Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso breaks down the Vikings draft

Episode Date: April 29, 2025

Matthew Coller is joined by CBS Sports draft analyst Chris Trapasso to grade and react to the Vikings draft.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here wearing a nice shirt because this episode is so important with CBS Sports Draft analyst Chris Trapasso after an incredibly long weekend of breaking down every pick for 32 teams. Well, now you're going to be asked to break down the five that the Minnesota Vikings made and then also, you know, maybe so undrafted free agents that stood out to you as well. But this Chris is always one of our favorite shows of the year,

grading the picks, grading the overall Vikings drafts from your eyes and taking a look under the microscope. So why don't we just start out with, there is a guy who puts together about 50 different graders and puts together a composite score. And there was one little blue A that belonged to you. I'll spoil your overall grade. And there was not very many other ones

for the Minnesota Vikings. So give me the big picture on why you are the outstanding little A amongst the C of B minuses, Cs, and even some Ds on the Vikings draft. Yeah, and I don't know why. I mean, I guess as the lone person in the A range, I can't really figure out why the rest of the other draft analysts that are doing what I'm doing weren't so high out why the rest of the other draft analysts, uh, that are

doing what I'm doing, weren't so high on what the Vikings did, but, and I, I certainly on this podcast went on these philosophical rants about the draft industry and problems that I see with it. It, to me, even though we will get to the wide receiver that the Vikings picked, it feels like, and I think if you, I mean, not that anyone would do this, but if you looked back on draft grades or just like remember overall narratives and thoughts about team specific drafts over the years, it's usually like the bad teams that have a quarterback to pick like three receivers,

two running backs, a tight end, like the fantasy football positions where, or it's very obvious that like this team has a totally barren roster and they can make all these sexy picks. Usually the teams that are like really close to getting to a Superbowl that don't really have a bunch of needs and they're just picking players that,

I don't wanna say seemingly random positions, but not at like instant starter roles. Those are the teams that usually get the B and the C and the D grade. So I guess I think me having more of an intimate knowledge of the Vikings, thanks to you guys, has maybe made me more. I think of a Viking expert, so to speak, in the niche draft industry where I'm not just looking at this club from afar. I have a better understanding of depth needs at safety and what they like at

corner and what they need along the offensive line that Ed Ingram was not a good fit. And someone like that we're going to talk about in a minute was a much better fit. So I really liked what they did. And it felt like I would get excited when the Vikings would go on the clock. And as you can see from that, a grade and we'll talk about it, that there was never really a time where I was like, what the hell was that pick? And that certainly could have been the case.

I'm not coming on here to just be a homer, even though I've been doing this show with you for four years, I will always give my genuine evaluations. I just thought this was from top to bottom, a very well planned out Vikings draft, even though we didn't get the three or four trade backs and 11 or 12 picks, that would have made this episode a lot longer. If quasi did that.

So, uh, in terms of trying to grade it for myself, I have a tough time doing that because if we look at it through the very specific lens of the current Minnesota Vikings, what they needed and what they wanted in terms of the type of player. They absolutely nailed it. I mean, they were looking for a guard, which their left guard position was one of the worst performing in the NFL last year. Blake Brandel was in the top five in pressures allowed and the bottom five in total overall PFF grade.

And they replaced them with a first round talent at left guard, a guy who should be a very good fit. And we're going to dive into your details on Donovan Jackson soon enough. And then when you look at Ty Felton, he's exactly the type of wide receiver we were talking about at yards after catch guy, great speed, explosiveness, and so forth. And that makes sense for them as a fit. And then the day three stuff, it's some special teams,

some depth at some certain positions, some guys that you just sort of like or need. And every single one of them from talking to those guys on their conference calls seemed like a great character fit. And nobody in this group is going to rock the boat. Like there is no controversy at all whatsoever, which of course you don't want on a team that is coming off of 14 win season and ready to try to compete for the Superbowl around

their young quarterback. All that clicks. They all seem like Viking, Kevin O'Connell culture type of fit players with some upside for some of them, maybe some more instant fit for other ones. And that all clicks for me where it doesn't so much as my analytic brain that goes well, guard linebacker, tight end tweener. And you talk about those trade downs.

I was not obsessed with the trade down idea. We discussed the math on that, that, hey, your chances to get a better player are at 24 than they are at 34. But when you look at the draft value charts, boy, that Giants trade, boy, that Falcons trade was absolutely bananas. And if the Vikings could have gotten a next year's first, we don't know if it was offered to them.

I want to be fair in saying that we don't know if they just were like, OK, he's gotten to this point. We have to trade up now and whether they called the Vikings or not. But from an analytical perspective, trading back was clearly the choice versus taking a guard in the first round. So I kind of try to weigh those two. You're much more of looking at a scouting perspective of the players, but I didn't want to say that, that it didn't feel like a analytical GM did this.

It would feel more like, Hey, these were players that fit in the context of this roster right now and not like a bigger rebuilding team where you would try to get, you know, 18 draft picks if you possibly could. So let's just, uh, let's just get on to these players though. And your reports on Donovan Jackson, why don't we begin there? So I will start with my comparison for all of these players. Cause that again, likes, I like to do that to give you a

visualization of an NFL veteran that I think this player is very similar to. And I, I'll just repeat this again, that I put a lot into these. It's obviously not just like a former Ohio State guard and it's, I look at size, I look at length, athleticism, play style, all of that. Donovan Jackson to me is Wyatt Teller 2.0 and Wyatt Teller was a fifth round pick out of Virginia Tech and turned into one of the best guards in football. He was a huge athlete. I don't know how, I mean, in retrospect,

in the 2018 draft, he was a fifth rounder. Uh, and I remember watching him on film and I like, that's immediately who I saw like two or three games in to Donovan Jackson's film. I was like, this guy's never out of position. He's now playing left tackle and he's looks athletic enough in an absolute pinch. You can play him there. So the footwork is good. He's six, four, three 20. He's got long arms. He was a huge recruit. And I'll read one like middle portion of my scouting report that

I think is really important. Rarely caught out of position as his technique and body control prevent him from lunging or getting overextended. Like that's what you want out of a guard. Like you don't want them getting overzealous and those gross lunges on film lead to those big hits on your quarterback. They lead to interior pressure that leads to tackles for loss. So in watching Donovan Jackson, I just thought this player is as pro ready

as they come and if anyone doesn't believe me, things I'm just saying this because it's the vi this podcast. We talked about Donovan Jackson pre-draft and I said he was the best pure guard. You mentioned how there were so many of these tackle guard converts. And it's kind of ironic because Donovan Jackson played left tackle in his final season at Ohio state. But before that was just projecting toward the first round at the guard position at Ohio State. So I think they got a high floor and high upside blocker. And like you mentioned, Phil's the biggest need in this weak link system up front that we talk about a lot, where you don't have one bad player kind of ruining

the rest of the group. And you're right about everything with the trading back would have been better. We don't know, you know, like what was offered, but Donovan Jackson to me was, and I know this sounds cliche cause he's a blocker, but was one of the safest picks in the 2025 draft. And I think that's what they wanted.

I do. I think they wanted to make sure that they got their guy at their position who was going to help right now, which in the bigger picture of draft theory for all 32 teams, the way it's been studied is not really the way that you always want to go about it. And this was something that we criticized for the Garrett Bradbury pick, even though I think we both liked the idea of Garrett Bradbury at the time,

it was still, Hey, this goes against bigger picture draft theory, which would be not to take a center here just because you need one. And they did take a guard here because they need one at the same time. I look at this guard and the potential upside for him with his athletic profile, which is fantastic. There are not many guys who can go into the season playing left guard, having never practiced at left guard for three years, and then be like, um, can you just go play left tackle for us?

And then he does it starting against Penn State for his first game, which I think would have broken a lot of guys. And then he's playing in the college national championship in the college playoffs and look at his numbers there. The amount that he grew and developed at that left tackle position, he allowed what?

Two pressures in the final four games and graded exceptionally as a pass protector. To me, the character of the player also pushed him up. And this is something as we do the pre-draft grades, we don't know. We can say, we know, we can hear from certain people. I mean, maybe Dane Bruegler and the beast have the best look at this, but we don't get to sit in a room with this person. And then we get even just a press conference with him and go, okay, I get it. I get it with this guy. He seems to have the

perfect attitude, the perfect background, makeup, character, all that stuff. And it was selfless of him. Cause what I didn't know was that the coaching staff went to him and said, look, we want you to play left tackle But we would totally understand if you don't want your draft status messed with by putting bad stuff on tape Potentially to go to left tackle and he took a day talk to his agent talk to his parents and decided you know what? I'm gonna do it for the team I want a national championship ring this stuff like that means a lot in a world today. Don't be able to get on the rant, but like in a world today where it's all about

me, selfishness, how much attention can I bring to myself for a player and maybe typical NFL style offensive lineman for a player to be like, I want to win. I'll do anything that it takes. Even if I look worse, that means a lot to an NFL team. And they would have known that background story going into this draft. So from that perspective, I think he's going to fit in this room because of who the person is extremely well. And that matters a lot folks.

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Yeah, two things here too, just to kind of segue off that, uh, in terms of high floor, high ceiling, ready to go. The other guard picked in the first round, Tyler Booker, his relative athletic score was 3.93. Donovan Jackson's was 8.99. So like 12 pick difference. Tyler Booker goes 12 picks in front of him. The athletic upside and just the type of athletes that they are today, Donovan Jackson blows Tyler Booker out of the water and they're around the same size. So it's not like, you know, if you're going to use the Garrett Bradbury, uh, example, like this is not like, oh, he's undersized. He has short arms. Like they're like the same size. So like Donovan Jackson has been a dude and tested really well. And everything that you mentioned about left tackle.

The other thing that I wanted to say, the Ohio state offense didn't skip a beat. Like I, as Ohio state was really coming on down the stretch. I mean, they lost to Michigan, but then in the college football playoff, when they came out like gangbusters against Tennessee, I was like, oh yeah. They had Josh Simmons who might be a top 10 pick go down like in week two or week three, whatever it was early in the season. And this left guard has been playing there all season. I have literally forgot as a huge college football fan in the draft guy, because you would have figured in almost any other situation, a guard that moves out there, you're like,

Oh, okay. The offense can't really run as well to that side. Or there's more pressure being allowed. That didn't happen. So that speaks well to his technique that I read from the scouting report. His feet are always under him. He's patient, but he's also pretty strong. Uh, I just, again, really genuinely believe that was one of the safer picks in the first round.

And I think, uh, just a really intelligent kid who is willing to show up and learn from the other guys. You just get that impression from him right away and that is going to matter a lot to his fit. And what he does here is that even if he works out to be the 38th best offensive lineman by PFF next year, that is up 20 spots from where his predecessor was. And if the weakest link on your line is that guy, when you have Darasaw, Kelly, Fries, and Brian O'Neal, that is an incredible offensive line and could be one of the five best in the league.

Now we're putting carts before horses assuming that he's going to be in there. But if you invest the first round pick in a guard, then your expectation is that he is an impact player right away. It makes McCarthy better. It makes the running game better. And crazy stat that I ran across yesterday, Chris, just thinking about JJ McCarthy and the advantage of clean pockets.

When Baker Mayfield was pressured last year, he only had like an 85 quarterback rating, but he was the least pressured quarterback in the league. And he finished with 106.8 quarterback rating and 41 touchdowns. The clean pocket advantage is so enormous for anyone. If you get pressured, your quarterback rating automatically starts 20 points lower and is probably even worse for a young quarterback like McCarthy. This was really important to them to solidify it. So there's a there is a ripple effect to someone like Donovan Jackson

that makes it more than in a vacuum taking a guard. Let's let's but let's go to Ty Felton because this was one that you really, really liked. And of course, it was one that I really, really liked as well. You and I, since the combine, have just had the biggest, loudest drums that we have been banging like that before a Vikings game, they got the big thing. Oh, dude, everybody does a school.

That's us with like receiver pick. Do do. And when they did it, I actually think on the live stream, I may have gone like this, uh, celebrating myself, I guess, with that pick and our opinion, working out for them to get Ty Felton. So of course I am extremely biased for this pick and I really like it and I would give it the highest grade because it's exactly what we wanted from them. But give me the unbiased analysis of a Ty Felton. Okay. Yeah. So I can just look at my

scouting grade book, which I have on this monitor over here, uh, he was my number 72 overall player. They got him at what? One. Oh, one Oh two early third round grade. I compared him to Troy Franklin who went in the fourth round last year, uh, to the Brock was made some plays down the stretch. He's kind of similarly sized vertical spindly guy on the outside.

And I will do what I did for Donovan Jackson. I will read this was not in the middle of the scouting report but the end while he doesn't possess any elite traits beyond his speed Felton is a well-rounded receiver who can line up in multiple spots and maximize his potential at the next level so for as much as he made plays on the perimeter he was actually really good when they used him in the slot got him in space and then he could create after the catch. So I think with the 40 time and the fact that he is built like a classic just down the field vertical threat, he forced a lot of miss-tackles in school.

So like I think that is an underrated part to his game. And we talked about, I mean, like we certainly floated the idea of Luther Burden yards after the catchability, but I think we also talked about having a true speed threat downfield. And they certainly get that with Ty Felton. They got him almost essentially around earlier or I'm sorry, around later than I had him graded. So yes, I absolutely loved it from a philosophical team building standpoint. And I just really liked the player and thought he should have been an early third round pick as opposed to a late third rounder.

Well, there's a lot I like about his profile, starting with the fact that if you throw him a screen pass, he can run with the football. And that is something that they just did not do. I added this up yesterday and they had, I believe it was 23 total screen passes to wide receivers last year, which was less than about five different single receivers. I'm talking all receiver screens to either Jalen Nail or Jordan Addison or Justin Jefferson. That's something that they want to add. And, uh, Rondale Moore is going to be in the competition with Ty Felton to be that

guy, to be more of a playmaker, just get the ball on his hands. And a lot of the criticisms of him for scouting reports were, well, he's a little stiff in the hips and his route running and he doesn't get contested catches and well, that's true. That, that would make him a probably first round ride receiver. If he was mossing people had a sub sub four four with 96 receptions and a thousand yards but that's not what they're asking anybody to do here they already have route runners they have guys who moss people again if he was jordan adison and going up and getting it he would be in

the first round like jordan adison was so there's going to be some shortcoming there but can you enhance what you get from Jefferson and Addison? That was really my thing is with Jalen Naylor, he does that in some ways, clear outs. Sometimes they forget about them and you just throw a wide open touchdown to him, which happened against the Packers. But against the Rams, for example,

they're getting so much pressure against the Vikings. Do you have a guy where you could just get him the football in his hands and he makes a play for you, make it easy on the quarterback? And when you have a young quarterback, what is better? And Bohnix did this a lot last year. What's better than a quick little pass to somebody and they turn it into 12? Maybe it's a it's a pass that travels three yards in the air and they get 12 or they break a tackle and get one big play.

Or you try him a kick returner and he's got that speed to make a play. Or every once in a while you just against off coverage, you have them run a deep route and he outruns somebody because they don't really expect the four three speed. So I think there's a lot of different ways he could be used. The upside of this is of course, like he's not going to become Randy Moss because he is in the wide receiver three spot and he's going to develop there and he's going to be a role player.

This is not going to change soon, but even if, if he had checked every box and became a really good, complete wide receiver under Kenan McCardell, you could consider down the road not paying Jordan Addison the 30 plus million dollars by the time they get to when that contract comes up. So I think it's a now and later type of pick. not paying Jordan Addison the 30 plus million dollars by the time they get to when that contract comes up. So I think it's a now and later type of pick. It helps you right now with just an additional playmaker in that room. And I like the profile of the guy with the production, because if you draft somebody that had 28 catches or something like always fast, not likely that works out. But this guy was their main weapon there in Maryland.

And also I'm looking at my other sheet that I have here, my analytics sheet, Ty Felton's career missed tackle force rate, 28.4%. Travis Hunter's was 27.6%. So I'm not saying he's Travis Hunter, he's better than him. But I think it is important that I want you to take away from what I'm saying that even though he ran sub four four, this is not a vertical threat only do I think he is like you mentioned, do I think he is going to get

open on a routine on a routine basis with like Justin Jefferson, like routes or even Jordan Addison type sharpness in his routes? No, probably not. And I do think that there is some stiffness to his game, but vertical threat and what you just outlined, which I was going to jump in and say, that's kind of the NFL today, especially for young quarterbacks. And it was a big reason, my two things, why Bo Nix was so effective last season and why I wasn't as high on Bo Nix as an individual quarterback last year, because so much of what Sean Payton estimated to do was throw a

two yard pass and then Cortland Sutton will make some guys miss or there'll be a screen and we're going to run the ball a lot. And then you can throw a play action deep shot downfield. So of course the Vikings aren't going to care like what JJ McCarthy's actual PFF grade is, but if they but if the offense is more, even more efficient than it was last season, or they have that answer in the playoffs, that matters more than anything else.

And I think you hit the nail on the head with the fact that Ty Felton has the ability to be that high percentage throw type of player that can catch a three-yard drag route and turn it into a 15-yard game. So from round three of taking Ty Felton until the first pick of round five, let me tell you, that was a long time and a lot of Chaudhry Sanders takes in between.

But we eventually got there and we can discuss that at the end. But we eventually got there to Tyreon Ingram Dawkins, an intriguing prospect. Now, a wise emailer sent a note to me, Thomas, and talking about how this draft was a bit reminiscent of some things that Rick Spielman did. And I don't disagree. I mean, drafting for an immediate need on the offensive line, and then in the fifth round,

taking a guy that falls under the Danil Hunter fallacy of not being all that productive, but being absolutely freakish athletically. And I don't think that it's very much different between those two. The only thing that I get held up a little bit with Tyreon Ingram Dawkins is that I think the Vikings are the perfect team for tweeners. So I don't think Mike Zimmer's team was the perfect team for tweeners.

I think they were very traditional roles of here are your defensive ends in the four three. Here is your nose tackle. Here is your three technique. Whereas Brian Flores is a little more dynamic when it comes to this. And this is a player who was used all over the Georgia defensive line. So maybe there's a chance that he used all over the Georgia defensive line. So maybe there's a chance that he can find and fill into a role. I had a listener describe him as like maybe the next Jahad Ward because Jahad Ward was that tweener. A total tweener of like, what do you do with them?

And they found a nice role for him in last year's defense. So that's how I look at him. But I do hesitate a little bit on the lack of production. It's one of those things where in a fifth round draft pick, if he went to Georgia and had that 40 and then was productive, he'd be a first round draft pick. You always have to have a sacrifice when you're talking about taking guys in the fifth,

but what was your feeling on him? Okay, so this is again, pretty closely aligned with where he was ultimately picked. I had a mid fifth round grade on him. So like it was almost exactly, I mean, close enough. They had, you know, it was what the first pick in the fifth round or one of the first picks. Okay. First pick in the fifth round. So I was close on just the evaluation in terms of where he would be picked. I viewed him more as a defensive tackle. I think he, like you mentioned, the production around the corner as an edge, classic edge is, was not there for me. But again, like you mentioned, he's a fifth rounder for a reason.

This is not, they didn't pick him in, you know, on day two. I compared him to Mario Edwards. And I think what you outlined was maybe an answer to the first question that you asked me, like why were you higher on the Vikings draft compared to anyone else? Because I understand that that Brian Flores, and I'm not to suggest that other analysts don't, you could say oh yeah he's a tweener, he didn't really have great production on the edge, but he's like kind of like a smaller, sleeker defensive tackle. That seems like music to the ears of Brian Flores, like literally line him up

everywhere, let him be Jahad Ward, let him line up over the a gap play as a five technique, stand up as a wide nine, put his hand in the dirt as a three technique on the next series. That's really where I think Ingram Dawkins can be at his best. Um, explosive doesn't really have a ton of path rush moves and probably what I would say, maybe go in one direction or the other with his frame, like either ask him to slim down 10 pounds or bulk up into the two eighties where you have a base role for him. And then you know, because of the athletic prowess that he can kind of still move around.

So I could understand why people were a little lower on him, but he really got on the draft radar because you watch his film, saw him doing a lot of different things, not making a ton of impact, but at the combine, how well he tested with at his size at over 270 pounds with long arms. That's why he was ultimately picked because he is that moldable ball of clay that I think makes a lot of sense to pick in the fifth round. It reminds me a lot of a Fadi Adenabo or Steven Weatherly that they drafted years ago and they were the Danielle Hunter, take a swing at that type of guy.

But one thing those two guys had in common with Tyreon is that, uh, they are, they were really bright dudes, really smart, well-educated fellas and interesting people that kind of understood how the game works, if that makes sense. And I think that Ingram Dawkins is the same way. And this is, you know, we only get a few minutes with them, but it doesn't take you too long to figure out a guy's disposition. And he was talked about as he came into the building and they were really, really impressed with his intelligence and also his attitude toward understanding that he could have gone to a different college and played more

and probably got some more NIL money, but he chose to stay with Georgia and be a rotational player. And that hurt his production. It probably hurt his development versus what he has for raw skills. And he understands that you are not going to have, this is an important thing for a team that won 14 games. You're not going to have any boat rockers. Like this guy's not going to come in and be like, I should be playing.

Is it's not going to be a difficult guy to fit into your culture and fit into your room and develop him on your timeline. It's not going to help right away, but he's a fifth round draft pick. It's very similar to a right away, but he's a fifth round draft pick. It's very similar to a Levi Drake Rodriguez last year, although he was a small school guy, great athlete, far away from being ready to really make an impact in the NFL. And then if someday the guy has a role, then you've done pretty well with that pick, but I think here is where it was very clear intelligence and this idea that he's a smart enough person and self aware enough person to pick out those areas to grow in.

But from a production standpoint, that's the one where this is a leap of faith with the coaches because the production was not all that impressive. Let's go to I think their best value pick of this entire thing. I heard from several different teams, people I know who said, God, you guys got Kobe King. We wanted him a six round linebacker. So again, this is, you know, it's not Brian or lack or pick or something. But Kobe King, I like one thing about his game after watching a little bit of him yesterday. Chris violence. I think he is a violent player. He is not afraid to run his body into somebody else's body at a very high

speed. And I just think, you know, another guy who came across as a leader at Penn State, kind of the head of the snake of their defense and a culture fit for them, but also maybe a special teams fit right away. Oh, yeah. Depth at the linebacker position, but I just enjoy the general disposition. Very Ivan pace. Like I think with this guy. Yeah, totally. So you DM me after, and I think you were, I mean, you were doing a lot. Josh Edwards, my colleague actually did the round six and round seven grades for the draft tracker.

He gave it an A minus. This is proving that I'm not just coming on here and just placating everyone and saying every pick is amazing. I was a little lower on the selection, but understand like, I understand that at 201, the six round pick, what I like is either you go the Tyrian Ingram Dawkins route and say, this guy's not really, uh, as productive as we like, but we love the athleticism or someone that has a specific role that you can see on this team that doesn't have everything out of whether it's a linebacker, whether it's an edge rusher, but like, is

going to bring more physicality and bring more size to insert whatever room he's in. Which in this case, yes, he has a similar disposition to Ivan Pace, but is bigger. And he is just the classic first and second down, quote unquote linebacker. I will read quickly, I had a seventh round grade on him. I will read my, like just the summary that I had in my scouting report.

Overall, King projects as a traditional two down linebacker who plays faster than he times, but will struggle to hold up in space at the next level. He'll need to refine his block shedding technique and improve his tackling consistency to maximize his value as a downhill early round, early down run defender. So I think he's a classic old school linebacker that will be very impactful between the tackles. And so they said, look, this guy's not jumping

out of the gym. He's not sideline to sideline range, but he is a niche role player on this team. And you mentioning special teams, I think certainly matters. You hear that from GMs and coaches all the time, once you get to the 6th and the 7th round, this is the issue with trying to evaluate this draft because when we look at when King was taken, he is the 4th player that the Vikings took in the 6th round.

And so there's everything has to be adjusted for a curve when we talk about players like this because even when we go back to Ingram Dawkins, it's like well some people brought up. Hey, maybe they could have got instead of Felton They could have taken in Kam Skattaboo or maybe they could have taken this guy or this other guy that I heard of You know that kind of thing Was coming up quite a bit and it's like guys were talking about fifth, sixth, seventh round type of players. They're really looking them for something specific. And, you know, Ingram Dawkins is a big swing at maybe someday. It all clicks with his athleticism.

And I think King is a much more safe type of pick that you're looking at going. We know at worst this guy becomes a special teams type of ace that we like in our room and he takes on the right role in his depth. And they have another player in Eric Wilson, who I know is faster than King, but Eric Wilson is this kind of depth linebacker who is useful. And again, you could take a big swing or you could get some guy who you have a pretty good idea is going to fit in. There isn't really any option where you just go, what about the great players? Like, why don't we just take one of those in the sixth? So having so few draft picks, I think we have to talk about it through the lens of where they were picked and what you could potentially get out of that,

as opposed to, well, you know, hey, this guy has limitations. Of course he does because of the place he was picked. But having heard from a couple other teams that really liked him, that would have evaluated him from a personality standpoint, I think that there might be more upside than there is physically. And linebacker is a mental position so much that there could be development for him down the road. Gavin Bartholomew, I got to tell you the truth. Okay. So you might feel differently than me on this one. I'm just like, okay,

people got their third tight end Vikings. Fans really wanted the Vikings to draft. They did. They really wanted another tight end because you look at that depth chart and you only see two guys there and Josh Oliver's a free agent after this year and I was kind of like, yeah, okay. I mean, look, six round tight end sometimes develop into something really good. Tyler Conklin did for the Vikings. He was a fifth rounder, so it's fine. I don't really have a big opinion on it, but apparently you do. So tell me about Gavin Bartholomew.

So how you felt about Kobe King, I feel about Gavin Bartholomew, that I thought this was tremendous value for the Vikings. And you just laid it out, I think very well, that it's tight end three, you have two good players in front of him. How much is he gonna see the football? Probably not very much at all. But what I like about him is that he is one of the rare,

especially day three tight ends in this draft class, who has the athletic juice to get open. Now, is he going to get open down the field on 20 yard, 30 yard flag routes? Probably not. But underneath and at the intermediate level, there is enough snap in his routes and athleticism for him to create space for himself. And I think that's the easiest way, if you're especially a day three, young tight end to garner the attention, especially of a young quarterback or of the coaching staff in practice or in the preseason or in training camp. On 105 catches in college, just four years at Pitt,

he's not 25 years old, he's not a six year player. Mistackle force rate of 18%. That's really good. Like the top tier guys, Terrence Ferguson, who went in the second round to the Rams, 22%. Tyler Warren was only 16.8%. Now he caught like 100 passes in one season last year, but this is someone in Gavin Bartholomew that also is pretty nifty after the catch and unironically scouting all of these players every year, usually the really good athletes are also very good after the catch. So I think in round six, someone that it's usually like when I think of a round six tight end, I think of oversized lumbering, just going to catch a ball on the flat, turn around

and lower his head and fall to the turf. That's not what you get with Gavin Bartholomew. He actually reminded me in his comp was Jake Ferguson of the Dallas Cowboys, who's actually turned into a pretty good player for them. I think he's like they're tight end two or three, but has that athletic juice to create separation. And then you're like, Whoa, he just made two guys miss from Wisconsin. Like I can't believe this. Gavin Bartholomew from Pittsburgh.

I saw that similar type juice and I'll look because I wanna say it for all of them where I had him graded. I did have him, I had him in the sixth round. I had him in, or no, I'm sorry. I had him in what 3.1 would be, actually I had him not far away from Tyreon Ingram Dawkins, two picks in front of Tyreon Ingram Dawkins.

So I thought this was someone that would be worthwhile for a team that's like, hey, we know he's gonna be our tight end three, but we like the receiving upside. So when that pick came in, I instantly thought that he's behind obviously TJ Hawkinson and Josh Oliver, but don't be surprised if he carves out a role like a Tyler Conklin eventually on this team. Well, and with TJ Hockinson, they have a very specific type of usage for their tight end, and they have a very specific usage for Josh Oliver as well. You have to be able to line up outside in the in the slot. And so when I saw his speed and receiving ability, I thought,

well, this makes a lot of sense that they would need someone who can run a four seven at the tight end position and not like a four nine five or something. Someone with some quickness to actually run those routes and get open. And a lot of times with the tight end position, and this is where we'll transition to his other first round picks you had takes on why I didn't like Colston Loveland to the Chicago Bears is that most tight ends in the NFL average about 10.5 yards per catch, regardless of where they were drafted or what everyone said about them being a deep threat. There's like three dudes who average more than 10.2 yards per catch. So when the Vikings draft a Gavin Bartholomew, I go, can he be a guy who

averages 10 yards a catch if he has to play, can he get underneath open, make a play with the football in his hands from time to time? And the answer is probably yes. And if you can get somebody who can even pretend to be your pro bowl starter in a pinch and be that backup, then OK. I mean, it might end up being a great pick if he actually has to get in and play if T.J. Hockinson misses any time. But then again, a tight end three is never going to be something that's super inspiring. Kind of seems like a guy that on Madden would have like 85 speed as a tight end and you would use him all the time to run past linebackers. But it's it's fine.

Yeah, I guess definitely you're more inspired than I am. But we'll see how this goes. Yeah, I mean, this is round six. And other thing that that I wanted to say before we move on 36 and a half inch vertical at the pit pro day and a 10 to broad jump So like this is not again. I I always check myself. He looked explosive and Like a good separator for the position on film 36 and a half inch vertical at around 250 pounds. Like that is big time dynamic athleticism for that position.

So just to kind of square what type of player the Vikings are getting again, in round six, I really, really liked the value because like you mentioned and how you worded it, can he like act as TJ Hockinson, like for a two game stretch and like have six catches for 60 yards? I think he could. All right. Let's go back and look at the first round. Let's do it. And the first overall pick with the least controversial first overall pickle, the whole maybe history of the NFL,

the least talked about first overall pick because this was the Chaudhry Sanders 2025 Memorial draft that no one else was allowed to have any headlines or be discussed at all. So congratulations to Cam Ward. Now suddenly the QB one facing the least pressure ever after draft night. And I think maybe had one interview that he did with ESPN and the rest of the time was spent on a fifth round quarterback, which was insane and nothing short of insane. But congratulations to him, uh, of being the number one pick and right at number two, Chris,

we got a crazy move with the Browns going up. Here's my thought as it was happening, I felt like the Browns did something really smart. Wow. They need players. They, they don't need one guy to change their franchise. Sliding back, tons of draft capital, crazy move up for the Jaguars who are desperate to make it work with Trevor Lawrence. But then you know what I did? I went through historically the number two overall picks in NFL history and I went, nah, I wouldn't have done it. Nope, I would not have done it because number two overall produces Hall of Famer after Hall of Famer at that spot.

And even when you go down to five, it is a difference between where number two is historically. And if Mason Graham is a really good player and not the next Warren sap and they drafted some other guys, a running back, a tight end. I just don't think you're getting a whole lot of value versus the Jaguars general manager talked about this guy as if he's gonna change football altogether. And when you look at his college numbers, he just might.

So I would not have done that. I would not have done, there's nothing you could have said to convince me to not take Travis Hunter. I think he's one of the best prospects that we've seen in a long time. He's also the reason Chaudhuri got drafted in the fifth. He just threw the ball up to freaking Travis Hunter every play. Have you as anybody looked at Travis Hunter's numbers as a receiver?

This guy when she when Chaudhuri was throwing it to him, Chaudhuri had 142 quarterback rating when he was throwing it to him, Chidor had 142 quarterback rating when he was throwing it to him. Like this guy is on a whole other planet from most other players. So anyway, that was I don't know. I want to know your take on that, because if it's me, you could not convince me to not draft Travis Hunter. That makes a lot of sense. And this is I mean, we could have dedicated an entire podcast to this.

I'm sure there's a lot of Jaguars and Browns podcasts that have done just that over the last few days. I see where you're coming from. I, I, and I do think that Travis Hunter is going to become a really, really good player. The only reason and would be kind of like the kicker for why I, I disagree is that if it ultimately turns into the right quarterback for the Browns next year with that 20-26 first rounder, then it really could be like that win-win type of trade like the Justin Jefferson-Stefan Diggs trade where yeah, the Vikings probably got the better end of the deal because they had a younger player who was a little better than Diggs, but the Bills were certainly happy with getting Diggs for those prime or to help Josh Allen during Stefan Diggs prime,

where we could in five years be like, well, actually the Browns have a pretty good quarterback for the first time ever. And, uh, yeah, Travis Hunter is a perennial all pro. Like it kind of worked out for both of them. So the reason why I actually kind of liked it for the Browns is that what you said at the outset there, that they're not even Travis Hunter away. And I foresee, or like, I think I was in the group of people that was foreseeing three years from now, Travis Hunter is clearly a dude and wants 45 million a year and they just are getting off the miles Garrett deal. And they're like, well, we don't really have anybody yet. Like our, our, you know, that's going to throw you the football.

What are we going to do? Are we just going to have to trade you now? We wasted your first three years. But yes, I mean, for Andrew Berry to trade off of Travis Hunter, there's certainly a non-zero chance, much higher than zero, that he's gonna look back and go, man, I could have had him and I passed him up

for a defensive tackle who's probably good, but probably not transcendent like Travis Hunter has the ability to be. And we don't say that very frequently. We throw out the term generational once in a while. I usually don't, but yes, I agree that Travis Hunter is a big time prospect that could change multiple positions in the NFL. I look at it as Hall of Famers win Superbowls for you and you can find a lot

of other people if you need to. And if there's somebody with Hall of Fame potential versus and it's not that I think Mason Graham's a bad prospect, but I think he's just, just a really good one as opposed to the number two type of caliber and we'll see how it plays out. Just from my perspective, I would not, I would not be giving up the hall of famer that could potentially drive my success. Uh, but of course I would prefer him anywhere, but Cleveland because they could mess up a one car parade. So, uh,

let's take a look at some of the other first rounders. My, just off the top of my head here, some favorite picks of mine. Of course, the Patriots taking Will Campbell, easy choice as a short, short armed man. I am pro Will Campbell, Campbell, Ted McMillan. I've had my concerns about him, but the location where he went, Carolina, Bryce Young, best receiver in the draft by far. That's a really good pick for me and some serious reaches Tyler Booker.

I thought was kind of crazy to take where they took them. I'm still not as sold on Walter Nolan or Shamar Stewart as maybe some other people are. So I didn't love those. And I absolutely loved the picks number 19 and 20 for their teams. Amika, Buka going to a team with already has good wide receivers and Jaday Baron number 20 to Denver. You can never have too many receivers.

You can never have too many corners. So those were some of mine. Uh, who were your favorites? So favorites you outlined a few, especially with the Panthers. We had seen so much during the pre-draft process, Jaylen Walker there, or at a time pre-slide, Will Johnson. I liked that they said, we want to get our young quarterback, a wide receiver. I mean, it's the, I mean, maybe it's not surprising that I'm saying that after all

of our conversations about the importance at the wide receiver position. So I liked that at number eight, um, going through, I liked Walter Nolan. I liked the fact for the same reason that you liked to Mecca, Ikebuka and Jaday Baron. The Cardinals defensive line has not been very good. The defense in general has been pretty bad for a while, but they did sign Delvin Tomlinson and they did bring back Kaleus Campbell. So Walter Nolan, who's pretty young, somewhat raw, but has crazy pass rush ability, doesn't have to be the guy right away and can learn the intricacies of being a pro and in pass rush moves and how to work out and things like

that from those two really good veterans on the inside. So I like that pick a lot. Going through, I love Donovan Jackson, like I mentioned. I was mad about James Pierce because I loved him and the Falcons like overpaid probably the biggest overpayment that I've ever seen in terms of paid probably the biggest overpayment that I've ever seen in terms of the draft trade or the draft pick trade chart like I was like who are they trading up for and then showed it showed like on the NFL Network graphic like what they were trading up for and I was like for a second I'm like are they trading up for a quarterback after picking Michael Pennings with Kirk Cousins on the roster and it was an edge rusher I love him and you could maybe make the argument oh

well if you loved him so much, would you have traded that much? No. I mean, there's never a prospect where I would ever feel so confident that I'm trading as much as the Falcons did and sending a huge surplus to the Rams to ultimately get him.

But I mean, I like the player in the Falcons pass rush has been abysmal for like 12 years. And then I guess I'll keep it local, I think Maxwell Harrison to the Bills was a really good pick at 13 because I mean you guys weren't necessarily hearing this but being on any of the Bills centric podcasts and radio stations I was on all draft season, they needed to get more of a higher ceiling at the cornerback spot. They always had these players that were overachievers. Levi Wallace, Dane Jackson, even Trinnebius white was not a big time athlete. And now they get four to eight

with, you know, big time explosiveness and ball production when he was healthy. So those were some of my, and probably all of my favorite selections in the first round. Yeah. And I think, um, somebody like Maxwell Hairston, I know that it, uh controversy with some of my friends in Buffalo with the general manager, but if they didn't believe in Luther Burden, then that's not really a place to pick them. I think that that's what we found. And it just sounds like there was some character concerns there with Luther Burden. And I'll just tell you something funny.

I saw that Burden tweeted out that he was working out at this team facility or something at 1230 after the, you didn't get drafted in the first round. And I saw so many people being like, man, he's going to have a chip on his shoulder. He's going to crush the NFL, the stuff. And my thought was that's so phony. I just thought this is just so performative, but I shouldn't blame any Gen Z for having performative things online. Like, come on with all the stuff, the gear laid out and everything. Get out.

What I don't, what I don't like is the whole, which yes, like that's fine to say that, but should we take any drastic thing from it? I don't think so. And what I don't like is the, oh, you know, every team that passed on me, I'm going to make them pay. And then like the fan base is like, Whoa, man, he's so motivated. It's like, guys, that's been said 800 times, like in the last 10 years by all the prospects that have been picked, many of which ultimately didn't work out.

I mean, I think it's okay to have that mentality if that's what motivates you. And it's even fine to say it in the media or post it on your Instagram, but I'm not booth, like I'm not raising my grade. I mean, I really did like Luther Burton, but I'm not going to like raise my grade because I'm like, oh, he was working out at midnight on Friday, on Thursday night because he didn't get picked. So, um, yeah, but I guess those are some of my favorite picks and I'm never going to really change anything based on the motivation or what is presented to the

public about what inspires these players in the draft. Yeah, I just thought it was corny on his part. It was like, OK, no one actually believes that, you know, you're doing this. So anyway, but it also reminds me of Laquan Treadwell running stairs after training camp and every media. Oh, this is great. Every media person who filmed Laquan Treadwell running stairs

in Mankato after training camp practices had the same tweet. It was like Laquan, man, he's really working at it. He's really pushing for it. Then someone asked Mike Zimmer about it and he goes, he needs to be working on his routes. It was just like, yeah, that's just performative. That's not really what's going to get you anywhere in the NFL. And, you know, Laquan's still around anyway.

So, um, the, the craziest draft to me, this one I want from you, and then we could talk to her for like two minutes. Okay. Um, cause everyone's heard enough. I agree craziest draft to me where I went, I don't understand this at all, was San Francisco. It was just. Nose tackles. I like CJ West. Do you need another linebacker? I just did not really get it at all for them.

They lost so much talent around their quarterback and essentially did nothing to help it. Uh, they have an offensive line that lost Aaron Banks. Trent Williams is older. They didn't do a lot there. It's just, I just don't know what the run stuff to run stuffing DTs are exactly supposed to do to revamp that total roster. I also think Mike L Williams is just not that good of a prospect. That was a huge reach. I don't know, man. It's so funny how fast you can go from the smartest organization in football to

like, what the heck in the world are they doing over there? That's San Francisco right now for me. Yeah. I mean, I, I echo that mostly, uh, I was actually on Mike Renner's podcast, pushing the pile after day one. So on Friday, and that was like the Mike L Williams pick at 11 overall. I was like, guys, haven't we learned enough about these workout warriors that are not that productive? It's one thing to pick Tyrian Ingram Dawkins in round five.

It's another thing to pick Mikeree and Ingram Dawkins in round five. It's another thing to pick Mike L Williams who had a pressure rate in college of 11%, 11. Like there are- That's like Kenneth Grant. That's like Kenneth Grant. Yes, yes. It literally is like Derek Harmon and Kenneth Grant

and TJ Sanders had like an 11% pressure rate at D tackle. Now I understand- Yeah, Harmon was way better than that, right? Yeah, yeah. So like I, I understand like, okay, at Georgia, he's too gapping a lot, but you're asking like for something that he's never really done. Just like fly around the corner at six, five, two 70. And then Alfred Collins who's good, but he's a nose tackle. Nick Martin is a explosive, but very,

very, very bad tackler at linebacker. And I mentioned that show because what Mike Renner said as a counter, and it was only after round one, it was like, oh, San Francisco wants to get better against the run. And then they ultimately proved that they certainly want to get better against the run, which I think is great. But what is baked into all of my grades on the defensive and offensive side, passing matters more than running. Like just because what Derek Henry and Saquon Barkley did last year, it is still

definitively a passing league. So if you're like, we're better against the run now, yeah, you'll be a little bit better. But if you can't get after the quarterback and you're not good throwing the ball, then you're not going to be nearly as good. So that one was really, really weird and maybe a good segue to the Browns. I just talked about that I didn't hate them trading back from two to five, but then afterward, I was like, okay, they get Mason Graham, and if he's a good defensive tackle,

there's a long shelf life for that position. He can be a good defensive tackle for seven to 10 years on this team. He can be the anchor on this team for to ten years on this team. He can be the, you know, the anchor on this team for a while. Then they pick an off-ball linebacker with the first pick in round two. Then they pick Quinshaw and Jenkins. And then they also picked another running back, Dylan Sampson, in round four. And I'm like, wait a minute, are you planning for the long term or the short term? When you have a second and a fourth rounder at running back?

Like that's the shortest shelf life of any position in the NFL. So I went into round two with the Browns, like, Oh, they have picked 33 and 36. They're going to draft like tackles and edge rushers and corners and and like wide receivers. They picked two running backs, a tight end and off-ball linebacker. And then Dylan Gabriel two rounds before Chedure Sanders. That one was like started off well, in my opinion, philosophically. But then I thought it went totally off the rails.

I don't know what the Browns vision is for this team this year, next year, 27, 28 and beyond. And I like Judkins. I didn't even really like him there. I liked Henderson more than him and not what I think. And what New England did made sense because he was a pass catcher for Drake May. But right. I mean, to reach on him, the linebackers good. But what's the impact of that? What? I mean, I don't know what the impact of a linebacker is going to be

versus those other positions there. It's a replaceable spot when you're building. This is like the difference between where the Vikings are and the Browns are. linebackers going to be versus those other positions there. It's a replaceable spot when you're building. This is like the difference between where the Vikings are in the Browns are that the Vikings have a solidified roster so they could just pick who they like for this current roster. The Cleveland Browns just need dudes. They need cornerstones. They need anything and everything. And to pick running back to running backs and also a tight end who, you know, is fine.

I mean, he's got good hands, but even the best case scenario on that guy, what is it really? I just told you that most tight ends average 10.2 yards per catch. Look it up. Whether they're drafted in the third round or the first round or the seventh round, they averaged 10.2 yards per catch. So I didn't get it at all.

And then that brings us to the Chedurah Sanders thing, which I thought borderline ruined the entire draft for anyone trying to watch and enjoy the draft for their team. And I also want to just say one thing, because I've already had my rant on it and we can get your take. You are not a first round player taken in the fifth.

You're not a second round player taken in the fifth. You are a fifth round pick. And anybody who got it wrong, that's on you. It's not on the NFL. And we know this, that fifth round quarterbacks, I just want people to go back and look through and tell me how many have worked out. And every single one of them,

including our guy Spencer Rattler from last year, they got to steal with that guy. They got to steal with Rattler. No, they didn't, because they just drafted another from last year. They got to steal with that guy. They got to steal with Rattler. No, they didn't because they just drafted another quarterback this year. Despite all those people who were like, you know, Rattler might be better than Michael Penex. Whoops. No, he wasn't. He just wasn't. Shadour Sanders. This is the reality. Just not a good prospect. Just not a good prospect. You and I were on this the whole time. I'm not saying fifth, but like he was not a good prospect. You and I were on this the whole time. Just, I'm not saying fifth, but like he was not a good prospect. He did not have a good arm. He had horrendous athletic traits compared to

the top athletes at his position. Like imagine you're drafting a wide receiver and Justin Jefferson and Jamar chase of the cream of the crop. And then you compare it to like Xavier Restrepo or something who people loved and had a name but was running a four seven. Like that's the athletic gap. Someone who can barely even get in the door athletically to the NFL. It's not that shocking. It's not unprecedented.

We saw it with Willis. We saw it with Sam Howell a couple of years ago. This is not a thing that is really crazy and should not have been talked about anywhere near how much it was. It was a media invention based on his last name and popularity from how many times Colorado was on TV because of who his dad is. But I promise you, Kyle Brandt said this today,

I promise you if the National Football League believed Shadr Sanders could win them one half of football more than anybody else, they would have drafted him could win one more game could be a long-term starter. They would have taken him. They just didn't and then it's on TV where he's being compared to Tom Brady and I just want to throw myself off of US Bank State.

So it was as frustrating of a couple days as I can ever remember with this Chedur Sanders conversation. It's really very simple. bank state. So it was as frustrating of a couple days as I can ever remember with this Chaudhuri Sanders conversation. It's really very simple. We do not have to call in Al Sharpton to have a conversation about this. This was a bad prospect at quarterback compared to other quarterbacks that get taken high. And yet we're seeing all the conspiracies and everything else come out. It was ludicrous. It got off the rails so fast and it's really the easiest answer is the right

one. Guys, not a great prospect. Yeah. One hell of a rant there. And I, and I agree with the vast majority of everything you mentioned. Um, when my friends were texting me, like, I'm sure you were getting texts about it and you probably annoyed, like this is not a Vikings target whatsoever. When I kept responding like on day two, I was like, he's not a great prospect.

And I do think some of the, you know, bad interviews, which happened with other prospects, like, hey, he didn't have a good interview. He fell a half of a round or he turned some teams off, maybe some teams that were interested. When you're not that great of a prospect and you have the character or maturity concerns, you can fall in the draft. Now do I think, I mean, I will agree with you that I don't think this was a first rounder who went in the fifth round. He was a fifth round pick and I'm glad that you brought up Sam Howell because Sam Howell didn't have a famous last name or a famous dad, But the year before he was in his final season at North Carolina, go look at the mock drafts.

It was Sam Howell won Spencer Rattler too. He won in the fifth round and he had a much stronger arm than Shadrur Sanders dealt with a bad offensive line in his final season, just like Shadrur Sanders, but didn't have again, the name recognition. So we were all like kind of blown away, but like, oh man, Sam Howell, I guess league didn't really like him. Now he's the Vikings backup. It was kind of a similar case to me where it was easy

as a draft analyst to look at these clear cut holes in his game. Now I still thought he should have been picked somewhere second or third round. And I was a little bit surprised that it was round five, but everything that that we've talked about with Travis Hunter kind of reminded me of Johnny Manziel. Not that he's I don't think he's as bad as Johnny Manziel off

the field, but my one one of the takes that I've gotten right and especially early in my draft analyst career in 2014. I was way down on Johnny Manziel and repeatedly wrote. Mike Evans made this guy a first round prospect. So many of his just tosses up there where Mike Evans was literally like Randy Moss and guys were like, what a great throw from Manziel. It was like, no, not really. And that's kind of how I felt watching Colorado live.

And then going back and watching shooter Sanders where right away I was like, all right, I'm excited. Like, let's see if this guy's legit. And I'm like, Oh my God, his feet are like Carson Wentz in the pocket. He cannot move. Not really that athletic. And what bugged me is the seeing the most highest completion percentage in college football history.

I wrote an article pre draft. I don't remember the exact number. His average depth of target was like 129th out of 150 quarterbacks. It was just screen, screen, screen, shallow cross, slant, screen, screen, screen. So to say that he's hyper accurate was just proves that you did not watch the film because there were a lot of big time misses on film. So I do think maybe a little bit more than you that the interview process and his overall demeanor, and maybe just teams not wanting this huge entourage around him like he had at the combine, but you are absolutely spot on that this was just not a high caliber quarterback prospect. I will end on a positive note though and say by round five for the Browns, it just made sense.

Like we're just going to roll the dice because that's what fifth round quarterbacks are. Like you pointed out that we don't have a quarterback. We have Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Deshaun Watts is not really on the team. Essentially. Let's just pick a quarterback just because it's a fifth round quarterback. So I think at that point, I like to pick just from a zoomed out team building standpoint, that it's such a high value position and you're the Browns, you need some type of answer and more roles at the table at that position.

Well, here's the thing. So you can have them in the second round and he could have undraftable interviews and that's how you end up in the fifth, right? That's the information that nobody admits with the quarterback position. It's different than any other position. If you are looking at a DT, we can all see the athletic traits and what that's going to do. Now, if the guy has a bad interview as a DT, the team might just be like,

oh, well, like he's just a freak. So whatever. Let him let him cook. This might be Ted McMillan, by the way, might not have been the best in terms of his work ethic and all that stuff. But they're going to put him with Bryce Young and see what happens because he's the most athletically gifted and we're going to give it a shot. in terms of his work ethic and all that stuff, but they're gonna put him with Bryce Young and see what happens, because he's the most athletically gifted and we're gonna give it a shot.

You don't do that with quarterback. The JJ McCarthy gets drafted in the first round because he has great, great physical traits, but also from the shoulders up is phenomenal. And what is it that's gonna drive this success in the NFL? We see this from Brock Purdy. We also see it from the great, great quarterbacks where it's the mix of athleticism,

but also processing, leadership, coachability is going to matter. And the reality is you're giving your franchise over to a quarterback when you draft them in the first, you better really believe in the human being. It's clear that people didn't. And I just got frustrated with, we don't have to conflate this with the times

throughout history that the NFL has mis-evaluated black quarterbacks. Because Cam Newton being talked about for his disingenuous smile and stuff like that, though he was number one overall, but like the Lamar Jackson, he should be a wide receiver. And even Jalen Hurts dropping to the second was pretty preposterous. There's's been a long long history of this that was not what we're looking at

No, if you go into an interview with the Giants and get in a fight with the head coach I mean, you're just probably not gonna go very high because word gets around and everybody had it seemed like the same experience So I just it turned into a circus and I just thought, isn't this all the more reason not to do it? If it's gonna be a circus, the guy better be as good as Cam Newton. And he's not. Yes, absolutely, that's what I'm getting at too.

All right, so anyway, all right, I'll move on. We'll move on. But it was an incredible, incredible draft season with you, despite the fact that they didn't have many picks. We had a lot of fun, Chris, in your effort, your work ethic that you put into this every year. You bring incredible information to the show and there's a lot of jokesters out there

in the draft universe and people hear me rant about them. You are the real deal. That is why you are here doing this. You're never gonna be 100% right. Neither am I, neither is anybody else. But the work that gets put into the film you watch, your process, your grades, and how much fun we have is the reason you are

the official draft analyst of this show. So I cannot thank you enough for your time. I look forward to this show every year. And then once we get going in late January, early February, whenever it is, I look forward to it every single week because of everything that you just laid out. The Purple Insider fans have been great.

And I think they've really, I don't wanna say just welcomed me because a lot of what I've said is positive, but ironically, the Vikings have built over the last four years into a team that's a 14-win club and looks like one of the Super Bowl contenders in the NFC. They've built through the draft,

they've added in free agency. It's been fun to kind of blend some of those things in, in March when they're signing of Andrew Van Ginkle, Jonathan Grenard, things like that. So I, I really have enjoyed this too. It's, it's my favorite interview of the week. And then this episode to talk about the picks after all of the speculation, uh, is super fun for me. So I can't thank you enough for having me on this show every single week. I absolutely love it. I will say football and I will leave you with the final football draft season. Go ahead.

Football.