Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Chris Trapasso reacts to Vikings Rondale Moore, Jeff Okudah signings

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

The Vikings have continued to add to their roster over the past several days, inking Jeff Okudah and Rondale Moore to deals. Matthew Coller is joined by CBS Sports' Chris Trapasso to discuss those signings and how they might impact the team's draft plans.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 again with CBS Sports Draft Analyst Chris Trapaso and Chris, I've been given new life by the reports that the Vikings are not currently pursuing Aaron Rodgers and we can move on from the conversation and back to what we do best, which is draft simming and mock can move on from the conversation and back to what we do best, which is draftsimming and mock drafting and breaking down the biggest storylines in the NFL and surrounding the Vikings regarding the draft.

So I am quite excited to get into this. Where are you at in your process? Because the draft is still a month plus away. Do you feel like you're getting more confident about how the board is going to play out? I saw you just dropped a what first three round mock. Very impressive. Where are you at in draft season? OK, I feel pretty good.

I'm slightly ahead of where I normally am at. I just was spent a lot of time today with more evaluations of like the mid to late round guys Finalized grades like guys that I have a comparison for a scouting report a grade I'm at 202. I'm hoping I've been trying to parse it out. I'm very methodical with this If I do like three or four a day, which I can do even with my work at CBS I want to get to 250 by April 1st, and then just reach out to any other draft analyst, hey, who's a pro day circuit guy that tested well?

Who do you think could get drafted that we haven't really heard about? That's what I like to do to try to get two, 300 or as many as possible. The three round mock draft came out Wednesday, like you mentioned. So to have some of those with, with trades, we have. Like my favorite word, we have crystallized the needs for teams

after free agency a little. And I will say this too, this is not answering your question, but. I think the Vikings made the right decision, not pursuing Aaron Rogers and signing him. Could it have worked? Is there a place where I could squint and envision Aaron Rogers doing well in Minnesota? Yes, but I think it was an unnecessary risk

had they signed him because there also is a alternate universe where by week three, he's blaming Justin Jefferson and throwing him under the rug and calling out Brian Flores for blitzing too much. So I think the Vikings made the right choice and my draft process is going pretty well. I'm just tweaking little things like size grades that I had too long at pre combine that I now see a guy has shorter arms, things like that,

like very much minute now, but it's all important to get to that final product in April. And just to make a point on the McCarthy thing, as if I haven't made enough already with Aaron Rodgers in the last week. But there's uncertainty about everybody when it comes to coming out of the draft and stepping into a position that is so important for a team. And behind the scenes, they're always going to be concerned that he's not going to be

who they thought he was. And this goes on with every team and every draft draft prospect. And I like the example of the Panthers where they were taking phone calls about Bryce young and then six weeks later, they're like, yeah, Bryce young, we drafted him number one. He's great. We love like this happens a lot. And especially when guys first get into the NFL, I think it's always

really tumultuous for them. And with JJ McCarthy, how he performs in the off season program will matter to them. And that I think is why some of these reports didn't totally close the door on Aaron Rogers, because they will want to see how he looks in this OTAs and the mini camps and how he handles himself as QB one and going into training camp. But I think it is so much better for the organization to learn all that stuff rather than putting that off for another year to play somebody who we have a recent sample size and not being very good. But again,

I've said it all. So let's move on. I got a draft. You want to see it? Yes. Why don't we take a look at it? And this one is a little more, you know, a little more trade down action as always, as per always. I think. Which I did have a Vikings trade down in my three round mock by the way. Oh, you did. Okay. All right. I have advice and I just saw you put that out there. And I know. Yeah. It's, it's recently, it's, it's hot off the digital presses, but yes, I, because of our conversations, the limited picks, I did include trades in that mock, and I had the Vikings, excuse me, trading down to get extra picks like you did here in this draft set.

Okay, so here was my trade down. I traded with the Cleveland Browns, who have the 33rd overall pick, and I got number 94 and number 179 back. I will call this a very humble trade down. It was not some, oh, I got 19 picks back or something like that. It was, I moved down a few spots into the second round, ruining everyone's draft night and starting day two at the very top. And with the, I'll just run down the draft picks and then we can talk about each one.

So with the 33rd pick that I have from Cleveland, I took grace able the offensive lineman out of North Dakota state. I loved how he looked at the combine, the way he moved. I think he could be a dominant guard right off the bat. Senior bowl stuff looked great. Second pick was somebody that I hadn't looked into, but now I'm thinking a little more into the future here with Harrison Smith coming back. But I think it's unlikely there are many more years for him. So I went with a safety here, Lathan ransom. Now, this is one of those picks Chris,

where I actually can use my own tape analysis of just me watching this guy on TV about, I don't know, eight times this year with Ohio state. This safety comes downhill. He hits hard. He stands out in every game to me. And I think Brian Flores would enjoy him as a player. So number three pick at 97. This is the Kirk Cousins comp pick Dorian Strong,

the cornerback out of Virginia Tech. I took him to add a little cornerback depth. I still think they're going to add a free agent or something there. But development guys, I think are important. I took him to add a little cornerback depth. I still think they're going to add a free agent or something there, but, uh, development guys I think are important. Then onto the fifth round, I selected Kyle Williams, wide receiver out of Washington state, very, very productive wide receiver who ran a four four. Then I, in the late rounds, Tonka Hemingway, because his name is Tonka Hemingway. He's a defensive tackle, productive on the older side,

but put up really good numbers. And then just for you, because I knew that we would be breaking this down together. Bachel, is it, is it Bachel? I pronounce it. I've heard Bachel and I've also heard Bachel. So I just say Bachel Tutin. I kind of like the running back out of Virginia Tech who went berserk at the NFL combine and was one of the fastest players there. So that is the draft sim. Now you tell me how would you grade that drafts? Not quite as good as I believe last week's or the previous few that we've done. I would say in the

B to B plus range. I think that's a little early for ransom from Ohio State. And the one reason I'll explain or why is the tackling numbers, his tackle efficiency was not extremely high. Now what would be better, which I'm just remembering back to last week, we did the draft sim together so we could see who's available and kind of collaborate on that. I would assume there would be safeties in round, was that round two, around three? That was round three. Yeah, that was round three. Probably a few safeties that I have graded higher. I think I have, I'm trying to look here at my starting grade book. I think I have more of a fourth, early fifth on him, but there's always a big range in the draft. Like when I'm grading in real time for CBS sports, I do all of their draft grades every year from second round to seventh round. I'm not a supersticular where if like a guy goes to the end of the third and I have him early fourth, I give it an F. Like I understand that there that there is a range. Dorian Strong is probably the best value pick outside of Tooten, which I don't think he's going to last until the sixth round. But yes, getting him is great. Dorian Strong's ball production, his zone savviness, and you've even kind of coached me

up on this that there is a thought that Brian Flores and his defense and his corners are just playing press man all the time, when in reality they do play a lot of zone. And there's so many of those fire zone blitzes where uh a slot corner blitz is a a d tackle drops out the outside corners have to sit and just watch the quarterback Dorian Strong is in that skill as good as any corner in this class so that is a really good pick um and we'll just add a different flavor because they have athletic cornerbacks in the room he's not too dissimilar not quite as athletic, but instinct wise to Byron Murphy,

where Byron Murphy made a lot of plays in zone last season, where it looked like a quarterback was throwing to an open receiver. Suddenly Byron Murphy jumps in front, he peels off his assignment, makes the interception. Dorian Strong is that type of player. And then, oh, Kyle Williams, such a productive player. You couple that with, uh, I don't want to say elite level combine, but running

four, four flat, big time vertical broad jump, uh, like five 11, one 90. He's kind of that perfect start him as a niche guy, getting down the field. Let him learn from Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson running routes. But in the meantime, you could just throw him deep balls and you can get him the ball in space as just, I mean, of course you're not going to force feed him the ball with Jefferson and Addison on the team, but he's kind of like a Amir Smith, Marset or a, you know, a wide receiver three or four that in time can become a, uh, who's the former Buffalo and Miami wide receiver, uh, KJ Osborne type.

I could see him being in that role eventually where Osborne didn't hit immediately, but he did make some plays later on. So I think, uh, early just that ransom pick I don't love. And the great, uh, Zabel selection. It's not one that I think he would come in and be dominant immediately, but I think they need to raise the floor from Ed Ingram, who they traded smartly. I mean, we kind of were skeptical of that pick right away and didn't love the fit. Zabel was born to block in a Kevin O'Connell system. Like he, like you mentioned, you love

his combine, elite, lateral ability, explosion up the field to get to that linebacker on combo blocks. He played tackle in college, probably a center or probably a guard in the NFL. And give him a half a year, a full year, even two years to just add weight, get stronger, and we could be talking about a pro bowl to all pro caliber guard. I really think that highly of Zable at tackle a Pro Bowl to all Pro caliber guard. I really think that highly of Zable at tackle. I don't love him at guard.

I think that makes a lot of sense, especially after a trade back just to add some more youth. That's cost control to this roster. Folks, I'm trying a new thing to try to stop going to fast food restaurants all the time with my busy schedule. It is called Tempo Meals. Tempo is a weekly delivery service that delivers chef-crafted meals from a dietitian-approved menu fresh to your door.

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Temple meals dot com slash purple insider rules and restrictions apply. So let's divert for a second here because actually we've got some breaking Vikings news. As we speak, the Vikings have signed wide receiver, Rondale more. Oh, Dran crush. We were just talking about how that wide receiver position could use a playmaker, somebody who has some explosiveness and Rondale Moore has explosiveness in spades. The only thing is that on paper he is not turned into this crazy yards after catch guy who is what you know, who is the guy?

Miles Austin is it? Isn't it? Miles Austin, who everybody loved? No, who is the guy? Who am I thinking of? Noavon Austin Tavon Austin? That's who everybody loved in college is exposed. This was insane And then when he came into the NFL is like, you know, it's not quite what it was supposed to be I think rondo Moore has been that way

But I also think that he fills a very specific need for the Vikings, which is an underneath yards after catch playmaker that can be a quick and easy throw. This guy, a screen, he's going to get you 10 yards off of a quick screen. They have not had this type of guy. It's mostly long speed guys and downfield guys. And I also think too coming off an injury, maybe it wasn't the best situation in Arizona is that team was kind of crumbling when he was there. He got off to a pretty good start and then it just never really materialized.

But it's not like he's done nothing in the league. He's had a couple of productive seasons. So I imagine this is going to be a very cheap signing. And from that perspective, the fit, the cost, the upside, I really like it for the Vikings. And I always, okay, so there's two ways I can approach this. First, the Vikings angle that we, like you're mentioning, we haven't really seen Kevin O'Connell with this super niche type. And we were just talking about Kyle Williams could have fit that role with the, with the four, four speed. But if you go back to Kyle Shanahan, he's always had

like whether it's Taylor Gabriel in Atlanta, who had his best season when they went to the Super Bowl, he was little, he was a down the field and screen guy. Could not get open, couldn't do anything else besides utilize his speed, and Kyle Shanahan accentuated that. Sean McVeigh, a few years ago, drafted Tutu Atwell, who weighs less than I do, in the second round. They drafted, the 49ers drafted Danny Gray out of SMU a few years ago,

who was like a low four, three guy. Those haven't really fully materialized, but I think. Kyle or Kevin O'Connell's tutelage under Kyle Shanahan. I think that scheme likes to have at least the threat of that player. And Rondale more. Now the other side of it is every draft analyst, including myself is going to be ecstatic about this signing because it's almost like legendary. What Rondale more could do.

And he is someone that exactly fits the mold of short, but not small five, seven, one 81 at the 2021 pro day at Purdue. There wasn't a combine that year ran four, three, two, 42 and a half inch vertical and a three cone under seven seconds. So like you mentioned, like they haven't had a long speed guy more has the long speed, but the. Predominance of his highlights at Purdue where those slants, RPOs, bubble screens, where he looks like Tyree kill.

There's an Ohio state game in prime time, I believe 2019, where he was a true freshman, 18 years old. There's NFL players all over the Buckeyes defense. Randall Moore is the best player on the field, like by far went completely off in that game, ran good routes. He just has not been able to stay healthy. Got healthy early in Arizona, like you're mentioning, started to build some momentum, got hurt. I believe he was on the Falcons last year

and got hurt before even the regular season started, or like week one, week two. He, if he can stay healthy, and that has been a monstrous if that he has not been able to answer positively yet, he can absolutely be that Taylor Gabriel, the Tutu Atwell type of player that even

if he's not catching three passes for 150 yards every other game, the thought of Rondale more on the field, his suddenness and his speed will definitely be someone that defenses will have to game plan for which even that in and of itself when teams are already coming in. All right, it's Vikings week. We got Justin Jefferson. We got Addison. We got Hawkinson. Oh, we got Jordan Mason, who we could talk

two hours about, uh, Aaron Jones. Now suddenly we have a four, three, two guy who went healthy can take the lid off of any defense down the field or turn a bubble screen into a 60 yard touchdown. So there's some very funny stats with Rondale more from super low a dot. I bet that's super low is an understatement. So in his best year, he lined up 77% of the time in the slot, which is pretty much unheard of and his average depth of target, which means how far did the quarterback throw the ball down the field to his receiver 1.2 yards.

Oh my God. So what else about his career? It's 4.2 for his career, but it was 1.2. And one of that, his longest play of the year was a 77 yard touchdown against your Minnesota Vikings. But he now he did average though, think about this. He did average 8.1 yards per reception. So he's only getting the ball basically on a handoff and still getting an average

of eight yards, those were like successful handoffs essentially to Rondale more, but here's where it might be a little different. If the Vikings run everything downfield as we know that they do an intermediate and there's so much threat of going downfield and you have someone with more space than he might have with another team there is a possibility of being more successful in the following season he did average ten yards a catch with an average depth of target of five yards so. If he's average i mean honestly if he puts up a season, that's 40 catches, 400 yards, 10 yards a catch. I mean, that's great on this team. Yeah. Right. For sure. Well, that was the biggest thing that, that, like I said, and I can't stress this enough. He, Ron Delmore is a draft Twitter legend because of how small, but chiseled he was and what he did to

Ohio state at 18 years old. And then the crazy pro day that he was like everyone's favorite like day two wide receiver. In Arizona if I remember correctly I believe that's already that's he had DeAndre Hopkins there for a little bit of time but got injured so early on that he didn't have a lot of space to operate underneath and he's one where you see him you see that he's literally not even five foot eight, but he's 180 pounds. From his film at Purdue that I still remember like seven years later vividly,

they did certainly get him to ball on screens and all that. He was running legitimate routes from the slot. And there is no reason to say or to think that Rondale Moore can't run one of those jerk routes where you go toward the sideline plant and then come back inside That we see those possession slot receivers like a Josh Downs run all the time He has that suddenness and he has that capability with the football in his hands I think he absolutely could be the 40 catch

450 yard wide receiver if he can stay healthy and like you're saying saying at this point, this quote unquote late into free agency, it's going to be a cheap deal and it's certainly worth the potential reward. If you can get him to not get injured in 2025, some of the college stats are also comical with Rondale more. Like he only played, you were talking about this, but he only played three games in 2020 and one of them was a 15 catch performance. I remember that against Minnesota. So Vikings fans will definitely remember this guy a lot more than other fan bases because he shredded them always and forever.

If a guy did something great against your team, they're going to look into it. But here's what I like it for. I like it for if you are going to take a swing at somebody and we could circle back to my drafts and, but I've got more guys like this to ask you about. If you want to take a swing at somebody who has done some cool stuff in the league and has had at least some explosive plays has fit into a role on an offense and been a contributor that could be even more than that and is still young That's perfect for second third wave of free agency. Now, let me have you break down this one Jeff Okuda

another Draft guy that everybody lost their minds over and I gotta say when a guy plays for Ohio State I'm probably gonna see a lot of them because they play the gophers and they're on big 10 network or they're on the major networks all the time. I remember thinking of Jeff Okuda, like, Whoa, this is going to be the next great corner in the national football league. And he was drafted like that. I thought this is Patrick Peterson.

Like this guy could do anything. It hasn't worked out. Uh, so the Vikings are taking a flyer on him. What do you think of that? Um, I, I like the idea. Truly. I like the idea of Rondale more, uh, more, uh, so to speak. And just quickly on him, and then I'll transition to Okuda. He's only turning 25 in June. So like you said, he's legitimately super young for being in the 2021 draft class, not even 25 yet. And no disrespect to Jalen Naylor, I like the fact that the Vikings do not have this type of player

already on the roster. Had they picked some speedy guy in round six last year, like, okay, give that guy the opportunity. He's in the system. They don't have that. So that's why I like this more. The Jeff Kuta problem that he's had, it's similar to more and that he got injured as a rookie and that he was someone that I'll say I certainly missed on him and almost all of draft Twitter missed on him. He was the number three overall pick that year by the lions. And it was like, you looked at everything. You watched the film.

You looked at the measurables. He was long. He was like six, one over 200 pounds, a crazy combine, all the production that you would wanna see. And it just never really worked. When I remember, I don't know if, I think I wrote an article about like what was going wrong with him even in year two,

his press coverage at the line, it was almost like, and this is no disrespect to the Big Ten receivers, but he was able to just smother big 10 receivers at the line of scrimmage length, decent quickness. In the NFL, it was like he was getting lost in those first five yards far too often. And then it kind of felt like Jeff Hakuta was in like chaos mode. Like he just literally completely abandoned fundamentals and was recovering and chasing when normally he was

on top of the receivers and could kind of dictate where they were going to go reroute them in those first five yards. So that is what he's someone that's a cautionary tale. And ironically, in my backyard, Kyier Elam was the same way that at Florida, he was so good at just getting those two hands on the receivers and press. But then in the NFL, when he couldn't do that as frequently because even the Mike Evans of the world and the Justin Jeffersons of the world who are bigger are really good beating press at the line.

If you don't have that natural mirroring ability to follow with your athleticism, then you can be in trouble as that press man specialist. And I can't say that I've watched an insane amount of Jeff Acuta film the last few years. And but I do think that the fact that he's still in the league, despite not really playing particularly well, speaks to his just his measurables

and his traits and the fact that he was the number three overall pictures a few years ago. Well, he just hasn't played a lot. I don't know where you would get this film. He hasn't been on the field. I mean, yeah, he's got the injuries and he had, of course, you're never going to believe this. A really good game once against Justin Jefferson.

And so, yeah, every time, every time. I totally agree with your breakdown that Rondale More could come to the Vikings and be a serious asset for them. He could get 40 catches, 400 yards, a couple of touchdowns. He could be a red zone weapon for them. They could use them on end arounds. They could use them on punt returns. They could, they could do some stuff that they wanted with Brandon Powell,

but it never really came to fruition. And that gadget type of player when w if they threw a screen to a wide receiver last year, just forget about it. It was going nowhere. Uh, they do have to get some people to block it up, but for him, that lightning speed can do something for you. And if he's healthy, then, you know, you're good to go and he can fill a role. It's a role that I've wanted them to fill with Jeff Acuta. It,

it isn't pencil this guy in, he can fill a role. It's, uh, you never know. I get there's a lot of that. And the league loves, you never know. The Vikings love, you never know. They brought in what Ross Blacklock and Marcus Davenport, like they've done this dance. The biggest thing about this Jeff Akuda signing

is in past years when they didn't have salary cap space, this would be someone they'd have to have succeed. Start. Yeah. Right. They would be like, Oh yeah. It's a reclamation project that we actually need to work out. And think about that was even the case with Marcus Davenport. It was like, here's a reclamation project that actually he needs to start it outside linebacker for us, or we're kind of in trouble. And guess what? They were in trouble. So with the Kuda, it is a zero risk type of thing. started outside linebacker for us or were kind of in trouble. And guess what? They were in trouble.

So with the Cuda, it is a zero risk type of thing. They can bring them in, see what they can make of them. And you just don't know with Brian Flores, but the fact that he made his bones and came into the NFL as a top guy as a press man corner is just not how the Vikings really play in the secondary. So he's going to have to learn to do something. I think different than people drafted him for. Maybe there is something there. I kind of doubt it, but it's worth rolling the dice for no downside.

Agreed. And what I would say is it makes sense because the traits, the combine is there. He can still run. He can still move and he can't really play press man. So you might as well try him and say, look, we're gonna have your eyes on the quarterback to use that six foot one height and your length

that you have and maybe get your hands on the football. Maybe start to teach him some zone savviness because the press man experiment, and I heard this exact same thing for the last three years in Buffalo with Kyriellam just didn't't work like he was not an NFL caliber starting caliber or even backup caliber press man guy. That's how it's kind of with the third team in three years and the fourth team in his career.

Jeff Hakuta just can't do what was apparently a specialty of his coming out of Ohio State. And that's why the draft is so darn difficult to figure out. But I am I am feeling like. And if you look at the data, it's insane how much it's changed from man to zone that a few years ago, everyone's still looking for that. Xavier Rhodes, lock it down. Big lanky shut down guy. And now a lot of the colleges are not playing man to man in the same amount.

So everybody's coming out with more of his own concepts being taught to them. And it's rare, even when you look at it, it's so rare, like a Patrick Sertan, he deserves to win defensive MVP. Because if you have a lockdown guy, holy cow, is that valuable. But so few teams even have that. We just do not see Darrell Rivas come out anymore. And that's what Okuda was supposed to be. But then sometimes the league changes. And when a guy was drafted to do something else. And it also came at the same time. All this Jeff Okuda talk is reminding me that Okuda was really a, a transcendent prospect for me in the fact of the case study that he provided in that at the time, if it was 2020 or 2021 when he was the third pick, it was, man, you want 6'1", 205", 33-inch arms.

And I can't tell you how many corners that I've watched even in this class, 5'10", 185", playing on the outside. He came into the league right when, and I'll, I mean, not that he's the only example, but right when the Jordan Addison's of the world and the tank Dells and the Deontay Johnson's, those are the three that always pop into my head because they were so light. We're playing on the outside. And it was like, what? Like, this is not where you're supposed to be.

You need to be six to two 10 or above to play on the perimeter. So thinking back to that early Lions film, even in his second season, when he came back from injury, Okuda was just literally too big and just not twitchy enough to deal with the quickness in those first five yards from all of these lightweight corners. So beyond what you have astutely pointed out that college is so much about zone today

and trying to be complex that way, the corners are just smaller and lighter to literally and figuratively mirror the wide receivers that they're facing. Ted McMillan in this class is like, whoa, he's six, four, two 20. All the other receivers are tiny and Travis Hunter's barely six foot and 185 pounds. So that's why I think Akuda was such a weird fit. He just came into the NFL like five or 10 years too late. Okay. Let's get back to what we were doing, but great, uh, breaking news analysis there.

It was really normally right when we get done and it's like, oh man. So the fact that it actually went down during a podcast and we could jump right in and, and they were two, like pretty marquee draft prospects was actually a lot of fun. I think it's now, well that definitely makes it fun. I think it's now that I do so many podcasts that that doesn't happen as much anymore. Like I'm kind of always podcasting. So I've, I have had an incredible track record. I was almost ready to close out a show the other night and Byron Murphy signed his extension and you know, I've woken up to some news the last couple of days.

So, uh, it's worked out really well, but back to, uh, the gray's able thing. So nothing about round Dale Moore or Jeff Acuta changes where the Vikings are for their draft approach. And I don't mind if Blake Brandle continues to have at least a say in the left guard competition because he was pretty good when Christian Darasaw was in there and then he was not pretty good when Christian Darasaw was not in there, which makes a lot of sense. I mean, especially in the run blocking when they use a lot of duo and stuff together and Cam Robinson is just not good at run blocking at all. So I'm okay with him in a competition,

or if he's got to take that spot, well, they develop Graze Abel. They didn't play Brian O'Neill right away. It was fine. You actually want to be in a position where you don't have to play someone like that right away. But here were my other options. So you could tell me,

would you prefer the stout, but maybe raw left guard over some of the other guys that I could have picked, including Tyler Booker. Now, has your opinion changed significantly on Booker since the combine or are you still kind of looking at that? Like he might be have limitations. I think he has limitations. I saw some of them on film. I didn't think he was going to test through the roof, but I didn't think he was going to test like barely an NFL caliber athlete, even though he is big. But what was so interesting about this quickly, there were like five or six other like six,

four 330 pounders that tested like through the roof that were playing tackle. So it wasn't like he was Orlando Brown. That was six, eight, three 50. And you're like, oh, okay. Well, he's gigantic. Um, so yeah, I think second, third round for Tyler Booker makes a lot of sense, but I, previously there was a lot of first round buzz for him going into the combine.

This is another, and we love this every year. We're trying to catch onto the draft trends and stuff like that and what, where the league is going. It's one of my favorite parts. Cause you love those conversations. And so do I, I think in the future and starting now, most of the guards taken in the NFL will be tackles. I think most of them will be college tackles because the athleticism and the

quickness and the speed on the inside is so much increasing with the defensive tackles. Look at the defensive tackles coming in, in this class. increasing with the defensive tackles. Look at the defensive tackles coming in in this class. It's just sub five forties guys who are jumping 35, 40 inches is like, okay, they are getting so freakish, so powerful, so fast. You need tackle athleticism to move inside

and take on those guys. Maybe that's a trend. No, it's not. And a quick segue, I mean, I that's still the one position guard that I should watch some more guys on like as I get from 202 to 300. But truly the only legitimate guard and ironically, he had to play tackle this season after his teammate got hurt that I really am excited about in this class that is a true guard is Donovan Jackson from Ohio State who I've sent to the Vikings in a couple of mocks. All the rest are tackle converts. There's not

another Connor Colby from Iowa who some of the Big Ten fans that are listening might know. Beyond that, yeah, I think Tyler Booker's fine. Do I think he's Trey Smith 2.0? No. Trey Smith's workout was insane. So I think you's Trey Smith 2.0? No. I mean, Trey Smith's workout was insane. So I think you're really onto something there because not that one draft class can totally seismically change the entire NFL, but you're right. Just look at the D tackles compared to literal players that they are going to be facing as rookies in this class. The guard position strictly classic guards is Donovan Jackson and not a lot else. Okay.

So one of these players is a guy that you had going to the Vikings in your mock, and I want to talk about your mock. So don't give that away. Okay, here's the other. Here's the other players. That was a lot on Tyler Booker. I'm just going to give you the other players and tell me if I should have drafted one of these guys instead. Tyleek Williams, the defensive tackle from Ohio State.

Xavier Watts, the safety from Notre Dame, TJ Sanders, defensive tackle from South Carolina, Siobhan Ravel and Trey Amos, the two corners that I like a lot. Jackson, you just talked about Omar, Norman Lots, the defensive tackle from Tennessee, and then Darian Porter, the corner. I think there's a point to be made here that I like so many of those guys for the Vikings that they could have traded down again from where I was at.

I could have done another trade down and still been totally fine. Well, I think you were looking at your screen, but I was literally like, man, that I like him. That's good too. So they absolutely could have traded down again. It feels like you mentioned a couple of corners. Now this is just how I have them graded. I feel like after Darien Porter and Trey Amos, if we're going to count, obviously Travis Hunter, Siobhan Ravel.

I like Ben Morrison a lot from Notre Dame, Maxwell Harrison from Kentucky, then Darien Porter, Trey Amos, Azari Thomas from Florida state could be in that group after that. And there's obviously Will Johnson, in that group after that and there's obviously Will Johnson but after that I think there's a pretty big drop-off so if you still have two or three of those corners available and that's what you want to address you could trade down obviously D tackle has been addressed with Jonathan Allen Javon Hargrave but if it's a hey these guys are older

they're coming off some injuries let Let's fortify the up the field pass rushing position. You could literally flip a coin between TJ Sanders and Omar Norman Lott. I think Sanders has a little bit more explosiveness and better handwork. Like he's more ready to win with his hands if his first step is not getting him into the pocket. So when you said that name, that's probably someone that I would have leaned toward. And then Siobhan Ravel is the ultimate mystery at the cornerback position. Cause not only is he playing at East Carolina and has insane production on the football.

The explosiveness on film is incredible, but he got injured in September. So we don't know how do they feel after the Andrew Booth thing? Like, do they not want to go that route again? I think if he was healthy He wouldn't have been there in in this mock or in any of the draft sims He felt like someone that was tracking toward being that Quinion Mitchell of this year's draft class So the one that I really wouldn't like was Tyleek Williams in that Tyleek Williams is a great run defender. He reminds me a lot of, and this is not to just go off to different teams.

Chris Jenkins, uh, from last year who went in this, I believe second round to the Cincinnati Bengals. Great run defender, like stack shed, big tackle radius. Didn't miss a lot of tackles. The pass rush is just not there. So if, if you feel like, Hey, first and second down, it's important, establish that run defense like the Eagles did so well throughout the season and, and in the super bowl.

Great. I just would never pick a run stop first defensive tackle, like before the fourth or the fifth round, a lot of people like Tylek Williams. And, uh, because he was just really good at what he was good at, like his strength really was obvious, but the pass rush production just wasn't there. And I didn't see the traits and the upside on film beyond that. You're right. The Vikings could have just said, let's trade back again.

And just, we know one of these six guys will be here if we trade back five picks. And they very well may do that. You think they could trade back twice? I don't think it's insane. I would love that. I would love that. I would love that. That would be amazing. I'm such a big trade down advocate. That would be a lot of fun.

I'm a trade down advocate this year. I was not and I'm not saying like, oh, I got it right or whatever. But in twenty twenty two, I remember having the conversation with you. Like usually the best players of the draft are taken the top fifteen. If you're in the top 15, you should not leave the top 15 historically. I think I'll Hamilton. Uh, I don't know. I think they actually would have picked Jameson Williams because the next year they took Jordan Addison. I think they would have taken Jameson. And then for two years we would have been like, this guy stinks. What were

they thinking? And then if he had had the breakout, then we would have said, great draft pick. I don't know the drafts weird, but I think in this particular draft, there's so many guys that do not have mega star upside, but have, Hey, this guy could be a really good player for you. And that guy is everywhere through 25 through number 40 or even a little bit beyond that. So let's go over to your mock draft and the guy that you didn't talk about purposefully because you mocked him to the Vikings. So earlier I said, hey, they might be looking at a safety,

thinking a little forward. You traded down to number 37 with the Las Vegas Raiders and you had the Vikings pick Xavier Watts, a safety from Notre Dame. Suddenly I am opening the doors more to things like wide receiver. You'd be surprised how many people loved your take on wide receiver last week and now you go a little bit different with safety for Xavier Watts. So tell me why you had him going to the Vikings. Because I went full box score scout year. I mean 13

interceptions at safety the past two years at Notre Dame. And this sounds weird, but I almost like the fact that he's not, he wasn't doing it just off speed and explosion alone. It was like pure instincts and ball skills. Because if you're, I mean, I'm not gonna say that I don't want my safety to have four, three speed, but if you are a four or five guy with without crazy vertical three cone and you're still at a pretty high level, Notre Dame, 13 interceptions to prove that your seven interceptions season in 2023 was not a fluke with six more in 2024, you understand where to be on the field.

He is a former wide receiver that played linebacker that then played safety. He's big. I think he would soak up so much knowledge from Harrison Smith. He already has a fair amount of it. And that could really be someone that I don't necessarily even think would be, Hey, you know, store him away for 26, 27. He could make plays early on. And then he's not the, the, again, the explosiveness, uh,

of a Harrison Smith, but he can be that patrolling guy on the back end that I think Harrison Smith has become like a borderline hall of Famer when in with his long career in Minnesota because of reading route concepts, understanding where a quarterback is going to go in this down in distance or when there's trips to this side and whatever Xavier Watts, his film is riddled with those big-time plays in clutch moments where he just comes out of nowhere and intercepts the football so I think that would be after trading back tremendous value for the Vikings that's right around where I have Xavier Watts graded to see what I would have told you three weeks ago I would

have said ah dude they just need other stuff. They just need other guys. And the fact that they have filled up a lot of these positions, corner is still of a need in my mind. But the fact that they went out and got defensive tackles, they got the offensive line mostly shored up on the interior, it allows them to pick the best guy, not just to fill a spot right away, but for the future.

And with Brian Flores is defense. I think the safety spot is so important. I think it always has been for all the Belichick inspired defenses, the Rodney Harrison type, the lawyer, Malloy type going back. And that's what you're looking for. And I'll say about the production, the most thing that correlates to success in college and success in the NFL. And there's nothing that's ever perfect, of course, but it's production.

Of course it is. Right. If you are a good football player there, you could be a good football player in the NFL. We don't have to think hard about that. Your next pick with the trade, you got 68. Love that. And you took a wide receiver, Isaiah Bond, You got 68 love that and you took a wide receiver Isaiah bond who did not run a four to as he had Said he was going to but I don't think that maybe being a little overconfident as a wide receiver knocks you down draft boards He also this why we have the mile per hour thing reached the top speed in the entire draft Anything that you do in a mock draft, Chris, that is to help. JJ McCarthy. Thumbs up my friend. I

like the idea. I'm look more receivers, more weapons, more things to help JJ McCarthy bring in Rondale more bringing Tyler Lockett bring into Isaiah, but whoever who's who's fast who can make place who can make JJ McCarthy better. I love that pick. Yeah. So I, like you mentioned, I had talked up, Hey, maybe the Vikings could go wide receiver in round one, couldn't pull the trigger in round one in this mock. I went Xavier Watts first, but I had to go back to what I thought would be the biggest help to JJ McCarthy and this offense. Now the Rhonda Moore signing doesn't change things that much because Isaiah Bond and he's one of like I don't

think he's the last wide receiver that I've watched but I was late watching him beyond being a 439 guy the route running ability is there like and I'm talking selling the post using shoulder fakes hipakes, throttling down before breaking back to the outside. He is not just running static routes. And I like that combination of speed and at least the semblance of some route running nuance. Now he's not tremendous contestant catch guy. He's not going to give you a ton after the catch. But if you give this offense a legitimate speed threat who can hit some double moves, post corners, things like that.

I think it could really unlock a lot underneath for J for Justin Jefferson, things like that. So I think Isaiah bond after not quite reaching that four to one or four to flat speed, still being four three nine with clear on film route running ability and experience and production, beating press coverage at the line with wiggle and with handwork. I think he's more of an advanced receiver than just being a four three nine speedster down the field.

But I also like that he's a four three nine speedster down the field. For sure. I like that part of luxury. Uh, and I'll just continue to say this, but when you look at the price tags for even a number two wide receiver and T Higgins signs a $28 million a year, if the Vikings are not fully, fully committed to Jordan Addison, maybe absurdly committed to Jordan Addison, then they might let him go and look for somebody else to take that position because the position next to Justin Jefferson is going to be somebody that can succeed when you have so much man

coverage and they might consider wide receiver. All right, your last pick for the Vikings. Is it Xi Alexander, the corner from LSU six foot two got some size mixed in and this is the 97th pick that they got with the Kirk comp pick but a top productive safety a blazing fast wide receiver and a corner I feel like you kind of went for fun here you went for you. Yeah it was fun draft for the Vikings. Yeah it's definitely've, I've always thanked you for this of, of getting to really know another team outside of the Bills. I mean, I certainly cover the whole league and have to know the needs and stuff, but with the Bills in my backyard, I probably know them best,

but now it's like the Vikings are right there in terms of team needs and which player the fans like more than, than like the media thinks things like that. So yeah, this was a fun one for me and I would say This zai alexander pick is like my dorian strong pick that you made zone corner did not test very well He kind of reminds me of a more uh reliable tackler of a more reliably tackling version of Dwight McGlother. And he started at LSU as well.

That do not see him miss a lot of tackles on the outside. The ball production was pretty good. He just not very fast. And you saw a mirroring ability, but I think he's best in press bail where he's bailing out into a zone or he's just finding the football at the intermediate level or down the field.

So he's not someone that you're going to want to lock or to, to have locked down on a team's number one wide receiver, but in a complex system. And I'm not going to say that I know the LSU system, like the back of my hand and can tell you all the names of their plays and things like that. It's, I assume one of the more NFL like defenses in college football and they're playing against Alabama and Georgia and Auburn and things like that. Now Texas and Oklahoma. I think he would be able to acclimate pretty quickly because there are a lot of very heady

plays that Zai Alexander made in coverage at LSU during his career. I like it a lot. I like the profile of him. I don't think that to play for the Vikings at corner, you have to be blazing fast, but I think you have to have great instincts. And we saw this from Stefan Gilmore. There's just not too many times the way this defense is set up, that you don't have some help over the top.

And occasionally they would get roasted. But the 40 times of Shaq Griffin and Stefan Gilmore and Byron Murphy Jr. are combined, probably the slowest the entire league last year. And they were a top five defense and they performed fine. And a lot of times because they send so many blitzes teams throw underneath against the Vikings and they're looking to kind of rally and tackle and be in the right place in the right time, make a play on the football when you have an opportunity More third round swings at corners that aren't thought to have the highest ceiling

But could also be really good NFL players is right up the alley So I'm gonna grade your draft higher than you graded my draft I will give you an a-minus for this and the only reason is I Mean, maybe they're not the most of need positions. They're more of luxury picks, but that's not really a criticism since I love it. But I'll give you in the range for this. I think. Thank you.

Appreciate it. Tremendous draft. One more question for you. And as we get closer, we will do like a mock where we look at the first and leading up to the Vikings. I want to do that where we like rapid fire pick and then look at the board for 24. But just to look at the top real quick of your mock with cam ward, the fact that the Titans didn't do anything at quarterback,

they didn't go out and get Sam Darnold. They didn't trade for Gino Smith. They are in no conversations. It seems with Russell Wilson. I mean, I don't think Aaron Rogers would go there unless they had really good Hiawaska tea or something, but I think he wouldn't go to a team that's so far off. Should Tennessee just leave Will Levis and see if he's got it for another year and draft Abdul Carter? Because if you pick a quarterback number one

who's really not a number one level prospect, you're just doing the same thing that you did with Will Leves in the first place. And we've seen so many quarterbacks develop over the years, bailing after such a short period of time with him. I mean, I don't love what I saw from him against the Vikings. I thought he actually played pretty well and their team was atrocious. That's the other thing about Leves where and I don't like him really the Vikings. I thought he actually played pretty well and their team was atrocious. That's the other thing about Levus where, and I don't like him really at all. I think he's inaccurate.

I think he's inconsistent. I think he takes too many sacks, whatever. But what does the guy had? It's just been a complete joke of a team. Maybe they've got some offensive lineman that they brought in. Give him another year and see where you're at for next year, rather than going all in on a quarterback that you don't really believe it. I 100% agree with you in terms of what they should do. Everything that you just laid out

there makes perfect sense to me that you looked at the Titans roster and were like, this is the most barren roster in football last year. And like think about, Oh, well, hey, the beginning of the season, they had Deandre Hopkins and Calvin Ridley. Deandre Hopkins gets traded to the chiefs and as that, as they went down the stretch post acquiring Deandre Hopkins, he got less and less productive in that AFC title game. I like forgot that he played. I was like, Oh, Deandre Hopkins was in this game. So it was really right before he retires, they had that DeAndre Hopkins, Calvin Ridley, who is okay. The rest of the roster, Nick Westbrook-Akene was their number two.

The offensive line was really bad. The defense was bad. So what you said at the beginning where they'll just be making the same mistake again, that's what I think they're kind of aligning themselves to do. The problem is, is that I think Brian Callahan is like, uh, if I go three and 14 again or whatever they went, like, I'm going to not be a head coach anymore. And I, I've said this, I was slightly surprised that he being this, you know,

worked with Joe Burrow, this quarterback guru, supposedly like he did not do a good job developing Will Levis in year two. Um, and the whole team was kind of an abomination. So yes, I think they should say, look, we're going to give you a vote of confidence. It's a new GM, which then also it's like the Chicago Bears layering different coaches and GMs together. Um, that the, if I'm the GM, I'm not having my first ever selection as a GM be Cam Ward. And that is not to disrespect him and say he's a terrible prospect, but I really think that almost every draft analyst would agree. He is not a traditional number one overall caliber prospect.

And then you're tied to that guy forever as that GM. And you might not keep your job much longer if he turns out to be Will Levis 2.0. I'm seeing that Tom Palacero is reporting that to Neil Hunter signed a new contract with Houston, and it's like 35 million a year for him. All years. Is that right? Let me see. He is get 31 year. 30 year extension. Yeah. So he gets an extension for 32.

Well, now this is 30. OK. So 35 million dollar extension. And then he's got the details of it. But anyway, just sort of reminder of how good Jonathan Grinard's contract is, although maybe he might be coming back and saying, you know, can we maybe take a look at that restructure that somehow? So anyway, but just one other news item there that Hunter, as great as he is, is not a deal in comparison to Jonathan Grenard,

who was just as good. So another, uh, good decision in free agency there last year, Chris Paso draft show is every week leading up to the draft. And then one week after the draft to break it down. And I am now focusing on that because the large part of free agency is over and we can turn to all the buzz leading up and opportunities for the Vikings there. I'm sure you are getting more and more amped up as we go along. So check out that mock CBS sports dot com. Very interesting stuff there and we will talk again next week.

Thank you for your time, sir. But ball ball.