Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Defector's Drew Magary answers your Vikings questions (Part 1)

Episode Date: March 26, 2026

Matthew Coller is joined live by Defector's Drew Magary to answer the most pressing Minnesota Vikings questions. What are the Vikings going to do in the NFL Draft? How is Kyler Murray expected to perform? Is there still a chance JJ McCarthy can become QB1? What's next for the Vikings at general manager? That and more... 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 Fandual Matthew Collar here and the gentleman with me, who will eventually look at the camera. Oh, look, it's Defectors Drew McGarry, who we decided, you know, we do a lot of episodes together from time to time, a check-in, a different perspective from you, Drew, as a lifelong Minnesota Vikings fan. But you know what, we're going to do a little something different tonight

because oftentimes I will answer a lot of fan questions. You love those podcasts. So we're going to give you your opportunity. A little different voice, a little different perspective, answering Vikings fan questions here tonight. So everybody who's watching, jump in the chat. Ask Drew McGarry, your Vikings fan question. Drew, thanks for doing this, man.

Good evening. No, it's great. I mean, I should be, some of your eyes should be thinking about basketball. And yet I keep thinking about this team that, has made like one significant move in the past three months. So I'm, I have brain disease, but that's okay because I, this is the place to get it out and, and say all the things I need to say, even though they're going to sound a lot like pretty much all the things that you, you yourself have said over the past few months

on this podcast. Well, why don't we begin the conversation with the lack of things that the Vikings have done? because I know from talking with you that a free agency comes around and it's like Christmas Day. All right. What are they going to do? Who are they going to add? What's going to happen?

And I think we all knew after the NFL Combine that Christmas was going to be a little light this year. Daddy didn't get his bonus. So it's not going to be quite the same. But I don't think that I even expected how little would actually happen that James Pierre would be the big signing. And they did keep Eric Wilson, if that counts as a free agent signs. I said, yeah, when that came across.

That does matter. And he had a great season last year. And that's a big deal to the defense. So we shouldn't just sort of throw that aside. And they also didn't have to lose their players to create cap space. They kept Aaron Jones. They kept T.J. Hawkinson. But in general, it's not like this team is going to look a whole heck of a lot different

outside of who they draft. Well, you know, it's, it was funny because I've spent a lot of time thinking about the fact that, look, if you're going to cheap out on free agency, this is the year to do it. It was an awful class. It wasn't all like, and you're not signing Tyler Linderbaum. You don't have the money to do that. And so I'm stuck, you know, trying to think to myself, okay, it seems like they have very wisely, strategically decided not to spend, not to throw money at a problem this year, because that's

what they did last year and it didn't work. So they know they have to go back and just build through the draft. And I believe Mark Wilf said something. something like that. It was Rob. Rob Brzezinski said he believes in building through the draft. Oh, because Mark Wilf last year, I remember there was a quote from Mark Wilf that said, well, we realize there are ways other than the draft to build a team

because we had just gotten high our own supply from the free agency prior to that. And so, you know, now I'm left wondering, okay, have the wills sort of learned, you know, how to spend money wisely instead of just spending it, right? And then, okay, are they going to hire a real general manager and make sure Rob is the person who is a direct core, you know, the direct liaison to them so that they don't, they don't end up clueless the way that they did with Spielman and Zimmer. And I think, I think they were, they had to have been somewhat in the dark about the relationship deteriorating between Quasi and whoever else was there. Right. So, because that, that firing came late and it came after like, you know, after like, you know, like, you're, you're, you're, you're, yearly evaluation, like exit interviews and all that. So it's like a little slow on the draw because

they don't live in Minnesota. They live in New Jersey and they're dealing with the shopping malls. And it's like, okay, well, I don't want you to be Jerry Jones, but I need you to have one eye on the store at all times. And maybe that eye will be Rob Brzezinski. We'll see. But I'm sure we'll get into this with fan questions for you, Drew. So why don't we jump right into it? This one, Justin, says, skull to you, Matthew, I appreciate that, Justin. Behind you on the Kyler Murray optimism,

do you and Drew think that the Vikings can go 12 and 5 this season or am I full of purple Kool-Aid? I mean, yes, first they can. Cool-aid? Yeah, it's okay. I mean, it's perfectly okay to do that, right? Because anybody can go 12 and 5.

The Jets could go 12 and 5 next year. They won't, but like, that's that's football it's either there's a high salary floor there's 300 million you know 300 million spending for every team you know nobody expected the jaguars to win 14 games last season it happens so I mean yes it can happen but at the same time it's not like anything I expect like I know better we all know better right so I am now at the point where I am quietly very very excited to watch Kyler Murray in this offense without talking myself into being like, okay, well, it's going to be an exact replica of the Darnold season or the Case Kingdom season because that's just not,

I know that the Vikings have a sort of an odd history of these flirts of these fling seasons happening. But, you know, just to constantly like expect that is even to do the thing where you're like, oh yeah, they'll win 13 games and then blow it in the first round of the playoffs. Like even that is like, even that you're being a little bit polyanish. So I'm, I am tempering myself because last year was such a buzzkill. And I was like, I was so fired up for last season, Matthew. That was the most fired up I'd been for a fucking season ever. And it sucked.

It sucked so bad. It was probably, well, 2020 will always go down as the worst season I've ever covered because there were no fans. And it was a nightmare and we couldn't go in the locker rooms and everything. anything else. And then they won seven games. It would be very tough to do worse than that. But even that had some really exciting games. I think 2020 was when they lost at the last second Russell Wilson coming back against Seattle. The Titans game where Justin Jefferson breaks out last year. There wasn't any exciting games. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Was that the one where, um,

is that the season where Detroit got's first win against us. Yes. Yes. And Danzler blew the coverage. you know like I had a I I I like to danceler ever since he was drafted and all the way through and like even when he went to like I don't know seven other teams and got cut by them I was like oh he might get a chance you never know uh well uh who can stop the relationship between a man and his third round drafted corner that his first impression was good of but just that at least that season as horrific as it was all the way through for everybody and they gave up six touchdowns to alvin camere at the end of the season, at least it had some memorable games. This one felt like, okay, opening night and the win over Detroit, but even a lot of the

losses were just miserable. It wasn't like even the losses were, well, last second. It was crazy. They blew it one score. It was like you threw for 64 yards against the Packers and everyone just got pummeled. It was a fish out of water. It was a fish out of water offense. It was just like it was watching a fish flop around on a pool deck and die because they didn't,

they couldn't do anything. I mean, in that last game against the Packers, the Packers weren't playing anybody. Right. He still couldn't get a pass off. It still had to have poor Jordan Adderson, poor Jordan Addison do an end around to get any sort of significant gain on the ground. So it was, you know, it was painful. And, you know, I'm spoiled by this team offensively most of the time. Yeah.

Right. Like if you just read the pro day oral history of Randy Moss, the, the, the, oral history of Randy Moss's pro day. It was over on the athletic. I was like, oh, this is the exact, this is the exact March content for me. I can just go back to them. But you have like, at Moss went to Adrian Peterson, then went to, you know, Diggs and Theolin and then Justin Jefferson. And I'm missing guys in there, but always, always a blast to watch. And so when the team is not fun to watch, that feels almost more insulting than, then just, you know, doing their usual, you know, blowing a playoff game or whatever.

I never thought it was possible with Justin Jefferson on the team and Kevin O'Connell is the coach to rank where they did. And yeah, okay, got to the third quarterback. So whenever that happens, probably an offense has a chance to be in the bottom five. But they were also in the bottom five when J.J. McCarthy was playing, which... It's been contagious too. I thought that I thought Justin was bad last season. And I know there are, you know, I'm sure there are analytics to say that he was

was, you know, still very much Justin Jefferson, but he just, he just looked at times as if he, I'm not saying that he was disinterested in catching the ball, but just not like, I don't know, there was, there was a spark missing because he had no quarterback. You can only get yourself so fired up. When there's no one to throw you a damn ball? Well, and I also think that all receivers need to get in some sort of rhythm and some of the drop passes, I think played into that of like, there hasn't been an accurate pass all day and then you get one whipped at you at the hundred miles an hour. Right. If they're all.

That played into it. Right. If they're all 150 miles an hour and you don't know where, you know, you don't know where in your catch radius you have to catch it. It affects your confidence because you don't have, if you're not confident in the ball, you're not going to be confident in yourself. Just in terms of my take on 12 wins. I always look at things as outcomes, like percentage outcomes. Right. History has to be ever so slight.

baked into this because it's possible we live in a flat circle and I don't know there's aliens controlling everything and there's simulation glitches sometimes but I would I'd give a lot of money for aliens to control everything right now. Yeah sure. I mean I'll leave that door open but just in general 12 wins is possible because you do have the best defensive coordinator in the NFL you do have the best wide receiver in the NFL and if your offensive line is healthy this is a guy who's 1 11 before in a season. far-fetch that if you had a top 10 defense and he plays like that again, which I think is possible, even if he plays like 20-24, they could get to 11 wins. I don't, I think it's like 20% that and more like 40 or 50% that it's 9 or 10.

And then the disaster scenarios are probably if he gets hurt. Let me move forward, though. Dumer K.O. says, Drew, have you emotionally recovered from Sam Darnold winning the Super Bowl. Oh, I had no problem with that. I was rooting for Donald to win that Super Bowl. Like, the damage was already done.

It wasn't Sam Donald's fault. They didn't want him. So he pissed off and he went to a better situation. And I think you could argue that he went over to who is now the best defensive coordinator in football. Like I can, he's the best defensive mind in football right now, I would say, Mike McDonald is. So, no, I never held that against Sam.

I think that the heartache from last season really started with the Atlanta game. It was sort of like, you know, you could put off the irritation. I get more irritated than traumatized by the Vikings screwing up now. But because I'm old. But you could put it off with the Chicago game because JJ pulled off, you know, the nice drive at the end, wins the game. And it's like, okay, okay, well, he knows how to win. He doesn't do it with the, you don't always look pretty, but he gets it done.

you know, all the standard, like Phil Sims type crap. And then against Atlanta, he just looked like he could. He was unplayable. And it was like, okay, you can't look like this at any point in your NFL career. Like I know that like, I know Bryce Young sort of got away with being unplayable his rookie year. But even he, when he rebounded, he only rebounded to be a better quarterback relative to rookie year Bryce Young who sucked. So it, you know, he might end up getting like 20 or 30 million a year. just for being good enough to win seven games in an absolute dog water division.

And that game, I mean, all things considered with, you know, the whole, you know, having a child in the middle of the week and it was a short week anyway because they were coming off Monday football and all, all that stuff that, even the fact that that kept coming up was very, uh, bizarre that they could be a storyline. Also, doesn't Kevin O'Connell kind of have like five kids? Uh, I think it's four, but. Okay. But like, once you, once you're, once you're, once you're, once you're four, you're, you're, you're toppling over into Phil Rivers territory. Like you get it. Like I have three, so I'm one to talk.

But four is like, that's, you know, then you got to get the sprinter van and all that stuff. It's a commitment. The four. It is. Yeah. Maybe, maybe he does have a sprinter van with his contract. But when it comes to that week in that game, there are explanations for why he wasn't ready

to play. But the actual performance. And consider that there's things happening in everyone's lives across. the league and other teams have their backup tackle have to play sometimes and things like you have to put in reasonable performances and going back to that game it was one of the worst quarterbacked games of the last 30 years for the Minnesota Vikings I mean it was well and win level it was the Josh Freeman night level and I think that that right there it was major red flag for everybody yeah okay like he's young and sometimes these guys have bad games

but then getting injured. To me, he could have bounced back from that game with Cincinnati coming up the next week, worst defense in the league. And remember how that sort of played out with Isaiah Rogers, scoring a bunch of touchdowns and it was a very easy victory. If he's in there for that one, maybe the confidence gets back together and maybe, you know, he gets on a rhythm of week after week,

preparing for the games and so forth. But having the stops and starts of your progress, I mean, I was making a golf example, the other day. I don't know if you are a golfer, but where... I can't play anymore, but I love golf. If you play every single weekend, you won't get better. Like, you have to play all the time. Like, every single day, practice every single day to actually make real progress as a golfer. So if you play two games and then you're out for

five weeks and then you come back and you play two or three more games and then you're out for another week, like, how are you ever supposed to make serious gains? And I think that that really hurt J.J. McCarthy from the start. I think the, the offseason prior to that is the reason why it's, it's sort of foolish to be like, well, if he had been able to, if he hadn't gotten hurt in the Atlanta, because he got himself hurt in the Atlanta game. He did, like, he was not, I think it wasn't, didn't he get like turned backwards as he was holding onto the ball too long? Um, in, in which game? The Atlanta game. Yeah, might have been. Yeah, so he did something stupid and he got hurt.

And that's because he had an offseason where he couldn't put on the proper amount of weight. He couldn't, you know, he couldn't do all. He couldn't work the offense because he was too busy rehabbing. And I know it was like, oh, well, I threw 500 balls, but that is the same credibility as Russell Wilson doing sit-ups in, you know, in the aisle of the team airplane. Like, it doesn't matter, right? So he was never prepared to play last season. And that was all evident. And so now the question is, okay, if he does all the right things this off season,

and apparently he seems to be doing normal, like seeing, you know, John Beck or whatever, you know, he will be prepared. So then the question is, okay, does that, you know, will his failure from last season, you know, is that going to impact his ability to succeed this season with a proper off season? And I think the answer has to be yes. Like, it has to. Like it's just, you can't, you can't just wipe that from your mind. You can't do, you know, men in black or anything like that.

And so it's this really weird position where a guy who was not prepared got thrown out was awful. And, you know, by, you know, by every metric and every eye test is the kind of quarterback who stays awful. Yeah. No, that's true. And that's where the list you probably saw in the Friday mailbag that I included last week of guys who had performed similarly in their first 10 starts. I think there was four out of 19 that made it work eventually. were not, I think it was picks from picks 10 to 64. So in his range, guys who had started out like that, the numbers were just not good for

potential success. And I think you make a fair point about, you know, the mental toughness element of it was something coming out of college that everybody raved about. But you can't really simulate what it's like to have the pressure of the NFL and the coaches and the locker room and the fans and the media and everything else. It's very different from winning all the time in college. and I don't know if you could ever tell someone. I mean, we asked them a bunch of times like,

hey, so how do you think you're going to deal with that after you've never lost before? Oh, it'll be fine. Sure. You know, everybody has a plan until they're being mocked by. Yeah, well, I was going to go with. They're being mocked by every single meme account in the universe for calling yourself nine.

That was the question. I like the nine things. I, I'll, I, let's get this all out of the way now. I liked the nine thing. I love the gritty into the end zone. And I even kind of liked the taunting thing because it's such an old roster and I liked just that youthful idiocy on the team.

And like when he's saying like, oh, I call myself, and I listen, all these guys are so corny. Like Russell Wilson won a Super Bowl and he's the cornyest person who ever lived. So I had no problem with that at all. But of course, you know, in this day and age, you do have to watch out for people meming you because they will the slightest provocation.

So that sucked. but I liked all his youthful energy and all that stuff. It was just, yeah, he didn't know how to lose. And he also, I believe he said, and you can correct me on this, that his meniscus tear in 2024 was the first time he had ever gotten seriously. Yeah. Okay. So I don't think he knows how to be hurt.

Like I think part of, I think that he is learning something that a lot of college athletes, like Michael Pennix had to learn this eight times in college before. before he got drafted. And so now we're talking about a guy who is in the NFL. It's the first time he's got hurt. And the first time he gets hurt is in the NFL? Like how are you going to learn how to play hurt if that's the first time you get hurt? I don't know.

That's something I would worry about. But I've already kind of written JJ off a little bit. Well, this is the thing about the NFL is all those explanations for J.J. McCarthy all point to, I think he just, needs time, but the NFL does not have time. And the team that drafts you has to make decisions quickly and they can't give you five, six, seven years anymore. And you can go back to a bunch of quarterbacks in the 80s or 90s or before that who struggled a lot early in their careers.

Vinnie Testeverty through like 35 touch, 35 interceptions. He was awful. Yeah, yeah, 35 interceptions and Steve Young. And, you know, there's a lot of guys who work their way through it. And now there's a lot of NFL quarterbacks who have worked their way through it. But it usually doesn't happen. I would push back on that. I don't think that that's true.

I think that guys like Darnold and Baker Mayfield and Baker Mayfield played poorly at the end of last season. I think that Darnold is, I don't think there's another Sam Darnold. And I'd say that even with, you know, having the highest hopes for Kyler Murray. But, you know, it's still that sort of thing just, you know, it hadn't happened since what? Drew Brees, the last free agent QB to win a Super Bowl, right? it doesn't happen. And there's a reason why it doesn't happen. And I don't think it's because of the accelerated growth curve for NFL quarterbacks.

Because most quarterbacks who are rushed into action, they still show you something. Yeah. Like, Zach Wilson beat the Buffalo Bills. Like, it happens, right? So you got to show me something. And I'm not talking about, like, one drive per game or like a couple of neat throws per game. That's not enough. That's breadcrumbs.

That's nothing. You got to give me. substantive games, quarters, halves, you know, big, big pieces of quality play so that I know that you can maintain it. And there was no sign that he could maintain it last year. Yeah. And you're right about that, that there was no high end type of game. I mean, we were celebrating 200-yard performances, if even that. When you have a QB you can't throw for yardage, it sucks so bad, like at least Kirk could throw for yardage. When you can't get passing yards, it's just, it's so painful.

But you know, I was thinking along the lines of like Ryan Tan Hill seems comparable to me, where the start of his career is pretty rough. And maybe he had some moments in Miami, but it's not like it was ever really great. And eventually learned how to throw with touch and learned how to manage an offense and got in the right spot. But you're right. When it comes to Baker, was he an elite? No, no, definitely not. And that's the thing about, that's the thing about McCarthy where, you know, people have had this sort of talking point of like, well, we got to find.

out more about McCarthy because the high end might be very high. It's like, I think that's actually kind of off the table. Oh, yeah. Can you make it? Sure, but the high end is probably off the table if you didn't see any of it over the first 10 games because in that way, there's no examples of it. There are plenty examples of the guy struggled early on. This is the Bryce Young thing and then eventually made it.

But if he went, if they played him this year and he went 10 and 7 with 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. and 3,200 yards, then what do you do? Like, then you know, then you're in the Bryce Young spot where they made the playoffs and they're spending money around him, but you've got to know that that guy is not ever going to take you to a different level. So now you've got to plot for a different quarterback down the road so you don't have to pay Bryce Young, but you're not going to be drafting quite high enough to get the top guy.

And then you just end up getting caught in the middle, which I think is maybe the best possible outcome for a year two for J.J. McCarthy. I mean, we haven't seen other than number one overall picks, it go from really bad to really good fast, but we're talking about like a Jared Gough and McCarthy had the supporting cast to perform at at least a plus level. Let me get to some more questions here. That was a question about Sam Darnold is where that began.

Oh, oops. Dumer K.O. How much Kyler Murray have you watched? Yeah, that's a good question because you were talking about the 2020 season, and 2020 was the season. where, you know, of course, the Hail Murray and I was like, oh, okay, well, my favorite non-viking is Kyler Murray. I love watching Kyler Murray play. But then what happened was, you know, he gets hurt and then his relationship with the team dissolves. And I'm like, okay, well, the Cardinals

sort of blew this and he might suck, like, as like a person, like he just might be just, and I didn't, the call of duty stuff and all that. I, you know, that was essentially a meme that people now treat as fact, right? But, you know, I just, I didn't, I wasn't inspired any other time. I've seen him play over the past, you know, two or three years. And that includes 2024. I have no, I have no memory of like being like dazzled by Kyler in 2024. But it's all a good, you know, JJ set the bar so low last year that it's like, I am much more comfortable, you know, hoping that the the highest potential of Kyler Murray is evident next season rather than the highest potential of JJ McCarthy because it's just not it's not even close to being equal.

So I think that the issue with Vikings fans trying to play catch up on Kyler Murray is that everyone has seen so little of him and I mean asking people, hey, go back and watch these full games on your free time. Like it's just, you know, it's a big ask. But when it comes to 2024, or there was a game where he had six big time throws and they beat the Rams 41 to 10. Like he's had these moments, even watching his 2025 tape, which is only five games, but I've done a couple of film breakdowns for the newsletter. And there are wow plays all over it. But most people's consuming of Kyler Murray is, let's go to Red Zone.

And hey, in Arizona, Kyler Murray threw a touchdown or something. And that's about it. Or like the Arizona Cardinals lost by 36 to 30. Carolina in overtime, which happened in 2024. For like the stupidest possible reasons they lose. Well, actually, now I know what it is from 2025. It's that Titans game where they win easily if the guy just goes into the end zone. And then he decides, you know, he's going to fumble it.

And then they have a fumble where they score a touchdown. And you're like, this team is a joke. So that's, that's all a lot of people have seen of Kyler Murray recently because he has not gotten any TV time. That has to be the least. televised NFL franchise, the national TV, I think in the entire league. I mean, they may have had a couple of Thursday nighters after the 2021 season. There was a few times where they were on, but it hasn't been much over the last few years. It's a mercy.

It's an act of mercy on behalf of the league towards us that that is the case. Right. So that's why I've been trying to put in a lot of time watching back his film and trying to understand like, where is he at? And the biggest difference to me is just that he played in a real offense over the last 22 games of his career. And I thought that it worked for him. It was less wow inducing, but they weren't asking him to just be wow all the time. It was, all right, if there's a free runner, then wow us and scramble and run away and do something amazing.

But if not, throw the ball to Trey McBride and give first downs. And it actually sounds like the way he was playing sounds a lot like what KOC wanted for McCarthy last. year, which was, hey, man, like, just take the checkdown sometimes. Like, get, get your eight, to 10 yards from T.J. Hawkinson. And they actually used Trey McBride, like a number one wide receiver. And there were a lot of times where I was like, that's a Justin Jefferson route run by a tight end, because they have no one else. And also, you can, you can put T.J. Hawkinson in the slot. So, yeah, he has wide receiver like capabilities. And I, I think he's better than he showed last year, you know, removed, what, a year and a half removed from the injury.

Yeah. Yeah. So I think that he has the capacity to be better. I'm not going to, I don't think he's going to double his yardage or anything. But by the way, every time I, the reason I think I liked Kyler so much is because there's been a incredible dearth of, of quarterbacks who can scoot in Viking's history. Yeah. So I'm just jealous of any team that has a quarterback who can run away from pressure, particularly when you don't have a center. So I kind of thought that the Vikings were like, look, we don't really have to get any of these free agency centers. We may not, we may not even have to draft one because if the center gets his ass kicked

on the play, well, Kyle, I can just run away. I mean, that's really true, though. Like, that was, that was one of the biggest team building gaffes of Rick Spielman is getting a center in Garrett Bradbury that was not able to create a really good pocket for Kirk Cousins. And I remember researching this on cousins. I'll get to the next question in second. But researching this on cousins. And it showed pretty clearly that all of his guards performed worse when he was

their quarterback and that higher percentages of pressure came from the guard position than tackle. Now, some of that was because he played with Trent Williams and that helped a lot in Washington. Yes. But even in Minnesota, it was that way. They didn't have necessarily a great left tackle when he was there. And yet it was up the middle because he doesn't. move in the pocket. He doesn't scramble. He's not going to escape when someone loses there. And yet they had a center who was a lightweight there. And at least with Blake Brandl, when you compare,

this is why I think they've done it. When you compare or left Brandel, the other free agent centers outside of Tyler Linderbaum to Brandel, it's hard to find a huge gap. I mean, if you have a great center, he probably plays for your team for like 12 years. They don't let those guys leave unless there's a reason for it. Like Lloyd Cushenberry is a different person, but who's not going to be better than Blake Brandel by Right. Then you're just sort of reasonable.

You're just throwing money at the problem. You're not spending money, but you're not spending it wisely. Right. And I mean, he knows the offense inside and out, which I think helps Kyler Murray. This is a lead-in,

good lead-in from Antonio here, says, what do you think the primary position of need during the draft for the Vikings will be? Well, we've learned that they shouldn't be drafting for need, have we not, right? So I go back and forth between, because there are multiple positions of need, and I don't know how many of them are urgent, but obviously Senator was one of them, but then defensive tackle, even with Jill and Redmond and Levi Drake Rodriguez ascending, and then corner, of course, and safety. And I want to say linebacker, because the linebackers

are aging and there's not a ton of depth there. But, you know, because of the value of that I don't put as much of a premium on it. Same deal with running back because I know we're not going to get Jeremiah Love. So I understand why they brought Aaron Jones back. And I have a sneaking suspicion that if they don't draft anybody, it's because they're going to just grab somebody who gets cut in August. Okay, a follow up here from Edwin says, if the Vikings stick and pick, who do you think that it will be at number 18?

Oh, I'll go with Dylan Thinemann, right? Everyone's got the... Dylan Theoneman, yeah, everyone's mocking him to the Vikings. So, you know, like, we already know that some of the... I don't think, like, Mansoor Delane just had like an insane pro day. He's not dropping, right? Was Avian Terrell, the Clemson one? Yes, he could be there.

But he's a corner from Clemson, and I have, you know... It's like with Georgia's safeties. I have a little, you know, have a little reflex in there that makes me... He's like, oh, this one from Aaron, Drew, do you see McCarthy this year, QB2, QB3, or traded? Yeah, I thought maybe I was hanging on for at some point this winter, like the news of a trade. I thought what they really wanted to do was swap him out for Anthony Richardson and not necessarily via direct trade. Like, maybe they had to give up, they would have to give more to get AR, whatever. I don't care.

And I think that I suspect that they wanted to do that, but then are now in a position where they kind of can't do that. And so you were mentioning, you know, the, the Alick Lewis report from the other day where you said that they were happy with JJ or JJ was progressing or something. Like they were leaving the door open for JJ. Well, I think that's because there's no other choice for them. They have to be nice to JJ because they're stuck with them. you know, unless they cut them in camp, and they're not going to do that. You're not going to cut a guy you draft a tenth overall.

And it's also why, you know, the Breer report about how they said, oh, they wanted, you know, when they brought in Kyler, they were like, okay, well, we definitely think you could be here for a very long time. Well, yeah, it's a recruiting visit. Like, of course you're going to tell him that. Like, I know they meant it because they don't have any other good quarterbacks on the roster. But at the same time, if he sucks, they're not going to hesitate to turn around.

Right. Stab him in the back and send him packing. They said Sam Donald packing for far, far. far, far, far better. I think that it's up to him. I think if J.J. McCarthy shows up and he looks a lot better. And then they can go, well, maybe a full off season where he wasn't recovering from a knee injury was what he needed. And some California air in the, in the winter and some John Beck throwing camp magic or whatever it might be.

But if he shows up and looks a lot better and the other thing, too, the throwing is one thing, not being able to execute an offense and having your offense commit a false starts and having to dumb things down, I think that that was even worse than the throwing. I believe that Kevin O'Connell fully thinks, and he probably can, that he can improve that throwing over time. But it's a, for a coach, that's the one thing that is like the unforgivable sin is to not be able to go out there and execute an entire NFL offense. And when I was watching back Kyler Murray from last year, what people have to understand about Murray's early offense, is an offensive lineman that played with him,

Justin Pugh said in a podcast that in 2021, they were going on first clap. Like, that's how simple, like Cliff Kingsbury had that offense. It was a college offense, which is ridiculous, honestly, to run in the NFL. Yeah, college offenses are dumb. But then he said when you watch him in 2024, is a really good interview with a friend of mine,

Alex Clancy from a year ago when Murray was playing well, early in the season, I think. And he's talking about how what he sees now is a lot of motion. and definitely like a full cadence and everything out. Like he was playing real quarterback. And I don't think he'll have any struggle with getting the offense. But McCarthy has to come back and show I can run every single play, every single call on time or they're going to play Carson Wentz

because he knows Carson Wentz can do that. Right. Let me get to the purple filth who says. Ooh, I like that. Yeah, I know. The names, I don't read them sometimes before. And then I get halfway through and I go, uh-oh. This is a name I should be.

the one who swears and you didn't even realize. So do you think the Frank Smith hiring will have an impact on the draft when it comes to running back? If so, how high do you think the Vikings would be willing to draft one? No, I don't think it has, I don't think it will have an impact on the draft. I think it will have an impact on play calling and play design. So Frank Smith was really, really good at getting speedy backs into, you know, into the back, into the defensive backfield. And that will be his task again.

And, you know, as old as Aaron Jones is and as limited as Jordan Mason is catching the ball and pass blocking, I think that he will have more success getting big gains out of those two. And then whatever, you know, Xavier, Scott, or whatever, you know, whatever slob they bring in as the RB3, I think that he will design plays that get them more space to run in. I think that's why Kevin brought him in and even made him, I don't think he would have given the guy the title of assistant head coach if he was just going to treat him like window dressing. I really don't. Right. Well, and something to think about with that is in Miami with Tua, he played almost exclusively in the shotgun.

So a shotgun run game, the Vikings have had an under center run game for the most part over the last couple of years. And they've had a lot of CJ Ham in their life recently. and it was, you know, Sam Darnold running play action out of that. Right. But with Kyler, it's not that he hasn't done it. And he definitely did in 2024 and 2025. But if you're bringing in somebody like that who understands how to run wide zone out of a shotgun, that might be something that helps for them.

I would also throw out, I'm going to throw out a name that I like for them. And that makes a lot of sense, which is Demand Claiborne from Wake Forest, crazy fast 40 explosiveness. That's what I think they're going to look for is like those blazing fast type of guys. If you go watch this highlight real. Are we talking about a day two guy, day three?

I think more of probably third round, if not fourth round. But it's so thin in the running back class that you might have to do it. But they also have two third round draft pick. So if you spend one of them on a running back, that's not overdrafting for me. That's just a guy that sort of stuck out to me.

Because if it's a guy who gives you, you know, I don't know, he carries the ball a hundred times, but he averages like six or seven yards of carry because he's just getting like those like Ricky Irvin's type pops, you know, out of the backfield. That's invaluable to have, you know, I know how much COC values explosives. And so I think the problem was he was never getting enough running explosives for his taste. So it was always just, okay, if I want, if I want the explosives, I'm just got to pass the ball 500,000 times. And I think the idea with Frank Smith is to make that a lot easier and also, you know, with an intact offensive line, which is never a guarantee.

And if you really want to throw the ball 500,000 times, then you need a pass blocking running back, which is why Ty Chandler ended up on the sideline, despite the fact that he was the most explosive player on the team in the backfield. So it's going to have to be somebody that you trust and believe in, but probably more. And that's Jones. Because Jones can stick guys. Right. That's why you should draft for that role that you're talking about.

It's like, this guy comes in. He runs 75 times in a year. He averages six yards of carry and it's a lot of fun, but you're not going to have him as a number one type of guy. I could see that in the middle rounds. Aaron asks Drew any young guys on the team that you could see taking the big step. Felton, Ward, Turner, like, who are you intrigued by? You are a guy who loves the way down on the roster person.

That's you. because this is time where you get bored. So you know, like all the, all the starting positions are are set to go. So you just spend the rest of your time, you know, sort of haggling over, you know, who's going to be the best third linebacker or whatever. No, so I don't, I think it's, I think it's, I think, I don't think it would be a surprise for Dallas Turner to emerge next year. I don't, I can't pick that because I don't think that's an upset.

I think that's an expectation. Yeah. Regardless of whether or not they trade Jonathan Grenard. and I don't know if that ship has sailed or not. But I expect a lot of things from Dallas Turner because I was so bullish on him prior to his rookie season, which was a mistake because he was so young and so undersized at the time. And I was like, well, he's going to be the next Micah Parsons.

Well, no, Micah Parsons is 10 feet tall and can eat whole planets. But I expect him to be a much more effective player this year. I mean, the guy that I really think about is Levi Drake because our mutual friend, Kael and Kailer, was the one who met him before the Combine and did the Prospect X. series on him and she just adores him. She just thinks he's the bestest guy in the whole world. And of course, because he went to a completely obscure little Texas college and he plays defensive tackle, he reminds me of John Randall. So I'm sort of hoping for that. But that's,

that would be the guy that I would have the most faith in to improve. Ty Fulton, I didn't see anything from as a wideout. So I can't know anything about that. Right. I think the other one that I'm very fascinated by, and I have no reason for this, is Gavin Bartholomew, because they drafted him six in the sixth round. And I think, you know, that was right where he was, you know, on the consensus boards. There was just like all these, they just, it seemed like they picked one out of a hat. But he had nice tape from Pitt, and I like pit pass catchers. I don't like pit quarterbacks, right? So I'm interested to see if he gets to camp and he starts getting lots of reps, then it's like, oh, okay. There's someone here.

who can, you know, who is a little bit more than just the guy who catches like two touchdown passes a year or, you know, like the, oh, no one expected Nick Vanette to be open in the end zone because no one to cover him, you know, like that kind of tight end. I, if he's the kind of guy who can get like three or four hundred yards, then that is cool. And I, that's one, that's the one I know the least about, which is why the, he's the one I have the most hope for. Because I've seen like Michael Juergen's play. a really perfect answer to go so deep on the roster to get to Gavin Bartholomew. And watch me try to one up you with how sicko we are is he looks good in rookie minicamp. He did though. I mean, he truly did. And like KOC was talking about it after he moves very smoothly and catches the ball where it kind of eases into his hands, you know, soft catcher of the ball.

So I like that answer. answer. I do think Jay Ward, though, is interesting as well because he's been a long development sort of project. Yeah. Yeah. I would kill for him to to emerge because I, and I'm not, I'm not making fun of you, but like Theo Jackson got talked up a lot last. He did. Yeah. Like, oh, he had that, he had that interception. All the whole defense was so happy for him because he's got that dog in him and all that. And then he was just sort of there, you know, yeah. And I've seen Jay Ward, you know, I remember Jay Ward from his rookie year maybe beyond like committing a few special teams penalties here and there. But now, you know, when he flashed last year, it was for making like a really bitch and tackle.

So that's cool. Yeah. Well, with Theo Jackson, it's happened so many times where they've had a guy who's developed on special teams. They really like him and he's super high IQ and he's going to play next to Harrison Smith. I think that that was the biggest issue for Theo Jackson is that he didn't get to play next to Harrison Smith from. jump. He kind of got thrown out there. And Mattelis, I think, will grow into this. But he got thrown out there with Mattelis. And Mattis is playing a completely different spot. I'm not certain about that on Mattelis. I didn't think he had a good season last season. And it's because he was playing out

of position. Yeah. It's the same deal of Byron Murphy. So I really do want, if it's not James Pierre, who is that more consistent boundary corner who can allow Byron Murphy to kick back inside. Yeah. They got to draft somebody and they got to draft him high. Okay. How about this from Eric? What would a good draft look like for you, hoping for some combo of wide receiver corner safety and D-line in the first three to four picks. So what is a, what is a good draft look like in the first two days for the Vikings? I mean, the easy thing to do is you say, oh, okay, they got, it's like you, you just do sort of the position checklist, like, oh, okay, we got safety. Oh, okay, we got, we got a running back and we got a corner. But it's really more, it's, you know, players who really

excite me when I see them on tape, regardless of what position they play. So, for example, if they get, you know, if they, if, if, if Jeremiah Love drops down to them and they draft Jeremiah Love, it may not actually be the most prudent thing to do if there's, you know, some really good corner or something like that. But, you know, to see somebody who has explosive playmaking capability and regardless of position, you know, that is what I would consider a good draft. And I don't mean that to be a cop out, but there are guys that I just, there are guys that give you that sort of excited feeling when the team drafts, like, Joe, I felt that way about Jordan from his tape. And then also when he, I, I knew the second he came out of the green room at the draft,

and he was wearing the suit that he was wearing. I was like, oh, he's going to be good. And he was good. He's not so good at driving an automobile, but like the actual receiving part, very, very good at it. Well, maybe he is good at it since he didn't crash at 1.40. my car a Honda Civic starts to shake at about 78 so oh dude terrifying I don't think I would be willing to crank it up that much but I I feel you on that because I think about this as in you need to get freakier as a team yep they absolutely they are a team that is squeezing with Brian Flores every ounce of blood out of the stone but the freaks on the team are Christian Derisaw and Justin Jeffersaw And I would even throw Dallas Turner in there and Grinard to some extent.

But it's a lot of, Hey, Mattelis was a late round guy. And, you know, we're talking about Jay Ward or Theo Jackson or Eric Wilson is an undrafted guy. And we're getting every single ounce out of him. Well, and Jalen Redmond, the same thing. How about a Caleb Banks that's like six foot six, three hundred and 40 pounds and throws human beings? Like you need a little more of that. Yeah. And this draft doesn't have oodles of it.

But I think it has. I think it has sprinkles of it where you can find a safety who runs a, you know, four, three and had eight interceptions in college and things like that. McNeil Warren, the way he moves, even if they were looking at someone like him. Yeah, him and him and thinemon had a little, they have some excitement. Yes. To them. And same with, um, oh, who was I thinking about?

Ah, no, I, I, I blew it. I lost. I forgot. Okay. But there are, uh, the wide receiver class, I think has a, a bunch of guys that. Omar Cooper, I like you. Yeah, right.

They've got, they've got something. They've got something that sort of separates them. Roxanne says, why does our team suck this year? As a shout out to why your team sucks. And she said, just throw someone under the bus, assuming Roxanne is a lady.

Sorry if you're not. Ooh, all right. Roxanne. I know. I told the story the other night when Roxanne asked a question, feel free to correct us that I knew someone named Roxanne. And if you did that, she would fight you.

It does not. something she was happy about because instantly throws a beer bottle. Well, she had heard the song and knew what the lyrics were about and, you know, didn't like that connection. All right, you all have to, oh, all right, so who am I going to throw under the bus? Well, we spent the beginning of this podcast throwing JJ under the bus, so I'm not going to do that anymore. But what about, oh, you know, I can, I can do, I can do floors. I can say, I can throw floors under the bus because I really do think he got to see.

did as a defensive mind by Mike McDonald, who, and you would know the schemes better than I, or someone like Cody Alexander or someone like that, where he found a way to manufacture free runners. And that means a lot for offenses, particularly the Vikings, because they, you need a quarterback who can get away from free runners now. And that, that's Kyler, right? But Flores, I think, so I think he got done dirty by the dolphins. I think he's got done dirty by the NFL.

I hope he wins his lawsuit and all that stuff. But that doesn't mean that he is, you know, the Pope or anything like that. Like he is, he's got some Machiavelli in him, like a little bit. So the question I always have about this team behind the scenes is, are they as stable as I think they are? Are they as functional as I think they are? Because you'll get people, and I'm not going to name names, but you'll get reporters who are trying to say,

oh, well, it's dysfunctional over there. you can see it. And I never buy that because the team seems to be, you know, like they get all the A's and the survey and all that stuff. But I think if things were to fall apart and to go sour this season or in any, or, you know, the season after, I think Flores will have played a role in it. That's what I think. So have you watched Succession?

Hell yeah. Okay, okay. Don't spoil anything for me. I'm only in season two. But they succeed. Oh, okay. Great. They do succeed.

But I think. What I didn't know is how funny it was going to be. It's very, very good. Yeah, hilarious. But the thing that I keep thinking of is, you know how you just dislike all of the characters? I mean, it's kind of like that in the NFL where everyone in their own way had to get there by playing the succession like games of the National Football League. And if you're a coach, you have to be insane. Well, that's what I mean.

It's like you have to be crazy. there's no growing up in Logan Roy's universe where you're like, oh, I'm the normal one. Like, no, that's not how it works. That's football people. You might think Kevin O'Connell is normal, but he's not. Like, they're all football psychos. And that's how they get there is by being football psychos. So everybody has to play certain games in order to be where they are and have work ethics

and competitiveness that exceeds anything that any regular person, could ever even imagine, which it wouldn't be so great if that wasn't the case. It's like, you know, you wouldn't care if someone climbed a mountain if it was safe. So like the same thing. Like we love the football people because they're freaking nuts. So they're all in the double standard is like I, you know, I said to you early when Kevin, uh, Kevin O'Connell was the coach, I was like, I don't know if he's quite evil enough. I don't know if he's quite ruthless enough.

And he is extremely ruthless now. I now know that he is he is ruthless. So I can't, I can't as a good quality to Kevin O'Connell and then hold that against Brian Flores, because that's a double standard and that would be rude. But I think to your point about Mike McDonald's, I mean, I do agree schematically he's phenomenal. But what he is is the intersection of an unbelievably good roster and all the schematic stuff that goes along.

Like he, if you look at what Flores has had, it's good. But is it what they had last year in Seattle? No, I don't think so. I mean, in general, you can, on the defensive side, I think you can squeeze more out of it than is actually there. On offense, I don't know if you can do that because it's so much about the quarterback and just what he's doing and the blocking a lot. You can't scheme when no one can block.

There's nothing you can do there. On defense, we've seen a Jonathan Bullard, Jerry Tillery, defensive line. with Jihad Ward as a blitzer be pretty damn good. So that you can do. But when you get somebody who's capable of all that stuff and throws a lot of sim pressures and disguise looks and all those things. And then they get Nikki Menwari in the draft and they've got four different rushers.

And here's DeMarcus Lawrence having this year where he's, you know, back to the old DeMarcus Lawrence. That's a lot. And where he really, where he really, really, really hit the home run is with the Byron Murphy draft pick and you get the trade to get Leonard Williams out there, who's a former top draft pick and at times has been an elite player. I mean, my God. Like this. Also Ernst Jones. But what the other thing, though, is that floor is, and I can't believe I'm still harping on, this is not Hill I want to die on, but, you know, we could have drafted. You were asked to hate on someone.

So yes, I was the question. Well, I didn't want to pick anyone boring. So, um, we could have drafted Nick in memory, right? Yeah. We could have, we could have signed DeMarcus Lawrence. We did not, right? We signed Javan Hargrave. And we know, or certainly the Vikings tell us that Brian Flores has a significant hand in those defensive personnel decisions. Well, we have not necessarily made good defensive personnel decisions over the past. Well, okay, we made some very good ones in the offseason of 2024, but last year we did not. They did with the two players, they didn't pay much, which was Isaiah Rogers and Eric Wilson, but I will agree with you there where there was a double standard with Quasi where if a move worked out in free agency, Brian Flores did it.

But if it did not work out, then Quacey did it. And that maintains to this day. It's like, oh, man, they had to cut those players, Quasi sign. You're like, oh, he didn't clear it with the defensive coordinator, huh? He just went rogue and did it himself, which is why, which is why it's so successiony because everybody was responsible, but somebody had to take the. acts for that. Okay, how about this? It was somewhat accurate because basically no one was in charge last year. Right. Right. Right. Yeah. So, I mean, you can't ascribe one player, you know, one move to one guy or

whatever, but it was very, it was all very confused, which is why they ended up firing crazy, because he just wasn't someone who had the force of personality to put it all together. And maybe not allowed to have the force of personality. I don't know about any of that. Okay, from Matt Vrick, if Jordan Love is a socially acceptable Kirk Cousins, which I've quoted you on this a number of times. Yes. How do you equate Kyler Murray? I don't think he has anything to do with Kirk Cousins because he's fun to watch play. And Jordan Love is fun to watch.

He's more fun to watch play than Kirk Cousins, but he's an automaton. Like he doesn't, there's a spontaneity lacking in his game that I, that puts me off. Of course, also he's a packer, so I hate his guts. So, you know, this is not exactly. But I would say, you know, if Jordan Love was going to be, is as good as everyone says he is, he would have, he would have accomplished more than he has accomplished now. And he hasn't. I think he is the guy that he's going to be.

So Kyler in that sense would be, Kyler would be like Kirk in that he comes here and he is exactly the person that his detractors. warned you he was, as opposed to the person you think he, or the quarterback, you think he's going to be for you because you're different and your team is special. So that's not like, I don't have a, you know, I couldn't do like, oh, Kyler's the poor man's Lamar because Lamar's really good and that's not like I would, yeah, I would kill the have the poor man's Lamar Jackson. So I'm not as good of a creative mind as you when it comes to this. But I do think that they are oddly similar, which makes no sense at all. But

they both will and Kirk would do a lot of exciting things he would throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns and stuff right you would have comeback wins in 2022 i mean he's what did he have like eight game winning drives or something he wouldn't do it the same way as kiler will do it he would it wasn't ever an important game either it was always you know you're losing a lot to have to come back all the time right so that was always a problem too but you know what your guy your Arizona boy who said that Kyler is like Kirk and that when you really need like when you're like when you're down like four in the fourth quarter he's going to give you a three and out that yeah yeah that really stung i did not like hearing that and he said he couldn't remember too many times that they had victory

formation which was exactly how it was with Kirk where it felt like every win was at the last minute and every loss was at the last minute and i think we're going to have a lot of that so even though there's this scrambling element and he's very accurate and everything else when and also when he's pressured, his numbers are wild when he's pressured. Early in his career, there are times where he's top 10 and then there's times where he's bottom five in the entire league. Because if you're a scrambler and you're not Josh Allen who just runs over people, it's like it either works amazingly or it doesn't work at all. And it's horrible or great. Because the number of launch points you have when you're doing that, when you're constantly running away from pressure,

you're throwing from, you know, an infinite number of places on the field. Well, you're not going to have consistent results if the place you're throwing from is not itself consistent. It works, you know, it works if you're, you know, every quarterback has to have some, some pocket ability, regardless of their, regardless of their ability to scoot. But then it's, you know, once you abandon the pocket, do you have a consistent way of doing things outside of the pocket that your linemen, your receivers, and your coaches all kind of understand because that was actually an issue with Russell Wilson in Seattle where

he would take off, but then people wouldn't quite know where he, like his linemen wouldn't know where the hell he was. Yeah. They don't know where to block because they don't know where they're, the guy they're protected is supposed to be. So I think that's something that, I think that's what what affects those numbers. And I'll be interested to see if the Vikings can, can coach him into more consistent out of structure habits, as oxymoronic as that is. All right.

Next question from Slim Bow Boogie, who jumped in with a super chat. Really appreciate you for that. Says his 20-26 NFC North head coach quarterback ranking. So combos is number one, Caleb and Ben. Number two is Kyler and KOC. Number three is Love and Lafleur.

Number four is golf and Dan Campbell. I don't think I could put those. I don't think I could put Goff and Campbell fourth, considering the success they've had offensively. But how would you rank the coach and quarterback combos? Well, you have to put KOC and Kyler last because you have no sample size of them. Right.

Like they're essentially NA, right? And we're all, we're just going off of projections of, you know, seeing cool Kyler highlights and what KOC's done before, but we don't really know. So, I mean, at the top of it, you know, are we talking about, and I hate to, you know, I hate to waste more time because we should wrap up anyway.

But does he mean like for the, like for the extended future or just for this year? Like who would you, which is the best combination? I think just just for this season would be how, because he said 2026. So just. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay.

So I would still, I would have Caleb and Ben at the top. I would have Love and LaFleur second, even though I don't like either of them. And then I would have golf. and Campbell third because I think golf is falling off. And I think that Detroit, you know, of all the problems that Detroit has had last season and then during this off season, their biggest problem is that they have to start planning now for life after Jared Gough. Because I don't think, I don't think he's much longer for being the effective quarterback that he has been. And the other thing is that he sucks under pressure.

So, and their offensive line has gotten demonstrably worse. So this is going to be a problem that if it does not bite them in the ass this year, it will almost certainly bite them in the ass in 2027. They have to get, they have to get ready for that. And then I would have KOC and Kyler last simply because we just don't know. It's, I can't. I can't know.

Okay. I'm going to ask one more question from the chat. And then I have my own question for you. And then we will let you get back to, I don't know, I don't know what you do at defect. I, right? I ain't doing. Right about, I don't know what coffee you drink or something. I don't know.

I have written about coffee. I'm just that boring. It's true. We did have someone in the chat had read your book and enjoyed it. Your book intimidates me. It intimidates me. It's a scary story. Oh, but yeah, but I don't use like big vocab words or.

Okay, well, then maybe someday. It's easy to read. Duma Keo asks, who is the starting quarterback week one, 2007 for the Minnesota Vikings? Kyler Murray. It would be Kyler Murray. And I think that's one of the best case. That is the best case scenario.

I think that's the one most likely to happen because if Kyler excels and plays well, they're not going to let him go like Donald. They just won't. The PR would be so awful. They're never going to do that. But at the same time, my greatest fear is that, you know, this year is a year where all three quarterbacks, start games.

None of them look good, but they still finish like seven and nine so they can't grab any of the good dudes in the 2027 draft, right? That would be by far the most typical, annoying thing to happen, which is a very Vikings thing to happen. But I think Tyler will be good enough to stay.

Because that's realistic as a scenario, that is one of the arguments to still trade Jonathan Grenard is if you get 2027 draft capital. Because if you remember, as a newsletter subscriber since day one, when I interviewed Doug Whaley, former NFL general manager, that was his plan. I asked him, hey, if they hired you as a GM today, what would your plan be? And he said, I would try to stockpile as much 2027 draft capital as possible,

because if I have to move up from number 17 into the top 10 to draft quarterback, I need to have the ammunition to be able to do that without ruining our future. And that would be a Jonathan Grenard trade to do that, which I'm so on the fence on, man, I've bounced back and forth on that because doing it is very, very beneficial. Draft capital now or later. Cap space, now or later. You know, more Dallas Turner, which I want to see in that position for 750 snaps.

But then also your backup is Bo Richter or Chas Chambliss. And if someone gets hurt. Yeah, you would draft someone. Yes, you would draft someone. But then you don't know like how much a rookie is going to produce in year one. No. It leaves you very light at a position where you just got a good quarterback who could win you games, which I need Jonathan Gernard to do to help you.

I mean, what you're describing is basically a toss-up decision, right? So whatever decision they make, we're going to go into 2026. If he's on the roster, we'll say, oh, it's nice to have him here because he's going to play well, right? But if they trade them and they get a good return, if they trade them and they only get like a third, you're going to feel kind of, you're kind of, you're kind of, feel kind of crappy about that. Right.

I think a second or something, you'll be like, you'll be like, okay, well, something they had to do when they're thinking, you know, you know, you're going to feel. know, they're thinking ahead. They're not just thinking about 2026. They're thinking about 2027, 2028. Rob Bersinski has talked about that. That's all the good things, as they say. But now, like, all that stuff has to go into practice.

Okay. My question is the show is sponsored by Fandul. So I'd like to ask you a Fandul related question. Oh, all right. Okay. The over under for the Minnesota Vikings at this moment is eight and a half. There's a two-part question here. One, do you think that number moves at,

any point before the start of the season that anything happens that moves that number and also do you think they go over that number okay uh so no i don't think there's anything that that moves that number the roster they have now it'll be supplemented with you know it'll be supplemented with rookies and then the you know whatever you know you know whatever you know thrift store options they get you know during training camp and guys off the waiver wire stuff like and that could be some monumental trades, say for trading away Grenard. They're not going to, you know, we know they're not trading for Joe Burrow anymore or anything like that.

So I don't think that that projection will, will waver in any way. And I'll say that they go over it only because the schedule is kind of weak. So I think that they could have, honestly, I think they could have a nine and eight season that is somehow more impressive than last season's nine and eight season. But, you know, it doesn't necessarily have to be that much. I, but I think it's kind of the exact right projection for them to be, to be an average team. I'm going to toss a couple factors in there that I think could have them double digits. I will probably go 10 because look at you.

Well, look, they play. These things need to be in there. They play the NFC South. Right. They also play at home. They don't have to travel to Australia, Antarctica, Zimbabwe, Brazil. The London trip, I think, broke. their season. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I think it completely broke their season. It was, it was a,

they were like, oh, this is great. We won't, we'll have two neutral side games instead of two, two, two road games. No, dude, no, you don't want to go to, you don't want to take a football team abroad for two damn weeks. I also think, but a 17 hour flight for the Rams and 49ers should be fun going to Australia. But I also think that J.J. McCarthy and his recovery was thrown off by the fact that they had to pile up an entire NFL franchise and I don't know ship everybody you know over there for two weeks. Didn't they take him? And they did take him.

And then he acknowledged that there was swelling that happened during that time, which I don't know, probably not unrelated to the long travel and everything. Right. So I think that you're right. It punched a huge hole in their season. They won't have that. They'll have more home games than away. Flores defense better at home than it is away.

and you play a division that's not that great. And even though it's not the fourth play schedule that they probably should have tried to get, it's still a third play schedule, which means some unspectacular teams. That's why I think with a quarterback who is top 12, they will be right there in the mix. And I also think the NFC North,

everyone's a B or a B plus. Yeah, I think it's an average. I don't think it's, I don't think it's the blockbuster division that was the past or, you know, in 2024. I don't think it's going to be as good at a division. this year. Drew McGarry Defector. I'm really thankful that you could do this. This is a lot of fun. Just answering Vikings questions. You got to do the chat tonight. You got to sit in in my chair

essentially. So I'm really pleased to have you. And this was great. And thank you to everybody who asked all the really good questions. Yeah, thanks, chatter, especially the one who said I know ball. That's cool. I like that I know ball. I never. Well, there's one right below that says you're an idiot. So adieu. Thanks. Thanks, Drew. I will catch you later. And we will. I mean, we can continue the chat if you guys want for a little while longer.