So they, yes, that's a good point, Evan. They do love Boise State. So we're taking him. And then now with pick 249, we will be looking at kickers. And this is exciting time for us guys. We've done these draft sims for weeks. We've tried every different scenario that we could ever think of we did how i would handle the draft we did what if they lose this guy what if they lose that guy what if they trade this guy or that guy come on don't tell me that

they don't list the kickers on here are you serious do they not list the kickers do they not list the kickers on here give me some kicker names so I can search them. Does anybody know any kickers? Do I just search the word kicker? I literally don't see even a place to search for kickers. I love you, PFF. You're the best. How passive aggressive is that of PFF?

I need to draft a kicker, guys. Help me out. Yeah, let me type in Carter Cheeseman and see if he shows up. Hold on. I'm doing this. Let's see. I was just, he doesn't show up. Man, did they not put the specialists on here?

Come on, PFF. You let me down at the very end. Evan McPherson, let me see here. Let's see. Let me type in. They will not let you draft a kicker. PFF trying to save everyone from themselves. How dare you?

I am leaving an angry email to PFF about not, I traded down just to draft this kicker. Guys, I was building this all up. Like this is our moment is when they draft the kicker that will ultimately miss the next key field goal in a playoff game. I was building it all up to that one moment to just drop that on everybody. And, ah, well, that's how it goes.

So I don't know. I traded for this senseless pick, so we'll just grab somebody. I don't know. Let's just take the top running back or something. Let's take, oh, a defensive. They love their late defensive lineman. And this guy's name is Quinton Bohana. I mean, hell yeah, right? We've got to go with it. Quinton Bohana. So that's what we'll do. Boycott BFF. Oh man. Yes. This has been a lot of fun,

guys. We have had such a great time on these locker room chats. So let's go through the whole draft here and we'll just pretend that an sec kicker yes david right on time the sec kicker was available and uh or maybe quentin bohanna will become a hall of famer and we'll say that we found him before anybody else um so let's see all right let me go through the whole draft. This is my what I think the Vikings would actually do draft. Elijah Veritaker in the first with a trade down. Peyton Turner in the second using that pick they traded down for. Benjamin St. Just of Minnesota with the 78th pick.

Then we don't have another one until 125 where we took Tyree Gillespie, safety from Missouri. Shai Smith, the wide receiver from South Carolina, which just like mark my words, I think you'll be good. Jonathan Cooper from Ohio State. Drew Dallman, the center interior offensive lineman from Stanford. Ellerson Smith from Northern Iowa.

We traded down because we're crazy and we needed a seventh round pick. Then we took John Bates from Boise State and Quinton Bohana because he had the best name. And PFF gave us an A for Quinton Bohana. So good for us. So there you go. If the Vikings did that, folks, how would you feel? Would you feel pretty good? I mean, I think that I tried to go as much chalk as I possibly could for how they would handle it.

And I would probably give them like your solid B, your solid B plus. Yeah, Luke, I agree. Like a solid B plus. The grade from the simulator. Good question, Alex. Let's check that out. They gave me, well, B plus. So they thought, okay, not bad.

Solid job. No kicker is an F grade. Totally agree, Travis. Just an F. How did we get this far into draft season and me not realize that they didn't have the specialists on there? Tony, yeah, you know, that's the thing. When it comes to the quarterback, well, I did take, I guess it was in the later rounds, Shai Smith. Yeah, that's right. So it wasn't the mid-round wide receiver who could have an

impact right away, probably. So that's fair. The quarterback thing, I had planned on trying to get a quarterback. And it just didn't happen. I mean, it just didn't work out for, you know, trying to make that work with trading down, getting the second-round pick. And then Kellen Mond and Davis Mills, they just went off the board. And I could see that. Like, those guys are decent prospects, and they could both come off the board.

No, that's no problem, Tony. But it was my plan to try and get a quarterback, and this is how it works out sometimes. And it just didn't happen because I wanted to take the corner at 78, and I felt like actually between 49 and 78 was when Davis Mills and Kellen Mond went off the board. So I was surprised by that. I thought I would be able to get a quarterback at 78. And then Jamie Newman was the only one available. So I went with Benjamin St. Juice the corner. And yeah, Tony, I think that's a good cornerback pickup and someone that would

work well with Mike Zimmer. So if I was thinking about the things that I maybe failed on that they'll want to do, drafting a mid-round quarterback is at the top of that list. And I think I checked the rest of the boxes here. Getting a wide receiver three, you know, filling up the trenches with a couple of offensive linemen, getting a pass rusher with a high ceiling who's a big guy who might fit. And I'll probably be totally wrong because it's the NFL draft and we'll see so tomorrow night if you guys are hanging around um oh where did Bateman go let me take a look

um I am interested in Rashad Bateman too I saw people like I follow a lot of people who gamble on stuff like this and that seems to me to be very risky with your money gambling on the NFL draft Rashad Bateman went number 19 to Washington. That would be good for them. And that would be good for him, I think, because they're building a good team there and he would get plenty of opportunity. So yes, tomorrow night I will be on WCCO's social media channels. So Facebook and on Twitter. And that will start at seven o'clock is when my draft show is going to start on there. So if you guys want to pop on, all you have to do is go to their Twitter and it will

be up there. It, you know, sometimes it takes a few seconds to load up from when we started. So seven Oh two or something like that, but that's when it will be on. And I'm going to have, you know, people from CCO that are sports people, Henry Lake, Corey Heppola, Courtney Cronin. And I am going to do, oh, good question. Another locker room chat. Probably I'm thinking Saturday night or even maybe Sunday for another locker room chat, but I think maybe late Saturday night, late Saturday night, kind of depending on how this, how it goes, how, how long it goes. Cause I'll be working on, you know, a lot of like, you know, they're going to take a ton of players and there will be a big recap and stuff

at the website. But I think Saturday when we have all the answers to the question, another locker room chat will be appropriate. So, and the other thing too is I'm going to keep doing these like just foreseeable future. I've had a lot of fun with them and I put them up on the podcast feed sometimes when I remember I know some of you have asked me and I've forgotten or haven't gotten around to it but um people have enjoyed listening back to them to hear you guys pop in and hear your comments and questions and things like that uh Luke I think

that they do have the money to sign Melvin Ingram I don don't know about a veteran offensive tackle. I don't know if they could get Ingram and Eric Fisher, but if they could get one of the two, then, you know, yeah, no, you're right, Rob. After the first round, we could do a simulation again, but yeah, these have been very fun, and I'm going to keep doing them because I love the conversations with you guys and the interaction. So I really appreciate it. Danny, I don't know on free agency, but I would say this, that one thing I'll leave you with, a little eyeball emojis. You never know about player traits.

This is a team that was trying to trade for Trent Williams last year. They did trade for Yannick Ngakwe. Like, trade a Rick, man. Every time I take a nap in the middle of the day, I worry that I'm going to wake up to a Vikings trade. So you just never know. Yeah, John. John, I know that you love the draft and you look very cool. You're going to have to tell me who some of the UDFAs are. Those guys, I'll learn your name as a UDFA when you like make the 53. I wait on those guys.

So thanks, thanks guys again so much. Have fun with the draft. It's been kind of a rough year for Vikings fans. So, you know, enjoy every moment of it. It'll be unpredictable. It'll be fun. And yeah, it's Christmas morning. So take care guys.

And we will talk to you again soon. Appreciate it.