Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Dane Brugler's Vikings mock crushes, Kiper Jr.'s disappoints (Part 1)

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

Matthew Coller talks about how two of the biggest NFL Draft analysts on the planet Dane Brugler of The Athletic and Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN mocked the Minnesota Vikings' draft picks. Brugler went all seven rounds and gave the Vikings a pretty awesome mock while Kiper Jr.'s left a lot to be desired. What would either outcome mean for the Vikings? What's on our minds as we are only a few days away from the draft? The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Fandul. Matthew Collar here. We got some things to get to some heavy hitter mock draft. Some of the bigwigs dropped their, I believe, final mock drafts before the NFL draft next week, which, of course, we will have the full breakdown here on the show, a live show from the start of the draft all the way to the end of day one and day two. so make sure you're already setting your plans for that. And so we're going to go over those mock drafts.

And then we've got an update on Dexter Lawrence. We also have a update on Devon Achan as well from the reporting complex. So we are going to break that down. But there is plenty of space for you guys to offer your thoughts, ideas. We're getting closer and closer to the NFL draft. How are you feeling about the Minnesota Vos? Vikings. I'm sure by now that you have read everything, you've broken down at all, you've done a thousand draft sims. Are you feeling confident? Are you feeling nervous? Are you feeling like

they're going to be able to move the needle or that they're not going to be able to change very much? Throw it down to the comments. Let's talk about our feelings a little bit here after I run through kind of the news. If a mock draft is news. I think now it is. Right now a mock draft is definitely new. So I'm not going to waste any time. We're going to jump right in. And then we will get to your questions and comments very soon. So let's begin with the great Dane Bruegler of the athletic. He did a seven round mock. This man is a lunatic in the best possible ways. Not only does he drop, I don't know, it's like 3,000 players or something in the beast, but then also comes back with a seven round mock. You think after he dropped a 600 word if

you print it or 600 page if you printed out book on the draft that he might want to take a nap. But instead the man's out there doing a seven round mock. And I got to tell you the truth here, Mr. Bruegler did one heck of a job for the Minnesota Vikings, not only nailing it realistically, but also with a lot of players that I'm pretty high on the idea of taking. So let's go through one by one Bruegler's picks. And we'll talk about more of the concept, more of. the decision, the direction, the position, because, you know, I was looking through some old

mocks just out of curiosity, not just of Brueglars, but of everybody's trying to gather, you know, for a show idea eventually, like, hey, let's look at some old mocks and talk about what if they had done this or what if they had done that? And, you know, there's not many of them that nailed the Vikings draft pick because it's really hard to figure out what teams are actually going to do. So it's a little bit about the thought process. Do we like the idea? If the Vikings did this, what would we think?

So that's what I'd like to know from you guys as well, how you would grade Dane Bruegler's muck. So in the first round with the 18th overall pick, Bruegler goes with cornerback Jermad McCoy, Tours ACL in 2025, supposedly back. There was one report about a knee issue, but sometimes when it comes to the medical stuff, you just really never know.

There have been players before who, mysteriously drop. Why is this guy in the third round? And then there's other guys where there are reports, hey, this guy's got this knee issue, wink, wink, or sometimes the word degenerative gets thrown out there. And I saw that there was a report on that with Jermad McCoy. One, it's really hard to know how true it is or if there's a reason why someone wants

that out there. And that's not to question the person who put it out there. but you just wonder, like, is there a reason for the information getting public? The other thing is, too, that just because you have something that falls under the category of degenerative, doesn't mean you can't play eight years in the NFL. It might mean that when you are 40 years old, you need to have reconstructive knee surgery or whatever. But it might not mean that your NFL career is only going to last five years. So I don't really know what to make of some of those reports on McCoy.

all I know is that as an actual football player in 2024, McCoy was making his case for CB1 in this draft. And the only reason that he is potentially going to be available in the middle of the first round would be that he doesn't have that bigger sample size. But in terms of his actual talent, he has the skill to be a number one cornerback. It checks off every box for me. it's a foundational type of player for the next four or five years through their rookie contract and then, you know, potentially has the ability to be a long-term piece as a number one corner.

The positional value is there for me. It's really hard to find top-notch corners. It's not that hard to find sort of one B corners sometimes or, you know, guys who are 29 years old and who have once been a really good corner. in the NFL, it's really not hard to find B minus corners. There are a lot of B minus corners, but there are not many that are A plus number one type of corners. You usually have to get those in the draft.

So, Dramad McCoy, I think would be a tremendous pick for the Minnesota Vikings, assuming that all of the medical situation checks out for him and he is good to go. He would provide depth right away at that position, which they sorely need. And then long term, Isaiah Rogers, a free agent, Byron, Murphy Jr. A little bit on the older side. I don't think he's ancient, but he's going to be very expensive by the salary cap next year and the Vikings could move on from him. And even if they didn't, Murphy can bump inside and McCoy could take over as an outside corner. That might even start happening right away if this were the pick. The number two pick is a guy we have not talked about. This is a second rounder with the 49th overall. Not a lot anyway. That is Lee Hunter, the defensive tackle from Texas Tech. He is a number two pick. He is a guy. He is a second rounder. He is a second rounder. He is a second rounder. He is. He is a second rounder. He is. He is a second rounder. He is. He is a guy. He is a guy. He is a a lot of people's DT4, some people's DT3, and he is a Pat Williams looking dude. Just an enormous run stuffer probably doesn't have that high of upside as a pass rusher, but I am much more willing to do that in the second round with a great talent than I would

ever be interested in doing it at 18th overall with Kate and McDonald. If you give me the choice, hey, take the top guy at 18, take Kate and McDonald from Ohio State, he's a run stuffer, or this giant dude from Texas Tech, Lee Hunter, who has sort of been rising a little bit in the offseason with the Senior Bowl, things like that. I would definitely say do that in the second round. Now, this is where I would like to see the Vikings maybe consider a wide receiver, but you're going to see a trend here from Mr. Bruegler that he is trying to set the Vikings defense up for the short term and the long term.

this might be where you could get a wide receiver that slips out of the first round. There are a bunch of them that are projected there, but every year there's somebody who doesn't quite make it and you might end up getting a very good wide receiver or it could be a position where Judarian Price is available and you're taking one in the second round. So run-stuffing defensive tackle is okay with me, though. If you're getting one of the better ones in the draft, I think the Vikings could absolutely use it on their defense and Hunter is a mammoth human being who is good on that end. It might even have a little more upside as a pass rusher than some of the other guys as well.

So, okay, that one's perfectly fine with me. Love the third round draft pick with the number 82 selection, which is A.J. Halsey, the safety from LSU. I am not Dane Brugler or Todd McShay or Mel Kuyper when it comes to scouting college players. But when I watch AJ Halsey and I watch Emmanuel McNeil Warren, I like AJ Halsey's game more. I mean, he is a ball hawk, a explosive player, somebody that you could see as a game changer that might take some risks

that drive you crazy and have some misses that are in there, but have some big hits. And I think that he would be an instant starting player for them who could be a game changer, maybe not the ceiling of a superstar, like Dylan Thineman might have the ceiling of being one of the better players at his position in the league. I don't know that that's going to be the case for Halsey, but he gets his hands on the football. And I'm always hesitant when I see high-rated draft picks that don't do that in the secondary, that don't have a lot of interceptions.

But he certainly does. He was very, very good on their defense. Third round pick, getting a starter. That's always, always going to be a hit for that position. I think in terms of positional value, that's the right place to. do it as well. With the 97th pick, Brugler has Sam Hecht, the center from Kansas State. Again, this makes a ton of sense.

It's his first offensive pick, which is understandable considering the state of the defense now and into the future. But Hecht is considered by some. I know Brandon Thorne of Trench Warfare, who I really like and respect. And after the Vikings potentially draft a center, would love to have him come on and break down the trenches and so forth. So we'll probably do that. But he's got Sam Hect, I believe, as the number one center in this draft.

So a third rounder, if you could get the best player to position in the draft, at least by some people's opinion, and a potential long-term starter there. That's what you're swinging for at number 97. That would be a very smart pick for them, immediate depth. Stay behind Blake Brandel at first and then see how it goes. The Vikings don't have a fourth round pick. In the fifth, they went with Jeff Caldwell here in Bruegler's mock draft. and I think a lot of people are making this connection

because Caldwell came on a 30 visit, someone who's a fifth round potential coming on one of those visits. You know, you're going to make that connection, but Caldwell is the physical freak of this draft. You'd be taking a swing at everything clicking for him. He had a very good year at Cincinnati, but things coming together.

And if they do, then this guy's going to be really hard to stop. If they don't, then it's another fifth round pick that didn't bring you much, but it's also a fifth round draft pick. That's where you want to roll the dice on athletic freaks like this. And then the sixth and the three-sevenths, Mason Rieger and edge rusher from Wisconsin, J.C. Davis, a tackle from Illinois.

And here's one that's quite interesting. In the seventh round, Seth McGowan from Kentucky, a very explosive running back had a really good combine. This has him going all the way to the seventh round. He's an older prospect. Kind of reminds me a little bit of. the situation with Ty Chandler where I think he was 24 when he came out but had, you know, Jets and wasn't necessarily the most refined type of player.

Well, if you could be a little more refined than Chandler, maybe you could be on the field. So Seth McGowan is instead of spending a high pick on someone like Dem and Claiborne or Mike Washington, who I would say I'm skeptical on both of those guys. I'm really not necessarily sold on them going all the way to the end of the draft to look for the explosiveness of running back. And then, and the seventh pick, seventh round pick, number 244, Josh Quavis, the tight end from Alabama. Sure, why not tight end depth?

I got to say, well done by Dan Bruegler. He's got to keep track of 32 freaking teams needs. And this guy pulled off a draft that I think most Vikings fans, and I'm curious about your grade in the comments for Kuyper's draft here, I think most people would be pretty over the moon with this draft. Load up on the defensive side. You know, check the boxes on the offensive side that you're looking for with a future center, depth at wide receiver, depth at running back, and off you go, a lot of potentially

usable players right away and for the future. So impressed with Dane Bruegler's mock, I would probably give it, if we were doing it the next day, I'd probably give it a straight up A if they were able to come away with this much talent that makes this much sense to fill the. the needs that they have. Now, the next mock that came out was from Mel Kuyper Jr. And his mock, I didn't have the same feeling about. Not in terms of potential accuracy, but just in terms of how I would grade it. So Dylan Thineman is the pick at 18th overall, the chalk pick. And it's okay, that's fine. I am just always to be clear about Dylan

Thineman, if they draft him, I'm not going to say, wow, Rob Brasinski resign, fire everybody, get, you know, whatever else. I mean, I think everybody that I listened to talk about him, I think he's a really, really good prospect. It's a little bit more about when you compare that to Jermad McCoy, a high-end potential corner, I would prefer that. I would prefer if it's even a remotely similar prospect, but it's at a much more valuable position. I'd prefer they go that way. Doesn't mean I would be down on the draft pick of Dylan Theteman. I just kind of question the replaceability of someone who's going to be a free safety, but that's fine. Okay. The solid and reliable pick there. But with 49th, if they did this,

I would wonder what the heck was going on. Uh, 49 is Mike Washington from Arkansas, who I am just not that sold on. He has one year of good production at a high level at Arkansas, a great 40 time, but in terms of his actual play, it's pretty good. I mean, he average a 6.4 yards per carry. So clearly it's good. I would rather have Emmett Johnson in the third round than I would have Mike Washington here. I think that this is a reach. Most people have Washington as more of a third round level prospect because of the lack of

production earlier in his college career, a one-year breakout player, an NFL Combine, darling. There's a lot of like red flags there and maybe not so much of a complete running back. Yes, you do get the jets in his feet. You do get the explosiveness. The Vikings absolutely need that. But the second round for this player is just too early for me. So this would be more of a B minus type of draft for me than it would be what Dane Bruegler did.

So let me know again with this one if you're interested in Melkine. Piper's Mogg, maybe you like it more for the first couple of picks than Dane Brugler's. I do not. I mean, if it's Judarian Price, I think you could justify it, but I don't think you could do it with Mike Washington. And even with Judarian Price, that's a guy who was a backup running back and only has a hundred and something runs for Notre Dame last year. I did average like seven yards of carry in doing it.

But even that feels a little bit high in this draft for a running back. looking much more at the third round. And if you're even again, comparing Seth McGowan, like, go look at Seth McGowan and his numbers and what he did for Kentucky and his combine. And then Mike Washington and like, I don't know. I don't know how big the difference actually is. So let me get to a couple of potential trade target updates. Dexter Lawrence, everyone.

We thought it was done maybe for the Vikings as a conversation. And then back it came from Ian. Rappaport last night, he said the Giants and Star Defensive tackle, Dexter Lawrence, who have been talking about a new big money extension, have reached an impasse, sources say. The Giants have engaged with teams on a potential trade that will continue. It should come to a head before the draft. We are so back in the Dexter Lawrence conversation. And the last time I talked about Dexter Lawrence, I stood on the fence and I waffled,

and I ping ponged and I bounced back and forth on it because I think there's a really easily justifiable trade for Dexter Lawrence. In this draft, if the Minnesota Vikings gave up the 18th overall pick for Lawrence, it would be very aggressive. It would be selling the future down the river a little bit. But also the 18th overall pick this year is maybe not as valuable as in previous years. And this man is insanely good. He is even, I understand there's some sack production that's gone down for him.

And it had to do with an elbow injury that's supposed to be good now. Even if he only got four sacks for the Minnesota Vikings, the amount of pressure he creates. Think about what Linval Joseph did for them in 2017. That's like him plus every single year. Even last year, even if he didn't get the sacks, his PFF pass rush grade was still among the best defensive tackles in the league. his pressure rate, his win rate, they were all up there. And we know this from Grenard and watching that play out of like, I think we all believe Granard's going to get the sacks again, right?

So I think Dexter Lawrence will too. But even if he doesn't, the dominance against the run, the pressure he creates up the middle, he is a franchise type player who belongs among the highest paid in the entire NFL. And with the players who could potentially be leaving next year, you're really lacking in superstar talent if you don't have Jonathan Grenard, if you don't have Andrew Van Ginkle, if you have to kind of cap cut, um, Byron Murphy Jr. There's a lot, there's a talent drain there. And Blake Cashman is also a free agent. So who are you building around for next year? Well, it could be Dexter Lawrence and he could take this defense right now. And that would be another part

of the argument. Right now, 2026. They have a $1.3 million quarterback who's a multi-time pro bowler. they have Justin Jefferson who desperately wants to win he does not have which is crazy to talk about a playoff win in his career. He wants that badly. I will not say Kevin O'Connell is in the hot seat, but there's a lot of pressure there for Kevin O'Connell. I don't know. Why not the present would be the argument for Dexter Lawrence? Why not now? I mean, this roster was built to have its last hurrah in 2006 and what a hurrah it would be to be. bring in Dexter Lawrence. The big issue is, now here's on the other side, the big issue is it's not just selling off a high draft pick. It's also that you have to take a bath cap-wise, not just from resigning Dexter Lawrence to a bigger extension that would make him the highest paid

defensive tackle in the league, but also you would have to do some finagling to get to even being able to acquire Dexter Lawrence to create enough cap space through restructuring. which also is going to kick money down the road. It's going to create dead cap. And you're really taking a strong hit for one player. Now, this player has been remarkably durable. He plays 700 plus snaps every single year. He is not old for this position.

Defensive tackle, I think we've seen this plenty of times in the NFL. These guys can play into the early 30s and be some of the most dominant players in the NFL. I can't say that I am for it, like all in 100% if they don't do this, fire Quasi again or something. I'm not, whatever, you know, I'm not going to go crazy if they don't do it. But it does seem like the type of move that if you wanted to push the chips to the middle of the table one last time and then who knows what comes next after that, this is the type of guy to do it for.

We've talked about this a lot with our Fandul questions of the day about, hey, so what could the Vikings do to move the needle on these odds before the season starts? I think that they become the favorite to win the NFC North if they acquire Dexter Lawrence. Almost immediately. As soon as that happens, this defense has the potential to be the best in the entire NFL if they get Dexter Lawrence. And that's it, that's intriguing to me because last year, you take a look. I mean, him and Jalen Redmond playing next to each other.

Redmond is one of the most underrated players in the NFL. We know he's very good. You're probably going to keep Gernard because you wouldn't be including him in this trade. They already have their top edge rushers that they've invested a ton in. But so maybe you keep Gernard, Van Ginkle, Turner. I mean, that is an insane front seven. And hey, what is it?

What is it that's won the last couple years when the chips are really down in the playoffs, in the Super Bowl? it's been defensive lines. It's been front sevens taking over games that has ultimately had a lot to do with teams getting deep in the playoffs. And it's worth saying that Garrett Bradbury is playing for the Chicago Bears and that the Packer Center isn't any good.

And the former Panthers Center is playing for the Lions. And, you know, I wouldn't call him a superstar. Like line up this guy over the interior offensive lines in this division. You're going to have a lot of success, I think. So there is the late. latest on Dexter Lawrence. If they did it, it would be really interesting and a lot of fun to talk about and potentially a lot of fun to watch, but it has major sacrifices to go along with it as any trade for an elite player does. Speaking of trade for elite player, I think that the dream of

Devon A. Chan is probably not going to come true for Vikings fans. It is being reported again by ESPN that the Dolphins general manager, John Eric Sullivan, came out and said, Devon A-chan is not available for a trade, and they're looking to sign him to an extension. But let's read that again. It's not available for trade as the team, as the team looks to sign him to an extension. So what if he doesn't want to sign an extension? Then does he become available for trade? I'm not buying you, John Eric Sullivan.

that's what I would tell everybody too, John Eric Sullivan. I would tell everyone too. I don't know, man, we want to extend him. And then if he doesn't, then he would be on the trade block. But that is the latest on A-chan. Doesn't seem like he's going to come available. And it looks like they want to make him a long-term part of their franchise. I can't blame him.

He averaged almost six yards of carry last year. But we will keep that door open. I am not shutting that door entirely on the idea of Devon, A-chan. So the Fandul question of the day, naturally, is if the Vikings traded for Dexter Lawrence, what do you think they're over-under, wind total should be? Right now it's eight and a half on Fanduel. If they traded for Lawrence, what should it be? And we'll get your reaction to that as well. So why don't we jump into the fan chat here and see what is on your guy's mind, answer questions, comments? Anything you guys are thinking about, I am interested in talking about here tonight.

I have until 8.30 and then I got to go on XM radio. So got plenty of time. Let's jump in. All right. We begin with Dumer K.O. Says I have officially cooked my favorite draft plan. Do you mean, are you talking about Dane Bruegler's draft plan? I mean, it's a good one.

It is a good one, I think, to go all in on the defense and load up on some offensive players a little later where it's a better deal for them. it's probably a better deal to, I mean, wide receiver, second round and third round are good spots for wide receiver in this draft. Second round, I think, could be a great spot for wide receiver. But if he's getting Lee Hunter, who is a borderline first round prospect and very, very good run stuff for defensively, the Vikings missed that last year. They really did. They missed the beef up front.

And if I told you that you could get a Harrison Phillips type player with a middle second round draft pick. I mean, I know Phillips wasn't a second round pick, but what he became, right? I think you would say, yeah, let's do it. I mean, I can't guarantee that it becomes Pat Williams, but could he become a Harrison Phillips only maybe bigger? Yeah, I think that that's reasonable. I think that you would take that. That's someone that they had had a lot of success with and probably should not have moved on from last year. Alex has your boy, Chris talked to you into to Thineman a bit more and the brugler mock is fire. Well, I'm not, I'm not out on Dylan Thineman.

I just want to make that clear that anytime we talk about him, it's really about the type of player that you're looking at here and what it would take in order for that to be a success. And that's what I keep coming back to is if you draft Dylan Thineman and he becomes the best free safety in the end. NFL or a top five free safety in the NFL. He's taking the ball away. He's coming downhill and blowing up runs. Just fantastic player. Well, okay, then that's worth the 18th overall pick. If he's anything less than that, it's just something that you can get elsewhere. And that's not true

for like Kenyon Sadiq, for example. If Kenyon Sadiq became the 10th best tight end in the league and he was pretty darn dangerous with the football in his hands, but he didn't catch like 95 passes. That's still worth a lot and maybe not even as much as some of the other premium positions, but that's still hard to find an athlete like that receiving tight end. There's only a handful of them that are really dangerous in the NFL. Probably wide receiver is the better example or corner is a better example. If they draft Jermad McCoy and he becomes the 15th to 20th best corner in the NFL,

then you're feeling great about that. He doesn't have to be a top five player at his position. He's going to be worth $20 million. You're going to love to have him. He's going to bring you a lot, even if he is not perfect. So I think that's kind of the point there to go along with how much those guys cost and the scarcity and all those discussions we've been through. As an actual football player watching Dylan Thieneman, I think he's great.

So if they do it, I'm not going to flip the table. Dumer K.O. Thank you for the super chat. Really appreciate that. Trade picks 49 and 82 for Dexter Lawrence. Trade 2027, third, sixth and seventh for H&. Pick Sadiq if he falls and wide receiver at 97 or trade down and pick Boston in the first round with the center and defense in the third round. There's a lot of ideas there.

49 and 82. I am thinking that what the giants were doing by putting this out there was basically announcing, folks, we have not gotten the return that we expected for Dexter Lawrence or the offers that we expected for Dexter Lawrence. That's what that is. And I think there was a report out of New York that it had been a few days since they got a trade call about Dexter Lawrence. And, you know, hey, Mr. Rap report, can you kind of toss it out there and maybe see if we

can get the phones ringing a little bit more for Lawrence? but 49 and 82 is not crazy by any means because giving up 18, that's where you kind of have to draw the line. Now, if they did it in this draft, it's not supposed to be special, okay, but you really need to draft players who are young and cost controlled and are going to be here for a long time. And even 49, that's still a place to get a starter, but 18 is a place to get a difference maker, as we've seen from Jefferson, Addison, Darrasaw, guys like that through the years. There's been quite a few of them for the Vikings that have been in the middle of first round who have become foundational players for them.

Well, I think you want to hang on to that regardless of what people are saying about the draft. If you're talking about 42 or 49 and 82 for Lawrence, that's much more reasonable. My guess is that that's what they're getting for offers. When everybody knows that you're trying to trade the guy, then no one's going to come in and say, oh, yeah, three firsts. And I think that if it's a Micah Parsons, where the guy is 26 and he's the best in the league,

there's not a lot of scar tissue there, okay, you get why Green Bay would give up so much. This is a guy who's a little bit older and is coming off a year where he was not as productive from a SAC perspective, and that's going to be factored in to the price that you're willing to pay. And then the fact that you have to pay him on top of it,

but it would be really hard to argue with 49 and 82 for a player of that caliber. With A-chan, I mean, 2027 third, I don't think they're doing that because they could get, even if they let him go, they could basically get that just for a comp pick. If he got a good contract, maybe they'd get like a fourth or something. So you would be, you would be clearing the comp pick bar if he were to hit free agency and get a huge contract in 2027 and they could get it in 2027. But I'm not sure that Miami's willing to do it for that because they've already sold off so many parts.

They've already given away so many players. That's probably not a good enough offer. Like that's going to look bad for them and they're already looking pretty bad. But if you were drafting Sadiq in a wide receiver 97th, it would be kind of the opposite of what Bruegler did. But I also think it would be a good idea. if they push the gas pedal down on, hey, let's try to have a top-notch offense. I mean, I like this concept of just pushing the gas pedal down on one side or the other.

Because if you do it with J.Mah McCoy, Lee Hunter, and A.J. Halsey, okay, great. You're pushing toward how can you have the best version of Brian Flores defense. The other way is how can you have the best version of Kyler Murray? And both of those things make a lot of sense for actually winning games to me. So that's why there's so many ideas that are floating around that we've been talking about that I think are likable. Alex, feeling impatient for the draft, the time between free agency and the draft is too much. Would this have not been the perfect week?

I feel like this would have been the perfect week. The March Madness is over. The Masters is over. You can own this entire weekend. Are they doing it? I don't know. It's always later, right? It's always toward the end of April.

but this is where I agree. We start to become very impatient and the take start to ramp up and the reports start to leak out. And we've kind of had a little bit of everything. We've checked all the boxes. There's a player with a driving issue. There's a franchise player on the trade block. There's a guy that is being said has degenerative knee issues. Like we've checked all the we need to get the heck to the draft boxes.

I totally agree with you there. Deion says don't really want phenomin. it's not that I don't want Thinaman. It's more that I don't see it as the most efficient approach to team building is to get a player like that. I think if you go watch him, you'll want Dylan Thineman. He's very instinctual playmaker. He's a great athlete. He's really fast.

But he just reminds me a little too much of what Cam Bynum became. and when I keep going back to that, I can't avoid that. Like, you guys have probably heard me say it enough times, but I can't avoid thinking, like, what, what Bynum became was a $15 million safety in free agency. That's a good dollar figure. He took the ball away. He was a good tackler.

He was a good leader. He was a great teammate. And it was worth $15 million, which is not that distant from what Jalen Naylor got as a number three wide receiver. And, like, I can't really get that comparison out of my head because Theneman is not a Harrison Smith type player. It's not, that's like Caleb Downs, I think. He's not, I don't think,

gonna hover, you know, as the like overhang type player sometimes. Like Harrison Smith will come down and then drop deep back. And he's not going to live in the box like a Josh Mattelis. He's going to be more of a deeper safety, which is great to have. But I don't know if it's worth an 18th overall pick. Maybe they fall completely in love with the player and do it.

Or maybe he's not even there. I don't know. There's a lot of differing opinions. He's a really great prospect, though. So if they get him, he's going to help your football team right away and long term. Or at least that would be the assumption. I feel like it's a pretty safe player to assume that he's got a good chance to succeed on some level. Because of the athleticism, because of the production.

Like, he checks all the boxes of a player who works out. For me, it would just be more if the Vikings were drafting like 30th or if they were drafting fourth in the second round. that's when I would take a player like that just based on the skill set. And if you say, hey, man, this draft just doesn't have 14 edge rushers for you to take. That's, that's fair. That is a very fair retort to a reason to take Dylan Thineman. Dumer K.O. for context, assuming the dolphins are waiting until the draft to trade H&, hoping for higher demand.

Running backs rarely get traded for higher than day three picks. So this is a bounty for them. Okay, that's, yeah, that's fair. I just wonder about the look for them of you've already given away Waddle, you've already torn it to the ground, and then if you trade away your guy who's the most exciting player on your team for, it's a reasonable price what you're throwing out there. But for that price, if there's just going to be so much anger toward that team, because I think people are kind of in on what they're doing. but you know i don't know that they want to go that far maybe they do i'm not sure how their fan base is viewing their total tear down and maybe they think it's great and maybe they think they should

sell off everything in the world for draft picks but a player of his star level and his production and his age that's a really important one too that he hasn't even turned 25 yet his age if you're giving that away for a third round pick it's just not going to be that great of a look and i i even think if you franchise tag a running back. It can't be that much to franchise tag a running back. So it seems that they just really want to keep him. I think if you're them, you should trade him. I do.

For even what you offered, I think that's a good trade for the Miami Dolphins. You're already going all the way to the bottom. When exactly is the next time Devon A. Chan is going to matter for you? Like two years from now, that doesn't seem that promising. Alex is funny that two guys in this draft have comps to OG Vikings, Lee Hunter to Pat Williams and DeAngel O'Anne Ponce to Winfield Senior. I've also been comping Denzel Boston to Jake Reed. I kind of made a whole list.

I made a list of like 10 different Vikings type comps. And Emmanuel McNeil Warren was like a juiced up Anthony Harris was my comp for him. And I had Kenyon Sadiq, my comp for Kenyon Sadiq was. if Adrian Peterson was a tight end. And that sounds ridiculous, right? Like, no way. Come on. Go look at their combines.

Put them up next to each other. If Adrian Peterson had been a little heavier, he'd be like Keny'd Sadiq. It's actually kind of crazy. Son of Beavers. Does Miami need an edge rusher asking for a friend? Yeah. Would they do?

I don't think so, though. I don't think they would do a Jonathan Grenard trade. That's why Kansas City is such a team to talk about. with this, I would say Cincinnati also is a team to discuss with Jonathan Grenard if you're planning on trading up or thinking it's a possibility because those teams could really use one more player on defense. Cincinnati has this quarterback who is unbelievable and has been left out to dry almost every year of his career by his team's bad defense. And when he didn't, he went to the Super Bowl. So if I'm Cincinnati, even as cheap as they have been over the years,

I've got to be considering moving back and trying to get Jonathan Grenard because you're in win now mode, but you also might be in preserve Joe Burrow as a Bengal mode, not just in the thought of, well, we got to compete with Joe Burrow, but he might try to force his way out of Cincinnati if it doesn't work out because that guy seemed absolutely miserable last year by the end of the season. And if he's feeling that way again, I don't know that he's coming back to continue to play for the Bengals. uh, Dumer given Bruegler an A plus. I think he did really well in that draft, um,

would need to bring in a wide receiver three, a veteran like DeAndre Hopkins. Right. Because Jeff Caldwell is a project. And I think Ty Felton is a project too. A lot of people wanted to see more of Felton last year. They were healthy at the wide receiver position. But I also think he was a project.

He had one year of big production. He had blazing speed, uh, special teams ability and a character makeup, uh, intelligence, toughness, competitiveness that they really liked. So they kind of rolled the dice on him, knowing that he was not going to be a day one. This, you know, Felton last year was not like a 24-year-old guy who had had three years of catching

100 passes or something in college. It would be the same way with Caldwell, where you'd just be betting that this guy's freakishness is worth taking a shot on. It often doesn't work, by the way. It would be a roll of the dice. hey, maybe it comes up our number and this guy becomes awesome, but it usually doesn't work to go get the fifth, sixth, seventh rounder that has a crazy athletic profile. It's something we love in the draft, but it's not a very safe idea. So they would, you're right, have to go out

and get somebody else to play wide receiver. Alex Lee Hunter would push Bradbury into Caleb Williams every snap. Yeah, I mean, that's the type of guy that Lee Hunter is. He is enormous. I don't remember exactly what his weight was at the combine, but he's one of those dudes that goes in the 330 plus type of range where it's just a different kind of mammoth that's hard to move. And I don't know if Brian Flores wants that. That's a big question for me that I think we will find out. Or if Brian Flores always has wanted it and they just could never actually get it for him. But, you know, they had Kyris Tonga who, I mean, actually got a pretty big deal in free agency.

They had Kyris Tonga. They didn't use them very much under Brian Flores. And they seemingly made no effort to go out and get this type of player in free agency. Every year, we've looked at those big nose tackle types and just haven't really landed. They haven't really landed on any of them. But he can get after the passer a little. and I agree with Matt that he did seem like he could rush the passer. Right.

I mean, is it like a poor man's Linval Joseph? Because Linval Joseph, you know, that's the best of the best. But could he be like 80% of what Linval Joseph was, which means you're getting some pressures and you're getting after the passer and you are pushing the pocket. I think there's more pass rush potential with Christian Miller and with Lee Hunter than there is with Kate and McDonald. So I like those two guys better than I like Caden McDonald for that type of role. Magyar says AJ Halsey will not fall to 82. Well, I mean, number one, we never really know.

Never really know. But here's where I agree with you is, although Xavier Watts did last year, the safety position is just not highly sought after. It's not one that teams are running over each other to get to because of how many are available. But so you, I mean, you might be right. But also, I wouldn't have thought that with Xavier Watts last year. I like him as a second round type of talent based on his athleticism, what he's been able to produce, how aggressive of a player he is. And I think he is a better choice for a playmaking free safety in the third.

In the second, maybe I still think it's a good pick in the second might be a little reachy toward the second round. Matt says, Hecht and Caldwell are not my favorite picks, but they do need a center. Well, any of the centers that you take, you're going to say, I don't know if that guy could be a superstar, but I think what you're often looking for there,

if there's no superstar player in the draft, which usually at center, it'll go later first, mid-first, or second round is where you get your best-of-the-best type of center prospects. second round is a is a real hot spot for top center prospects. So these guys are more likely to be taken to the third, where the upside is mostly a fringe top 10 type starter. It's hard to get those superstar centers.

They usually require a lot of investment. As in any superstar position, I'll say again, they don't come available that often. So you usually have to draft them. I think the, if the Vikings, if there was one, if there was a superstar center prospect this year, they would take them probably in the first round. There just isn't.

So can you get one that's got potential to be a solid starter for you, who could be a leader for a long time if they click? And if they don't click, they could be a solid backup. And okay, well, look, if you take a center at 97, and maybe he's got some positional versatility and he can actually get in there and play center or guard, Okay, I know that we're always talking about shooting for the moon, highest upside, whatever else, but offensive line depth is a big deal in the NFL, and the Vikings haven't really had it since,

I don't know, ever. It's been a long time since they've had offensive line depth. There aren't too many teams in the NFL that can make an argument that they do. So at least you'd have some of that, even if the pick goes wrong. And if it goes right, maybe there's a higher upside than we realize. Caldwell is objured. objectively not a good pick. Like it's, you look at history, you look at these guys, here's this athletic freak, he's

six, five, he runs this or whatever. But the one time that that clicks, it's going to be insane. It just doesn't very often. And it's a total roll of the dice. It's a total guess. Hey, maybe this will work out for us. It's kind of the arrested development meme. Like, yeah, a lot of teams took wide receivers that were like this.

And every single time, the guy just couldn't actually. play football and turned out to be a bust. But what if it works for us? And the answer, what if it works for us is that the guy's nuts and is maybe one of the better deep threats in the league. I tend to think it's not a great pick anywhere outside of day three. Day three, I'm okay with these ideas. If you're talking to me about almost any position, day three, hey, we got the craziest

freak guy that you want to take them? Sure. Yeah, why not? They draft people from Australia who have never played football before. And actually, I think that guy ended up working out for the, he did for the Philadelphia Eagles. But there's a guy, I can't remember where he's from. I just saw it pop up one day on Twitter. But there's a guy who's never played football before who did like an NFL combine thing.

And now he's probably going to get drafted because day three, man, take your swings. See what happens. It's teams. I mean, the Vikings took a long snapper a couple years ago. Take your shots. You're not looking for starters at that point. Dumer took a peek at. Dolphins read it.

They are somewhat divided on trading A-chan. It's like 80, 20 with the majority thinking he's getting traded and should be traded. Okay, interesting. I do think it would be a rough, just rough situation for them if you're moving, if you're getting Malik Willis and then getting rid of every single thing he has, I don't know how that adds up for you very well, but it is a good idea for them to trade Dev, Devon A-chan. It's just a good idea. even if he's younger, even if you think he's got five years left of greatness.

Most running backs don't. And by the time you get to the point where you could be competitive in the AFC East, if you're the Miami Dolphins, you are now two or three years later on Devon A. Chan's body. And now you're starting to approach that age 27, 28, 29, where the jolt leaves. And players like him, they don't go into 33. They're not Aaron Jones. that guys who run the 4-3 and that's the main reason that they're successful is their crazy burst, that starts to drift away after 27, 28, and usually there's a pretty massive falloff.

Now, if you're the Vikings, that's fantastic. Like, you'll take the age 25, 26, and 27 seasons. That's wonderful. That's certainly worth trading for. But for the dolphins, I feel like that's the next time they're going to be reasonably competitive unless Malik Willis is amazing. Usually, rebuilds are about two to three years. Are you willing to do that?

I don't think they should be. And it feels like every time this comes up, they almost protest too much. Like, we are not trading him. And, but, you know, we're trying to sign him to extension. And then what? And then what? And if he doesn't, then what?

That's the question. So it could happen. Yeah, I mean, I'm not surprised that fans think it's going to happen. Just because the GM doesn't have to tell you the truth. I remember at the NFL Combine in 2020, where I, asked Rick Spielman directly. I said his, Stefan Diggs asked you for a trade and he goes, no. And I was like, okay, all right. And he was traded a few weeks later. So there you have it. It might have even been a week

later. It wasn't that long. Matt's starting to like the idea of Max Claire at tight end. I have not spent a lot of time with the other tight end positions or the other tight end players down the board. It's mostly been for me like Sadiq or bust, but, you know, I can look closer into that because it might be an idea that they have is to take somebody that's ultimately going to be the replacement for T.J. Hawkinson, that position does take some development. It just feels like there's a lot more urgency. So if you're going to do it, you have to do it with somebody who's insane.

And Sadiq, his freakish in terms of his talent. So, yeah, you do it for him. Would you do it for anything less than freakish? That I don't know. Brian gives Brugler's draft an A. Matt's got a B plus a minus. Is this Risham? Let's see, four and a half to seven rounds for this draft are pretty much in the eye of the beholder.

That's probably every year and the consensus board can be thrown out the window. Totally agree. Glorified UDFAs from what I heard is that accurate. Well, I mean, I think it's been overstated how bad the draft is because I still see a lot of players that have similar profiles to guys that have succeeded in the past. But day three is always like this. There is a great video that displays how this works in a lot of NFL buildings by the Philadelphia Eagles with Howie Roseman. They showed it after, I think, last year's draft, where they're having their pre-draft meeting.

And now every team is doing like a behind the draft sort of thing. And Roseman is in this meeting and he is with all the scouts and he says, all right, I'm going to go around the room and you guys give me your favorite day three player. And this guy says this guy and this guy says that guy and whatever else. And they pick them. That's how it works. It's like Scouts Day. It's like that's how the Vikings got Levi Drake Rodriguez, which was one of their scouts had seen him and kind of fell in love with him as a prospect, tracked him, Texas A&M commerce.

he played in a smaller bowl game and they are an all-star smaller all-star game and then they end up drafting him in the seventh round he's become a nice player for them like that's how that tends to work so that's what you're looking for here is what are your scouts seeing that they might like in the later rounds and then take your dice rolls but every single year when you go through and i i wrote about this when we were talking about quaysies drafting and the percentage chances of hitting on fifth, sixth, and seventh round picks are all under like 10%. For every 10 players who get drafted, one becomes something decent past about the fourth round. And it doesn't feel like that should be true because when they draft the guy and you Google

him and you look up his highlights, you're like, oh, this guy's got a ton of potential. Who was it? People were acting like Jalen Twyman was the next Aaron Donald. I remember that whole conversation. There were people who were going nuts about, well, the Vikings got this guy, the Jalen Twyman, he's going to be so great because he produced this much at Pitt and everything.

Like, if he was going to be great, then he would have been taken in the second round. And every once in a while, though, you're the team that nails that Stefan Diggs in the fifth round out of sheer luck. You liked somebody. I believe it was Scott Turner for the Vikings had a connection with him or knew him

since he was in high school and love the guy. And that was how they ended up with Stefan Diggs. But in the fifth round, they took Michael Pruitt before they took Stefan Dix. Like, they had no idea that he was going to be that. I remember that with Spielman when they signed Diggs to a contract extension. And Spielman was like, you know, we just knew. We just, and it was like, no, you didn't. I would tell everyone that tool.

I'm not hammering Rick for that. I'd be like, oh, yeah, we loved him. We drafted him, didn't we? Nobody else did. but if the Patriots knew about Tom Brady or anything else, you just look for players that you like, you take a shot. That's why I said if they take Caldwell,

this was even when they drafted Will Riker. Is it a good idea to draft a kicker? Usually not. But I'm not going to lose my mind and have my head explode. If you take one in the sixth round that you think is really great, and he is great. They nailed it. Home run draft pick with Will Riker,

which is now looking even more valuable. Now the kickers can drill them from 65 whenever they want, but it's all just dice roll. So if you're telling me, hey, you're going to roll the dice on a 6 foot 5 guy who runs a 4-3-1 and jumps 43 inches, okay. We might as well. Matt Boo on the Washington Jr. picks. Some of Washington's runs look like peewee football to me. Dumer K.O. Kui doesn't think about the Vikings at all. I mean, I think both picks are reasonable for the Vikings from.

Mel Kiper. And I, you know, I know people like to, you know, Hammer Mel at times. He's been the most forward facing draft person ever. So when he gets it right, you go, oh, of course you could have got it right. And when he gets it wrong, it's like, screw you, Mel Kiper.

It's not easy to be the most well-known draft analyst because every single one of your hits and misses is under the microscope in ways that it isn't for others. I guarantee that we could go back and find the people who thought Marvin Harrison Jr. was about to be the next Marvin Harrison, but it turns out that he's not. And that's why Kyler Murray's going to play better this year. But, you know, like, who wasn't saying that? Or that's just an example that comes to mind.

I was just watching 98. And Andre Wadsworth is the top non-quarterback taken. And at one point, Mel Kuiper says, I have Andre Wadsworth. Raise your hand if you've heard of Andre Wadsworth. because I hadn't. I was like, who? I'm re-watching this.

I'm like, Andre, who? What? And Mel, Mel Kiper's on the broadcast saying, and he's not the only one. Like, they're presenting it.

The broadcast is presenting it as if Andre Wadsworth is a better prospect than Peyton Manning. This is happening on the broadcast. They're saying, and it's not just them, they have a collection of coaches

who are like, yeah, this Wadworth guy, he can be the next Bruce Smith. That's what they're saying, saying. He had a knee issue and it ruined his career and he was out of the league in three years. So everybody can get them wrong all the time. I mean, I think Mel put work into this knowing the Vikings need an explosive running back, knowing that they need a safety. But I mean, who who could you say in terms of drafting has been like mega accurate about the Vikings and nailed it year after

year? I think we've done a good job on the show of whittling it down most years. I think this year is much, much harder than that, where we've whittled it down to, hey, they'll probably go guard. Last year, we talked a bit about Donovan Jackson. We talked a lot about Gray's Abel. The Jordan Addison year, we kind of figured where they were headed. But this year, I think, is much, much harder to really pin down where they're going to go with it. Risham gives Bruegler a B plus. Sizzleman didn't Washington have fumbling issues he did.

my thing with him is it's it's great to be the combine riser because you run a four three would there be anyone mocking this guy in the second round if he hadn't had a 40 time i i don't think so and that always is a red flag for me the combine riser i think historically and i know that you know uh benjamin robinson has done stuff on this before who he does grinding the mocks uh he's done stuff on this before and it's it's something to be concerned about i guess when someone is the the combine riser uh let's see john with the super chat thank you so much my friend appreciate that says took a few decades to learn i have no clue how picks will perform uh but why do we think a running back between rounds five and seven will do anything or any pick between rounds five and seven but that's fair

enough and that's what we were just kind of alluding to is that we don't know that rounds one and two are going to do anything, much less rounds five to seven. But with someone like Seth McGowan, it just reminds me of like a Thai Chandler where it's an explosive running back that might turn out to be something. So you take it and you put the guy as the running back three and you see if something is there. Kenai Wongwu was this way. And those guys didn't work out. I know. And that is a little bit of my thing too with Emmett Johnson. And you're kind of leading me to my point about Emmett Johnson. Emmett Johnson is a really, really good prospect as an actual running back. I really, really like him as a running back.

I think he is instinctual and I think he's intelligent and I can see his hands, like, you know, developing at the NFL level and continuing to be a factor there. I would much rather with a running back actually see it than be told, well, no, this guy has explosiveness. well, if he had explosiveness and was a good running back, he'd be in the second round, which I guess is where they've got Washington going. I just, I don't know that teams are going to do that this year. Matt's got a C-minus for Kuyper, two non-premium positions, and one is a stinker.

Yeah, yeah, two non-premium positions and it's a little bit hard to buy into, I think. Yep, I tend to agree with you, sir. Let's see. That's funny. 4MC says Kuyper's draft feels like a draft from 2002 when it comes to positional value. Yep, yep. I think that's right. Yeah.

I mean, if you're drafting safety running back, you're not building the foundation for the future. You're not trying to. You're trying to fill needs right now. And that's where I go back to what Rob Brzezinski said that they are not going to reach to fill needs right now. That's what that draft looks like feels like to me. is you are trying to reach. And Thineman is not a reach based on where his mock positions are. That would be right in that ballpark.

But it would be you're going with this guy who is not the premium position and really isn't expected to play like a Harrison Smith. Because if you told me Caleb Downs, okay, I'm not concerned that much about, you know, premium position when it comes to Caleb Downs because that's a superstar potential player who is going to play closer to the level. line of scrimmage and is going to be super high IQ playmaker, run stopper, difference maker. That's, that's not somebody. That's more like an Antoine Winfield.

That's not someone who you're talking about getting in free agency or is easily replaced. Free safety, it is. It's a position that's out there almost every single year. And the running back in the second, I'm okay with running back in the second, but I don't know about that running back one year of production and was at new mexico state and wasn't that good it was it buffalo it wasn't that good and the production is not i don't even think it's on 200 carries it's not like he had 300 carries and ran for 2,000 yards you could be like well okay the production was nuts it's not that crazy to think from a statistical perspective that if you break off a handful of

runs where you're arkansas and you're playing who knows who and then your yards per carry get to I'm just skeptical. I'm not saying he won't be good because anyone could be. That one comes with a lot of skepticism. Michael, random, my understanding is your guitar guy. What do you play? I just bought Purple and Gold 50s telly because of the Vikings. Oh, very cool. Very cool, Michael.

Well, I play mostly like rock and metal stuff and I have nine or ten different guitars. My wife bought me a Randy Rhodes metal Jackson recently, but I, I've got a Nick Johnston Fender. I've got a Fender Strat. I've got a lot of different stuff. I've got a Gretch. I've got LTD, Les Paul style. So there's a lot in the, in the guitar room. I try to reward myself or the wife, you know, I've got two Yamahs too. The wife, this is, this is a good present for her, for birthdays for Christmas. If you get me a guitar, you know I'm going to be very happy. So, yeah, I do, I do spend a lot of the time when I'm not draft simming in the guitar room.