Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Counting down the most interesting Vikings at training camp (20-16)

Episode Date: June 20, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about his list of the most interesting Vikings at Vikings camp and chats with Vikings fans.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here and I am continuing the countdown now with the most interesting players list for tonight because it is list season. So I'm going to give you number 20s through 16 20s, number 20 through 16. And if you miss the first part, I'll run through those and you could go back and look. And I'm also going to throw this out there that if you have seen

any interesting lists on the internet on websites that talk about football from writers that you like. Tell me what they said. Tell me what they said about the Vikings or any other controversial rankings or ones that stuck out to you. And we'll talk about those. And I've got plenty of time and room and space on the show tonight for any and all of your questions.

So thinking about, I started a little bit early here today because I want to watch the NBA finals starting in about an hour or so. I got time. This list isn't gonna take an hour of dropping down from 20 to number 16 on the most interesting Vikings at training camp list. So what is on your guys' minds as we wait

and the Vikings training camp dates are out now that they will report with the rookies on the 20th of July and the 22nd will be the first full team and then the fans show up and off we go. We are onto another season. So I'm excited about that, but that means we have about a month, we got about four weeks to talk about what is going to happen when the Vikings actually get to training camp and much more.

So whatever's on your mind, toss in the old comment section and we will have a fun discussion. So I'll start the countdown. You throw the questions in and we'll have a good time. So let me begin by showing you number 25 through 21, which I already did on another episode. So if you want to go check those out,

but if you didn't see that video yet, go back after this one and give it a look. But 25 through 21 was J Ward, cornerback Zamiya Vaughn, Silas Bolden, the wide receiver slash punt returner, Bo Richter and Gavin Bartholomew. So now we are at number 20 in route to the most interesting players at Vikings Camp List.

And I wanna begin with Jalen Naylor. Jalen Naylor made some headlines during OTAs in minicamp for being more swole than he has been before. It was very clear that Jalen Naylor went into the off season looking to get bigger. And I had gone back and watched the JJ McCarthy preseason game. And when he was throwing to Jalen Naylor,

I took note of how skinny Naylor's legs were last year and how different they look now. It looks like he really put a lot of work into the lower body side and he switched his number to number one. I mean, I think that Jalen Naylor has the sense that this year is his big opportunity. And when you go back to last year and you look at Josh Palmer and two, two at well and Diami Brown,

these guys are wide receiver threes around the NFL that got 10 plus million dollar contracts elsewhere. If Jalen Naylor has a big season, he's a free agent. Now maybe if he has a really big season, the Vikings will do what it takes to bring him back as they're in this window to win. But if he has a really big season and ends up hitting free agency, if he, if that's his goal and he wants to get out from out under the shadow of

two other first round wide receivers and find a home for himself. Well, this is a really big season to do that and if he can have a breakout then he can accomplish that. Someone will pay him 10 plus million dollars and he can be someone's wide receiver two instead of wide receiver three. Uh, you guys in Vikings land are blessed to throughout most of your history, always have two of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Not every team's history is exactly like that. So if a good player ends up on the market, there's not that many wide receivers that actually end up hitting free agency.

He's got to thing about nailer getting up this off season is tha able to lay a block if th underneath. He's got to g catch. It's got to shed s got to make sure that he of course, but even just bit of grit to his game w

and the fact that the Vikings drafted Ty Felton I mean what Jalen Naylor's? Part of his thing should be is how can I keep Ty Felton off the field? Because Felton was drafted in part to be a deep threat where he was good at tracking the ball down the field But also a yards after catch guy. That's not something that Jalen Naylor has ever really been he is almost Exclusively been a deep threat. So what do we see from training camp to build on this off season that he's had Where clearly he's transformed his body again. He changed the numbers It's like an identity change here. Maybe to stand out a little bit more on the field. I don't know but

maybe to stand out a little bit more on the field. I don't know. But, uh, Naylor I think has the potential here to be a really big weapon for JJ McCarthy. If he can master that route running and underneath game, and he had a couple of big drops, uh, last year, maybe not have those, but I want to see where everything stands with that wide receiver three role that Jaylen Naylor Naylor holds down and what his chemistry is like with JJ McCarthy by the end of training camp because last year with Sam Darnold, we could really tell that he was connecting with Justin Jefferson. It took more time for him to click with Jordan Addison,

but it seemed like he had something going with Nailer last year. And remember when Addison gets hurt, Naylor comes right out, plays really well against the Giants, made a big play against the 49ers where he was running down the middle of the field and turned back and make a really good catch. And then when Addison finally clicked with Darnold and got healthy, well then those two took off in the middle of the season, but Naylor seemed to have that chemistry with him right away. So will he build that with JJ McCarthy and makes him one of the more interesting Vikings at training camp. So he is number 20.

Number 19 is Gabriel Murphy. Last year, the outside linebacker, undrafted free agent made a great first impression on coaches. I remember Brian Flores saying that one of his assistants had said, Gabe Murphy hates bad football, and that was a big compliment to him. Like he loved the details and they were all impressed by him early in training camp, but then he got banged up and we didn't see him for

a really long time until I think it was week 14 against the Atlanta Falcons. He plays something like 30 snaps and again, okay, wow, Gabe Murphy Murphy's here. Like I guess he's a part of this now. And then he didn't play again. So he goes from we see a good flash and then he gets hurt to then we see another flash and he doesn't play again. So what is Gabriel Murphy? He was a highly productive player at UCLA. It was shocking when he wasn't drafted because a lot of the draft universe on the outside had him as a third, fourth round draft pick somewhere in that mid range to late day

two, early day three. And then he just slipped through the cracks of the draft. Did the Vikings get another undrafted steal? We felt like that early in camp, didn't see much more. But similarly to the way that I was talking about Bo Richter about these snaps that were taken off the field from the outside linebacker room, which was Jahad Ward and Patrick Jones. Well, that's where Bo Richter, Gabriel Murphy, a couple other guys are going to compete for who's going to take those snaps. And Dallas Turner will take a good percentage of them, but not all of them, because between Patrick Jones

and Jahad Ward, you're talking about like seven, 800 snaps last season, there will be somebody else that is going to emerge that could potentially be a rotational player and Gabriel Murphy has a chance at that. So where does he stand at the end of training camp? Is he getting in with the first team? Is he buried on the third team? Is he somebody that we need to pay a lot of attention to going forward or not? I think that he is early in camp and we'll see if he makes another good first impression. So there you go, Gabriel Murphy. Number 18 on the list, counting down our top 25 most interesting Vikings players heading

into camp, but only five of them on this show and slowly, slowly we've got time. Number 18 on my list is Will Reichard, the Vikings kicker. Last year, Will Reichard had the best training camp of any kicker that I've ever seen. He barely ever missed. He was bombing it from 50 plus, bang, bang, bang, making kick after kick after kick to the point where his teammates were losing it about how good will Rikard was kicking. And normally they don't really talk about the kicker ever, but in this case,

even they were wowed by his first impression in training camp last year. And then he came out on fire, barely ever missed. I mean, it was perfect through the first part of the season and something happened with an injury that threw him off and he never quite got back to where he was. He did make some good kicks down the stretch but never quite got back to where he was at training camp and when I asked Matt Daniels about Will Reichardt and just where he stood he said that last year they got a little concern with just exhaustion because you go through that whole process of the draft and going through and

doing workouts and everything else and then come and try to have a full NFL season. It's probably one of the reasons why very few rookie kickers have ever really succeeded big time. And Rikard was on his way before he had that injury. I still think that he forced it back a little soon as John Parker, Romo was crushing it and doing really well and that he should have let the coaching staff and the training staff know that he was dealing with something because they had another kicker right there. So maybe it could have been a one or two week injury as opposed to having to go on IR. That's gonna be important for him going forward.

But does he come out and show us, A, that wasn't a fluke last year in training camp and crush it like he did last year, or do we see a different version of Will Reichard? It's all very small sample size right now. And even though we'll be tracking the completions and incompletions of JJ McCarthy, I'm sure when we arrive at training camp,

we will also be keeping a close eye on Will Reichardt's makes and misses. Number 17 on my list is Max Brosmer. You guys have heard me talk a few times about the former gopher quarterback. In years past, there are very few times where I ever would have included a QB four on a list of top 25 most interesting Vikings heading into training camp.

But this year is that year, my friends, because of what Max Brosmer looked like in OTAs and mini camp, there are also very few times I've ever seen the player who's at QB four look comfortable with where the football is supposed to go. And I don't think that he's got the type of arm strength of JJ McCarthy or QB ones around the NFL, but good enough arm strength to make the throws that he's supposed to make, which again,

there just aren't that many QB fours that when they let it rip, you go, there just aren't that many QB fours that when they let it rip you go, oh, okay, that ball was moving. Most of the time it's one or the other. It's they can throw it hard and don't know where to throw it, or they know where to throw it but can't throw it very hard and that's why they're backup quarterbacks. So not saying that Max Brosmer is competing for QB one, but is he competing for QB2? Probably not, it's probably Sam Howell locked into that position, but Brosmer could make a case

for himself as a future backup and might even win the QB3 job because someone like Brett Rippon, even when you listen to Kevin O'Connell talk and he says, you know, Brett Rippon's like a coach in that room, well, you know what kind of compliment that is. And look, those guys are valuable. It is valuable to have a backup quarterback who fully understands KOC's thinking his offense to help JJ McCarthy.

You would want Brett Rippon to stay around because he's been in this offense a couple of years, but you also want someone that if they had to play in case of emergency, they could actually win some games. Uh, not saying that Brosmer is that much farther away from anybody else, but he at least caught our attention at OTAs and minicamp to say that I wouldn't be shocked if he ended up as QB3 and not even getting cut out of camp, but rather kept on the roster because everybody in the league is looking for a young quarterback who can be a developmental backup. And maybe that ends up being Brosmer, a long way to go,

but the first impression was very good from him. Number 16 on the list, the last one we'll look at before diving into your questions, is cornerback Dwight McClothern. This is a guy, another undrafted free agent who was projected around the third round. My buddy, Chris Trapasso, who does the draft show all year with me, we were talking about McClothern and he said, you know, I had a third round grade out of

them. I guess I missed on that. And my response was, but did you miss on that? Like we'll see. We'll see. Because last year he looked much more to me like a guy that would normally get drafted the way that he made plays on the football, his instincts, his size length, slip through the cracks again, for whatever reason. And sometimes there's stuff that teams don't want a guy for a certain fit or whatever it might've been that they didn't draft him. But here you are with McClother and emerging as someone that they're intrigued by not so intrigued that they were going to make him the starter and not go out

and get anybody else just because of training camp. But when you go into joint practices and pick off passes and make plays on the football, like that's serious. That's real. Like that's not, uh, just random when players make plays during training camp. Those are real reps, full speed. There isn't the same level of contact as far as tackling, but there is physical play between the wide receivers

and the corners. So when you do that, once again, sort of like Brosmer, when you see someone throwing the football where it's supposed to go on time, you immediately go, okay, like I'm interested. And last year, that is what Dwight McLothern did. And the very few times he got into NFL games, he didn't look out of his depth. It wasn't a lot, but the couple of times that he did. So McLothern is on my list as a guy who I think needs to also play well to stave off the Vikings going and getting anybody

else. If he's really good, then they don't have to go get Rasul Butler or you know, who knows about Jalen Ramsey, I'm sure he'll find a job before that. But there's other corners that are on the free agent market that the Vikings could go take a look at if they're not happy with the depth. If they are, and Dwight McClothern plays really well in camp, then he will hold off any of those free agents that they could go get late in the summer and win a backup job and then be, you know, one play away from going out there. If somebody were to get injured, you know, Blackman or Rogers or Byron Murphy Jr. So he becomes not

only an interesting player because he's gone from UDFA to someone that at the moment, they're really trusting to be in that backup role, but also someone who you could see, hey, is he an eventual starter? One day is he someone that we're gonna have to pay a lot of attention to because he's developing into something or by the end, are we gonna go

or midway through, hey, this isn't clicking and they're gonna have to try to get somebody else's depth. So there's a, he's a real swing man for the depth of the secondary UDF, former UDFA Dwight McClother. And so to count the list back down again, for those just joining,

you can always go back and listen in reverse, but Jalen Naylor, number 20, Gabriel Murphy, number 19, Will Reichard, number 18, Max Brosmer, 17, and Dwight McClother, 16. We will continue the countdown into the top 15 most interesting Vikings at camp when we go forward in the next couple of weeks.

So we'll just kind of slowly, uh, you know, just take our time with it. Cause we've got time. Is it the 22nd? Oh yeah. No, I trust me. I feel you guys. I mean, the next month I like to have fun with the month in between. It's why I don't stop doing the show. Uh, just because I like these conversations where we can have no stress, no pressure just yet, no big news items every day and just kind of talk about the team from a bigger picture and make lists. And next week I'm going to make my bold predictions list and start counting

that down as well. Because every year I think I screwed up and missed last year, but every year before that I made like a bold predictions list and we go through it and talk about it. So I like that it's time, you know, to have some fun with it. And then when the lights are really bright in training camp and preseason in the season, we'll have a lot of time for intense football talk for sure. Uh, track Pat says, who do you think is a better prospect? JJ McCarthy or cam ward? Uh, well, I think they're very different prospects for one. Um, JJ McCarthy is very young and still young.

Uh, but when he came out, he was barely 21 years old. His amount of playing time and sample size was very small in comparison to Cam Ward who had played for three different colleges and really found himself as a prospect only late in that progression of his college career. I mean at Washington State I think there were probably a few draft analysts who had mentioned him as maybe a guy at some point, but it wasn't until he went to Miami at age, what 23, that he really emerged as that dude. And the same kind of thing happened for Jayden Daniels actually makes me wonder about, you know,

quarterbacks and whether they should always stay for five years in college, even if they would get drafted just for the development and progress that they could make. But, you know, McCarthy being so much younger was a much harder to judge based on his college career. So with cam ward, you can look at the data for his last two seasons and his arm talent and go, okay, this guy dominated college football, crazy numbers, and then also has this great arm strength

and arm talent. You put those two things together. You've got your first overall draft pick where with McCarthy, they had to project where is he going to grow into? What are the skills? And this is where we circle back all the time to that arm talent discussion. I was playing golf with Dane Mizutani, Sam Ekstrom, and Meier Metcalf the other day. And we were having this discussion about why are people questioning JJ McCarthy's arm strength? And I think my answer was because they really have

no information other than camp reports from us, but there's not highlights or tape or anything else. I also think it's because the Vikings are a hot debate topic this year. I was made fun of by Rich Eisen, if any of you saw that, for the way I phrased the question at a JJ McCarthy press conference.

And something I thought of when I saw somebody sent me the clip was, that's right, this team is relevant. I guess I'm, you know, my camp questions and so forth in press conferences are going to be scrutinized by hosts and whoever wants to make fun of us for asking questions. But, you know, that's, that's how it is now is that McCarthy is a debate topic. I know this is not answering your question. I'll get to it, but he's a debate topic now and people don't have a lot to work with because he didn't even play that much in college. So they're just trying to go on whatever information they have. Whereas with Cam Ward,

the reason no one seems to want to talk about Cam Ward is one, he's with one of the most irrelevant franchises, but also it feels like we know a lot about Cam Ward and have a really good sense for what he's going to be where JJ McCarthy is so much more mysterious. Now getting back to the point, if both guys were available in the draft and we knew that McCarthy, I mean, if you knew McCarthy was going to have a really good training camp and leave a good enough impression on this team to move on from a 14 win quarterback, of course you would pick JJ McCarthy. But if we're only going on just what they were in college,

I still think McCarthy would probably be the guy because he's so much more moldable for a coach. This is one of the things you like about him with Kevin O'Connell is that he gets here and Kevin O'Connell can take a young kid with a lot of raw talent who's willing to learn and has a great attitude and a mind for the game and played for a former NFL quarterback and you can make them what you want to make him in your

offense where Cam Ward is I think more somebody who plays how he's going to play and they have to work with that. And the thing that I questioned about Cam ward a lot was his decision making. He kind of reminded me of Jordan love a little bit where it was great arm talent, crazy zip on the football. But sometimes you just go, what are we doing here? And I didn't have too many of those moments with JJ McCarthy in college. He was a really good decision maker with the football.

Sometimes tried to make a play a little too much, but Ward had to happen a lot. A lot of fumbles and a lot of scrambles. And sometimes he would just stand there in the pocket and look around like, buddy, you're gonna have to have a better sense of urgency in the NFL. So I think Ward has a really live arm

and a lot of data to back up that he's a good draft pick, but McCarthy being more moldable, more developable, developable, that can't be a word, but a prospect who can develop, and then mind for the game, leadership capabilities, all that sort of stuff. I probably would have given JJ McCarthy the slight edge over Cam Ward, even though one was the fifth

and one was the number one overall pick. But I think that Ward has a chance. He's just with a really bad, really bad franchise. And you're gonna be asking yourself, how much different can he really be? Where with McCarthy, you're saying the sky is pretty much the limit for him and the circumstances that we can't really compare them.

The circumstances are so different because in a vacuum, these two might be really close. And sorry, trackpad, it's a great question. So I've got a lot to say about this. But in a vacuum, it's probably really close. If you're telling me that one of them gets Jefferson and the other one gets Kelvin Ridley, I'm gonna take the one that gets Justin Jefferson.

So Caleb says, was listening to Dan Orlovsky on the Pat McAfee show. And he had really good things to say about JJ said he was really impressed with him. Yeah. Anybody who is ever around JJ McCarthy, I think comes away with that impression. And it's part of the reason that he gets drafted where he gets drafted is that it doesn't take you any time at all Whether you're standing on the sideline whether you're at a press conference whether you watch him on the K Adams show or whatever other TV interview

He's going to do how he carries himself is very much like a franchise quarterback And there's just a vibe that's hard to understand But it's it's there right and I think we all know it when we see it franchise quarterback and there's just a vibe that's hard to understand, but it's, it's there. Right. And I think we all know it when we see it, uh, confidence leadership, but also this, he said something and I can't remember exactly the exact quote, but I'll try to paraphrase. He said something to the extent of like,

this is mine or I have to understand like what it means to be this. And Jefferson said something along the same lines about like, I know what he's going through as a, you know, QB one and the NFL and he's got to understand he's the franchise quarterback. Like there is a sense of responsibility that JJ McCarthy has knowing that he's representing a, uh, $7 billion franchise and that he holds in his hands, the future of so many different players, so many coaches, the general manager, all that sort of thing. You can feel that about JJ McCarthy when he's practicing, when he's talking, that there is that air of responsibility.

And maybe some of it comes along with going to Michigan, playing for Jim Harbaugh. You're carrying so much history when you play Ohio State. Think about the history and the pressure and all that stuff that McCarthy had in college and who he was playing for, a guy who played in an AFC championship, a guy who had played at the highest level and had coached in an NFC championship and had been an excellent NFL head coach before.

I think there's just that feeling from JJ McCarthy that you get a sense from even when you just talk to him for a couple of minutes. And I was laughing today because the Cleveland media, the same Cleveland media that last year made fun of me for saying their offense wasn't any good at joint practices. Those guys are now defending Shadr Sanders. And I just saw Adam Schefter tweet that it's not Shadr Sanders' first speeding incident in Cleveland. It's his second already. He's been there for like two weeks and he's already, you know, getting pulled over a couple times for going 100 miles an hour and that's not having a sense of responsibility that you are

the franchise face And this is why he's a fifth round draft pick and not a first round draft pick It's part of it is someone like JJ McCarthy not saying he could never make a mistake or drive too fast But to come in on basically your first day and you're going a hundred miles an hour, like, yeah, this is you are what people said you are like already. You can't make that headline if you're going to be a franchise quarterback. That just can't happen. Not as a rookie, not in your first mini camp.

I mean, my goodness. And so with JJ McCarthy, it's like, it's a good contrast because you see someone who just takes it so seriously and that I'm sure to, to other players, to quarterback, that's what Harrison Phillips was trying to get at where he compared him to Josh Allen and naturally the aggregation headlines go crazy over that former Bill Harrison Phillips compares JJ to Josh Allen and you know, then you click and you find out it's not really what he was saying. But the point was just that when Josh Allen

came into the league, there was a feeling from everyone in the locker room, like this guy gets it. He wants to be great. He understands what it takes. And that's what he was saying about JJ McCarthy. Not that he's gonna throw the ball exactly the same or run for 800 yards and 10 touchdowns or something. But just that element of I'm the guy, I'm the front door of this franchise now. And that's a big deal.

And so it's noticeable. It's really noticeable. Skywalking McCarthy says, Richter is higher on the depth chart. Why is Murphy higher on my list? Well, I don't know that Bo Richter is higher on the depth chart exactly because I mean, Gabe Murphy played more defensive snaps than Richter did last year. And it's a very small number,

but he actually played a big role in one game, which Richter was mostly a special teams guy. I mean, if there's a depth chart out there, then it's not the real depth chart. The only real depth chart is in Kevin O'Connell's office and I have been, but I didn't see it. So I think, uh, with a depth chart, it's more like there's competition there between those two guys, between Bo Richter and Gabriel Murphy They are going to be competing to try to prove that they deserve Rotational roles on the defense Richter has already shown he's on the team. He is a very very good special team Or he's gonna be a big part of the special team unit

but can he actually get on the field as a defensive player? And Murphy, the fact that he got on the field, and I think coming from UCLA, having, it's not a great program, it's a good program, I guess, with the production that he had though, over multiple seasons, came in, made that first impression. But the list, I mean, the list isn't based on the depth chart, it's based on how intrigued I am. I think I have a little better sense for who Richter is than Gabriel Murphy and they're really close together on the list by the way But I think I'm a little bit more intrigued with Murphy because I just haven't seen a lot of him in training camp and preseason and

Now I I'm going to get to see more than that. So we'll find out. John says there was a ton of chatter about a Santa Samuel Jr. What happened to that? His neck, question mark. I mean, I think that that's probably it. If nobody has signed someone who is fairly young and is had a pretty decent start to their career and doesn't even have a job at this point. Well,

the reason is very likely his health. Uh, and I don't know if he's a hundred percent, if he's healed, if he's looking for a job and doesn't have the type of offer that he wants, or if he's not in great shape physically and that he's waiting to be a hundred percent to where then he can go work out for teams and show that he's good and go through the medicals and get somebody to sign him. I also think that the chatter was based on nothing. So that was probably the other reason is that it just didn't really have a legitimate backing. There was no Ian Rapoport report or anything else like that. Now, I think that it makes sense for them to look at someone like

Asante Samuel Jr. And I think we all think that it makes sense if you're talking about a former fairly high draft pick a guy who's performed pretty well in his past and then this is the training staff that they always talk about being able to get the most out of players if He has had some injuries in the past Maybe they can bring him in take a shot at it roll the dice But if they don't feel like he's gonna be healthy

Then you're just picking up a guy to end up on your IR and you're not really ending up any farther ahead My feeling is this is just a sense feeling that they are going to look at every option for the cornerback room. If they don't love what they see early in training camp, once the pads come on, they're going to evaluate these practices. They're going to take a look just like they did last year. Can we go back and remember who was on this football team at the beginning of camp last year? I bet my most interesting remember who was on this football team at the beginning of camp last year? I bet my most interesting players list probably included Andrew Booth Jr.

Like that feels like 50 years ago, but he started training camp last year. Things can change my friends. And then they trade him away. That was after the start of camp, right? I think it was. Yeah. And then, uh, Caleb Evans, another guy that they ended up just moving on from and he, I think is still with the Carolina Panthers, but things can change. And maybe a Asante Samuel is part of that as well. Let's see. a legit question asker, haters just hating. No, Rich Eisen is a former comedian, so that's like what he does, but I was surprised. That hasn't happened too many times to me

of being made fun of for the question. What I was asking McCarthy was about his throwing and how his throwing has improved, but in doing so I used some Kevin O'Connell terminology because I thought he would understand me a little bit better. And, uh, it's sort of funny, you know, funny football terminology. I said, you know, pure thrower of the football, which again is what O'Connell has said many times when talking about arm talent. And so I thought, well, you know,

this I'll use their language so he understands what I'm getting at. Um, but, you know, it does sound kind of funny. It's just like we laugh about oily hips and different football terms, but I figured that that was a way to ask it so he would get what I was talking about. And if you go look at the article, purpleinsider.football, I got a really good answer from JJ McCarthy. So he told me McCarthy, which is really the goal.

I don't give a bleep how I ask a question. I'm really looking for the answer. And if you go, I mean, there's a lot through my career, the number of times where someone has asked a question, I'll tell you a real quick story. The best question ever asked since I've been on the beat was by my friend Judd Zolgad. And it was after Kurt Cousins got COVID in 2021.

And he came out and he was trying to kind of be diplomatic a little bit. And then Judd just said to Mike, hey Mike, are you mad? And the floodgates opened for Zimmer and he just aired all the dirty laundry at that point and told us everything about how he was feeling. And I was like, that was amazing. All he did was just say, are you mad? So it's really about, you know, getting the answer rather than picking apart the verbiage of the question. But, um, you know, that's, that's okay. That's just how it goes when your team is actually having people on a national

spotlight, watch the press conferences. How many times have we had that before where the quarterback of the Vikings press conference is being played on national shows. It hasn't happened that often. I mean, it took way more than half the year last year for, uh, you know, Sam Darnold to even get mentioned. But just back to what the, the answer was, he said that in college, he felt like he was a fastball thrower only that every single pass, he felt like he had to

throw as hard as he could. And I don't think that he even realized his own arm strength and you could see it. It's almost like somebody who, when they grew up, they weren't that big. So kind of like think about someone who's a basketball shooter. If you learn how to shoot when you're a little kid

and the ball is heavy and you're throwing it up toward the basket and maybe you're bringing it off to your side and heaving it, and then one day you realize, oh wait, I'm like strong enough to not have to heave the ball anymore, I can just flick it with my wrist and it'll get there. I think that's what JJ McCarthy was learning, that growing up, I don't think he was ever the hugest guy.

So he learned to use his whole torso and midsection and rip that football and really drive from his legs. So that's what he needs to do when he's got to hit a tight window throw. But if he's got to just deliver a little check down or a little outroute on time with his tight end, well, then you're not doing that. Or down the sideline, 40 yards guiding it over a safety, uh, like he did a couple of times during mini camp,

you're not throwing just fastballs and there, and they have, this is another verbiage. If I had said this to him, people would have been even more confused who were watching the press conference, but they have, he referenced it. They have throws, I think that are on a number system of like one, two, and three type of throws, which I haven't had broken down for me,

but I imagine it being like one is a fast ball and two is kind of a little touch on it, but you're still throwing it hard and guiding it over someone. And then three is where you have big arc and it might be the reverse order of those numbers. But I've heard them talk about this before where it's like these one, two or three throws.

So on each route combination, each scheme, each play they have, it's a one, two or a three type of throw. Are you ripping into a tight window? Are you guiding it into a place but still putting heat on it? Or are you lifting it up kind of like off the tee or I mean, even think about hitting a stinger or hitting like a traditional flight path type of ball or trying to hit something high to fly it up over a sand trap or whatever.

I mean, that's, you know, there's a lot of different sports where you have different types of passes or different types of shots, that kind of thing. So there you go. Hopefully that makes sense. But I got, I mean, he gave me a great answer on it and so did O'Connell. So I was happy with that. Happy to understand better. Anyway, uh anyway Anthony says is

It's it's a Maya Vaughn, but Zenith Vaughn is a cool name Zamiya Vaughn going to replace McClother and on that list next year Well, he was already on the list from 25 to 21 He was one of the players because he stood out during a mini camp and OTAs. And so he made the 25 list just not quite as high as Dwight MacLothern who could be a very serious player for this team. I think when we talk about undrafted free agents, you just really don't know until it happens. And this goes for Adam Thielen. I'll give you an example with Adam Thielen.

When I arrived here to cover the Vikings, I first went back and watched all the preseason games and I went back and I watched all 2015 because it's so it was 2016 season when I got here. I wanted to understand what everybody had done in 2015 and I went back and I watched the tape and I looked at the numbers and I read through some of the stories and stuff to just get familiar with what was going on and I saw a handful of catches by Adam Thielen and Then I saw a big scrum around him when I got there the first two or three days in the media room And I was like is that just cuz he's from Minnesota like why is everybody talking to this guy?

Because he had a handful of catches didn't really stand out that much on the 2015 tape. Really didn't. I mean, it was just kind of a guy. And then all of a sudden week four comes around week five, week five comes around of 2016. They're playing the Houston Texans. And he smokes who was that cornerback smoked the cornerback from the Texans catches like a 50 yard touchdown from Sam Bradford. That was a game that Stefan Diggs was out and it was like, wait, Oh my gosh, this guy is here. Yeah. This guy's a real receiver. And I would say the same thing happened for Anthony Harris where, okay,

he's on special teams. He's just the guy, Josh, Mattel is six round draft pick, similar type of path. All right. It's on special teams. Just the guy gets in the game and you go, wait a minute, this guy can play. And so Zamiya Vaughn might have that happen. Dwight Maclother and kind of had that happen in training camp, but until they're really out there, you just don't really know. Uh, it's, it's more about, uh, you know, just opportunity that comes along to where

the McLother and they were so healthy last year, McLother and didn't give a chance. Uh, didn't get a chance at all last year where on a normal team might've got banged up and, you know, then he would've played a lot. Uh, so we'll see with either, with all of the undrafted free agent types, it's always a will see for me, but that's why they're on my intrigue list because at least you've caught my attention and now I want to see. And some of them, you know,

some guys probably get left off the list because we didn't see a lot from them at mini camp. You know, there's a couple of undrafted free agent, office of linemen that get brought up that didn't make my list, but had they been pushing each other around, maybe they would have if they had stood out. So those guys we'll see.

Caleb says, did you see the clip of Justin Jefferson talking to young kids saying how speed isn't as important as your get off? I did not see that clip of Jefferson, but I think that speed is, there's a different type of speed than what we think of because we have a metric for it. We think of speed as your 40 time is your speed. I don't see it that way on the football field.

There's a few different areas. So you're mentioning the get off of the line of scrimmage kind of funny that he'd be saying that because Jefferson to me does not have the quickest get off from the line of scrimmage. Kind of funny that he'd be saying that because Jefferson to me does not have the quickest get off from the line of scrimmage, even on his own team and definitely not in the NFL. What Justin Jefferson has that's very unique is that his strides, and this is coming from Stefan Gilmore, I asked him for an article last year,

I asked him about like, what is different about Justin Jefferson from every other receiver? And he said, there's two things. One is his strides are so long that they push you back as a corner because usually guys only stride that long when they're running, you know, deep routes, when they're running posts or they're running go routes,

but he has these long strides that then he can break off. And I think his flexibility allows him to do that. And he also said that he never tips his hand where he's going. So he's coming right at you as a corner and you've done all your film study on Jefferson, but you have no idea. Is he breaking in out? Is he going on a post? Is it a double move?

And the double moves are just freakish. If you guys ever get a chance to look at some of those like on slow motion where he could take one step to his right, just one stride and it's like six yards and the guy starts to break on it because it looks like he's fully committed and then he snaps his entire body back the other way. That's fast. That's fast to me. And now is that, is that track speed? Is that 40 speed was 40 is good, but it's not amazing. But that's moving fast in within the context of the route. Diggs was the

same way only it was the short area stuff. It was the choppy feet stuff where he was so quick that and even like a keen and Alan is so quick with his movements and his details, you're like, that guy is slow, but he's actually fast somehow. So speed with wide receivers, if we're not just talking deep go-round guys, kind of a relative thing, but it's interesting that he mentioned that. I think wide receivers really understand that. Ham Darnold likes the Cam Ward to Jordan Lovecomp. Thank you. It's kind of every, like all we really had for a quarterback that was a little wild and had awesome skill.

We had like Matthew Stafford was the good version of that. And Jamis Winston was the bad version of that. But now I think we can add Jordan Love and make that its own bucket, its own bucket of guys where, I mean, I could see cam war going crazy some weeks and then driving people crazy other weeks. And that might happen just like it does with Jordan love. Uh, Daniel says McCarthy sitting out the first year was

a blessing. He's getting proper time to develop. Uh, yeah. I mean, you look at cam ward as a, as a good example of somebody where, I mean, I just wouldn't wish this on any quarterback where you go to one of the most lost franchises, their roster is bad, their offensive line, they have some guys, but they're younger. They still need to develop that. They have an okay running back. They don't have any real wide receivers.

I'm not sure their coach knows what he's doing. Not that it was easy to judge last year, but I'm'm not sure their coach knows what he's doing. Not that it was easy to judge last year, but I'm still not sure their coach knows what he's doing. And the franchise in general, their stadium is crumbling. It's a hard place to be. And if he survives that, then it will be impressive if he works his way through it and they can start to actually rebuild the team. But, you know, firing Mike Vrabel was not good for them overall,

I think, because he was able to keep them competitive. And we just saw how much it collapsed once Vrabel was gone, like how he was kind of keeping that thing together, even though it was starting to fall apart. And so not having a coach that you can rely on receivers, he's got a couple, but they're old, they're're not that great and it's a tough position to be in. So for JJ McCarthy, when you compare that it's so different because reasonably speaking, you'd like Cam Ward to not have

to play under those circumstances. You would like to say play will Levis get Cam Ward in like week 10 haven't finished out the season and then rebuild that roster. If you're Tennessee, that would be the smart thing, but they're not going to do that. They're just going to run them out there like Sam Darnall with the jets and he's going to get his butt beat up and we'll see what happens if he's able to fight through that. But it is a tough position. Whereas McCarthy has now seen how the NFL fully works. And I think that's really valuable for quarterbacks.

The NFL is to just get how the league works, get how the cadence of a week works, where if you're a rookie, you show up for week one. It's like, all right, well, here we go on the roller coaster. They don't know what a quarterback goes through over a year. The game planning, the punishment that you take, all the different things Sam Darnold went through last year. I think we're great for JJ McCarthy to see and I just forever when anyone

ever asked my opinion of Sam Darnold for the rest of all time that I'm talking about football. I will always say that guy handled everything in such an incredible professional manner, knowing that he was not the chosen one. He wasn't the one that everybody wanted to be the starting quarterback, but from day one of OTAs, he was in charge

and he ran that team. He never worried about what was on the precipice the next year, the contract, anything else. Never acted like I'm just a rent a quarterback or anything else like that. That was great for JJ McCarthy to see. Really, really great. Daniel says, do we have any concerns about Will Fries and Darisov being ready to start week one of the season? I think yes. I think there's definitely concerns about that. When Will Fries didn't do anything in mini camp,

you start to raise an eyebrow. We're at raise eyebrow level, not a panic level. Like I think I need panic levels for different faces. There's like raise an eyebrow, there's furrowing, maybe furrowing is part of it. There's full on frown and then there's, I don't know, hair on fire. I think when it comes to Fries and Darasaw, both are kind of at eyebrow raise think when it comes to fries and Darasaw,

both are kind of at eyebrow raise. It's a good sign for Darasaw potentially for week one. I don't know if it's gonna happen, but even just getting back out there in the field before the end of mini camp is huge. And for Will Fries, missing it is concerning. And that's where day one of training camp, taking that attendance.

Do we see Will fries out there? Cause if we do, it'll probably be all right based on his injury. If we don't, then that's, that is worrisome because it's very hard to play a 17 game season. You guys saw this from Hockinson last year. If you don't have a full training camp, that's where you lay the foundation. I remember Terrence Newman talking about this, saying that he built up his body to be ready for camp,

and then there was another level throughout camp that he built on to be ready for the season. These guys have it down to a science. You miss a big chunk of that. It's hard. And I thought Brian O'Neill was at 2022 to 2023, right? When he had got, yes, when he got injured at the end of 22, O'Neill was at 2022 to 2023, right? When he had got, yes, when he got injured at the end of 22 and then he missed a lot of training camp

and even throughout that season sort of wore down a bit. And last year we saw a much better version of Brian O'Neill until he got leg whipped against Chicago. But even then, like it was a much better version because he had a full training camp. So I think it's huge for Will Fries to have that. Darasaw is so freakish. Maybe he'd have an easier time just coming back, but there's concern. Yeah, there's definitely concern.

That's one of those where we just have to wait and see. But if those two are both out week one, at least you're playing a Chicago defense that isn't super scary. And then Atlanta doesn't terrify me, neither does Cincinnati. Like you're not starting out. There's a few edge rushers against Darasaw you'd be worried about,

but you're not starting out interior. Grady Jarrett, but he used to be good. I'm not sure if he's still the same guy. Grady Jarrett, Chicago Bear, by the way. I was reminded of that today. That's weird. Frat Boys, Inc. says, so far with being in practice, do you think that we go after Jalen Ramsey? Honest opinion. Oh my, the opinions

are always honest, my friend. I don't, I don't, I think they should though. What I think they want to do with the cornerback position is wait and see, just wait and see. And if it looks great to them early in training camp, then they're just going to roll with it. And if it doesn't, then they'll go out and get somebody else like they did with, I mean, don't forget Fabian Morrow also, they didn't have to really use them, but they went and got two different guys in the middle of training camp. And for whatever reason, that cornerback

position always seems to be available. I don't know why, but the late summer corner is a thing that seems to always happen. I would be a little surprised if they suddenly showed up with Jalen Ramsey, if they cut him and then they go after him. But I really like the idea

because I think you can never have too much depth. I agree with Zimmer on this. You can never have too many corners. Baltimore just brought in Jair Alexander. They agree with that. If you have Ramsey Byron Murphy and you're rotating in Isaiah Rogers and, uh, Mackay Blackman, I mean, that's some kind of secondary right there. If you're playing it the way it is now, I could still see it being good, but it's not as quite could still see it being good, but it's not as quite a bit as reliable. Um, no, this is, this is a funny question for

me frat boys, uh, because who's my way too early 2026 draft crush. I have no idea. And that feels really great. I'll tell you, man, I don't spend a second on the next year's draft until the season is over. The only year that I ever broke that rule was with JJ McCarthy and that quarterback class. I was watching them closely, but I don't watch anything or read anything regarding the draft. And you know why? Because the season ends in, well, let's say January for the Vikings. The draft is when? Almost May. I've got plenty of time.

So I watched the heck out of college football. I just don't do any draft prep or analysis like that. Way, way too busy with the Vikings to start looking into that. But you can let me know yours if you've got one, if you're a real draft nut. I respect it. I appreciate it.

You get a neck roll for that question. You get a neck roll for that. For that question, you get a neck roll for being. That's a very super football question, but that's just, I can't do it. And it changes so much. And a lot of Minnesota people will remember when Mitch Leidener was once mocked in a way too early draft as a first rounder, but it just changes so much that I can't look into it. Now it changes between January and the time we get to the draft as a first rounder, but it just changes so much that I can't look into it now. It changes between January and the time we get to the draft.

Son of a beavers, how many tight ends do you think we're gonna wind up with on the practice squad? I'm thinking at least three, probably two. Somebody will win the job, and then two other guys will likely stick around. Yeah, I think they really want to have tight end depth on this team. I like what I've seen from Ben Urasek,

Bryson Nesbitt's very fast. Can he catch the ball? Can he make plays? I don't know about that. We're gonna have to see. I can't say that just watching mini camp, I figured that out. It's just that he, I know he's fast.

And Gavin Bartholomew, we didn't see a lot of because he was banged up and he was on the rehab field. But he's got really good hands and more of a receiving type of tight end, but he's a fairly big guy. That's a real battle for tight end three and I think the other two probably stay on the practice squad. Ryan says is it possible for the Vikings to keep five linebackers that fight for LB four appears intense? Yeah, I think it is.

I think it's very possible that they could keep five because I mean, one thing is special teams is gonna matter a lot now that the kickoff, if you have a touchback, you're starting at the 35. I mean, I think Kevin O'Connell, what we learned last year, wanted nothing to do with that new kickoff, but he's just going to have to. I mean, you can't give the ball to the other team at the 35 all the time. Kick returns, I think last year we're getting on average to maybe the 28 yard line. That's a big gap right there and every

yard of field position matters. So does that mean Brian Awesome law in the depth has a job locked in there, or is there going to be somebody else, Kobe King? I would be surprised if he gets cut because of his special teams ability and is more of a run stuffing thumper kind of guy. But I think that the more likely than not, they do keep five.

I have not made a 53. I saw Alec Lewis did. I have not made a 53. I saw Alec Lewis did. I have not made a 53 myself yet. I should. I definitely should. Maybe next week I'll make a 53 for the heck of it. But I was probably going to keep five linebackers with Kobe King, Brian Asimov as the two special teamers slash, you know, they could rotate in and then Eric Wilson, Ivan Pace, Blake Cashman. I think so. That's a good question. I think five is probably right, but then you got to sacrifice somewhere else and I don't know where that is

right now. When I make the 53 we'll go through on the show. Maybe I'll try that for next Thursday. I'll plan that to make the 53 and we'll go through it. Uh, Dak says, uh, I don't understand why people lumped 2023 into the bad draft category. Addison is a starter black men projected starter ward projected rotational guy pace as a starter. Well, you know, you have the people who, uh, the next comment is pace wasn't drafted, which I look,

if you saw, uh, I, it's just a rant that is not needed, but if you sign a guy as an undrafted free agent who just came out in the draft, that's part of your draft class. I just don't know any other way to look at it. You acquired a player who was not an NFL player during the draft on that day. I don't know what else to say.

Like that's part of your draft class. So Ivan Pace counts as part of the draft class. Addison, you know, Blackman, it was a bad luck thing tearing the ACL. Addison is a borderline star in the league. And then as you mentioned, we'll see about Jay Ward, but they're clearly trusting him to be the backup. The reality of Quasi-Dalfo-Mensas drafts is that, and I know this is some sort of obsession with people, even though they have one of the five best rosters in the league, but the drafting, we just don't have enough information to really say, except for 2022. Very clearly, every part of that draft, except for Jalen Naylor imploded and is terrible. And even Ty Chandler, who we thought for a second could change it.

There was actually a time where I thought it was coming around. A Kayla Bella Evans had played well and Chandler had kind of broken out and even Ingram had a little bit of a run there where you went, yeah, maybe. And no, no, it all imploded as a horrible, horrible draft. But 23, as you just said, the jury is very much out on what happened there. And Blackman could be a good corner and we could see J Ward work into a role and Pace we already know is a good player.

Sure, I mean, it could still work out really well. And if Addison takes another step, you're talking about, well, that's a great draft for them. If those things happen and none of them are absurd, none of them are preposterous for that to happen. And 24, it's so clear, it's all resting on one guy, even if Dallas Turner doesn't work out, but if McCarthy does, that's so much more important.

If they both work out, think about where this franchise will feel like they are with those two players and what that will mean, but we just don't know yet. So I don't know how we can say, cause I see that all the time. Quacey can't draft. You're like, I mean, do we know what these drafts have been? It was just one draft and Rick Spielman's 2016 has something to say about how bad Quacey's 2022 is. But I also don't think that's a genuine opinion.

I mean, I like, of course it's true that 2022 didn't go well, but it's not like a genuine thing. It just seems to be the lone criticism that people are still sticking to like kicking and screaming after this team has done so many things right. Like, you know, but as the person's being dragged out of the room in the, you know, in the straight jacket, but he can't draft, you know, like as they, I don't know, as whatever. It just, it's, it's a weird thing that, um, I think because there's so much attention to the draft and it was the first one, first impressions matter, like we've been over it

many times, but you're right to point out that 23 and 24 the books not written and 25 the books not written on where these drafts are gonna go Joe says wins the earliest I expect there saw to be back I mean the fact that he was back for minicamp at very least puts some attention on at least puts some attention on week one. It doesn't guarantee week one, but it makes it plausible that he could. It's more like if he's not back by week three, then I think there's some concern now at this point. But it's somewhere in that range.

I mean, it should be somewhere in the beginning of the season. You would rather have him start week two and be a little bit overly ready than week one and not be ready enough. They might be cautious. They were cautious with Hawkinson. John Andre Carter is no longer part of the conversation. That was one of those high paid undrafted free agent moves that did not work out

as most of them do not. But Andre Carter didn't make the team last year. He just, he never took another step. There was potential there. It looked like the wingspan, the sack production just never took another step. So, um, Anthony says, I believe Jets was saying speed out of the break, not the takeoff to create separation. Oh, okay. Well, that's what I was saying. It's really the, uh, yeah's right. The break, you get to the top of your, well, there's two, I mean, there's two major parts of it is getting off of the line of scrimmage is huge because if you get stuff that the line of scrimmage would press coverage, then it throws off the timing of everything. So you have

to be able to defeat all of that. But once you get to that top of the route, that's where the tree is. You can go straight, left, right, you know, post route, come back, all those different options. And if you are out of your break super fast, it just makes it impossible for corners to get up on you and make a play on the football. And also if you're deceptive, then it can look faster than it actually is, which is what I mentioned about Keenan Allen. Keenan Allen is slow but yet fast somehow when it comes to getting out of those breaks because his footwork is so good and I just don't think he shows his cards.

That's where Jefferson is amazing. Anthony says, over under us trading a six six or a cam acre or for, oh, for training, uh, sorry, cam eight, four trading, trading for cam acres in a training camp or do they wait for cut down for a third running back? Yeah. So I guess that is really going to come, uh, with whatever happens with Ty Chandler. If they feel like they just do not like what they're seeing from Ty Chandler, again, as

far as picking up the offense, they don't care that much about him returning kicks, which I think he's pretty good at. I don't think he's prolific, but I think he's pretty good at it. Then they'll look for somebody else. I think they should look for somebody else like now a clock, because we just know that they haven't bought into what Ty Chandler is selling. And there was that moment at the end of 2023 where everybody got really excited. Every single, you know, fantasy show that would call me or ask my opinion would always say well is Chandler gonna be part of a duo with Aaron Jones? And I thought probably not but maybe and the answer was no not at all

And it sort of stemmed from that game against the Jets I wonder if he was unprepared or there was a fumble which I think really stuck in O'Connell's craw, but it just maybe like wasn't into the details with a couple of things there. And that was enough. Just, all right, go get camacers. I would not be surprised at all if, uh, yeah, they went out and decided to get somebody else. So, uh, son of a beavers, I have not looked at the UFL guys, but I think that Kenny Willoughby, I think that they are not ignoring those guys after Jalen Redmond. I don't think they're ignoring those guys.

They have people paying attention to the UFL guys and they found one last year, so they might again. We'll see. Yeah, and Aaron asking the same question. Do I see anyone on the roster being RB three? I mean, Trey Stewart is interesting to me because he's really quick, undersized guy, what Jacksonville state, I think. And I don't know if that's someone you're going to really trust.

If you have to have an RB three step into an actual role. So as of this moment, if you said, hey, are you betting on RB3 being Ty Chandler or somebody else? I'd say somebody else. If you had to pin me down, I would say somebody else. I think they've gotten frustrated with that situation and didn't look elsewhere so far,

but I could see that happening if he's not really locked in in training camp. So Mike, thank you for the note about the coverage. I really see that happening if he's not really locked in in training camp. So Mike thank you for for the note about the coverage. I really appreciate that. Thank you And we'll we'll end on this one hunter says are we getting a game seven because that's what I'm running So I want to watch this game six between the thundered Pacers I've seen some people saying all the TV ratings aren't good or whatever Who cares? Do you work for the network?

I don't. What difference does it make? I want to watch some basketball. Let's go. So I'm going to go do that. I'm going to say no. I'm going to say there's no game seven. I picked the Oklahoma City Thunder at the beginning of the

playoffs to win the NBA championship and. They're close and it looks like I think they're the most complete team and the scariest team defensively that I can remember. Uh, am I golfing? Yeah. I golf the other day. Yep. In this heat. So this is nothing. Oh, this weekend though. I won't be golfing this weekend. No, no, no. Uh, not 94 is a little much for me when it comes to that. Uh, do I think they sign another guard? I don't think so right now. I think they feel good about Blake Brando at this moment, but it will all depend. Like some of these guys that are still out there,

what it really depends on is does someone get hurt a lot of times? Because remember last year, Mackay Blackman goes out there tears his ACL on the first day of camp. It's like, and now we're getting a corner. You know, so that's just kind of how it goes. Matt, good to see you, Matt. How many UDFAs will make the roster? The thing about the UDFAs and making the roster is

because they have increased the number of practice squad spots and poaching is so rare. You just don't see it very often. I mean, someone would have to tell me last year how many or even how about this historically for the Vikings over the last 10 years, how many players have they cut out of training camp and someone else is coming and picked up off waivers? I mean, I can remember one guy, a linebacker that I think San Francisco picked up. I'm blanking on his name right now. Went to Kansas State, I think, undersized guy may have played a little for them, but there's like one guy in 10 years and nobody ever picks those guys up. I mean, if a UDFA is going to have a role right away, but even someone like Bo Richter, who ended up playing a lot, even going back, Josh Mattelis got cut out

of his first training camp and he was a sixth round draft pick. So, I mean, even those guys, even if they cut Gavin Bartholomew, like, is anybody going to pick them up? Like maybe, but it doesn't seem all that likely. Usually six, seventh and UDF, a, you can cut them and put them on the practice squad. And now the practice squads are so deep. I mean, if we go back to remember the, the B-Rob where they, they cut B-Rob, like,

I don't even know if you would do that now because teams even have studies on this data studies of how often or what are the odds that somebody gets picked up. And I don't think any undrafted free agent who gets cut is going to have very high odds. So, uh, I think, but there's always one, I will say, there's always one. And that's why we have Mr. Mankato is there's always one guy and we don't know who it's going to be.

We've got some early candidates, but we'll see anyway. Well, a great check. I really appreciate the conversation as always for a Thursday night. I'll have some other things, uh, through the weekend, I really appreciate the conversation as always for a Thursday night. I'll have some other things through the weekend, another fans only episode, maybe something pops up, we'll see. And then Monday night, special live show Monday night, Manny Hill will return and Manny and I are going to look

at the teams that are the most under pressure to win this year. So we're both gonna make lists, we're gonna break those down and you guys can play along at home. So I'm looking forward to that on Monday night. And until then, we will catch y'all later. And again, go check out, hey, my friend Josh Smith

did this awesome article for purpleinsider.football. He talked to Todd Stussy, Robert Smith, Brad Johnson about Dante Culpepper emerging in 2000 and the similarities to now. So go check that out. Purpleinsider.football. I made it open for everybody to look at. And if you want to sign up and support the Purple Insider here, please do so. So thanks everybody for watching slash listening and we will catch you all later.

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