Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - ESPN's Courtney Cronin reacts to the Vikings' roster cut down and picks the schedule

Episode Date: September 5, 2020

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Matthew Collar here. And to react to all of the Vikings cutdowns and what could potentially happen, which I think is the more interesting topic, is Courtney Cronin from ESPN. And, Courtney, now we can say, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. Did this guy make the team, right? now we can say, do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. Did this guy make the team, right? We sure can. I was hoping that you would keep the song going because I know that the loyal listeners out there, they love it. And I love it, too.

I don't want it to go anywhere, but obviously it's going to have to be retired once we hit week one. So I'm glad we at least have one more chance. And, hell, even tomorrow we might have another chance because the roster in the shape that it's in right now uh certainly is not the final roster by any stretch I mean they've got two safeties on the roster right now they've got some work to do but kind of an anticlimactic cut down day usually in years past I'm sitting in the same spot on my couch for 12 hours they're you know cutting Laquan Treadwell and you know releasing Kyle Sloater which was such a big deal last year and then you think about a

few years ago like how big of a deal it was that Teddy Bridgewater was starting on Pup and you know they were a lot more newsworthy on cut down day in the previous years than they were this year I think everybody though across the league there was no outside of Deshaun Watson getting the big deal, there was no major trade. There was no real big news driver for the NFL. It was very surprising a couple of years ago that Brian Robson got cut, that Terrence Newman decided he was retiring and joining the coaching staff. That was newsy. And even before that, when Alex Boone in 2017 was let go after being their big signing the previous year those types of things did not happen today but let's get to the most controversial

cut and then we'll talk about some of the guys that made it for now and what's going to happen and guess what you're gonna have to pick the schedule again? That Yannick Ngakwe is here, and the 53 is set, at least for today. Yeah, I'm sorry. Those are the rules, and there's nothing you can do about it. Whatever. So let's start out with Alexander Hollins versus Chad Beebe versus Dan Chisna versus KJ Osborne. They decide not to keep Hollins, which I think was a surprise, but Dan Chisna by far the biggest surprise,

and some people on Twitter not super happy that they're keeping Chad Beebe. Your reaction to that? So I think the Hollins one for sure caught everybody by surprise because, you know, all of us that were out there during training camp saw that essentially in the reps rotation, he was jumping the likes of Beebe and Tajay Sharp. Like, he was getting quality reps in the reps rotation, he was jumping the likes of BB and Tajay sharp. Like he was getting quality reps with the twos. And even when Thielen wasn't playing last Sunday, I believe it was, you know, he was getting some one, you know, some reps of the one. So you thought just logically thinking, okay,

this is somebody who's going to be fighting for one of those last roster spots. I mean, first off, this team doesn't keep seven receivers ever on the active roster. So that was surprising to me. I know when I did my 53, my final projection last week, I had five. But, you know, Hollins is somebody, I mean, if you're the Vikings, you hope that you can, you had to pick between, can you get Chad Beebe onto the practice squad?

Because he has, you know, this would be his third year, so he's still eligible. Can you get him there or can you get Alexander Hollins there, which is going to be the easier one? Well, Beebe's played, you know, he's had some big games before, obviously not like a ton of catches, but, like, he's had some big moments. You know, I can think of some of those third down catches. There was the game, what was it, two years ago, one of the primetime games. Nonetheless, like, he has tape on himself.

There's tape on him. I think they probably thought that it was easier to get Hollins, who's a little undersized, quick. I mean, get him onto the practice squad. But I honestly don't know because, you know, that's a tough spot for them to be in if they part ways with him because it seemed like they really, really liked him. The optics were there.

Outside of everybody else, I mean, Tajay Sharp, I mean, he was your free agent, you know, your bigger free agent signing outside of Michael Pierce this year, so I understand that one. Beebe is hurt a lot. I mean, he has been – I think it's honestly the way I look at it, they've invested so much time and so many resources into this guy that they want to give it one last shot going into year three.

Like, if you can't stay healthy, if you end up on IR after a couple weeks, then it's probably over. But this is literally his last chance. And then, you know, KJ Osborne, they were going to give him every chance to not be on the roster. As a fifth-round draft pick, he's going to make it. Everybody, you know, everybody's sixth and seventh round did not make it, but they were not going to let any of their, like,

fifth round draft picks just waste away on the waiver wire and get claimed somewhere else. So none of those were, like, terribly surprising. But Dan Chisna, I mean, that one did come out of nowhere. I remember last week when they switched him to safety for, like, a hot second, and then they switched him back to wide receiver, you're thinking, okay, are they doing this because they're trying to find a spot for him because they really like him that much they want to find the best spot to stash him on the roster and I think that that foreshadowing was correct so yeah in reverse order Dan Chisna appears to be a special teams ace and

the best comparison I can make is that New England has had a guy on their roster who only is their punt gunner coverage unit guy since 2008 to present and that's Matthew Slater he's in every Pro Bowl and you're like wait who is Matthew Slater well that could be your Dan Chisna because I don't think he's any kind of returner and then you keep KJ Osborne because he is a returner but I don't see him having any impact as being a receiver. The Chad Beebe one is interesting because he knows how to get open, and he definitely does it. And over the last two years in camp, he's been very effective at going in

in certain situations into the slot and getting open against the Vikings defense in practice. And then when he got in games, he was able to do it as well. With Alexander Hollins, his only real playing time was week 17. And then he made himself available in the playoff game where they targeted him one time, which kind of lent you to think, okay, Alexander Hollins has a real shot here because he's younger than Chad Beebe. He went from the very dead last guy

on the roster last year all the way to getting a target in a playoff game. You could see it. And then he was a big play every single day in terms of practice. So I think it was fair for people to say, don't we already kind of know what Chad Beebe is? And maybe their answer would be, no, not really, because we haven't seen him in a big enough sample size of being healthy. And when you think about it, I understand why people would say, okay, well, the guy can't stay healthy because it's two years in a row. Also last year, he did kind of just freakishly run into someone while trying to throw a block. And it was a little bit random. So if he's a guy that really truly understands your offense and you see a third down threat, like third down and seven type of threat as more valuable than your deep guy, which I think

Alexander Hollins would have to be, I can see why they decided to keep him on. And maybe they've been looking for this Jarius Wright type of player for years that that could be him if he stays held. Isn't it wild when you think about Chad Beebe? This is a guy who's played six games in the NFL. He's six for six on targets and catches for 109 yards. Like how much we're talking about this guy given how little sample size we've seen. And I think for a lot of us, I mean, those of us who get to see practice and, you know, over the last few years, you're seeing how much work he's putting in and how much, you know, the Vikings are bringing him along and really kind of championing the cause there. I remember in 2018, I believe it was before the Saints game when they called him up from the practice squad and you're kind of like, okay,

like, what is this here? I mean, what do they, just he's he's got a lot of different tools that you can use but like you know just being that if you want a third down guy out of a slot on maybe like 10 of your plays this season he's probably your guy I mean you can find a very specific role for him as a receiver but also you know as a punt returner I think that he gives you some versatility there and they tried out a lot of guys, all things considered, when they really did draft K.J. Osborne to be a returner. I mean, you had Osborne back there. You had Abdullah on kickoff return.

You had B.B. on punt return. Ola B.C. Johnson was back there, too. I mean, they tried a lot of guys out at various positions with the return game. And we've got to remember, too, special teams, there's more than just, like, the return game and we gotta remember too um special teams there's more than just like the returner and like the kickers and the long snapper like there are a lot of positions to be filled um from your gunners to you know people who are blocking all of that so i mean those roles have to be filled out somehow and you think if a guy like chisna is going to make the final final roster because this is very initial as we know, that those are going to be the type of roles that he fills.

Chad Beebe is going to be playing special teams. I mean, this is, honest to God, this is the first year, if this all goes according to plan, where, you know, every year we ask them about the wide receiver depth chart, and it's like, oh, yeah, special teams, absolutely going to play a factor in. Lie. Like, that was not the case the last few years. This is actually the one

year where you've got three to four guys that you can say between bb osborne chisna maybe ataje sharp but at least those first three i mentioned that will be playing a bigger role on special teams than they would as receivers because just the linebacker depth itself it's not that's that's not where the special teams numbers are coming from this year it's coming from the receiver group and it's it falls under the category of things that we have trouble knowing from just watching practices, how much they value a person's special teams ability. That's really tough to figure out. And we didn't get a lot of live special teams reps.

So how are we even supposed to evaluate this guy looked like he was doing well or not? And B.B. does have past punt returning experience. And the other thing is just how well someone grasps the offense. B.B. has been a guy from the very beginning who came in and understood what he was doing. If they don't think Alexander Hollins has that same capability, then he's going to get cut instead of B.B., even if he had some go routes in practice or in the scrimmage that were successful and that's always a thing that we just can't know when we're sitting back there and watching uh other surprises are at least mild surprises would be for me avion collins and josh metellus now i i did like half predict that avion collins would go because i thought that they would just slide Ezra Cleveland into that backup role and Josh Metellus was playing second team most of the time throughout camp

and then he ends up getting let go and as you mentioned they have no backup safeties at the moment uh your thought on Ezra Cleveland if he is the immediate backup for left guard instead of Avion Collins who is now cut and uh Josh Metellus and the safety-less Vikings outside of Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris. Yeah, I had Collins on my final 53. I had them keeping 10. So, obviously, I think they kept 9 on the offensive line. Is that right?

Like, they went heavy on D-line. They have 11. But, yeah, I mean, I think that it just shows you that they, you know, Drew Simi is your backup right guard, and eventually, you know, right now they're hoping they don't have to be in that position, that Ezra Cleveland would be your backup left guard. It's the only thing that really makes a whole ton of sense at the moment, and they probably needed that roster spot elsewhere because, I don't know,

let's say, for example, and I don't know if it came down to this, but like a James Lynch, for example. Like if you think he's the 11th defensive lineman, if you think you can get Aviant Collins onto your practice squad, or you think that you don't need him, you'll be fine with what you have, then you don't think you can get a guy like Lynch, who was a fourth round pick, and they really liked him. But like he just, you know, given the depth that they had on the d-line they didn't have a spot for him that's the way that that conversation very easily could have gone as they were trying to sort out this roster so it made more sense from a numbers perspective to me um the safety thing though i mean man you go back to the first day of camp

when they brought they signed stephen parker when we were out there at practice, they claimed him off waivers from Miami that day. And ever since then, they've been in a spot where they are trying to find deep safety depth. I mean, go back to last year. Like, you know, this has been a routine issue for them, where they've been trying to find somebody behind their top two safeties. And, you know, they obviously had Andrew Sandejo. They had J. Ron Curse. The guy that they traded to Philly to get Andrew Sandejo, the one that they drafted, I forget what his name was. Marcus Vaps.

Marcus Vaps, guy that went to Wyoming. So, yeah, I mean, like, it's never been a position, like, where they've been, like, all in, like, you know, having a lot of depth back there just because of how much nickel they play and what they rely on with their corners. But, you know, it's clearly not staying this way. I mean, there's a lot of guys out there. I mean, haha Clinton Dix got released the other day.

I mean, you have some bigger name guys who signed free agent deals this offseason who are going to be claimed or, you know, are going to be picked up by teams as, you know, if they clear waivers, you know, be as free agents. So I think that that's the biggest move that they're going to have to hone in on tomorrow. It's just like now where do you trim? Do you trim one of the receivers?

Do you trim one of the defensive linemen? This is my next game, by the way. Oh, do you have a song for us? Why don't we just start it well do do do do do do do do does this guy stay on the team uh how about i'm gonna throw a few out for you whether these are the guys that you think could go how about eddie yarbrough making it does he stay on the team um yes i had him after ngakwe got traded here. Yarbrough was one of my, one of the guys for me that made the final 53. I had 10 defensive linemen. And that one to me, I mean, he's like the most proven, I think, out of the backup defensive ends. So who goes then? I mean, wouldn't that be a natural place to trim down as the defensive end?

Yeah, you'd think so. I mean, I honestly think if they really like James Lynch like that and they don't think that they can get him out of the practice squad, it's probably going to be Jalen Holmes or Hercules Mata'afa. I mean, those are the only two that make sense because you're not cutting DJ Wanham, and I really don't think you're going to cut your other fourth-round draft pick. So, I mean, that's just my opinion, but I think Holmes or Mata'afa neither of them should be too comfortable

right now just given the numbers game at the defensive on the defensive line because you I mean you can't cut from cornerbacks because you know you don't want to it's just a bad look like for them if you put your fifth round draft pick Harrison Hand who did really did nothing during training camp I mean from from as far as from as far as I saw I mean wouldn't you think the guy that you guaranteed 100k to and had this high potential high ceiling in Neville Clark um I would think that you'd opt for one over the other but nonetheless like the I don't think they're going to trim from the cornerback spot I don't think they're going to trim from the cornerback spot. I don't think they're trimming from linebackers. Defensive line or wide receiver is the only place where it makes sense.

How about this one? Does this guy make the team Amir Abdullah or stay on the team? I always screw it up. Sorry. Amir Abdullah. Him making it, I guess, was a little surprising to me because if you're going to have K.J. Osborne as your returner, then Abdullah is essentially what a scat back on a team that has a three down running back and another guy who

trends toward a three down running back in Alexander Madison yeah I mean if anybody's in the chopping block from that running back group it would be Abdullah um but you know in that same breath like you know think about the optics here just with you know everything from the social justice committee and i know that stuff doesn't really factor in but it's like when you're trying to consider the whole thing it feels like they've really like give like put a platform around this guy and giving him a platform as well i mean you just try to think about those things like would you do that for somebody who um you didn't think was going to make team i don't know maybe that's neither here nor there but that's just where my brain goes

I think that I'll give it like a 45 chance that he's on the team as of you know Monday because that's an easy place to cut to like if you really and they don't they don't use anybody outside of the top two rushers and their fullback. Like Mike Boone, if he's getting in a game, it's because of the blowout, or it's because Dalvin Cook and Alexander Madison are not playing, like what happened in Green Bay. So, I mean, that's probably another logical place to go. I want to remind you to go to SodaStick.com

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inspired goods code purple insider for free shipping there are not that many areas where you would say you were super happy to cut from and guys who you know exactly what they are that's one of the biggest issues that this team faces is if you cut someone like James Lynch, you're not entirely sure what he's going to be, even if he didn't show you much in three weeks of training camp. You are pretty sure what Jalen Holmes is, and you are pretty sure what Amir Abdullah is by this point. And the same goes for sort of like K.J. Osborne is another example. You don't know exactly how good he's going to be as a kick-slash- slash punt returner. He might be great at it and be your next Cordero Patterson, and then you're glad that you didn't decide to trim from his spot yet either. There's another

game I want to play, which would be which guy eventually plays on the team that they cut. From the practice squad, sure. Every year we see guys who end up on the practice squad and they end up in the game in one way or another yeah bb is a great example right who's your guess or guess um let me pull up the i had the roster one second standby i think um the obvious one here yeah i think hollins is a good one um Courtney Davis I mean they obviously liked him to guarantee to fight with Dallas to get him here at the very last part of um you know when they were forming all the stuff with the draft after the draft and all of that so I think that's probably one um if CJ Hamm goes down Jake Bargus who I know they want on the practice squad he'll be up

because the fullback is so important. And that's why they brought another one into training camp. Probably, and then I think Brandon Dillon. Like, at some point, I mean, heck, he was on the opening day roster for like a hot second last year. That seems like one that they'd want to keep around, given how important the tight ends are to this offense. So probably those three, if that makes sense.

All right. I agree with those three, and I was going to also say that Jake Browning and Nate Stanley very likely are both on the practice squad with it being expanded. And those are the guys that you would say that you hope desperately do not play in games for Jake Browning and Nate Stanley. I mean, I thought both of them had their moments in training camp. Stanley can certainly throw the ball hard,

and Jake Browning has shown some progress, I've thought, over the last two years. But you do not want him in games. You want Kirk Cousins starting all 16 or 15 if you're in playoff position. I would say Metellus. I would not be surprised if Josh Metellus ends up on the practice squad, somebody gets hurt, they bring him up. But what do you think the answer is at safety?

Is it ha-ha Clinton Dix? Is it someone we've never heard of? Are they taking their lives in their hands here by not having a better option at the very beginning of camp? I mean, this team worked out George Iloka. I know. That didn't even work the first time they had George Iloka. And then they were working him out again, which showed you their level of desperation at that position.

Yeah, I think it probably – I mean, Iloka seems like a logical person to, you know, bring in here as a free agent and sign him, you know, tomorrow or whenever. I don't know. I mean, they do have space now like think about like you know riley reeve taking the restructure it's about a five million dollar pay cut um what in gawkway negotiated down to at 12 so they've got a little bit of cap flexibility right now but are we going into this week with dalvin cook not signing something at the 11th hour

is that really what we're doing here because Because, okay, if that's the case, and they do have a little bit of money to spend if they wanted to pick up ha-ha Clinton Dix and, you know, sign him to what? I mean, he had a $3.75 million deal, I believe. They signed a free agency. I don't know if he'll get that from the Vikings. But they do have a little bit of room if they want to get somebody, but I just tend to think at this point you're probably leaning towards

straight free agent. Okay. Sorry, I left one key important question out for you when we were talking about, like, which guy stays on the team. Is Eddie Yarbrough here? And I liked what he looked like in practice, no doubt. But is he here because of Daniil Hunter's status? Because it just seems that

they're loaded with defensive ends now. If you still consider Afadi Adenabo a defensive end and DJ Wanham, do they need three or four more defensive ends keeping Holmes and keeping Yarbrough? I wonder if we're going to see Daniil Hunter in week one and then when he comes back, then they cut either Yarbrough or Holmes do you think that that is possible I think Holmes is probably the closer to closer to being the odd man out there I really do and here's a thought like let's say Daniil Hunter isn't ready for week one would you put a Fadio down about left defensive end over Hunt uh over Holmes yeah yeah I think I probably mean or Yarbrough because he's been practicing there the whole time.

That might be tough for Afadi, although he's moved around his entire career. Yeah, that's the one that I thought about. I thought about how he was at right defensive on the entire training camp before Ngakwe got there on Thursday of last week. What does that look like? So I feel like you're in a good position with a defensive end depth that you do have that you could part ways with one of your veterans in there. But I think Jalen Holmes to me,

when I was debating about my defensive line with my 53 that I was doing last week, Holmes and Mata'afa were the most obvious cuts. But Mata'afa, what he does on third down at the three technique position, I feel like is probably more valuable just based on who they already have than what Holmes could add when you already have Odenabo, who could potentially play that position, when you already have Yarborough, who's taking the first team reps, or second team reps.

When Hunter was out, Holmes was taking them. But obviously there's been some moving around there. So that's probably what I would do. I'd probably cut Jalen Holmes if that was the case. Yeah. And you make a good point about Mata'afa though. They might not need him there now that Afadi Adenabo is opened up to move into that position. And we know that Armand Watts is going to take the other pass rushing position on third down. So something is going to happen here. We're just not sure what. And it might depend on how they felt about all those first team reps that Jalen Holmes

got. If they saw some potential there at defensive end, they might say, let's not make the same mistake we did with Odenabo cutting him. Let's keep him and move on from Mata'afa. Or if they felt like, sorry, bud, you had your chance and it didn't look great, then they might keep Mata'afa. That is the place, though, I think you had your chance and it didn't look great, then they might keep Mata Afa. That is the place, though, I think we will see some movement. Okay, I want to ask you one more thing before you are forced now to pick the schedule with the current 53-man roster, assuming

that they find backup safeties. How about Mitch Trubisky getting the job for the Bears? How about it? You know, I'm not surprised in the in the least about this because if you're ever going to give him like the one last chance it's not going to be after Nick Foles takes the starting job and then runs away with it because then it's like okay if Nick Foles fails then you just look really freaking stupid for trading for him and spending all that money to get him in there only for it not to work out and then you that money to get him in there only for it not to work out and then you're having to turn back to your second option so I'm not surprised in the slightest that they're going to try Trubisky out at this like basically it's his job to lose at

this point like he has a job until he loses it um but you know in speaking with some people uh you know over the last few days it really sounded like Trubisky won that job in camp. That, like, this is, I mean, you can tell that he knows this is his last chance and that he came with it to training camp this year. How long that lasts, I don't think anybody knows. I mean, you can project, like, oh, maybe it'll only be three games. Maybe by the time the Vikings play the Bears that first time around, he probably won't be the quarterback. That would be my projection.

But this one is not surprising to me in the slightest, just given the optics of that quarterback competition between the two of them. Of course, you're going to start the guy who you're giving one last shot to before then you have the guy that you brought in to save the day, swoop in and take over for him. But you also brought in Nick Foles as a tomato can. Like, he just, you know, he was the guy that was there to get beat, right? I mean, isn't that the boxing reference, what they call the guy who's kind of just, like,

someone for a good boxer to kick his ass? I thought so. But anyway, like, Foles had such a horrible year last year. And in any large sample of him playing, aside from the one time with Chip Kelly, he's been pretty bad. Even leading up to his crazy playoff run, he wasn't any good. So this is not someone who had ever shown in a large sample that they could be a true starting quarterback in the NFL. They brought someone in that Trubisky could beat. And when Teddy Bridgewater was about to sign with Chicago, they told him, oh, you've got to beat out Trubisky.

And so he said, I'm going to go somewhere else then. That is not a good idea because Trubisky is probably going to get his final shot. But here's the worst thing that can happen to Chicago is if Trubisky is halfway decent and they win 10 games. That's not good for them because that's exactly what happened with Blake Bortles when they went to the AFC championship in 2017 is the Jaguars went, oh, we can win with him. We just did, see? And then they stuck with him for another year. It was a complete disaster. And now they're the worst franchise with a team name. So, you know, I really actually think that if you're a Vikings fan, you root for Trubisky to show some signs and have them lock themselves into Trubisky for a while and be stuck with a bad quarterback.

I think that it's the same in the AFC East with Josh Allen. Like if you're the Dolphins, you're saying, hey, Josh Allen, have a decent year this year. So people keep saying that you might be good, even though we're pretty sure by now you're not. So that'll be an interesting one to watch, but I just, like, they are really into the sunk cost thing. Sorry, we've already put this much into this bad quarterback, so let's run it out there again and see what happens. Yeah, I mean, are people's jobs hedging on Mitch Trubisky being able to do something this year like do Ryan Pace and um Matt Nagy go like out the window now if if if this doesn't work out no I don't think so I feel like I think they do if Trubisky doesn't work out I don't think that's going to completely fall on them but if they do if they fall in there if they fall flat

after putting foals in which I mean let's just take a guess say it's after the first quarter of the season um if they don't it's not going to have to make the playoffs but if they're like six and ten i think everybody's gone yeah but i don't think it's i don't think it's tied directly to mitchell trubisky so if trubisky goes say like two and four to start the season. Foles brings them back. He comes in and does magical Nick Foles things for a little while, and they end up eight and eight. Does everybody keep their jobs? Does Ryan Pace say, like, look, see, I actually did find the great quarterback?

Or Matt Nagy say, all I needed was the better quarterback. They are in about one of the worst positions. I would rather be the Jaguars by far. I might rather be the New York Giants than I would want to be the Chicago Bears because they have a very good roster, and the quarterback situation is such a disaster that I don't see an easy way out of it. No, I think I'd still rather be Chicago.

I mean, Jacksonville, like if you're on Doug Marone's staff, you don't have a job next year. They're burning it down actively with you inside the building. So I mean, what kind of fun is that to go to work every day? Absolutely not. Okay, let me put it this way. I'd rather be a Jaguars fan and the way that I felt about my organization because even though they just ran a lot of talent out of town, they also had a great draft, brought in a lot of talent, and they could get Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields. I mean, if you could get Justin, right? No college football. If you could, if you give me one of those two top quarterbacks, as opposed to the quarterback situation in Chicago

all day long, I don't even care if my team is an absolute tire fire. If I've got the potential to get somebody who could change that I'm in a better position than I am with a bunch of established veteran players and a good team and a horrible quarterback situation because by the time you fix that quarterback situation a lot of those good players will be out the door so yeah no I agree with you on on that part just from like a fan perspective like if you because you, like if you're saying 2020 is a wash for Jacksonville, which it obviously is, and you're conceding that, then you know that you're fine. But like the Bears, you know, since ESPN started the quarterback index, the Bears have started, like they rank last in Super Bowl era in teams in terms of quarterback production. And during that same span, the Bears have started a total of 50 quarterbacks.

The whole span, 50 quarterbacks. Still haven't been able to figure it out. Have not had a good quarterback since Sid Luckman. And I couldn't even tell you what year that was. A long time ago. Yeah, a long time ago. One of my favorite things is to look at the all-time leaders in Bears passing. I'm going to pull this up before we make you pick the vikings with their current 53 which of course

yes will change and there will be more podcasts to follow as we lead up to uh vikings and packers but hold on i'm pulling this up this is great so jay cutler is the all-time leader in passing and then sid luckman is next then you have Jim Harbaugh Jim McMahon Eric Kramer Billy Wade Ed Brown who's like from the 50s then Mitch Trubisky I kid you not is the eighth best passer in terms of total yards in Bears history you have guys like Rex Grossman Mike Tomczak Jim Miller Kyle Orton it it's absolutely incredible that Trubisky, as bad as he has been, is already in the top ten of a franchise that's been around forever. So super fun, Bears.

That must kill you if you love the Bears, that you can never find a quarterback in a league that now has probably 22 good quarterbacks or at least ones that you could win with so you ready for this you're ready I'm ready I've got the schedule out in front of me I'm I'm thinking it through okay off we go Packers week one win all right Colts at Colts with 2,500 fans in the stand so maybe Mike Zimmer won't have to be too worried about the unfair advantage of 2,500 folks inside of Lucas Oil Stadium I mean that's a big stadium too like I don't know how you're going to hear people um I don't think the crowd noise will affect it more than like a quiet

lull but um I had this as a win initially and I'm still going to say it's a win get back to the conversation in just a minute but first you've always counted on restaurants, and now they're counting on you. And while their dining rooms may be closed, they're still open for delivery with DoorDash. DoorDash is the app that brings you the food you're craving right to your door. Ordering is easy. You open the DoorDash app, choose what you want to eat, and your food will be left safely at your door with the new contactless delivery drop-off setting. Choose from your favorite national restaurants like Chipotle, Wendy's, and the Cheesecake Factory. Many of your local restaurants also are still open for delivery too. Just open the DoorDash app, select your favorite local spot, and your food is on its way. Right now,

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No matter where you live, NFLSundayTicket.tv is your key to the most glorious Sundays ever. Use the promo code BLUEWIRE at checkout to get 15% off your subscription. Visit NFLSundayTicket.tv and use promo code BLUEWIRE. Okay, good start. 2-0 the Tennessee Titans, who on our last podcast with Robert Mays, I said they were one of the five best teams in the NFL heading into this season. It was my hot take from our team draft, Titans at Vikings. That's still a loss for me.

I don't know why people get mad at me over that game. People are giving me flack about my redraft last week and drafting Ryan Tannehill. But, yes, it is still a loss. Tennessee is a damn good team. Two and one going down to face a very rich now Deshaun Watson. Boy, what a week for the Bears. You have to name Mitch Trubisky the starter,

and then Deshaun Watson makes a gazillion dollars. I say that that's going to be a loss. I think I initially had the Houston game as a win. With a young group of corners and, you know, I'm putting this game into Deshaun's hands. I don't know what they're going to do with their running back situation if Will Fuller can play will he be healthy by week four because he's you know always hurt so I'd like to think that uh Houston will have it together by then um but I still think that that's a I think that that's gonna switch

switching that one from a win to a loss real Real quick. They're 2-2 right now. One of the things I love asking is, like, if you had to win a million dollars and you had to pick your quarterback, you know, this guy versus this guy, aside from Mahomes, is Deshaun Watson second if you had to win a game and you just get to pick any quarterback in the entire NFL? Either him or Russell Wilson. Yeah, I agree.

Tom Brady's going to have to show it to me this year to still make that list all right speaking of Russell Wilson they go to Seattle at two and two and it just never works there so they're two and three facing the Falcons at home October 18th of which a game the Vikings hope to have some fans in the stands. Yeah, that's a win. All right. Three and three. No Treadwell revenge story. Oh, I know. I know. And then he tweeted out that it was fake news that he had a bad camp. Right after getting cut, the king of self-awareness rides again in Laquan Treadwell.

The man who said he was a 100-catch wide receiver in the NFL after 2018 called called fake news after getting literally cut. Scream out his failures. Miss you, Laquan. Miss you. Run those stadium steps still. Maybe it'll work out. Three and three to face the Packers at Lambeau. And that will be a loss at Lambeau.

Okay. Three and four. And they bring in the Detroit Lions. And this is either the Lions are the story of the league or Matt Patricia's been fired by November 8th. Yeah, that'll be a win for them. I think that the Lions will fall apart and disappoint everybody as usual. Okay.

By week nine. At the Bears, no matter who is starting. Go ahead. It doesn't matter. We just spent all this time making fun of the Bears. It does not matter. They go to 4-5 because they're playing not only at the Bears, on ESPN on Monday Night Football.

Yeah, and Soldier Field, like, I mean, the grass could, like, blow the wrong way, and they're still going to lose that game. Yeah, talk about failures. They have won four of their last 20 games at Soldier Field. So there you have it. Dallas Cowboys, who I think have a good chance to be the best team in the NFC this year, come to U.S. Bank Stadium. And that's going to be a win. This is actually going to be the start for me of a little hot streak for the

Vikings. Okay. I'll go ahead and give you my next two because they're going to be Carolina comes into town on Thanksgiving weekend. And then they have Jacksonville at home. So both of those week 12 and 13 are wins. Okay. Going down the stretch here.

So there's seven and five. How many sacks does Yannick Ngakwe have by this point? Eight. Okay. Yeah. You're seeing him with a chance to go double digits again. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. Absolutely helps him having Daniil Hunter on the other side. Headed to Tampa Bay, and I will not call it Tampa Bay again. That is a loss. All right, so they are now 7-6. The Bears come to Minnesota with, well, let's say Nick Foles is starting at this point. And they'll still win.

All right, so 8-6. And probably have locked up a playoff spot with one more win i would say or even already with the fact that there's seven playoff teams as they go to new orleans on christmas day where everything always is totally normal vikings and new orleans saints i i've not changed this pick since I made this schedule release and reaction piece on May 7th. So it's like five months or four months ago. This is still going to be a win for me just because wild things happen in the Dome. All right. And so the, and I'm not against that either. And I'm also a little skeptical of what Drew Brees is going to look like by the end of the season. At that point, yeah, I agree. When you hit the wall, you really hit it hard.

And eventually Brady and Breeze, or one of the two, has to hit the wall this year. Last game is against the Detroit Lions at Detroit, where you never do know what could happen. This one might be for the division the way you've got it playing out. That is going to be a win. So you are sticking with 10-6. 10-6.

I'm not going away from it. All right. I think it's a very fair projection. And even though I wouldn't pin one player with taking them up wins, I picked them at 10 and 6 at the start of the season too. So I'm here with you. But the acquisition of Yannick Ngakwe has me more confident in that than I would have been before because now I think they can actually pressure the quarterback from more than one spot and if Daniil Hunter does miss a week or two it does not devastate you on the defensive line yeah I agree with that I think that you'd probably be a little concerned about the state of the pass rush just uh if they didn't get in Gawkway but

that that's a game changer that makes the defense elite again, at least on paper. So that should be a no-brainer as to this team being a playoff team at all. I should have had you pick the schedule with one injured safety. That would have been fun. That is going to be something to watch for sure. All right, well, we'll find out very, very soon and continue podcasting all week long and into the foreseeable future. And a cool announcement coming very soon also on the podcast about a new contributor on a weekly basis that I'm very excited about.

So look forward to that. And thank you, Courtney. I have zero doubts as we get together very soon to preview Vikings Packers that we'll be talking about whoever they've picked up and whoever they've cut over the next couple days. Yeah, we might as well just do this again on Sunday because, Lord knows, they're picking up a safety here at some point in the near future because you cannot ride with zero depth into the regular season. Yeah, probably not an emergency podcast for a backup safety, but we'll see.

If it's George Iloka, I think it's worth it. My standard is very low for that. All right, Courtney, great stuff as always, and we will talk to you all again very soon. Hi, my name is Bobby Peters, and I've recently written a book titled The 2017 New England Patriots Pass Game Manual. If you've ever wondered what makes the New England Patriots offense,

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