Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Bonus episode: Locker Room app Vikings draft simulation after dark, trade up edition

Episode Date: April 10, 2021

Every Thursday and Saturday night Purple Insider hosts a draft simulation on the Locker Room app. For this week's edition, Matthew Coller does a trade up to the 10th overall pick to see how it works out. Would the Vikings take Trey Lance if he's still on the board? Plus fans ask questions and share their opinions... a Lions fan even drops in to give his take on what Detroit will do at No. 7. 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. Welcome to a bonus episode of Purple Insider. This is from our Thursday night Draft Sim After Dark. We do them every Thursday and Saturday night around 9.30. So if you want to join in, grab the Locker Room app, follow me on there. It will send you notifications when I go live, but it's always 9.30 Thursday and Saturday

is the time that we do it. So on this episode, talked about a trade-up possibility that is interesting and a lot of great questions from the fans who are on there as well. So enjoy. This is a Rock and Roll Production. What is up, guys? If someone could give me a thumbs up to let me know that you can hear me, then we can get started with this Draft Sim After Dark.

What is going on, Justin? How are you? Thank you, Kyle. Appreciate that. So I'm glad to be doing this again as we march toward draft season. And it seems like even though there has not been college football in quite a while, that things are changing every week. And I love following the guy who tweets out the charts of how mock drafts change over the months. to watch how, you know, Mac Jones all of a sudden goes from a late first in a lot of mocks all the way up to the top with these rumors and reports that the San Francisco

49ers want him. And then a guy has a pro day and he runs really fast in his pro day. And all of a sudden he shoots up the draft board from where they had him when he was actually playing football. So it's a great time to be alive is what I'm saying. And as I go over more and more the Minnesota Vikings options at 14, I just keep coming up with new ones. And especially since there is new information that we have now with Jeff Gladney, all of a sudden cornerback is back in play, I think.

So I'm going to go through, I did a draft already that I want to run by you guys and see what you think, and then we can do another one. But also taking your questions for sure. Just throw them out there. If you want to come to the stage and talk, just push that button, and you're absolutely free to do that. Why don't we start right out by doing that? Alexander, what's going on, man? Not much. How are you doing? I'm doing great, buddy.

What's up? First of all, I just want to say thank you for doing these locker room chats. These are a lot of fun. And I'm just really happy that the Purple Insider is doing so well. I remember that day on Purple Daily when you told us, you know, stuff was going down with COVID and, and you know, unfortunately they were, you were no longer going to be with that company. Like I just felt my stomach drop, you know, living in Chicago,

this is how I get my Vikings information was mainly listening to you. And, uh, just, um, again, I'm so happy that purple insider is doing great. And, uh, thank you again for providing us with just awesome content. Well, that is super nice of you. I really appreciate that. Before I drop you off here, and if you want to pop back in at any time, feel free, what would you think about a trade-up?

Because I've tried a scenario with a trade-up that I'm going to tell you about in a minute. I was going to ask you tonight about i would love a trade up for sewell but he would have to be at the right spot like if he felt a denver spot you know to the point where you're not giving up too much but i would love sewell uh to this team but real quick if i could just ask you the question that i really wanted to ask you since i think it was wednesday when you talked to intern paul you guys were talking about the possibility of adding a quarterback in the draft, and then Courtney kind of doubled down on that with an article that she wrote yesterday that was kind of talking about the succession plan at quarterback post-Kirk Cousins.

And my thoughts on that were that with Kirk Cousins being guaranteed starter this year and then being guaranteed $45 million in 2022, and I think that contract's very unlikely that someone's going to want to trade for that, I think it would make more sense to draft a quarterback next year because if you draft one this year, he's going to sit for two years, and then he takes over and he really only has two years of a cheap contract because that fifth-year option is going to be a little bit more expensive now sure and so i just think that from a roster building standpoint it makes more sense to wait on the rookie quarterback until next year's draft yeah thanks

again yeah great stuff man thanks for popping on and uh anybody wants to step up ask a question feel free to do so i i love that part of this app, the way we can kind of take calls like it's Sports Talk Radio. So I like that. To answer your question, I kind of do think that there would be suitors for Kirk Cousins after this year if the Vikings decided to draft quarterback and to trade him away. Because I know that his contract is pretty rough at $45 million cap hit for 2022, but it would probably go along with whoever you're trading him to. They would extend Kirk Cousins immediately. I mean, if they're going to trade for him, they're going to extend him,

which is exactly what Washington did in, what was it, 2018 with Alex Smith. They trade for Alex Smith. His contract at the time was untenable. They give him an extension. They gave up what a draft pick and a player to Kansas city. I mean, if the Vikings were to land themselves in a situation where they could draft quarterback, then, you know, I, I think that, uh, they would be able to move on from him if they wanted to. Um, but it's no guarantee that they would.

So you're right. There's always that possibility that they couldn't trade him away if he has a bad year or something. But, man, when you look at the quarterback desperation, somebody signed Andy Dalton to be their starter. Like there's always going to be that team who thinks he's the final piece. And imagine if Denver gets left out of the party or something this year with the draft or decides they don't want to draft one of these quarterbacks or whatever might happen.

There's a lot of teams. Pittsburgh, if Ben Roethlisberger retires. Tampa Bay, if Tom Brady retires after next year. There's so many teams that are going to want quarterbacks that are trying to win that I think you could do that, which is going to get to my situation in just a second. Let me answer some other questions here. Let's see. Who is this year's Cleland Farrell?

Oh, from the Raiders when they went way up to draft him at what, like fourth overall, I think? That's a great question. Could it be Jason Owe? I mean, because his pro day was so nuts. I mean, think about the Raiders drafted Henry Ruggs because he ran insanely fast at the NFL Combine, even though there were clearly other wide receivers who produced better, and the Raiders seemed to be the team to do this. So maybe that kind of made me think of it, but

Jason Owe is more of like a prospect that is being talked about at the bottom of the first, but if someone thinks, oh man, he's got that insane athleticism, he could definitely be that guy. Scott, how far down does Fields or Lance have to fall before the Vikings strongly consider it? You're getting warm for what I've done with the PFF simulator. Let me just say that and I'll get to it in just a second. Pitts or Fields, the only guys to trade up for. Yeah, that makes sense for me. Fields dropping just, I don't know. I feel like this is overthinking it quite a bit with Justin Fields. If he drops, then I'll be wrong and a lot of other people will too and be surprised. But gosh, I mean, I watched JTO Sullivan's film breakdown of Justin Fields. And if someone's not drafting him in the top 10, I'll be very confused, to put it that way,

because I don't think that the gap between him and Trevor Lawrence is so insane in terms of prospects, and I would have him easily above Mac Jones and easily above Trey Lance. Don't love moving up for offensive line. Oh, yeah, you're responding to the idea about Penny Sewell. Yeah, I think that's fair enough because there's only so much an offensive lineman can do. If he could play all five offensive line spots, then yes. At the same time, Sewell is really on the next level from everybody else.

I think there's a big gap between him and Rashawn Slater. At least I feel that way. And the potential there is to be a true longtime franchise left tackle. So, yeah. I mean, I think that for Sewell, if he gets close, you do it. But if he's in a situation where you have to trade away, like next year's first round draft pick or something,

then of course you don't. But if he got in that range right before you, then maybe you would consider it. Let's see. You could trade, Joe, you could trade Kirk after this year with the goal of extending as well. Yeah, no, that's right. That's right. The other team that you'd trade him to would ultimately extend him.

Let's see. So if top cornerback falls to us, we're likely to take them now. I don't know if likely is quite it, but I would say it's back on the table. And I will make the case for it. I will defend it. I will defend the idea of drafting a corner because if Jeff Gladney is not going to play and Cameron Dantzler weighs what I weighed in high school, Patrick Peterson's on a one-year deal. Mike Hughes has got one year left and Mackenzie Alexander has one year left. If you could draft your next Xavier Rhodes there for what he was to this team in 2000, second half of 2015 through 2018, say, or 2017.

I mean, that's, that's pretty important. Um, good point on how Jason away is different, uh, that Farrell was picked because he was a character guy. Yeah, that, that right., that's pretty important. Good point on how Jason Owe is different, that Farrell was picked because he was a character guy. Yeah, that, right. And that's why nobody saw that coming. I was just thinking of someone who's consistently mocked toward the bottom of the first round. Maybe even like Rondell Moore could be someone where we're all talking about Jalen Waddell,

we're all talking about Devante Smith, and someone falls really in love with his crazy athleticism. Who was it? Joe Ross was the guy from Cincinnati who ran the 4-2 and then all of a sudden, you know, gets taken in his hop by the Bengals and becomes a complete bust because running a 40 is definitely like playing football. Let's see, with the Panthers trading for Sam Darnold, could see the Vikings missing out on the top three offensive tackles. Well, yeah, you know, that's right. It changes

the game entirely, but is Derrissaw going to go top 10? I don't know. It seems like Slater and Sewell have that chance to go before them, but you know, here's the thing though, with the math and just how it works out, even with the Panthers having their quarterback, you're still looking at probably four or five quarterbacks going before the Vikings, which just pushes everybody else down. So if three offensive tackles go, then there's somebody else who's really good that's going on the board. Aaron, don't see cornerback in the first, but maybe a day three priority. I really think that it's not crazy to take Patrick Sertain or J.C. Horn. And I know that's going to drive everybody nuts. But when you draft, you kind of have to look down the road a little bit. And, I mean, even when they took Mike Hughes, remember,

they were set at corner when they took Mike Hughes. And then the next year, you're talking about, you know, guys getting older, guys leaving, and they were looking down the road with that type of move with Mike Hughes. Now, it didn't work out with Hughes, but they do do this sometimes. I mean, even the Irv Smith pick was more for two years out with Kyle Rudolph than it was, you know, for that immediate year. So I think we always look at their roster right now at this moment and say, well, you don't need J.C. Horn, but a year from now you might.

And I know that it would drive everybody nuts. Caleb Farley, same thing. It would drive everybody nuts. And maybe there's not that big of a difference between the corners, and that's the way they look. That's what makes this year so interesting is there's just so many different options. For our second mock, can we make the offensive line as talented as possible? Yeah, let's take a look at that for the second mock. Let me get to the actual, the one that I did in the trade up. So I decided to trade up to 10 with the Dallas Cowboys to pick Trey Lance but I was really really

interested and I got Trey Lance in this mock draft where I traded up at the 10th overall pick but I was really interested in the fact that in this one Kyle Pitts dropped and that would also be an interesting thing for the Vikings I mean I know he's a tight end technically, but they also love their two tight end sets, right? And it would be two tight ends who are very versatile and just really more weapons than they are tight ends. What did I give up for the 10th? Hold on, I'll pull that up. It wasn't a crazy amount.

So I gave them obviously 14, a 20-22 second round pick, and then 119 and 143. So I didn't have to go crazy to trade from 14 to 10 to draft Trey Lance. Now what helps the Vikings if they wanted to do that, to draft a quarterback, is the fact that the teams right in front of them don't want quarterbacks. I mean, I don't think the Eagles do. So if you got to that point and Trey Lance was still on the board, now you could try to wait for him and see, maybe that's a thing you do. But I think you can maybe jump over them because they're not trying to trade up. So I was just interested to see what the board looked like. And even if you don't love the quarterback idea here, which I did and went with Trey Lance, the fact that you end up with one elite prospect on the

board every time you do this at 10, and if you're the Dallas Cowboys, you're probably thinking about a corner, which you can absolutely do at 14. Now, you never know with Jerry Jones. I mean, he might just love Kyle Pitts and decide to take Kyle Pitts anyway, but I think Dallas needs defense. And if you need defense in this draft, you could take Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoa, or you could take Patrick Sertain, or you could take J.C. Horn. There's a lot of options where the Vikings pick, which would allow them to move up if they wanted to. So if Mac Jones or Trey Lance or Kyle Pitts or Penesul or one of these guys ends up at 10, it might be worth talking about, even though I'm generally against, you know, trading up and giving away assets, giving away a 2022 second round pick is a lot to decide to move

up. At the same time, though, there there really is at least the way it looks to me a drop off with Kyle Pitts and with the quarterbacks like once Kyle Pitts Waddle you know Devante Smith like once those guys are gone you kind of get to that second level of guys who could be stars but are not quite the elite of the elite in this draft. So if you can get into that, because so many quarterbacks are available, and you can get a top five non-quarterback player, or you can get a quarterback, there might be a case for it. I wanted to do this just to toy around with it. I did see Alexander, that nugget about Jerry Jones saying he was infatuated with Kyle Pitts. Is Jerry trying to play coy?

Although, hey, you know, we talk about wide receiver three all the time and getting more weapons. Jerry Jones, I mean, he knew that you got to fill up that team and that offensive line and those receivers around Trey Aikman. I think Trey Aikman might have had the best supporting cast in history in the early 90s. Got to figure four wide receivers, three, I'm sorry, four quarterbacks, three wide receivers, a tight end, and two offensive tackles,

maybe two corners before the Vikings. It definitely does leave them with good options. And we'll do another draft sim where they stay at 14 and kind of see how that looks. It'll be interesting to see where Lance and Fields fall if the 49ers do take Mac Jones. That is the storyline of the entire draft, I think. I still think Justin Fields goes number three, but I also wouldn't say that it's crazy that Mac Jones still goes top 10. He could be the one who falls. Lance could be the one who falls. These, I think, are harder to figure out than any other year. But I keep looking at all of this as just a Justin Fields smoke

screen. And again, could be completely wrong. It's just how it feels. But let's say that three quarterbacks go 1-2-3. And then you have the Falcons, who in this draft sim go with Penny Sewell. Fine. Jamar Chase goes to the Bengals. Christian Derrissaw actually goes really high to Miami. That one, I don't know if that would happen because they drafted offensive line last year. Micah Parsons to the Lions makes sense. Devontae Smith to the Panthers makes a ton of sense now that, you know, they trade for a quarterback.

They're going to want another wide receiver. Jalen Waddell to Denver. I think Denver would draft a quarterback. They're going to want another wide receiver. Jalen Waddell to Denver. I think Denver would draft a quarterback there. But if you get to that point, if you get past Denver and there's still two quarterbacks there, it's very, very likely that there's one on the board for the Minnesota Vikings. That's where it gets really interesting. Keep Pitts out of the NFC North.

Why smokescreen when no one can jump in front of you, though? That's a good point. That is a good point. And I don't know if I have a good answer to that. What's going on, Mike? What's up, buddy? I'm just a lion. Yo, Mike, you got me?

Oh, go ahead. I was going to say, here's a Lions fan talking to a Vikings fan or someone who covers it. One question I asked one of my other buddies who was a Minnesota fan is, do you think they'll take a quarterback? It's so funny that you're talking about that as a team that they could do. But, I mean, if we're honest with each other, obviously we know the first three picks, right?

You got Lawrence. You got Wilson. You got, I think, who's a great quarterback. You got Matt Jones. Four, I think you see Pitts go to Atlanta. Then I think five, I think you see Jamar Chase. I think he gets his man. Burrow gets his man in Chase.

And then I think six is where the draft gets interesting. I think when you think about it from a Lions perspective, I think Miami's going to, they purposely paid a lot to get back in front of the Lions. They knew that either two things, either they have mirror draft needs, or they never even contacted the Lions to trade up. So that means that, you know, there was something there. So what I'm saying is if they take a receiver, let's say they take, you know, the next best receiver, which in their pace might probably be Jalen Waddell. I'm telling you, I see a scenario where the Lions take Fields.

Yeah, no, I can see that. I can absolutely see that. I don't think they're going to take Parsons. I just don't think they're going to have a scenario where they're going to take a linebacker with that high of a pick. You know what I mean? And I think that, you know, I think for the Vikings fans, I think, honestly, there's a good chance that because Carolina gets their guy,

Denver would be the only one, but I just, I don't know if they would do it, but I mean, Minnesota might have the ability to move up to get, to get a Trey Lance and maybe sit him for one year. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think that, yeah, I don't think that's crazy at all, or even sit him for just one year. Thanks, Mike. Thanks for jumping on, man. So anyway, the Lions with the quarterback situation i think recently mocked by daniel jeremiah and kicked around a little bit but not a ton because of the jared goff contract situation and you have to sit for two years um you know are you really going to do that or would you do the same thing with kirk would you not trade or would you trade jared goff away after one year? The Micah Parsons thing, like the PFF mock simulator loves Micah Parsons

to Micah Parsons to the Detroit Lions. But that's one where I think either quarterback or wide receiver makes so much sense. Protect your kneecaps, my friend. Oh, that's good. Yeah, you're right, Scott. We need a call screener for our draft simulations here under the bright lights of the locker room app. Hey, look, you guys do a great job of jumping up here. Maybe a little nerves there. That was probably it. So let me tell you

about the rest of this draft. So here's how it played out. You know, okay, so I move something from the following year up to get Trey Lance and also 119 and 143. So I'm just giving up later picks and a second from next year. Okay, so I've got Trey Lance. The rest of the way, it goes like this. It goes, I got Eric Stokes, the corner from Georgia, in the third round. Josh Palmer, wide receiver from Tennessee. A guy who is not being talked about at all, Janarius Robinson from Florida State. I have not heard his name much at all.

But in the senior bowl, he flashed a couple times, and he has some really, really serious explosiveness there. And then I took Kendrick Green, the offensive lineman. And this was the, maybe a first for me from PFF. They gave me an A plus for the, for, for this draft. I don't think I've gotten an A plus from the PFF simulator before, but, um, you know, people would not be happy with this second half of the draft, maybe because offensive line is not addressed soon enough, which I think is fair. The way that I look at the offensive line, though, is can you fill it up to be good enough

to protect your quarterback to a level where he's going to be able to stand in the pocket on third down and deliver? That is something that they have not been able to do. I don't think that you can create a Dallas Cowboys from 1993 anymore. These guys, they get hurt a lot. Getting so many draft picks to hit, finding late round picks, finding all-time great freaks and putting them all together at once with different contracts and different timeline. I mean, it's super tough, but this would even, you know, really speak to the Trey Lance thing too, is that that would be a reason to get Trey Lance because of just how difficult it is to hold an offensive line together with the projection.

This is from Scott with the projection of Lance needing time to sit and develop Vikings are in perfect position to take it. That's what I think. That's why the Trey Lance thing is to sit and develop. Vikings are in perfect position to take it. That's what I think. That's why the Trey Lance thing is the Alex Smith, Patrick Mahomes. Not that Lance could become Patrick Mahomes or that we should put that on him, but it can be exactly that situation. And remember, I mean, this doesn't mean that you have to tank this year. I feel like every time the quarterback situation gets brought up,

that's what goes along with it is, oh, well, then I guess we're just throwing this year down the drain. Well, no, I mean, Kansas City went, what, 10-6 in Alex Smith's final year? He played extremely well that year, but they lost in the playoffs in the first round, which I think the Vikings, and we'll see what else changes with their cap space in the draft, but the Vikings have that vibe right now of the type of team that makes the playoffs and doesn't really go very far. So if you had a good season for next year, the team builds up. The guys you've drafted recently are more matured, like Justin Jefferson, like Irv Smith Jr., Garrett

Bradbury, I'm willing to continue to be a little bit patient on. Brian O'Neill coming into his prime. These guys all develop. The defense improves, and you're ready to hand it over to a Trey Lance and give him a really good situation. I think that that matters a lot to whether a quarterback succeeds or not, and you don't have to look much farther than someone like Sam Darnold who had the worst situation. He might not be good. I don't think he is, but you couldn't have asked for a worse situation. Thank you, John, that Robinson and Green are good choices. Justin liked Green until I read he was 6'1". Guards can be short, though. I don't think that guards have to be super tall. I haven't looked at his arm length. That's when we are in full draft mode,

is if I know Kendrick Green, a third or fourth round draft pick. If I know his arm length, that'll be right before the draft for sure. Is Landon Dickerson a scheme fit for the Vikings? Joe, I think so, because I think that Landon Dickerson can fit in any scheme. And this is just from going off the breakdowns that have been done by Brandon Thorne, who does trench warfare and some other offensive linemen in the NFL or former NFL players who've tweeted about him, but they're really high on him as an overall player and somebody who could play center or guard. And that's one thing that I think the Vikings have just made a mistake with is focusing too much on how does this fit for a scheme?

So I did a story for the purple insider website where I talked to a guy who's a former NFL scout and former player personnel director. And I asked him, you know, what, what if he was just completely in charge and couldn't be fired? And he said, the first thing he would do is just draft talent and not worry about scheme fits or how a coach wants to play a guy or anything like that. So, you know, does Dickerson have the athleticism, the technique, the toughness, the IQ, all that stuff, the leadership? Like, sure. Yeah, I think he'd be fine.

Let's see. If the first rounder has to be the difference between disaster and Super Bowl, that says you're not close. Good point, Scott. That's it. Yeah, that's exactly my point is like, when you go up and down the roster, and you ask, well, where are you this year and in the future? At safety? Where are you this year in the future? Like if they took Trayvon Morig, would everyone be mad? We don't know where Harrison Smith is going to be in the future. He doesn't have a contract extension yet. If, you know, Xavier Woods doesn't work out, then what are you doing at safety? At corner, we don't know what Jeff Gladney's future is now. We don't know how long Patrick Peterson or Mackenzie Alexander will be here. We don't know if Cam Dantzler can play. So there's such a good case to just pick

either a quarterback because your roster is kind of in flux in a lot of different ways or just pick the best player that's there or that you can get your hands on uh hand size season is exactly right yeah i think that there actually is and i'm not even joking here a correlation between success for interior offensive lineman and hand size which just seems preposterous to me. John, will the increase to a 17-game schedule affect traits being looked at, durability and injury history? I don't think so. I don't think that durability and injury history would be viewed differently from 16 to 17.

I think that's always going to be a concern. But what's funny, though, is there's so many guys who will have that in their college career, and then they'll come out and be fine. And there are other guys who have no injury history whatsoever that in their first year get hurt, and they are just never the same. Like, I mean, Pat Elfline is an example of that, of a guy who, I don't know if he missed a game in college or anything like that, but then all of a sudden he gets hurt in 2017 and never is the same. Kyle, they need to work out extensions with Hunter and O'Neal. Like here we are, another Thursday night draft sim,

still not knowing what's going to happen with Daniil Hunter, right? I mean, it's really remarkable that we're at this point. Now, normally what would have been happening is we would be talking about how right after the draft, they start the rookie minicamps and then OTAs. And would he show up for OTAs? But I don't know as of right now whether there's going to be any in-person OTAs. And that makes you wonder, like, when we will get any clue to whether Daniil Hunter is totally fine when it comes to his contract situation or what. I know that anybody listening to the replay of this on the podcast feed can't see the gif that Alexander used, but you are

absolutely right with the, what is that called? The flex seal? Is that what it is? The guy using flex seal and the Vikings with their first round picks. I mean, that's exactly right. That's right on. And that's kind of, you know, think about this. I was writing about picking guys for need, immediate need, and just how offensive tackles and defensive ends really struggle right away in their first year and usually need development and i was thinking about how they picked alexander madison to replace latavius murray and in the third round they were picking a running back who wasn't graded all that high by anybody else it, in the league to replace a backup running back.

Like they've really, really focused on the need. And this is the year that they can go a different direction. So I just popped up another draft sim with just the first round. And Kyle Pitts ends up on the board because Elijah Vera Tucker is taken shockingly high. And JC Horn and Patrick Sertain both go, which, you know, I guess we're really not talking about those guys as being up in the top 10, but they're there. Yeah. I do pronounce it like GIF, but I also don't care about that. Like if

you, if you pronounce it GIF, GIF, I mean, I don't know. I'm not a scientist. Whatever makes you happy. My mom is a reading teacher, and she said it was JIF. But I don't know. It's not super serious to me. So in this simulation, do we think that this is possible, that Kyle Pitts ends up to 14? There has to be someone who drops. And I just don't know exactly who it's going to be.

It doesn't feel realistic. I agree, Kyle, that it does not feel realistic that Kyle Pitts will drop. Now, who else is on the board is Mac Jones. Does that feel realistic? I think that it does, that Mac Jones could be the guy who ends up dropping that we're talking so much about Mac Jones to San Francisco that we all end up shocked and I did just a little bit of a peek back in history about this where we all felt super sure that we knew who was going and the one that came up was Jimmy Clausen and that. And that was my, that's my

favorite. That's my all-time favorite that everybody had Jimmy Claussen as no doubt top five, top six quarterback. I looked up a really old mock draft there that had him as the sixth overall. He ends up being a second rounder because these NFL teams, they just don't run around telling everyone what they want to do how about this one I'm just I'm just going back through like Lamar Jackson is obviously a good example but Mason Rudolph was talked about as a possible late first round pick that didn't happen um you know how about like there were rumors about Deshaun Kaiser or Davis Webb possibly being first rounders Christian Hackenberg he ended up as a second rounder. Just going year by year here, there's all sorts of players

who were mocked much higher than they ended up going. How about the 2013 draft where there were three or four quarterbacks mocked as first or second round picks, and there was only two in the first two rounds. So this type of thing happens all the time, and it's always interesting to me. Yes, Alexander, that's right. Kuyper did say that he would retire if Jimmy Clawson was a bust, and here we are.

Mel is still going, which is why you shouldn't put your career on somebody else's success or failure, because he ended up with a bad, bad Carolina team. So let's just say in this situation that Kyle Pitts being here isn't realistic. Though it is a good point, Scott, that you never do know who the weed guy is, who the guy on draft night who has a gas mask bong picture tweeted out or something. They used to say this about, what do they call it during election season? The October surprise, I think, where there's always some big story that comes out every election season.

And I don't remember what it was last year. But that was the whole thing is that there's always an October surprise story. And it feels like there's a draft night surprise every time. Kyle, I don't understand the smokescreen with Mac Jones to San Francisco. It makes no sense. I guess if Denver and New England could be interested, but you don't trade up to three for him. I totally agree. You don't trade up to three for somebody whose ceiling is just pretty good. You trade up to three for someone whose ceiling is freaking amazing. That's what you do. Let's see. Okay, so let's make a decision here.

Let's make a decision on who we're going to take. Let's assume Kyle Pitts is a little unrealistic, and Mac Jones is an interesting one. Someone's failing a drug test two weeks before the draft. Do they still test for weed, though? Do they? They must, right? Like, wasn't that Holton Hill?

Holton Hill's thing was he failed the weed test, and that's why he dropped out. And that one actually turned out to be, well, he went undrafted. So the Vikings got a handful of plays out of Holton Hill. Like, for an undrafted guy, you know, no problem there, I guess. But if you go to the NFL Combine, which, you know, not happening this year, but you go to the NFL combine which you know not happening this year but you go to the combine and you test positive for weed I mean just yikes uh Kyle you'd rather have Trask over Jones same dude basically yeah I don't know like the thing with Trask is

he really didn't have good numbers until this year when he had two guys that are first round talents and one is an all-time great tight end talent. And then all of a sudden his numbers are awesome. So I question that. But then you could say the same for Jones. He's got two wide receivers that are mocked in the first round. Those guys are so hard to figure out. When you have someone like Tua, who I really liked, I thought Tua kind of has a leadership quality to him

and he's very accurate and gets rid of the ball and that sort of thing. But then you look at the players around him, you go, okay, well, how are you ever going to emulate that in the NFL? You're probably not. Kellen Mond is an interesting one, and I don't know if he makes it to the third round or if he ends up being a second-round pick, but you're probably right that the difference between Mack Jones and Kellen Mond might not be gargantuan, but it's also so hard to put, you know, to kind of like put it in context. Kellen Mond's team was nowhere close to as good as Alabama's team. Mond, Newman, or Trask over Jones. Kyle, you're really low on Mac Jones.

I kind of like Mond too, but it's mostly based on, I watched maybe two games, and then I watched closely the Senior Bowl where I thought he was fantastic. And I think that's good competition, and I do think that that game and that week of practices really does tell you a lot about the prospects. But when it comes to quarterbacks, I don't know. I always want to be the person, and I'm sure everybody else does, who figures out which third rounder who's going to be really good.

And I agree, Kyle. He throws a nice ball. But, I mean, is he a special athlete? Probably not. He doesn't throw a great deep ball. I think his numbers throwing like outside the numbers aren't particularly good i just i just feel like a lot of these times you're really throwing away um a draft pick if you're picking one of those middle round quarterbacks

but i mean if if you find a guy who could be a system quarterback maybe i don't know that that's tough one. To me, it's got to be one of the top four or top five guys. I mean, I'm not even entirely sure about Trey Lance either, whether he's going to be the guy that drops. Is it a guarantee that the whole league loves Trey Lance? I don't know. He was on the radar, but he played one game, and then he has his pro day,

which seemed like it went pretty well, and he's got a strong arm. But there's not a huge sample on him. And, you know, here's the thing, Evan, when it comes to Mack Jones and Kirk Cousins, which is just I'm going to get so exhausted year after year hearing about how this player is like Kirk Cousins, that player is like Kirk Cousins, that player is like Kirk Cousins, like every unathletic quarterback who's pretty accurate is going to be called Kirk Cousins

every single year. Now that is, if that's the high end though, you know, of course it makes you go, I don't know, is that really the guy that you want? The case for that though, is if you think that Mack Jones could be like Kirk Cousins, if he could cost $20 million less, not bad though. If you had Kirk Cousins performance and maybe a little bit more consistency than Kirk Cousins, but for $20 million less, and the guy's going to give you the 10th 12th 8th best you know pff grade in the league that's certainly going to be a pretty darn good uh that's going to be a pretty darn good situation i mean think how differently the vikings could have handled free agency this year with 20 million dollars more they could have been in the competition for guys who could

improve their offensive line they could have been in the competition for guys who could improve their offensive line. They could have been in the competition for pass rushers like Carl Lawson that they just couldn't even put their name in. If they draft Mac Jones, I wouldn't criticize it based on my own opinion of Mac Jones. My own opinion is I don't really see it. And I think that saying he could be like Kirk Cousins is really, really friendly to him.

That that's the best possible situation. The average type of situation is the guy is like Kelly Holcomb or something. Now, that's the most likely situation for Mac Jones is not Kirk Cousins. Speaking of Jif or Gif sharing, Scott, you know, the Kirk Cousins terrible dance celebration. Yeah, I don't know. I think Mac can probably do better than that. It's just that would be the risk if they did it. But if they went with Mac Jones and they said, this is our guy.

We really feel like he can run our offense. Okay. Because you just don't know. I mean, I've been looking back a lot through the quarterback history and I've just been thinking to myself about which guys did I like at the time coming out which ones did I think were going to succeed and I mean you look at no farther than the 2018 draft where I thought Josh Allen just has so much bust written all over him and for his first two years he was and then all of a sudden, he breaks out.

I thought Carson Wentz would be a bust. He wasn't, and now he is, but maybe not. I mean, it's just, yeah, yeah, it's hard. I agree that Mac Jones does have more swag than Kirk Cousins. Yeah, sorry, I've gotten a little bit off from the topic of actually taking a player here. Christian Barmore is available. And I saw Jim Nagy tweet out, he's the one that runs the Senior Bowl, about how teams are higher on Christian Barmore than a lot of mock drafters.

And I totally believe that. Christian Barmore was maybe, I mean, top three players on the field in the two championship games in college. And I don't hate the idea at all. I think we talked about this maybe last Saturday. Just, I don't hate the idea at all of adding another guy who can be an interior pass rusher because the interior pass rush is really valuable and they don't have it. And your other two guys who are there, Tomlinson and Pierce, they just don't rush the passer. Tomlinson can to some extent, but you're rotating these guys in. They don't play 700 snaps.

They play 600 snaps, which might go to the argument not to pay Tomlinson, even though he's a good player, as much as they do. The other one that pops a little to me is Owusu Koromoa. Now, when I look at him, I see a safety. I don't see a linebacker. He's listed as a linebacker, but he doesn't look to me like a guy with the body shape of a linebacker. He looks like a safety. But could you also play him in hybrid situations? Remember, Mike Zimmer tried to experiment a little bit with this in playing J-Ron Curse in a big nickel type of spot and then backed out of that because of J-Ron Curse. It would be a very rich man's J-Ron Curse.

I actually liked how J-Ron played in a couple of those games, really liked how he played in a few of those games, but he was just kind of a knucklehead. That's the best I can do. Justin, you're in on the bar more idea yeah i mean it goes to me for talent just talent look for the best players you can get and you'll figure out how to use them like if you're playing christian bar more mostly on your second and longs and your third downs and he's getting pressures and he's impacting the quarterback and he plays 500 snaps his first year or something.

I mean, that's really good for you. And then if long-term, Tomlinson, he's only signed to a two-year contract. If he's not there long-term, well, he takes over. Or, you know, if Michael Pierce, if that signing just doesn't work out, we don't know how Michael Pierce is going to look. So, yeah, you know, the, the Barmore thing, Kyle and him being six foot five, this goes for another, another area. And I feel like I say this a lot, but because there is so much uncertainty is just,

I don't know, like is, is being tall going to be a problem or can he just go over those cards? I don't, I don't know. All I know was that Ohio State was supposed to have a really good offensive line, and he demolished them. And I enjoyed watching that and thought that was very good. If you're going against one of the better teams in college football, and you rip them apart, I'm good with it. Nicholas, great point. You need more depth than Armond Watts. That's exactly right. And this is something that the Vikings have really just let go is the depth part of it because they can't really afford it. And then when they've tried to draft some of those depth pieces, it hasn't worked out. But that is a great point that

if Delvin Tomlinson, he's been really healthy so far, but if he tweaks an ankle and he's out four weeks, like you're playing Armond Watts and you're getting probably killed there unless Watts takes a big step. But I just, I didn't see a whole lot there that made me think, okay, you're going to be good there in the future. And this is where,

don't laugh at me guys, like losing Shamar Stephan actually might kind of matter a little, a little, because he was always that guy. He was always that depth guy, him and Tom Johnson, but you would always that guy he was always that depth guy him you know Tom Johnson but you would always have multiple players there at that position and that's something they just don't have anymore and it kind of goes across the entire roster and and that's why I say

draft the best player because you're going to need that guy probably at some point whether it's this year or in the future uh Evan you'd rather draft Barr more than reach for offensive line. That's a good point. And I don't know who's a reach because I read all these smart people. This is my draft prep. My draft prep is I read the smartest people I can find, and I read their opinions. So I'm reading Doug Farrar, who writes for USA Today, great writer, and he

loves Christian Derrissaw. And then I talked to my guy, Chris Trapasso from CBS, and he thinks, well, I don't know if Derrissaw is going to be that good. And then, you know, I listened to the PFF guys and they're not quite as sold on him as a pick who should be taken that high. And so you're like, okay, guys, help me out here. How should I feel about Christian Derrissaw? And maybe that's part of it. Maybe it would be a reach to take someone like that at 14 if Rashawn Slater is gone. Kyle, you love Derrissaw. Look, I mean, that's the thing is your guess is probably as good as a lot of ours.

I think the guy's a beast too, but I don't know. Like, I don't know if the NFL feels that way, if they love him, or if they're going to let him drop to the later part. Nick, I appreciate your sarcasm on having Stephen Weatherly, who had zero sacks in nine games last year. That's a thing that they can't let stay that way, right? They can't let that stay that way. And this is why, in this situation, I wonder if they would just trade down and take someone like Jason O.A.

or Quidipe or Aziz Ojolari. I was watching the other day, and this is just draft season for you. I was watching the other day, Aziz Ojolari set the edge in the run game, and I was like, oh, not bad because somebody tweeted out some highlights of him doing it. I thought, well, maybe he's got some pass rush moves. And Jalen Phillips is the other guy, too, that I know his injury history is a big problem. But I do feel like the NFL is going to be really high on Jalen Phillips. So I don't know, guys.

I don't know who they would take in this situation. Every time I get to this, I think trade down. but trade down is not as fun for draft simming. Is anybody in on the Owusu Koromoa idea? Or am I just like at this point picking players and talking about how they would fit? I might be doing that. Greg Newsome, the same thing. I would definitely take, I would definitely take Pitts here, by the way, if Pitts was actually on the board, I just don't see it. Lack of effort on some plays raises some red flags for me.

To me, he's out of play. He really took Xavier Woods' advice about 70% of the play. Are you talking about Derisaw there or Barmore, Kyle? Let's see. Dozier is still on the team. You guys get really snarky, and I like that. I appreciate the turbo snark that gets turned up. Dozier is still on the team. You guys get really snarky. Um, and I like that. I appreciate the turbo snark that gets turned up. Dozier is still on the team, so they can certainly stay the course wherever it's heading. Exactly. Oh, Derisaw. Yeah, that was the criticism, I think,

from Mike Renner was that he felt like Derisaw kind of didn't give everything he had. And that's kind of concerning if you're talking about a guy who's's college, uh, take them at like 17 for a trade down trade down makes so much sense. It absolutely makes so much sense. Um, so who we taken, you guys decide yet who we're taking here. We're all on team trade down. I think I'm on team trade down and take quitty pay.

Isn't it weird? How quitty pay has just all of a sudden or bar more or bar more. Um, but is it like quitty pay was being talked about as if he was a guy who could be like a top five pick, and then all of a sudden it's just dropped and dropped and dropped. And that's what I kind of started this out talking about. It's like it's so fascinating to watch the draft boards change as we get closer and closer, even though no one's playing.

So I don't think Quidipe is too short, Justin. What is his height? Do we have that somewhere? Is he like 6'2"? I don't think that's too short. Because what was Everson Griffin? Everson Griffin is one of the few defensive linemen who did not tower over me when I'm in the locker room. The Neil Hunter certainly does. 6'2", 6'2", is not terrible. I don't think 6'2", is terrible. 6'2", with that type of athleticism and power and weight, I think is probably pretty good. Austin, you're right. Austin Gale from PFF will not shut up about his three code. You're exactly right about that. His arms are short.

See, this is draft season, guys. You guys have been draft seasoned for sure. You guys have been draft seasoned. This is great, isn't it? Debating Quidipe's arm length when we're going to draft him in the first. So that's the move for me in that situation. If Mac Jones is still on the board, I think because of their situation, I would very, very much consider it and probably do it. But if someone was desperate,

if the Pittsburgh Steelers are calling you up with a first-round pick for next year for Mac Jones, well, then you're trading down. Well, you know, that's the thing, John, is O-A, quiddy pay, I don't know. Like your guess is as good as mine for which guy is going to turn out to be Quidipe, I don't know. Like, your guess is as good as mine for which guy is going to turn out to be a star player. I don't know. It seems to me, though, that Quidipe was thought of higher before draft season, and Owe moved his way up, moved his Owe up, okay, sorry, only because it was pro day, which kind of concerns me. The Vikings do like long-arm defensive ends. That is true.

But they usually take those guys like the third, fourth, fifth round because they're, you know, hoping that they become the next Daniel Hunter. That's kind of like their desperate hope. Justin, I also feel like Phillips and Aziz Ojolari are probably better football players than Quidipe or Jason Owe, like more defined pass rushers. Makes it hard. Don't you think the Vikings would look for the prototypical? I don't know. Maybe. I think they'd be. But that's the thing. Like, if Quidipe is not prototypical in his height, but is unbelievable in these other areas, explosiveness and strength, I mean, I also think that they would look at Yannick Ngakwe

and say we don't want another one of those. We would rather have someone who sets the edge. So should we just take J.C. Horn to make Zimmer happy? Hey, if they do, if they take a corner with the Jeff Gladney situation going on, I'd probably say, I get it. I get it. It's a really, really valuable position. I felt the same way, Kyle.

I watched Jason Owe too, and I thought, I just don't really see him making like big time football plays. And there's your scouting report. The other guys, I think Phillips and Odulari, you watch and go, oh, okay. I see them in the backfield all the time. You're right about the injury history on Phillips though. JC Horn is your guy, Kyle, and that might just very well happen for you. So guys, another very successful Thursday night draft sims, super fun.

And I appreciate all of you who jump in on a regular basis. Love you guys. And I appreciate you for, for doing this. We'll do another one Saturday and I'm going to keep coming up with different ideas and concepts for you to either tell me that they're ridiculous or that you like them. And, uh, so we'll do it again then. Thanks for your time guys. We'll catch it again then. Thanks for your time, guys. We'll catch you later.