Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - CBS Sports Draft analyst Chris Trapasso goes pick by pick breaking down the Vikings' draft

Episode Date: May 4, 2022

CBS Sports Draft analyst Chris Trapasso explains why Malik Willis wasn't the top quarterback in the draft, whether the Vikings should have considered Kenny Pickett in the first round and then he goes pick by pick giving his scouting reports and reactions to every pick. Why he really liked the selections of Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth Jr. but had different reactions to later picks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to another episode of purple insider the chris trapasso draft show and the final one of the year chris we made it the draft has happened we can all sit back now look at the actual picks talk about where everybody went break down pick by pick with your scouting reports of each v pick. This is the big one. This is the show that we wait for. Chris, are you ready? This is my favorite week of the year, and this is my favorite podcast episode of the year. So let's do it.

All right, let's go. Good evening and welcome to the NFL draft. Draft season is here. Come on, come on. There you go. To break down every need. They're not going to pick a quarterback. They need offensive linemen. There you go. it i can tell you as a draft analyst that they absolutely should welcome to the chris trapasso draft show on purple insider this is a good podcast to listen to leading into the draft it's also a good podcast to listen to right after the draft. So let's start in the place that we have to start because I was rather

aggressive. I would say about the draft analysis world. And the thing is that you and I have had a lot of discussions on and off the show about the draft analysis world and some of the issues regarding it. However, you were higher on the quarterbacks than they went. So that's where we got to start is what happened? I'm not totally sure. I think when it comes to Malik Willis, my number one quarterback, I had him in my top 10. I thought he'd be a first round pick. I think

how elementary the Liberty offense was really hurt him during the pre-draft process. And then on draft night that, I mean, I'm watching all 22. I'm not going to pretend like I'm an offensive coordinator and know all the schematics and the concepts and what's, you know, all the cover three beaters and the cover two beaters and all that. So I'm assuming that's ultimately what happened that with him with Sam Howell and then I guess even to a certain degree with Desmond Ritter was you know very conservative in that offense at Cincinnati they had a great defense they were just like let's win games 24 20 we're fine with that I think that's what ultimately happened with this draft class of quarterbacks but what I say is, and this is not even in like defense of myself, that I think like

when a player is selected in, I guess like when they go later than expected, it's like, well, yeah, the whole NFL agreed that that guy was not a first rounder, not a second rounder, that Malik Lewis was a third rounder. I do think it's important to remember that I think in general, there's widespread differences or variants when it comes to evaluations. And that's coming from me. That's coming from teams. I think Cole Strange, maybe a few teams had him in the first round. There were probably others that if the Patriots didn't pick him and say there was two or three other teams, I think the 49ers came out and kind of said, Hey, you know, we kind of liked him too. If they didn't pick him, that Cole strange could

have been like a fourth round pick. And it would have been like, Oh, see the NFL agrees. He's a fourth round pick when in reality, it's just all it takes is one team. Now for the case of the quarterbacks teams repeatedly passed on them. I found it pretty surprising, but from texting around and I'm not going to pretend I have 50 million surprising, but from texting around, and I'm not going to pretend I have 50 million sources, but the few that I texted were two of which mentioned the simplicity of the offenses that all of these quarterbacks, including Matt Corral, the RPO-based offense that we talked about a lot, that played a big role that the quarterbacks last year, even Mac Jones at Alabama, certainly Trevor Lawrence, they showed the ability to get through

their progressions, understanding hot reads and how to audible to get out of a certain look because it's a blitz from this side, so we're going to throw a slant to the other side of the field. These quarterbacks, you can say what you want about their maybe physical deficiencies, but it was more about what they just have not been asked to do in terms of the mental side of the game. And that kind of pushed them down the boards a little bit or a lot, I guess. My biggest theory that I have here after asking you and a bunch of other people is really that I think that the draft analysis and draft reporting world thought somebody will

take a shot on upside specifically on Malik Willis, but you know, maybe on a Sam Howell as well. And then with the other guys that someone will look at Desmond Ritter and say, we can get an average starting quarterback pretty fast because of his skillset. And the answer was no one in the league, you know, went for it really. I mean, your point about it just takes one is absolutely true that if somebody had, you know, somebody drafts Kenny Pickett, so he's a first round talent because somebody picked him. But when the whole league passes over multiple times, then that's kind of the true value

of the player, I think, in their minds. And I think that every team said it's so far away though, like the raw talent is there, but maybe, you know, we were sitting here sort of talking about like, is he Dante Culpepper? Is he Josh Allen? Is he Steve McNair? Like these guys with this, you know, big projection that you have to look at. And I think they said, is he Seneca Wallace? And, you know, I made the crack about, um, you know, who was it? Was it Desmond Ritter? I said, he's kind of like a Josh McCown. That's what the NFL thought too. Right. I think McCown was taken as a third round pick. Kevin O'Connell was a third round pick, big arm, ran a

four, six. Like, it's not like we've never seen these types of guys before, but we thought that the projections that they had would be similar to those other first rounders or even a Christian Hackenberg who was taken in the second round. And instead, it was much more like the Davis webs of the world who are big, tall, athletic, fast, but didn't really have football chops. And I think that that's what they were eventually looking at with Malik Willis is he just doesn't have the football skill to step in and play NFL quarterback anytime soon. So it's much more of a long shot than maybe they looked at some of these other quarterbacks. Yeah, that's a perfect segue. Just two more points that I wanted

to mention that I'm still not, uh, you know, saying I was completely wrong on Malik Willis. We got to see him play football first, but I will acknowledge that him going in round three greatly decreases the chances that he's going to be good and that's obviously it's not just oh because he was picked there but just the opportunities that he's not going to get and just over the course of time you look back most of the good quarterbacks in the NFL were first rounders like the league in general that I mean I just mentioned that you know all it takes is one team but again passing multiple times all 32 teams usually with all those scouting departments,

all those brains together collectively, in general, over the course of time, they do a good job evaluating. Yes, you have certainly Kirk Cousins. You have all those famous mid to late round quarterbacks that are still playing or have been good, but you also have like a million of them that have not been good so i will um not fully admit defeat on malik willis in this quarterback class but i do certainly acknowledge the fact that it's not really it didn't help his cause and and my cause with that evaluation those quarterbacks going as late as they did the one thing i will say to your point on

it seems like the league just thinks that willis and Ritter and how all of them are further away than I thought. And I guess a lot of mock drafters, a lot of analysts, is that I wonder if now in 2022, and I think the Vikings are a perfect example of this, that you and me can talk about tanking, shooting the moon at the quarterback spot long like not long term rebuild over 10 years but even like a two-year rebuild three-year rebuild which five years ago would have felt like that's a pretty quick rebuild like when the dolphins were doing their whole thing it was like oh it's gonna take five years for them to be good and i mean chris greer never survived or uh b Brian Flores never survived that rebuild. I wonder if like the Vikings being a prime example that teams are more into the

competitive rebuild as opposed to let's tear it down. Let's pick the most raw quarterback that we can get. If he's not good, we don't care. But if he is, we're in great shape. It just seemed like all the transactions this offseason, what the Vikings have done, I think is a shining example. And just around the league in general, that after that, Dolphins quote-unquote tank and maybe the Browns to a certain degree before that. I don't know if there's a team. I mean, the Lions traded up for a wide receiver.

Like, why did they do that? Like, this was a good wide receiver class. They had the number 32 overall pick. They trade up to get Jamison Williams, and it's like yeah you know there's a long-term view there because of the ACL but when that happened when the Saints traded up for Chris Olave it was like I don't know if there's a team that's like we we suck we're just going to be bad I mean maybe the Bears ish because they didn't really address wide receiver enough around Justin Fields. But I think that the competitive rebuild is more in trend now because these GMs and head coaches know that they're not going to get even to year three if they're really, really

bad for the first two seasons. Yeah, I think that there's there's a perfect storm element of this where it's not one thing. It's a lot of things. And part of it could also be I mean so i saw todd mcshay and mel kuyper put the over under at six and a half first round quarterbacks next year so if that's how and these teams like they have evaluations on those guys already um i mean they start like when they're coming out they have the whole blesto scout thing i mean they have information a year ahead most teams are a year ahead yeah and and they'll get the information

from this company that starts scouting them as freshmen or even out of high school i mean it's really crazy and then they'll know who they want to target and so forth when it finally gets to that time so there's this whole process so they would have a decent understanding of what the next draft class is going to be like i think that factored in but also the rams won the super bowl with a quarterback that they just picked up and the bucks the year before won a Superbowl with a quarterback that they just picked up. So if you are say football team, for example, you trade for Carson Wentz, you're able to acquire someone who's taken a team into the playoffs before or set them up to go deep in the playoffs in Philadelphia, and then was mostly competitive in Indy last year.

And you could say, well, we were able to just grab a quarterback out of a trade that we think is going to be better than any of these guys we're going to draft. And then they're going to need several years of development. And I think the several years of development part also was underappreciated by the draft analysis world that when we say, okay the guy's gonna need two three years for them that's like fired uh that's also years of a first round quarterback contract

that you are lighting on fire and if the guy if you put that much development into it as a first round pick and he never comes to fruition and you wasted two three years of quote developing uh you know when you could have been trading for another quarterback that could help you first round pick and he never comes to fruition and you wasted two three years of quote developing uh you know when you could have been trading for another quarterback that could help you there's still as we speak two quarterbacks that are good that are available for trade in jimmy garoppolo and baker mayfield and i and i think that that has to all come together it isn't just the fact that they didn't believe in these quarterbacks. It's also all of those other things that go into it. And some of the rebuilding teams like the lions, like the Texans,

you can make great arguments for them drafting a quarterback, but also they might tell you that doesn't really fit with our timeline because we still need to build and build and build our roster. It's not like we draft this quarterback and a year from now, we're going to be ready to compete for the super bowl those teams are still farther away than that exactly i think that's spot on and that all together factored into these quarterbacks going like almost unprecedentedly late that we've i mean to see a quarter only one in the first round next one uh not until round three and then sam howell who a year ago was the projected number one overall pick going in round five.

It was something that we haven't seen, I don't know, in the course of draft history, but in a very long time. So I think they'd all contributed to it. Okay, one last point on this. Should we say about the Vikings, hey, one quarterback went in the first round. Maybe you should have picked him, uh, pick picket, uh, because now, I mean, we've talked about this a lot. Like it did actually turn out to be a bad draft class. I made a lot of snarky comments based on the analysis world and the reporting and the mocks because the mocks have been historically with quarterbacks, pretty accurate. So we based our opinions off that.

And we were saying, man, there could be five guys taken in the first round and a half. And it didn't turn out that way. But still, one guy was evaluated by a pretty good franchise as a potential franchise quarterback. So we haven't really discussed this on the show at all. But should we look at that and say, hey, Vikings, you did have a chance to take the one and only guy that the NFL evaluated as a first round talent. That's a good question. And, and a very valid one. I don't think so. I liked Kenny Pickett and you can say what you want about my, my quarterback draft grades now, but I did have a first round grade on Kenny Pickett. He that's the one that I, you know, as of right now, I'm, you know,

quote unquote, right about until we see that play. At 24 years old with some flashes of the big time throw ability, the improvisation of an above average athlete, or maybe an average athlete, I would rather the Vikings just do the competitive rebuild, try to be as good as possible with Kirk Cousins, and then just next season, if you need to move on, maybe you're one of those teams that picks one of the seven quarterbacks that are apparently going to be first-round caliber talent. So it's a good question. I just wouldn't see the merit in it going forward for this new regime trying to build out, like you mentioned,

to not have Kenny Pickett play as a rookie there's one year of the rookie year uh rookie contract done I I think what they did ultimately and we'll certainly get into it um in the draft in reality made a lot more sense than just being the team that picked Kenny Pickett in round one okay we'll go uh we'll go pick by pick here with the Vikings but first are you you down it? You sound a little down about it, how it worked out with the quarterbacks. I am. I'm a little, I mean, okay, this is what I'll say. Like when I'm on this podcast, any episode of,

of anyone else's podcast, I try to sound like I know what I'm talking about because I do my homework. And I, I feel like at CBS the last couple of years, like the fact that I'm there and just that I am putting in all this work and I've created a grading system, whatever to try to remove bias and all that, that like, it would be pointless for me to be on the Chris Trapasso draft show and be

like, well, I maybe kind of sort of think that he could potentially pass. Like, I'm going to say, I think Malik Willis is going to be good. And that's not me trying to come off like an a-hole or that I, I know more than the NFL or anything like that. So if any listeners have been thinking that throughout this duration, it's kind of late for this apology, but have been thinking that like,

throughout this duration, it's just, I don't feel the need to, or I think it would be a disservice to listeners and to my readers if I'm saying, I think, maybe, possibly, potentially. That's obvious. No one knows who these players are going to become. But yes, having said that, technically, and this is going to sound crazy, but this is what I always say in my head. When my top 300 comes out, big board board I hope that that is literally the exact order of the players how good they will be in like five years of course that is absolutely preposterous not rational but technically after I watch these players put them through my grading

system I'm saying I think this guy will be Kyle Hamilton's going to be the best then Derek Stingley then Aiden Hutchinson so yeah when I see quarterbacks go much later or uh players that I really like go in the seventh round it's like oh I think those are steals and vice versa when guys are picked too early that's just kind of the nature of being a draft analyst that you kind of root for your evaluations to be right but you you definitely know, and I've definitely acknowledged this, that I'm going to be wrong a lot. I just try to get better every year and, you know, learn from my mistakes, tweak the grading system and tweak what I'm looking for with all these prospects. Well, if Malik Wills is that outlier, and by the way, I looked at third and fourth round quarterbacks since the Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson outlier year one for 24 for becoming starting quarterback. So not the only one that is the only one. Yeah. So there's been a lot tried

and, uh, you know, it's funny. I forget who it was, uh, whoever the listener was that, um, sort of sent me a message and said, you know, I, I don't know that Malik Willis is that different of a prospect than Kellen Mond. And my response was, well, if the league takes him in the first round, then he was, and he wasn't. So, so that person who is DMing me and, you know, talk, listens to the show and I'm sorry, I went back to try to look and say, Hey, you nailed it, but I couldn't find the message. So if you're listening, then, uh, Hey, you got it. got it. But I think that there was a lot of Kellen Mondishness to these prospects. And there were some people last year, Chris Sims most notably, who were standing on the table for Kellen Mond and saying,

hey, this guy should be a first-round pick. And they felt that he was a similar level prospect to these guys. But here's the thing, and here's why you shouldn't feel too bad about yourself, Chris, is that if someday one of them becomes good from the third round, you'd be like, ha, take that football. I showed you, but you know, I, I said a lot of rude things about the draft analysis world and I'm not taking them back. Um, but I know how much work you put in, in the humility in which you do your job with and how you are on this constant path for truth with the NFL draft. And I, and I compliment you on that. That's why you're here. That's why I want you here every week. So I hope that nobody listening to me talking about

how the, you know, the sausage gets made with some of the draft analysis, which, you know, can be pretty messed up, uh, was not directed in any way at you because you put in all the work that is necessary. But it is fascinating, man, what ended up happening with those quarterbacks. Absolutely. And the one thing I'll say, I get a common question that I'll get during the pre-draft process and radio spots or something is like, what's the hardest position to evaluate?

And I think I first heard Daniel Jeremiah get asked that question like years ago, five, seven years ago. And he's like, corner safety, no way in hell. Quarterback is by far the most difficult position to evaluate. I mentioned all the mental side of things, reading coverages, reaction. And I don't even factor in at all, like the pressure, the psychological toll that it takes on you. Are you that leader? Are you not? Are you a phony leader? Are you doing it for social media, for whatever? Quarterback is definitely the most

difficult. And I think that can be kind of played out in the way that the NFL has picked a lot of quarterbacks early that have been really bad. Many, many men and women that are significantly smarter with more experience about evaluating football talent than myself or just NFL draft analysts as a whole, pick guys like Jake Locker and Christian Ponder in the first round and have put in probably three times as much time into selecting a quarterback because their job depended on it. And those guys were tire fires in the NFL. So that's the one thing that I'm not going to say that I'm, you know, super accurate with every other position, but every year I feel a lot better going in. I mean, I'm going to say it with confidence, but I feel a lot better about other positions than I do quarterback because like the other positions have way fewer job responsibilities than quarterback.

It's like rush the passer, get around this guy and get to the quarterback. Quarterbacks have to do so many different things and have to check so many boxes and so many more than any other position to ultimately be good in the NFL. Folks, while there is plenty of classic football gear to check out at SodaStick, the hockey playoffs are beginning and you can jump on board with SodaStick's amazing hockey designs. Dollar Bill, Krill, Moose, Madonna, the old North Stars logo. They've got everything for you for a deep playoff run. Hats, shirts, shirts hoodies and prints

for your fan cave go to soda stick.com that is s-o-t-a-s-t-i-c-k.com use the code purple insider for 15 off uh if anybody wants some summer reading bruce f's book, making of a quarterback goes to this whole thing. Oh my gosh. It is so good. Uh, I saw Bruce Feldman at the combine, I think a couple of years ago and he was interviewing someone and I thought, well, should I interrupt him? So I just, when I walked by, I was like, Bruce, I love your book. And then I just walked away cause I was scared. Uh, but it's an amazing, it is a truly an amazing book. Um, that really dives into everything you're

saying so anyway all right let's talk then about pick by pick let's do this thing now that we've shared our emotions about the uh the quarterback situation let us begin with lewis scene who i have to say uh had one of the more impressive opening press conferences from a first round draft pick that I have seen. Ah, no. Okay. So you had him pretty high on your board, higher than where he was picked. So maybe for all the picks, you can kind of say where you had them evaluated and then, and that what you think of the selection.

So Lewis seen and the trade down your thoughts. Okay. The trade down and you probably have it memorized. I remember on draft night throughout all the chaos, the trade down was not the best for the Vikings. They probably didn't get as much value. If I remember correctly, by some of the draft trade charts that are out there,

my old editor, RJ white here at CBS sports has one. And I remember plugging it in and I was like, did I not include a pick or something? editor RJ White here at CBS Sports has one. And I remember plugging it in and I was like, did I not include a pick or something? Because the Vikings didn't get as much value as they probably should have. But going into this draft class, that was kind of the thought that like, this is a class where you can trade up at a little bit of a discount because

it's not a tremendous class. Now, Louis seen the player. He was my number 25 overall player. Pretty clearly my safety number two in this draft class instead of just being super boring and reading exactly what I wrote in my scouting grade book just give a summary and that he is that throwback hard-hitting explosive safety that if you just look at that part of his game it's like oh a lot of those guys have been bust. They can't cover. Louisine can cover. He will come down and hit a drag route.

He will recognize it as fast as anyone on the field, plant and drive on the football with elite-level explosiveness. And then on the next play, he will be in the deep middle. He'll range toward the right sideline, flip his hips, get back to the middle of the field, dive and make a great pass deflection deep down the field. I remember watching him at Georgia early on and I'm like, all right, this is just one of these hard hitters that's stiff, that can't cover, no instincts. And then as I watched his film, I got more and more impressed with the deep middle range, the man coverage ability, the awareness in zone. And that's why he was a first round pick for me.

So the Vikings probably should have got more value, but I think they really got like a legitimate to me, middle to back portion of the first round safety. Who's going to learn a lot from Harrison Smith. And I think eventually be really good at that position. I think he could be very good as well, but we can't talk about Lewis scene unless we unless we talk about jameson williams because that's essentially the trade-off and then we'll talk about the other players but uh

giving jameson williams to the uh detroit lions of all people is the biggest one where uh if i were a drinker i'd have to take a drink right before doing it if i were if i were the gm saying i'm gonna do that maybe well i don't know if quacey drinks maybe but you got like to take a drink right before doing it. If I were, if I were the GM saying, I'm going to do that. Maybe, well, I don't know if Kweisi drinks maybe, but you got like, you take a shot before you make that phone call. Right. Because you know that if Jameson Williams reaches his peak and he's like, remember how good golden Tate was for a while.

If he's like golden Tate or something for that team, remember what golden Tate did to the Vikings. You probably don't. Everyone listening does. Demolish them. So that's the one where I go, oh man, I don't know how, like stones? Yes, lots of stones in doing that, but also a lot of risk involved. How did you grade that pick for Detroit trading all the way up and getting him? I't have my, I did live grades during the draft, which I can pull up as we're talking here. He was my number two wide receiver behind Drake London,

like very slightly ahead of Garrett Wilson. Yeah, he can be an explosive player in the NFL. I think he would have ran in the four threes had he not torn his ACL. The route running ability was really good. I think he plays bigger than his size. He's like 6'1". He plays bigger than Jerry Judy. There were some Jerry Judy comparisons. The one concern I had with Jamison Williams, why he was a little lower, a lot of people were like, oh, he's definitely the best receiver in this class. I didn't view it that way because I don't think he's great after the

catch. And you can say, oh, well, after the catch, he's really fast. Like, yes, you can hit big plays, catching a slant, and then running 70 yards. He's not going to juke out players after the catch, and he's not at like 6'1", 180 pounds. He's going to go down on first contact relatively often. So there is a little bit of – I'm not going to call him a one-trick pony, but he's not like Devontae Adams. I don't think even Garrett Wilson was more or was as well-rounded as Jamison Williams.

But I think this would go back to our previous conversations. The Vikings are probably, I think, going to get a good, really good safety if the lions get a really good receiver i think that's going to do more in terms of directly impacting the win-loss record than a really good safety in minnesota and for me it's just a matter of i think you and again lewis seen nothing against him because as you laid it out there's a very good prospect for me it's a matter of maybe overthinking it a little or committing right off the bat which is what some people have suggested to me. Like they committed pre-draft to trading down and they were going to do it hell or high water and, uh, might've traded down right into hell. If Jameson Williams is going to be a really good receiver. And I think that that was where you're looking for them to do something that made you go, Oh, wow.

Kevin O'Connell's got his guy now, or they're really going to change their future with this draft pick. And it did happen. And so I think that's the people who are sending me messages saying, Oh, this thing really doesn't have me very excited. I think that's probably a major, major part of it.

Now, Andrew Booth, I've never heard this before in my life ever before all the conference calls. And I've been on many now, this is what like six drafts. That means dozens and dozens of players on conference calls. Never had one say that they haven't been healthy since high school. That is a first man with Andrew Booth jr. Uh, and so very red flaggy on that. But also my impression is from watching just a little bit over the last few days that he's a very good uh cornerback prospect so andrew booth jr your thoughts he was my number if i'm looking at my scouting gradebook correctly i am uh my number 11 overall player now that is with

the huge caveat i don't factor in injury history i mean mean, unless, I mean, I guess maybe with Booth, I could have, but I'm not going to predict injuries. I don't talk to these guys, obviously with no medical background. I just factor in combine pro day to a certain degree and certainly what I see on the field. And this past season and early in his Clemson career, Andrew Booth, I thought was screamed first round corner that to have the lightness in his feet, the explosiveness in his feet of a nickel corner with like legitimate outside cornerback size and structure to his frame. Like he's not lanky. He's not getting pushed around. That's what was so tantalizing about him as a prospect. And then the ball skills, like there's a couple of those ridiculous interceptions early in his Clemson

career where he like finds the football, which I think is a key component to playing the cornerback position that you can be great in coverage, but if you don't find it, like I think I've used kind of the funny term ball awareness. I think you need to have that beyond just ball skills. Andrew Booth has that in spades and he has the body control to contort, find the football above his head. If it's getting close to the ground, he is a truly special athlete. And I think he has refined cornerback skills. So we kind of thought edge rusher, wide receiver or corner in the first round.

I know they traded up for andrew booth it wasn't crazy expensive if i remember correctly they got a fourth back right in the trade yeah did they i think they included what included 66 got a fourth back yeah i think that's how it went so trading up you're gonna pay a little more that's gonna ding the grade a little bit but in real time for cbs sports i gave it an A- because he was a first round corner it was a need he's not going to be necessarily thrust into a cornerback one role immediately and learning from another high caliber athlete with great body control and ball skills Patrick Peterson similar to the Harrison Smith scenario with Louisine I think that is a perfect scenario especially if Andrew Booth is not like 100% healthy at the start of

training camp or even the start of the season. Playing the football is just such a big deal for me when I think about guys coming into the league. I mean, this was one down very much downside on the Jeff Gladney pick. I remember thinking he just didn't like, if you play a TCU, those quarterbacks that you're playing against are not very good. And the receivers, like some of them are, but you should be able to hang with them. You should get picks. You should make plays on the ball. I mean, you go through all of college. This was a Mackenzie Alexander thing. Well, you know, he didn't have picks, but he was right on top of everybody. Okay, great. But he didn't have picks in the NFL either. Didn't make big plays. And you know, it's always that question of like Trayvon diggs taking big risks for

interceptions you don't see that a lot but being able to knock the ball away be able to get your head around so you don't get penalized having a sense for like when the ball is coming where it's going to be where you need to put your hands to stop the receiver from catching it all of that ball awareness football all the way yeah ball awareness i don't think that's gonna stick but maybe that's a t-shirt for the future um but that ball awareness though i i mean that to me is one of the most important things maybe even beyond a lot of the other stuff that we talk about with athleticism length you know so forth can this guy play football yeah one quick story on this to tie in the bills from your time back in Buffalo two corners that were supreme

athletes that never really panned out or kind of sort of didn't Leotis McAlvin and Ronald Darby were both they were that always around the football coverage skills explosion they're not going to get beat deep and they could never find the ball like there were so many completions over their head and I think conversely Tredavious White look back at his mock draftable web he was in a high 4-3 41 inch vertical type you watched him at LSU four straight years of like 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 pass breakups a bunch of picks and it was kind of like oh he's just like no he has good instincts like we say running backs are like instinctively like finding creases.

I think corners are just like instinctive. Like they feel that wide receiver changing direction. So they know it's time to move. It's not necessarily based on their athleticism. I think Booth has the high caliber athleticism when he's healthy. And he just has that cerebral brilliance that you want out of your outside corner to make a lot of plays on the ball. That's huge. I think this could end up being their best pick basically. If, if, if he stays healthy, it could end up being their best pick. So this one, I think you have to give a high grade to now the next one. I just, you know, I don't want to spend a lot of time on, I've talked about it too much already, but just give me your take and then we'll move on to the rest. Ed Ingram. I gave it a C minus because for two main reasons,

I had Ed Ingram graded way lower than the second round. And Ed Ingram is not a zone blocking scheme guard. That's probably what you've said. Anyone else that you've had on any other offensive line experts that are out there probably said the same thing at LSU. And that traditionally that program is gap scheme, pulling guards, man-on-man blocking, both Ed Ingram and his teammate, Chasen Hines, who was picked by the Patriots, I believe,

in the sixth round, they were these big hog mollies that were just trying to demolish people. When you got them moving laterally, like I wrote in my scouting grade book, like struggles moving laterally. Now, Kevin O'Connell is a disciple of the Sean McVay, which is Kyle Shanahan's offense, obviously. I'm assuming it's going to look like that. And you need those nimble interior players up front.

So I did not understand that. I gave it a C minus. Maybe that was even a little bit, you know, being nice because I think he's a decent player. He's a decent run blocker he was kind of the one player on the LSU offensive line that before the season people were like he could maybe be a first or second rounder he ultimately goes in the second round but I would not have ever imagined him landing with a team that wants their guards off the snap to get as far across

the field as possible with as much lateral quickness, because that's just not his strength. That's actually a weakness to his game. Yeah. And they're saying that it's going to be a little different from the traditional Kubiak really moving. That's what I was thinking. Yeah.

They're calling it more of middle zone, if you will. But, you know, I think positional value, caliber of the prospect, background issues all together. It's just one of those confounding picks to me that makes the whole rest of the whole draft class as a complete, you know, thing.

Yeah, it really drags down quite a bit and also sticks out like a sore thumb from them reloading their secondary, which is what they did with not the next pick, but two picks down. So we'll go to Brian Asamoah, the linebacker from Oklahoma, which I was still on the more confused side, but Kweisi Adafo-Mensa talked about him as a quote, modern linebacker being undersized, said that he reminded him of Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoa,

which I guess I can buy some of this. But still, when you look at the depth chart, is it a need? They've tried this multiple times. You liked Chaz Surratt last year. Apparently they don't. But yeah, Brian Asamoah. I liked him. And I think that Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoa comparison is not too far off.

The one thing I will say on Chaz Surratt, he was the big-time explosive athlete that transitioned from quarterback to linebacker. So it's probably going to take him time if he ultimately becomes good, which probably at this point will not. Brian Asamoah I was a big fan of. I gave the pick an A. I don't think it's that far off of Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoa in that he is that quote-unquote undersized linebacker, which to me is perfect size in today's NFL, like 6'2", 230.

I don't want my linebackers any bigger than that. In my scouting grade book, I wrote that he takes on blockers like he's a lot bigger. I think that's the one concern that teams have. Hey, you're 6'1", 225. Like what happens when there's a pulling guard coming at you? Asamoah plays like angry. He plays like he feels like he's 6'4", 250. So he's good at beating blocks. The one concern, it's kind of a strength and a weakness. At Oklahoma, they kind of used him in that Kenneth Murray role of a few seasons ago. Okay, it's third down. You're going to either spy the quarterback or blitz.

And he's a good blitzer. He was like, plays with that same level of tenacity when blitzing. But there were a few instances where he did drop in coverage and showed good short area quickness, which is key, of course, in playing coverage, that he could make some plays. So I wrote that I think he has upside in coverage. He's not going to come in and be Eric Kendricks right away. And I think Kendricks was a lot more NFL ready at UCLA. Like they were having him do a bunch of different stuff in terms of sinking in coverage.

So you put that all together, athleticism, that really almost a mean streak that you would normally write about with an offensive lineman in taking on blockers and blitzing. And then that little glimmer of hope that he could maybe be, you know, utilize some of that athleticism in coverage. That's why I gave that an A. At 66 overall, I felt like that was maybe a touch early for him and maybe not the biggest need. I just really liked that player. And I was kind of thinking at this point in my head with Louis Seane and Harrison Smith, Andrew Booth and Patrick Peterson, Brian Asamoah and Eric Kendricks, that this part of the competitive rebuild, they're not going to take any of those stars off the field, the established players, but they're almost like drafting their eventual

replacements. And it's better to do that a year early than say, oh my God, Eric Hendricks is gone and Harrison Phillips is gone. We need to plug in. Our first three picks are all rookies. They're going to be 700 snap per season starters. So I kind of was like, I understand maybe that there's a trend here that they want at least one quote unquote red shirt pipe season where these players can learn from these really refined players at those key defensive positions.

I think that you're exactly right that they're looking down the road and saying, Eric Hendricks is probably not going to be here for that much longer based on his price, his age, and where his game might go. And so let's look for the eventual replacement. For me, this is one where I don't think you lose your mind over the pick or say that it drags down the whole draft class, but you also say, because it is the third round and once we're past the second starters are hard to come by, but there is the element of, you know, positional value. Is this really worth it? How hard would this be to replace in free agency? Since there's always a hundred available line backers, like things like that, where it's very clear that they just loved this guy and that's fine. And he might be really good, but even if he's just okay, if he's not really,

really good, if he isn't Eric Hendricks, then what else might you have been able to get there? But again, I don't want to like lose my mind over a third round linebacker. It's just, you also have long-term needs at more valuable positions like edge rusher and receiver that you just said, nah, nah, nah, we need a linebacker. Well, okay. You've done that. Troy die. You've done that.

Chaz Surratt. Like you have Blake Lynch, who's kind of developmental undrafted guy. Like, I don't know. Like I, it's just very hard for me to say, Oh, you really needed that pick, but, um, does sound like a very good player. Now, uh, Caleb Evans is an interesting one because, um, crazy Adolfo Mensah talked about himself watching film and, a Caleb Evans is an interesting one because, um, Kwesi Adafo Mensah talked about himself watching film and loving a Caleb Evans, but the draft analysis world and the mock drafters and the graders, uh, did not have him this high. And I think the Vikings also traded up

to be able to draft him. So they really, really wanted a Caleb Evans. Yeah, this was a head scratcher for me too i gave this a c plus for the cbs sports draft tracker i had him i believe in like the fifth round so this was in the fourth and with that draft tracker i i factor in trade ups i i mean they want me to get in those grades like almost as they happen um but that one i found it somewhere on Twitter almost instantly that they traded a 2023 fourth as well. And I was like, man, I could see it with a Caleb Evans that you would just pick him in the fourth or maybe the third, but to trade, so, you know, use two fourth rounders on him. I didn't think he was that good, but to not have this whole draft be this is a terrible draft and again i want to give

objective analysis here i understand why a team and their new gm would be interested because six foot two almost 200 pounds 32 inch arms ran 4-4-6 at the combine and in my scouting grade book i wrote and i remember vividly liking this about Caleb Evans. He played inside and outside in college, most 6'2", 200-pound corners. They're on the perimeter. They're like left cornerback only, whatever the case may be. And defenses are or defensive coordinators are like super scared to put that size player in the slot. He played in the slot and actually held up relatively well.

Now, even in the SEC, it's certainly different than it will be in the NFL. But I think that the new regime was like, this is a big, fast, long outside corner that was, you know, multiple seasons, a pretty good player. And then in 2021, they asked him to play in the slot and he wasn't just like giving up separation on every single snap. He actually had a couple of him to play in the slot, and he wasn't just like giving up separation on every single snap. He actually had a couple pass breakups in the slot. So it's almost like he's that freaky specimen that teams like to roll the dice on or trade up for, but he's actually also, too,

a pretty good player that is legitimately versatile. I don't know if you want him to be your starting slot corner, but if he's facing a star receiver who motions into the slot it's not suddenly oh this is going to be a 50-yard touchdown and caleb evans has that legitimate uh positional flexibility so i think the only thing to question here is the guy from bama was still on the board who a lot of people had much higher and they didn't take him. Jalen Hammer Davis. But I can't get, I just can't get upset about taking a potential high-end corner. I mean, Mike Zimmer was very right,

saying you can never have too many corners and you should just take swings at them, especially in the middle rounds, especially if they have some skill that you like, because they get hurt all the time and it's hard to find them. It's hard to scout them, you know, all these things. And you're always looking for that guy who develops and ends up being a cheap option

for two years or something for you because that position is very expensive in free agency. If you want to sign a great one. So I'm okay with it. Like, okay, that's your guy. That's fine. Even if the, you know, some other people had the other guy higher. That's kind of how I feel about it with this. And I kind of end up leaning this way toward a lot of the day three picks.

One quick thing about this, comparing Caleb Evans to Jalen Armour Davis, who's the Alabama corner that you're referencing that the Ravens picked. I think the difference there was Caleb Evans was on the draft radar for like three seasons because he was really good early in his Missouri career. Jalen Armordavis was a big recruit, but he was buried behind a bunch of obviously top end corners at Alabama only one year as a starter. So I don't know, maybe that could be something that we'll look forward to next year and two years down the road that this is what this new regime likes,

those very productive for multiple season type prospects, especially early as opposed to, Hey, this guy had one really good season as a full-time starter. Let's draft him in the fourth round. So that was the one difference that you can look at those two and say, Hey, similar athletic profiles, whatever, but a Caleb Evans had, you know, three years of being a high level producer. Yeah. So let's see here. Let's go through these a little faster because it's just not that serious. Once you get later on and everybody's a big swing. Um, let's see a Sazy

Otomalo, the Minnesota defensive end slash might be a three tech might be a lot of different things with his size. They said straight out, drafted him for upside. Makes sense to me. Yeah, that's it. A-minus, fifth round, like you said, these are where teams start to, or this is where teams start to take swings. 6'6", 285, a really unique frame. I liked him on film.

I gave this an A-minus because I had him at 118 overall, so I think the value was good. The one thing I'll say, the Vikings literally need to use him in multiple spots. There's been a lot of teams that say, oh, this guy can play inside and out, and then they just play edge. He's not going to be even a decent contributor at the edge rusher spot. If he's there all the time, let him get those mismatches at six, six with super long arms that are pretty heavy handed to inside at the defensive tackle spot. So if they do that, I think they could get a decent contributor,

which is what you want out of a fifth round pick. All right. Ty Chandler, my analysis fast. That's the whole scouting report. Seems fast. Yes. I gave this another a minus in that he's fast

and i think he is tailor-made for an outside zone scheme now you're telling me it's a mid-zone scheme i whatever uh and yes there was a lot of pulling guards at north carolina but they also did a lot of stretch zone running and i think to have someone that can just press the front side of that play either keep it front side or slam on the brakes and hit the accelerators through the cutback lane with low 4-4 speed that is worth taking in the fifth round 169 overall tight Chandler and he's a good receiver too he's older but I like the speed and this fit in this offense yeah I think that uh when you're taking a super fast guy in the fifth round at running back that's actually you can get a steal

yes for sure you know because everyone is sort of like we don't want those and then you know you get there and you get an aaron jones or something uh all right uh vidarian low from illinois a little bit of a strange fit, uh, in that he's kind of like at Ingram that he's not very mobile. He's long. Uh, he looks like an NFL offensive tackle, uh,

and would check all those physical requirements that teams have. He's got long arms, pretty good run blocker, but like the one area that I thought was a clear weakness. And like, i'm not talking like slightly below average i'm talking way below average is that he's not a fantastic athlete he's not getting side to side very well but again maybe they're like hey we're gonna do more just downhill running if that's the case similar to what we've been saying about running

backs and corners you know in the sixth round a developmental ish toolsy offensive tackle again weird fit but i totally get it for the vikings i think if someone in that position becomes a swing tackle or swing offensive lineman it's valuable you you've hit something uh all right jalen nailer did they nail it um i gave this a c plus he reminds me so much of amir smith marsat that i like when that pick came in i was like oh my god that's like exactly the same type of player like small skinny uh gets pushed around by bigger corners but does have like some down the field playmaking ability decent route runner not going to be you know in that area. But I think as starting, of course, as a bottom of the roster player, if there are injuries, if he shows that he can make a few big plays,

he can be that low volume speed guy. Or even if he's not catching two passes for 100 yards and a touchdown in the game, he can be that clearing route wide receiver down the field. So I didn't love it. I wasn't a big fan of jaylen naylor in watching his film i don't think he's a bad receiver kind of felt like a six round pick and that's where the vikings picked him yeah i mean you just can never count on that you can never count on that for really anything and if it becomes something then wow that's

fantastic but that's how it is with receivers and And we'll see what happens. All right. And the last one, a guy who made the pick questionable right away because when he was drafted, he did a backflip into a pool, but almost jumped too far. And if he had hit his head on the side of the concrete pool, it would have been an all time Vikings thing to happen. But he did not. He was fine. Nick Muse almost overshot it a little bit out of exuberance and harmed himself right after being picked but uh a tight end out of south

carolina this is your seventh round athletic flyer that he had 30 receptions two years ago 20 this year so this is not a high level producer yeah South Carolina did have two pretty good running backs actually three three good running backs so they ran a lot but when Nick Muse caught the football it was kind of like you would see the explosion the short area quickness but it was like why is he never getting thrown the ball like I'm not going to call him Dawson Knox but it was like a Dawson Knox-esque career where now we obviously know he was playing with A.J. Brown and D.K. Metcalf, but in this scenario, there weren't a bunch of great wide receivers at South Carolina, and it was kind of like he should be getting open more than he is. He should be featured more. I think underneath, you can throw him drag routes. You can do the little play action

bootleg that the Vikings have liked to do in the past, throw him the ball, maybe make a defender miss, pick up a 10 yard gain here there but there is some upside to his game which I would much rather take someone like him than this big six foot seven 260 pound blocking tight end in the seventh round pick someone that in a pinch after injuries whatever the case may be could actually help your offenses pass the game and I think that's what he could ultimately do more so than some of the other late round tight ends that were selected i think it's fine yeah i mean the vikings have done well with some of these guys tyler conklin most notably uh ret ellison gave them some work uh david morgan so you know michael pruitt's still in the league that's all right

yeah that's all right maybe you get something out of the guy and it's the seventh rounder i'd rather do it than a punter to all of you. Huge punt fans. Yeah. There somehow that became a debate on the show. Like what, what are we debating here? Anyway.

Well, Chris, I know I thank you before going into the draft. I'll thank you again, all of your incredible work and information on this show. I learn everything about the draft from you. And I know that our listeners did as well. They can follow your work, cbssports.com at Chris Trapasso on Twitter. So as you walk out the door

for another draft season, and we'll get together from time to time to review the draft class and what it's doing and everything else, but you know, not, not every single week from here on out, but give a final grade on your way out the door. Wait, I did, man, I don't want to, I want to stay true to, because I did team by team draft grade Sunday, which I'll admit I was a little, my brain was a little bit fried.

I gave the Vikings a C plus. That was with the Jalen Naylor pick C plus, Nick Muse C plus Caleb Evans the trade up didn't love it Ed Ingram C minus confused by that but then I had a bunch of A's with Andrew Booth and Asazi Atamu whatever that last name is Ty Chandler like that in round five that's the type of speed back you should pick there and then Louisine I really like that selection I think he's going to be a really good player so C plus for the vikings didn't like it as much as last year and the one last thing that i'll send myself off on it kind of felt like this was the old regime drafting like

it was almost like they left notes on the table like make sure you double up on corner pick an athletic tight end in the seventh round like i was like wait a minute don't the vikings have new management and a new head coach and a new gm it kind of felt like a mike zimmer rick spielman draft that's the perfect way to end it because uh you don't cover the vikings you only talk to me about the team i didn't say that to you at any point and that was your assessment i would say 99 of the fans were thinking the same thing as they were going through it like what uh each president leaves a little note in like the resolute desk that's what it felt like to me like when that nick muse pick came in i was like that's like you said like david morgan all those guys i was like this is like they

left notes and they're like okay here's what we'll do we'll address all of these players or all these positions in these rounds and definitely get two corners. Right. Right down to waiting until the sixth for a wide receiver. So yeah, what a time it was, all the discussions that we had, I really enjoyed it. And that's my favorite part is spending time. Talking football with you is always so much fun.

So again, follow him on Twitter at Chris Trapasso and until next draft S Z N season, season, season has come to an end. Thanks, Chris. Thanks.