Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Draft expert Chris Trapasso gives us an early breakdown of Vikings needs

Episode Date: January 24, 2026

It's back!! The Chris Trapasso has returned for another season. Chris is back to breakdown the Vikings' needs in this year's draft and who are the prospects to keep an early eye on. 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. And look who's back on the show. It is Chris Trapasso. You guys know him, Chris Trapaso draft show. We've done it for many, many years now. I think this is going to be year five or six here on the podcast. We go to the combine together. We lock together. We try to make 90s comps to NFL players in the draft together. And we are back for another year. So we're going to get you. ramped up right now. And then as we get closer to draft season, then it will be every single week with you, Chris Trappaso. I'm glad to have you back for draft season, man. What is going on? I am really grateful to be on this show, man. And I think this will be year six for us.

Yeah. It's my like favorite hour of every week because you and I can just nerd out about football and more specifically the NFL draft. So to get this started, this draft season started with this show, just for a general overview before we get really hyper-specific for Vikings needs and strengths and weaknesses for this class. It's just really great to be back to start another season of the show. Well, why don't we just start out by talking about a little bit of those. I could toss you some Vikings' early needs because we don't really, really, really know until free agency, but that's a long time out from now.

But I think there are some things that we can project. and then you can tell me your early sense of this draft. And you don't have to apologize for not having scouted every single player yet. We have until April, Chris. But I think that there is enough interest from Vikings fans and wanting to know, all right, what's kind of the bigger picture overview of the NFL draft, where we might be kind of looking in Vikings land? I think that there's a couple positions that stand way out from the rest.

and that is safety, defensive tackle, running back, and center. And why don't we just begin on the offensive side of the ball? The Vikings improved their run game this year, but they were severely lacking in explosiveness. Something that you and I have talked about a lot over the years is like, don't draft running backs high. There's a lot of really good running backs. And last year's running back class was absolutely insane.

There were all sorts of good running backs, even late into the draft, but the Vikings only had five. draft picks. This year, Chris, we actually get a lot of draft picks to break down. That post draft show is going to go longer this time, I think. But why don't we just begin in the backfield? I don't know that the Vikings would spend a first round pick on a running back, but they do need explosiveness from that position. And I think that no matter who's playing quarterback, they're going to need a run game to lean on. So how are we feeling early, early on about the running back class?

All right. I'll start at the top. That's just where it seems to make the most sense. not an Ashton Gentie. There's not a, you know, Sequin Barclay guy that's going to go inside the top 10. But as I've started to watch that position, and I'm probably six or seven guys deep at that spot, I always watch quarterbacks first. I watch wide receivers. I mean, you were really the one that I think we're at the forefront of saying wide receiver is actually the second most important position in the NFL. So I watch that. And then I like to just stay with the skill position, guys. So I've been through the running backs or I've started. I think it is going to be similar to the last year's class later.

Like there's going to be favorites. Every, you know, certain Purple Insiders, viewers and listeners are going to have their third round, fourth round, fifth round favorite. Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame is the only one who feels like could go in the first round. And I think early on, and I won't get super specific, but I think he's kind of like a Travis ETN type where he's just really, really explosive and a bigger back. And then Emmett Johnson, Nebraska is a very explosive player.

He actually reminds me a lot of a former NFC North running back, Carryon Johnson, who averaged over five yards of carry as a rookie, but then with the Lions dealt with a myriad of injuries and then just never was able to kind of gain his ground again. But also very, very explosive. Side to side wiggle is maybe a little better. There's Jonah Coleman from Washington, who's a bigger back. Even Jeremiah Love's teammate, Judarian Price at Notre Dame,

was not a very high volume guy, very explosive. And if you want to go that route again, because I think that's kind of the theme of this running back position, Nicholas Singleton from Penn State can hit home runs. He's not going to necessarily make guys miss at the rate that you would want to see for a feature back. But if it's blocked up, he can hit 70-yard touchdowns. He did that from his freshman season on at Penn State. So maybe not as many super high-profile guys that had these long three-and-four

year resumes where the height built. But I think that it is another pretty good running back class beyond the fact that it doesn't have that top 10 or top 15 pick because we don't think they should go there anyway. Right. Yeah, totally. And when you're naming these guys, that's exactly along the lines of what I want to look at because I just think Jeremiah Love is a non-starter for them. I don't think you can put that much of an investment into that position. And I will say, though, with a front office and a coaching staff that are under a lot of pressure to win, if they were going to do something kind of a little bit off the beaten trail, then, I mean, this might be it. We talked about that with guard last year, like they really need one.

I also think that the value of a guard, we've seen this with Gray Zabel. I think Tyler Booker also had a huge impact that I think the value of a guard has gone up. I don't know that that's the case with running back. I mean, the Jemir Gibbs and the Bijan Robinson's have worked out. I think those guys were absolute freaks next level. But even then, like Bejohn Robinson's team is never in the postseason and they spend a first round pick and he's dominant. But how much better are you than the next best rushing game because you have him? The Vikings might have that argument to say, we just need somebody special.

We could do that if he drops there. I question in this draft, and this is, again, everything comes along with the caveat of it's very early. whether a prospect of his caliber would actually drop to there because I don't see so many other freak prospects in this draft that I would go, oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, he's going to drop because there's just all this other talent. You definitely have my attention with Jonah Coleman. And I was just pulling up, you know, some of his stats and everything. And the funniest thing is his height and weight is listed at 5.9 and 228 pounds, which is kind of

crazy. But you're talking about a guy with a lot of experience, a lot of receptions. out of the backfield and a highly graded zone runner, which I think is something that the Vikings are going to want to continue doing, is kind of working that outside zone run scheme with Jordan Mason. And if you look at the left side of their offensive line, Darisaw when he's healthy, Donovan Jackson was very good at that. But I think that if they were to wait till the third round of this class,

that one of these guys would kind of make sense for them. Yeah, I think I said it last year after Ashton Genty with the running back class, and I think it will be more so the case this year. I mean, well, again, it's early. We'll see how Combines go and everything. But I'm going to really love this running back class, kind of like last year, because I think these running backs will be picked at the correct or proper position in the draft. Like if Jonah Coleman, who I got a lot of MJD vibes from, like he's kind of that super stocky,

so low to the ground, like effortless power because he's going to win the leverage battle. like every time that there's a collision. If he's available in the third or the fourth round, absolutely pick him. That is when you should get your young running back without a ton of wear on his tires. And you have him on your team for three or four years and you let him walk in free agency. So for, you know, those three or four years where there was the Christian McCaffrey's and the Sequins and the Jemir Gibbs, Travis, CTN. So many of those guys going early, Najee Harris in the first round, it was like, okay, I love. Like those players, I don't love the class because these guys are going to get overdrafted.

I almost like the fact that outside of Jeremiah Love, there's not this immense hype where we're going to necessarily see these running backs pushed up the board really early, which should be music to the ears of Khozio da Fu Mensa and everyone making those decisions in Minnesota, because you can probably get a pretty high floor running back in a Jonah Coleman or an Emmett Johnson on late day two or even early day three. And, you know, Judarian Price from Notre Dame also has my attention because when you look at when this guy actually played, 1113 attempts for 675 yards and 11 touchdowns that's six yards to carry and 11 touchdowns. It's like when he got his opportunity, he was great. And we've seen that historically. It has happened. Who am I thinking of

Nick Chubb and who was the other guy? Sony Michelle, right. I mean, that's two running backs from the same place that ended up both working out. Maybe Michelle was overdrafted, but he was still, you know, a pretty good running back. Let's move to the center position. Then we'll get on to the defense for a little bit of the overview here because my investigatory journalism, Chris, has not come up with many free agents at the center position for the Vikings. They cannot run back Ryan Kelly after three concussions this year.

And Blake Brandel, Michael Juergens is a guy who I think did develop. And if they have to play him, I think you could survive. that, but you're not looking to survive that. I, it is my opinion, Chris, that the center position like linebacker, if you have one of the top five, it is like someone handed you a golden ticket. If you have, if you have number 10 through 22, it's probably not that big of a difference. And it's like you're just trying to get by. But how is the talent here at center?

Like is there guys with potential from your early view of it to be that like, you know, I want to say franchise center? Sure. I can't say definitely yet that I've gone super deep at that position. I do know that going into the year, Jake Slaughter from Florida was kind of viewed as the number one guy. I need to watch a little more on him. But when I'm coming onto this podcast, I was always thinking back to Garrett Bradbury and beyond him, just the fact that we kind of come to understand that the Vikings do prioritize mobility and, Connor Lou from Auburn is someone that has that type of athleticism to get lateral. And I think maybe even before the combine, but probably afterward when he tests really well, you're going to see some talk about him potentially being like a day two center that is a plug-in play guy because of just how he can execute those blocks at the second level and really open up, you know, your outside zone or when you do need to climb to the second level for those combo blocks.

Yeah, I mean, I think that that is really, really important for the Vikings. It's going to be team dependent. Yeah, I mean, for the way they want to run the football. The concern I have a little bit here is that Conner Lou did get hurt towards ACL. So is he going to be in the timeline with ACLs? I don't know. Is he going to be ready to come back and do the combine? That's kind of the question.

I'm not sure about that. I don't see like I see a story that says NFL draft evaluators falling in love with Connor Lou and that he suffered a season-ending ACL injury. So I don't know where he's going to be at health-wise if he's going to be able to kind of show some of that athleticism or, you know, where his recovery is at. But just when it comes to that type of center, yes, but at the same time, Kevin O'Connell really likes to drop back to throw. And he really likes to have his quarterback sit in the pocket for quite some time.

So I think that they need to focus on whoever the best is at peer pass blocking and survive the rest to what I see here at least on, you know, the PFF simulator. We're going to do a draft sim here at some point. It's really kind of Jake Slaughter and Connor Lou. And I don't see another guy unless you are converting someone to center. And I don't like that idea because it's such a unique position. It seems like if you don't get those two that there aren't a lot of other names in this

draft. So it really narrows the focus for the Vikings. Can you get one of those guys or are you going to try to find your answer in-house? Well, if you're going to tell me that the Viking or that you don't like the idea of moving someone from one position into center because there is just so much quarterbacking of the offensive line that that position has to take on early, there is, and this is not necessarily helmet scouting, but there's one I reached out to a scout that I know recently and tried to get a head start on the NT, your offensive line because that's usually one of the last positions that I scout and that he

mentioned that there is a little bit of Graham Barton to Brian Parker from Duke, that he played center at Duke and is pretty physical, but very mobile, very athletic, but he's like 6-3 and barely 300 pounds. So he's not going to be a center, probably not even going to be a guard. And what I've noticed in today's NFL, even the centers have gotten a lot bigger. There's not those 6-1-2-95-pound centers anymore. Like, centers are between 6-2 and 6-4 and like 305 to 325. And we've seen so many tackles go into guard, but we've also seen guards go into center and even tackles go into center. Gray's Abel being another example that's playing on the interior. So Brian Parker would be the other name that if Connor Lou can't work out at the

combine or his pro day could get a little bit of a bump because one, it's not this tremendous. to center class. And two, I think teams do like the idea, or some teams, like the idea of moving a very athletic physical tackle who's undersized into that center position and just plug him in there right away. And this is always something that we talk about a lot. And you know that we've been doing this long enough. So I kind of know your little things. You know my little things. One of my things is don't try to draft for this year's needs. And as many times as I say it, teams are like, screw you. I'm going to get what I need in the third round. Like, no, you're not. Or at least it's not very likely that you're going to get that.

So if you're not getting someone in the first or second that can fill an immediate need, then you should be getting guys who are projects that could develop later on. And I love the idea of drafting tackles who have center potential. And we even saw that from Blake Brandel this year. He's been a tackle for his entire career and then became a guard last year. And then he gets bumped inside to center. And while he was not like a Ryan Kelly franchise player, he definitely held down the position and was serviceable.

And I think with the defensive tackles, you need to get some edge there. And now that they're getting smaller, your edge is probably to get bigger. Speaking of the defensive tackle, so the Vikings went all in on Jonathan Allen and J. Von Hargrave and the results were just okay. And it looks like they might move on from Javon Hargrave, just based on where his salary cap situation is. The defensive tackle class, I mean, to me, if you look at the. look at the teams that are remaining the final four, there's a lot of defensive tackles. There's a lot of defensive tackles who were drafted pretty high and produce a lot on these

teams. It remains to me one of the most valuable positions. But are we looking at a strong class where there may be someone available 18 that you could get as a day one starter? Yeah, I think so. I think both of the Clemson guys that are more like hybrids, which for some teams are like, hey, no, we want three, 10 and above. And we want him to have five. 500 or 600 snaps in its final season at defensive tackle. I think now with the news that Brian Flores, if he doesn't get a head coaching job, which I'm sure you've talked about,

is going to be retained, which was huge, like, stability news for this Vikings organization. We know how much we've talked at length, the last three or four years, about the true versatility that he likes. Peter Woods and T.J. Parker, those are both like, where are they going to play?

Are they going to be inside, outside? Are they going to, you know, is, Woods is the bigger of the two, but is he going to slim down and be around 300 and be able to play base end and then play on the interior in third down situations? And T.J. Parker is kind of the same thing that he's 265, 270, 275. You could bulk him up easily where he can play on the interior. I think overall it is a pretty good class. There doesn't seem to be right now. And again, the combine, especially for that position, I think can really change things because you can see the 10 yards splits, the verticals. who's really super explosive. Caden McDonald from Ohio State, who was a big recruit. He's probably the one that stands out to me that could be that type.

But I think there will be, it will be that late first into early third round at this stage. And we'll see kind of who over the next couple months, pre-draft process, pro days, combine can really elevate himself. There's not like a Colizia Cancy or like someone that you can very easily project and say, oh, he looks like a 70 pressure defensive tackle. There's some big bodies. There's a Texas tech kid and Lee Hunter, I think his name is, who's like 335. There's a bunch of those. But in terms of the pure pass rushers, I don't really think anyone has necessarily

separated themselves yet. Yeah. And as I'm looking through, just sort of starting to scan because you know, like you bring the details on that. I bring more of the data based approach looking at, you know, what they did from the PFF perspective, pass rush win rates, PFF pass rush grades. And there's just not anybody who's really shining to me. I mean, even Woods, you mentioned who is the highest projected guy, I think on the PFF draft

simulator for a defensive tackle. I mean, even when we look at his data, it's just okay. I mean, a pass rush win rate of 8.1%, which is, as you know, pretty good. But it's not unbelievable. Quality run stop rate. The grades are okay, but they don't really. excite you. And for me, I've had it brought up a few times by people already about Caden McDonald's. And I love someone who's six foot three and three hundred twenty six pounds,

because that's hilarious. Like that is such a just a fire hydrant of a human being. Yes. But I think that like we were talking about with center, you don't do it unless you can get a guy who you think is going to be a top five potential center. I feel the same way about a run stuffing DT. Like I just could not do. a run stuffing DT, unless you're telling me that it's going to be Derek Brown or you're telling me that it's going to be Vita Vaya. If they could be that guy or Linval Joseph, you know, from back of the day, if it could be that guy, then okay, because those guys own the middle.

They just, just eat up gaps and stuff like that. But when we're talking about somebody, I mean, spending that high of a draft pick on somebody who could be okay, pretty good, a starter. I just I just can't go there. I just don't think the value is enough. And the Vikings were able to sign like a Harrison Phillips, a Jonathan Bullard, like those guys to stop the run a couple years ago.

If you're going to invest that much, the guy better be an absolute monster. So yeah, so there's two things that are funny about what you said that are ironic, is that yes, you definitely dig into the analytics very well. But as we all know on this show, this is year five or six that I definitely like to do that too.

And beyond reaching out to a few scout people that I know within the NFL. What I did this year, without having my job at CBS, I wanted to go in to the start of my process and say, I'm not going to like look at PFF's board necessarily. I'm not going to look at anyone, Todd McShay, anyone else, any of the other people in the industry, I'm going to go to the PFF data and see like, all right, like, I don't know if this guy is a sophomore. I mean, I would check to see if the guys were coming out.

But look and see who stands out and then watch their film and do it that way and say, I don't know if he's projected to be a top 10 pick, a fourth rounder. But I wanted to, I mean, you know, anyone that's listened knows that I try to remove as much bias as possible. I wanted to go in and just watch these players and say, I don't have no preconceived notion. When I did that with defensive tackles, it was like, where's the guy with a pressure rate of like 12 or 13 or 14 percent? where's that guy that's like, oh my God, he's this ridiculous pass rusher. And what I found, which I mentioned and you pointed out, is that a lot of these were these big hulking 330 plus guys. And the other part that I want to say that that's kind of funny is that what we talked about earlier,

that you and I see eye to eye on that position having very little value. Like whether you want to say it's equal to running back, whatever. But I think that position in every single draft and like you, mentioned with Harrison Phillips, on the third or fourth wave of free agency, you can get a 325 to 340 pound decent run stopper who can give you 15 to 30 pressures a season and you can be fine with him. So those players for as fun as they are at the combine to see them run sub four five or five seconds and have like a 30 inch vertical, all that, those players, even Jordan Davis, who was like the most hyped guy like that in the last five to 10 years.

unless they're a great pass rusher like Vita Vaya was, or like Dexter Lawrence was, or Derek Brown, kind of. A lot of those guys that get the hype for being that big and that athletic don't really produce in what is the most needle-moving way of the game at that position. You have to show me the potential that they could become a pass-rush impact player. Because Derek Brown and Vita Vaya did become that. And of course, Dexter Lawrence, not this year so much,

but became like the premier all-around type of Monumentary. your dominant player, even if he wasn't totally in college, but you could still see some evidence of it with some of these. It was good, though, in his last year, Clemson. Right. And some of these prospects, you're just not really seeing it, like where that's at. So I think that's a position that they might want to look at more in free agency. Caleb Banks is the other one from Florida who got injured.

And he went into the year with like, oh, he could be a top five pick because he moves like he's 290, but he's like 3.30. So Caleb Banks is another name that injuries will kind of clock. everything with him. And I didn't mean to like totally cut you off there. But I wanted to mention his name because he's probably as your listeners are starting to research defensive line rankings, they'll see Caleb Banks from Florida.

Just not a great final season. And why was it not better despite all of his physical attributes? I think will be questions that he'll have to answer over the next couple months. Yeah. In 2024, he had four sacks, 25 other pressures. So he did produce, but then this year, he only played three games. So that's kind of, that's another thing that makes it tough to place a bet on him with a first round pick.

But you could also look at that and say, you know, maybe that could be your steal. So there will be, it feels like there's going to be a lot of that of, well, you know, how much do you believe in the injury recovery? How can we truly evaluate this when maybe the sample size is smaller? When we move over to the safety position, and I'm hoping this doesn't end up, I'm hoping. we get some emergers because it feels like the trend of being like, well, there's this one guy and that's it. Early returns, it feels that way. And I think that safety is like that as well.

We could talk about corner also, which I think is up there for the Vikings. I wouldn't totally wash that out as a first round potential either. I think actually most draft, most mocks are looking at corner for the Vikings right now. So I should have mentioned that as well. But it's, it looks like Caleb Downs and then get it somewhere else. That's how the safety position looks like. That's exactly how it feels. But then again, I will always go back to, what was it, 2018, when Derwin James

felt like that guy. And he wasn't picked until the 17th selection. And we were all like, what the hell? Like he kind of feels like Caleb Downs on film. Big can be a strong safety, has made plays from the deep middle, can man up in, you know, in the slot against your tight ends. And he was a mid-round one selection. which is where, you know, right around where the Vikings are going to be picking.

So it really is Caleb Downs. He is that premier prospect. It could maybe even go inside the top 10 based on how he tests. But it's a position that, yes, I'm not super deep on it yet, but it does feel like there's not even that second tier that has really materialized yet. I think that's going to happen after we get more time to watch film, which there's nothing wrong with saying, hey, I just haven't watched the film yet. And very importantly for that position,

Maybe not so much the measurements, but just how these guys work out. Because you can see their range on film and say, hey, look, they have good instincts. But like getting those 40s, the 10 yards splits, the verticals, the broad jumps, that's when we can see like a Nick and Manwari go as high as he ultimately did. And he probably should have been picked earlier than he was in the, you know, early stages of the second round last year. You make a great point, though, about safeties because I'm not sure that the NFL is totally sold on safeties being worth that high of a draft pick.

Now, this year, if it's a little lighter at the top, somebody might say, well, Caleb Downs is just the best player. But even with, and sorry to bring up the old wound for Vikings fans, but even with Kyle Hamilton, everybody had him as a top 10 draft pick. Yep, and he ends up sliding a little bit out of there. So maybe there's a possibility there. I think this Brian Flores defense really needs a safety,

even if Harrison Smith comes back for one more year, that you're going to need that kind of right away. So let's get to the cornerback position. And do you have good news for me about the quarterback position? Because, you know, I feel like good and bad news so far of the overview is running backs in the second or third round may be great. There's a couple of centers who have very high potential. The defensive tackles maybe less so. Safety is less so.

But it feels like there's a lot of good cornerback prospects and no great. cornerback prospect. So how do you view it? Yeah, that's how it seems like early on. I think Jermad McCoy from Tennessee kind of feels like the early, very early favorite to be the first one off the board. But and what's good, I think is the rest of the guys that are kind of viewed in that in that second tier are all from premier programs, LSU, Mansour, Delaney, Brandon Sissy from South Carolina. Those are names that have kind of been on the draft rate. are for multiple seasons and they played against the best competition and seemed to kind of tick a lot of those boxes. Now, none of them, if you're looking at the analytics, are, you know,

seven interceptions or, you know, tons of past breakups. And that's where I always joke about myself that I do box score scouting when it comes to cornerbacks, where I feel like you can find those gems that may not have the traits. If they're just have 20 past breakups in their final season, they're doing something, right? Their instincts, the ball skills are all there. So I think that's a similar position right now to safety where I want to see someone really either grab hold of that number one spot or even start to fill out who are the other cornerbacks that can be first round caliber. And I will admit, I'm not incredibly deep on that position either. So it just in terms of what where PFF has them, which is always kind of my guide and they don't always match up with,

you know, the rest of the world. And we'll look at consensus mocks and things like that as we go forward. But they've got a few of these guys that are in exactly the range where the Vikings are. Germad McCoy is in the middle of the first. Avion, Terrell is in the middle of the first. Who is the other one? There's one other one that has ranked pretty high. Oh, Mansour Delaney. Is that how it's pronounced? So, you know, so Delaney is a guy who I see mock to the Vikings quite a few times. And these guys are in that ballpark. And I think that unless you're talking about someone who's like a Pats or Tan, like an absolutely freakish, there's not that guy. Right. There's not that guy that, you know, you can get some good corners and they tend to drop into the middle late part.

Like I'm thinking of that draft where what Joey Porter Jr. everybody had him in a certain area and he kind of slid, right? And then the Steelers end up getting, you know, a good traffic at that position. but that is going to be the theme I think that we talk about is there's so many guys that feel like they're neck and neck, not necessarily unbelievable prospects, but I have a lot to like about them. So how we pick those guys apart is going to really be, I think, the definition of what we're talking about throughout this draft season. And I think with corners, and this is this, I'm kind of kind of say that I have deeper knowledge of the Vikings than most draft analysts having been on this show and like learning some much from you. Tell me if I'm wrong here, but it feels like the Vikings do really prioritize having those traits and feel like, hey, with this defensive scheme, your ability to plant

and drive on the football when we are blitzing from the other side and we're like funneling the quarterback's throw in your direction, you're a rookie, you're in year two, you can get a lot of interceptions. And I always think to Byron Murphy that didn't really start great in Arizona. He was a first round pick. He was good, but not great. And he had. is becoming a completely different player with ridiculous ball production in this Brian Flores scheme because of his traits. I mean, you look back at his combine. He tested through the roof. He was smaller. And that's what maybe was part of the reason that he was picked a little bit later. But I think looking, if you're not quite sure about these corners and if you don't listen to this show and aren't positive going into the combine,

check the guys that either have the length that have the big time 40 yard dashes or the verticals. because I think in general for a scheme that is so predicated on pressure and how fast you can click and close, that's what the Vikings tend to look for at that position. Murphy 33rd. Oh, third. First pick in the second round. Thank you.

Yes. But had that level of talent. And you look at with Isaiah Rogers, somebody that they sought out, what's his number one skill explosiveness, right? That's exactly what you're talking about. And I think that intelligence has to be really, huge on this as well because one of the very reasonable criticisms of Brian Flores,

there are not many, is that they have not really developed corners. They draft Mackay Blackman. He has the ACL injury. They just trade him. He did not play well in Indianapolis. They had Nashan Wright, who became some kind of star when he played against the Vikings. You know, he was okay overall, but that was somebody that they traded Andrew Booth, Jr. for who they also didn't develop.

And they had a Caleb Evans who they also didn't develop. And, you know, it's not like, again, these guys have become Dion Sanders at other places. But normally teams do not swap out their younger development projects for Jeff Okuda, or what is left of Jeff Okuda. And doing that does raise a bit of a red flag of if you're going to draft a corner, you better make sure that it is Brian Flores's guy and that they can sit in a room and talk football all day. Because if not, then you're going to end up with another one. of these draft picks that we just don't hear a whole heck of a lot about. And that's been some of the case in the secondary. I mean, they have developed Mattelis. They developed Cambinem who got

$15 million. They identified Rogers. They got a great steal of a deal for Byron Murphy the first time they got him. And he clicked right away with Flores. So it's not like no one can do this. It's just been not a theme for them of developing corners. Let me get to one more thing. And then I want to do a mock sim and then get some hot takes for you for this weekend at the end. Okay. As someone who maybe once upon a time evaluated Jared Stidim, I guess you got to pull out the really old draft reports for that one. But I want to put it down right now that I'm a Fernando Mendoza guy.

Okay. And here's why I was not a Fernando Mendoza guy at all. Halfway through the season, I was like, this team's awesome. And this is kind of a classic case of, oh, everybody kind of likes the kid and, you know, he's got a lot around him to work with. And they play in the Big Ten, which has some good teams and there's a lot of questionable teams there as well. So congrats, kid, like, I'm getting your attention. But here's what sold me, Chris. In that last game, the Miami Hurricanes kicked the absolute bleep out of young Mr.

Fernando Mendoza. They hit him in the mouth, illegal. to start the game. They, even when he got a touchdown, they tackled the heck out of him. And that dude never stopped. He was inaccurate at times in the game because people think that, I don't know, sometimes it's like every single game is a referendum on every single player all the time. It's like, yeah, well, when you're getting killed like that and your offensive

line's getting killed like that, you're not always going to be perfectly accurate. But he had some sick back shoulder throws and the dude kept fighting his butt off. And I think that if you can do that, that it projects very well, even if there are not certain other tools that I would say are unbelievable, but to leading an NFL franchise. If we start with intelligence, we start with toughness and the armed talent to fire it into windows, to throw with anticipation and the height, I think, to see the field. I'm in. I like Fernando Mendoza a lot as a franchise quarterback. Yeah. I think that's the way to ultimately sell him.

Now, I would say I didn't see on film like Caleb Williams or Drake May type traits, but selling him that way and saying, I can tick the box for the mental side of the game and the toughness side of the game, regardless of what's happening, you're going to be able to be sold if you're any of those teams at the top. Because being able to process super quickly, throw with anticipation, take a hit and get back up, and take a hit. hit and throw accurately while you're being hit. Those are absolute valuable commodities to have when you're a young quarterback that a lot of young, even more physically talented quarterbacks

don't have. So I think it will be interesting with him because I think he's going to tick all the boxes during the interview process and everything. And the season that he just had, and like you mentioned, I think that last game where you saw probably three or four top three or four round selections on that Miami defensive line, really whip Indiana's offensive line the entire game. And ultimately Mendoza made the big plays when he needed to. And he even showed his ability as a runner gives you that little bit of a glimmer of what you want out of a quarterback today. I think he's as much of a shoe in to be the number one overall pick as you're going to get, despite, again, not being Trevor Lawrence or Andrew Luck or Joe Burrow when

it comes to the physical traits on the field. I see a lot of Jared Gough there. Like a lot of high intelligence, certainly has the armed talent. But golf is not perfectly accurate. But he throws to the right place at the right time, time and time again. And I just love the way he operated the offense. I mean, he executed the sometimes you see in college, they line up in the shotgun. And you're looking over to sideline.

Okay. All right. Let's play. Okay. and now I'm just going to take the snap and it's an RPO and the guy's wide open and runs for 50 yards. Like, great, congratulations.

This guy was running more of a complete offense there. He was. And he was really making changes and checks and things like that at the line of scrimmage. So I liked a lot about him. And I think that he has a chance if his franchise isn't a total tire fire. But, you know, every number one overall pick kind of has that.

All right, let's get to a quick draft sim here. I've already kind of got it. uh, rolling for us. Let me, uh, just clear that out. Doing one early here. We could take a look. Yeah, I mean, why not? You should like remember these picks and then like the last one we do like see how drastically different, whether it's the positions or the players that we ultimately go over the next three months. That is a great idea to see how much this changes. So let me just tell you at the very top of the draft. Um, Mendoza. Jeremiah love in this draft sim is the number two overall pick, which I guess would be very

jets. That would be very jets. Yeah. That's what I was just going to say. It wouldn't shock me. This has Caleb Downs as number three, Arvel Reese, number four to the Titans, Jordan Tyson, wide receiver. It feels like a good draft for wide receivers going to the Giants. I won't read every single one of them. Ruben Bain's going to be the most fun player to talk about. I'm good with him, but he's not, I don't think he could drop,

I guess, if they really don't like his tiny little arms. So getting down to the Vikings, there was a bit of a run on corner where Avion, Terrell and Germad McCoy went before the Vikings were up and a couple of offensive tackles. So the top players on the PFF board right now are Mackay Lemon, the wide receiver, which you would do if you trade Jordan Addison, Caleb Williams, I'm sorry, Caleb Williams, Caleb Banks from Florida, the defensive tackle, Denzel Boston, wide receiver from Washington.

We've got Kate and McDonald, the defensive tackle from Ohio State. I don't think the Vikings are looking at a guard so we can kind of slide down. Kenyon Sadiq is interesting for me because we don't really know T.J. Hawkinson's situation. We've got a couple more tackles here. Colton Hood, who is ranked 29th by PFF is the top corner. And then Christian Miller from Georgia, who has my attention, defensive tackle as well. And that's kind of the top guys there on PFF's board. So based on this outcome, Chris, what are we thinking?

I think to me, and again, I have not watched all those players that were referenced. I love your inclusion of Mackay Lemon because you and I are both like go wide receiver, one in doubt, go offense. There's a lot of Jordan Addison to Mackay Lemon's game. His profile, they're around the same size. I think Lemons listed at like 5'11, 180 pounds. He's a very savvy route runner. He catches everything in traffic, very good after the catch.

And in terms of yards per route run was one of the most efficient wide receivers in all of college football the last two seasons. So it wasn't just a one hit wonder for him. That would obviously, like you said, be contingent upon if Jordan Addison is on the roster. To me, Caden McDonald, based on the little that I've watched and the fact that he's only turning 21 in March. And we know with the Dallas Turner selection that the Vikings are not afraid to pick someone that is a little younger that they really want to mold and say, look, we know you are not even close to being a finished product, but we want to install you next to some veterans and in Brian Flores' defense. I think Caden McDonald, even though we kind of poked fun at the fact

that, oh, he's 325, he's maybe just a run stopper. I think he actually has past rushing upside, given his age. And the fact that he was just one of those like 18-year-olds at Ohio State that was a five-star recruit that like everyone knew when he was graduating high school. This is going to be a first-round pick at some point. Yeah. Kristen Miller is really good too. Yeah, I was looking at Christian Miller because he's more of a finished product, but he really pretty young too.

He is intriguing to me. He is 30th on the PFF's board. He is a red shirt junior because he's got a little more of the pass rush grade, a little, you mentioned that win rate. If you get over 10 for a pass rush win rate, you've got something there. and a little more dynamic in where he lined up, things like that. I remember seeing him, I think in the Auburn game where he was an absolute monster. And he's played a lot of football, which I think is going to matter to the Minnesota Vikings

that somebody's played a lot of football because I agree with you that, you know, they were in a position when they drafted Dallas Turner to develop him. I don't know if they're in that position. I was just going to say, maybe they're like, yeah, maybe they are going to shy away from that type. and they want Dallas Turner in year three to be ready to just have this defense go to the next level and maybe not add in another top pick that is, hey, he's on a three year plan. We want the production right now. So that's probably more Kristen Miller than it is Caden McDonald.

Yeah. So in that case, I mean, you might be this. We always talk about like, well, this team should trade down. This team should trade down. Someone's got to want to trade down with you. In this case, you might consider doing it. and moving away from that. Also, though, you know, Caleb Banks is an intriguing potential pick there,

depending on how you feel about the health and how you feel about, you know, the next step for him coming into the NFL, having Glass really played in 2024, but you also might be able to get a steal there because of that. And it seems like at this position, it would be a little bit of a reach to go with the corner because you're taking like the fourth corner, Colton Hood has good numbers. might be a solid prospect. We're going to have to learn more about him is on the younger side. So is that really the guy that you want?

So a little bit of an awkward position to be in in the middle of the first round, I think, in this draft. Let's before we wrap up, I feel like we could just, you know, all right, let's just learn everything today. Let's just dive in. I would like to know from you if we go over to our friends at Fanduil and we look at Jared Stidham's over under for this weekend for passing yards. It's actually gone up since yesterday to 200.5 yards in this game against the New England Patriots.

What is your take on whether Jared Stidham can get it done? I think he's going to be over 205 yards if that's what you're asking me. And you kind of teased earlier like going back to my scotting report, which I'm trying to find right now from the. 2019 draft class. I do remember that he and probably why he's still in the NFL where it's kind of seemed like he's been this just obscure player that you've barely seen, is that he was a huge recruit at Baylor.

And then at Auburn, you really saw that take off where he can run around. He's got a strong arm. He can throw on the run pretty accurately. And we saw him like a few years ago get like a short audition with the Raiders where he had a game of over 300 yards and you're like, oh, maybe he's the answer. ultimately never materialized there. But I think Sean Payton is good enough of a schemer, Cortland Sutton,

and then their complement of the smaller, speedier weapons. Troy Franklin should play Marvin Mims. I think he will do enough to keep the Denver Broncos in this game. And I wouldn't be surprised at home in front of that very loud crowd if the Broncos actually win this game. I would not be shocked either. And I feel like it's the hot take of the week if you're like, I think he could do it.

But when you consider all the other. factors. The fact that Denver only had to play one game and New England had to play two. Denver has a great offensive line, which New England has not played teams with good offensive lines so far. And this entire system is meant to get the ball out quickly, which could negate some of their pass rush. Now, if you recall, I believe it was, oh, I'm trying to think when would it have been? It would have been early March, 2004, that I would have called you and said, take me back to your Sam Darnold scouting report. And because I wrote an article about how you can be sold that Sam Darnold was good. Because when you looked at his data, you could see pockets of, hey, actually, when he had things that were good for him, he was like actually legitimately good.

It just didn't happen that much because his team stunk. But here he is in the NFC championship game. with the Seattle Seahawks. Against the Los Angeles Rams, the game we all dreamed of. And the Seahawks on Fandul are two and a half point favorites at home. I mean, what do we, what do we think? Like this is, to me, this is like one of the coolest arcs of any quarterback that's ever happened.

I know for Vikings fans, this is, you know, maybe they're feeling a little jilted. But still, like for a player to go through as much as he did to be here in this moment, but then you have a Super Bowl champion on the other side with a defense that is given Sam Darnold fits. Crazy, crazy storylines in this one. Yeah, what about the crazy arc if we get a Sam Darnold,

Jared Stidham, Super Bowl? Like the guy that no one expected to play, that's now in the Super Bowl, and then Sam Darnold, this may seem, or I don't know how Vikings fans feel about Sam Darnold in general now, but this may sound crazy. I have not been, like, blown away by Sam Darnold this season.

And I think if you're looking from afar, you're like the Seahawks are the one seed. Jackson Smith and Jigba had like 1,800 yards. Like Sam Dardo must have been even better than he was last season in Minnesota. I thought he was better last year in Minnesota than what he's done this year. There's a fair amount of turnover worthy plays on his film. His rate in turnover worthy plays is actually pretty high. I think the defense is really good. The run game has gotten significantly better because the offensive line has been healthy.

and I think if you're a Seahawks fan based on that, what, four interception game that he had earlier in the season against the Rams, you're a little bit scared. I think the Broncos, you know, rightfully feel a little bit concerned as the home one seed because it's their backup quarterback. But normally a favorite one seed at home in their in their respective conference title game, it's like, oh, we feel great. And I think there are a growing population of Seahawks fans that are a little bit concerned that if Jared Verson Company can get after Sam Darn. some of the weaknesses that showed up at USC in 2016 and 2017, especially can show up with Sam Darnold. And suddenly you don't make the Super Bowl. Yeah, that's the big concern is really just the,

the turnovers and sacks for me. Because even in the game where they came back, he threw a couple of bad interceptions. But then, hold there's Sam Darnold's arm. And such as the duality. You know who he kind of reminds me a little bit of is how we used to talk about Flacco. where Flacco could be in the playoffs and have the worst game because he turned the ball over,

pushing the ball down the field, or where he could just be absolutely phenomenal. And I don't know which Sam Darnold we're going to see. I do know that they have a lot of advantages with the circumstances, which here's what I know. If they run the ball well against anybody, then Clint Kubiak gets into his rhythm and then you're taken off from there. But that's what they need to do. They need to get him, I think, early into those play acts. get him on the same page with Smith the Jigba quick into the game because if he's thrown off early,

I think it takes him a long time to get back to it, especially if he's getting hit and dealing with an injury. So this one will be absolutely fascinating. Chris Rapaso, you are back, my friend. So excited to be back. We'll figure out exactly what our schedule is going to be. But this draft overview was a reminder of why you are the official draft analyst of Purple Insider. So thanks so much for your time, my man. and we will talk again very soon. All right, Matt.

Thanks a lot. Are we back or we not? There we go. Are we back? Are we back? We're not back. We're back.