Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso gives his final draft rant and prospects he loves

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

Matthew Coller is joined by CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso one final time before the draft. Coller and Trapasso discuss their thoughts on the process to get to this point, their final draft rants and the prospects they love.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 along with CBS Sports draft analyst Chris Tripaso, who I now see on every show everywhere all the time. I've been thrilled to see you getting some TV time and everything else. Chris locally there, you live in Buffalo Buffalo getting on their channels as well. So I've shared you with a lot of different people out there looking for draft information, but I can't say enough was we go into the final stretch. How much I appreciate you coming to the combine doing shows with me there every single week, finding a lot of different ways to break

this down. But we have reached the final show before the NFL draft and then it'll be our final show of draft season breaking down the Vikings picks next week. So here we are. And what I wanted to do today is floors open, whatever you want to talk about, whatever I want to talk about remaining thoughts of NFL draft seasons. You want to rant about something. You want to say, Hey, why don't we talk about this guy more, whatever it is. Why don't you just start us off? I told you, Hey, make a list of things that are still on your mind. Throw something out there. Let's talk final draft stuff that we're thinking about.

Okay. First, I want to say, I appreciate you for having me on and like you're mentioning, I'm super grateful for getting a lot more opportunities on air. I think Purple Insider was the springboard and me screenshotting off my phone things that we've talked about all the way dating back to 2021 where we were talking about Penny Sewell and Zach Wilson until now. It's been an awesome springboard for me. So I really appreciate it. And I love just coming on to just talk draft with you every single week, learning the, the inner depths of another team in the NFL on the NFC side. It's been a lot of fun as well.

It's kind of like giving me a little bit of rooting interest when I'm not watching, you know, anything on the AFC side. So that's been a lot of fun. I will say, um, do you want me to start like nitty gritty draft or just generic draft rant that I want to go on? Like wherever you want to go, man, you just fired up. This is our final thoughts clear in the notebook. I have not asked you what you were going to say. I didn't tell you what I'm going to say. So just go.

So I think this can be a segue into us potentially talking about the Bruce Feldman, Bob McGinn series, where they dive into their notebooks of what they've heard from scouts. In reading those, I think they are so enlightening and it does feel like Bob McGinn series at golongtv.com every year. I think it was, used to be for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but that's where it's housed now. It's really enlightening and there's more damning or overly positive opinions of the prospects than what we saw in Bruce Feldman's draft confidential that came out at the athletic earlier this week. But what I find in reading those, it's like they're cool, but like in some of the paragraphs or in almost all of the paragraphs,

you see James Pierce is an amazing edge rusher. I think he sucks. So it, it, it's enlightening in that you see that there are wide ranging opinions on these players, but it's really hard, I think, to take anything concrete away unless like every quote from every scout on a player is just raving but then nitty-gritty of it is in being someone and I said it last week when we talked about Jedi Baron, Jaday Baron excuse me, that I have as I've evolved as a draft analyst and I try to be great for CBS I try to be better and be as accurate as possible for this show that I've realized I need to blend film with analytics. I think you not actually being a draft guy, but covering very well one team,

you like to dive into the numbers as well, that in reading those confidential scout, anonymous scout quote stories, I'm almost surprised in a way that there is still so much qualitative and subjective scouting that goes into it. Like for example, I'm not trying to like single out any prospect and I obviously don't know who these scouts are.

In the Bruce Feldman piece, they talk about Omarion Hampton and one of the descriptors is he's very elusive on film. Maybe he seems that way to a scout or to me or to you or someone who loves North Carolina football or whatever. The numbers would say he's not really that elusive relative to his counterparts. The highest miss tackle force rate that Omarion Hampton had in college was right around 26%. Ashton Genti is it like 40. A lot of the

high caliber elite prospects at running backs, Saquon Barkley was in the mid 30s, Bijon Robinson, upper 30s. So to call him elusive, I think that in reading that there was something about Colston Loveland, I believe in the Bob McGinn series, same thing, really great after the catch. No, he's not. He's just generally, like he's specifically not, and I don't want to sound like a well actually person, but when the numbers are there and someone else at PFF, a team of people that have been checked

and there's two and three layers of double and triple checking that have already done the work, it almost was enlightening to me that I was like, this is how and why teams get things wrong. Because you can watch a specific player see Omarion Hampton rip off a long run and go, oh man, he's so elusive. But over the course of the season, relative to how many carries he had, he really wasn't that elusive. So it was like enlightening to me that this is how scouts still think and these scouts are in the ears of GMs and a lot of the GMs came up in the scouting ranks. But I'm also at the same time like surprised that more teams, I

mean again these is coming from scouts, but I'm hoping or surprised at the same time that teams are actually looking at these numbers that are quantitative and they are objective where no like Omarion Hampton is not that elusive. Last year Blake Corum, I got a lot of pushback from Michigan fans saying oh my god Blake Corum's like the most elusive back in college football in this draft class. The numbers say he wasn't that elusive and he wasn't that great of an athlete. So it wasn't like, and it's, I like to watch the film, write the scouting reports. That's how I came up too in this industry. But as we've gotten so many more numbers and so many more avenues to cross check ourselves,

I feel like it's silly to not do that. So that's one thing that I've noticed with my big board looks a lot different than the consensus. And that's one other thing that I want noticed with my big board looks a lot different than the consensus. And that's one other thing that I want to talk about later. A lot of what I'm doing in my scouting grade book is seeing what I, or writing what I'm observing and then checking it with the numbers. And if I think someone to stay on the running back topic is crazy elusive and I see, oh, the highest Mistyco Forest rate he had was like 22%. That's half as good as Ashton Gentry. I'm not going to write, I think that I can, you know, see through the weeds

of the analytics here that he actually is super elusive. So that's one thing to me that has really stood out. It sounds like kind of old curmudgeon-y or well actually type of guy, and I'm really not that dude, but I think the numbers need to be embraced even more in the NFL that we've been in this analytics movement for a while. I think when it comes to the draft, teams need to utilize them more to get these prospects right more often. Guys, if you watch the show all the time,

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Well, there's a few thoughts that I have there. I mean, one is that I think pieces like that, that talk to scouts or talk to coaches are for entertainment purposes only, and that's not to take away from the effort that it takes from Bruce Feldman, who I respect immensely and wrote one of the best books that I've ever read about quarterbacks. You should go check that out.

So I'm a huge fan of Bruce Feldman's work, but also it's just a handful of people and their opinions, which is interesting to read. And I'm always going, oh, okay. Well, okay. That's an interesting thought there. Or I wouldn't have expected someone who's really in this industry to think that way. I mean, even with Donovan Jackson, for example, who I think would be a fine selection if the Vikings took him,

maybe a little bit of a reach. But one of the comments was, well, he played left tackle on a team that won the national championship. And I like, did he do it alone? Was he the only guy out there? Like that's the measure that we're using this for. I mean, they just trounce Notre Dame. I wouldn't have mattered if anybody played left tackle that day.

So it's some of the comments you're amazed by how antiquated the thinking is when they dive into scouts. And even in the McGinn piece, there was certain language used that I was like, do we use that language still about football players that we're talking about? I don't think so, man. So there are a lot of people behind the scenes where we tend to think of the NFL going full technology and out into outer space that with how they're using next gen and all the PFF data and everything else.

And then some guy says, well, you played a left tackle on a winning team. It's like, okay, well, that's not really the way we should look at this. But then again, I always wonder too, how much of this is just, well, I'm just going to say something because the and a lot of the Feldman piece, it's like people are saying really nice things about these guys. But does that separate Will Johnson and how good he might be from the Vikings to Jedd A. Barron? It really doesn't. It just gives us a little snapshot of what some people think. And I get during draft season overload with information and this is why I don't do what you do and why I have you on the show because you do something completely different than me. I read reports from the same people i've read reports from forever.

And then i look at all the data and that's what i do and when the vikings draft the guy i go back and watch a lot of him. I'll see snapshots here there i'll read film breakdowns here there but i'm not watching a bunch of tape because it's i'm not good at it. Like I don't watch college football that much. I don't know if this is a good play. I mean, I know that like Jaden Daniels running away from 50 guys who play for the Florida Gators is impressive. But if you're asking me, what's the difference between Walter Nolan and Derek Harmon on tape? I'd be like, I'm just going to have to ask somebody else because

I'm I'm just not I can't contextualize it with the NFL. I can contextualize it because I've been covering the NFL and I'm at every game and I've been watching all 22 forever. I'm like, shouldn't that guy beat that guy? Like, I don't know. I think they're in college. Of course this guy who's a first round draft pick, I watch Ashton Gentian. I'm like, yeah, college running back should look like that.

And every draft analyst is like, Oh my God, this is the greatest thing I've ever seen. I'm like, oh, okay. Well, I mean, it's not that I don't know he's good, but trying to figure out how that projects to the NFL, that's better for some other people. But when you have so many draft analysts, so, and you're part of the problem, Trapaso, there's so many, there's so much interest that there's so many draft analysts and there's so much interest that there's so many draft analysts and there's so much data and so much information like sumer sports comes out with their draft guide and that's just more information to look at and PFF's got all theirs and then

the traditional stats and then everybody's got an opinion and by the end you're like, what I draft everyone. I don't know. They're all good. I guess like, it's just, it can be a lot. It can be overwhelming. So trying to sort through who I think might have the right information or the best information. There's a reason that you're on this show in part is because I don't

think you just go with the consensus and I know that you put the work in. So even if I think, Oh, you know, today Baron might be you just go with the consensus and I know that you put the work in so even if I think You know today Baron it might be a good fit with the Vikings better than where you have them on your board We could talk about that Without it being like I'm the one who's the highest on him That's the other thing, you know The egos get out of control around this time and the draft reports get out of control at this time so what I've tried to do is I've tried to be more Zen about it

and kind of put myself in a little box of I'm always going to read those NFL.com Lance Zierlein breakdowns. Me too. I love those always I always because I because I think Lance sees a profile of the player when you go back and look just pick a player go back and look five years ago and now that know the results, strengths and weaknesses are probably pretty accurate. And I think he's really accurate in that. And it paints a nice picture in not a lot of words. And sometimes, I mean, there are people who are really good at this, who write 50,000 words on

these players online. I just can't, I don't know what to. There's no way there's that much information. I've seen real people who were scouting tweet out scout reports from the past and they're like seven sentences on strengths and five on weaknesses and stuff. There's like there's no way you saw that much of an actual player. So it's yeah, I think you've probably gotten to the point where draft season has broken you a little bit. Yeah. And you're just like, I don't know What am I what am I supposed to say when this?

Latest piece has the latest insider saying whatever which might be immediately blown up on draft night So I feel I like that. I'm gonna take a different. I'm gonna take it a different direction though. Okay, let's hear it because I Have in the past had total meltdowns about the same thing you're talking about and everybody knows. Wait, I just want to say quickly, this is not to dismiss anyone that of course just watches film and I think just to interject quickly and then you can give your your take. I'm glad that you brought up Lance Zerlin because I think there are definitely very talented film only evaluators and I wasn't saying that in reading Bob McGinn's piece or Bruce Feldman's piece, anyone that I disagreed with, I said, Oh my God, that guy's crazy. I know he does it. That's not

what I meant. I just meant when there is certifiable numbers to back up specific claims. And then you read the opposite, like, Oh, this guy's super fast. And then you're like, no, he's not. Or he's super elusive or he's great breaking tackles when it's like, no, he's not his yards after contact per rush was one of the worst among running backs. That's where I'm like, wow, like that's what that scout saw when the PFF grading with multiple people checking it ultimately did not have that even in the same stratosphere. It had the other end of the spectrum. So not dissing film guys. I'm a film guy too.

I just think numbers and the, the, um, what is not, uh, not subjective. What is objective needs to be more of a cross check for even these scouts working for the teams. Yeah, no, I think that's a really good point. And the smarter front offices are probably really good at cross checking that. And I know that, uh, what quasi da Fomenta has said in the past in marrying the film with the data is if they don't match up, they got to figure out why. And I think the good front offices do.

I was interpreting a little bit different of just information overload that by the time we reach the when we're ready to pick, I feel like I don't understand anything about the draft anymore because so many people have had so many different takes on it. And I'm trying not to be that way and trying to kind of keep it contained with that. So ironically, I think the Vikings are really good at doing that at marrying the film with the analytics. I think quasi Adolfo Mensa's analytics background that he is able to step away like outside of himself, so to speak and say, yeah, we, we like this guy, Dallas Turner, whatever, but the analytics absolutely love him. So that is a double check mark. Let's trade up and get Dallas Turner. So I think with the Ivan Paces and the Dwight McClotherns and the, uh, later round players, undrafted guys that

they brought in to this roster, I think they are probably at the forefront of literally saying like, all right, maybe our scouts don't see this with whatever, but the analytics do. So we're going to bring in Ivan Pace and he's going to be our, you know, gem of our undrafted free agent class. So that's just the last thing I'll say, I'll step aside, but I think it's ironic and it ties into the Vikings because their GM is probably as good at marrying those two elements of scouting than any other GM in the league. I have noticed, uh, over the last two drafts, obviously the 2022

one is a total disaster. But that one I thought was kind of anti analytical. And some of the players didn't grade very well. There were some really red flag stats on guys like Ed Ingram, who really had nothing special statistically. And even Lewis seen being a position that they normally wouldn't draft when they were desperate for so many different things and stuff like that. Over the last couple of drafts, even a Jordan Addison leaning on tape and numbers and not his height and weight ended up playing out really well for them.

And then being anti analytical at times as well. I'm not going to go as far to say that they're the best at it until they have the results that say that like Philadelphia does. But, um, I think that their process over the last couple of years, I've noticed that correlating a lot more with what some of the data says. And I think there's probably something to that. So here's where I want to go totally different direction. Okay. I can't wait to see Travis Hunter play football. And if he goes to the Cleveland Browns, which it looks like he's going to that stinks. I hate that. I want him anywhere, but there and that's probably where he's going to go. The Cleveland Browns are the most disaster, pathetic abomination

of a franchise. And I know that that's how you get great talents. Like Travis Hunter. There's no one who's drafting number one or two, who is not an abomination of a franchise. And even when they try to act like last year, well, you know, Chicago's the best team is draft. Nah, they still stink.

If you're drafted number one, you're bad. And so if you're the Titans, of course, that's why I saw Kyle Brandt ranting about how no one's talked about cam war during this draft season. Like, is no one cares about Tennessee, man. They could be drafting whoever and they wouldn't get any part of the discussion. But just for his sake, I hope that that franchise turns some things around and uses him correctly and doesn't turn this into a mess.

Like they've done with so many other players, so many other things. They've wasted a lot of, they wasted all of Joe Thomas's time. They wasted a lot of miles Garrett's time. I don't want them to waste Travis Hunter's time because this could be a truly unique all time, fascinating football player, impactful football player. And even if he becomes 70% of what his potential is, he can still be a lot of fun. He could do a lot of different things, playing receiver, playing corner,

picking off passes, making plays kind of reminds me of how Charles Woodson at his earliest point in his careers, he was in his career. Well, I guess he kind of did have two careers because he played in safety. Yeah. But he went to the Raiders and they were so bad. It was like, does anybody even see Charles Woodson play football? And I don't want that to be the case with Travis Hunter because I watched a ton of his Colorado games. I love watching him play football.

He's one of the most energetic, exciting. He tracks The football like no corner that you're ever going to find. And then he has legit wide receiver talents. I can't wait to see him play, but I just Cleveland. Can you not? Can you not? Because they had two of the all time greatest players in NFL history in the last 20 years. And those guys barely ever saw the playoffs. If ever barely ever saw winning seasons, if ever figure it out Cleveland. So I can enjoy watching Travis Hunter play football.

I mean, that is total opposite of what I was being super nerdy as a draft analyst saying, but that is exactly how I feel too. I'm so excited for this and I'll go one step further, just not to rehash everything that you just eloquently said there. how I feel too. I'm so excited for this and I'll go one step further just not to rehash everything that you just eloquently said there. So I was on a Bill's Daily Show last week and one of their team reporters, Maddie Glab, who's great, she was the host, and we talked about Travis Hunter and she asked me a question and worded it in a way that I had not heard during this pre-draft process, which seems impossible because all we've done is talk about Travis Hunter,

just collectively that she asked if I think that if Hunter works out in Cleveland, maybe they don't go to the playoffs every year, but he's just a clear star. Will that have a ripple effect on other prospects? Like will other teams be like, Hey, this corner that's like 6'1", 190, who runs a four, three with a 40 inch vertical and had six picks last year, we're going to trout him out and just like throw on bubble screens and see how he runs routes. I don't think that Travis hunters grow on

trees, but it will be really fascinating to see if the college game is actually the copycat of the NFL for once, where it's not just the NFL copying copying everything all the formations, RPOs, zone reads, Wildcat, all of that from college and I'm not gonna say that I think next year or in two years there'll be another Travis Hunter that we'll be talking about but if it does work out it wouldn't shock me if in a few seasons we have more players that are like hey I want to be a two-way player maybe I I can't play 100 snaps every single game, but I'm athletic enough to be a running back and a linebacker or a wide receiver in a corner

like Travis Hunter. So that was interesting to me. And I think there is an avenue where he can ultimately lead the way and be the pioneer for like legitimate Cordell Stewart, but times five in terms of how much he's playing multiple positions in the NFL. I'm very skeptical of that actually happening.

OK, because because he's so unique and he's so rare. It's like Shohei Otani. Oh, is Otani going to inspire a generation of to a players? I mean, probably not. Right. Because it's just too hard. And even then he tears his arm trying to do it. I think the same thing about Steph Curry, where certainly a generation of kids grew up shooting a lot more threes than they ever did before.

But they didn't all shoot him from half court, right? It's like there's just not you go through the NBA now and you go. There's really only one guy who's still shooting 20 feet away from the basket in the men's basketball side. And there's one player in the women's basketball side, and maybe that will increase at some point, but it was kind of Dame Lillard, Trey young and Steph Curry were the only guys who were really doing it.

So maybe I think it's just so unique, uh, for him specifically that I'd be surprised, but you're right. If it works out, there will at least have to be conversations about certain players. We'll try it. And it has happened a little bit, but even how about this? This, this goes back forever because Dion had played for the Cowboys.

I was watching back the 03 draft and the Cowboys take Terrence Newman. In college, Terrence Newman played some offense. And so they're talking about, you know this could be a guy that they use. Like they use Dion and they could put him at receiver. He had one career carry for four

yards and that was it. So I think I think it's going to be tough, but that's why I'm saying that's why I'm screaming at the top of my lungs. Like do not mess this up because it could be something that we remember forever is this guy who came in and made an impact on both sides of the field so I'm just urging the Browns not to be the Browns. Yes let's hope they accentuate all of his massive amount of talent that he has. I'll

stay more player specific uh and again I'm going to sound like I'm not fun at parties. I'm a Debbie Downer, negative Nancy. I think this quarterback class stinks. I think it is, and maybe we've talked about this, so I don't need to go on forever, but I think it is very similar to the 2022 class where it is a general media creation of Jackson Dard and Tyler Shuck in the second round. And I think Chidurah Sanders is, is okay. I think he's fine. I don't think in any other draft and if his last name was not Sanders

and he wasn't Deon's kid, we would be like, Oh yeah, like solid early, mid second rounder cam ward would be like a mid to late first rounder, kind of like what we saw in 2022. So I think we'll look back two, three years from now. Could there be one who ultimately works out? Sure. Would it surprise me though, if it's like 2022 and like none of them work out? And maybe if you just hang on for dear life in the league, but are not legitimate starters,

that's what I think is the most likely outcome at large for this 2025 quarterback class. Yeah, the quarterback class. The thing about Cam Ward was after watching him in college a handful of times, and I'm just talking on TV. I didn't study any of the quarterbacks this year for obvious reasons with the Vikings. But I saw a handful of games and I was like, OK, I mean, he's got a pretty strong arm. I wouldn't say it's the strongest arm I've ever seen. He makes some fun plays. I wouldn't say they's the strongest arm I've ever seen. He makes some fun plays.

I wouldn't say they're the most fun plays I've ever seen. You know, I saw somewhere like, oh, well, he does some home stuff. And any time I see that, my brain just shuts down. Just like, no, I'm no, we're not doing that. That's just not happening here. He scrambles a little, but not a lot. And I just am like, OK, I mean, he put up a lot of numbers and he played in a lot of shootouts, which is going to help your numbers. And he was a like, okay. I mean, he put up a lot of numbers and he played in a lot of shootouts,

which is going to help your numbers. And he was a fun college player. Yeah. But when you go number one overall, the expectation is that you're going to be a superstar who can bring a franchise back for you could be Joe burrow. I didn't see a Joe burrow level to cam ward. And in some ways I feel bad for him that he's going to go number one, which is way higher than he would normally go in most drafts and therefore get very little leeway

on once again, a franchise who is just as bad. Like if we were doing rank the worst franchises in sports, I mean, the Browns are certainly at the very bottom, but Tennessee's not much farther ahead of them. And he's got to come into a spot where he's live streaming himself playing video games, which I hope he's willing to give that up because there's not a lot of time for video games. When, as Kyler Murray found out when you're a franchise quarterback.

But the point just being that, you know, I think he's in tough. Oh, when he was live streaming, he was like, yeah, you know, Calvin Ridley and Traylon Burks are great. And you're like, no, no, sorry, pal. You got nothing. You have absolutely nothing to work with there. And the Baron roster, they also I mean, they should just play Will Levis for next year. But if you're Will Levis, you're like, are you going to trade me or what?

What's going to happen here? That's a pretty messy situation. I haven't been a believer in any of the other guys, including Sanders. I'm not fully convinced that he goes in the first round. We've seen players like Levis drop. We've seen Malik Willis drop. Somebody might buy into him, but it's been I think it's been tough on the draft analysis world because there's nothing more fun than a six first round quarterback draft

where everyone can have these detailed opinion. And the great thing is, too, that I mean, if we ask a lot of fans, even really knowledgeable ones, hey, Walter Nolan or Derek Harmon, like, yeah, I mean, maybe you watch some and maybe you draft sim and look at their data and everything else. Quarterbacks are so easy to watch and we all saw them in college. We can all have big opinions. How many games did cam ward even end up on TV?

There wasn't a lot of them that were really out there. So I kind of feel like empathy for cam ward. This is not going to be easy. And I did a real thing. Last thing on that was I did a thing where I looked at the supporting cast grades for all the rookie quarterbacks who came into the league of the last, I think five or six years. So what did they have for wide receiving grade and pass blocking grade and running grade three things that would help them the most.

And I even looked at their defense. I think that would help a quarterback to have a good defense, a little more leeway and, um, no surprise, the quarterbacks that made it had way better across the board and oftentimes they had elite in certain areas across the board, elite receivers like Brock Purdy or elite offensive line, even like Bo Nicks last year with an elite offensive line. Yeah. What, what exactly does cam ward have? He's got nothing. I would not want to see him play in the first year, but you and I know how this is going to go. He's the big ticket item.

It's going to go the same way it will. It went for Caleb Williams, whether you're ready or not, you're playing buddy. So good luck. And it is funny though, isn't it though, that everybody goes crazy over recruiting. And the number one overall pick was a zero star. And you got five stars who are transferring to seven different colleges, cause they can't play.

It's kind of funny. And Josh Allen is the reigning MVP. Right. Very similar story. Yeah, it is crazy that disparity. And it's actually ironic, obviously, in the transfer portal era that is kind of gone off the rails, in my opinion. Absolutely.

What's it? So that was yours. Anything else you want to say about the quarterbacks? No, that's it. OK, I'm going to say this. We have been doing this since 2021, I think, right? Was our first year. And we've gone in depth on many different draft classes, looked at many different types of positions.

We've had arguments over the Vikings draft quarterbacks and the notch. Well, all these fun debates. I think this year has been the most fun lead up for the Vikings draft, which is strange because they're 24th. And that's not a great draft pick to have. And we haven't really gone like back and forth on. I think they should take a DT. No corner. I'll fight you. We haven't had that because number one,

the organization has done such a good job of setting themselves up. Kevin O'Connell today said we don't need anything like we don't need desperately a single position. And that's allowed you and I to have so many more fun discussions about all the different options. And I think it was O'Connell today said, I'm trying to remember exactly what it was. He said something like for all the work we've put into it,

I'm going to be kind of sad watching these guys come off the board. And I feel the same way. When Trey Amos gets picked, I'm going to be like, that was my guy or, you know, it's Luther Burden goes to somebody else, which I'm sure he will. I'm like, oh, no wide receiver for the Vikings. This is the first time I felt that way because the Vikings have been in such dire positions to draft certain stuff for such a long time that I haven't felt

like this before and, or they were not in a position to contend. So whoever they were drafting, I was like, well, you know, okay, they need this or that or the other thing, but whoever they pick, if it's not a quarterback, it's not going to change the world. So the fact that they have their quarterback, they spend free agency. And now this is kind of like a nice fun cherry on top for the fans. I think that's another thing, too, that the fans have been the least ragey I've ever seen them going into a draft.

So that's been a good time. It has been and it's that was like the Viking specific Rant that I was gonna go on about and and and take it in a more general perspective that I think Maybe this is similar to Oh not, you know picks 12 through 42 are all the same And I said, I don't want to do that, but I think we will see more surprising names in this first round than we've ever seen or in the last five to 10 years, which makes it a lot of fun with the Vikings

sitting there with one of those selections. And the segue, I guess it's not really a segue, but to your point, I think it's really good. And that me being a draft analyst, I know this, I've researched this. Not just the teams that are contenders, because usually when you're picking 24, 25, 26, 27, you were a good team the year before you made the playoffs.

But when clubs are literally not lying afterward, but are actually going best player available, because they have filled most, if not all, of their needs in free agency or via trade. And they can just say, hey, like, yeah, we didn't really need a safety, but Nick Manwurri is sitting there, so let's pick him. Those are the teams that usually not just like hit on the picks, but sustain being contenders. and it's very hard to do in the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens come to mind, the Eagles come to mind, the Kansas City Chiefs obviously. They're never, it's a lot of times even the 49ers, teams that are always right

there winning double-digit games and it's a bounce here and a bounce there and they're in the Super Bowl or they're just missing it you know in the divisional round or the championship round in their respective conferences. I think too many teams draft for need. And we know that the roster turnover in the NFL, even when you are that playoff contender or you're dubbed as a Super Bowl contender or your windows wide open, those rosters change over so quickly. I always think

back to 2014 when the Rams had Chris Long and Michael Brockers and they drafted Aaron Donald and everyone's like they don't need a defensive lineman. What are they doing? I think they had some like a few other early round selections on their defensive line but it was just like no. Aaron Donald, which the Rams are a great example too, Aaron Donald was a special talent and they got a hall of fame, first ballot hall of fame player, potentially the best defensive player ever upfront on that team.

So I think the Vikings are in a really good position to take full advantage of how much fun this pre-draft process has been to be like, oh, there goes one of the corners that we'd like, but there's five more and there's a D tackle and there's a safety and maybe there's a wide receiver that we like. So I totally agree with you. It's been a lot of fun thinking of the Vikings at 24, especially in the context

of the mystery surrounding the first round in this draft class. Okay. Here's what I'd like to do before we draft. I mean, of course we have to both put it on paper who we think the Vikings are going to pick. So we got to do that. But also because we do that every year. Who's our final answer? Who we think the Vikings pick? Sometimes right, sometimes wrong. I also want to put on paper dudes we think will be awesome.

Not, oh, if he goes to this team, then I think it'll work out for him. Or, you know, he could be a pretty nice little role player there with that team. I mean, doesn't matter where you want to decide. Whatever could be the number one pick could be the 400th pick. There is no 400 pick. Tell me dudes you think are going to be awesome. And I think I've probably said enough names on this of guys that I like for everybody to kind of know who I think is going to be good.

But I'll just start with one that I haven't talked a ton about, but I think is possible for the Vikings. And it really did pop to me that I had mentioned Dexter Lawrence in the same conversation with Kenneth Grant. And then it shows up in the athletic piece. I think Kenneth Grant's going to be fricking awesome. He's a big old beast who moves like crazy. Somebody maybe it was Ted Wynn from the athletic.

Somebody tweeted out a video of him as a stand up rusher on a play. And then he just like swim, moved a guy. I was like, what, what is this? I absolutely love enormous men who have crazy flexibility and could put some moves on somebody. And this guy probably shoots a basketball. Well, I, I like the heck out of Kenneth Grant and I think he's going to be awesome. Okay. So I don't think I've talked about him on here much, but on some of those other spots

that I've been on, I've definitely, uh, probably spoken at nauseam about this player for a lot of the same reasons that you just mentioned, not a defensive tackle, offensive side, Jack Bash, the wide receiver from TCU. I bet everything that he does golf, baseball, basketball. He is just a tremendous athlete. He's not super explosive, but all of the little things that make Pukunakua really, really good, despite not having four three speed and a 40 inch vertical. I mean, you spoke to the fact that a lot of those low four three, four two wide receivers

that go in the first round, the John Rosses of the world don't ultimately work out. It's the intricacies that you need to really thrive in the NFL. Jack Besh had four drops on 200 targets in college. His miss tackle force rate was 30% in college. That is elite level. If you're in the 20s, 25, 26, that's like Debo Samuel level. If you're at 30 and no, he didn't have like 500 catches in college, but when you're at 30, you are really good after the catch. You don't drop a lot of footballs. The rut running intricacy is there despite being probably like a mid four or five guy, good size.

And I always think back to that 2021 team at LSU. Jack Besh is a freshman Malik neighbors is a freshman. Brian Thomas is a freshman. Jack Besh led that team in catches. Now it was only like 43 catches because the quarterback play was not good and it led to them saying we need to maybe try to sign Jayden Daniels as a transfer from Arizona State. But Jack Besh to me is like we're going to look back like we have with Pukunakua who was a fifth round pick and say this guy just

does everything well. Like he is just a functional athlete at the wide receiver position. He's not gonna be a first rounder. He might not even be a second rounder. But like you think with Kenneth Grant, like he can just line up anywhere and just be better than other people because of his athletic prowess.

That's how I view Jack Bash, the wide receiver at a TCU. Okay, I like it. I'm gonna go with a running back who I think is not going to be taken in the first round, and I'm not saying he's going to be better than Ashton Gentry because Ashton Gentry is going to get every opportunity. But I think that it's a guy who's overthought by the draft analysis community, and that is Trevion Henderson.

This man averaged seven yards per carry in college. He is lightning. He could be like a younger, like a very young Aaron Jones with I think he's explosive, like crazy. Maybe that's a little different from Aaron Jones, but just in terms of catching the football, being an all around player, big play threat. I just I don't know what is the discussion of why this guy wouldn't go just as high as any other running back.

I like him a lot more than O'Marian Hampton. I think he's an all around player. He was a centerpiece of that offense. I think he's going to be awesome. Whoever gets Trevion Henderson is going to get one of the best running backs in the NFL. How about that? And he's a great receiver,

the screen game vision and the explosion. Like the second he sees it, he clicks it into top gear and can really go. And I think that bodes well for maybe if he's not great between the tackles, whichever team lands him, like we're saying, this is not scheme specific or situation specific running backs are used as receivers more than they probably ever have been in the history of the NFL that also bodes well for Travion Henderson's Upside or ability to become like you're saying one of the best running backs in this class. All right, who else you got? All right. I'm gonna go TJ Sanders who I think we like it about enough in this Defensive tackle class his pressure rate career pressure rate at South Carolina, and he's not 25 years old.

He's not 20, but he's not super, you know, a 60 year player was 11%. Mason Graham's was a little over 10%. His run stop percentage was also over 11%. It's not easy to see any defensive tackle prospect with both of those numbers in double digits. And Sanders was actually at 11 for both of those. His relative athletic score was 9.28. He's undersized, but not really. He's like 285, 290.

And I liked that he wins with finesse. I think this is kind of not that I'm disagreeing with your take on Kenneth Grant, but it's running counter to that idea that Kenneth Grant 330, oh my God, like he can, you know, rush off the edge, swim move, and you're like, how does someone that big move so well? What I've loved over the years of being a draft analyst and then following these players in the NFL as a young player analyst for CBS during the season, it's almost like in this ultraviolet game where we're like, oh my God, there's like so much power and force on the interior at times watching like JJ watt.

I'm like, he's a finesse player. Like no one can get their hands on him. Aaron Donald is built like the incredible Hulk and he can bull rush with any, you know, better than anyone, but Aaron Donald also utilized his hands tremendously where there were plays where the best, biggest, strongest guards and centers couldn't even touch him. And I'm not gonna say that I think TJ Sanders is JJ Watt

or Aaron Donald, but I think he has the finesse part of being a defensive tackle down. He's probably gonna be the eighth, ninth, tenth defensive tackle off the board in what is a really good class, but maybe he'll never be an 70 or 80 pressured defensive tackle, but at that size, 285, 290, I think that's the, the, the ideal pass rushing size in today's NFL with the hand work that he has.

And then just again, leaning on the numbers, going against everything that I just said and saying, look, I'm not even saying that I can evaluate better than anyone. I'm looking at the numbers, going against everything that I just said and saying, look, I'm not even saying that I can evaluate better than anyone. I'm looking at the numbers. The numbers were there in the SEC as a pass rusher. I think TJ Sanders is just going to have a nice decade long career as that pass rushing specialist on the inside. He's probably a guy that we haven't talked about enough in this conversation

because I think that players like Harmon Grant, they're on a different level than him as a prospect. But if it's a third round or him and somebody like CJ West from Indiana, yes, are kind of these intriguing third round type of players. I will go with my next guy. It's a hard decision because I like both of the wide receivers from Iowa State. So I guess I'm just going to go Jalen Noll from Iowa State. I think one of the things I noticed about him is what ends up happening is,

you know, I've said you're the tape grinder of the show, but I just will have a lot of college football on. And when people grab my attention, I try to remember their names. Jalen Noll is a guy who I was like, Sir, you have my attention. He is explosive. And also for a guy who's not the biggest downfield had a ton of downfield catches. Uh, Iowa state was actually a really fun watch. Sometimes you're just like, you know, going around who's on TV, who can I watch?

And I would settle on them because they were a really fun football team. They could throw the ball. Well, he was fourth in college football in deep yardage for a lot of tough catches on Yeah, last year, right? So kind of a I don't want to say he's a Stefan digs. Like you said, you don't want to say someone's JJ what but Stefan digs being not the biggest but actually tracks the heck out of the ball. That's what I look for and Kenan McCartel.

I was interviewing him about contested catches one time. And he said when he does his evaluations, number one on his list is ball tracking. How do they track a football down the field? So I decided if Keena McCardell was looking for that, this guy's going to look for that. And Jalen Noll has it in spades. He's going to be awesome in the national football league. All right. I'll go with one more. And then I just have like one and a half other rants that I want to try to squeeze in.

I think Nick and man worry is going to be really, really good in the NFL. I don't really think it matters. That's bold. That is bold. I don't think it matters where he goes. I think at that size with that athleticism, that it is rare. I mean, I guess there's been a few but it's pretty rare to see Someone in the defensive backfield that's that big that fast that explosive that was that good on film and has the production that that You know the numbers to back it up is just like not that good Like I think it doesn't matter where he goes. He can play in the box

We talked about this the idea that just that's because he's 6 3 2 20 2, 20, he has to be a linebacker. I don't really think that's the case. He's not as fluid. He's not going to cover in man on the perimeter like Malachi Starks can, but I would be very surprised if Nick and Manwari just is like Isaiah Simmons 2.0, who is not nearly as refined in making plays in coverage as Nick Manwari was at South Carolina. So you know, worry does does scare me a little bit. OK, that's fine. In part because if we're talking about the data, sometimes if if a safety spends a lot of time in the box,

I'm a little like, did they not trust him to cover? Right. There's there's I think there's a little more boomer bus potential. I think even worry could become one of the best and most dynamic safeties in the league, or we could just not be hearing of him ever again. Uh, I just, I do want to throw it out there that Jayden Higgins, by the way, from Iowa state had like a 90 grade against man coverage and two drops all last year on 129 targets.

So maybe I should also pick him. Yeah. He holds a wide receivers from Iowa State. We're so fun. I'm going to say both. I think they're both going to be awesome. And one more who I have never talked about on the show because I have never had a reason to, but I think he's going to be absolutely dynamic in the NFL is Jaylen Walker from Georgia. He has crazy movement skills, power. I think that he's a little more and again, like don't make the comp,

but a little more in the, in the range of like a Micah Parsons where his college played him as a linebacker. Yeah. where his college played him as a linebacker. Yeah, I think this guy is just going to rush the passer and he's going to be really dang good at it. And he's also super young, so it could take a couple of years, but I think he's going to be a beast. All right. I didn't fully see it with him, but I will say that I think the role that he played because I first watched him.

I'm like, this guy makes no plays in coverage. And then I'm like, Oh, I see him on the edge. And I'm like, that's where he should play more frequently. So if he's deployed on the edge, like we like Mike Parsons kind of just fell into that role after DeMarcus Lawrence got hurt during his rookie season. And then they're like, Oh, we're not going to have him off the ball anymore. That I think is the best path for Jalen Walker to be really good in the NFL. Okay. So did you have one more guy? Yes. One, uh, no, one more quick rant. One more rant. Okay. One more rand or one and a half one. So yes, which, which I can explain this. So first I would say it's kind of another, like not well actually, but it's like maybe my brain is fried during the pre-draft process.

I think for how many draft analysts there are today, and it is a still booming industry. I respect so many of these guys and girls that do this. Big boards need to be more diverse. There are way too many big boards that look like identical. Like the orders might be slightly different and they all kind of look like people think the first round is probably gonna go and it's not to say that I think it's I mean I do think there are echo chamber

elements, severe echo chamber elements to the pre to the draft industry and I try to stay away from them. I mean certainly players are gonna or analysts are gonna agree on some prospects but I think overall there needs to be more diversity. I almost feel though, that there are some analysts and I'm not, again, I'm not trying to call anyone out just collectively that like feel that the finish line is the draft. Like if you love Shemar Stewart and you haven't met your number eight overall player, despite all that, you know, he didn't have a lot of production, but the

athleticism was great. And then he's the eighth overall pick to the Panthers. You're like, nailed it. And you're just like, no, no, we got to wait. Like you said, a few years. So I just think in general needs to be more diversity with that. That was my one rant. And the other one I'm mad about this.

It's not draft related, but it will come full circle to our earlier talk on Omarion Hampton. We never talked about Jordan Mason. He is one of my favorite, I can't say that I graded him in the 22 class, but I have a draft algorithm that combines, it's all objective, it's all film and athleticism based. So there's no like grade for me in it.

And I talked earlier that Omarion Hampton's highest. Mistake will forest rate in college was 26%. Do you know what Jordan Mason's was? 43.6%. So my, and there's a few other elements that are in this draft algorithm that I use and I lean on to be that cross check for myself. Jordan Mason was the number one running back in the 2022 draft class in my system. I call it resin.

So when they traded for him, I think I texted you right away or I DM'd you. We didn't get to talk about him as someone that I really believe can be like a probable caliber back. He was leading the league in rushing before he got injured last season, spelling Christian McCaffrey. I think that was such a great find for San Francisco, the Kyle Shanahan to Kevin O'Connell scheme similarities are going to be a lot of fun. Still have Aaron Jones, but someone that has created this algorithm the last few years

to see Jordan Mason on this Vikings team. I'm super duper excited, but we didn't get to talk about him until now during this pre-draft process. I know. And I was looking forward to talking more about running backs before they got Jordan Mason. So maybe I was just annoyed at him. Like, why'd you have to blow that up? This is such an interesting running back class. But on the night that they acquired him, just looking at the numbers and how he performed last year, how he played against the Vikings. He is a tackle breaking machine. And again, with the, yeah, the comp is too far, but it's a little bit Marsha Lynch like in the way that this guy just runs and how he handles. Yep. Yep. And it's, it's different. Uh, so they have somebody there that

I think can really spell Aaron Jones and maybe be a difference maker, probably be a difference maker for them, especially in short yardage. I am curious if that impacts what they're looking at potentially for offensive line and whether they would consider, you know, having him be more of a power runner behind a Tyler Booker or avoiding a Tyler Booker because of that. We don't really know this. We'll get the answer on draft night. So, and to your rant about the draft analysis world, it's something that's

frustrated me for years, uh, which is when Benjamin Robinson from grinding the mocks and he studies all the movements of the mock drafts, when he, when he said that when, uh, Daniel Jeremiah moves a player up that all the other boxes move. Yeah. It was like, okay. when he said that when Daniel Jeremiah moves a player up, that all the other box. Yeah, it was like, OK, I think that the group think element is a lot. Or, you know, what really frustrated me was when the Vikings drafted Mackay Blackman and it was like the good judges boards. And I'm like, he was drafted the third round.

Like, are you serious? You think that how many of these people are doing 200 players worth of analysis versus Brian Flores I'm usually gonna lean toward thinking he knows who might fit on his team a little bit more so anyway that's been what that's been a main goal and people have not heard me rant about it a whole lot it's been a main goal to just not worry too much about that create my own little space of analysts who I think are good, bring them on the show, have their discussions,

lean on their information. But it can be a little bit frustrating. As I can tell, you need a draft to happen pretty bad after this podcast. I'm glad that it's this week. We've had it like in the last week of April. And like when I saw right away, like early in the process, or I guess like after last year that it was the 24th

I was like thank the Lord because I knew that I was gonna get where it seemed like I was this like grouchy Draft analyst when I'm the opposite of that But like you said that's kind of what I've done too But I felt like when you DM to me and said let's just get everything off our chest empty the notebook I wanted to bring up those two more general philosophical I wanted to bring up those two more general philosophical, um, pieces in my mind about the draft, because I'm super duper passionate about the NFL draft and the evaluation process. If that's not obvious enough already,

it's most certainly is pre-draft exhaustion is real folks, uh, see your favorite podcaster if you need some help working through that. So Chris, one more episode with you. I can't wait to have break down the actual tricks and the way that the draft works out. And hopefully all of you will have a chance to join me on draft night as I live stream all the way through all of it. And then we'll see what happens if the Vikings trade out

of the first round, but that is the plan as for now. So thank you so much, Chris, as always, I will see you next week and we'll see you all later. Football.