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

Episode Date: May 3, 2021

The Chris Trapasso Draft Show finally has draft picks to talk about. CBS's draft analyst talks about why he thought the Vikings did a great job moving down in the first to take Christian Darrisaw and takes on all the Kellen Mond comparisons. He also talks about what to expect from Chazz Surratt and breaks down his favorite and least favorite Day 3 picks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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What a time. We did show after show, building up. Who could they take? What will they do? And I just want to circle back to some of the predictions that we made. Things that we were sure of was our preview show and things that we were sure of included your prediction that the Vikings would pick offensive or defensive line. You sort of hedged a little bit there, but you were strong on offensive line and they decide to go with Christian Derrissaw. So why don't we dive right into Christian Derrissaw and the fact that they were able to move down from 14 to 23. Give me first your reaction to what they were able to do there to get him, and then I want to hear the breakdown, man. Yeah, this was really smart draft navigation by that front office. Like they could have easily just picked Christian Derrissaw at 14.

And I think everyone would have been like, hey, that was a smart decision. They certainly would have gotten criticized for that. But to move down, it was certainly anytime you move down, if you have a pressing need like the Vikings had, you love getting the extra picks, but you're rolling the dice. And we've heard countless stories in the draft, especially in round one of a player getting sniped right before a team picks. So for them to trade down, get the extra picks,

and still get who I predicted they would select, and someone that I think early on, when you were on my podcast, The Prospect, in like January, I brought up Christian Darasaw as a exquisite fit for what the Vikings want in their left tackle, in the zone blocking scheme. I like that he's very young. This is not a 24-year-old guy, redshirt senior, that was beating up on defensive tackles much younger than him. I like how effortlessly strong he was. He's not a nasty finisher that was going to get a lot of his highlight reel shown during the pre-draft process, and it wasn't. He just blocks everything.

When you see a defensive lineman in the ACC trying to bull rush him, he's just bored with that. He just anchors. He's very long. He checks the boxes physically with his technique. And I like that in his career, he got better each season. In pass protection, if you look at the grades or just from me watching him from 2019 to 2020, he looked like on the fringe of being like a top 100 pick in 2019. And then coming back in in 2020 he looked like a surefire first rounder he was actually

my number two offensive tackle in this class ahead of Rashawn Slater ahead of Tevin Jenkins I just thought truly after Penny Sewell he was the offensive lineman that had all the attributes that I think are important power handwork. And then especially with the Vikings, you need that scheme fit. You need to be mobile. And he certainly is. So I thought that was a home run. One of the best moves in the first round

to trade back and still get Christian Darsaw at 23. Yeah, picking up that extra draft capital was huge for them. It allowed them to take Kellen Mond and still fill some of their other needs in the third round and not have to get desperate to move up in the second round to get the guy that they wanted to get.

So from a draft capital perspective, it was good. I also agree with you strongly that this is a player who fits really well. That when we talked about him a long time ago, just looking at his physical makeup and how gigantic the man is. I mean, I've been around so many small offensive linemen over the last couple of years, including Brian O'Neill, who has really beefed up since, and I think is kind of an outlier in that way, that normally when you draft a tackle that's 290,

I mean, that's going to be pretty tough for them, but he's been able to pull it off because of his incredible athleticism, and I think he's a great competitor competitor too but this is a guy who you look at and say instantly ah yes a left tackle in the NFL and then to see the way that he moves we don't have pro day numbers on him which makes it a little harder to be like oh he was a 4-9 guy or whatever but if if I were to guess I would have thought by watching him that he is one of the more physically gifted. And if he had had a pro day, we would have seen him maybe run a sub five or something like that by the way that he moves. And now my question is, in terms of an instant transition, I'm writing him right in because of that physical size. But how big is the transition from going from the ACC to now being expected to start day one for the Vikings?

Yeah, I think with any offensive lineman, I could write in any of my scouting reports, and I typically do, that they all need to get NFL strong. That's like the phrase that I use. And even like I think Tristan Wirfs is like an outlier that I remember writing last year with him. I was like, he is already NFL strong. And he was like breaking bench press records at the Iowa program when he was like a sophomore. Almost every other offensive lineman needs to add like five or ten pounds and just get stronger from where they were in college. And like I said, Darasau is not a mauler, so to speak, but I think he's strong enough. His anchor is good. His lower half, his ability is good his lower half his

ability to bend his back without getting put on skates back to the quarterback so there will be a transition no doubt but because of his physical attributes the length that he has and I wrote the first thing in my scouting report for him twitch out of his stance is the first noticeable impressive trait so when you're talking about someone that's long, balanced, and then has that twitchiness, I think there won't be as steep of a learning curve for him that he truly is, and we've seen it happen, a first-round offensive tackle that can start and play well as a rookie. Okay, so answer me this, Chris. Why'd he drop? Because, you know, the Jets, wow, what a reach for them to go all the way

up from 23 to 14 to take Elijah Vera Tucker, who you know that I liked and was my initial prediction. Everybody got to be right. Like, those who thought that the Vikings were taking Derrissaw, they got him as the player. I thought Vera Tucker was 14, so maybe I should have said it that way. Elijah Vera Tucker will go 14 I'm telling all of you I'm not saying who he's going to though but I was surprised that Vera Tucker was valued by the league as that much higher than Christian Derrissaw so what could it be the medicals or I mean what what might have caused him to be drafted where he was? Because that does raise a little bit of an eyebrow. Yeah, it had to have been the medicals.

And you know me, like I don't really speak on those because I don't really know any of the intricate details of that. And I think Elijah Vera Tucker, the fact that he has like legitimate inside-out flexibility, that we got to see back-to-back years of him playing guard and then left tackle. Derrissaw doesn't have that. I think that was probably the reason. And in between those two, the only other blocker was Alex Leatherwood. And that was kind of an outlier pick. We know the Raiders typically pick someone that no one's really expecting. So I think for him to fall to 23 was a little bit lower than what I expected but it wouldn't shock me if it will come out that some teams were maybe worried about why he didn't work

out at his pro day and that in 2018 his first year and then 2019 he wasn't this slam dunk guy Christian or Elijah Vera Tucker looked like a first round guard guard in 2019. And I think Dar saw not a one-year wonder because, like I said, he ascended and showed improvement every season. But that could have maybe been part of it, that really one year as a true elite player on film. But at 23 overall, I mean, that is someone that you're plugging and playing right away, and I think he's ready for that.

Okay, I'm not even going to lead into this one because I know everyone's tired of me. Not picking Mac Jones, go. I'm fine with it. I am, and for as much as you and I are on the same page about when in doubt, pick a quarterback, especially if you're kind of in limbo like the Vikings are at the quarterback spot,

but I'm almost sure of what happened inside that front office they probably looked at each other and said should we pick Mac Jones he's sitting there he's not much different than Kirk Cousins like despite every all the build-up which it's so hilarious now that there was all this build-up for him going number three overall and then he no one even trades up for him goes 15th to the Patriots he was just a middle of the road but still top tier like quarterback prospect among the top tier in this class he had clear deficiencies and I think the Vikings could have said hey maybe we could get someone like Kirk Cousins for considerably cheaper than Kirk Cousins who's younger but the same problems will ultimately arise. And I even said before the draft, if Matt Jones landed with the 49ers, he probably would have been pretty good.

But eventually, like with Kirk Cousins, playing against a good defense or getting into the playoffs in a harsh environment on the road, you will see those arm strength and athleticism deficiencies pop up. And you can have a really good team around him but that's going to ultimately hold you back if it was Trey Lance there I think the Vikings would have picked him and if they didn't even if they moved back and still pick Christian Darasaw I would not have liked that draft navigation but with Mac Jones just stylistically so similar to what they have with Kirk Cousins and I think at this point they eventually will aim higher in terms of upside at the quarterback spot now Justin Fields this is one I have not talked about as much so let's talk about

this more um the Vikings tried Chris to go up and get Justin Fields yes they did uh I'm enjoying looking at your face right now because they know that they did but they decided that it was that it was a little too expensive for them and then the bears did it now i wonder if they knew the bears were going to do it then maybe they would have said okay then we'll give you a little bit more and the bears gave up a lot and had to move farther but should the vikings have done that to move up to get justin fields well i mean we would obviously have to know what the offer was and what they thought was too much. But you're right. I mean, the Bears traded, what, a first-round pick, a fourth-rounder, and another pick was thrown in there as well.

And there are two front offices and coaching staffs that are in a similar situation, that if the Bears and the Vikings don't show marked improvement this year, they might be gone. The one thing I will say with ultimately how it turned out, that what the Vikings are setting up to do, and we'll talk about another one of their draft picks later, another offensive lineman, that they're setting up this offensive line to be able to drop in a quarterback next year and not have to say, well, we still need our left tackle and we're getting older at right tackle. This is a young and athletic offensive line that should be coming into its own by 2022. So I think maybe that's what the front office was weighing.

Like, do we go Justin Fields here, but then we still have a hole at left tackle. We still want to get an edge rusher. We want to add to our defense a little bit bit or let's just really try to make the best environment for Kirk this last season and then figure out you know a trade after that and then have a ready to go offense to then pick a quarterback in the first round there's in the last couple years three to five first rounders there's always a guy who kind of arises from obscurity I kind of like doing it that backwards way as well sometimes, where you don't need to just throw your rookie quarterback to the Lions. Have a good offensive line initially, and that's what the Vikings have.

Well, and this is what has happened with Cleveland and Baker Mayfield, where they got criticized for passing up on quarterbacks for several years, and then they eventually get their guy when they were almost ready to build up that roster. And then by year three, he's got a great offense that maybe if Odell Beckham doesn't get hurt, it's possible that they beat Kansas City in that playoff game with Patrick Mahomes getting injured and struggling a little bit there. So for me, I think that if they were going to have an opportunity

to take a quarterback, that they should have just done that. That is not a criticism of the Derrissaw pick. And I also think that even though I have said you should have just taken Mac Jones, don't worry that he's too similar to Kirk Cousins because he's a first-round prospect, and we don't really know which first-round prospects will work out, that if you look at down the road for next year, and even think about Brett Favre, and I'm not saying this is going to be Aaron Rodgers, but I'm saying think about with Brett Favre. He looked at the Vikings, and he said, that is a roster that's pretty awesome in 2009,

and if I go there, I might go to the Super Bowl. And Tom Brady looked at Tampa Bay, and he said, if I go there, I might go to the Super Bowl. And so I don't know who that guy is necessarily, but even Philip Rivers with Indianapolis said, if I go there, so if you are going to move on from Kirk Cousins, if that is the plan, eventually it doesn't have to be the next guy because it is always the possibility that there's someone else who is leaving their team or who is disgruntled or something who would be very attracted by a young offensive line all building together, and then a defense that is also being built up by draft picks and things like that. And Justin Jefferson, of course, would be attractive to any quarterback in the NFL. Still, I like the idea of just if you're going to go in, then go in and just do it and just get your next quarterback.

But let me move to Kellen Mond here. So give me the Kellen Mond breakdown because I've watched a few very good, you know, Kellen Mond film pieces. I've mentioned JTO Sullivan's who are always must watch. And I think if you were going to pick a mid-round guy, this should have been your guy. Yeah, I think so too. With Davis Mills, who I had graded just a little bit higher, he's more of a high upside, but I think it is more of a gamble. I think with Kellen Mond, it's pretty high floor.

And my thing on him, what I liked so much and why I was so impressed with him as a third or fourth round prospect, he started at Texas A&M very early in his career. And he was a dual threat quarterback recruit. And that, I don't know if it was a freshman season or a sophomore year, his first year starting, he would look to his first read and then would take off. And you're like, this guy cannot win from the pocket whatsoever. Then in 2019, he took a stride.

And then last year, he looked like he wanted to stay in the pocket and throw from within the confines of the two tackles. So I liked that he comes in with the athleticism and grew into being what I thought was a pretty accurate pocket passer that reads the defenses pretty well. I don't think he's a crazy athlete and I don't think he has crazy arm talent. I think when he is a little bit off platform, the accuracy and velocity can kind of dip a little bit. But in terms of just delivering the football, and ironically, everyone raved about Mac Jones kind of being a point guard, I kind of think that's what Kellen Mond is too because there's not a lot of straight pocket quarterbacks that are coming into the NFL the last couple of years. And I think Kellen Mond is one of them.

So if you were to tell me, pick Mac Jones in the first round so you don't get your left tackle, you maybe have to roll the dice in the third round on a third round left tackle, or you do what the Vikings did, you trade back, you get Christian Darasaw, and then you get Kellen Mond.

I would definitely sign up for the second option. I mean, I get the first round quarterback thing, definitely, but to still get Kellen Mond, like that made passing on Mac Jones worth it for me because Kellen Mond, to me, is not that much worse and is very similar stylistically to what Mac Jones brings to the field. Hey, everyone, anybody who listens to the show knows that Sam and I may not be scratch golfers, but we love to have a great time playing golf. And that's why we have partnered with Birdie Golf in Woodbury.

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And we just saw it last year with Tuatunga Bailoa. It's very intoxicating to watch the Alabama offense. You watch it, you see Mac Jones hitting guys in stride, everyone's open, the scheme is great, but he wasn't pressured very often. In his year and a half of starting, he threw to four first round wide receivers. And Texas A&M certainly has recruited well since Jimbo Fishers got there.

Texas A&M, I don't think had a wide receiver selected. They have some good younger pieces on that team that will be picked next year. They're running back. Their tight end's pretty good. But the difference in how efficiently the offense moved the football down the field, you could say that's on the quarterback. But guys being open and the advantages that Mack Jones had, Kellen Mond just did not have those.

A lot more tight window throws, a lot more throws from under pressure, so it doesn't look like he's as accurate. So I think if you would have plugged Kellen Mond into the Alabama offense, he would have had the exact same figures basically to what Mac Jones has. I really think that it's hard for the NFL to, at least in this day and age, with the air raid being kind of accepted into the NFL, to see a quarterback that has 70% completion or 75% completion, 40 touchdowns, crazy yardage, and not think of him as a top prospect. But then you see Kellen Mond, a more traditional,

it used to be a pro-style offense from Jimbo Fisher, now it's more like classic or throwback uh offense that is not scheming up as many wide open throws it doesn't have those advantages at the skill positions and that's why he ultimately fell to the third round so let's have a fun game with this because um one thing that we would do on your podcast the prospect is we would make uh 90s NFL comparisons to all the quarterbacks and things like that but let me tell you comparisons that I've heard so far and they are all over the map man so I want you to take each one and tell me what you think so NFL.com compared Kellen Mond to Colin Kaepernick is that accurate how do you feel about that one I see it because of the running capabilities and

I thought actually early in his career when he was like a one read and then run quarterback I saw flashes of that the arm talent isn't the same I mean Colin Kaepernick had an absolute rifle I don't think Kellen Mond has a terrible arm it is NFL caliber but I think it's average at best so and I don't think he's quite as apt to have a 70-yard touchdown run on the ground as Colin Kaepernick was. So I think that's a slight stretch, but he is a pretty natural athlete and pretty accurate inside the pocket like Colin Kaepernick was early in his career with the 49ers. The way that I look at Kaepernick and the difference there, the arm for sure but also that Kaepernick was like a amazing runner like in in space he

would get out there and make moves and I don't really see that from Mond I don't really see him like dodging tacklers and stuff like that like he's fast but he isn't this and someone else asked me very hopefully about Steve McNair and I was was like, nope, no, no, no, no, nope, nope, nope. Sorry. I wish I could tell you yes, but the answer is no. So PFFs now was Kevin Hogan. So they were not very high on Kellen Mond. No, Kevin Hogan was a lot more limited as a passer.

I think everyone wanted to kind of anoint him as the next Stanford quarterback because he followed Andrew Luck. But in terms of his accuracy, and I remember scouting him in that 2014 draft class, or 2014, 2015, whatever it was, not as accurate with the football. And he was doing a lot of similar pro style at the time, so to speak, stuff. But I thought Kellen Mond was more accurate, was better reading coverages than Kevin Hogan. But he too was another one like Kellen Mond that was a good athlete, but wasn't a crazy runner or scrambler once he got to the NFL. So I could see flashes of that. I think though Mond has more upside as a passer, more accomplished throwing the football at all three levels than Kevin Hogan. Okay. Yeah. I didn't know what to do with that one either, especially because I'm just not that familiar with Kevin Hogan.

Like I remember the name, but you know, I don't recall really watching him. Okay. How about Tyrod Taylor was another one that got brought up. Someone who had good athleticism. Now I look at Tyrod as being a one trick pony of hitting deep shots with really great deep accuracy, but a guy who is not as quick-minded as Kellen Mond, like hangs onto the ball, hangs onto the ball,

but is also, I think, a way more dynamic athlete in space. Like Tyrod Taylor can just blow your mind with things he could do running the ball. Yeah, you and I both know about Tyrod Taylor from his time with the Bills. I don't see that because, yeah, he is one of the few quarterbacks that can, like, make a linebacker miss in the hole and then, like, explode past him. Kellen Mond's not going to do that. The big difference, though, which, and this matters way more than the running, Tyrod Taylor had a, and still does, have a good deep ball,

but he was a very conservative. Like, he wasn't a tight window thrower. You watch the Kellen Mond film. I mean, it didn't matter if they were playing Alabama and they were down conservative, like he wasn't a tight window thrower, you watch the Kellen Mann film. I mean, it didn't matter if they were playing Alabama and they were down or if they were up later in the season because they did have a really good year. I believe they finished just outside of the top four for the college football playoff. He had a lot of tight window throws. He was an aggressive thrower of the football, and that's really not Tyrod Taylor's game.

He looks deep and then checks it down. So I think Kellen Mann, especially at that intermediate level that we know is so vital and it's pretty predictive as to year over year how well a quarterback is going to throw the football how efficient he's going to be I think Kellen Mond lives between 10 and 19 yards a lot better than any of the three quarterbacks that we already mentioned. Okay. I have two more because there's been a lot of this. Rick Spielman compared him to Teddy Bridgewater. Hmm. Teddy Bridgewater.

Teddy Bridgewater, another one that Vikings fans certainly know, was relatively conservative. I think he's gotten more conservative after the injury. I thought early in his career with the Vikings, he did show the capability of dropping it in the bucket down the field. I can see some of Teddy Bridgewater, probably more so than any of the other three comparisons, because I think Bridgewater coming out of Louisville was very fundamentally sound with his footwork, a lot under center, a lot of play action, bootlegs, turned his shoulders really well through on the run.

It was all textbook with him. And I think that's where Kellen Mann is right now in the quarterback that he became, being coached by Jimbo Fisher, that we know is a very good quarterback teacher when these guys are in college. So I think of all the other ones that you've thrown out, Teddy Bridgewater might be the best one because the arms aren't great, but they're accurate and they can put it in the bucket or in those tiny windows 10 to 19 yards down the field. I'll say the big difference is that I think Teddy has a baller element of him where he moves around, make plays, like not a runner, but this things break down, and then I'm going to do something pretty special. Teddy did that a lot.

And the other thing is you can't replace Teddy Bridgewater's character. I mean, no matter who you are, that's going to be a tough bar to reach, and his leadership. Like there are very few quarterbacks I've ever seen Mike Zimmer gush over, but he does over Teddy Bridgewater, and Mike Zimmer hates quarterbacks, I think. So, like that, I mean, to have the respect, Jeremiah Searles said when Teddy Bridgewater came back, it was the, one of the best moments of his entire career. Like that shows you how much people cared about

Bridgewater. That's going to be a tough bar to reach to be that special person that can completely own a franchise, you know, as the leader. So that's a tough one. Also the anticipation throws from Bridgewater. In college, his anticipation throws, I thought Bridgewater comp was like Philip Rivers. Like just these great anticipation throws where when he releases it and you look on tape, you're like, I don't even know who he's throwing to. And then all of a sudden the guy sort of comes out of the shadows and catches the ball. I don't really see that for Mond.

I see like a fastball and then another fastball. Like there's not like touch passes from Kellen Mond to me. Dak Prescott is the one everyone wants him to be. How about that? I don't see that one. I don't see Dak Prescott. I think his arm talent is a little better and his decision-making is a tick better. I think if you want to give a comparison for what Vikings fans want him

to be, I think a legitimate and reasonable ceiling is what we have seen over the past two years from Ryan Tannehill. That Ryan Tannehill isn't, I mean, you know, college wide receiver, good runner, but he's not going to score any 60 yard touchdowns and he's not going to make defenders miss, but can get it outside the pocket, create when he needs to. Doesn't have a crazy big arm, but is mostly accurate. Reads defenses pretty well. He's going to stay within the system for the most part. And I think we've obviously seen him blossom in Tennessee, thanks to Derrick Henry and

all the play action and all the bootlegs. I think that can be someone that Kellen Mond ultimately becomes two, three, four years down the road. So it's weird because Ryan Tannehill was, you know, a first round bust and now he's one of the better quarterbacks in the AFC. I see a lot of similarities between those two. Same school, too. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that I think that that is fair of a guy who has the athleticism and the arm talent to run a certain type of offense where maybe it could work I think that that's definitely a ceiling I'll have to work on a 90s comp it's a you know I had I you know what I was thinking for mine though because I don't have a

90s one right in my head was kind of like what Marcus Mariota has become where he's got his moments but he's also got his moments well that's what I felt like and I told you during the pre-draft process watching Kellen Mond that you would have inside the same game there would be a quarter where you're like this is a first round pick like this is the SEC he's tearing up this great defense and then like the next quarter you'd be like this guy may not get drafted because some of the mistakes that he was making, throwing it in to double coverage or being a tick late or not making that anticipation throw on a corner route that was there and then deciding to check it down. So that the bad stuff didn't happen very often. I thought that he lessened the frequency at which he did that

throughout his career. And I always like to see a quarterback with his arrow pointing up. I mean, a lot of experience. I think it is huge to have played in a lot of difficult road games, to see a bunch of different coverages. That's what Kellen Mond has that he played better later in his career. So, yeah, I think all those comparisons are pretty good. And we need a 90s comparison, though. But back to the Marcus Mariota thing

I yeah I think that's pretty close because we have seen Marcus Mariota look like this up-and-coming young quarterback and then last year when he played for the Raiders we it was not the bust of a first round pick that he ultimately was in Tennessee so I I think you do have a little Jekyll and Hyde with Kellen Mond, even though he's a backup, and he'll have to be a lot better than having those negative plays early in his career to see the field. Okay, I'll think on it with the 90s comparison for Kellen Mond. But let me move on to the third round.

The guy that I haven't discussed a lot on the show is chas surratt and i'll tell you why because i don't know a lot about chas surratt like we didn't do deep dive investigations on linebackers because he just didn't believe that they were going to be taken super high by the vikings i've watched a little bit of his highlight reel since and but the guy can move i mean he could definitely move around but give me a better idea. I looked at him and said, this is probably not your Anthony Barr replacement, but maybe someone who is a great special teamer early on and then develops into a role player. But give me your feeling on Chaz Surratt.

Yeah, he's not the Anthony Barr replacement. And famously, he moved from quarterback to linebacker in 2019, that very classic transition that we never ever see right college level uh the first thing that i wrote in my scouting report for him was super smooth athlete with elite closing speed and overall range so you're right that everything that he brings to the field is predicated on how fast he is, how smooth of an athlete he is. And that obviously translates to how good he is in coverage. And again, you have to remember, this is someone that has two years of playing linebacker under his belt. That's it.

And what I liked from 2019 to 2020, he cleaned up a lot of his tackling woes. You could tell that he was in his first year playing linebacker. He was just reckless, abandoned, diving at ball carriers, never squaring up. Got better in that regard in 2020. He's a great blitzer too. And I think in today's NFL, and you could probably tell me more about Mike Zimmer's scheme, the intricacies of it. It's good to just have one of those strong safety slot defender linebackers, whatever

you want to call him, that if he needs to be flexed out on a tight end, it's not like, uh-oh, there's a huge mismatch. Let's throw it to him because Chassarat being tall, being long, being in that 220-225 range, I think every team, and if you look at this draft class, a lot of players in his mold were selected, need that type of linebacker. But it is going to take time for him to read his keys, understand where he needs to be on the field, which seems crazy being a third round pick that he will need to be coached on the fundamentals. But I think he went earlier than most people expected because the physical attributes and how he just in his head he's

like I'm not going to hesitate when I'm on the field that is something in only two years of playing the linebacker spot that just simply cannot be coached yeah it sounds a lot like what they wanted and got from Eric Wilson uh who was undrafted because he was undersized and he had played safety in high school I think and then beefed up a little bit and was a linebacker, had kind of moved. I think he'd played at two different colleges, that kind of thing. But with Surratt, the change from position sort of reminds me of that, where it wasn't really quite clear, you know, what he's going to be,

but he just has sort of a natural, I'm going to ball out and play football kind of thing. And that was, you know, it's something that the Vikings really do use a lot is blitzing with all sorts of different people. I mean, Mackenzie Alexander one year was a nickel corner blitzer and had like three sacks. Harrison Smith is the all-time Vikings leader for safeties and sacks. And, you see Eric Wilson blitzing. Eric Hendricks has blitzed a little more in recent years. So if he ends up on the field instead of Nick Vigil, things have gone pretty well for him early on. But I feel like

Nick Vigil is sort of a one-year fill-in to try to be that guy to fill Eric Wilson's shoes. And then you've got, if he plays 30 or 40 percent of snaps eventually, that you've got kind of a huge win here. And that's, I don't know if that's the right way to go in the third round though, do you? Yeah, I thought it was a tick early tick early I mean when I said that he went earlier than people expected I actually think that's where people kind of had him pegged I thought he would get picked a little bit later because of all just the very fundamental stuff that he's not great at yet but I think maybe it's it's early because you're saying there's not really a role for him or a vacancy initially. But if Nick Vigil is just like a one-year rental, I think by 2022, giving him a year to be coached up by that good coaching staff on the defensive side,

you're talking about a slot defender in 2022 that is starting and is probably playing more than 40, 50, 60% of the snaps because teams are trying to exploit that slot defender. And at his size, with not just the speed, but the fluidity in his hips and his ankles, if he's needing to cover a wide receiver, if it is a tight end, if it's a running back, Chassarat can do that. And then you can have him as that slot defender. And like you said, you can disguise your blitzes and you can make it seem like he's just going to cover the slot. Then he's blitzing and talk about someone that is going to blow up running backs and pass protection. That is Chaz Surratt. So I think that's probably why the Vikings valued him a little bit higher than I did because they have a specific role. It might not be 2021, but in 2022, I think there

will even be more of a need for a bigger fluid slot defender in the nfl so i gave wyatt davis an a plus is there any disagreement from that did you like wyatt davis i gave him an a minus oh man hater negativity i loved this pick uh there was a few selections later that I really liked from the Vikings. I truly thought they had one of the best drafts in the NFL. I love the Wyatt Davis pick because I think he's ready to go. I mean, I don't know if the Vikings, like, have a gigantic need, but we know, and like you've told me,

that the guard position has kind of been an area of weakness. And you and I both know offensive lines are a weak link system. You can have four great starters. And if there is a really bad left guard or a center or a right guard, that can make your whole line look really bad. It's funny that before the season, people were like, oh yeah, Wyatt Davis, he's going to be the first guard off the board. He's a first round pick.

Wasn't as dominant in 2020 as he was in 2019. What I really like about his game, how balanced he is. There is very rare that you will see him on the ground or a pass rush move just has him whiffing an air or he's lunging. You can tell he was well coached at Ohio State and quietly Ohio State in the last five to ten years has sent a lot of quality interior linemen to the NFL. And I think Wyatt Davis, although at times he can kind of stop his feet when he's in pass protection, he's a great run blocker. I think the Vikings certainly placed a high priority on that, and they should. And he's just ready to go.

He's a three-year starter at Ohio State and it's hard it's almost like you need to nitpick to find truly bad reps from him on film so to get him at 86 overall after you pick Kellen Mond and Chaz Surratt when a lot of people thought he would be a second or an early third round pick that's why like you I gave it a pick in the A range because that was just a very good value for the Vikings. Hey, everyone. I want to tell you about our friends at Scout Logistics. And I really do mean it when I say friends. They are fans of Purple Insider over at Scout Logistics.

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ScoutLogistics.com or call 855-217-2688 extension 232 to connect with them directly to find out how Scout Logistics can minimize risk and overperform and go the extra mile for your company. So with both Derrissaw and Wyatt Davis, it's like, oh, yeah, okay, right. Do that. Yeah. Yes, you should. Get giant men who can pass block. Thank you.

Good job. We've been asking for that for a while now. In fact, I think you and I even had a discussion about, about like the way that defensive tackles are now and how many teams are rushing really good rushers inside that you have to be a great pass blocking guard or this you're just not going to be able to play anymore this is not 1998 where you can just focus on how good a guard is at run blocking um so I think that they changed their philosophy there. They admitted to changing their philosophy there, and that was good. So day three, here's what I want you to do,

because I don't want to go through every pick in this level of detail. But I want you to give me your one that you didn't like first, because you loved Wyatt Davis, so let's go to the other side. One that you thought, what are you doing there? And then the pick that you really liked from day three. The one I wasn't huge on was Zach Davidson, the tight end from Central Missouri. Is that right? Go Mules.

I didn't get to a ton of his film. But to me, a one-year wonder from a small school. I think those are two, not red flags but I would like to see it but even if it's in the fifth round to have a small school guy whether it be a tight end doesn't matter the position that has like two or three years or is even a four-year player that dominated not just one year kind of out of the blue scores 15 touchdowns and almost has 900 yards on 40 catches like that's it is kind of nitpicking though because I really liked what they did especially on day three after what they did on day one so it would be Zach Davidson for the one I didn't like and the running back from Iowa State

Kene Nwangwu correct is that how you pronounce it the n is not said so it's just wong woo well okay whatever that last name uh i think and this might seem maybe overzealous but based on his college career and his athleticism if there is a running back that is going to be the next antonio gibson it's him i mean they're almost identical based on what I just said with their college careers that Antonio Gibson yes he was a wide receiver but barely got the football in college and that's the same for this Vikings running back in that he was a kick returner very prolific and was contributing and playing well even as a running back in a low volume role as like a freshman. Like he, everyone knew that this guy was a special athlete from his freshman season on. I watched him right after the Iowa State Pro Day when he ran in the four threes and had a 38 inch vertical at like 6'1 and 210.

And I think similar to Antonio Gibson, you're like, okay, there are times where there was an obvious cutback lane there and he kind of just ran into the back of his frontside blocker but the athleticism and the home run hitting ability at a legitimate size and how thick he is in his lower half it might seem a little rich in round four but I think yes for a team that has a superstar running back in Delvin Cook it's not a bad idea to add to that running back committee and do it with someone that is a freak athletically. And that's definitely what he is. So the thing I only questioned about that was just where he was projected

versus where he was taken. Not, not the player. I thought the player was fascinating. It's always interesting to me. Elvin Camaro was this way in college where they just didn't give him the ball. And then he was explosive.

Yeah. So, um, let me, uh, Jerry Seinfeld a little bit. bit is like, what's the deal with not giving him the ball? Like, why did that not happen? David Montgomery was there and then Brees Hall. And it seems as though at that Iowa State program, they have like old school mentality with a feature back. And David Montgomery got a ton of carries during his career. Like every, like he was getting like 30 carries a game.

And then last year, Brees Hall, who's definitely going to be picked next year, will be one of the top running back prospects in the 2022 class. There were games, 28 carries, 32 carries. It's almost like they haven't turned the corner yet of like, Hey, maybe keep him a little more fresh and give other people the football. But to average over five yards a carry and what, like 140 carries in his college career, steady production in terms of efficiency, and just you saw as a returner. I say it for wide receivers that I like when they are returners because you know that helps them with their yards after the catch game. If you're a running back and you are a prolific kick returner, I think

that is huge for once you get to the second level, that you're ready to turn on the jets, you can cut off your blocks really well, you find good angles, and that's what I think he does very well. So I think him not getting the football was more just that program has a lead guy. But again, we are fresh off a season where Antonio Gibson barely got the ball, and he clearly should have been getting the ball more at Memphis. Yeah, great, great, great, great burst from Wong Wu. I mean, like as soon as the ball is in his hands, he explodes. And if I thought, well, let me say this.

I think they should use him in some ways find a way to get them to get him the ball they have not done this they didn't do it with mike boone and he was sort of similar where his explosiveness was really impressive and his quickness his strength all that and they just didn't really and he was a guy that had played receiver before and they just didn't do it and And so maybe, but I don't know. It's one of those where you could just see it not really being used because Delvin Cook is going to get all the carries. So if you did it for a guy who ends up just being a kick returner

for 25 kick returns a year, he better return a couple for touchdown to be worth it. That is all I'll say. I like the prospect prospect but i'm not sure if that was the place to get him or if he's going to end up getting used here uh let me ask you about one more because he seems to be the darling of draft twitter which is uh amir smith marset from iowa it's hard to find a lot of catches from amir smith marset but i don't know how many are his fault. So is this a wide receiver three right away or a project? I think he's more projecty. I gave that a B minus. I mean,

they did get him at 157 overall. And late in the process, if you just search on Twitter his name, like a lot of the big name draft analysts were like, hey, this guy's going to go early. I think Louis Riddick was like all about him. I don think and he didn't test create like he didn't test through the roof I think he is pretty fast I think similarly to what you were just talking about with the Iowa State running back that I still don't want to butcher his last name Wong you need Wong Wu you want to use Amir Smith-Marset in ways you want to get him jet sweeps you want to throw him tunnel screens and then hope that he can hit some over the top. I don't know about his route running ability.

And again, if he can truly threaten over the top, not being crazy, crazy fast. So I don't know if he's a wide receiver three, but I think he is good enough, explosive enough, twitchy enough to hit some splash plays here or there. I don't know if, and maybe on an offense that we know the quarterback can distribute the football and has a true alpha wide receiver in Justin Jefferson, where he doesn't have to be that guy like he was at Iowa, that could maybe help him a little bit. And certainly Adam Thielen will help as well. So I think of all the late round wide receivers that they've picked recently, he does have good potential to be that number three,

but I don't think he's there yet right out of the gate. Okay, so the thing that would concern me is now Devontae Smith can weigh very little because he's unbelievable at football. I'm not sure Amir Smith-Marset can weigh 180 pounds. He is in the eighth percentile of weight. And look, when guys who are in the NFL put their hands on you at the cornerback position, that's quite a punch. You know, Xavier Rhodes, it used to be amazing to watch Xavier Rhodes

and Stefan Diggs battle one-on-ones at training camp. It's unreal. Like, you have one of the best off of the line. You have one of the most strong and powerful guys. Like if you're 180 pounds, I mean, you better be lightning quick to avoid those hands, and I don't know. That's where I question it. A slot-deep guy maybe?

It's one of those where you just sort of go, look, fifth-round receiver, I can't complain about it. But I do wonder if earlier in the draft would have been the place to get a receiver yeah I mean I I agree with that and that's why I wasn't as crazy high on him and I I did give it a B minus because like you said I think in the slot uh if he is given a clean release off the line I think he's a little bit faster than what he tested. Like his second gear, like once he can open it up down the field, I think he's decently fast. With the weight, the reason why I wasn't worried about it with Devontae Smith is that he is so good beating press at the line. It was like corners couldn't even touch him. With Amir Smith-Marset, I think

he will struggle with physicality throughout the route because we know that, you know, it's the first five yards that you can do whatever you want, but we know that cornerbacks are still bumping you and they're hand-checking you to try to disrupt your route. I think at 180 pounds, that's why we see a lot of these burners that don't ultimately become really good deep ball players because they can't win through physical contact when they're trying the post route or the goal route. So Amir Smith-Marsad, I think needs to either bulk up or just be that gadget guy,

which certainly has value in today's NFL. Okay. Before we wrap on this thorough breakdown. And as we go forward, we will continue Chris Trapasso draft show because there's going to be a lot to break down. So we're going to carry this on for a few weeks, but defensive lineman,

they took three give me your favorites of the three or the one of the three generis robinson um jalen twyman and patrick jones which one do you think has the best chance to be a significant player for the vikings i'm gonna go jalen twyman for as much as the athleticism and the length of Janarius Robinson. And I'm sure you've heard it in the last two days has drawn the Danelle Hunter comparisons and that he's the next project. It's going to be that guy.

And for as much as I understand the predictability that athleticism gives you, Jalen Twyman, I think is someone that Mike Zimmer is going to love, even though the Vikings do have that prototype on the edge, Jalen Twyman, I think, is someone that Mike Zimmer is going to love. Even though the Vikings do have that prototype on the edge, Jalen Twyman, pick 199, is very refined with his pass rushing moves. This is not, oh, hey, let's hope that he can learn how to beat NFL blockers with pass rushing moves that he's never used before that we just coached him in practice like he has four or five moves that are very effective is he a crazy athlete I think his first step is good but the sustained speed to get sacks I think will be a little bit of a limitation for him but I think Mike Zimmer is going to like him because he is a penetrator and he's not leaning

on athleticism where a lot of these athletic freaks get to the NFL and they're like, man, every offensive lineman is a really good athlete too. He knows how to swim, move and swipe and spin and use leverage and angles to get through a gap. I think in the sixth round being their last pick and that we know that they needed another interior pass rusher. the sixth round being their last pick, and that we know that they needed another interior pass rusher, I think Jalen Twyman has the best opportunity, even being the last pick

of the three defensive linemen, to make his way into a, not a 70% of the snap player, but a pass rushing type that can be pretty good, because most defensive linemen don't have any clue how to use their hands once they get to the NFL, Jalen Twyman does. An opportunity will be there as of right now now and we'll see how they handle that but James Lynch at this moment there's just and he's a prime example he was a big dude pretty athletic but I remember writing him up last year coming out of Baylor and was like he needs to know how to beat a blocker with more than just being bigger and stronger and faster than him. And Jalen Kleiman is the opposite. He's not a crazy closer, but he understands, okay, like I'm going to use this move.

He has a plan when he's rushing the passer. That's why I really like his prospects with the Vikings. The Prospect Podcast, CBS Sports Draft Analyst. Christmas came, and now we're looking at our toys. And there's lots more to discuss, which you and I will talk about as we go forward here, Chris. But I greatly appreciate your breakdowns and all of your assistance in helping me get ready for this.

And even when they drafted Janaris Robinson, I was like, we talked about this guy. Like, look at us. Yeah, me too. I mean, I don't know when the hell it was but uh maybe it was senior bowl practice week i think we talked about how he sort of flashed a little bit and every year i say this chris all you need to do for your draft prep for the vikings is just watch the senior bowl and then you're good i mean yeah there are some teams like that and it's

funny me being a buffalo guy the bills have picked 70% of their picks during the Brandon Bean era have been senior bowl guys. So you just, for the Vikings and the Bills, and I've become a miniature Vikings expert, so I appreciate that. And I'm excited that we still have, I mean, we have multiple picks that we can still talk about on upcoming episodes. We do, we do. And quarterback draft picks. And let's just virtual high five before we go we never bought mac jones number three overall virtual high five i got a lot of us a lot of stuff from that from people on twitter like hey look at every single insider's got him going number

three and this is an elite prospect no he's not he's gonna go to the patriots nick saban bill belichick connection that's what ultimately happened. Oh, by the way, did you catch, unless I thought I was seeing something, it seemed like when Mac Jones walked like a high school principal out to Roger Goodell, that when he was giving him his hug, it's to me, it looked like Mac Jones said, this is where I wanted to go anyway. Oh, go back and watch that. And he kind of laughed and Roger Goodell laughed. It's like, he started to say like, this is where I wanted to end up,

or this is where I wanted to go more than any other place. So I think that was, I don't know what the whole smokescreen with Mac Jones was. It's certainly never made sense that in comparison to the other quarterbacks who were much more physically gifted that he would be the number three overall and a good choice, Kyle. Good choice. I probably still would have gone fields, but still good choice. Yeah. So, um, Chris, thanks for all your work and, uh, we'll, we'll keep it going, man.