Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - ESPN's Courtney Cronin plays "Will That Guy Make The Team"

Episode Date: August 26, 2020

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Matthew Collar here along with ESPN's Courtney Cronin. Courtney, we learned officially no fans in the stands for the first two games, but I heard an interview on WCCO with Lester Bagley, and he said that they are hoping that it eventually happens and they're targeting the Atlanta game as a possibility if things change for the better with COVID in Minnesota. So your reaction to no fans for the first two games at least for the Vikings? Not surprised at all because I go off of, you know, facts and the CDC

and what the guidelines are in the state of Minnesota that you can't have crowds bigger than 250 people in indoor arenas, environments, the whole thing. So, you know, what Mike Zimmer said, I'm sure probably didn't rub some people the right way, but about, like, you know, it's too expensive to have a stadium that's, like, 60,000 people. You're only letting 250 people?

Hell no. That's dumb. Like, that's not a logical thing to do. If it was, like, a couple thousand, sure but um i've seen some people in my twitter mentions today who are like just so distraught over this like they didn't see it coming i mean my goodness the fact that we have football at all right now like let's just be grateful for the fact that there are games being played and you can watch them at home i know that i have like the really harsh stance on it people will criticize me because oh you're a media member you get I know that I have, like, the really harsh stance on it, and people will criticize me because, oh, you're a media member.

You get to be there. You get to, like, watch the games. Like, it's different for us, too. Like, these practices, you know, don't have the juice that they would if they were fans here. It doesn't have the same sort of feel. I mean, the whole operation is different this year. But, you know, I understand where Lester's coming from with that.

I heard the same thing. And I know some teams are, you know, at least what Miami's trying to do and having a limited capacity, and I know there's others. It makes sense. But, you know, I think just going forward, having the mindset that if you get it like that at some point this season, it's a luxury, but it is not what's expected this year whatsoever. Yep. not the, it's not what's expected this year whatsoever. Yep, and we know that it's a lot to

be decided still on how they're going to work things out with in-game presentation and all that sort of stuff, how the NFL is going to even the playing field, or if they care about even the playing field when it comes to the noise issue and all those things. But I like what you said just now of let's just be happy that this is happening because it's an incredibly difficult task that they've been able to handle so far. And to get the Minnesota Vikings on the field with the Green Bay Packers for week one is an impressive feat considering that there were times throughout this offseason I thought we're going to get a delayed season or this isn't going to happen at all or the NFL and players aren't going to figure

out how the money is going to be distributed and all the things that we've gone through to get here, I feel the same way as you. The connection to camp, whether it's from the fans or just us, we used to be right on the sidelines and now we have a pretty good distance between us. So when people ask, how does Drew Samia look, it's like, well, if I get to see his one-on-ones, I might get a good look at it. But, I mean, we're kind of far away and things like that that make our jobs a little bit more challenging. But I'm glad to be there and glad that they're taking as much measures as they possibly can here. I do think that the Vikings, if they had been allowed, they would have tried a bunch of different ways to fit fans in the stands.

But I can't say that I'm too sad to see that it's going to happen because I think the safer you are, the better chance we have to go through this entire season and make it work. I think at some point, you know, we'll be able to like reevaluate kind of where things are going forward. But we want the season to continue. We want a non-stoppage of play where they have to take a month off or something like that because you have these massive COVID outbreaks. I think going state by state, it's going to be different.

Some states, I mean, Minnesota, by and large, has done really well with the COVID pandemic and been able to limit the number of cases. And we haven't seen, like, a massive spike here. But I think playing it on the safe side will benefit you, and you'll have a return elsewhere. And that might not be fans in the stands that year, but that could be a season that actually plays, you know, 16 games total, like where you're not having the Vikings stopping play in the middle of September, October, because we see the team get a spike in cases.

You have to factor in, too. They're still traveling for games. Like, that opens up your risk to exposure. They're still, you know, not keeping everybody in a bubble environment. Like, I think the NFL has done significantly well, all things considered, outside of the crazy thing that happened on Sunday with the lab in New Jersey, of making sure that they can actually participate in their season and not have the quandary that was presented by what baseball had going on. They've taken the precautions really seriously, and that's a good thing.

And let's just hope that they continue to do that so we can continue to talk about football that's actually happening let's do that I want to start with BC Johnson I wrote about BC Johnson and this expands to the rest of the wide receiver group as well but the fact that he is still the number two wide receiver and has been tape to tape for the first 10 days of training camp I think says a lot about his development and it tells us that they feel like he is ready to be that next guy that they found in the weeds in this in the late rounds of the draft or undrafted and take a step forward here and I want your opinion on how much they need from B.C. Johnson. Because they don't need B.C. Johnson to be Stephon Diggs here, to Adam Thielen. They have other playmakers.

But what do you expect him to do in terms of how much he plays, how many catches he might have, how often he gets targeted with the fact that they do have more playmakers now than they did last year? Yeah, I think there's definitely a difference in the number of, in like the playing time between the number two and number three receiver, which is why I just tell people, like, don't get too caught up in the fact that BC Johnson is at number two right now, because they don't, they don't run a lot of 11 personnel. Like, they just don't. So, I mean, you're going to have a lot more 12 and 21 where you're seeing these two receiver sets. And obviously it's going to be Adam Thielen. And then opposite Adam Thielen, right now it's looking like it's going to be B.C. Johnson.

I think that he's made significant strides from where he was last year. He got a really good opportunity, and he seized that opportunity and turned it into a pretty good rookie campaign for a seventh-round pick that was the only rookie to make the roster because Phelan got hurt. So we saw an opportunity, and he took it. You know, I think that it's not – you can't say, though, that, oh, well, just because Justin Jefferson's not the number two right now, that that means Ola B.C. Johnson is going to be Stephon Diggs

and he's Stephon Diggs' replacement. Like, that's not – that's just – I think that they're going to be Stephon Diggs and he's Stephon Diggs replacement. Like that's not, that's just, I think that they're going to do things differently because I mean differently, but also the same, they use two receiver sets last year. There's a big difference drop off between number two and number three. So I don't anticipate that changing, but just the amount of like tight ends that they use in the passing game, seeing maybe an uptick for running backs in the passing game, you know, specifically a guy like Alexander Madison, whatever happens with Alvin Cook I mean Madison has demonstrated

he has a really keen ability to catch the ball so that's going to affect how how you know wide receiver target share could potentially go but also just like with guys further down the depth chart so I don't uh you know I'll say that Johnson's probably, you know, assuming, because it's very easy to think that, you know, Jefferson, he wasn't just drafted as a slot receiver, right? So, like, he could certainly, and he's gotten a lot of really good first team reps, like, more and more as camp's gone on. Do I think he's their day one, number two?

Probably not. I think it's probably just, like, too much too soon, given the lack of time that he had this offseason. And Johnson already knows the offense. But I think a successful season for Johnson would probably be somewhere along the lines of 40 to 50 catches max, 600 or 700, 800 receiving yards, somewhere in that range. Because we know that the majority of the targets are going to go Thielen's way. He's going to see an uptick. And, you know, teams are going to try to, you know, I think they've learned how to contain Adam Thielen in ways that, you know, when you didn't see Stephon Diggs in the game last year,

it made it look a lot different than when he was in and Thielen was on the other side of the field. So it's like the Vikings are going to have to get pretty creative with that. But until you have an established playmaker on the other side, it's going to be difficult. So, you know, I think the better question is, well, when does – or the follow-up question, because you obviously asked a great question. No, I wasn't offended.

I was not offended by my work but like I think it's just like well when does Justin Jefferson take on that role when do they want to throw him in the outside because we know he can play the slot he's excellent like and he runs really good routes and that's one thing that Gary Kubiak and all the coaches um have said about him I mean that's why they drafted him but when can he win on the outside? When can he draw attention away from Thielen to free Thielen up in that sense? So there's a couple of follow-ups off of that question that I have for you because I don't know exactly when we'll see that elevation from Justin Jefferson that we saw from Irv Smith, for example, last year because that came because of an injury and the same with

B.C. Johnson. And when Adam Thielen was out, BC Johnson did a really terrific job. I had this stat in my article that he was one of the 10 best in terms of quarterback rating when targeted during that stretch from week seven to week 14 when Adam Thielen was largely out. So I do have expectations for him. My question for you would be, if you were trying to predict first half versus second half for Justin Jefferson in terms of receptions, a lot of the prognosticators have put Justin Jefferson in that 50 catch range that they think he's going to be a big part of the offense, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was slow out of the gate and then saw him emerge

later on to a much bigger role the other thing too is the Vikings did use the tight ends all the time I expect them to use Irv Smith all the time again but in terms of 11 personnel they didn't have a number three wide receiver last year to use like who were they going to put in when Adam Thielen was out so they kind of had to go in that direction with multiple running backs or multiple fullbacks so I do think we could see an increase in that by maybe a lot. Well, I think that Gary Kubiak, I mean, his offense is based so heavily on the tight ends in the passing game. So I think that the amount of 12 and 21 that you're going to see

will probably resemble largely what we saw last year, but maybe even more. Because think about it. Like, they had their tight ends. I remember, like, what's it called? Like, Kyle Rudolph was talking to us at some point. Maybe it was, like, week four or five, and he just kind of had, like, a tone to it where you could tell he wasn't happy that his role was, like, as a blocker. And then, eventually, by, like, week eight, they started incorporating the tight ends

more in the passing game. Well, it's like, I know people say, oh, they underutilize their tight ends. They learn their last and they're going to incorporate them more from the beginning. Well, you know, if you had a number three receiver, you wouldn't have to do that as much. You wouldn't have to lean heavily on that, but Gary likes that. Gary's had that like, you know, for the last, like from Houston to Baltimore, to Denver, I mean, that's been a staple of his offense.

I really don't anticipate all of a sudden they go from, like, the least amount of 11 personnel to even being in, like, the top half. Like, you have a lot of receivers at your disposal here. I mean, even Tajay Sharp has looked pretty good in training camp, and, you know, he's probably the number four right now. Like, I think that five make the roster. I don't know what to think about KJ Osborne at this point just because he's so far down the depth chart.

It's like, well, is he going to be a returner? Is that how he's going to make his way onto the roster? Because if you look at it, it's the three we mentioned, Sharp and Beebe. That's probably your five. But do the bottom two, Sharp and Beebe, do they have roles? I mean, Beebe's worked a little bit on punt return, so maybe that's something that he ends up, maybe that's his route to the roster. But, like, do we actually see defined roles for anybody outside those top three?

I'm just not so sure that that's going to be the case. Get back to the conversation in just a minute. But first, I have to tell you about something very cool from our friends at SodaStick. You probably know them for Minnesota sports-inspired hats and shirts and hoodies that are screen printed in Minnesota, but SodaStick also has artwork as well. You're going to want to check out their Man Cave prints, 20 by 24 prints representing everything Minnesota sports, from awesome throwback logos to legendary plays at first base to famous disgusting acts in Green Bay.

They are on sale now for just $35. You can't go out to games at the moment, but you can liven up where you're watching them from. You want to get SodaStick's very cool prints. Go to SodaStick.com. That's S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com and use the promo code PurpleInsider for free shipping. What do you think that the order is right now on the depth chart for the wide receivers? Because I do agree with you that they're not going to go 11 personnel crazy,

but I also think that they're going to be in more situations where they have to score points, where they have to play from behind at times, where they will need four wide receivers, and they're going to use Irv Smith a lot, but they also have just more talent. You mentioned Tajay Sharp. He was getting first-team reps today. Alex Hollins has looked very good. Chad Beebe, the coaches have always liked Chad Beebe. Who's in the mix here?

How many of these guys make the team? And I've also thought about, like, will they use potentially four tight ends if they want Brandon Dillon to be a part of this, or is he going to end up on the practice squad? Like, there's a lot still to be decided in the order here. Oh, yeah, absolutely. To answer your first question, I think the receiver order is Thielen, Johnson, Jefferson, Sharp, Beebe.

I mean, that to me is, you know, probably about as cut and dry as you can get just because like what you mean, but BB had some good reps in camp. It's no knock on him. It's just like, you know, with what they want to do and where they have guys playing in the slot and who is playing in the slot, that's going to push him further down. Cause he's just, he's not an outside receiver. So there's that. But like,

like you mentioned with a tight end, they like Brandon Dillon enough to keep him on the active roster last year. Obviously it wasn't a very long stay, but you know, in that same vein, they really did see, you know, a good,

a good amount from him to know that, okay, this is somebody we want to keep around. And you know, when you, there's only so much you can glean from like, you know, training camp practices. I get it.

But like, think about it today. I mean, Irv Smith over the middle on that, you know, that red zone touchdown that he had. And then you see at the end of practice, Jake Browning. I mean, that was a terrific catch by Tyler Conklin in the back of the end zone. Like they can utilize these tight ends in, in the passing game in ways that they haven't been able to do with, with Kyle Rudolph.

I mean, Kyle's been kind of limited in a way to being a red zone tight end. And he's very, very good at it, but it's like, if you can create mismatches by putting Irv in the slot and trying to take advantage of that by giving cousins a trusted over the middle ofthe-middle-of-the-field threat, then I think that this offense could look really dangerous

because that's going to free up your guys on the outside in ways that you probably haven't seen the Titans been able to do before for the receiver position, if that makes sense. It does. What's so interesting about this group of weapons, if you include running backs, Titans, and wide receivers, is that you have a bunch of different people that you could sell me on how it's going to work.

You could tell me, yeah, like Kyle Rudolph, he's going to just work mostly in the red zone and possession, tight end. Irv Smith's going to go down the field more. Tyler Conklin will contribute. Tajay Sharp will be good. Chad Beebe will mix in. Justin Jefferson will get it. And Alex Hollins will surprise us.

There's also a world where none of that stuff really works. Okay, we know the running backs will be good. Madison's not going to forget how to play football, and Delvin Cook is going to be good as well. But last year they're the number one screen team. Does that happen again? Tajay Sharp has looked pretty good so far in camp and has more or less

picked up the offense quickly because it was very similar in Tennessee, but we don't know if he actually becomes a part of this offense or if Justin Jefferson does work into that slot role and eventually up to a number two and overtake B.C. Johnson. I guess that there are a lot of reasons to believe, wow, this could actually be an offense that has more weapons and more robust, if you will, than last year, or not having that guy who is the guarantee on the box, Stephon Diggs, will, you know, carry you the same way. It leaves a lot of questions to be answered, I think. Yeah, and that's like why it's going to take time.

Like, people expecting Justin Jefferson to be that guy day one, even as talented as he is. Like, you don't draft a slot receiver in the first round. Like, Kirk Cousins had that quote because I asked him just about, like, thinking about last year. I remember one day at practice, there was something on the far side of the field towards the road. Drew Petzing, the wide receivers coach, was working with the four rookies.

I don't believe – I'm fairly certain B.C. Johnson was not over there because you could just tell he was like eons ahead of the other guys. But it was like Davion Davis, Dylan Mitchell. I think it was Alexander Hollins and there was somebody else. And these guys are learning how to line up correctly and how to get out of their breaks. They were so far behind um what you would expect I mean but maybe that is what you expect with rookies because I asked cousins about it like I was like well how much further is Justin along

than everybody else and he's like you know it's he said quote it's not like a dramatic oh my goodness he's like a 10th year player and usually guys are absolutely clueless I think he's just doing a nice job here getting the play call in the huddle, getting out, getting lined up, knowing where to go, what to do, the depth to go on the route, and ultimately why you bring him in is for the natural stuff. That's a loaded statement. There's so much in there to like take out of that because that stuff, getting lined up, running the right route depth is really hard.

And like seeing a rookie do it, you're not, like, completely blown away because you expect that from a first-round pick. But let's not forget, four years ago they had a rookie receiver who didn't know what the hell a route tree was and did not know how to do any of those aforementioned things. Right. So it's kind of like you expect Justin Jefferson to immediately come in here and fill that narrative of I am the

replacement for Stephon Biggs but the time it takes to get there to get all of that to fall into place don't expect it day one I mean yes he looks good in camp right now like he's looked really good I'll say that I mean watching him with the second team offense going up against Gladney um they've had some good battles nothing like, like, super crazy that, like, you would see, like, on the highlight reel. I don't think there's been any of that. But he's looked good, and he had caught a really nice deep ball today from Kirk Cousins.

So I think that it's going to take time. It might not take an entire season. It might not take an entire four years, like it did with Laquan Treadwell, their last first-round pick. But, you know, I would just caution people that like don't expect it to be week one. It could be. I mean, he could surpass B.C. Johnson in the time that training camp has left, but I just wouldn't bank on that right now. I don't think that's a safe bet. Give me your number of catches for Justin Jefferson over the first half of the season, first eight games, and then over the first half of the season,

first eight games, and then over the second eight games. Like how many receptions does he have early on and then later on? Because I feel the same way as you, that there's nothing that I've watched that I've said, uh-oh, this could be a problem with Justin Jefferson. Yeah. And the athletic traits, the ability to just rise up and catch the football, there's a natural way that he runs and that he moves that's on a different level than a lot of the other wide receivers that you can just tell by watching. But I think that the usage so far tells us he's not ready to take on a number two role. And one thing about Gary Kubiak's offense is the scheme will do the work for you if you know where to run, who to read, where to go, how to sell the route correctly. And that's what B.C. Johnson is basically making his bones on here. He knows the ins and outs.

He's been in his offense, like Justin Jefferson has. And I know that Justin said, oh, it's the exact same thing that we ran at LSU. Similar, sure. I mean, there's pro-style concepts that, you know, the Tigers ran, but it's not the same offense. I mean, and that's just the benefit of, like, anybody, any rookie coming into the NFL, especially rookie receivers, of being able to pick up a different style playbook.

That just is what it is. Yeah, there's so many more reads and things that defenses do to confuse you and frustrate you in the NFL than there is college. And so even if it's the same playbook, it can't be the same looks that you're seeing. So first half, second half, give me his catch numbers. I'll probably go 18 catches for the first half of the season. I'm kind of basing it off of that 50-catch sweet spot. I think that that's fair for someone like Justin Jefferson

if you expect him to be a number two. So then that would leave me with, what, like 32 catches in half a year? Yeah, I like it. It's a conservative bet, but like we said, it's going to take him some time to integrate into the offense because as Thielen, I mean, think of it this way. Thielen is Cousins' security blanket right now because none of the other guys, I mean, yeah, Cousins and B.C. Johnson, you know, played together last year, but it was truly out of necessity.

Thielen is his guy. That's the guy his target share is going to go up, you know, the looks that he gets. But he's also, you know, until you have someone opposite him that can draw away attention from Adam Thielen, you know, that's going to be hard. He's going to have to sell that, too. He's going to have to be, like, all that and a bag of chips for Kirk Cousins, just to put it lightly. I mean, and it's just, it's who's going to be the one who can develop the fastest, like the race in season. Because all this stuff right now, I mean, is great and everything, and they're trying to get guys as many looks as they can

and figure out, you know, where Justin Jefferson is in his progression. But, you know, they've got time because they don't expect somebody, like, you know, the narrative that, like, he's Stephon Diggs' day one replacement is just kind of false because it took Stephon – I mean,, Stefan Diggs is an excellent player, but he wasn't five years into his NFL career. He was not, he was a different player and a more polished player than he was day one.

You've got to give Justin Jefferson the same sort of benefit of the doubt that it's going to take him some time too. But he's going to be an excellent playmaker. I mean, you don't draft somebody that high and expect them to be limited to running routes, you know, running, you know, 30, playing 30% of the game out of the slot.

Like, you expect him to become an outside receiver, and he can certainly sell his routes out there. I mean, he's done fairly well with it. Just give him some more time to develop. All right, let's stay on the rookie train here with the corners. Cam Dantzler gets the highlights early on, and there have been fewer of those as we've gone on, which does not say anything bad about him, but just kind of as expected.

You make a couple of plays, everybody learns your name, and then you settle into, all right, now everybody's ready for you and so forth. Jeff Gladney still mixing in. They're still doing a rotation. The way that I think it ends up going is when they play the base package it will be Hughes and Holton Hill and when they play out of the nickel Mike Hughes will be the nickel cornerback and then my guess right now is that Cam Dantzler ends up on the outside and not Jeff Gladney but still to be decided here I think you're spot on with the base package so when they're

running um you know they're they're running their two-corner look, and you've got three linebackers in, it's going to be Hughes on the outside and then Hill on the outside. Yeah. And then, I mean, I know that they've given Gladney with, you know, other units, they've given him some outside reps, but I think Cam Dantzler is probably a better fit out there. And Gladney, I mean, Gladney's had a lot of nickel reps.

And that's been impressive too. So I'd say, you know, when they go in nickel, which is basically their starting defense anyways, it looks like it could very easily be Dantzler on the outside, Hughes in the slot, and then Hill on the other side. And I'm sure that'll make people be like, well, then why did you use a first round pick on Jeff Gladney? He could be your nickel corner.

He could very easily be your nickel corner. And why would you not want depth like that too? I think it's not a bad problem to have. Like if a third round pick ends up playing over a first round picker, I mean, Jeff Gladney's going to play, but I think that you're, I like that combination you had because it's one we've seen happen quite a bit in camp. Right, and they have mixed Jeff Gladney in an outside corner

where he played at TCU with Dantzler back and forth, and I wouldn't be surprised – I think his ceiling, though, is at – like his highest ceiling is at a nickel corner. Yeah, I agree. Just based on his physical aspects, like he isn't that tall he's very quick um but Dantzler has that height and length that Mike Zimmer likes for his outside corners i wouldn't be surprised if week one we see the same rotation that they don't decide on okay

Dantzler's going to play every snap out there and in the nickel and that's how it's going to be i wouldn't be surprised if the first couple of weeks or maybe even the full season we see those guys going back and forth if they're pretty equal in in kind of a rotation there because I think right now they're both pretty even maybe Dantzler's a little bit ahead of Jeff Gladney but it's hard to say exactly I mean we don't know the meetings and and how well they're picking up the defense and reacting. Zimmer says that Dantzler's done a really good job there, but the fact that they're still rotating, it wouldn't surprise me if they needed actual games to decide, okay, which guy is really farther ahead, which guy is really better set to handle all of this. And the thing

I think that is decided that I wasn't sure about when we got to camp is Holton Hill locked into a spot, and then Mike Hughes is going to move into the nickel and outside in the base, which I think is exactly the right move to use Mike Hughes that way. Yeah, exactly. It's like you know you have flat flexibility with Hughes, and it's kind of like he's the one who determines where everybody else goes in nickel and in base, or at least in nickel. Like, it's like, where do you play him there? And, yeah, I agree with you because they haven't had, you know, defense looks great right now because, you know, you're not going against, like, it's not live speed.

It's not, you don't have preseason games. You don't know how the young corners are going to handle things with penalties, too. I mean, think about how costly some of those penalties were that Xavier Rose had last year. games um you don't know how the young corners are going to handle things with penalties too i mean think about how um how costly some of those penalties were that xavier rose had last year those bi penalties like really his whole career yes and like yeah and but i mean you know that's something you've got to factor in too but like also one thing we didn't mention jeff gladney's coming off of a meniscus surgery that happened in March after the combine. So they want, I'm sure they want to be cautious with that. Yes, he's back in practice, but meniscus tears are weird.

And it's like, you don't want to throw somebody in live speed, you know, against Aaron Rodgers week one and, you know, be worried about him re-injuring himself and then you're down another corner. Like, I think the rotation thing is not the worst idea at all. They did it out of necessity last year just because things got so bad, but now they need to figure out who can actually play because, you know, we can, everybody looks great right now, but, like, until we actually see how they handle, like, you know, just handle real NFL action. Like, it's hard.

To me, it's not completely set. Like, it looks good, and I think that it is a nice surprise that the corners don't look terrible right now, which, you know, I think you think, okay, there's a complete overall. There's going to be a massive learning curve. Well, it doesn't look like that on paper. But then again, what are we judging it off of? They're going against their own offense,

so it's not like we have that much to go on. But I think, at least for me, when people ask me, what's your biggest surprise in camp, it's that that is a pretty pleasant surprise, at least right now. Yeah, yeah. I think both of them are pretty far along for this moment, but are you still sort of putting in your base stuff and learning the basics as opposed to where teams are going to make checks,

they're going to make changes, they're going to make different reads than what your quarterback is going to make? And I don't think that the preseason really has any of that stuff either. It's sink or swim when you get into the games. And we've seen this before with early Mackenzie Alexander where you thought, well, he should be playing out there because he's a second-round draft pick, and then it was a real struggle, and it took him a couple of years.

So we won't really know until we get out there. Other than that, though, has there been some other result that has surprised you or that you've been like, I thought that this player would be a bigger part or something like that? I guess I'm not terribly surprised, but the left guard stuff, you know, they had Ezra Cleveland initially with the twos and they were rotating Avion Collins and Dakota Dozier with the ones. Well, then the COVID scare happened, and Ezra Cleveland was actually one of those people, one of the eight players that was affected by that, so he's out.

So that practice, you have Collins starting with the ones and then Dozier rotating it. And then when Dozier goes in, then Collins is with the twos. So it feels like they stuck on that on Sunday and they've kept with that ever since. And that could be number one of two things. It could be, well, we really aren't sure just yet about the left guard spot. We want to give these two because one of them is going to be a starting left guard.

We want to give one of these two the best possible chance, most opportunity to figure out who we want in that spot. It could be that. And then it also leads to, as for Cleveland, probably is not competing for a day one job. And that's, you know, that's, I think that's very evident at this point. And I think it also shows you that they're conceding a little bit that he isn't ready just yet for that role, which is okay. You're asking him to learn a position that he never played before. Yes, it is still on the left side of the line. It's, you know, we talked to him last week.

Things happen quicker inside. That's the big cliche. So maybe it'll make him a better left tackle when he eventually goes and plays the position that he was drafted to play here. But that's probably the only one that I'm just kind of like that stood out to me. I know we've talked about it just where, okay then what does ezra cleveland do this year because you know he hasn't taken any reps at left tackle what it's not like he's you know been your second

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Right, yeah, and that does leave you to question why do you guys change everyone's position all the time i mean this is not just the vikings it's all coaches they like i just i feel like coaches do this everywhere i'm like where have you seen this work yeah and and it you know works with the faddy adenabo but he ends up going back to defensive tackle and maybe it'll work with Jalen Holmes but he goes back to defensive or I'm sorry defensive end and you know the same thing might happen with Ezra Cleveland I think if he's not competing for the job through the first four weeks of the season in practice then what are we doing then why was he there was it just because of the depth chart that ole udo and

rashad hill are actually good backup tackles and you felt like you didn't need another one or you wanted him one step away from getting in and actually getting some action so you moved in positions or you were kind of throwing something at the wall hoping that he would be great in there right away and you would get a big upgrade over what you had from left guard last year at this moment with him with the threes see with the twos I felt like okay he's in waiting with the threes it feels like what are you doing right so yeah I mean I guess we'll find out if that changes I agree because like it kind of feels like all right maybe it didn't work out well enough but it's also could be a numbers game because it could be that you truly think that, you know,

Collins and Dozier 1A and 1B at left guard, I mean, we'll see. We'll truly see if this is going to be that much better than either Al Fine or even going back two years to, like, Tom Compton at left guard. Like, you hope it'll be better. And, you know, honestly, I kind of struggle to tell, like, who's ahead and who's not. I mean, Dozier, it looked like for a while that he was, like, taking more of the first team reps if you were actually counting them out,

but then they're splitting them. Like, I don't know. They said they wanted to have the offensive line set after, like, three practices. Clearly that hasn't happened. No, it hasn't. Which is not an indictment on them it was just kind of almost like a little bit too much putting cart before the horse there by saying we want to be

done with the offensive line have it set and ready to go um so we'll see but you know I think for Ezra Cleveland you know does it hinder his progress to learn a position he may not end up actually playing I don't know maybe the more maybe the more you know the better you are and the better you know and maybe he'll he will be kind of that collins role um collins is kind of like the backup backup swing tackle for the last few years right maybe that's what cleveland is this year um amy riley reeves had injury before so and and you know if brian o'neill got hurt maybe that's something that, you know, Cleveland obviously would be the first one you'd think of outside of like Rashad Hill to play that position.

But maybe Ole Udo's passed him on the depth track there too. So I guess we'll see. I'm not incredulous about it. I'm more like, huh. Okay. All right. Let's see how this plays out, I guess. All right.

I want to play a little game with you called, does this guy make the team? We're 10 days in. does this guy make the team? We're 10 days in. Does this guy make the team? Let's just start out with a little music. Does this guy make the team? I guess we'll see. Brian Cole, does he make the team? No.

I don't know what. I mean, I am very unimpressed. I mean, I just, I don't know. I don't know what. I mean, I am very unimpressed. I mean, I just, I don't know. No. Like, they have, like, terrible deep safety. That's why they keep working out, guys. That's why they're trying to bring back George Iloka. Yeah, shout out George Iloka.

Great guy. Great guy. I hope he comes back here. I loved, he was awesome. And he was very honest, too. I appreciate the honesty. But, no, I mean, like, you know, Josh Metellus has looked decent, but behind him, it's like, there's no depth. That's why they brought in Steven Parker and why they keep working out

safeties. So I don't think Brian Cole makes the team. No. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, does this guy make the team? KJ Osborne.borne tough one right now because doesn't it feel like with your you know your punt returner is probably going to be Chad Beebe because of what he does as a receiver and as a returner I think they try to sneak I mean it's hard I think they try to sneak him onto the practice squad but that I mean he'll probably get scooped up somewhere I mean think about teams that have crappy wide receiver situations right now um I mean you might not I mean claiming guys off of waivers like who are rookies who in a year where you don't have any film on them except college film might be a little tough but um if you had to ask me today

I'd probably say no I'd probably say no he does not make the team but he was everybody's pick early on yeah yeah now I think that there's still a chance he uh owns the Marcus Sherrill's memorial roster spot of just being a punt return and punt return only um but now I can't remember this rule but I thought that they were implementing something about protecting some guys this year who can't be claimed by other teams that that's a different thing but I'll have to check into it so maybe if it's draft picks who are getting cut, then you can protect them or something like that. I'll have to check.

All right. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Does the sky make the team? I changed the thing. I mean, gosh, you're just like, wow. Does the sky make the team? Kenny Wilkes and DJ Wanham, do they make the team? Yeah, Wilkes has looked good.

Yes, yep. I think that was my – he was my Mr. Mankato pick, which I am particularly proud of. But those second-team reps that he's gotten I think are a very good sign that he is in a solid position. And DJ Wanham's a fourth-round pick, So you can't, you can't for me, let's hear Willie Beavers. If you're a fourth round, fourth round pick, you're making the freaking team.

Do, do, do, do, do. Cause I agree with both. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Does this guy make the team? God, you just keep changing the song. Jake Browning, Brandon Dillon, or Alexander hollins how many of those make the team um none probably i think that browning i mean you'll keep two quarterbacks stanley and browning will be on the practice squad just being its quarterback and you're in the middle of a pandemic if kurt cousins gets covid you're in trouble so you want to have quarterbacks around um alex Hollins, they really like him, but I don't think he makes the team. I think he's a practice squad guy.

And who was my third one? Brandon Dillon. That's hard because they had four tight ends last year, but might they go heavy elsewhere? Could they keep six receivers? No, they probably wouldn't do that. Do I think that Brandon Dillon's going to pull a same thing he did last year where he's on the roster for week one,

but then like ends up getting cut and put on the practice squad? I don't. I'll just take the opposite outcome they had last year and say he doesn't make the team right now. All right. But they keep him around. I'll probably be wrong on it. It's fine.

I'll be wrong. Yeah, well, you know, around. I'll probably be wrong on it. It's fine. I'll be wrong on it. Yeah, well, you know, we always get one or two wrong on the 53 or 7 or whatever. So one last round here. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Does this guy make the team? That's how it went. Yeah. Hercules Mata'afa, Eddie Yarbrough, Anthony Zettel.

Ooh. Because I already said Willikees and Wanham will make the team. Yeah. I think Yarbrough does make the team. I agree. He got first team reps when Daniel Hunter and Jalen Holmes were out

on that Sunday practice, which I think that was the one time, because they were hit by COVID, or alleged COVID, that we got to see like supposed COVID. That could be a song, supposed COVID. But that to me gave me a really good indication of where they feel their depth is. So I say that Yarbrough makes the team. Zettel, I just, I don't know.

I'm trying to say no for right now. And then who was my other one? It was Yarbrough, Zettel, and wow. Was it Mata'afa? Did I say Mata'afa? Yeah, Mata'afa. Yeah, Hercules makes the team. Think so?

I think that honestly, and I know Andre Patterson said this the other day, they're going to rotate some at that three technique spot. Like they don't have a true, like I think that Jaleel Johnson, that's his position to lose, right? But they're going to, you know, in different sub packages and other things like that, and on third down, I mean, are you going to have him in there all the time? Probably more than he did Shamar Stephan,

but I think they really like what they have in Hercules Mata'afa and how he can kind of, you know, if you throw him in there on third down, if you throw him in there on obvious passing downs that you're not using Jalen Holmes, because they always talk, oh, we want to keep these guys fresh in the fourth quarter. That's your fresh in the fourth quarter type guy. So I think they, yeah, I think he makes the team. Okay.

I'm going to try a 53 tomorrow, I think, and see what I come up with. I know. I'm doing one at the end of the week. So, I mean, I'm not going to have the same sort of music that you gave me, but I'll sing it in my head as I'm working it out. Okay, perfect. Yeah, when you're working these out. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.

Okay. This was fun. Does this guy make the team? Oh, wow. That's good. Maybe saxophone solo at the end. Do, do, do, do, do, do. Does this guy make the team?

All right. Oh, wow. Jazzing it up. Yeah, jazz it up. Yeah, that's the reboot version, and they put it on Netflix only. Okay. It's a good place to stop. All right. We'll talk to you later.

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