Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Clay's Corner: Rules changes and top 3 Vikings post-free agency draft targets

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Matthew Coller is joined by Intern Clay to look at some of the proposed rule changes, the top three Vikings draft targets now that the main part of free agency has wrapped up and much more in this edition of Clay's Corner.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Let's bring in intern Clay presently at the University of Pennsylvania in a dorm room, not a jail cell as it might look from the background. Clay, you have put together your list of several things. You got a list of stuff and you got questions and comments. You just keep adding more and more to Clay's Corner each week, which is very exciting. So how are you this evening? Yeah, I'm good and I'm excited to get into it We've kind of moved past the the headlines were kind of out of the news era of the season So we're getting a little more creative getting a little more

We're using our imaginations a little more this time. So let's hop straight into it if you don't mind. The first one is actual news. We got the Lions are proposing two rule changes. The first one is that they want to eliminate automatic first downs for defensive holding and illegal contact. And then the second one, they want wild card teams with better records, uh, to be seated higher than division champions who might have a lower record.

So how do you feel about both of these proposals? All right. The first one is so comically lions because that's their defense is just to grab people. And so they're like, Hey, stop penalizing us. Although I will say, and you being a former wide receiver, you're probably very against this rule proposal, but doesn't it seem very harsh to give a first down? I mean, there'll be, it's fourth in 16, drops back, somebody grabs a guy on the way by, oops,

automatic first down. It feels like it gives the referees too much power. And I would love the explanation for why that is, why it isn't just a five yard penalty, you could actually make it at the spot of the grab like, Oh, well, he grabbed him seven yards down the field or he grabbed him 17 yards down the field. That's where the ball is going to me though. The grabbing happens so often. It gives the referee an opportunity to convert a first

down for the other team whenever they want. And this isn't a football is rigged point. It just means that is a huge play in the game potentially for something that was just a small grab. And this did affect the Super Bowl where it was at the goal line. It was the Chiefs and the Eagles and what was it? James Bradbury or whoever it was reached out and grabbed and there was an automatic first down cheese when the game kind of took the momentum right out of the end of that super bowl. I'm against that one but i am for where they're going with that one but i know why they're doing it.

Uh, but I know why they're doing it. The other one, of course they would change a rule for the Vikings. Like after something happened to them, cause that's exactly what went down in 2009 where farf didn't get a chance to touch the ball and overtime the saints kick a field goal, then they changed the rule after that about giving each quarterback a chance with the football in overtime. I have never understood, and I respect an NFC North title, I definitely do, but I have never understood how someone could win 14 games

and theoretically someone with seven wins could have been, someone with half as many wins could have hosted a playoff game. And look, the Rams could have played the Vikings on the moon and they would have beat them the Way they were playing but it's still not US Bank Stadium You can't tell me the game goes exactly the same way Sam Darnold was super comfortable in US Bank Stadium He played great at US Bank Stadium and then he goes on the road to Detroit and LA and comes apart

It's like I think that there's a legitimate beef there. So actually both of these rules, I don't have a huge problem with that. Um, yeah, I guess, uh, like we'll win has a good point about like, there's no way to know what would have happened after the player. So maybe he was going to be wide open and they deserve a first down. Yeah, I understand that you're right. I don't want to encourage more grabbing because it's not that bad. We want less grabbing. So, okay, fair enough.

I'll take that one mostly back. But if you win 14 games, another team wins 15, another with team wins 10, it should go 15, 14, 10 for your playoff seating and why it doesn't, I'll never really understand. See, I'll, I'll start with the illegal contact and defensive holding. And you're right. The, the receiver in me, it's definitely not a fan of this. And I think it's because a lot of these penalties, they, they occur

like down the field on plays that could potentially gain 20, 30, 40 yards. So if you could just hold them and get away with five yards and no first down, it's going to create, uh, it's going it's going to make the DBs want to commit these penalties more. And it'll just slow the game down. It'll get rid of big plays and I'm not a fan of it. And I'm really not a fan of division winners not being rewarded a home playoff game. I completely understand, like, yes, my record's better. That kind of shows that I am a better team than you and I should be rewarded for it.

But I don't know. I think there's just something special about being a division winner. And I think I don't want that to be diminished at all. And I think if you want home field advantage, I think you should take care of business. And when you're division, how about wear a patch for the next year? We won our division. How is it not taking care of your business to win 14 games? I mean, that's pretty well.

I mean, our emmer says the fact that the bucks were a higher seed than the Vikings, but also pick before us in the draft is shenanigans. I mean, that's that look. I'm not saying that an NFC North title is not worth it, but these extreme examples are pretty tough to defeat when you were a way better regular season team And what the playoffs are supposed to do is reward you playing the best in the regular season put up a banner Celebrate an NFC North title get little hats or something that people can buy and then get the second seed in the playoffs I just don't understand how you can be four games ahead of the Los Angeles Rams

and then have to go play at essentially their place like on the road. Yeah, it's I could definitely see both ways. It's just I like to hold on to the tradition and the the impact of having division winners. So maybe that's just me being an old holding on to the past, but I can see the argument for both of them for sure. Fair enough. You didn't even mention that the the sorry Packers are afraid of the tush push and they you know, that that was out there before.

But now I think it's official that they are the ones that are making that proposal. And feel free to stop it anytime. Do you have a take on that? I mean, I'm fine with it because you look at the bills. They tried to do it. The Vikings tried to do it in 2023 and they had a slot wide receiver trying to push the tiny butt of Nick Mullins and it just did not work at all. So it's sorry that they're good at it. I mean, if it's your team, sorry, Justin Jefferson, it's hard to stop.

They should put a rule that he has to have ankle braces that weigh him down because he jumps too high. Come on now. If you got something that wins, you should be able to do it. And I haven't seen I haven't seen like a rash of injuries or anything else. I mean, they should make sure that they that they line up correctly. I feel like they're they're not exactly always doing that. But if you get something that wins, do it. Yeah, Jason Kelsey revealed how you would like move the ball and stuff and it's like I that stuff is a little yes

a little on the edge, but yeah Packers need to just Stop being soft. Just just stop being soft. It's like like you said only one team is able to do it over and over again And and it's because they lift a million pounds and they squat 600 pounds so it's it is what it is. Just just be better. Mad goes bad. Taylor says that's why they replaced Powell with Rondo Morris. It's a better tush pusher. He is he is a little more stout for the short guy.

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60% off your first box. Go to tempo meals.com slash purple insider. That is temple meals.com slash purple insider. 60% off your first box. Temple meals.com slash purple insider rules and restrictions apply. All right, so for my next one, now that free agency is wrapping up, I think it's time to like fully shift our attention to the draft.

So who are top three guys that you want the Vikings to target with their first round pick? The five got to pick just from three and we're not saying trade down. The names that I keep coming back to are Gray's Abel, the offensive lineman from NDSU. To me, putting a left guard in there who's young and can develop and is a great athlete and is kind of a vicious dude, along with the people that they just added, along with the pillars that they have at tackle, solidifies that offensive line, gives them some nastiness, locks in those guards long term, because Wolf Rises is on a five-year contract, like locks them in for the years going forward.

They just have not had that in forever. In fact, how many teams have that at all? So I love that idea. The other guy that comes up constantly is Derek Harmon, defensive tackle from Oregon. It's fine to me if they just signed two guys at that position because they're both 30. They're not on long-term contracts develop him over a couple years play him 400 snaps and then let him loose and have somebody at that position for a long time. Now Matt mentions Jihadi Baron before the combine Jihadi Baron

was on my list. The problem is he had an awesome combine. So now I don't know if they can get him. I feel like Jihadi Baron is going to be taken before him. So I'll give you a guy that has been on my radar for Tray Down is Trey Amos who I think is a very good cornerback fit for the Vikings. But every time I do a draft sim or look at people's mock drafts, there mean, there's like 15 different players that you could talk me into and say, well, you know, what about what about Calvin Banks if he drops? Or what about Luther Bird and the wide receiver from Missouri?

And I like that idea of getting another wide receiver for J.J. McCarthy, as many weapons as you could possibly get. So there's there's a ton of different options for the Vikings at that position. Those are just three names I kind of keep coming back to. But the great part is every time we do a draft simulation, I can pick somebody different and it actually makes sense. I don't seem like an idiot.

Probably the best thing is trading back. But I think those those couple of names keep coming up time and time again. Yeah, the Vikings have set themselves up up time and time again. Yep. The Vikings have set themselves up to really just pick best player available. And I think this is definitely not definitely, there's no definite in the draft, but. Will Johnson and Jihadi Barham will likely not be there, but if they somehow slip, I think it's the easiest pick for them. I think parents coming up with Byron Murphy would be awesome for them.

I think corner and left guard are probably the biggest holes they have left. And I won't even say they're huge holes at the moment because of how talented this roster is. But I think the next pick, I know there's been a lot of controversy about Vikings picking safety early, but I like Malachi Starts as well.

I think he's one of the best players in the draft and the Vikings can't afford to look two to three years down the road. This and Harrison Smith's not going to play forever. So it would be nice to have somebody that could be a rotation player this year and then kind of grow into that role. And then Randall in the comments mentions like eight guys and all of them like, uh-huh, yep, yep. Walter, Walter Nolan. Uh-huh. Yep. Yep. Uh, Kenneth Grant, the defensive attack, a little less sold for me on it.

Then a guy who is a pure pass rusher. I like the pass rusher more. I think it's harder to get after, but, you know, Hairston from Kentucky, the guy who ran like the four three and, uh, Devante Jackson. Is that his name? Donovan Jackson, Devon. Oh, you don't donovan. I think donovan. Yeah. Okay.

Donovan Jackson, the office of lineman from Ohio State who had a really great workout Darius Alexander who I've mentioned on the show before getting after the quarterback Siobhan Ravel, the cornerback from East Carolina, Melkai Starks like there's there's just a lot and that's what makes it really fun to kind of go through each one of these scenarios. Let me throw a question back at you. So as we're leading up to this draft, a lot of times there's quarterbacks and then everybody argues over the quarterbacks.

So, oh, you know, would you take Bo Nicks, his second round pick or trade up for McCarthy or, you know, is Daniels or Drake may How good is Caleb Williams gonna be and that is something that all of us No matter how much you love the draft or don't pay attention to it at all We can all have conversations about quarterbacks because we've all seen them or we've seen highlights of them and you can form an opinion this year everyone is so. Bleh on cam ward as the guy and he might go at the top. Okay.

Good for him. Maybe he'll be good. We'll see. And they're trying to make sure Dora Sanders a debate topic. I'm not sure how much he is really in the NFL. I feel like he's going to drop to the back of the first or the second round, but I don't know. We'll see.

They're trying to make him like a controversial figure. Who's interesting to drop to the back of the first or the second round. But I don't know. We'll see. They're trying to make him like a controversial figure. Who's interesting to you? Who are you like? Oh, I'm fascinated by this guy because I don't think this draft has a ton of those guys. Yeah, I I'm fascinated by this guy, but not for the right reasons. Like Jalen Milro. I kind of want you just who gets stuck with him.

I don't think he's going to be a great quarterback in the league. Obviously he's a great athlete, but I think he's just so far away from what it takes to be an NFL passer. So I'm interested to see if anyone would jump up and take him early or see if he actually like drops to probably where he should be. And then probably the only other guy's Jackson Dart. Um, there's just been a lot of talk that he might be a first round guy now and stuff, and I don't know, I feel like all these quarterbacks, like you said, are pretty similar and they're kind of just meh, but, uh, I don't know, I'm interested

in seeing Jackson Dart or if any of these teams will get super aggressive for a quarterback, they're really trying to make Jackson Dart a thing. aggressive for a quarterback. They're really trying to make Jackson Dard a thing. You know, there was a couple of years ago where it was getting mocked occasionally in the first round, like Sam Howell and he goes in the fifth Malik Willis. Oh, he's going to be a top draft pick. There was a mock right before the draft on a major website that had him as the number two pick.

He went in the third round Desmond Ritter. A lot of the a lot of the tape people. Oh, man. Desmond Ritter last year, the one I made fun of the most was Spencer Rattler. Just could not believe that people were trying to claim that was a prospect because the bar is so high for quarterbacks. I think that this is what some of the analysts miss is that a team is not going to take a quarterback at the top unless they fully believe that guy could be their franchise quarterback.

And even as desperation increases, they're still not going to do it unless they really, really believe. I mean, even teams last year, like the Giants, the Giants clearly did not believe JJ McCarthy was going to be their franchise guy. Not saying they're smart, but they didn't. And they picked Malik neighbors. If you're not a hundred percent bought in, they're just going to let those guys slide down.

And then usually they don't get drafted that often these days. And there's even the second round. Like we see them a lot of times slip to a total flyer, like a Malik Willis, like a Desmond Ritter in the third round. So I'm not even sure that there's going to be two guys taken in the first or even in the second, depending on what happens. But also you could see someone getting desperate with Chaudhuri, I don't know.

I was listening to a report today and whoever it was talking about the Browns and Chaudhuri Sanders, the report was, some people inside the Browns building like Chaud Sanders and some, but I'm not sure how much like that was the report. Like, Oh, okay. Well, that sounds really locked in to should we're bought in, right? Right. Right. Wow. I mean, print the jerseys, right?

But that's how, that's how everything with him is. And him with the, the the his disposition will call it. I saw a quote from him today saying like, oh, it's just haters or something. You're like, I don't know, man. I think we're going to have to start acting professionally. If you're going to be a professional quarterback, I'm not sure that he's been doing that if you're not sold on that guy be in the face. These franchises are worth the, what did the Boston Celtics just sell for six?

Well, what does that make an NFL franchise worth? Eight billion dollars. You're not drafting a guy unless you think he could be not in the first round. Randall says Palazolo Comfort Jackson, Dardis, Mac Jones right on just doesn't have a high end talents and teams have gone with that. The Kenny Pickett, the Mac Jones. It's blown up in their face. That's just not that interesting. Travis Hunter I'm intrigued by and Ashton Gentry. Is somebody going to go

super high on Ashton Gentry? That I would say I'm interested in. Aside from that, I don't know. Not a lot of guys that are really catching my eye. Yeah, I've this Tyler Warren's kind of interesting to me because I've kind of see him being projected all over the place. Yep. Yep. Even Chicago, who I feel like are kind of set with cold commit. Yeah, everybody could use an ice tight end too. But I don't know.

I feel like there's just so many landing spots for him that are being thrown out there where I'm kind of intrigued to see where he goes, especially since he is like a cool player to watch. He kind of does it all. So right. I know. And tight ends are tricky because sometimes they get projected really high and it either takes them a long time to be good

or like Kyle Pitts. But they're another one of those positions I talk about sometimes with young players, positions that you have to play. The guy tight end is that if you draft him in the first round, like you got to play him, even if he's not ready or he's not good. There's other spots where if you're a corner and they draft you and you're not ready they can kind of rotate you in and figure it out. Tight end is like in every single play type of thing. Warren

though he could do a lot of different stuff maybe Brock Bowers inspired another high pick of someone you could just throw the football all the time. I'm usually against drafted tight ends high. I think they're available all the time. There's guys who are not even considered great who just signed with teams that are fine. I saw Tyler Conklin is just doing like a visit with the Chargers. He'll probably get 5 million bucks or something. That guy could play.

We saw him play here for the Vikings. So I think they're available pretty often and it's really rare that you could get a high end one and a lot of times It takes three or four years for the guy to even be really good That was TJ Hawkinson took him three years to develop and then the Vikings got him. It's like well Thanks Lions for developing that guy Sam Laporta is kind of an outlier But yeah, I mean there's there's a handful of guys that are intriguing But I think the fact that the Vikings are so far back away from those guys,

that it's been more disconnected for me than maybe in years past, if the Vikings were drafting higher. Yeah. 100% tight. Titans are weird for me because I feel like they can be the most dominant impactful position on the field, but there's only like five good ones in the league. So, so it's hard to really just bet on the next one. So it'll be interesting to see how things shake out.

Totally agree with that. For my next question, the Vikings had a lot of moving pieces this off season. And I kind of wanted to just play the what if game with you. I want to, what if the Vikings had spent their money differently? Like in alternate universe,

what moves could they have made that they didn't? And how could it have made this team, uh, be looked at differently? Well, there's definitely an alternate universe where some guys who were franchise tagged or who were assigned to extensions were not signed to extensions. So, uh, the Vikings name was thrown out there in Milton Williams conversation. And I think if also dig a zoo from the Dallas Cowboys had not signed, then he would have been at the center of what they were looking for. A younger guy who has pressure rates, similar to Jonathan Allen and similar

to J von Hargrave and Milton Williams. I mean, that might've been somebody that they were the ones going, wait a minute. How much money did they put into that? I think the price was just too high for him. But if you were allocating your money a little bit differently, going for someone who could be there long-term could have been part of it rather than older players.

I think that there's a world where rather than invest almost all of your money in guys who are in their 30s, proven or in Will Fry's case he's 27 Jordan Mason is 26 which is like being almost 30 and running back years I know he doesn't have a lot of tread on the tires I'm just saying like that's the position and the age curve so they really went hard after guys who were very proven that had sample sizes that were big outside of Jordan Mason, but even Isaiah Rogers has played a lot of football in the NFL.

And I think that for someone like Quasi da Fomento, why he would like that is that they're more predictable. And for a coaching staff, why they would like that is because you can ask them to do more and they're not swings at younger guys. So Asante Samuel Jr.'s name comes up from time to time what about him is twenty five and we have seen them do that a little bit the past but for the most part they have not this year gone after hey this is the twenty five year old free agent like a javon holland or something and they're gonna, you know, go forward with him for the next five, six, seven years. It's really a lot of these are two year plan type guys. Ryan Kelly and Jonathan Allen are, if they give you more than two years, it's pretty surprising based on their age and the same with

Hargrave. That would be the alternate reality world part one. The alternate reality world part two is pretty clear. That Sam Darnold comes back and then how many of these guys can they actually pick up? That would be the other one is would they still have been able to do a lot of this stuff? Had they signed Sam Darnold to a one year, $40 million contract with five void years and it would hurt them down the road with the cap. They could have the way they scheduled out all the stuff, but it would have had implications down the road. I wonder about how everyone would have felt if, because I think the big fear about the Sam Darnold thing was that if they signed

Arnold and brought him back that well, I mean, everyone wants to see McCarthy, they love McCarthy and all that stuff. But one of the biggest rational fears was that they wouldn't be able to do stuff in free agency. And then you look at the way that they scheduled out the salary cap, it's, and you go, well, actually they could have. And then you would have been talking about, well, Darnold's coming back off a 14 win season with a way stronger team.

I think that people would have eventually kind of come around to, well, if they're bringing back Donald, that means they don't think McCarthy's ready. And also look how much better they are than they were with Sam Darnold for 14 wins. So that's the other alternate reality Vikings free agency. Yeah. The biggest thing I look at is a lot of the decisions of Vikings made. This decision were built off of their faith in JJ McCarthy, it seems. Going out and getting, uh, older vets that are proven and you know where you're going to get.

It's cause you think this young quarterback can step in and win now. And it just shows the confidence. And that's why the alternate reality of maybe they, maybe the injury didn't heal as good as they want, or maybe they just didn't like what they saw as much, and maybe they really liked Sam Donald. So having Sam Donald back, I feel like they definitely would have still been aggressive

for the offensive linemen, but maybe I feel like a lot of the D-line moves could have, might've been different just because of that 30, $40 million contract. But another thing I think about too is the running back situation. It seems like they've decided to go with Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason, two proven guys instead of drafting one of these young guys and this big class.

And I think it would have been interesting to see not only which one they take, but how they perform and how it works out. So because I know we talked a lot about the Vikings run game and what they need to do to improve. So it's interesting to see them go the vet route instead of the young guy. Well, and there's another one, too, where Harrison Smith retires. And if Harrison Smith had retired, then do they have to go out and get Jevon Holland or do they have to go out and bring back?

You know, can buy them at 15 million dollars a year because they would know that Harrison Smith wasn't going to be there. I don't know if they were going to pay him 15 million no matter what. But maybe Trayvon Morag is a guy that they would know that Harrison Smith wasn't going to be there. I don't know if they were going to pay him 15 million no matter what, but maybe Trayvon Morag is a guy that they would have looked at or a handful of other Justin Reed safeties that got paid big money. There are domino effects. I love your point about the backfield though, and I had penciled in. All right, every draft simulation, I better take a running back because they

just need someone so desperately to pair with Aaron Jones. And essentially they spent a sixth round pick for next year to get this guy in Jordan Mason, which is a really good financial investment or draft pick investment with capital. But you could have been maybe looking at, you know, taking O'Marian Hampton in the first round or, you know, trade Trevion Henderson in the first round. And then it's, it's very different in the background or in the backfield. I mean, if they had let go Aaron Jones, it's a really good point. I think that a lot of these alternate universes though, they all sort of lead to the same place of the roster getting better and filling out some of these key places.

It's just how they went about it. There were a few different options, and that might be a thing that we go back to actually like this topic because it might be something that we go back to as the season progresses and go, let's let's take a look at what they could have done, what they did, how that worked out. Like should they have tried to put that extra few million bucks on the table for Milton Williams as opposed to getting two older guys? Because I think he would have come here if you had met the price of the New England Patriots or I mean the Sam Darnold thing. I don't think anybody wants to have that conversation ever, I'm sure, but maybe we do about what it

would have looked like if Sam Darnold had come back and that's the, the alternate reality. And then here's my hope is that this reality stays alternate with Aaron Rogers. So we'll hope that is the, the only thing that's interesting about Rogers, if it doesn't happen is would they just have been doing it because it's him and he's one of the goats and like you just have to because it's him or would they have been doing it because they weren't really a hundred percent sure on McCarthy I tend to think it's the first one but the second one leaves at least the door open to it and the reports

that they might have considered bringing back Sam Darnold so at least for now, we go forth with J.J. McCarthy. Let's let's get one or two more in here. Yeah. Well, just to close all these are what ifs until like if J.J. steps in and does what the team thinks he did, what he will do. These are these will stay as what ifs. They will only come back around if he struggles and the Vikings lose eight, nine, ten games and it's what what happened here. So it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

It is crazy, though, when you think about it, you spend like think about all the people who work for the Vikings and they spend all this time building the roster, getting the cap right, doing the pro scouting, getting the undrafted free agents, the best ones they could possibly get for the scouts are out on the road 24 seven, they're drafting guys to do all this stuff. And really it rests on one dude. Isn't that insane?

And now they've done a hell of a lot to make it better for that dude and to set them up, which we know has, I think the most correlation to success is what you have around you in the NFL. Kurt Warner was great with the Rams, the not great with the Giants, and then great again with the Cardinals. Weird because he just ended up getting Larry Fitzgerald there with Arizona and had Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt, right? And Brock Purdy, Mr. Seventh Round, Mr. Irrelevant. I think he's a good quarterback, but I don't think he's that good of MVP caliber

with that group. So that's the plan. And I think the plan has done everything that to move that needle, to move that needle as percentage chance he succeeds. Every quarterback, sometimes you'll see this, well, you know, 40% of quarterbacks who came into the NFL became good starters.

You're like, okay, but they're not all starting the race at the same point. Sam Darnold started his NFL race with crocodiles and motes and people shooting arrows at him. And the worst people rooting him on and Adam Gase and Todd Bowles was not in a good position with that. They had some offensive coordinator that Bowles hired who was not really that qualified.

And I don't even think he's ever been in the NFL again. I mean, that's way different than starting your NFL career with why don't we give you some training wheels and a jet pack and we'll see how it's gonna work out. So it is very much different between their starting points You know and then for my next question or it's not really I have a list of five players Oh, I think are due for a breakout season, and I wanted to see if you agreed with me Okay, first one on that list. I feel like had to be JJ McCarthy

like you said he's been given the jetpack and the training wheels and everything around him. But at the end of the day, it comes down to him and how he performs. So I think he has all the tools in his belt to be successful. And I think his mental game and his mentality is really what's going to set him apart. So, yeah, I think he's bound to have a big year this year.

Can you call it a breakout season if he hasn't played yet? I mean, I'm going to I'm going to throw a flag on that one right off the bat. Like, I think when I think breakout season, I think a guy has been there and it's time for him to take his big step. So think about like last year, Jonathan Grinard, like he's good and he got paid like he was good. But, whoa, I mean, Andrew Van Ginkle, he wasn't on a second team all pro. Like that's a that's a breakout.

But to your point about J.J. McCarthy, what I feel about him right now and we'll see my opinion will change and will grow with OTAs and many camps and the more that I see and the more that I hear, it will grow. But where I stand right now is that what I saw last year was very impressive. The NFL is super, super hard on quarterbacks. It always has been, and it always will be. And that's what makes it so great. And until someone has done it, we can't really say.

So I think he's got all the tools and I think he's got all the opportunity, but it really is one of those things where you just have to see it to really know. If I'm projecting him right now, I think he will have a good season. I think they will be in the playoffs. I think he will take advantage of all those things around him, but I don't know that. I mean, the, this league breaks people. So we'll see, we'll see. They've done everything

they could. That's the one thing we can always say is that what they've done with this roster is enough to where if McCarthy can't succeed with it this year over the next couple of years, then he just wasn't a good pick and he wasn't a good quarterback and they can move on pretty quickly. It's, you're not going to have this whole darn old thing that he went through was like, it's really good. It's really not that good. And I remember hearing from somebody in the league who told me like they going into last year, they're like, I think Sam Darnold is really good.

Like, really? Like, yeah. I think he's really talented and he can make plays and he's got a strong arm. And he just needs the opportunity. And it ended up working out really well for him. So at least you'll have the answer based on what you've built around him. So that was way too much time on the first guy on your list. Who's the who let's talk about the four real breakout players that you've got on your man. Rookies can break out, too. All right. That's I guess the breaking out of never playing. Well, I looked at a lot of younger guys that are poised to to take that next step like Tyrone Tracy Jr.

I think he and Malik neighbors were the only real bright spots on that Giants offense last year, and I feel he kind of made a name for himself. But he only started, I think, 10 or 11 games and had nine games where he touched the ball 10 or more times. So he really wasn't that involved until later in the year. And he still ended up with 800 plus yards and five touchdowns. So I expect him to have an increased role and help ease the load on whoever comes in at quarterback.

So this would be like for the fantasy people. I think that's a great pick. Also, Randall is right that if you're going to pick a Viking, Dallas Turner is your Viking breakout player because he didn't play that well last year, just got in, got in the mix. Sorry if he was already on your list, but that he could be that guy who's a first round pick that everyone went, oh, well, I don't know if he's going to be anything. And then suddenly it clicks. Um, but Tyrone Tracy is a great pick. Is it just me or do the giants feel like they're not a real football

team? I mean, truly like they have gone so far off the radar to being irrelevant, incompetent in two years that when you bring up a guy who plays for the giants, I'm like, that a real guy, because this, I mean, I've seen them in fantasy, but I don't remember watching him at all. They, they are as lost at the wheel. This is why when I talk about, I talk all the time about the timeline and the important big picture stuff that quasi-adoptful meant is done and getting the quarterback and having all the ducks in a row

with the cap and all that stuff because you look at a team like the Giants you just go what are they even doing like what like they don't know their quarterback is it is freaking March 20th they don't know who's their quarterback is they have Tommy DeVito and no one else and like we're supposed to take you seriously. Sorry, I bet they're running back. We'll get a lot of attention this year because they don't even have a quarterback. They can't. Rogers doesn't want to go there. I mean, it's just like, what are you even doing?

So I think it's a good pick, though, for fantasy people, though. Next year, like Tyrone Tracy is a good selection. I think they're one of the few teams that just have no identity. You think of that team is like, what are they built on? Like pretty much all the NFC North teams are tough. Well, KOC is kind of changing it to the pass heavy air raid, but normally it's like toughness and same with the AFC North. And it's like, what do they do? I thought it was going to be their D line, but it was still kind of like eh. But I like Tyrone Tracy, and I think he reminds me a lot of Tony Pollard,

like a little more explosive Tony Pollard. So I think he's gonna take a next step. Matt says, imagine having a top five pick and sticking with Daniel freaking Jones. Not just that, but imagine being right in line to draft Jaden Daniels or to draft Drake May and you only get the job once that I believe if I'm not mistaken that they beat the Packers with Tommy DeVito and I like screwed up their tank. Is that right?

I mean, something like that, there's a one or two games in there that they won that they shouldn't have. And it cost them getting either Jaden Daniels or Drake May. And that is just craziness. Kind of like how the Vikings. I don't know if you know this, but it drew luck. It was. Did you know that? Yeah, that was that was last year.

They had drew luck the year before. That was when Daniel Jones got hurt and they played Tyra. But he got hurt. And then they went to Tommy DeVito and he beat the Packers I think I don't know if you're aware of this one the Vikings won a Insanely meaningless game against Washington and I think it was Christmas Eve to cost them Andrew Luck, they should have had yeah, they should have had Andrew Luck and they won a meaningless game and they drafted Matt Khalil instead. And that didn't work out too good. Yeah, that's painful. That reminds me of a shout out. Lovey Smith. Um, cause when

he was coaching the Texans, uh, going into the day, Strauss, Cale Williams, uh, year, they were playing the Colts, I think. Yes. It was like they were terrible. It didn't matter. And then they go on a game winning last second drive to win and lose the number one pick, which led to the Bears getting Cale Williams and D.J. Moore and all that stuff.

So it's stuff like that is crazy to me. Matt, yeah, I believe that was the game where Adrian Peterson also tours ACL. Yeah, so at least he came back more than fine from the ACL tear. But yeah, though, that's it's not only that Lovey Smith sort of went for it to not get the number one pick because he knew he's getting fired, which sort of blew up on him because they got Stroud instead of Bryce Young, but they may have picked Stroud anyway, but that it was Davis Mills on the last the last play of the game.

He throws some crazy pass into the end zone, like on fourth down. And so we were in we were in Chicago as the Bears were tanking. And this was also really funny. They were trying to lose that game on purpose. So they were playing. I think they were playing Nathan Peterman against the Vikings and the Vikings were taking out their starters. Peterman was sort of playing competitive football. So they took him out and put in Tim Boyle to play worse football to make sure that they would not win that game and they would still get a higher pick. So very, very, very funny stuff with that. Okay. So we got a sidetracked on your potential breakout players who was after that. I think you'll like this one. I got boy, a mafia out of Seattle.

Oh, okay. I think he's that is a deep cut. I think he's an underrated edge rusher in 2023. He had nine sacks. And then this year he kind of took a dip in production, but I think it's cause a coach McDonald came in and he uses more of a rotation scheme. But he still had six sacks. And I think with the Marcus Lawrence being added to that line, if you're next to him and big cat, it's going to be easy to get one-on-ones and a good matchup. So I think he'll get back on track to his 2023 days and really break out and have a big year. I like boy mafia lot. He's a gopher, which I think is what you're referring to.

And one of those freak athletes that you hope develop. The question I have about this one, as far as like anyone from Seattle breaking out would be, what is Seattle exactly? Is Seattle just a middling team that's floating around in an ocean of other teams? They're not incompetent. They're not total fools. They have a GM who's won a lot.

They have a great fan base, great venue that I visited for the first time last year. I know all those games, they went out to Seattle. I had either had a previous employer that didn't wanna pay for that, or it was the COVID times and I didn't make those trips. So I got to go for the first time last year. It was great. Love, love that stadium. Incredible fan base. But they've kind of been in the Viking Kirk type of just in

the middle. Good, relevant, but not really relevant for the Super Bowl. And they get Cooper Cup. That's fantastic. He's 100. What are you really going to be? They get to Marcus Lawrence and then to Marcus Lawrence makes a comment about like, well, we weren't going to win in Dallas. Like, are you going to win?

You're not going to win there. All right. You might, though. But that's it. But here's the thing about that. So Matthew Stafford is 100 years old. And if Matthew Stafford gets hurt, he was declining last year in his performance.

He played great against the Vikings and he was good enough to get them close against Philly. But his overall performance was not an amazing year last season if he slides and the Rams just don't win a lot because he finally has hit that old man wall. There's really nobody to pick it up there. I mean, San Francisco is fading. They'll be mildly competitive.

Arizona, I think, is improving. Seattle might just win the division and then get a great pit place in the playoffs because he didn't change the stinking rule. So the Vikings will win 13 games. Seattle will win nine and then they'll host the Vikings in the playoffs and the Vikings will lose. Yeah, yeah, that that's kind of how. No, it might go like that, but I don't see the Vikings in the playoffs and the Vikings will lose. Yeah, that that's kind of how now it might go like that, but I don't see the Vikings losing to them.

They'll play outside. They can't let Sam Dornal do that to. I don't know if he's at home, though. That's the point. If he's at home, he was great at home. Aaron suggests Bryce Young is a breakout. It was it was like a half breakout last year. But no one was paying attention or really cared because Carolina. I do think that that's very real and that they could compete for the division

because Tampa Bay is getting a little older and they squeezed out a lot last year. And New Orleans is still New Orleans. And Atlanta, I mean, I think Atlanta is the favorite to win the division with Michael Pennex, but an unproven quarterback still Carolina. I don't think can win the division, but they could make it interesting for a wild card spot. If Bryce Young plays the way he did last year, the switch just came on for him. And all of a sudden it was there.

So I think that's a great I think it's a great nomination, Aaron, for a breakout player. Yeah, I like that one. It's I didn't think of it just because I feel like they still need to give him some more weapons to really succeed and have a true breakout. But yeah, I really like Bryce Young and he showed a lot of what he could do towards the end of last year. The next person on my list is probably my favorite on the list, all bias, Romo Dunze.

He had 700 yards last year with incompetent coaches and he was a wide receiver three. So now that Keenan Allen is gone, I think he'll get a bigger role. And he also has Ben Johnson and Antoine Randall, our coach again. So I fully expect over a thousand yards and at least eight touchdowns.

You know, what we were just saying about JJ McCarthy, I think is also going to be true for Caleb Williams, where they will absolutely give Caleb Williams all four years to see what they have there of his rookie contract. And gosh, some guys are so hyped up in the draft, like Trevor Lawrence, even if you're not good at any, well, Lawrence is like occasionally good, even if you're only occasionally good, you're going to get that next contract because they

invested so much in you and there's so much hype and there's so much potential. So Caleb Williams, what I think we're going to find out because he's got a doonsay, because he's now got a coach, he's got a line, they're going to get a running back, I think in the draft. There's really no excuses and he's got his experience. He I think in the draft. There's really no excuses. And he's got his experience. He's dealt with the pressure. They've got him everything that he needs there,

including a system that has gotten top offenses in Detroit. You're gonna know by the end of the year, you're gonna have a really good sense. Like, can this guy handle the heat or is he just going to get sacked over and over again and frustrate you and disappoint you? And is it just in fields all over again where people like some of the stuff that he does,

but their schedule is gonna be harder along with everybody else's in the NFC North. So it will be a hard track for him. But let's say with the Vikings, they've strapped the jet packs and the training wheels. I mean, at very least there's a strong wind behind Caleb Williams, as opposed to last year, where it was just such a culture calamity

that it was hard, I think, on everybody there. Yeah, I think this is truly the make or break here for them. Like Chicago is either going to be finally happy or the city's going to burn down because it didn't work out somehow. So there's really no in between for them. They need to show something. They can't work out somehow. So there's really no in between for them. They need to show something. They can't just have another. Subpar, not even so terrible year,

so they need to do something. I think Rome will be a big part of that. All right. Who is the last one? You're an Eastern time. You know, your your mom sometimes watches the show. She's going to be upset that you're staying up too late talking about football with your friends. Yeah, who's your last one?

My last one is Aziz Al-Ojuwari. He just went from the Giants to the Eagles. And I know he's dealt with a lot of injuries for the most of his career, but it something about it just seems like the Giants just gave up another good one to the Eagles because he had six sex last year in 11 games. And now he's going to a team with a deep rotation and a lot of talent next to him. So I could easily see him being a rotation eight sack plus kind of guy.

It's just such an Eagles move. Yeah, they have a really good sense for what risks they should be taking. And the Vikings are kind of doing this with a Jeff Okuda Or an in a Rondo more But I think Ojolari is thrown a little shown a little bit more than maybe those guys have especially more than Okuda it's just Environment matters to everybody. We usually only talk about it as

For quarterbacks, but if you can take pass rushers who are decent, remember Derek Barnett was not any good. Their first round pick who was actually used in a pick that they got for Sam Bradford. But he wasn't really a great player, didn't have a great career, but he had that one great season or decent season for them contributed, got the sack in the Super Bowl because he was with a bunch of freaks on the D line for Philadelphia. And anybody who they bring in is going to succeed. Your mom is watching. OK. Hi, Mrs. Blaze Mom. So great burner, by the way.

Yeah, right. Yeah. No one will figure it out. No one will know. Well, you know, my mom watches to every single night. So I appreciate her doing that. Yeah, I appreciate the support to mom. The Eagles, though, and maybe your mom has a take on this. I think that even though they've lost some talent and hysterically, we'll get more comp picks, which is just really funny.

It's like, how do they always do this? I don't see much changing there for their expectations for next year. I mean, they they should because sometimes the team wins the Super Bowl and you go, oh, they just lost like half their roster after that, or they were just all, you know, banged up and played so many games. I don't see Philadelphia doing that. And now last year they had the drama. They had the like, does AJ Brown really get along with it?

You know, is their coach a dope like, but I now that you won the Super Bowl, the coaches and a dope and everybody should be friendly with each other. I think that Philadelphia is going to come back just as strong or stronger than they did last year, even with a couple of losses in free agency. Yeah, they just have great leadership over there. When you have Jalen Hurts and Saquon in the back field, it's just a different feeling. Hurts has a different mentality. McCarthy is really in tune to the mental side of the game, but Hurts is just like a killer. He plays no games. He's always thinking about how to get better, just always focused. So when you have a guy. Yeah, he plays no games. He's always thinking about how to get better. Just always

focus. So when you have a guy like that, it's hard to really see a decline, especially when they have the best team in football. So I could see them definitely given it a chance to run it back. And then if we move on to my final headline question, quote whatever. I March Madness started today. I am and every year there's a team or two who shocked the world and go on a Cinderella run. So I want to ask you who's your pick for a potential surprise team in the NFL that could be the the bracket Buster. Got to think about this.

Who's who's yours? So I have three teams, but two of them are basically the same Patriots and Bears I feel like they both are Have a really talented young quarterback and then spent a lot of money in the offseason to really built the build Infrastructure around them so I could definitely see them Improving from five and four win seasons and then the other one is atlanta I feel like people know they're good, but I don't think. I think they're still kind of slept on, and they took the commanders

to overtime and Michael Peanuts, the second start, and that's when the commanders were on fire. So I think they could definitely use some improvements on defense, but I think they could be a team that that shocks the NFC. Careful now, that's PENIX. I don't want to get YouTube. My I don't want to have to put a parental warning on YouTube. I got two teams that are a little bit of long shots here for this, but Jacksonville with a new coach that is very KOC ish.

Now he doesn't have the like the vibe of KOC, as you saw from him. Try. Yeah. I'm trying to say Duvall. Yeah, that was like a creepy Duvall. Yeah. Supposed to get us hyped up, but it's it's the offense that's worked for so many quarterbacks along the way. Randall goes with the Raiders.

That's an interesting pick with the Raiders. That division is just so hard though. I don't know. I think Geno's going 8-9 again or 9-8. But with Jacksonville, it is an offense that's worked for quarterbacks. They've invested in it and it's a bad division where you get some free wins there. And last year, it just all came apart. And when a team is not as bad as their talent or is way worse than their talent, I mean, so that team was way worse than their talent.

They should have been probably an eight win team and they were a four win team because everyone just quit and gave up, but they've got players who can be competitive and I think if they buy into their new coach and the system that they can be better. The other one that I was going to go with is Arizona, who I think really showed a lot of progress last year. I am not a believer in Kyler Murray being much more than a 500 ish type quarterback, but I think Jonathan Gannon did a lot with a little last year.

They gave the Vikings hell at us bank stadium, probably played the best game against the Vikings of anybody all Bank Stadium, probably played the best game against the Vikings of anybody all year long, it felt like. And I think he's a good coach schematically. They've got a few more things to work with and free agency. They got Delvin Tomlinson there. So I think that they could be as the West, the West is kind of teetering. The NFC West, the Rams need Matthew Stafford to be great.

is kind of teetering the NFC West. The Rams need Matthew Stafford to be great. The 49ers are coming apart and trading away their good running backs for some reason, which I still don't quite fully understand. The Panthers are a good pick for this. I don't think the Broncos qualify since they were in the playoffs last year. We're talking about 16 seeds here, like Jacksonville.

And Arizona would be like a 12. They would be like a like a 12. They'd be like a 512. So but I think when I look at this, I try to think does the door get opened by their division and and maybe their schedule. So very interesting. Good stuff, Clay. Good stuff. Very well done. Thank you.

But I did think that after being assaulted about being old the other night, that maybe you needed some of that back on the other side tonight. So I'll take it. Thank you for your time. You're working on a cool piece about the NFC North and how everybody is believing in themselves in the NFC North. So I'm looking forward to that over purple insider football. That is where I'm currently working on my Friday mailbag and my reaction to Ryan Kelly and everything

that he had to say. So make sure you go check that out. So thank you for your time, Clay. And thank you everybody for watching as always. It's a real fun stream. Really appreciate all the interaction and we'll see you guys pretty soon. I've got a conversation with Alec Lewis

up on the YouTube page and the podcast feed, so check that out. I'm hoping to be a little less active this weekend from a podcast perspective. So we'll see. You never really know in a Viking land. So thanks everybody for your time as always. And we will talk to you all again very soon. The plan is not to go live again till Monday, but you know, Vikings. All right, we'll catch you guys later. Football.