Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Brian Flores brings the heat during night practice

Episode Date: August 4, 2023

Matthew Coller talks with Vikings fans about the Vikings' night practice, which was highlighted by defensive coordinator Brian Flores's very aggressive defense and more buzz about Ivan Pace Jr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🎵 Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here and I have just returned from the Minnesota Vikings night practice. So they have every year a night practice. In fact, this year, two night practices. One they're going to have uh next week but it is a tradition that they have had for many years uh all the years that i've been here i actually don't know when it started but uh it's been going on the entire time i've covered the team since 2016 and it is one of the highlights of the summer they fill tco performance center we were trying

to figure out how many people were there, probably between five and 6,000. Big crowd there tonight. And one thing I would say is that the intensity of the practices is not the same as it was with Mike Zimmer. I think that just like all practices, Kevin O'Connell kind of had much more of a normal routine night that they would have on a regular basis where Zimmer used to try to turn up the, you know, the juice a little bit for the offense, let them throw deep more, try to get more highlight plays, try to get the crowd going. And there was some of that. There was a couple of Justin Jefferson catches a Jordan Addison catcher or two that, you know, the crowd got excited about. But I didn't think overall there were a ton of opportunities for the crowd

to really have those big, like, crescendo, huge cheer moments. I think more or less it was like a festival for Vikings fans to show up, watch them practice under the lights, see the stadium. As we're walking out, you know, there's all sorts of things that they have set up around there, like little mini golf things and little games of Jenga. I saw people playing. So it's very like fan friendly,

kid friendly. But I think if you went to try to chart the plays and, you know, pay close attention to everything that happened, you probably got less out of it than you used to. So I very distinctly remember when Sam Bradford had his night practice in 2017 in Mankato, and it was a very intense practice, lots of deep balls. In 2018, Stefan Diggs got in a fight with Mackenzie Alexander. Like there wasn't really that kind of vibe tonight.

It was more of just a regular type of practice. They did a handful of 11 on 11s early, lots of red zone drills, and then went back for the final drive type of drill at the end, which is where I will begin in terms of my observation, my biggest takeaway from the night. And I want all of you who are watching to jump in with your questions, whether it's about tonight's practice or just, you know, the Vikings in general, lots of things to talk about as they go into a day off. So happy to answer any questions you have here in this late night chat and already see that a lot of you are

watching live, which is really awesome because I know this is quite a bit later than we usually do this. So if there's new people watching, jump in, ask questions, happy to answer them or give your takes and happy to respond. But the biggest takeaway of the night is that Brian Flores did not make the drive to Egan to take it easy on Kirk Cousins and the offense. He was not going to let the offense have the big night under the lights, and it definitely showed. And where it really stood out and where I was very impressed was in the final drive drill with the first-team offense versus the first-team defense.

Because a lot of times they will have ones versus twos, twos versus ones. So you're not always seeing those matchups, which I think is a good idea to switch it up. So you're seeing different players against each other and things like that. Normally what happens is you will see that, you know, they'll, they'll, they'll line up and they'll drive down the field and stuff like that. So, but for this one, Brian Flores decided he was going to ramp it up and he was going to go after the Vikings offense.

And he was sending blitzes on every one of these plays. It was remarkable. Every play, Brian Flores is sending blitzes. But what I liked was on one play of the final drive, Harrison Smith was at the line of scrimmage, and then he dropped back. And then there was a little confusion, looked like Kirk Cousins got sacked on a pass rush up the middle, or sacked, finger quotes.

They're not actually hitting him, so you can't tell if he would have gotten rid of it or got sacked. But then the very next play, Harrison Smith blitzes and would have sacked Kirk Cousins from the edge. And then they, you know, Cousins a little frustrated. They go back to the line of scrimmage and then they did it again. And Harrison Smith was kind of pumping up the crowd and, you know, celebrating what would have been a sack. And I just thought that's what was missing last year. That is what was missing. Not only the Harrison Smith stuff, which is one of the most baffling things of my entire reporting career on

football is how you could blow that. If you're Ed Donatello, when you have such a dynamic and excellent player in the box as Harrison Smith, and to just be using him, you know, deep all the time, it made no sense. And Brian Flores has quickly rectified that. Uh, so that's one thing, but also there is an edge to the way Brian Flores is coaching this team. And I don't know how it's going to translate because that's going to depend on health, which I've got an Andrew Booth Jr. update for you. It's going to depend on the schedule, who you play, when are there injured quarterbacks, how healthy you stay, how good certain players develop, how good certain players fit. is a mentality from Brian Flores that was absolutely not there before.

And that was there during Mike Zimmer's best years. And I think Zimmer always had it, but maybe panicked a little bit more and was trying to make too many changes and things like that when things started to go downhill. But there is an intensity that Brian Flores has brought to these practices that was not really there at all last year during practice. And it doesn't mean that the offense was great every day or that the defense was soft. It just didn't have this edge to it. And at one point after the second sack by Harrison Smith tonight, Kirk Cousins got a little irritated. You could see him getting a little bit flustered. And I mean, I guess that's not what you love to see that the offense is getting flustered.

But I think from, we know what the offense is and what it can be if Jordan Addison is good. And tonight he made a couple of catches. I wouldn't say it was a huge practice for him. But I think we know what the offense can and should be. The defense is really the question. So when the offense is not playing great, I think back to last year at a couple of practices where they were still trying to figure some things out and then came out and blew the doors off of Green Bay. So I'm not too concerned about that at the moment, but much more focused on what is this defense going to look like. And we saw a lot of Josh Metellus tonight, and that looks like it's solidified that Josh Metellus is going to play that key sort of box hybrid type of role in these passing situations. It was almost exclusively, if not the entire time, Makai Blackman at the outside corner and not Jawan Williams. So that hasn't changed.

I did not see a ton of changes that were happening as far as who was playing. But Kevin asks, is Ivan Pace a thing? I think he is a thing. And I think there were some first- reps for ivan pace tonight he's really impressed them uh that you know he has a quickness speed instinctual type of play to him that you can pick up on right away and seems to be somebody that brian floris likes and we know that this team is not afraid really at all of um you know, sending out undersized linebackers. They drafted Brian Asamoah and they're putting him out there.

And, you know, I think that Ivan Pace, even though he is smaller, could be somebody that they see as part of maybe part of the defense in some sort of role, but at least part of the special teams, part of the depth of this team and kind of just, you know, connecting it to Cincinnati, but an Eric Wilson type player, who's not an ideal size for a starting linebacker, but could be a guy. So that stood out to me tonight that we saw a lot of Ivan Pace, a lot of Josh Metellus, a lot of Makai Blackman getting work. We did see from Jalen Williams, who is a down on the depth chart guy, got an interception while Nick Mullins was out there. That is another thing too,

that we hyped up Jaron Hall after a nice practice a couple of days ago. It was a very difficult practice for Jaron Hall. He's had a few of those that have really not looked very good. So I think as the pads have come on, it's gotten harder and harder for Jaron Hall. And he's just got a long way to go if he's even going to be the backup. And Nick Mullins hasn't looked particularly great either. That's not really a shock. We kind of know what Nick Mullins is.

We know he's going to be the backup. There's no real competition there. But it's tough to judge, but any risers or fallers you've noticed lately? Yeah, certainly, certainly Mackay Blackman and Ivan Pace are the two guys. I'll give you another one that really stood out to me tonight that I'm interested if this guy ends up getting some work. And that is Jaqueline Roy, who was a fifth round draft pick, uh, Jaqueline Roy, when you watch him a one-on-ones, if you've ever heard the heavy hands, you ever hear the people say that this guy's got heavy hands in the trenches football. Uh, but that's what it looks like. And I was watching him

specifically do the one-on-one drills and it was against some backup offensive linemen. But when Jaqueline Roy put his hands on a guy he just could drive him backward and he's been getting a lot of second team reps and uh you know so this draft class right now kind of the opposite of what last year's was at this same moment uh this draft class with you know Jordan Addison has been looking good in practice uh came very very close to a spectacular catch today but then made one a toe tapper on the back of the end zone when they were doing uh those you know goal line drills and it really just says every day there's a catch from Jordan Addison where you're starting to get used to oh uh yeah okay wow that

was a pretty good catch and and it's every day. So it was one of those very back of the end zone, and he's reaching up, and he's on his toes, and he has to kind of catch it and then dance to make sure he stays in bounds. A very nice catch. So he's looking good. Makai Blackman is running with the first team. Jaqueline Roy looks like he can be a guy,

and Ivan Pace is starting to emerge as somebody who looks like he will clearly be on the 53 man roster and maybe potentially have a role. I don't know if something happened to TJ Hawkinson. We did not get an update on him or if it's just a little Nixon cuts and they preferred to not have him in there tonight, but he was not practicing tonight in full. He did the warmups, but he was on the side. So he wasn't running 11 on 11s. I would say that Josh Oliver looks like a guy who can play. I don't think they just went and got a random tight end and paid him all the money that they did. They clearly scouted him. And there was a warm-up throw.

You know how sometimes you're just kind of watching broadly, looking around, whatever, and something catches your eye. And there was a warm-up throw from Nick Mullins that was behind Josh Oliver. And this guy's like 270 pounds, six, five, six, six. And he flipped around, like flip the hips around and grabbed it and snatch it out of the air. And I went like, Whoa, like that is, that is some kind of catch. And they were running some bootleg stuff to him, throwing him the ball a little bit. He clearly has good hands. And I, I do think, and I asked Kirk about it the other day, but I do think that they are

going to be using Josh Oliver. So it was good opportunity for him. Yes. Oily hips, Daniel. I do think that they are going to use Josh Oliver quite a bit in this offense because he's had, in my mind, a pretty good camp and showed that he can play. So I thought that he had a nice little night tonight. Not like a ton of catches or anything, but stood out from time to time. Brian O'Neal's still not back. The Vikings shuffled around some tackles. They cut Bobby Evans. They brought in two back-of-the-roster type guys today.

O'Neal, at one point, I looked down in the field because I was up in the press box. We could either be on the field or up in the press box at TCO stadium. And I was looking down at one point and O'Neill was doing like sit-ups as the offensive linemen were doing their thing. And I don't know how that's going with Brian O'Neill because I don't want to say, Oh man, you should be worried about Brian O'Neill because he could be back next week. I'm not sure.

But when we had initially talked with them about the health of Brian O'Neill in the off season, they kind of made it sound like he would be ready at the start of training camp. And now we are officially past the start of training camp and we are fully into training camp. And Brian O'Neill was still not practicing tonight. I did wonder in the back of my mind, like, Hey, is this going to be a night where Brian O'Neill trots out there? And he's like, Hey guys, I'm out here. I'm here. Daniil Hunter did not participate in the 11 on 11s.

So he's still ramping up what to see about O'Neill and only Udo, of course, taking his spot. Nothing on Dalton Reisner so far. It is Friday tomorrow. Get a Friday news dump if they're going to go after Dalton Reisner. But they certainly had reason tonight, I thought. There were a lot of blitzes and that created a lot of pressures. But there were also times where it wasn't just the blitzers, it was the defensive linemen getting push and getting in on Kirk Cousins. And I do wonder about, like, has the Brian Flores blitzing revealed a little bit of the weakness in the interior of the line?

Because that was their weakness last year. And maybe that's why they wanted to take a look at Dalton Reisner. I don't know. I mean, that's a theory, but he hasn't signed with them yet. We'll see if he ultimately does. They've got some room to do that. But I thought that, you know, if you were coming up with takeaways, they are struggling to handle Brian Flores ramping up with all of these blitzes. And it really, really showed tonight. And I think that, you know, it's something to be very intrigued by as we go into the season. And it seems to be something that the players on the defensive side, just judging by the

way that they're reacting to things, they're enjoying making plays. Like we really saw some joy out of Harrison Smith tonight when there was an interception by Jalen Williams and he ran it back for a quote touchdown. I mean, you know, I don't know if it's really would have been a touchdown or not, but sort of, uh, and just the way that they, they have been showing a lot of energy celebration. He did the gritty, like all those things. Um, they seem to be really buying into Brian Flores, even if it's frustrating the offensive side of the ball, uh, going with the, um, uh, still with the, uh, from the injury standpoint, did see Tristan Jackson out on the

field tonight, not in pads, but walking around and Kevin O'Connell reiterated what Wes Phillips said the other day that it seems that Tristan Jackson did avoid any sort of serious injury. So I don't have a timeline on that, but that would have been so, so crushing for Tristan Jackson. If that had been in torn ACL, the fact that it isn't gives him a chance still now to make team come back maybe from this injury before the end of training camp and potentially be that fifth wide receiver. So just seeing him out there, a good sign for him. The Andrew Booth Jr. thing, that was kind of like an awkward moment with Kevin O'Connell where he kind of said to open his press conference,

like, I don't really have any updates on some other guys. We asked about Andrew Booth Jr. And then it was, well, maybe we might get him out there tonight. Maybe not. And he get him out there tonight. Maybe not. And you know, he wasn't out there tonight. It doesn't sound like his injury was a long-term thing, but every injury just continues to add up on Andrew Booth Jr. So not coming back quickly, not practicing, you know, it, it does seem like it's another sort of nagging andrew booth jr but makai blackman is clearly just past him now the depth though at the corner position that's where it is

a little questionable and they might want to bring somebody else in if they're going to use some of that money uh that they have remaining. Kenny Wong was not practice. I don't think that's a really great sign. He did not practice today. And, but I would say that, you know, Ty Chandler is a guy that really stood out to me tonight. And I don't know how they view that backup running back position. And we're going to see it play out through camp. And they signed a guy from the XFL tonight, which made me think that maybe Kenny Wong was a little banged up and can't play in the preseason game next week against Seattle. But I think Ty Chandler has a real opportunity over these coming days with Kenny

Wong will a little dinged up to, to really take hold of this thing, especially if he's going to play in that preseason game, because last year Chandler was really good in that preseason game. He had a ton of plays tonight, had a nice screen pass that looked like it would have gone for, for a ways they line them up at wide receiver. Sometimes maybe he's going to be that type of guy, but he just has a very serious burst to his game. And I thought we saw that tonight. Alexander Madison is what he

is. He is a powerful runner. He was plowing into people, but we don't really need, you know, to see Madison more. We, we know what kind of runner he is, but with Chandler, this was the first practice where I went, Oh, wow. Yeah. Okay. That's kind of the Ty Chandler that we saw last season and the other concerning injury. Now I saw him out there for walkthrough. So I, again, don't think it's super serious, but Marcus Davenport didn't practice tonight. And that's just the guy who has struggled to stay fully healthy throughout his career. And even missing a little bit of practice with somebody that has a history of not playing more than 500 snaps and is also a really big part

of this defense when you got you know Patrick Jones out there had a couple good reps tonight Luigi Villain continues to stand out in practices he kind of always does and And, uh, you know, DJ want them, but these are not guys that you can really look to on a down in and down out basis as starters. So they really were betting on Marcus Davenport. And if he's even banged up enough to be concerned that it's going to be a thing, then they probably should try to bring in, um, somebody else. Uh. Miles asks, are we continuing to feel Ed Ingram just is what he is? I don't know yet. I don't know. I did get the feeling that they might've been bringing in Dalton Reisner to compete at right guard and potentially take that job away. I think that where Ed Ingram started from last year, his play for his first season, there is not a small jump to make. There is a massive jump to make. In order for him to even

be average, there is a massive jump to make. I mean, when you give up the most sacks in the league and grade as low as TJ Clemmings, It's hard to be majorly enthusiastic about the next season and you want to give him benefit of the doubt, but when they're bringing in guard, you know, guard from free agency to visit, you definitely need to start having some concern there. But I also think, you know, maybe it could have been for Ezra Cleveland. I just feel like it's much more likely that it would be for a right guard. So, yeah,

I, I don't know if he is what he is yet. I think it's probably too early to say that, but I also think that, you know, it's, it just, it could be a situation where he can't improve enough,

right? If he could just, if he improves even some, but it's still well below average, that's not enough. It needs to be a huge improvement. And, you know, uh, Northern Piper asks any noticeable improvement at Ingram anchoring and footwork. Uh, those things are very hard to tell. What I can tell is that the offensive line is giving up a good amount of pressures on Kirk Cousins, and he's getting beat.

Can I say in comparison from last year, is he anchoring better? I mean, that would be incredible. They would hire me as an offensive line assistant immediately if I could tell from watching a couple of practices in comparison to last year. And, of course, they're not going to say it. They're not going to come out if they're not going to come out and announce, Oh yeah, we Ingram struggling, but I think we can put a little two and two together there when it comes to bringing in a right guard free agent and a guy who had such

a miserable season from last year. Purple purgatory as any word on McBride he's out there. Yeah. I mean, I he's getting reps. McBride is getting reps and I don't know what their vision for him is. It's mostly second and third team reps. He has fumbled the ball kind of a lot in practice, not so much tonight, but just, uh, in general, he has fumbled the ball quite a bit and that would be a concern, but I mean, he, he's got the same things that you saw from the highlight reel one, he's big. So that really stands out, but also he's got really good, like balance for a big guy. It's not like somebody sort of comes near him and they're not tackling, but you can tell when somebody runs into him, does he sort of fly over or does he, you know, stay on track? Does that mean that

they're actually going to use him at this moment? I would think if they had to play tomorrow, Alexander Madison is getting 50 out of 55 snaps in the, in the first game. That's how I look at it right now. And the only guy who has a chance to take some of those snaps in the, in the first game. That's how I look at it right now. And the only guy who has a chance to take some of those snaps away would be Ty Chandler, Sarah. Nice to see you on the live stream here. So you're saying our defense looks like an actual defense last year. It did look like a video game from the old school games where the defense didn't move. They just stood there and you,

you could lock onto one player and run that one player round. But even at Donatello didn't do that. This defense with Brian Flores looks like they are going to be Brian Flores' defense, hell or high water. They are going to be aggressive. They're going to blitz. They're going to go after quarterbacks. And, you know, I was looking back at the last year, 2021, of Brian Flores for a Friday mailbag question. And what I noticed from Brian Flores 2021 was that the Dolphins started out pretty tough that year. And they had some games where they got really throttled. I mean, gave up like 45 points, 35 points. And then as they went along and they seemed to gel together, then they were really good. And they had a stretch of six of seven games where they gave up 20 or fewer points.

And I think that that's the sort of variance that can happen when you play like this. So tonight, what we saw was Brian Flores' blitzes were just on top of it. I mean, they were all over Kirk Cousins. He did not seem pleased about that. And the offense struggled quite a bit, you know, tonight against Brian Flores' blitzes. And I think we're going to see that from some teams. But I also think that when you miss, and there was one blitz where they came after Nick Mullins, they picked it up and Mullins threw it to somebody.

I think it was Josh Oliver wide open. And like, that's how it works. I mean, that's how it works when you blitz. But I think with a young and energetic team that, you know, I, I think that that makes a lot of sense to do that, to be aggressive. And some days it might not work for you, but I think a lot of days it is going to create turnovers, create sacks when you don't have a four-man pressure that's particularly good. I think it's got to be that way. And if you go down swinging by being the most aggressive defense in the NFL, well, okay then. But could they be like the Giants last year? So the Giants didn't have very good personnel on defense last year, aside from Dexter Lawrence. And yet they were an average

defense that had some major ups and downs. And they were the biggest blitzing team in the league with Wink Martindale, who I think has a similar mentality to Brian Flores, where it's like, I understand that sometimes when I send all these people at the quarterback, it's not always going to work. And when it doesn't work, it can be bad. And when some team has it really figured out, they're going to have a great day. And that's just how it is. But a lot of times you're going to cause turnovers. You're going to get sacks. You're going to make plays. And there was nothing more

soul sucking than watching Daniel Jones dump it underneath to somebody named Isaiah Hodges over and over and over last year, or Richie James, and just have all this success doing it. So I like the mentality. I like the idea. I think it really fits with energetic young players who are unproven, trying to fight their way to relevancy. Like Brian Asamoah is a good example. You guys have brought up Ivan Pace,

but I think that Ivan Pace's playing style, his quickness, really matches with what Brian Flores wants to do. You know, Stephen says, is that really smart, you know, with the defense? And I think the answer is you kind of have two options, right? You can, and you know, Kareem mentions it too. Aggressive doesn't always equal good. I agree with that. I agree with that, that just blitzing for the sake of blitzing is not always the right answer, but you kind of are going for home runs or, uh, you know, strikeouts, which is, you know know it does happen sometimes but um you know i i think

for this particular group for this situation that it makes a lot more sense to as uh 44 rhino man says live by the blitz die by the blitz that makes a lot more sense to me than what they did last year. And I also think even though it, even though it is a complicated defense and it asks players to learn how to line up in a lot of different spaces, it also does in some ways make things easier. And let me explain what I mean. Like if you're a corner and you're playing one-on-one, well, that's hard to play one-on-one against great receivers. And we saw tonight KJ Osborne lit up a guy for a long reception. Justin Jefferson cannot be stopped by this defense or any other defense. So you do see that from time to time just in practice where if it works

and those guys beat their man one-on-one, it's a big play. But at the same time, when you are sending a lot of blitzers, you usually get checks to shorter routes from the quarterback. So the quarterback is saying, all right, well, look, they're, they're sending everybody. I got to check to my hot routes and things like that. And maybe you're not asking the corners to stay one-on-one as long when you're sending these blitzes.

So everything with defense has a give and a take, a push and a pull. And what they were asking last year was everybody to have these very complicated reactions to route combinations and things like that. And I think that it worked for Patrick Peterson because he's brilliant, but I don't think it worked for some of the younger players. And this might, you know, getting a guy like Josh Metellus involved, getting Brian Asamoah up at the line of scrimmage and blitzing, potentially using Ivan Pace. Like these things I think are at least more exciting if they don't work.

Okay. Well, yeah, but I agree with miles the the donna shell was just painful to watch and you know somebody asked a really good question for the friday mailbag about how you know the nfl is kind of going with all the fangio stuff everyone loves vic fangio which is dropping these guys back saying hey you know we're not going to put guys in the box and we're not going to play single high, which we saw a lot of single high safety tonight. But I think that how your players fit with your scheme is maybe more important than whose scheme it is. Like Vic Fangio, it worked for him in the right positions. Does it work for him everywhere? Well, I think the answer that we've seen in a place like

Los Angeles is it doesn't work for everyone all the time. I mean, Brandon Staley was touted as this like Fangio guy, he's brilliant, whatever. And he was great with the Rams for a year, but he's gone to the chargers and they haven't had good defenses playing the Vic Fangio style. So a lot of times it comes to, does your scheme fit with your players? And I think that when you look at someone like Makai Blackman, what did he do well in college? Man-to-man coverage. What did a Caleb Evans do well in college? What's his skill set? A Caleb Evans is a tall, lanky dude with kind of wild athleticism for somebody his height. That works perfect. Also in the Flores defense and somebody who has really stood out to me on a daily basis

is Byron Murphy Jr. Byron Murphy Jr. is a intense player. I mean, he's up at the line of scrimmage. He's a intense player. I mean, he's up at the line of scrimmage. He's a physical guy. I think that he likes this role where he can kind of be roaming and blitzing and making plays out of the slot instead of, you know, what we saw in Arizona, where sometimes he's in the slot, sometimes he's outside, that kind of thing. There's much more of a carved out position for Byron Murphy. So I start to kind of

add this up. Like, does this fit? Do the players fit what they're doing? Undersized linebackers flying around man to man corners. Yeah, I think, I think so. I think it really does. And even with the defensive line, we've talked about the interior of the defensive line. I thought Harrison Phillips had a really good night tonight and Harrison Phillips is not going to get five, six, seven sacks, but what they do have in Phillips, Kyrus Tonga, and Dean Lowry is some dudes that can stuff guards and drive them back a little bit, create blitzing lanes. I think that's what they're looking for. So, um, and no sloth, you're exactly right. Highlights have been Murphy and perfect coverage against Justin Jefferson. And it doesn't matter because he catches everything.

I think that Byron Murphy is having a very good camp. I think it looks, looks to me like he is a really good fit in this forest defense. So I also think that Sarah has a point here that Brian Flores is going to eat the young quarterbacks. I definitely think that that is the case that already you can see that Kirk Cousins is struggling against some of this stuff. And Kirk is, is as experienced as any quarterback in the NFL. So when you see him out there in a night practice tonight, and trust me, I get to a kicking update in a second. I wrote down and I'm gonna have to look at my notes here. I did write down all the kicks that happened tonight. So I will get to those eventually, but we'll continue with the defense discussion. But I think when you see somebody like

Kirk Cousins getting flustered, how is that going to translate to other quarterbacks who are younger and less experienced and really Nick Mullins and Jaron Hall are having a nightmarish time against this defense. So I think that young quarterbacks will have a tough time. From Gary, how does Louis seen look? He looks like he is at least more competent and confident than he was last year. And I think that's a good thing. I don't know if it looks like he's going to win that job. There hasn't been any signs of that. So just for example, here's how you kind of pick up on a sign. It's not complicated, but we're always kind of watching for this, right? Like there was a drill a couple of days ago where Juwan Williams had been the first team

corner the entire time. And then all of a sudden, Mackay Blackman's in on this goal line drill. And so, oh, okay, let's take notice here. This might be something happening because Blackman seemed like he was getting it and he's the guy they drafted and so forth. And then all of a sudden he's taken more and then all of a sudden he's taken all. So that's kind of how you can tell sort of risers or fallers usually it's not just one day they snap their fingers and decide oh this guy's first team now uh usually it's a little more of a process and with lewis seen there hasn't really been any

signs of him getting in on certain drills with the first team or playing another position or anything like that um i and i also feel like, and Gary, you mentioned that he could be hit man's replacement in the future, Harrison Smith, obviously. But the thing about Louis seen is he never really has been the box safety guy. And I looked this up and I was kind of surprised by it when he was in college. He is more of a deep safety guy. And what I think they wanted to do was pair Harrison Smith with, you know, Makai Blackman.

I'm sorry, with with Lewis scene when they drafted him and to have Harrison Smith, Lewis scene and have seen drop, Harrison Smith play up, and that be the combination. But of course, Lewis Seen didn't win that job. And so it's more of a, you know, Cam Bynum, that's that guy. Well, Harrison Smith is supposed to be roaming around. And if it does eventually work out for Lewis Seen, I just don't think he's going to be that guy because if you're a metellus or you're harrison smith what do those two have in common football iq through the roof right that's the guy that has to be in the box somebody who can read and react quickly somebody who plays you know very free but it's very instinctual understands what he's seeing in front of him. I wrote an article about it with Lewis scene and his football IQ. I don't know that, or I I'm sorry. I'm there's so

many names, Josh Metellus and his football IQ. I don't know. That's Lewis scene. That's what I meant. Um, so those box safety is a little bit difficult. Uh, you have to be very bright. I think to be a box safety, that's why it's like a cam chancellor and that kind of guy. You're Troy Polamalu. And so if you don't have like that elite, elite football IQ, you probably have to be more of a deep safety. So we'll see how it plays out. But I just haven't seen them looking at Louis scene and saying like,

all right, you're gonna start making progress here even after he had the interception the other day uh how much did tonga play tonight oh yeah kairos tonga is out there all the time a lot of base defense tonight and um i'll you know saw a lot of kairos tonga in the middle i think kairos tonga is one of the winners of camp that i wasn't really sure who was going to take over that Delvin Tomlinson role. And it has been Kairos Tonga in the middle, pretty much all the time. He's a guy he's like a, you know, Jerry ball for the old school or a Pat Williams. I mean, this is just a big, strong dude who has made it very difficult for them to run.

Now he's going to have to prove it for more than just a handful of snaps like he did last year and training camp to be trusted a lot. But I think that it does soften the blow of losing Delvin Tomlinson that Kairos Tonga has emerged like this. What are the chances that we see florist being the four safety package uh during the season i do think that they have a kind of a dime type of package that we didn't really see from donatella or mike zimmer but i don't think we're gonna see all four safeties on the field very often if ever uh it looks to me like when there's passing situations that it's Mattel is up in the box.

Harrison Smith moving all over the place, sometimes deep, sometimes blitzing, and then combine them as being that drop back type of safety. I think that's how it's going to go. Let me tell you just a real quick about the kickers. You want to hear about the kickers? So there are two kickers. There is Tonga, Mr. Mankato. No, Tonga's not eligible for Mr. Mankato because he played in games last year.

So he can't really be. Maybe like Thayer Thomas didn't have a great night tonight, had a ball tipped away from him, intercepted. Dwayne McBride has a really good chance when he plays in these preseason games, because if Dwayne McBride has big games in preseason, people are going to fall in love with him, especially the way he plays. He breaks a lot of tackles, yards after contact. Jaqueline Roy could get a couple of sacks and be that guy too.

He's played really well. Roy, yes, Gary Roy is getting a lot of action so far with the second team and looked very good tonight in his individual drills, but you want to hear much more about the kicking competition. I know you do. Uh, Greg Joseph was okay. Last year, Greg Joseph was amazing in the night practice tonight. Just okay. He made one from 33, then missed from 41 made from 45 and 48 missed from 53. And then missed again from 58 and then made one from 58. So all said and done,

it was a very kind of blood day for Greg Joseph, not one where he clearly showed, I'm the guy. Jack Podlesny is the other kicker. And I think he's from, I thought he's from Georgia is where Jack Podlesny is from. And he got a handful of kicks as well. He made one from deep. I think it was like 50 yards, but looked like it was good from 65, but then missed the 33 yarder.

So Podlesny might be one of those guys that has a big leg, but isn't necessarily as accurate as you want them to be. So, uh, I think more likely than not, it will be Joseph, but it has not been as stellar as it was for Joseph last year, where he really was awesome in training camp for mixtape magic five-year $1 million deal for Delvin. Make it happen. Nah, don't make it happen. I don't think that's a good idea. I don't think that bringing Delvin Cook back is a good idea, but I was talking today just to some other reporters in the press box

about whether we think that there could be another running back who comes in here that's a free agent. There are a few guys who are still available, Kareem Hunt, Leonard Fournette. Would they look at one of those guys? Because Kenny Wongwu not practicing practicing all of a sudden you start to feel like it is a thin room when kenny wong woo is not practicing because it's like okay madison but madison has never been a full season 200 plus carry guy and then you have ty chandler who has never really played in the n and Dwayne McBride,

who also has absolutely never played in the NFL. So, so how do I feel the kicking battle is going? I don't think it's going great so far. I wouldn't panic because Joseph has been in the league, but Joseph missed a lot of kicks last year. And when they brought back Greg Joseph, I think that my initial reaction that night was, okay, like, I guess that's fine. Like no big deal.

And then the more that I started to look at just, you know, his numbers, he's below average for his career and kicking compared to his peers. And then last year certainly missed a lot of kicks. And I don't know. I think that bringing in just Jack Podlesny maybe was not quite enough in terms of the kicking competition. Yeah, Delvin already knows the playbook is, I guess, true, but it was not good last year.

So that's kind of the downside of that. Didn't really fit in. I didn't think that all that well. So, yeah, they did sign a XFL rushing leader. And look, I mean, if you sign a guy from the XFL, normally we kind of go, man, OK. But, you know, with a running back position that might mean something and i i do think the xfl and i mean give the guy a chance like get it give him some reps in these preseason games but i don't think that that precludes them from signing somebody with

more of a history to come in here um just uh as far as um being a backup to alexander madison if they don't feel that confident in what they've seen so far. But Ty Chandler stuck out to me tonight, and I think that if he does the same things in preseason as he did last year, then they won't have to worry too much about this, that they could have a duo of Madison and Ty Chandler. He ran a 4-3-8. Like, we talk about how fast Kenny Wongwu is, and he ran a 4-3-8. Like we talk about how fast Kenny Wongwu is,

and he ran a 4-3-8. Chandler did. He's pretty darn fast. Who is winning the punt return competition? Well, let me tell you, punt returns. Now there's a thing you have to see in preseason and not in practice because all they do is just catch it and then like take a step uh it's not really a full speed type of play so you're going to know the same time i know about the punt returning competition which will be in the games but whoever goes back this is how you can know little trick for you whoever goes back first will be the person who's probably leading the competition so if it's brandon powell uh that takes the first punt return in preseason then he's probably ahead and if it's jalen regger then he's probably ahead i think that so far

if we also include uh the the receiving part that brandon powell has been better from a receiving perspective than Jalen Rager. I think Jalen Rager is going to get cut ultimately. Let's see. What are my thoughts on Jaron Hall tonight? I thought it was a really rough night for Jaron Hall. I mean, that's how it's going to be. He's a fifth round rookie. He's got a lot of pressure coming his way from Brian Flores. There is so much to process at once for him. And once the coach starts talking about how good he is in the classroom, then you know, okay, he's having some tough times out there. But he's just had a couple of throws that went too high.

That's been an issue. He had a red zone drill where he kind of couldn't pull the trigger. So he was having to scramble and then threw one inaccurately. Didn't really operate the offense all that well. I think he did have one actually good over the shoulder throw to, was it a tight end? I can't remember who he threw it to. He could throw the ball. No, he didn't have a good night. Even like he like he, he just didn't, that wasn't a good night for Jaron Hall, man. It wasn't, but, uh, I, I don't think it's been a great start since the first day of camp for him where he looked like he was a pretty competent, but

Jaron Hall is only really a discussion because he's a draft pick quarterback, but it's, you know, you know, the order and I'm very interested to see how he does in preseason. I think he can get a, he can get a ton of reps and he's got some talent, but I don't think that he's a guy that we're looking at as, Oh, can he be the future starter or something? Doesn't really have the physical tools, um, to do that. Ty and McBride would be my dream Vikings running back duo if they can both win the coach's trust. Well, I mean, if McBride is the best version of himself, he's Alexander Madison, I think. Alexander Madison, same sort of thing, like a break tackle monster, really great balance. But the difference is that Madison has all this experience and is a very, very, very smart player. And that's why he's here

is that Madison really understands what they want to do. And he runs physically. He doesn't get, you know, tackled for loss and things like that. But I think the main reason why Madison is RB one is he understands all the past protections. He catches the ball very well. I mean, I think that those are like at the top of the list. So when you're talking about those less experienced running backs, if there's a lot of complications for what they're going to ask them to do, they're just not going to have those guys on the field all that often. But if I had to I think that Chandler I don't know I maybe I shouldn't guess on this but I think the door is open that for Ty Chandler to prove to them that he can do those things and to have a role and he can also catch the ball as well to be a part of the offense and maybe that kind of role is the

best case scenario I also wouldn't be shocked if they don't trust anybody else except for Madison and he just plays all the time. Anybody else excited to see what Josh Oliver adds to the offense? We saw it a little bit tonight with TJ Hawkinson not practicing and I am impressed. I have to say, I understand why their scouts looked at Josh Oliver and said, this is a guy we want to have. I really am not surprised because his size and his, well, what's the right word? Like coordination, dexterity, coordination is probably the right word. And he's got these massive hands and he moves pretty darn well for a guy that size so you know i i think that he has a chance to be a part of this offense in bigger personnel and

play a role now that might only be 20 catches but it's still more than what they could get from having like a johnny munt be of it, especially as a run blocker. How is KJ looking so far? Yeah, he had the biggest play tonight as he's solidifying himself as number two. I wouldn't say that that is completely resolved at the moment because Jordan Addison has had a very good start to camp.

And there's no question that Jordan Addison has movement skills that are special and he can get open and he tracks the ball. Well, he's clearly got very strong hands. He seems to make every catch that comes his way. But, you know, when it comes to KJ Osborne, he is a very experienced player and we know what he is and Kirk Cousins trusts him. And I think that he's probably going to start the season wide receiver too. Now the question is, does he stay as wide

receiver too, or not? That's, that's really the question. Does Jordan Addison steal those reps away from him eventually, or, targets I mean because they'll both probably get a lot of the same snap counts does he steal some of those targets away uh as we go along oh I see from Adam Schefter Yannick Ngakwe signed with the Bears okay uh Asamoah how does he look well I think Asamoah looks like a guy who is a good fit. My assessment of Hall differs from three other analysts. Well, congratulations to them. They can have their opinions if they want to. I don't think that Jaron Hall has had a good practice.

And Kevin O'Connell even talked about this before practice. He hasn't had a good practice since day two. And tonight certainly counts for that as well. I didn't think any of the quarterbacks had good practices tonight um how how is mullins handling flores's defense versus hall i mean mullins is the backup quarterback so he's playing against the twos and in fact uh he's playing as the ones quite often because they actually mix it up ones and twos um like the twos versus the ones,

second team offense versus first team defense. And it's not good. It's not good for the backups. It's been a rough ride for the offense against Brian Flores' defense. But my point is that when you were seeing the defense look good, I'm not concerned about the offense because I have a

really good idea of what they're going to be. That's the point that I have a good idea of what the Vikings offense is and can be. And of course, also Justin Jefferson is lighting it up all the time. Jefferson had a bunch of catches tonight. No big surprise. Um, you know, yeah, that like Jefferson is always going to be great. But in all the other aspects, Brian Flores' defense is doing well, which I think is quite a good sign so far that they seem to be gelling with it, picking it up, understanding it, creating a lot of pressure, and so forth. So anyway, I don't know what the sensitivity is about

uh jaron hall it's um you know in the comments like this is what i expect from a rookie i i don't expect a rookie to come out and just like play great especially against the very complicated defense so uh that that's just how it's been so far. You know, I'm not saying that he's not going to pick it up. It's just, you know, anyway who's the biggest standout at cornerback. It's who you think it's it's Byron Murphy jr. So far, I think a Caleb Evans has had his ups and downs, and this is where the defense really rests, right? It rests on, can they create enough pressure by blitzing and not just with Daniel Hunter. And it rests on whether a Caleb Evans and probably Makai Blackman can cover receivers one-on-one that that's going to happen

a lot. They're going to play a lot of man coverage and Byron Murphy jr. Just looks like a great fit though. And so I did this math and I looked back at the Vikings recent nickel corners. Do you guys realize what a horror show that has been? I mean, Mackenzie Alexander, when he returned was at 2021 was one of the worst in the league in terms of how much he got targeted quarterback rating he gave up and last year mckenzie alexander i don't even remember who the nickel cornerback was two years ago so you have to go back really to 2019 when mckenzie alexander played pretty well and that was the last time that they've had even decent nickel corner play it's been years since they've had decent nickel corner play and now i think they have a guy who's very confident in that role

and also feels i think i just get the sense from him and i talked to him um during mini camp haven't talked to him yet during um during training camp since he's been out there playing in my mind pretty well aside from the times he's getting mossed by jefferson but that happens it just seems like yeah i'm sure you guys have had this in your life at some point where you know somebody doesn't really have a good spot for you at a job or doesn't really quite believe in you and then you go to a different job and you're more comfortable and then all of a sudden it's like a much better patient, but it off more and you perform better. And I think that that's what we're seeing from Byron Murphy is all of those things is that he is now performing or okay. He's not, they haven't

played any games yet, but he just looks that way. He looks like he is poised to perform better because the team bought into him in full. He's got a coach that fits with him, and that's kind of how it works, right? So that's who I think has been the best corner, really bar none, and then the best defensive back. Harrison Smith looks extremely happy to be back in this type of role. Josh Metellus looks like it's working out,

and that's where I can see where this defense could improve in the secondary. But if those outside corners struggle, look who you're playing week one, the Tampa Bay Bucks who have two really good wide receivers and one of the best outside receivers in the game.'s if that's a weakness it's still going to be a struggle if that becomes a strength because those players develop it could be uh quite good um for brian sounds like two years five million would get you dalton reisner then do it if that's the case then do it uh let's see how about ron darby visit? I didn't see it. Was there a report? Uh, cause I haven't looked at Twitter obviously in an hour since I've been talking to you guys. So if there was a Ron Darby report, uh, I, I covered him in Buffalo and he was a part of that 2017 Eagles team

kind of been bouncing around since then, but that might tell you what they think of the outside corner position that we were just talking about is wanting to look at someone else. But I also am very much on the side of, look, you brought back Daniel Hunter. You said it's a season where you're trying to win, but you're also trying to find pieces for the future. You got a few million bucks left. Why don't you go spend it at the store and try to find pieces for the future. You got a few million bucks left. Why don't you go spend it at the store and try to find guys who can help you win? You can win the division. You can get yourself in the playoffs with this roster and this defense, which seems to me has improved.

And this offense with Jordan Addison looking good. This can be a playoff team. So why not? Why not add a couple of more guys who can play? I mean, Reisner is a good example. And I think that sometimes that late signing guy does work for a team where it's like, he just gets overlooked or waited too long or has a bad agent or something. And sometimes a team really benefits. I think that they're in a position to do stuff like that. As long as they're not locking themselves in long-term, then I think it's probably a good idea

or that they're not sacrificing someone else's chance to develop. But the thing is that, you know, if Makai Blackman's not ready or if they aren't happy with the Caleb Evans, then it probably does make sense to bring in someone like Ron Darby. Miles asks, what position do you feel like we have the most depth in?

I feel like we're really thin across the board. As we know, the season is long. Yeah, I agree with you. I definitely agree with you. It's probably wide receiver is the place that they have the most. Because Tristan Jackson, and I know he's never played, but he's been really good in camp and it seems like he's a guy that was emerging and coming along uh if he's your fifth

wide receiver and he tracks the ball the way he does i think that's pretty good for you but you've already got jefferson osborne although nailer's been banged up you know i liked what i saw about nailer early on i will include him in this Naylor Jackson. And then, you know, maybe Brandon Powell. I think you feel pretty good about that. Uh, tackle. You've got some depth with only Udo, I think is a pretty reliable swing tackle. Uh, you know, what's funny about depth is like, they have a lot of defensive linemen who are fighting for the job. How good are is certainly a question it's starting to look like inside linebacker with Ivan Pace that that um could be a position of depth how many receivers do we keep on the 53 is a great question because I've gone back and forth they kept five last year and they might keep six if Tristan Jackson comes back and if they want him on the 53 then they could keep six i

still think it's probably going to be five and then he goes tristan jackson goes on the practice squad but it could definitely be six um is uh from uh green gandalf is murphy set as the nickel then um or as set as you can be in florist's scheme he is for sure in nickel packages the nickel then, or as set as you can be in Flores' scheme. He is for sure in nickel packages, the nickel corner. When they put the base package on there, where they have three defensive linemen, two outside linebackers, this is one we don't see very often because it's the year 2023. That you would have seen back in the day with the three down linemen a lot in the outside linebackers to inside linebackers. But in that situation, he will be on the outside, but that's only going to be like

third and two and they'll send out the base package. But mostly if it's first and 10, second and eight, he's going to be the nickel corner, which I think is very much the right spot for him. This is funny. How's Joe Webb doing? AKA Cephas Johnson. Yeah. I mean, Cephas Johnson, if he makes the practice squad would be really something.

That's, that's the way I look at it is, you know, Cephas Johnson, he's this former quarterback kind of long shot. What impressed you the most tonight? I mean, I just think, and I know that I have talked about it for a lot of the stream. It's the name of the stream. But I think that how the players on defense have fit with Brian Flores is the thing that overall has impressed me the night or the most. And it did tonight as well. What made you want to puke in your mouth? I don't know if anything, we, we had tacos out there.

So I was feeling good as far as, you know, eating goes and didn't want to vomit up the tacos with anything I saw. But I would say just that when they do these final drive drills, you want to see the offense. And this is where it's weird because it's like, well, I'm praising the defense, but of course that means they were good against the offense. So, you know, but you want to see the offense look a little better. And instead they just kept getting sacked and that's not really helping with progress. And instead they just kept getting sacked and that's not really helping with progress. And it did make me wonder is Flores putting the gas pedal down a

little much. I should he play a little bit of shell and stuff because they are going to face that. Uh, it seemed like he was just blitzing and blitzing and blitzing tonight, uh, maybe for the fans, but that really held them back. I think on offense heard Ivan Pace jr. Got some first team looks tonight. Is that accurate? Yeah. I saw him get a couple out there and I think that pace is just one of the, so far Mr. Mankato type shows up as a UDFA and is, is on the rise. That's, that's what I've seen so far from Ivan Pace. He just, even though he's small, has a real acceleration to his game and kind of an intensity, which if you're going to be that size, but he, I mean, in college, the guy was just a ball player.

Like he put up all these great stats for a reason and, you know, we'll see how it gets, you know, into the preseason games and how he looks there. And maybe he gets steamrolled in those games. I don't know. But they talked about defeating blocks, that that's a big deal for these smaller linebackers. So if in their mind he's doing that, then there is certainly a possibility that he gets a role. Maybe not regularly, but you feel better about the depth and maybe he mixes in from time to time on certain packages. Was I was the vibe any different from last year's night practice?

Last year's night practice was a tough one for the offense. I thought this one was as well. I think the vibe is just different from Mike Zimmer's night practices where it is a routine kind of practice. They don't really go out of their way to make it way more intense, which I think Mike Zimmer did. And instead it's just kind of like a regular practice. There's not that many 11 on 11s to look at.

I also think that they maybe try to keep it a little more vanilla. There's a lot of people in the stadium who were taking videos and everything. And I know that Kevin O'Connell is a little bit itchy about that. So, um, you know, I, I mean, I think that the overall vibe of camp though, in both last year and this year has been very good. And this year they seem to be getting excited about themselves. The one thing that is holding me back a little is that some of these dings and cuts. So some of the guys getting banged up, you know, Andrew Ruth, Jr. already missing some time, Marcus Davenport, missing time,

Brian O'Neill not being back. Those things, Kenny Wong Wu being hurt. Those things are making me say like uh you know okay uh you you want to avoid those big injuries which they haven't had big injuries yet but when some guys start to get banged up and mispractice like those are guys who looked like they were going to have opportunities to do something on this team now are they going to have those same opportunities? Let's see. How's Christian Derrissaw doing?

Haven't heard anything from him. He's just been great. I mean, for my eye, just been great. Now he's going up against like DJ Wanham, Christian Derrissaw last year, established himself as one of the best players at his position in the NFL. And I don't really watch him in training camp that much.

When I do see him, I'm always amazed by his size and the way that he moves. It's that of an elite player. But even with Justin Jefferson, my eye doesn't go there very often because I know what Justin Jefferson is. He's the best receiver in the league. I don't really need to think about that in practice. So that's where I end up noticing like a, you know, like a Thayer Thomas or a Tristan Jackson or whatever, because I'm kind of taking my eyes to different places where I wonder what this guy does well, or Josh Metellus. I wonder how they're going to use this guy. So I can answer all of your great questions when we come on here at nighttime, because, you you know Christian Derrissaw is a great player and he's going to continue to be that uh let's see who's the surprise guy we should look

for for these three preseason games well I did mention I have mentioned Thayer Thomas a number of times I think he's going to catch some footballs uh Josh Oliver if he plays will amaze you with his size and how well he moves. Dwayne McBride and Ty Chandler probably, now that's more than three already. Dwayne McBride and Ty Chandler are two guys I really want to see how they perform in these preseason games. Because with running backs,

it's something we can be very tangible about. Offensive linemen harder. We'll look at the PFF grades later. But the PFF people looked at this once the grades from the preseason game for linemen don't even really translate to the regular season. So even that's hard. Like you don't want to see somebody getting smoked in the, in the preseason. Maybe you could tell if they're getting smoked, but even if they have good games, it's not in the most intense environment, but if running backs are playing well, receivers, defensive players, getting pressure sacks, we can really see that. So I would say the other guy

is just a, well, Ivan pace, Jaqueline Roy. These are the guys that we have brought up that have, you know, should be the ones that you watch a lot and have a chance to really kind of emerge and make themselves Mr. Mankato candidates. So yeah, who's the, who's my Mr. Mankato pick now I'm trying to remember who I picked at the beginning of training camp, because I don't remember who I picked if I did make an official pick for Mr. Mankato. But, um, I think that Dwayne McBride has a great chance and Makai Blackman if you count third rounders oh who did I have as the favorite I think I had Dwayne McBride as maybe being the favorite also Jaron Hall look I mean whether you want to say he was good tonight or not I mean I don't

think so but if Jaron Hall is good in the preseason games. He's got a really good chance at Mr. Mankato. Right now, though, it is very clear Ivan Pace Jr. is making a case for himself to be that guy. If you're getting first team reps as a UDFA, even two first team reps, then yeah. I mean, you're already like exactly what the essence of a Mr. Mankato is supposed to be. Let's see from David. I think the defensive approach is strategic in terms of interior pass protection. There's enough money to sign a guard and a defensive back and keep three to five million in case there's a reason. Yeah, well, they have to keep a couple million.

You always have to keep a couple million regardless, but they have right now, at least according to over the cap, about 10 million to work with some of that. They might plan on pushing, you know, extension money whenever those happen into those into that, into those dollars. But even then, like you could handle spending $5 million on a couple of players that make yourself better right away. Even if it's a Ron Darby and Dalton Reisner, and even if they just give you better depth, that can help you for a team that, um, you know, is, uh, is, is looking like they should be a playoff team. And I feel like a few weeks into camp, you have a sense for how good can you be? Can they win the Super Bowl?

I wouldn't go that far, but can they win the division? Yes. Yeah, this team has the talent to potentially win the division. So at that point, just like last year, where do you spend the pick on TJj hawkinson yes you you go do it because you have a chance to do something and i feel like they still should uh in this situation as well uh what do you think is holding quasi-adapto mensa back from trading for or

bringing in offensive line guys to fix the center of the offensive line? Well, one would be, I mean, the cap space only recently got to where they had some throughout most of the off season. And maybe this was a mistake from him, not cutting those players early, but from the beginning of the off season, they really didn't have a lot in terms of cap space. And now they do because they cut or traded Zedaria Smith and cut Delvin cook. So they have that space and they could make a move like Dalton Reisner. I also think too, when you draft a guy, a lot of times you give a chance for that player to kind of make you right. And you say, all right, well, you know, we saw a lot of things good from him and, uh,

all right, well, let's see what happens you know next year let's give him a whole off season it's very hard to be a rookie offensive lineman let's give him a full off season but if the guy shows up and i'm not saying this has happened because we don't know for sure that it's ingram that they were looking to replace but if a guy shows up the next camp and you go oh you know we were really hoping for you to get better. And you didn't, then you start looking around. All right. Is there someone else that we could sign to bring in and replace him? So, I mean, they've spent a lot of capital in the draft to try to rebuild this offensive line. And that was supposed to be an answer. They brought back Garrett

Bradbury on a reasonable price after a decent year to be, you know, the starting center. So I think that they've done quite a bit as far as the offensive line. But I mean, they put tons of draft capital into it and they made the resigning and they drafted Ingram, Kweisi of Naflamenta did. So I think that they have done this a little bit, at least by resigning Bradbury where, I mean, look, you go into the free agency and you could say, why didn't they upgrade at center? But then I have to ask, well, who are they going to upgrade with, uh, with the deal that they gave Bradbury, I thought was pretty good. And, you know, he, he was solid last year and I think is a better fit for this offense, uh, and you know, more shotgun and stuff like that than he was with all the under the center stuff. And, and Ingram, I was not on board with that draft pick from the time that it happened because positional value, because, uh, you know, drafting and trying to start a guy

right away to fill a spot is really tricky business. They reached on him, like all those reasons still by year two of a second round draft pick, you do have an expectation that that guy should be able to play reasonably well. If he can't, then they kind of have to pivot. Any thoughts on less wins, but deeper run into the play on, uh, I'm sorry. Maybe don't understand the question, um, less wins, but deeper run into the play on? I'm sorry. Maybe don't understand the question. Less wins, but deeper run into the playoffs. Oh, you mean like regular season wins, but could be a better playoff team?

Well, that's really hard to know. I mean, I do think there will be fewer wins this season, but whether they could win in the playoffs, I mean, that depends on how you're playing, who you're playing, the luck factor, all those things. So it is true that Reisner has been a left guard for his entire career, but he was a what center and right tackle in college. I think for certain players and Kevin O'Connell mentioned talking to him about this, that for certain players, it is much less of a big deal than others. Like some guys can transition right, left. They can play in different spots.

Guy who comes to mind for me is Elgin Jenkins for the Packers has played a bunch of different positions there. And there are other guys who can't like their spot is their spot. So that would be something that they discussed with Dalton Reisner. So let me just put a bow on this. It's been a great discussion. Thank you so much, all of you, for watching. The kind of bottom line away from this practice,

and then they have a day off tomorrow, and there's a practice Saturday night, but I'm going to be away, so I'm not going to live stream after that one, but I will after Sunday, Monday. There's another night practice next week after the preseason game. So if you're joining for the first time, we do this all the time here on the purple insider channel. And so make sure that you're subscribing, jumping in, you know, kind of becoming part of this community, checking out purple insider.com,

um, the newsletter, all that stuff. But, um, I think the bottom line on tonight is that the night practice used to be this great barometer for things. And I don't feel like it's that anymore. And that's not a criticism of Kevin O'Connell. It's just a different approach that Kevin O'Connell does not like go after it on the night practice and kind of show his cards in the same way that Mike Zimmer did, where we could really get a feeling of where everybody stood, because that was a big moment for him. I think early in camp, I feel less confident in what I saw tonight being hugely reflective of what's going on. Also defensively though, they are ahead of the offense and they are causing lots of havoc and

lots of problems and it will be very very interesting to see how this continues to play out through camp and then into the season because Flores has clearly injected new life into a defense that was totally lifeless last year and I think that the offense might be a little mad about it, but they should also be a little happy about it because they could get maybe some turnovers, some sacks, maybe not have to stay on the sideline for as long as they did last year, have games with 50 plays and all that.

So I think that his hire may end up turning out to be one of the biggest things that they did this offseason. Also, bottom line is some of these injuries are getting a little concerning, and I think they should look outside and add some players to bring in if they can. That's kind of where we stand as of this moment. Very excited about next week's practices. This is where we get into that uh dog days of summer the the guys who are for real are going to emerge uh and and kind of hold down those positions and then

pre-season action which will be super fun for us you talk about late night podcasting after that pre-season game guess where we're going to be right here so make sure you're uh you're checking in all the time and thank you so much everybody for watching really really appreciate the audience for tonight um thank you so much for everybody who showed up love that all you guys participated and everything else um thank you very much for doing that and uh we will be back again so take care football