Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Chip Scoggins compares Favre Watch to Rodgers drama and McCarthy expectations

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

Matthew Coller is joined by Chip Scoggins of the Minnesota Star Tribune to discuss expectations for J.J. McCarthy. They also compare the Aaron Rodgers-Vikings drama this offseason with the intensity of Favre Watch.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here and joining me on the show from the Minnesota Star Tribune columnist Chip Scoggins, who was in attendance at Quasi Adolfo Mence's press availability yesterday. And Chip, how we feeling about the Minnesota Vikings? I think it's a little bit of a strange time for followers of the team. Not that the fans are used to any other kind of thing, except for strange, but to have, I think the approval rating of the roster moves be as high as it is. But the main storylines of a press conference have nothing to do with

Jonathan Allen, Jayvon Hargrave, Aaron Jones coming back, Byron Murphy coming back. Not what I would have expected for how that was going to go. No, it's interesting. I mean, uh, by all accounts, um, they've had one of the better free agency, uh, periods, uh, of any team and certainly, uh, they filled a lot of holes and did a lot of great moves but based on the you know the press conference yesterday is a two-topic press conference and

and rightfully so because when you are however you want to frame it but when you're in a courtship or conversation or filling out process whatever you want to say with Aaron Rodgers, that's going to get attention. And when your general manager is basically entering a lame duck year, has one year left on his contract, and I think most people thought it would be done fairly quickly after the end of the season, along with your head coach, and it's still not done, that's going to be a conversation piece. So it was, I was surprised Matthew yesterday, how much quacy talked about Rogers. He didn't shut down the questions really at all.

And so the more he talked, the more questions you're going to get asked about it. Yeah. I definitely thought that. Yeah. Well, I had expected first question about Aaron Rogers and for quasi to say something like, yeah, well, you know, we have conversations with a lot of players and I'm not going to talk about those. And instead he went into pretty

great detail, which look, I think quasi dot Fomenta at the podium is always one of the more open general managers in the league. I don't think that he sends us on wild goose chases. And I go back to the competitive rebuild where I don't know how many GMs would have laid it out like that. And yet it was super helpful for the fans to understand like what they were doing when they're taking apart the roster and trying to rebuild it and not bringing back her cousins and all those things because he had telegraphed what they were going to do and then executed it.

I give him credit for that. And I do give him credit for being straightforward on the answers of Aaron Rodgers. At the same time, the door was not shut on Rodgers, which I think is what all of us showed up to find out, right? It was like, okay, are they gonna just shut this down for good and say, hey, it's over? And the framing of the whole thing just left it open ended.

Yeah. And, and a couple of thoughts on that. I mean, I think there's, um, a segment of the fan base that thinks a lot of this is just media driven, like given, uh, outlets, something to talk about. I think Quacey made it abundantly clear that this wasn't just some media fabrication thing that fell from the sky. I mean, he talked about his relationship with Rogers and how they've had dialogue and he even said, yeah, it was kind of, I forgot the way he phrased it, but basically they included him in the conversation

about, you know, in their conversations as part of the process. And so he shot down any idea that this was just a made up story by the media. Any of us reporters or fans who have lived through 2009 and 2010, the summer of, I don't know if it's scars or what, or just the memories of when you have qualifiers of, we're happy right now, or as it stands, or things can change. I've done enough of those through the FARV watch of 09, 010, where it's like, Oh no, this is not, this is not over, right? This is not over, right? And I understand Quacy's point where general managers or coaches don't, in NFL, don't work in absolutes. Like, okay, 100% nothing's ever going to happen because the NFL so much can change. But the fact that, you know, there were those qualifiers and the fact that they're even going down entertaining

the possibility, I think is fascinating because they set forth a plan last year. Use the highest pick you've ever used on a quarterback in the draft. Get a bridge quarterback, bridge quarterback, buy you some time, bridge quarterback plays, then you think, yeah, the injury clouded it a little bit. But by all accounts, JJ McCarthy is going to be ready to play. And yet they're still talking to Rogers and having those conversations as a, I think, a viable option, or you wouldn't be talking to them, right? And so it's just, I think that's where the curiosity comes from comes from. And, and the fact that this organization has already done this with, with far,

um, having the history of kind of, you know, bringing in a hall of fame quarterback, that's 39, 40 Rogers is 41 going to be 42. I just think you, you know, until they shut the door, how do we shut the door? You know? Right. And it does make sense from their decision making process behind the scenes to not come out publicly and say, Oh Rogers, we would never, uh, because you know, Aaron Rogers is known to get offended by stuff.

So you don't want to manipulate Rogers if you ultimately have to use them. And there are scenarios where you could see them having to make that phone call if he doesn't join the Steelers. But from all the reporting, it seems like he doesn't have a whole lot of interest in doing that. He visited them and didn't sign with them. And now Schefter is saying, well, he might retire. And I mean, it all does feel very far V. By the way, if he if he has a fake retirement, then he's gotten very, very close to the, uh, the, the whole far circle.

Maybe he needs that first. Yeah. Or if he, if he, in the Vikings, but if he starts, if he starts working out with high school kids and Louisiana, then we know it's like that. That's when you're on far watch for real. But yeah. Do you think there's part of me that thinks he may say he's retiring, but not submit the papers and just stay in shape and whether it's the Vikings

or some other contender that, that needs a quarterback in a pinch that he's available. I think that's probably what he would do. Yeah. I think he would call for retirement to have somebody or put it out there. Maybe that he might retire to have somebody be like, no, Aaron, please come play for us. Yeah. He wants, I think he wants to be courted in that way, but I can see why

from his perspective that it would be Vikings or nobody at this moment, because look at these other teams. I get it. The Steelers make the playoffs, but is that offense really something that you want to go play with? Maybe with DK Metcalf there, it doesn't seem like he's that intrigued. This is the best circumstance for a quarterback in the league. I mean, or at least top five, but I think even five would be a high ranking considering they fixed the interior of the offensive line.

This is a great situation. That's my argument for why you should feel pretty comfortable with JJ McCarthy. Now, there's a of different theories with that. That would, do they want JJ McCarthy thinking, Hey, I better, I better really take the full responsibility here. I better do everything I can, or they're going to go to Rogers. Personally, I wouldn't need him to be looking. He doesn't seem like the type of kid that needs to be looking

over his shoulder that way. That that's, that's my point is. Okay. kid that needs to be looking over his shoulder that way. That that's, that's my point is, okay. Everything we know about Jason McCarthy doesn't scream, Hey, this guy needs to be motivated, like played at Michigan, won a national title, um, everything you hear about them and in our conversations with them, you know, after he got drafted and through, uh, OTAs and, and, uh and before he got hurt in training camp. Did he ever project anything other than a serious guy who's very

mature about what he's doing and going to attack it? So it seems a little weird that that would be the, you know, the motivation. Like, Hey, let's not make him feel comfortable that he has to earn this. I mean, I think he's pretty self motivated as this. I, you know, I understand because Aaron Rogers and, but it's not Aaron Rogers seven years ago. And I just think you could get Oh nine far version or you get 2010 far version. And I just don't know that the upside is worth the risk of this thing blowing up in your face. I just, you probably watched them a lot more than me, Matthew, but like,

he's going to be 42 in December. How, what is his level of play right now? Now he's, this is obviously, I mean, Sam Darnall had a career year because you're in a very conducive environment with coaching and personnel and all that. So it's not like you're asking anyone to be a savior quarterback, but even so 41 years old, and if it blows up, now you have a major problem on your hands. I think well, Quasidval Mensa being the data guy.

I also am an enjoyer of the numbers. And I think the research would tell you probably that as great as Rogers once was that young rookie second year quarterbacks have had a lot of success. Recently, I counted this up for an article the other day, 11 teams with first or second year quarterbacks have made the playoffs since 2021. So that's only the last couple of years. Two of those are CJ Stroud, but still, I mean, you're talking about young quarterbacks have had a lot of success stepping into the NFL.

And the biggest correlation was how strong was their team in their supporting cast. Even Brock Purdy in year two, a seventh round draft pick in year two, with a great supporting cast is in the Super Bowl, and he's one drive away from beating Patrick Mahomes. And I understand the uncertainty element of it. And this is what I wanna know from you about how you read into the comments about JJ McCarthy,

because, you know, Quacey made a quip of like, Hey, I said to Kevin O'Connell, does, uh, any anybody ever named their QB one? I was like, yes. Kind of like all the time. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah. The young quarterback like this, I think the answer is yes. He said that every bar they've asked him to reach every checkpoint he's passed and flying colors, which would just lead you to go, then what are we talking about? Then why are we having this press conference right now?

If that's the case, because everything from where he was last year pointed to this guy's arrow is shooting up to the moon and he just needs time to develop. I think that there's a couple different factors. One is that coaches absolutely hate uncertainty. And you know this, that back in the day with call pepper, they asked Dan Marino if you wanted to come back and play the 49ers rather than playing pretty wanted to go with Tom Brady. Like there's a lot of examples of this. I think they don't like uncertainty. And also you win 13, 14 games. That messes with people's brains. Don't you think? Well, coaches don't like uncertainty. And also you win 13, 14 games.

It messes with people's brains. Don't you think? Well, coaches don't like an uncertainty and they're always going to err on the side of a proven thing over, uh, unproven. Like we see that time and again. Um, I think there is a expectation because of when you win that many games and. This roster has built to win right now. Like this is a high-end roster in terms of, and high-end roster with the coaching. I think the moves they made in the trenches, which I would argue, and Quasey said this yesterday,

everything they've done in offense speaks to, we're going to surround a young quarterback with as much talent as we can. So that, I think that's where it's still going to end up. But I think, uh, there's that, that, that this, uh, roster is built to win right now because it's free agent veteran driven because they haven't drafted well. So it's not like a lot of young players that they're you know trying to develop still and I think it's just the intoxication of man maybe we could get the old Aaron Rodgers and if you could get that now you're thinking Super Bowl but I don't know that you can get that

can you I mean I just that's, whatever you want to call it, million dollar question or $25 million question, whatever he would command and salary. I just think when you have a quarterback like that's available and you're probably thinking of Aaron Rogers circa whatever 2018, whatever year you're gonna pick that there's probably that allure of, man, what if we could tap into that and put him in this office around him with JJ and, you know, and now you've got an interior line and we've got a run game to go with. But I like that your argument or your data that you did with the young quarterbacks,

I think we're seeing it. There used to be this perception of, well, you got a rookie quarterback. You're going to struggle for three years and then you're going to take a big leap. Well, that doesn't have to be the case anymore. Like we're seeing it time and again. Like if you have good coaching and good talent, um, these guys can step in and contribute at a pretty high level right away. There's, there's nothing that says you can't win with the rookie quarterback. So I have more JJ McCarthy questions for you, but I also want you to share

stories of the far watch because there were a few days there, there are a few days there where I was like, you know how you, you and Judd have joked around that some of us guys who are now the same age as you were the like history kind of repeats itself and the beat reporters now that are where you used to be going through the same kind of crazy stuff with this franchise. So, so tell us, uh, let's gather wildfire here. Tell us some far of watch stories. Cause I thought that was about to be us. Yeah, well, it could be, you know, you know, if Rogers doesn't sign it could be, You know, you know, if Rogers doesn't sign it could be but it wasn't like it was that summer

Neither Judd and I took vacation because it was literally every week it was far was Great at manipulating the situation where it we are we had a Judd and I would do an Access Vikings video every day, even in the off season. And so at the end of it, they did a compilation of our snippets of our things. Honest to God, Matthew, it was like a tennis match. Not coming, he is coming, not coming, he is coming, not coming, he is coming. And then the last cut was

helicopters swirling overhead, people rushing in. You're not gonna believe this, Brett Favre is here, he's on the Vikings. But it was, I mean, it would be, Edward was the one who was kind of following Favre then for ESPN is like, oh, here's video, Favre's working out with the high school football players, the arm's feeling good. Well, maybe it is. And then, no, no, it's just, it's not with the high school football players. The arms feeling good. Well, maybe it is. And then, no, no, it's just, it's not recovering the same way. You know, the shoulders not recovering.

So I was like, okay, it's off. And it literally felt like it was day to day. You didn't know if you woke up, if far was going to make up his mind one way or the other. And so we got word, uh, two days before we went to Mankato, Barb's out, Barb's not playing. So we're like, okay, let's just cover the team. Okay, we're not covering one player.

Let's just cover a team. Go down to Mankato. And even then we're down there, there's all kinds of rumors, Far, you know, there was one, we just kind of laughed about it because Barbve was not going to step foot in Mankato, but someone apparently spotted him driving a Camaro around Mankato. It's like Farve is not driving at a Walmart parking lot, he's not driving a Camaro around

Mankato. So, but the last practice they had in Mankato was awful. Offense couldn't function. It was just a really bad practice. On the sideline, we were saying, Childress is absolutely going to lose his mind. Because it's like two weeks until the season over he's going to have a complete meltdown in this press conference.

We get to the press conference and he's like, just couldn't have been in a better mood. And we're like, huh, that's weird. And sure enough, two days later, helicopters, bar watches coming in, you know, I never forget, it's still one of the most surreal days of my journalism career. Like fans are flood Winter Park.

They have to get security out there and get and block off the road. Cause fans are coming and we looked down there and get security out there and block off the road because fans are coming. And we looked down there and there's a guy dressed in a chicken costume holding the sign up for some restaurant or something. He was dressed like a chicken. Part of the crowd, it was like,

what in the world is going on right now? Brett Favre is becoming a Viking. Brad Childress had picked him up at the airport, like leaned his car seat back so the cameras couldn't see him. They pull into Winter Park, just rush of people come, like the Beatles are coming. There's a guy with holding the chick,

dressed like a chicken down there holding the sign. It was like one of the most surreal days, but it was, I mean, it was a, it was one of those days where days felt like weeks because you just cut, you just, you're at the whim of far of making an announcement and you never knew when he was going to say, because you know, he had, when he was in Green Bay, he'd gone back and forth for so long. He's like, I don't know if I want to play.

Yeah, I'm going to play. I don't, you know, just, he couldn't make up his mind. It's like, you just lived. It's like, gosh, because you knew he wanted, he still wanted to play. I don't you know, he just couldn't make up his mind. It's like you just live. It's like gosh because you knew. He wanted he still want to play and this was and that was a great situation to it much like this one. It was a roster and that roster. I would say that 019 was still the most talented team I've ever covered.

I mean just the number of high level players. So you knew like he wanted to be part of that because he knew they could get ever shot the Super Bowl, but it was Matthew, it just dragged on and on and on. It's like, there's a reason why I have all this gray hair now is I think it's because of the Oh nine bar watch. I think, uh, if Rogers were to sign, instead of people trying to get a glimpse and celebrating,

there might be protests out front of TCR performance center instead. I, the difference is JJ McCarthy, really? I mean, because the fans, I'm sure you felt this last year. It was a big discussion on this show is I think the fans were very hesitant to buy into what Sam Darnold was doing in part because they didn't want it like we don't want anybody to have competition for what JJ McCarthy is supposed to represent in the future, which is finally their franchise quarterback.

They almost had in Dante. They almost had in Teddy, like another swing at having this true franchise quarterback to build around, not somebody else's quarterback who showed up here and the receivers made them great and not a 40 year old showing up and just taking one more swing. Nobody wants that. And I think that if I was thinking about this from a Wilf perspective, from the, the ownership, the highest level, if they wanted to soft float it out there to see what the reaction would be, I think you saw every bit of it. The fans don't want any part of this. And you saw what a press conference is going to be like every single day. Aaron Rodgers gets here that there's not going to be any other topic as you said you're

covering one player and not an entire franchise for that season I think the response would be insanely different from what it was when Brett Favre showed up. I agree because there's just um I think there's this forget the the football and how much he has left and that to me that's I think there's this, forget the football and how much he has left and that to me, that's the huge unknown. But I think just his personality and how he, the body language on the sideline and the things says with Pat McAvey on his show. But furthermore, I mean, it's Kevin O'Connell has done a masterful job of creating a locker room and a culture in that building where it's like, you have a superstar receiver that doesn't think he's above anyone else. He is, but he,

you know, it's still kind of a tight knit. I mean, it's as close to the locker rooms I can remember covering. And you would be inviting the circus to town. And whether Aaron Rodgers was on, you got the best version of him. And like it was part of that. And I think you probably would because of Harrison Smith and Jefferson and the Corps, Brian O'Neill, just the Corps of Rock Solid veterans that they have. But it's right, it's like everything is going to be revolved around one guy. And so I just don't know, it would be, it seemed like it would be counter to what they've done to this point in terms of establishing the kind of locker room and culture that they want. Now understand, like if you're winning, nobody gives a flip, you know, I mean, they're, you're going to have a chance to win the title, but so you combine that with just the

uncertainty of age and physical decline. And you're right about Jason McCarthy and the way people didn't, but you know, I think fans totally, I think they loved last season and loved the Darnold story. But I think it was one of those flash point moment in time, like, Hey, let's, let's enjoy this while it's happening. But I think the fans are really excited about JJ McCarthy because he does represent something that's been missing from this organization forever. The young guy that can be your franchise quarterback and be here in theory for 10 years.

That's what they've been trying to find. You know, that green Bay has found and other, you know, other organizations that found they, they feel like he can be that for them. I felt the trepidation as the season went along though, from Vikings fans, like, is this going to mean we're not going to see McCarthy? Like, even as great as Darnold was playing. And it really shows you how unique that situation was, because there is no other example of a team winning 14 games, getting 35 touchdowns from their quarterback,

and then that quarterback just leaving, and the fans not being angry about it, right? I mean, that just sort of shows you, and this kind of transitions. I'll make one more point about Favre and I mean, that just sort of shows you and this kind of transitions. I'll make one more point about far of and Rogers though, far of for especially a generation of people like myself who were 12 years old when Brett Favre is at his peak and winning MVPs. He is the most fun player in NFL history. I mean, for, for any of us, I'm sure, you know, since then, you know, people might, we'll say my

homes in the next generation or Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson, but for every millennial person. And so when you get in Minnesota, the most fun quarterback of all time to that point in the most people's lives, it's way different from someone who has just looked miserable playing football

for a long time now and has been deeply despised by the fan base. I think Vikings fans respected the heck out of Favre. I don't think that they hated him. I think that they wanted him to lose and throw key interceptions. Yeah. I think they always loved those games. I think they really hated Aaron Rogers. They hated Favre because he won and he was great. Right. Right. It was almost like envy. Like, why can't we have that guy? Like the day he was coming here, I mean, it was like that. They don't hate Brett Favre today.

Right. And that was, I mean, you know, I was talking to John's like in 30 years, that was my favorite team and favorite season to cover because it was so many big personalities and Farmer's a big part of it. And that team was just great. And it's a shame that they didn't win it because I think that team was, again, that's the most talented team I've seen or I've covered. It's a different vibe with Rogers. And you see it.

I mean, you hear like, uh, I'm always skeptical to say Richard Patino always used to say, you know, Twitter is not real life. So we probably overinflate Twitter reactions and things like that. But it is a it does give you a snapshot of kind of what people are thinking. And it has not been overwhelmingly positive. This conversation about Rogers being in the mix. Oh, that's for sure. And I get, I think, a better sample of it when I do my live chats with fans,

because it's less random bot people and more like reasonable people who show up to drop by. And I think that it is a reflection of how the fan base feels about him. Now let's talk about expectations with JJ McCarthy, because I did the look at the recent history and it was almost a one-to-one correlation of if a team put nothing around their quarterback, the Justin Fields and the Trevor Lawrence with urban Meyer,

they failed and that quarterback looked bad and no one could have tested this more than Sam Darnold, right? Okay. You had the worst setup and then all of a sudden had the best. Uh, I think that because of the moves they made and quasi was asked about this yesterday about the age of some of the free agents they brought in, they've created a couple of year window here with a really stacked roster and a lot of guys under contract around him to give him the best chance to succeed. And I don't think there's any reason why we should lower the bar. Like I saw the initial Vegas over under is like eight and a half, which is fair because there's uncertainty. But if you tell people it's an eight win season next year, I don't think that's enough.

If you let Sam Darnold go out of the building, then you have to at least be in that same range. I don't expect 14, but no playoff team success right away. Like I think that these things are fair to expect when they've spent all the money they've spent in free agency. Yeah. You know, O'Connell says this, and I think it's true. Organizations fail quarterbacks more than quarterbacks fail organizations. I think that's a hundred percent true. And that's his way of saying, if you just throw a quarterback out there and you haven't, he doesn't have the infrastructure, it's not going to work. Well, O'Connell is creating, he's part of it because he's, he's a really good play caller and, and you know, schemer when you combine him with the personnel that they've done and they were intentional about, well, we're not just gonna, you know, hope that

Garrett Bradbury and our guards improve or get better with no, they said we need to upgrade those positions and he spent money and they went and did it. You would now you look at that offensive line and say, you know what, that's a pretty good offensive line. Like that's, that's a good office that you're not going to point that as a weakness. Obviously, you got the best receiver in football. You got other guys around him. You went out and bolstered your running back, uh, room.

So it's not just all Aaron Jones. You made a trade so you can, uh, be better in short yardage and in the red zone. So it's not all on the quarterback to make plays. So they've set it up where you can put a young guy in there and feel like, you know what? We don't have to change what we do. We don't have to lower expectations. They're not gonna win 14 games. Cause you just can't, I mean, how often does that happen

in NFL or back to back? Someone asked me today, what I would say, and I would say 10 wins, 11 wins, maybe I think that's entirely realistic. I really do because, and oh, by the way, you gave Brian Flores more pieces to make his defense better. And that could be a top 10 top five defense, I think. Um, so I, just because you're turning it over to an unproven quarterback, doesn't mean you have to take, take a step back because this is a team built to win right now even with the first year quarterback. I was looking at the numbers on this when any quarterback whether it's Nick Mullins or

Kirk Cousins or Sam Darnold targets Justin Jefferson the quarterback rating of that quarterback is over 110 and when they target Jordan Addison it's over 105. I mean, those are MVP type of numbers. When you just throw it to your number one or two wide receiver. And then I think a big factor here for JJ McCarthy in terms of setting him up is TJ Hockinson coming back at a hundred percent. They still have Josh Oliver, who I thought showed a lot last year as a receiving tight end and building that backfield up and just adding like a different vibe to the interior of the offensive line for so long. It was like, yeah, if you're

running outside zone or a screen, Garrett Bradbury is great, but man, if you got to go toe to toe with some heavyweight, he's going to get beat. And I just, I don't, it's only one press conference. It's only one one actually just a zoom call with Ryan Kelly. But when we spent it, it's nasty. Yes. Right. You spent 15 minutes with Ryan Kelly and you're like, you know what? He seems pretty nice, but he also seems like he could not be nice. Right. Yeah. He's got that. They, I don't know anyone ever matched Steve Hutchinson in terms of that,

that, that I've covered. I mean, Steve Hutchinson would, uh, eat your arm for breakfast. I mean, he's just, he had nasty to him. Like a great guy now, he talked to him, but like in football, he was just a mean, nasty dude. I feel like they brought that into their locker room with these two linemen. Probably great guys. I don't know. I'd never met them, but I think just from the reputation, what you hear that that they're not going to get pushed around and they're going to bring it a kind of an edge to them. And so, and that's the thing is like, you hear quarterbacks talk about all time, like, just don't get the pressure up the gut in their face, you know, like, that's, everybody gets

uncomfortable when that happens, right? So I just think the infrastructure they've created so that McCarthy can really feel comfortable and thrive, it's there. And then you have a coach who spends more time and invests more thought and all these things into that position and probably any coach I've ever encountered because like that is his experiment, his science experiment. I'm saying all this. I'm like, well, why are we talking about Rogers? Right. I feel the same way. I feel like we're talking about this. I don't, I don't understand it, Matthew, because, uh, because of a knee. I mean, honestly, because of a knee and it's a long recovery to that injury. That injury is also a little bit more tricky. And this is coming from a surgeon that I interviewed on the show, not that long ago, but it's a little more tricky than an ACL and it can have

more issues that go along with it. We certainly saw that from Shree Floyd. Now that's not problematic as of this moment in the same way, but that's just my understanding. And if you're them and you win 14 games and you know the expectation is high, you also saw what happened the last time you did not have a backup quarterback ready. And you went from being a team that was probably going to make the playoffs to a team that missed the playoffs this is why they need to get person went or whoever who could keep winning but I think that there there just exists that fear and the other thing is too this is what I want to ask

you chip because you've covered a lot of quarterbacks I have as well about your opinion on what makes a success or failure because I totally agree that supporting cast and coaching and all that stuff, but it's not everything. And you got it. No, it's not everything. And I covered, uh, McCarthy in college, just, you know, they played the Gophers here. And I'll say the one thing is jumped out to me that night because they didn't really throw

the ball that much. The way he moved, not just scrambled, but moved around. He was a lot better at that than I guess I knew. Like that was really impressive how he, how he moved. You had that touchdown in the corner where he outran them to the edge. Yeah. Yeah. Like this is like, man, he's a good athlete.

Um, but beyond that, just our conversations with him, it just doesn't guarantee success. Um, I think it does play a part though. He has that it about him. He has that, that, uh, kind of that personality or that aura or whatever, where you just think, man, it's his's mature, he gets it. He has the confidence, kind of sees things clearly, not just on the field, but just kind of in talking to him. He just kind of has a presence about him.

And then we saw like when we saw him in training, particularly as training camp went on, you're like, man, he's getting better. First week at training camp, we saw some balls hit the ground, probably nerves, probably head spin a little bit. But as they got going, it's like his willingness to try to squeeze balls into tight windows, make throw, the deep ball was there. I just, he obviously had the arm ability that the arm talent, you know, the kind of cliche that they talked about, but I just thought, I just think he has kind of a presence that you can tell he came from a top 10 college program, top five blue blood, that there's a

pressure and spotlight on those guys and he's lived it. And so it doesn't seem too big for him. pressure and spotlight on those guys and he's lived it. And so it doesn't seem too big for him. Yeah. I made a tongue in cheek comment on a radio show that ended up being one of those videos that everyone dunks on you for or whatever. But I said that, um, last year in camp, like I thought we were told that we were getting Matt Hasselback, but you know, he looks more like John Elway and And of course, of course, I don't think he's going to be John Elway. Come on. Everyone knows that. But what I mean is when we were watching in practice, exactly what you're talking

about is that there is a playmaking element to him that I think his, his natural thing that happens, like, you know how sorry, Kirk, Kirk Cousins natural thing when something goes down in front of him when the bleep hits the fan is to check it down to TJ Hawkinson. I think for JJ it's go make a play and we saw that in college from him. We saw that in camp from him. And I also think that the arm talent was a lot higher than it was made out to seem. I mean in his college tape, you know, people talk about, well, you know, you can't really

drive the ball down the field. But then we saw him doing it because he's working with Josh McCown and Kevin O'Connell every day. And it's not that he's not strong enough to do it. He's very physically strong. It was probably just technique wise and then learning and learning and learning. I think his willingness to learn his maturity with a mic in front of him is incredibly impressive. You saw it again with the interview he did the other day, but that's always going to be it. And that is why you keep going back to like,

I agree with what Quacey said for me from the outside, he's checked every, every box. So again, why are we talking about anybody else? And I think it just circles back to kind of that fear of the unknown, but I also believe from what we saw that he's not a rookie, he has been through an NFL season and seen how it all of the unknown, but I also believe from what we saw that he's not a rookie. He has been through an NFL season and seen how it all works. He knows an NFL playbook. He knows an NFL training camp.

He has been on the field with the Vikings first team defense going against his second team offense. This isn't someone who's stepping into it for the first time. And I think he should hit the ground running. If that happens for them, then to me, Chip, they are in the best position that they have been since I wanna say Favre and the helicopters. Is that, I mean, maybe going to Philadelphia

for the NFC championship, of course, for a chance to go to the Super Bowl there. But aside from that, like as a franchise, as an overall, like where do you stand within the National Football league? Probably the best, or maybe, maybe the day that Kirk signs and we think that's going to get them to the Superbowl. Like there's a, there's very few moments that I could say will be better than when JJ McCarthy takes the field as QB one for training.

Yeah. You know, I felt, you know, when they got to the NSC Championship game the year before Kirk, that crew, the bar, Kendrick Smith, all those guys were in their prime. They hadn't reached the end of it yet. And so you feel like, man, their window is right now. It's the same thing, right? I didn't think that team was as good as 09, obviously, but they were a team that was built to win right then.

And I think the window it's weird. Now I think their window because of the veterans they have now. I'd feel more comfortable if they had a drafted veteran. Some of these guys were 26, 27, 28 versus 29, 30, 31. Um, that's where I, you know, at some point, the draft misses will catch up to you. You can keep doing the free agent thing, but you stay old, you know, so it's a little bit tricky there figuring out when guys hit the end versus, you know what I'm saying? But they're in a good spot because as a snapshot where they are today,

I like this roster a lot. Going into at the end of the year, I didn't like it so much because I felt like there's real deficiencies on both lines and we saw in the playoffs that you can't be deficient on either line and think that you're going to really be a true contender. They got better in free agency on paper. I mean, they just did.

And so that's why I think in a lot of us, I think the equity that O'Connell has in terms of quarterback play. I don't know if it's as easy to say you can put anybody in there and they're gonna thrive because Kevin O okay, that's probably oversimplistic, simplistic, but I think he knows how to navigate weaknesses and pull out the strengths of his quarterbacks and gear things around that really, really well. And I think he would do that with McCarthy for sure in year one. I think you could already see those two gelling early last year.

And then they spent each week together. Media. I mean, how about this? He's coaching a 14 win team, but still having a weekly meeting with JJ McCarthy to prepare him, it just sort of shows you this was always the plan of, of where they were going to go. And maybe if Sam Darnold had made the NFC championship, we'd be talking about a franchise tag for him and a little different story.

But, uh, the way it went for Darnold ends up changing history and leaving them where they expect it to be, or, or I guess resetting, uh, history and where they expect it to be one more thing for you, Chip. So you asked quasi-adopt for MENSA about his contract situation. I think he may be misunderstood exactly where you were going with that yesterday. But I think what you were trying to get at with him, and maybe he doesn't realize this, is that a general manager without a contract extension operating the draft is something you basically never see.

That you don't ever see a lame duck. I mean, only in bad situations like the New York giants, not 14 win teams who are who just spent, you know, whatever million dollars in free agency. I tend to want to lean toward just that this will get worked out chip, but how are you reading the situation with O'Connell getting his deal done basically immediately and then us sitting here and waiting on the other one?

Yeah. You know, my reporter instincts say something's going on because it's if you just looked at results since he's been there, teams win, right? They won a lot of games like you would think it would get done pretty easily and pretty quickly in the same way that that O'Connell did. Now obviously the draft resume is not where it needs to be right so that could be a hold up, a term could be a hold up and yeah I think quasi misread or miss not misunderstood but it's you know general managers have to do the long play and they're

trying to build for the future and it's just unusual to have a general manager that's making all these, what was the number that they spent in free agency, 300 million or right commitments and do a draft where it's down to the last year and we don't, there's no resolution. And it just feels, uh, off to me, right? Like, and maybe it's just those, you know, reporter skepticism in me. Um, I just thought it'd be done a lot quicker than it is. And the fact that it's not done now makes me think like, what's going on here? Like you think there's some urgency to get this done, right? Well, you and Zulgan went through so much with this franchise that

if your default is to always go to something's going on there, I know it was during your time. My default recently, since this group took over, has been nothing's going on there, which has been mostly true in the Jefferson thing in the O'Connell is O'Connell going to get traded? No. Yeah. Yeah. That made no sense. That made no sense to me at all. Zero, but also might've made sense from an agent trying to pressure the team a little bit bad idea from his agent. But anyway, that's a different story. So I've been more of the mind of like, well, let's, let's see. And I remember saying, well, if we get to the combine and it doesn't,

I'll raise an eyebrow. So I got, so then I had one eyebrow up and then if we get to the draft and there's not, then it's like full, both eyebrows, like what's going on here. Cause that then it gets a little bit strange if you're operating the entire draft and you still don't have an extension, then we get into a land of. Is he just like, not going to be the GM in the future? Like, is this going to happen or like what, what is going on here? Is he going to start doing the George Costanza and pulling the trophy behind his car and everything? And like, what is, what is going on?

So then I think it gets suspicious later, but there's two things that stuck out to me. One, he said it was the busiest time of the year and my gosh, they were busy, but he also did note if I caught this correctly that like an agent had asked him the same thing, like, so like, what's your, you know, what's your deal kind of thing? I think there's a lot of people probably in that world who want to know like what is going on with that franchise?

Cause it seems like the a plus franchise in the league. Why wouldn't one of its key leaders be all set? So I tend to stand on both sides of that fence. Yeah. And, and, you know, things typically get worked out. They do. We, we, you know, typically as player contracts, like, oh my God, they're going to hold out and they get, you know, they get done, but, uh, it would be one

thing if this was a losing organization and you're like, okay, they're going to keep them. What's going on here? I mean, this is an organization that's had a lot of success with a lot of games. They haven't, you know, obviously done anything in the playoffs. But I just thought it would be pretty seamless, you know, and the fact that O'Connell's was, and Quacey's clearly hasn't been, and I understand they're busy, but so busy that you can't get a condom. I mean, it just seems, again, you know, my antennas go up high whenever there's, you're wondering like, what's going on behind the scenes? Well, my antennas go up high whenever there's you're wondering like what's going on behind the scenes well my antennas go up so but it you know clearly doesn't seem to be a bother in him at least publicly crazy he handled it pretty well you know

he said he doesn't wake up thinking about it every day so maybe that's his untraditional football background that he didn't, you know, grow up. He hasn't, he's not a football lifer, right? So maybe, um, it doesn't register in the same way it would someone else. Like, Oh my gosh, we have to get this thing solved like yesterday. I don't know. But, um, I do think it's little unusual that, uh, it's gotten this far without being done.

Okay. Uh, well, just to real quick as one of the things when I first moved to Minnesota and worked with our great friend, Judd Zolged, he told me about like instincts on the beat. He said, if it looks like it's unusual, something's probably going on, which served me really well from years, 2016 until 2021 and a little less so in recent years. So before I let you go, Chip, the Vikings don't yet have a backup. I just want you to name a random Vikings backup and talk about them from your time covering the team. It doesn't matter who doesn't matter when, what era just give

me a random back. Cause I don't care. I don't care about that. So we are at training camp in Mankato back because I don't care. I don't care about that. So we're at training camp in Mankato and we stayed away from a little bit farther out from the campus. We were out by the highway and Judd and I would always go to the Applebee's across the street there after get done right and we go over there have a couple beers and dinner and and no players ever came out there right because it you know, they stayed close to where they were and we're out there one day and in comes John David booty. You're like John David booty is going to be my favorite, my favorite quarter. But he looked at it.

He's like, Oh, you kidding me? Like I have to come here and see report John David booty. We thought John David was going to be, you know, he was the guy. What, what did he draft John David in? He must've been, it must've been, um, Oh, you know, he was the guy. What would the draft John David? It must have been. It must have been a weight somewhere in that range. Yeah, I think it was our first year. Yeah, probably was a weight and he was USC.

Correct. That was right. And they had had that run of great USC quarterback. Yeah, not all of them worked out in the NFL, but we didn't know that yet. Did John David start at Louisiana and then with the USC? That might have been it. I can't remember. It's been so long. But yeah, John David Bo at Louisiana and then with the USC that might have been it It's been so long, but yeah, John David Booty. I remember thinking He probably probably just hated seeing Judd and I when he walked in there because he thought he was gonna have some peace and quiet from Training camp all I would suggest is people who like old games go watch a few of Gus Ferrat playing with Randy Moss

Yeah, so much fun. Gus just threw it up for him. Let's go get it. I love covering. Gus was a fun guy to cover. He was, he was, he was a fun guy to cover. That was an interesting time. Cause I mean, it was a Gus and Ponder and who's, uh, who else was in that? It was a weird, that whole time was kind of a blur, but, um, Gus was a fun guy to, uh, cause he was a veteran been around time was kind of a blur, but Gus was a fun guy to. Because he was a veteran been around. He just, you know, he had a great perspective on things. So one guy. Chip Scoggins, Minnesota Star Tribune, the best. And I'm glad we could do this, man.

Yeah, thanks for having me. This is fun. Yeah. And seen the new studio. I love it. Yeah, this is like this is high tech. This is good stuff. This is the best here. We're modern. We don't have a TikTok yet. You're doing great stuff, man. So it's always fun to come on with you. I appreciate it. Appreciate the time and the fun trip down memory lane a little bit there as well. So thanks for your time and we'll catch everybody later.