Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - ESPN's Courtney Cronin breaks down the best Vikings draft pick since 2015 and why they could draft a mid-round QB

Episode Date: April 17, 2021

Matthew Coller and ESPN Vikings reporter Courtney Cronin talk about four burning Vikings questions, starting with who the Vikings' best draft pick since 2016 is...also why didn't they consider signing Cordarrelle Patterson? Courtney thinks the Vikings will draft a mid-round QB and they talk about "our guys" in this year's draft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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because Courtney, our draft scout, is here to grind it for you. All signs point to the draft if they want to address it there. How good is that speed rusher? You're probably taking a defensive end at 14. To the Vikings, target that road grader. Use that prototype fill that should fit in your zone's scheme. Big, athletic. Does that long snapper have quick twitch?

Probably long snappers, to be quite honest. Grinding long snapper tape is definitely the right answer for you. Here's Courtney, our draft scout, to break it down. Cool, this is it. Let's go. Hello, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here, along with Courtney, our draft scout, as always presented by Scout Logistics and Symbol, the stock market for sports. Courtney, how do you like your new

Manny Hill produced intro I love it I'm obsessed I have my draft scout shirt on I told you I'm gonna wear it every single day until May 2nd so we get through the draft I'll have to find times to wash it in between but honestly I think that just like it needs to be part of me for the next couple weeks as we get through the draft and I do all of these mock drafts and draft sims and you know we're in the we're in the time where you wake up you draft sim wake up draft sim eat lunch draft sim orange theory draft sim take a nap draft sim you know it's a way of life and for those who did not see what i posted on twitter the other day matt got me this shirt he was so excited about it he's like are you home are you home are you home check the mail check the mail i was like okay okay and um i open it

and it says it's this black t-shirt that says draft scout on the front of it so and this is some you know for for anybody who doesn't know what the bit is we started this together how many years ago was this two years ago three years ago now 2018 draft yeah i think it was 2018 draft was when we first got our hands on draft simulations and then we started because that was the one where you kept draft simming orlando brown Brown every time. And the Vikings did not draft Orlando Brown. And now he's very good. Yeah.

So that's why that sticks out to me. But yes. Yes. And that's when we invented Courtney, our draft scout. Right. And I think I had a couple of people ask me, like, you know, is there going to be like Courtney, our draft scout merch sold on Purple Insider? I mean, if there's an interest i think that we should start potentially looking at that as an option but no i mean it's uh i love the intro

manny is the best at that i mean the the long snapping clip that got in there i mean of course like it was perfect yes uh maybe soda stick can produce its own line of DraftScout material that people can go check out. And use the promo code PurpleInsider, by the way, with that. So, yeah, I was very excited because, and this is just such a silly way that I came up with it, was you know how sometimes in your Gmail you'll see ads that will just be emailed to you and stuff? And one of them was from a T-shirt creation company. And I clicked on it, and I was just like, I just wrote draft scout to be funny.

And I was like, maybe I should buy this. Maybe I should send this to you. And it's perfect. So now I think what's going to happen on draft night, if we're out there at TCO performance center, which I don't know if we're going to be, but if we are,

what if, what if they're like confused and they just let you in the draft room? And he's going to be like, Oh, she's a scout. So she let you in the draft room and it's like oh she's a scout so she could be in the draft room now i mean look at her shirt like it says draft scout on it could it be any more clear right like here's my thought that if we do end up having in person availability at any point during the draft like i'm just gonna walk up to the podium and start taking questions right like my shirt says draft Like, clearly I know what I'm doing. Clearly I deserve to be a decision maker here.

So why not? Like, I mean, I don't think there would be any objection if all of a sudden, like, you guys are seated, however they're going to try to space people out as we get back to, you know, hopefully being back at TCO Performance Center soon. Just walking up and be like, okay, all right. Like, go to matt for question you know

raise your hand if you have a question like according did you consider quitty pay in the first as opposed to taking christian derisaw i mean i would that's a great first question but don't you remember we talked about this that if you want to get like true honesty from me you have to pronounce the name oh right right right quitty pie is who it is oh yeah absolutely i mean we were going defense with 14 regardless we're not even paying attention to the offensive line until day three next question the inside next question the inside joke is that uh we couldn't get them to comment on shree floyd so i suggested calling him Sheriff F. Floyd

and see if it would throw him off and give us a real answer. That was my first year on the beat, because I remember I came in kind of guns blazing. I'm like, I'm getting an answer on where Shreve Floyd is. And I tried like three times that press conference during the bye week, and you're like, call him Sheriff F. Floyd. Maybe his name, if you pronounce it differently will uh trigger a different response is who we're talking about here yeah that's uh sheriff f lloyd um hopefully sherry floyd is

doing okay he's had it rough so last time i checked, he was posting about, like, guns and stuff. Remember that last year? Yeah. A little scary. Hope he's all right. Anyway, it is one of my favorites, though, on, like, day three, when even the NFL Network guys do not know how to pronounce the names correctly. Or half the broadcasts on Sunday who, you know,

don't actually know how to pronounce certain Vikings players correctly. I forget what they called Shamar Steffid last year, but there was one broadcast in particular. Shamar Stevens is like the appropriate one. That happens a lot. Anyway, so most commonly. I guess that won't be happening anymore. You know, too bad for Shamar. So anyway, I have five questions for you in sort of a hot route style fashion,

but we only had room for one intro and that was your draft intro, but some are draft related, some not. And my first question for you, Courtney, is who the Vikings best draft pick from 2016 to 2020, not named Justin Jefferson, because I've been poking around quite a bit with the draft history, just looking for stories, looking for angles, things I can write about with their recent drafts. And I got a question last night, and this is, just allow me a quick second as an aside here before you answer. I got an email last night asking me if Kyle Hinton might be in the mix for guard.

And I just thought, we've reached the point where someone is trapped on an island and you're not supposed to drink the ocean water, but they're thinking about it. Like that's where you've gotten to the point, right? Like Kyle Hinton, like is that bug edible? Like just, I mean, I don't know. At least you're not getting oli udo questions those are always my favorite i'm like until he becomes a real person i am not even entertaining the idea of this guy somehow being in the mix for something oli udo was also in the email and i'm just i just wanted to write back like i, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I have no answers for you. I don't. I don't know what to tell you.

Kyle Hinton and Ole Udo have never received a first-team rep in training camp, not a single time. Like, they've barely been active. The chances, I mean, it's always possible, but the chances that they become your next star guard are not high. So, yeah, they're probably looking at Dakota Dozier. So anyway, that's that's that's that's died down the last couple of weeks, which has been interesting. As you've seen some of these offensive linemen sign in the second, third wave of free agency on really cheap deals.

And the Vikings haven't done anything yet. I think it's a little concerning, but it's, you know, we're so close to the draft now that I think the focus with this team is they're still in draft meetings, wrapping up kind of where things stand, where the board is, that to me, it feels like the inevitable, at least right now. You know, there was the Jeff Gladney stuff that happened last week when he's, you know, turns himself in to Dallas police after an alleged assault. And, you know, my thought is, oh, there's their chance to go get another corner at 14 if they end up having to cut this guy. And I know that I'm not alone in thinking that.

But the only thing that really makes sense is going trenches at some point at 14 if you do stay at 14 offensive or defensive line and I did a mock yesterday um and you know it's quitty pay is who I chose I mean I've had him on a lot of different mocks lately that it would not surprise me whatsoever but when we talk about the offensive line it's like when are they going to address it they don't have a second round pick right now. How's this going to work? I mean, it gets, it's kind of that like weird crunch time where it's like, how are they actually going to do this?

You know what I mean? Like, are they really going to wait until the third round to start picking at the offensive line? And yeah. Because there's just nobody really left. Unless they're waiting on Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz to see if either one of those guys are going to be healthy to be able to play next year. I mean, Eric Fisher, what, tore his Achilles at the end of the year?

That's pretty rough. And Mitchell Schwartz had back surgery? Those don't sound super promising, even though those are very good players. But maybe there's a plan to add somebody else. They're running out of bodies that they could do that for. There's still some defensive linemen, but Jadavion Clowney is off the list now. So I don't think Melvin Ingram has signed yet, but Alden Smith signed with the Seattle Seahawks.

They're running out of people to be able to spend that $7 million that they got hanging around. Yeah, no, I mean, they they've and they only need four five million to sign your draft class you should be fine with that but there's got to be one more signing whether it's a veteran wide receiver from the you know free agent market still out there hopefully somebody that actually makes it through training camp and actually takes the snap in the 2021 season but i think it's either that or an offensive lineman at some point I mean you're right they could be waiting on those names but to

me it's like at this point you better address it early in the draft because you're going to be in such a bad position if you don't uh anyway so back to the question which was the best draft pick not named Justin Jefferson from 2016 to 2020. So I have two. And obviously Dalvin Cook could certainly be the one that you put there because he's become the face of this franchise. He is, I mean, when you look at it from a standpoint of who are the focal points of this team, who did you build everything around? It's Dalvin Cook. We're looking at it really off of like one and a half years

of really, really good production where injuries haven't been a thing. But I think long-term, franchise position-wise, it's hard sometimes picking a running back at that spot just because we know about the value of running backs and depreciation, all of that. I'll probably honestly have to say it's Brian O'Neill from 2016 to 2020, not named Justin Jefferson, because an extension is inevitable. That's probably coming within the next couple months.

This is somebody who has gotten better, kind of show like marginal improvement, like in steady improvement, rather, the last few years, I mean, certainly as a run blocker, because I know that was kind of like becoming a converted tight end into a tackle in college, and then having to like play it in the NFL. You know, pass protection is one thing, but run blocking too. I mean, you've seen him kind of struggle with that from time to time. So I think that if you look at entire body of work and what he could potentially pan out to be for you, that you've got the position right when most times the offensive lineman you've drafted, at least in the last decade or so, have not panned out.

Most of them aren't here past their rookie rookie contract that that's probably the best one at least the most solid pick that they've made not named Justin Jefferson that and Dalvin Cook Dalvin kind of is on his own um at least like just you know he is their offense he the production all of that but I really do think that O'Neill is going to get the extension this year maybe he ends up moving over to left tackle but you have a solid player there like there is very few flaws that I can at least like say that would be like so noticeable that I wouldn't want to put him as like the best one so I agree that Brian O'Neal his last two seasons a very solid play there have been some inconsistencies there from time to time but mean, you're kind of nitpicking at that point that he's been one of the better right tackles

in the league, maybe like fringe top 10 right tackle, which means you hit a home run on the draft pick and he's going to be here for a long time. He's going to sign a second contract. Like that's what you consider a hit. So I'll agree with that one. And someone who gives you two years of above average play that's a good draft pick especially in the second round the Delvin Cook one is a weird conversation and I was hoping you'd say that because it's kind of interesting to talk about because you could argue that Delvin Cook was a great draft pick because he became one of the best running backs from that draft class I think what Elvin Kamara Christian McCaffrey in that draft class as well so he's right up there with their names in terms of his

talent but what they've gone through with his injuries and then you combine that with the fact that they traded up to take a running back in the second round and that they ended up paying him like paying him actually kind of becomes a negative because on his rookie deal, you didn't get that much out of him because of the injuries. The first season is completely injured. The second season is banged up. The third season is banged up. And it takes until the fourth year where he plays a full season and you still didn't get 16 games.

You still only ended up with 14 games. And then he's got this big contract to deal with. So even though the player is super talented and really great at football and i wouldn't take anything away from his talent at all it's almost been like if this was a guy that you didn't spend a second round draft pick on you probably would not have invested so much in him or put so much on the offense on his shoulders and been convinced that he should be the centerpiece of their offense, which probably would have been better for them.

Like, it's kind of like not Delvin Cook's fault, but I'm not sure if I want to say exactly that it's a home run draft pick, which I know feels weird because he's a superstar. Sure. I mean, he was a first round talent. He just had a lot of things that came up that caused him to fall into the second round. So, I mean, I think from that standpoint, in terms of, like, getting the value for the pick, that's there. But you can't, like, wash over what the history says, that, like, he didn't – he got hurt. Like, and you're only really going off the last year and a half or you know last two seasons rather let's go

ahead and just throw the 2019 season in because he was really good but I think that that's just kind of always going to like hold me up to just the value of a running back where they spent for him in the draft and let's say they had a running back that was a fourth round pick and ended up having similar production I mean would that be a different conversation maybe probably but it's it is weird because it's like this guy is the focal point of the offense he everything goes through him of course he's the best draft pick and it last um you know 2016 to 2020 but I think there's other factors you have to look into too of like the you know that contract they have outs within that contract it's not you know it's not as like um much of like that contract, they have outs within that contract. It's not, you know, it's not as like much of a ball and chain as Kirk Cousins' contract. For example, just it's comparing like an apple to a watermelon.

But like, you get what I mean. Like, it's not something you can't get out of. It's, you know, the way they structured it's going to be easy in a couple of years if they do want to move on, if injuries are an issue, what have you. But I don't think that you can look past a production and say that wasn't one of their best draft picks. But I just think from a consistency standpoint, you can get 10 years out of Brian O'Neal. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I agree. Yep. So here's a way to put it in perspective of Delvin Cook. And, like, it's a good draft pick because you've got a great player, but how much you got out of him on his rookie contract matters so much more for a running back than it does for Brian O'Neal. And here's what they got out of him for an average Delvin Cook season. And again, it's not his fault he tore his ACL.

I get that. But when we're just doing the black and white, they got 915 yards rushing per season and 37 catches per season over the first four years. I mean, if you said you're trading up to draft a guy with that high of a draft pick and over his first four years of his rookie contract, he gave you 915 yards rushing per season, you wouldn't sign up for that. You would say, no, I don't think so. Not with a second round draft pick. So I guess that's my point that it's a it's a weird dynamic uh now beyond those two then it's really tricky because I want to say maybe Irv Smith that's yeah but we we don't know

though yeah like just because it's you know they spent the 50th overall pick that year. And the guy, you know, for all intents and purposes, has barely scratched the surface of how good he's going to be. He's got 30 catches for 365 yards and five touchdowns in two seasons. Like that's not, it's too soon to say he's one of their best draft picks. I just, it's not enough. We talk about sample size. There's not enough there yet. Is this going to be the Irv Smith breakout year? Sure. Everything's pointing towards it with Kyle Rudolph gone and, you know,

they haven't signed a number three receiver. So you do anticipate, obviously, if this thing pans out the way that it should, that the tight end position and Irv Smith and what his skill set, why the Vikings drafted him in the first place, that they're going to use him the way that they were supposed to, the way they wanted to when they drafted him as a move tight end. You can put him a lot of different places, but I just am not ready to say that yet because I just don't know. Same thing with Garrett Bradbury. I mean, Bradbury had a rough rookie

season, right? But last year you started to see some signs of growth and like he's not, when we talk about issues on the offensive line, we're not really talking about Garrett Bradbury yes he's undersized yes you know the the zone scheme sometimes gets a knock just because of like you are considering the defensive tackles that he has to go against and the mismatches and all of that but like I'm not ready to say like okay you know that was a slam dunk home run pick for them too. I mean, there still needs to be time there. Could he be somebody who plays, you know, we were talking about Pat Elfline after his rookie year being like, man,

that was great. And then they ended up moving him. Like there's still time for him to either prove us right or wrong. Like, I just feel like a lot of these other ones kind of have an incomplete grade next to them for a number of different reasons. Yep. Yep, I agree. And that's part of discussing, like, was it a great draft pick? The next guy picked was A.J. Brown, though, just to put that in context with Irv Smith.

Now, you could do that with anyone. Oh, look, someone that was drafted after was a star. I get that. But, you know, they knew that there were issues with Stephon Diggs. They still decided to pick a tight end at that point. And so, you know, you could, I guess, wonder, was that really the right way to go with, you know, the positional value of a tight end? I look at similarly with a linebacker where, like, if you take the best one and the guy becomes a superstar, wow, you've got a ton of value.

But that drop off from like the fourth best tight end to everyone else is pretty huge so if you drafted a guy who's everyone else and not a top five tight end then you really didn't get your value for that and so far they haven't I would also throw just in terms of value per draft pick like Cameron Dantzler already it just given that like one decent year is probably a good draft pick for a third rounder. And then like maybe Mackenzie Alexander is the next best pick after that, which really tells you where the draft has been. And they just have not hit on guys that are not basically like Dalvin cook and

Brian O'Neill. And that's kind of, yeah. I mean, isn't it kind of wild though? Like we taught, I mean mean last year at this time no one from the 2016 draft class was even on the roster um that was kind of wild this year this time they had how many picks in 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 they had 11 picks in 2017. Guess how many are on the roster this year? One. I'm going to guess one, yeah. Okay, because the database is gone.

Yep. Isn't that crazy? Like, just, you know, you talk about, like, I guess just attrition and, you know, turnover and things like that. Like, that to me is not a – that's not a successful – a sign of a successful draft class, especially when a lot of those players just got signed somewhere else to play. Pat Alphonso with the Panthers, Jaleel Johnson's with the Houston Texans,

Fadio Denebo's with the New York Giants. I'm not saying, like, any of that, like, they're great prospects, but, like, it's amazing how quickly the Vikings effectively had to move on from that and just kind of, like, well, what went wrong? That was only four years ago. Like, and you only have one player from that draft class? Like, I guess it really shows you when if you're really doing or buying into what Rick Spielman says about more bites on the apple,

you know, you had a lot of bites on the apple at that point. What did it get you? That's kind of the argument I think that you have to think about this year with 10 picks right now in the 2021 draft class. You want all those bites at the apple, or you want to take some of those fourth, fifth, sixth round, seventh round picks and try to move up and get a higher quality prospect on day two in order to, you know,

have a better shot of having somebody be on your roster in four years. Folks, the football offseason is off and rolling, and SodaStick has you covered with Minnesota sports-themed gear. Some of my favorite football designs that you have to check out include the Chuck Foreman spin doctor gear. You can commemorate Randy Moss's disgusting act on a shirt or a hoodie. And if you're old school, check out the Purple People Eaters design as well. Go to sodastick.com and check them all out. If you use the promo code Purple Insider, you can get free shipping on all your Minnesota sports inspired gear. All of their apparel is screen printed here in Minnesota on super soft, super comfy shirts and hoodies. You will love it.

Plus, keep your eyes and ears out for our giveaways going on on this show as well on social media. Follow them at SodaStickCo on Twitter and at SodaStick.com for your original Minnesota sports inspired goods. Code Purple Insider for free shipping. Yeah, I think so too. The there's just a formula where it doesn't work at some point when you're picking up extra seventh and extra sixth, like, sorry, but you, you've kind of lost me at that point when you're trading down four different times in the third, like you really need to take the guy in the third because that's a top hundred prospect if you can and not worry too much about oh what if we pick up an extra sixth and get you know brian cole or something well

congratulations i mean most most of the brian coles and the jack tochos and so forth do not end up working out so it's i agree with you that more bites at the apple makes sense but it doesn't make sense once you get past probably the fifth round, then you're just, you know, lighting draft picks on fire. The next question I have for you, Cordell Patterson signed with the Atlanta Falcons for $3 million on a one-year deal. So practically nothing. I think he tweeted, he's blocked me for some reason. I don't get it. I have no idea. I had been the most like, Hey, you should

use Cordero Patterson more. Hey, LOL. Look, the Patriots use Patterson, right? And you didn't person. And I don't, I don't know. I don't know how I got blocked, but, uh, I was told that he tweeted something about wanting to come back to the Vikings. Why wouldn't they do that for a kick returner who is the best in the NFL? Right there, you could get your three. If he returns one kick for a touchdown, you got $3 million worth. And then somebody who could be a playmaker, somebody who you can move around on the offense, if he wanted to come back for $3 million, I don't understand not doing that.

Yeah, I'm looking at his Twitter right now. He said, hit my line at viking on march 18th classic um another one on march 18th if a mf team wants you they will get you simple as that on april 1st heading back to minnesota forgot today was april 1st oops laughing face or oh you got me hung out like um why wouldn't they do that i mean mike dimmer has stood in front of us and talked about the fact that like they didn't use cordero patterson correctly in 2016 um they didn't it just it just wasn't i think honestly that was like a shot at norv that like, okay, yeah, you did see what happened when he went somewhere else when he went to New England. And, you know, you want to use him as a wide receiver.

If you want to use him out of the slot, if there's like other things that you could, that you realize now you have a second chance. I don't know why you wouldn't kick the tires around on that unless they do honestly think that there is another priority with getting a wide receiver three or something else. But like the guy is so versatile. He's a Swiss army knife. Why wouldn't you at least try? I don't know. that there is another priority with getting a wide receiver three or something else but like the guy is so versatile he's a swiss army knife why wouldn't you at least try i don't know maybe they thought maybe they honestly just looked at it and said like well they're you know we've been down that road before maybe there's like a hold up between the pro scouting staff front office and

what the coaches want that you know you only have about seven7 million, $8 million in cap space wherever they're at right now. Maybe they're still eyeing another free agent at this point that is on the defensive side, which would be kind of wild if they end up finding an edge rusher. We'll just use this as an example. If they found a really cheap bargain bin edge rusher, that they would rather prioritize that over something like this

but i mean it's kind of like a no risk situation you know what you're getting in cordero patterson it's just would you allow clint kubiak to use him the way that norv didn't in minnesota like i don't know i mean i i don't know so here to put this in context they are paying cj ham three million dollars like i you know we love fullback maybe they're good on that maybe they're like well I don't know. So to put this in context, they are paying C.J. Hamm $3 million this year. Like, you know, we love fullbacks. Maybe they're good on that. Maybe they're like, well, we've got a fullback that's already making this much money. Why not?

But compare a fullback versus replacement fullback versus a guy who, again, if he gives you one touchdown, if he gives you, if he run three ender rounds and he takes them for 20 yards, it's worth the couple of million you'd have to give him. And they just seem to have no interest whatsoever. And maybe Zimmer was just trying to kind of take a little jab there about not using him. But I don't know. I mean, I guess I don't understand that one if he had legitimate interest. And that was the price tag.

And the interesting thing, thing too with like a special teams unit that has not been very explosive since he left let's be honest about it like yeah you know you brought back amir abdullah he's you know his primary role has been he's not really a change of pace back at all like he's just kind of like a every once in a while on third down whatever maybe line him up as a receiver but he's a special teamer um and you have mike hughes too who now may be in a better like we don't know what's going to happen with jeff gladney that's like the thing like that might honestly be good job security for mike hughes if the vikings end up having to part ways if the charges end up you know proving to be like if he gets convicted on

anything what have you but why not bring back like one of the best returners that you've had and you know give your special like the special teams unit caused mike zimmer to have like an ulcer last year and that was a lot to do with the kicking game but like think about the think about when cordero patterson returned that kickoff in Chicago against the Vikings. Like, wouldn't it be nice to have that guy on your team if he was available? And then you would literally never have to worry about any of your returners again unless you want to go call Marcus Sherrill's out of retirement.

Is he retired? I don't know where he is. Yeah, I think he is. I think he is. Or at least he doesn't have a gig. I don't know. Maybe he's still – Yeah, he was at the same –

Maybe he's still, like, somewhere in Minnesota with the jugs machine out back, just catching balls or whatever. I don't know. So anyway, that's an odd one to me because that seems to be a positive player. It just feels like they've got something cooked up for this money with the cap space that they haven't used it yet, and I we're gonna have to figure it out so uh you are in the camp courtney that the vikings should be drafting a quarterback at some point in this draft um so i want you to tell me if it's not a first rounder if it's not one of the guys that we have talked a lot about who will it be that is the quarterback that they pick, let's say in the third round or the fourth round?

Well, here's the thing. Like, they don't have a second round pick right now. And when I wrote this article last week that was met with some people agreed with me. Other people were like, you can't have a contingency plan for Kirk Cousins. It's a luxury thing. You don't need one, et cetera, et cetera. Let me just like lay out some facts here, because here's the thing. You spent a lot, like, let's, I think some fans want to look at this from like the perspective of,

well, we think Kirk is great. We think that it's the defense, all of that. What do you think ownership, the group that's, you know, they're the ones spending billions of dollars uh to fund an nfl franchise and millions alone on kirk cousins maybe they're tired of seeing all of that not translate to a super bowl maybe they were sold on the fact that he was the missing piece um so you have to consider I think all of that and from there at that point looking into the fact that you know he at some point you might want to move on like he has a 45 million dollar cap hit next year so unless he's awesome this year and you extend him like you're kind of trapped like to either pay the 45 either have you know he's a 35 million dollar base salary next year which is absurd um or just kind of like it just feels like you're too locked into him

so in order to get on out from under that you need to start thinking about the future like now is your only window to do it and whether he plays great or not next year is a moot point. So like when I was writing this article, I was looking into, you know, day two, early day three, the names that came up to me, and we talked with Mel Kiper about this, Davis Mills from Stanford, Jamie Newman from Georgia, and Kellen Mund from Texas A&M. And, you know, I think anybody would want Kellen Mund at this point. I mean, he seems to be kind of jumping up there as a early day two pick. I mean, people are

watching, yes, it's pro days and routes on air, but he's launching 80-yard bombs, which it was kind of interesting. Mel actually called him a Kirk Cousins prototype. I don't see the comparison between the two, but um the one name you are hearing the Kirk Cousins prototype is Mac Jones but that's neither here nor there because I've gotten a couple questions of what if he's there at 14 do you think the Vikings would take him like I really don't but as far as it pertains to like the future you need to get somebody who is more of a project because Kirk is your starter in 2021 you need somebody to learn under Kirk Cousins for a year and if Kirk is great and you want to sign him to

a big extension he leads you to the Super Bowl what have you then you can go ahead and trade that second third round pick reminder they don't have a second round pick right now which I think makes this thing even trickier because if there's going to be a run on quarterbacks after the big five like if Davis Mills is the first guy off the because if there's going to be a run on quarterbacks after the big five, like if Davis Mills is the first guy off the board, he's definitely going to be the first guy, first quarterback taken before 78. And that's where the Vikings are slated to pick right now.

I believe it's 78 and 90 in the third round. So that's why be, be very cognizant about some movement that might happen on day one, where they could move back to try to get, you know, later into the first round and try to pick up an early second round pick. I think that that's probably the smartest play, but I just really believe that there is some pressure on Rick Spielman from ownership, from other places to try to get this right to try to get you know have some sort of plan beyond Kirk Cousins and also not wait until the sixth round I'm sorry not the Tom Brady story is great that doesn't happen that often it happens like once every 20 years that you have a

six round pick so go ahead and like don't do what you typically do don't fall into those same patterns and draft a quarterback on day two. It's not going to hurt you in the long run. Literally, at worst, it's a prospect that you can trade and that would carry a lot of value if you need to get draft capital, if you need to move the player. I don't think there's any harm in doing it that way. It's 78 and 90.

I know that people will still want to fill needs and i think you can at guard guard is maybe the position that always is not so highly touted that you might have top five guards in the entire class that are still there with the 78th or 90 pick uh and you can actually get really good value with those once upon a time pat elfline was really good value when it came to picking him in the third round. And even the fact that he gave you one good year as a starter was more than you expect out of most third round picks. So that's a position they should be looking at. But if you pick a quarterback at number 78 and that guy does anything for you, even if he is a backup who is decent and very

cheap, that's valuable to you. We saw with Case Keenum how valuable a backup quarterback can be. And even just around the league, if someone could come in and win two out of four games if your quarterback gets hurt, that's valuable right there. And they haven't brought back Sean Mannion, which sort of points to this. Maybe that's what they'll be looking at. Or Nate Stanley or Jake Browning, I'm not sure. But at least with this draft class, and I have not really been for the middle round guy because it blows up most of the time but with this draft class there is a little

intrigue with Newman a little intrigue with Kellen Mond for sure and uh I I would be if it's a second round prospect I'm interested because there's quite a few of those who have become good starters and once you get past the fourth I'm definitely out like fifth, sixth, seventh. Those guys never turn out. And people will say, oh, well, Kirk Cousins was a fourth round quarterback. Okay. But that's just like so rare that that actually pans out into something like don't like, don't go off history of like the anomalies. Like if you can do it in the second round and you can do it in the third, although I don't believe that any of those guys that I mentioned, maybe a Newman Newman could be like a third or fourth rounder. Helen Mund is going on early day too.

I'm firmly a believer in that Davis mills. Maybe the 11 starts could hold people up. He has a lot. I mean, he was on top rated prospect coming out of high school at his position. I believe 2017. He's strong arm he's accurate he just has to kind of sharpen the other tool set that he that he has to become an nfl quarterback what better place to do that than in minnesota where you're not going to be expected to start potentially for two years right like it's a good situation it would be an insurance policy with cousins and that that's the thing is that

even if you love cousins you have to acknowledge that the the situation does not set up for him to be here long term with how his contract is designed especially if he doesn't want to be which is the thing that kirk cousins has always for himself, which is give him a short-term situation so he can make a decision. If he tells them, sorry, guys, I'm not signing another extension. I want to hit the market again. There's nothing they can do about that. So even if you have a Kirk Cousins painting as your wall or something, it doesn't matter. He might not want to stay here, and they have to prepare for that situation.

The other point before I move on to another question is just that, you know, if your ownership, I mean, we will, you'll hear people talk about how QB wins don't matter and things like that. I can guarantee you the only thing to the Wilfs that mattered after Kirk Cousins was signed was what their record is. And with Kirk Cousins starting, it's 25, 21 and one. That's just not what you signed up for. And so you could see them having their meetings internally and saying, look, we like the guy and he's put up good numbers,

but that's not what we signed up for. So maybe we do need that quarterback on the rookie contract. So you can guarantee that these discussions are happening for sure. Yes. Inside the building. The rookie contract thing that you bring up, it's huge. Like that is something that if you get production out of somebody,

and if you're obviously you're not spending a first round pick on them. I just truly don't believe even if Mac Jones was there at 14, that they would do that. But you have 40 years and a cheap veteran and a cheap contract that, you know, if you, if the guy ends up being awesome, then you sign him to an extension and that's a home run draft pick.

That's job security, Matt. Like, that is what this is. If you're Rick Spielman, you're going into this draft having to nail it. And I know at this time last year we were talking about it with – because they were going into – at this point last year, neither Mike Zimmer nor Rick Spielman had contract extensions. So Spielman comes and gives you 15 picks, and that's great. And, you know, we got a ton of bites at the apple,

and he ends up getting that contract extension. I believe it was late July last year. But you know what they also did? They relied on their analytics team to go find them these UDFAs that they guaranteed $200,000 to, find them these UDFAs that they guaranteed two hundred thousand dollars to and the guys didn't even make it through freaking training camp I'm talking about Courtney Davis and Neville Clark that was an absolute disaster like when you think about getting things right and all the money that they guaranteed there I know this is kind of

like a small part of the equation but like let's not forget to talk about this because this is a team that relies heavily on the they love undrafted free agency love it some teams hate it this team loves it and where did that get you last year so that's why I think going into this experience kind of had a target on him for a while like okay it it clearly impressed ownership that you got all these draft picks you got Justin Jefferson you got another first rounder who may or may not be on your team this year depending on what happens in the legal proceedings um but you did all these things it looked great they gave you the contract extension before any of it played out like honestly he was lucky he got the extension at the time that he did but now it's like okay if I need to prove to ownership that like i can get us out of any

jam that we're in and the jam could be kirk cousins in the contract and the weight of that and it just not panning out what you thought you were signing up for in 2018 then this is the this is he's got to get it right this time and i'm not saying he didn't get it right last year but there's also no sixth and seventh rounders on this roster right now. Practice squad doesn't count. Like, you know what? I just think that I would really like to see the Vikings be more judicious with having maybe a smaller draft class, a five-, six-person draft class, instead of the 10, 11, however many it inevitably feels like they'll end up with because bites of the apple be damned.

If they don't actually do anything for you, it doesn't matter. I would just like to say that, um, you have anti Courtney Davis bias because it was spelled with a Q. Yeah. But it was spelled with a Q. Yeah. I mean, Courtney. Courtney just didn't, you know, that was, that was your nemesis from the minute he stepped on the field. I mean, the fact that like, that we were on a zoom call and someone said, Courtney and I like responded or like, oh no, we're talking about the player.

I'm like, he's got to go. There's only room for one of us on this, on this beat. Last thing for you. I just want to know who you guys are in this draft. If you've decided yet, if you haven't that's okay um but every year i just like to ask everybody like who's who's your who's your guys who are the ones that you think they are locks to make it i did well last year my my two were antoine winfield jr and michael pitman those were my guys last year. Michael Pittman, the guy from USC. I remember we were hot on him for a very long time. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, so he turned out pretty good last year with the Colts.

Winfield Jr., everyone knows that one. Stings, all Minnesotans. Who are your guys, two or three? Well, I think that like Quiddie Paye, and I've used him on a lot of my, what's it called? Like I've used him on a lot of my mock drafts lately. I did one for the Draft Network yesterday, our good friend Trevor Sykema. He's gone kind of, you know, through all the teams, having a reporter on from each team. And we went through kind of like a lengthy thing of what will the Vikings do at 14?

Will they go offensive line, defensive line? And I just feel like this is too easy of an answer for what we saw happen in free agency with this team and the way that I really think the board's going to fall, that it's going to be Sewell, Slater, and then Derrissaw off by 13. And I don't think that the Vikingsikings are a team that are that's going to reach i think that they will consider elijah vera tucker reach at 14 um because he's probably a guard in the nfl so like i've back in like like i think it was like february i was talking about quitty pay and like watching you know i mean let's start doing some research on him and kind of like his

story is pretty cool if you haven't had a chance to check that out I remember game day did a really cool thing about him and his family um so I mean he's got a great story nonetheless but like this isn't a good class for edge rushers at least not in the first round you're not I probably honestly if the Vikings don't stay at 14 I think that that they'll trade back to somewhere like 17, 18, 19. That's when I think the first edge rusher is going to go off the board, and I do think it'll end up being Quidipe. So he's somebody that I really like, just as an option outside of Daniil Hunter that you, you know,

he doesn't have the sack numbers. It's 11 and a half over four seasons, but this is a team that claims that sack numbers aren't everything and if you do believe that and you can buy into the development that he'll have with Andre Patterson um and a defensive line now that should be getting back obviously Michael Pierce they just signed Alvin Tomlinson they've got to Neil Hunter like if you have a first round pick at the edge position opposite Hunter I think you're in a really good spot. Certainly not saying that that's the best decision

because it leaves you completely vulnerable on your offensive line. But as far as premier top prospects, that for me, he's one of them. One right at the top for me. What do you think? Hey, everyone. We have a new special offer to tell you about with our friends at Symbol. If you go to symbol.app, that's S-I-M-B-U-L-L.A-P-P, and sign up as a first-time user with a $20 deposit into Symbol using the promo code PURPLE,

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he doesn't have crazy sack numbers, which could also be, you know, like you've said that it's not something that they're going to judge their entire decision on. So that would be like this is someone who needs to be developed for sure. But, I mean, when you look at the violence that the guy is capable of playing with, I just feel like they're going to watch that and get very, very excited with Andre Patterson. I'll give you one of mine. I like Elijah Moore maybe more than I'm hearing anyone ever talk about Elijah Moore. Yeah, the guy from Ole Miss.

Yeah, it feels like he's just sort of gone totally under the radar here and has not been discussed a whole lot. I don't see him super high in a lot of mock drafts. I think he usually gets like a second round draft pick or maybe a late first if someone's really high on him. But there haven't been too many that I've seen. And this is going off of, you know, kind of the highlight reel a game or two of poking around on YouTube. But I really like him. I mean, he tracks the football extremely well.

And this has become my thing to look for is when the quarterback just throws the ball up in the air, can the guy find it? Because we see Diggs and Thielen and Jefferson do this extremely well. And I feel like there are just all these other receivers who are being talked about more than Elijah Moore, including even another guy with the same name, Rondell Moore. But, but I, but I'm, I'm writing, I'm writing him down. I like Elijah Moore. I'm going to call him one of my guys. Okay. That's fair. I, I,

do you want me to go like super in the weeds for my next one? Okay. I was going to say I could save that. No. So we'll talk about more on the next one, but yeah, do it. Okay. Brady Christensen. It's an offensive tackle from, from BYU. I looked at his mock draft books. We're talking about like percentiles and kind of where this guy is, you know, whose comparisons are like right off the bat. Rashawn Slater, who's probably going in the first round,

probably going to be the second tackle taken off the board. Like guy was one of the best tackles in college football consistently over the last three seasons he's the highest graded offensive lineman by pff in 2020 started three years at left tackle if you could get this guy in the third round or fourth round if you're the Minnesota Vikings you knock it out of the park you save yourself essentially uh because you don't have an answer right now at left tackle I don't know what it is unless you're going to move Ezra Cleveland and you're going to just try to figure it out on the interior and let that be your problem but the ceiling here with this prospect somebody who's probably an early day three pick if not like like late day two, I really like it.

And I think that the Vikings would get an absolute steal if they went this route. Every time I watch Zach Wilson, he stood way out. Like this guy looks like he could play in the NFL. And maybe he'll be a guard instead because he's not the hugest guy, but he actually performed really well by the athletic scores, which you're not sure when someone comes from BYU, is he going to be the level of athlete that he needs to be, but he is. And I think that's a great one. And maybe, maybe he won't be as in the weeds. Like maybe we'll be surprised by him. We never know. Like sometimes I remember Josh Jones,

we had all the type for Josh Jones. He ended up as like a third rounder last year. So sometimes guys surprise us. I feel like Christensen is going to go higher than maybe a lot of the mocks have him yeah like they have them a lot a lot of people have this like early day three right now but like when you think about the run on tackles that's probably going to happen anywhere between 50 let's say um so early you know early second round like i would imagine that you've got like jackson carmen walker little um you know those guys are like late second round picks um there's

another guy i'm forgetting the guy from north dakota state um the left tackle for is it dylan raduns raduns no uh affloyd yeah affloyd sheriff Dylan Raddons. Um, you know, there'll be, there'll be a run on these tackles. And if the Vikings, that's the number one problem for them right now, they don't have a second round pick and they actually get in on the action. There's the guy, Samuel Cosme from Texas. He's a, you know, probably in that same mix 50 to the end of the second round. Can get involved in that yeah i was looking at mel kuyper's uh 4.0 mock and uh it just feels silly saying this uh it's like this is this guy's like 70 and he's calling them 4.0 mocks it's really funny but anyway uh yeah from like 47

through 55 it's just like tackle tackle tackle tackle so that that's the area that the vikings might have to try to trade into if they want one of those guys or just hope that somebody slips through the cracks like brian o'neill did at one point um i'll give you my last one is osa odigizawa from ucla uh this is just like a interior defensive lineman who has great get-off and quickness. Yeah, I know. And can get to the quarterback, I think. And what I've seen from him, I like. A lot of these two that become my guys are somebody that I follow that really likes them

and then puts together sort of a bunch of clips and then I watch them. That's how draft season ends up working. And somebody did a thread on Odigizwa and how quick he is off the snap. And the Vikings right now, they have two beasts that are going to shut down the run, but I still think that at some point, if there's a guy they really like, like Odigizwa, that is there, they should take him in the middle rounds. I think that at the very top there isn't much defensive um interior talent other than christian barmore but in the middle

there are guys who could be rotational rushers who are good so i'm i'm going to throw his name out there as a guy that i'm interested in okay i like that i like that all right well this was fun we'll do more we'll do more for sure next week. And we are almost there, our draft scout. We are almost there. I mean, it's, what, two weeks from today. Yeah? Yeah. Can you believe it?

Right? Like, it feels like the last, like, couple weeks, like, post-free agency and the fallout from that of just, like, coming down and being like, all right, wow wow they guaranteed 41 million dollars to defensive players either on rework deals like Anthony Barr or new players that were brought in um and some old faces like Mackenzie Alexander but you know it is wild to me thinking because the more mocks that I do and the more I look at it that they could end up going defense in the first round and where things stand

like buckle up because when you don't have a second round pick right now to me this feels like this is in these next couple weeks especially leading into draft day itself things are going to get interesting because I just I just cannot see this team standing pat without having some pick in a second round. And there's just been so many things to happen in this NFL offseason that, to quote Kevin Garnett, anything is possible. So we'll get together in a week and we'll see what happens then, Courtney. Thank you for your time.