Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - ESPN's Courtney Cronin talks about her Vikings hills to die on

Episode Date: June 22, 2021

Matthew Coller and ESPN's Courtney Cronin talk about her stance regarding the interior pass rush finally coming to fruition with the Sheldon Richardson signing. Does it mean the Vikings were slow to understand mistakes in their post-2017 process? What other hills to die on does she have? Will the Vikings have a new kicker? Will Aaron Rodgers be back? Will the offensive line mix up schemes? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oh, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider, Matthew Pollard here, along with ESPN's Courtney Cronin, not in an airport this time, just in Chicago. So how are you, Courtney? I'm good. Do you enjoy the wood paneling and this absurd artwork that my parents thought was a necessary thing to frame back in like 1989? Do you see that over my shoulder? It's not mine, it's my brother's. He was apparently like, they thought he was Picasso with his finger painting. So they thought it was necessary to frame. And now clearly they realized that it was so terrible that you have to put it in the basement where nobody else can see it.

But yes, I was home for Father's Day weekend. And thus, this is my workstation. I'm back. This is pandemic, Courtney. Like this is where we got down during the pandemic when you and I were doing like 50 radio shows a week and not knowing how the draft was going to go. And my LimeWire computer over that shoulder Napster, cause I, things like that should probably call like one 800 got junk to get rid of that thing. The youths do not understand. No, they have no

clue. Download music off of of limewire and inevitably downloading viruses so there's no chance that thing starts effectively um because we all ruined our parents computers doing that um i i did have questions about that artistic piece behind you but i thought well if maybe your family's like really into abstract art and that's a masterpiece and i just don't know it but it's a mess that's what it is and it's my brother's it says um 1089 so he would have been a year and a half when he painted i'm going to use those in quotations when he painted that so i don't know your parent my some of the stuff that like my dad framed of mine i'm like this is awful like why would you why did you want to remember this but so your parents they are they weird people i was so lacking in artistic talent

that i made a bowl um one time in art class where i don't know if you ever had to do this but you would make it and then you would put it in like the, the oven thing. And then it makes it into a real bowl and it, it actually resembled a bowl. And they were so surprised that it was halfway decent that they've kept it forever. Uh, so, you know, and my, and at Christmas time, my parents still bring out the, uh, reindeer that I made out of popsicle sticks. So, wow, that sounds really intricate. Yeah. So shout out to parents one day after Father's Day as we record this. So I was having a discussion on the internet with a guy who follows the show, Scott, and we were kind of talking about our last podcast, which was concerning the Los angeles rams and how my the rams aren't going to actually work

out has become a sort of hill to die on throughout the entire off season which got the wheels turning a little bit and made me think i wonder about our other hills to die on for the off season and i want to first bring up with you that one of your hills they just just fulfilled it. I was going to just find it. They climbed all the way to the top and it said, Courtney, we heard you. We heard you for the last three years. We heard you right. Not only did you not die on the hill, you got to throw a giant Sheldon Richardson is here party on the hill. So I don't know how much we've had a chance to talk about it or if we have really about Sheldon but I wanted to get your take since you have been shouting from the top of said hill for Sheldon Richardson or

someone of the like and here he is so they agreed with you so my hill was the Vikings need a penetrating three technique right that's been my hill ever since he left. And 2019, when you have Shamar Stephan in that role, and then last year he moves over to Nose, and you kind of have this mix of people in that role. At three technique, it just wasn't enough for Minnesota in what they were hoping to accomplish with their pass rush. Richardson had 47 pressures in 2018. That's's the i believe the most of any interior defender in minnesota under mike zimmer which is huge he's an athletic guy and he's not just like your

traditional like interior your traditional defensive tackle i mean the guy started out as a defensive end with the jets he moved to outside. He moved to outside linebacker. He's played a lot of different positions from his time in New York, Seattle, Cleveland, in Minnesota in 2018. I thought that was really interesting, the question that you asked him last week and just his response to, you know, I've played outside linebacker at what, like 290, something like that. And he can beef up to like 330 to play I think that would be a little big but um the versatility aspect is there and that is so necessary for

this defensive line that had 23 sacks last year and so much of that being you know abysmal on the interior like the interior pressure that they just were not able to get to push the pocket to keep quarterbacks high to you know really keep offenses uncomfortable so I think it's a I thought it was a great move like when when they like to me the amount of effort they've continued to put into their defense so it wasn't just free agency and then in the draft and then they're done it was Bashad Breeland coming in first week of June, whatever. It was getting Daniil Hunter back and secure in that contract by moving around some money to give him a little bit more up front. It's not new money, but doing that to get him in the fold.

Because you don't want to trade him, and you cannot play the season without him and be effective. And then doubling down then and being like, well, could probably use somebody that could rush the passer a little better from the interior of the defensive line so let's go get Sheldon Richardson because he's out there he's available and we have money to spend so why the heck not I thought those were really smart moves and Richardson and what he brings because remember like all throughout the offseason you know Michael Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson, you're like, okay, well,

the tackle spots appear set, but it looks like you've got two nose tackles playing next to each other. You're just saying one of them is going to play three technique, which is fine. But this is, this is a good, like a really good solution, in my opinion, to having your third down pass rusher for when you don't need Dalvin Tomlinson in that role, you have a very, very good presence in Sheldon Richardson to get after the quarterback. And I think that that's going to be a huge benefit to them. And any Vikings fan seeing that signing should be really excited about that because he was really good in 2018.

They just couldn't afford to keep him because their priorities were different in 2019 off season with free agency, set aside that money for Anthony Barr, you know, Sheldon Richardson went and made a $30 million contract for three years in Cleveland. So this time around though, like they, you know, he was, he was one of the top remaining defensive free agents still out there. And I think they got a steal with what they gave him there's yeah there's a few other layers to this um which one of them is the the fact that they can use someone like delvin tomlinson his power combined with the quickness of sheldon richardson and just the things that you can do in terms of stunts and twists and all that sort of uh the games on the inside i think it adds a different layer to have someone like Tomlinson paired with Richardson

and kind of reminds you of Williams wall ish that I'm sure that it benefited Kevin Williams to have Pat Williams being so gigantic and generally be difficult to handle for one person. I guess the other part of it is, and this is what I want to talk about with this hill to die on thing to start. And then we can go through some other ones that we have in our head. But just that, you know, throughout the last couple of years, there have been things that we have just repeatedly discussed over and over and over again. And it's sort of finally like it pinged for them like, oh well maybe that's right uh and this is an interesting one like why do we think that coming off of Tom Johnson and how successful he was as the penetrating three technique they decided we don't need that anymore and I think it was a little bit of a factor in

2019 to why they weren't a little bit better that they didn't have that interior pressure I mean you remember Dak Prescott throwing for 400 yards on them. Like there were big games that quarterbacks had against them in 2019 at times. And I wondered, I mean, is that somewhat of a factor because they were so good at it before and they got, you know, interior pressure on third downs out of someone like a Fadi Adenabo, Steven Weatherly for moving them around, but it just wasn't the same as having someone being able to do it on, on first down that you could throw out there. So I, I guess with that and the same thing with getting fat guards where they, you know, like we were saying, I mean, you've got Kirk cousins as your quarterback and you're putting out these 290 pound guards who are just getting shoved back into him. I don't know why,

I guess it took them until this year to sort of have that light go on and go, yeah, you know what? Maybe Courtney isn't a psycho. I mean, you are, but like not for this. For other reasons. Correct. Absolutely. But not for this. No, I agree. Because I don't know if it was the light bulb turned on. And I think some of the comments, if you go back and listen to how they've talked about interior pass protection, how they've talked about the interior pass rush, like on both sides of this, I think in a way they knew what was up and it's not that they were lying to themselves. It's just, they were

trying to say the right thing at the right time to believe that they had the personnel that they could get by with at that point. It's kind of the square peg in a round, trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. And it worked in certain circumstances. Like you'll think back to that game against when you can manufacture a pass rush, right? Like you think back to the new Orleans game in the wildcard round where they put their defensive ends on the interior and that worked, but that's not a fail. That's a fail safe. That's not a permanent solution. And a lot of it has to do with financial constraints, right?

Like you think back to 2019 because that was when this whole thing kind of came apart because Richardson was here on a one-year prove it deal. I remember talking to him at that time. That was one of my favorite press conferences because Mike Zimmer was talking about, you know, God, I was watching three technique tape in my office and I was thinking, man, I really want a penetrating three technique. And all of a sudden Sheldon Richardson's in my door. Like, and I was like, whoa, how'd that happen? Like, that's really cool. You spoke it into existence. He just showed up. And so I remember that. And I remember talking with Richardson that day about how he viewed this. And he wasn't going to go ahead and say, yeah, I'm trying to get my money and get out of here. But that was 100% his chance to reinvent himself. with Cleveland three years 30 plus million dollars and it worked out for you know the

first two years that deal 2019 and 2020 but I I just think that the Vikings like they had other financial priorities Kirk was going into what would have been the second year of his contract they weren't sure what was going on with Anthony Barr, Everson Griffin was still a factor at that point. There were a lot of other things ahead of that, of just like the priority list where I think that they felt they could have gotten by. Cause they also like, let's, let's play revisionist history. They weren't sure what they were going to have in Jaleel Johnson. Was that the year light bulb was going to turn on and he was going to be able to like be that guy to take over. So you're not paying an absurd amount of money for a shot on a short-term deal for an interior pass rusher. Maybe. I think that was, you know, 2019 as a year, they also drafted, or they had Jalen Holmes, who was, I think that was going into his second year. So I think that

they looked at it like, Hey, we've got bodies that we think are ready to take that next step. We don't need to go out and make a big free agent acquisition. So that didn obviously work out and now that they they saw a window here which i think you have to commend them for and what this front office has been able to do especially defensively this offseason like mike zimmer's going down one way or the other like doing this his way going down or going up like it's gonna either work out he's gonna be I told you. So this team is predicated on having a really strong defense. The offense is good enough to get by. I mean, and it can be really, really good in certain circumstances, but he's doing it his way, whether you sink or swim,

it's going to be his way. And that's why all signs point back to all the moves that they made on defense were done because Zimmer said, this needs to be fixed. We need a bet. need you know more experience and like true good experience at corner we need another safety we need a penetrating three technique and and that's what they got I mean they got their big dudes to stop the run because that was you know a big problem so they got Michael Pierce back and then they get Dalvin Tomlinson they're also like well we need to rush the passer too so they got daniel hunter effectively back and they got sheldon richardson now they just need to figure out what they're doing opposite daniel

hunter and i think that they won't have any questions to that or at least on paper if we can handle that one before training camp would be you know pretty good mood for them to go a pretty good you know feel for them to go into training camp with, you know, it feels like to me is that they were sort of shaken out of their own bubble a little bit by last year, where it felt like they went back to the same things over and over again. And they trusted the same things over and over again, that had worked to build the first team that didn't work to build the second team. And one of those was, oh, well, we've got a guy who's young and he'll just kind of step up into this role. You know, somebody like Anthony Harris, that it just worked out for, he just kind of stepped up into that role and then was all of

a sudden good. And the same thing went for a Nefadi Adenabo where he wasn't a starter and he developed, and then he stepped into a role in 2019 and performed really well. And so I think that they believed that that would just follow along that pattern with, oh, Armand Watts will take that big step in the second year. Yeah, that was another name. They drafted him in 2019. And I think that they figured with the development that they've seen from players previously, that it could happen again. And sometimes that works out fantastically. Sometimes it just doesn't.

And that's the risk and the gamble you have to take. And you hope the coaching pays off and you hope that the players can pick it up and do what you're asking them to do. Sometimes it just doesn't work out like that, which, you know, there's no real fault. I mean, unless you want to blame them for, oh, well, they shouldn't have drafted this player. They shouldn't have gone this way. They shouldn't have gone this way. They shouldn't have taken a defensive end and moved him inside. Maybe that's what you nitpick

at, but they corrected, they kind of over-corrected in a way here with so many additions that just kind of pointed to, well, this was not working out whatsoever the last couple of years, last year, especially we need to go 180 degrees the opposite way to make sure it works out this year. And there's quite a few examples of this, even where they tried to build or they built the last offensive line that was decent in 2017, in part with guys like Nick Easton, who they traded a draft pick for and with Joe Berger, who was a journeyman veteran, and then all of a sudden became really good between 2016 and 2017 for this team. So I think they looked for that in Josh Klein that only kind of worked, but not really. They've looked for that in Dakota Dozier as the journeyman veteran that has definitely not worked. And it feels like they've taken that sort of shot

a bunch of times and they finally said, okay, we said okay we've just got to draft these guys in the first couple of rounds so it's sort of like they got themselves in trouble by following the same process and then are getting themselves out of trouble by changing it which i think is is a good thing i mean i think that that's sort of showing a sign that they can sort of morph and adapt when it doesn't work. But it is remarkable, though. I just pulled it up to go back through the draft picks on the defensive line. You know, Jaleel Johnson, Jalen Holmes, Arman Watts, like they've just tried this over and over again. Even James Lynch, who I don't think is going to end up on the team this year after what

we saw from last year. And now that was another thing I wanted to ask you about is, I mean, I think it's a, it is a real indictment though, on what they've tried to do in terms of drafting these defensive linemen and not being able to develop them that they have to go get a Sheldon Richardson. It really says that this plan of trying to draft them in the middle, and then they did it again this year. It just, it just really hasn't worked. So you have to sign these guys as veterans or you have to draft them in the first round or your chances of them turning out are just pretty low. Do you think it could also potentially be that better options came available and they're like, all right, like, forget these guys. We, you know, we've got this presented itself to us. Like, I think it can be both to be quite honest.

Like you're not always going to stick with your original plan in anything like in life. And especially in the NFL, because the next best thing is always going to come along. And sometimes you may have what you think is a concrete plan and you're, you know, good to go with it, but then you switch course and you pivot when something else presents itself. Like, you know, I don't think that, you know, good to go with it, but then you switch course and you pivot when something else presents itself. Like, you know, I don't think that, you know, DJ Wanham, for example, when they drafted in, they said it was a Daniil prototype. They were happy with it.

And his development, I mean, it's been, it is what it is at this point. Like, I mean, will he start opposite Daniil Hunter this year? i guess we'll find out during training camp but you know that was that was not an example like oh they get you know stephen weatherly comes available like let's go get him and and that supplants the need for a dj wanna we're moving on from that draft pick that's not like the right case for that but like what you bring up with james lynch i kind of feel bad for him like he beefed up all that amount his calves are the size of my the circumference of my like my head um they're huge and you know it's kind of like well now they're gonna probably he might agree he might make the team he might practice squad guy best that was somebody that they were touting oh man like this guy was so versatile he played inside

out at Baylor like you know sack leader all this stuff guy might not stay in the field because a better option came along in Dalvin Tomlinson because you saw the Giants weren't going to be able to pay him because they were focused on Leonard Williams and everything else. And it just, I think it just kind of panned out that way. Like if, you know, they'd be singing a much different story right now if they didn't get these free agents that they did. But sometimes it's just like the timing of it like okay you can go after this guy and they they paid him you know two years 22 like that's a pretty sizable deal that was their big free agent splash right away at free agency so

i i think some of it has to do with like guys not developing but also like i don't know if we can truly say like oh this person didn't develop because it was not even a full second year like they've not saying that they've given up on some of these draft picks but it's also like i don't know if we can truly say like oh this person didn't develop because it was not even a full second year like they've not saying that they've given up on some of these draft picks but it's also like well we're gonna pivot really early into your development sorry like we have to you know it's a business decision they have to do what they need to do to to win this year and they're not going to get it cut out with guys that they're still waiting to develop like that's that was the problem last, that they drafted all of these guys. You can tout your 15 draft picks and cool, you got a lot of options,

more bites at the apple, but it's going to take a lot of those options, those fourth round picks, fifth, sixth, seventh. It's going to take all those guys years to develop if they even develop at all. Folks, if you are pumped up about how the Vikings did in the draft and now the schedule's out, it is a great time to get yourself a Skull Flag or Bud Grant shirt. And of course, there's much, much more. If you go to SodaStick.com, S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com, check them all out. And if you use the promo code Purple Insider, you can get free shipping on all your original Minnesota sports-inspired goods. And if you're ready for the summer months,

we're going to have hockey playoffs, so you can get your Dollar Bill krill shirts. And if you're a golfer, you have to see the Minnesota golf hats. They are classic. All of SodaStick's apparel is screen printed here in Minnesota on super soft, super comfy shirts and hoodies. You will love it. Follow them at SodaStickCo on Twitter. Go to SodaStick.com for your original Minnesota sports

inspired goods. Code Purple Insider for free shipping. Hey everyone, summer is here and you're trying to get out on the golf course, but if you're like us here at Purple Insider, spending all day golfing isn't always an option that's why you need to check out birdie golf in woodbury i'll give you an example my wife is new to golf and she's intimidated by the big courses but at birdie golf she could come and play without the pressure you can make golf a family experience at birdie golf bring the kids still get all of your swings in they have eight of the world's best golf simulators where you can sharpen your swing and still have a great time. I've heard from several listeners to the show who have tried out birdie golf and absolutely loved it.

You'll want to try the whiskey or beer float flights. And every time Sam and I show up at birdie golf to record our podcast, we always get the boneless swings. Make golf a night out. It's the perfect place to hold parties events fundraisers and even your fantasy football draft check out birdie golf at 494 and valley creek in woodbury just a short drive away from anywhere in the twin cities metro at birdiegolf.com b-i-r-d-i golf.com call 651-998-2200 today. And I'll see you there. Yeah, that's a good point. They didn't have time for that. And I think last year they also spent a lot of breath talking themselves into things. Hey, look, we had, we had that one game where

Jaleel and Armin Watts had to play together and they did pretty well. And it's like, okay, yeah, but over 16 games, it's games, it really isn't going to work. Do you think that they were talking themselves into it or do you think they were trying to save face when speaking publicly about it? Because I think that there's certainly a difference. These are smart football men. You can't tell me that they saw this and been like,

oh yeah, this works. But they had to shine it the best that they could and make it look good from a public face. No one's going to say, yeah, we are so screwed on our defensive line right now. We have no interior pass rush. Our defensive ends are not good. This is terrible. They're never going to say that publicly.

I kind of had to come to terms with that as I've thought about it over the last few years. Did I not see something right am I am I being sold on something like as a media member somebody who studies this game and tries to learn it I've had to realize like okay there's a does them no good to tell the truth in a lot of respects right like with like the personnel like you're never gonna and Mike Zimmer is one of the most honest coaches you're ever going to have, which I think we all really respect him for that because sugarcoating is not his thing. And he's terrible at it because when he, when he starts pausing and when he starts like trying to be deliberate with his words, that's when, you know, he's thinking, he's like, Oh,

how do I say this without like throwing this player into the bus or letting people know how I really feel about him. And I respect that because that's a tell. So it just, you know, I think a lot of it was that the Vikings, it wasn't that they all of a sudden realized this year, like, man, we really have to get better on the defensive line. They've known and they tried to make it work through the draft because financially and free agency didn't have the options.

And last year's free agency was, could they, could they have gone after somebody in 2020? Like, sure. And, I mean, isn't that kind of what they did with Yannick Ngakwe, right? Like, you know, that was them being aggressive. Like, they were also probably lying to themselves and being like, well, maybe we, like, misjudged this neck injury to Daniil Hunter. And then at least they corrected course six weeks into the season.

Like, there are a lot of mistakes that are made. No personnel department is going to be like blemish free with like every decision that they get. Right. But like, I think the best ones, the ones that realize, Hey, this isn't working. And instead of trying to like force it the rest of the year, they cut bait and they can move on and do something else to try to fix it. And I just think that when it comes to that, they cut bait and they can move on and do something else to try to fix it. And I just think that when it comes to that,

they were a tick slow to, I guess, adjust to the things that weren't working or that weren't sustainable from the last time. And I think the Ngakwe trade is the smoking gun for them believing their own BS last year. Like I, I think that they, there is absolutely a difference between what's your coach speak and what's your hey i can't just like trash our defensive line here on this zoom call but at the same time they were very defensive about just reasonable questions hey how's this gonna work out how's this gonna work and then zimmer saying that he miscalculated i really do

think last year that they thought, oh, we'll just develop these guys because we're us and we develop guys and we have the secret sauce. But turns out that you're only as good as the talent of the players that you have. And that's what we saw last year with them finishing 29th. So I want to talk about some other hills to die on in terms of whether it's this team or whether it's the, the broader sense of the NFL. So I'm going to start with one and then we can go from there. Cause I think mine is sort of silly, but I just don't think that either of the kickers that are on the team are going to be kicking. And I'm going to die on that Hill through training camp. I know that our buddy, Sam

Ekstrom, I've made fun of him a few times for how much he loves tracking the kickers, but I think that his little notepad that's going to be filled with little kicks and who made who and from where is not going to matter because they're just not sticking with this. That is, that is, that's my first one. I'm going to die on that Hill. They will not be sticking with Greg Joseph or Riley Patterson as their kickers. I wrote down on my list, kickers will make or break the vikings season which i know that

that's that's a it's not necessarily like but they always do somehow right exactly it's not like a hot take that's just my hill i'm gonna die on because oh man like this team and kickers and like do you think that like a young like think about like the struggles that Dan Bailey had as a veteran kicker as somebody who has been around the block was you know an incredibly accurate kicker when they signed him and then all those struggles and how he handled last year like you really think that like a young kicker like a Greg Joseph who was on a practice squad last year you really think that that guy's ready for the pressure that it takes in this job? I believe that, and I was just pulling this up to look at,

there are a lot of kickers that are still out there on the free agent market. That's like Dan Bailey, honestly, he hasn't signed any. You know who else is available right now? Not that this is going to happen, but I just – Daniel Carlin is apparently still available as a free agent, according to Spotrack, which is kind of crazy when you think about it. But, like, you've got Zane Gonzalez. You've got Steven Gotkowski.

You've got Robert Aguayo. There's a lot of kickers out there that I think you could bring in, not just for competition, but for security. Because Mike Zimmer's not going to go into this season being like, I worked my ass off all season to adjust and revamp this defense. The offensive line was finally a priority, where they finally got guys in that were more than just athletic pass blocking dudes, like run blocking dudes. They wanted pass protection. They wanted big men. They finally do all the things that they've been putting off or they haven't been able to do. And you're going to have a kicker be the downfall of this season. There's no way in hell that he's going to allow that to happen.

So I, I, I see your Hill. I, I believe that you are accurate. There is going to be a veteran kicker brought into training camp and neither of these two Riley Patterson or Greg Joseph are going to take meaningful kicks in the 2021 season. I just cannot see it with a lack of experience. And also kind of like some of the stuff I've checked in on, on Greg Joseph, you know, he was in, he was in camp with Cleveland a year ago and he goes down to Tampa Bay, finishes the season on the practice squad. I didn't hear like rave reviews or anything like that. Nothing awful, but just that, like this guy has a lot of work to do.

So I don't think Mike Zimmer wants a kicker who has a lot of work to do. Okay. So we'll, we'll put it this way. Die on the Hill or throw a party on the Hill. You're saying I'm going to be throwing a party because your, your party will be your answer will be correct. Right. Oh, okay. That's how we'll do it. So I'm going to be throwing my kicker party on the Hill. All right.

Give me your first Hill to die on non non three technique related technique related. Oh, by the way, I was wrong. So Daniel Carlson did resign with the raiders um back in april but like i was just looking at this thing i guess that they didn't have his thing updated he probably did like a one-year deal but nonetheless not that not that he's available but he wouldn't be coming back here anyways okay my first hill i guess since i my my other hill those were two, the penetrating three technique and the kicker, I feel like I'm sometimes really annoying about this. And I don't ever want to come across that way. But I'm always concerned about the workload that they put on Dalvin Cook.

He had 356 touches last year. I did a story back in December about the curse of 380, which was something that was came up with by football outsiders, you know, a while ago. And I had a big chart that I went through where I looked at all of these running backs who had had 380 plus touches in one year and cook didn't reach that because he missed the final game because he had the death of his father. He, you know, missed second half of Seattle game, missed the atlanta game would he have gotten there had he had that time that those extra games probably but it just is one of those things where science and physics and all these other things like no matter how amazing you are it's something that you have to consider about not running your guy into the ground and like if there's any year

I mean Dalvin's healthy like we've talked to him and like I know that he probably hates fielding these questions because it's always going to be like and the thing is we're not even like talking about like oh you had an ACL injury rookie year you had a hamstring injury your second year it's the fact like injuries side whatever like you're putting a lot of mileage on your body whether you're healthy or not or no matter how long those injuries like how long ago those injuries were that's something i'm always going to be cognizant about where you don't want to see that drop off because of the way and just the sheer amount of like force he's put on his body as a running back so you have options behind it you really like

alexander madison like use him more you know is can is kane wong woo like is he a change of pace back i mean he was fast like that's the one thing with the running backs that i came away with during otas and minicamp that guy's burst out of the backfield like I mean he ran a 4-3-6 I think at the combine like he is really fast maybe he's a change of pace guy for you I don't know is Amir Abdullah like gonna have a role in this in this running back room maybe but I think just being able to be a little bit more judicious like of course when the game's on the line fourth quarter whatever like you want Dalvin Cook to have the ball in his hands and game changing situations. But what about all the stuff leading up to that? What about other things where you want to preserve

him? Like, I just, that's always been a Hill that I've been very concerned with. And that's one that I'm willing to die on. Not like literally, but like, you know, figuratively. Yeah, right, figuratively. So I want you to guess how many touches Elvin Kamara had last year. Played 15 games for the New Orleans Saints. We all agree, one of the great running backs in the game. If not, I mean, he's maybe got an argument for number one. So... I know it was under 300. I'm going to guess like 280.

You were very close. 270 touches. He only had 187 carries last year. He only played. He played full season. He played 50. I know he played 50 games, but he was. He's he's never had more than he's never had more than 275 touches in a season.

So my point is just that, you know know with Latavius Murray they have really put a focus on making sure that Alvin Kamara is healthy and he has been banged up from time to time yeah but super effective five yards to carry last year 9.1 yards per reception for Alvin Kamara I know that Delvin Cook is not going to catch 80 passes sure but putting that type of usage on his back year after year you are just asking his career to be shortened and i think last year there were times where it was just not necessary i mean you've got him in overtime slamming away at the middle of the jacksonville jaguars defensive line like what are we what are we doing here and uh your point about alexander madison it's like how do we get them to trust

alexander madison i don't know if it'll ever happen but i think that it's a smart hill to die on i don't no one can ever predict and we talked about this with uh ian hart it's of pff about the fantasy element we can never predict an injury or a fall off or something you never know when that's going to happen but you're putting yourself in the red zone of this can happen to you if you do blank. And they really did it last year in a seven to nine season. Like what, what was it worth? I mean, what did it get you? It got you nowhere to do that. And now you've put yourself at risk. So I think that even though it's impossible to predict where it goes, they've increased their chances of having this very problem. And the way that they structured his contract,

I just pulled it up. So he gets that big extension last September, right before the start of the season. So he's making his base is 1.5 this year. His proration is what it is, 3.1. Like you want to make sure that you're getting your money's worth out of the guy, right? Like in 2022, I think is when they can start restructuring or at least you know they've backloaded this thing

because he's an 8.3 million dollar base salary in in 2022 does he end up seeing it like that do they end up i mean they can if that's the thing like you want to set yourself up to still be on this team right and to be still be making money where they're not like, well, we'll take the 2. You know, what does it hear? 2.6 in dead cap. You know, excuse me, 2.6 in cap savings to, you know, get rid of you or even like, you know, you could designate them as a post June cut and save 8.9 against the cap in

2022. If, if he doesn't perform well this year where they're like, well, there's a drop off, like whatever, we'll keep going with it um we'll keep we'll keep it moving we'll you know move on from you and either turn over to madison draft somebody else like if you want to keep playing too you got to preserve your body um and he does all of the necessary things but you would just like to think too that you know the best interest of the player here is not to run him into the ground. 356 touches is absurd. That's a lot. It's not Christian McCaffrey level, but even look at what happened to Christian in 2019, when he sets, you know, the record for, for touches it's 400 plus, and then he's hurt last year and Carolina wasn't going to be great anyways, but that significantly impacted their ability on offense last year.

The Vikings need Dalvin Cook. It's a two-way street. Like, the success on offense, because so much of that offense runs through him, relies on him being out there. Like, the offense changes. Like, when he's not there, it is different. It's not as explosive. So keep him fresh

but I think you know you know we're talking with Clint Kubiak about like well how do you maintain it he said during OTAs minicamp they've got these tracking devices they've got you know people charting his workload to make sure that he's not doing too much like you know that's important because you just don't need him to like pull up lame on a hamstring and then be out for four to five weeks because that'll that'll significantly significantly impact your season um and you also want to just preserve him because he's a really good player and you need him when you need him and not again like you said like the Jacksonville game or even you know I can think of some other instances where it was just kind of unnecessary. I'm like, why is he out there? Put Madison in.

I think also two years in a row, we've seen in the second half of the season that it has just not been the same. The first half, each of the last two years, he's been in the MVP conversation. We've seen that pop up, and then that just sort of fades away. In 2019, there were some injuries. Last year, I don't know how much, if it was necessarily his fault, but it just doesn't have the same pop. We don't see the same home run ability a little later in the year. And I think that even in a single season, you could

get, you could still be great, but you could also be wearing him down. I'm going to give you a, maybe a hot take here, a hot Hill to, to roast on potentially until Aaron Rogers files his retirement papers. I am going to die on the hill that Aaron Rogers will be the quarterback of the green Bay Packers this season. I think his message has been heard and just can I just have a real quick aside. I saw saw bleach report publish an article of a former general manager who calls aaron rogers selfish and says he isn't liked by teammates and here's my here's my response to that play tim boyle then play tim if you don't want selfish quarterbacks who rub people the wrong way sometimes play freakingicking Tim Boyle. I mean, my gosh, like the,

the attacks on Aaron Rogers have just bordered on like parody at this point, former GM who's not identified says Rogers selfish. Oh my God. Really shut down the league for this year. There's there's worse things to be than selfish as a quarterback. I guess we should hold them out of the hall of fame then. Like it's the laziest most senseless reporting that has ever existed as some joker who doesn't matter says rogers whatever who cares anyway so that's that's an aside but that's the hill i'm gonna die on i think rogers is playing against you vikings two times this year and the Packers will remain after he arrives in the first week of camp or second week

of camp that he he'll, they'll remain the favorites for the NFC. And the reason I think that is because I just don't believe that Rogers can turn down a chance to win a Superbowl. And when you look at the NFC, this is the way we're talking ourselves into the Vikings is, Hey, look at the NFC. Not that good. we're talking ourselves into the Vikings is, Hey, look at the NFC. Not that good. You don't think Rogers has the same take. So I'll,

I'll die on that Hill that we do not see Jordan loves the starting quarterback at the green Bay Packers this year. I totally understand where you're coming from here. I'm not ready to die on that Hill yet, because I know how much time stands between now and week one and crazy things have happened before where you've had disgruntled players you know getting traded on you know cut down day or like you know shortly around then too and I don't I don't think he seems so dead set on this that I don't think he's somebody that's

gonna just like walk back in and be like all all right, sorry. Okay. I concede. So I'm not willing to say he's going to play for the Packers next year. Like definitively could it happen? Sure. Like they can continue to sweeten the deal here, but they're also probably like, screw this. Like we're going to force his hand. Like it's 50 grand a day to miss training camp. Eventually you're going to have to come back.

It's kind of what the Vikings could have done with Daniil Hunter. But they obviously wanted to make sure that they kept that relationship in a really good spot. And reportedly, Joel Corey of CBS reported that he did get his $100,000 workout bonus that he missed out on this spring, that they're not going to dock him for that. So again, good faith move. Keep yourself yourself in good it's more than just money you have to keep yourself in good faith of the player to realize like okay they're not trying to like screw me over here but the Packers at this point you know there's been reports of the new deal that like or new deals that they they've you know approached him with or planning to approach him with like new money all of that like eventually it's kind of like what more can we give you like

you you don't have the leverage here like unless you know and what leverage do they have to trade him like what can they get back right now that's going to significantly help them um they're sure as hell not trading him to an nfc rival or anybody in the nfc and and i just think that that's you know i wouldn't rule it out of something happening down the line but it's just it's not going to happen anytime soon but i also i just i have a really hard time seeing rogers being like yeah sure okay i'll come back i just i can't i mean the whole retirement thing i have a hard time seeing that too i cannot cannot imagine a league without Aaron Rogers, considering it's all that we all know.

So I just have a hard time with that one. Hey everyone. I want to tell you about our friends at Scout Logistics. And I really do mean it when I say friends, they are fans of Purple Insider over at Scout Logistics. And since they reached out wanting to support this show, I want to tell you about what they do. Scout Logistics is just inin-time transportation for full tractor-trailer loads.

And if you're wondering what that means exactly, well, if you own or work for a company that needs shipping solutions, they are the preferred carrier of Fortune 500 companies across North America. And we have quite a few of those in Minnesota, right? They can ship perishable, non-perishable FTL or LTL, and they have on-time delivery rate of over 99%. So if you're like them and you enjoy the show and you have shipping needs, check out scoutlogistics.com or call 855-217-2688 extension 232 to connect with them directly to find out how scout logistics can minimize risk and over-perform and go the extra mile for your company. I feel like he's going to need a white horse situation where Aaron Rogers gets to ride in and save the day that he lets them sweat for the first two weeks of

training camp. And then everyone's going, Oh no, what's going to happen. Jordan love doesn't look good in training camp. And the next day here comes Aaron to save the day. He needs that. I think he needs that. Or, you know, here comes David box, Tiari flying the private jet out to Roger's house to beg him to come back. He needs, he needs the farve.

So I just, I just feel like that's, what's going to come back. He needs, he needs the farve. So I just, I just feel like that's, what's going to happen somehow, some way, because I don't know that he can pass up. Like, do you want to end your career being taken off the field in favor of a field goal in the playoffs? Like, is that the way he wants to end it? I don't, I don't know if he can do it. Okay. Why don't you give me one more before we wrap up well i think the offensive line has been like when we talked about that at the top of the show that like oh all of a sudden now they realize that they needed like big dudes playing on the interior and that everything as mike zimmer said goes inside out like you work from the inside out with your pass protection like I don't know how to even

phrase this but like my hill on the offensive line is that like until you yes they finally got it right it took them long enough but like you need I think you can mix schemes I think you can mix schemes. I think you need power scheme along with the zone blocking scheme, and you can be an effective offense. Not saying that you have to have big hog mollies or whatever that term is, that you need these massive 330-pound dudes on your offensive line, but you're not going to cut it with Garrett Bradbury size offensive linemen all across the board so kudos to the Minnesota Vikings for figuring that out now years after like we've been pointing it out and years after it just hasn't worked but the priority here it's

not just like oh well Dakota Dozier sucks or like whatever like the discourse is it's Garrett Bradbury we need to look good like we made a good pick in Garrett Bradbury 2019 because it's coming upon his third season and this is the year kind of like we're going to be able to tell was this a good pick was it not so put size around him that's what was that was their priority I mean Ezra cleveland's a big dude wyatt davis is a big dude and yes i know wyatt davis was with the second team during during otas in spring doesn't matter he's gonna be there's no there's no way you can make me believe that mason cole or dakota dozier are going to be starting over a Wyatt Davis. I just don't believe it. So like they finally got the pass protection element, right.

With like who they brought in and like big size around, like working inside out. But I think that you don't need to be a zone, like a complete true steadfast zone blocking scheme to be an effective offense. Like you can run the ball through power. You can do a lot of different things and i would like to see them switch that up and put other elements in there so you're not as predictable too so i thought i thought the direction you were going to go

was going to be you'll die on the hill that this offensive line is not all set for this year i mean what more can you do though i i honestly I think it is set even though Christian Derrissaw is dealing with that groin injury and they don't seem to be like all that concerned about it but there's no doubt in my mind what the starting five is on in week one and I don't know what more they can do although they do have money they've got 14 ish million in cap space if they want to go get a guard they can they can i just don't know if they will i think that would probably be mine then in relation to this is you should sign another guard because if wyatt davis isn't ready then are you throwing them out there

or do we have another redux of dakota dozier i mean you said it's unlikely i agree with you but also like let's not underestimate this team's ability to make the wrong decision on the offensive line. They've just done nothing but that until recently with the draft picks. But even then, I guess the hill I would die on is that this can work, but I don't know that it will right away. I agree. That's a good hill. I agree with that one because it's probably going to take some time considering you have two rookies that are going to be starting day one potentially and also you know Ezra Cleveland played guard last year and he did he did okay like you know and I think that's just we're we're judging it off hey you have a left tackle you moved him to right guard how do you do well it's not spectacular but it's better than the alternative so will there be growing pains with that will Garrett Bradbury be able to hold his

own for a couple weeks and then take the next jump I mean Brian O'Neill's the only like sure bet you have on this offensive line and even he's had you know kind of some up and down moments through throughout but he's more consistent than anybody else like it looks good on paper don't get me wrong but it's just like is this sustainable is this gonna work like did they finally crack their own code that's you know that's gonna be the million dollar question because how wild is it in a way that all last month all throughout may and june what did we not talk about what's usually on the tip of our tongue, man, this offensive line, what the heck's going to happen during training camp for the first time,

since I've covered this team, it's not a question where it's kind of like, Oh, like we can actually set this aside. Like this will be like, there's, yeah, there's position battles. I think that's fair to say, you know, Wyatt Davis does not. I mean, I would anticipate that they, that they, that he ends up winning that job but i don't think it's a lock right now um you didn't draft christian derisaw to sit for a year you didn't know like rashad hill's a good swing tackle but he's not going to be starting week one

but like so on paper they got it all right it's just can it actually translate to week one like but it is it is interesting because like it's first time in forever where we're not talking and seeing a fan base freaked out about the offensive line three months before the season starts right week two is where they will be tested right away i think jj watt chandler jones i assume is going to be back um so the next time we talk i'm not sure when it will be but uh i know that here's what I want to ask you. So make sure you remember this is to pick the schedule again, because the last time we picked it was was a long time ago, many moves ago for this roster. So we will we'll do that again soon.

We'll have to get you pick the whole 17 game schedule. It feels like it's it's it takes like a much longer time to pick that one more game uh so we'll do that and i want to see if your record from where you were before has changed but i appreciate as always your time and uh i hope you get a little little vacation a little more travel in well a little r&r coming up just trying to unplug in this next month and six days before training camp starts which is crazy because it's going to be here so fast although the good thing is for for those of us covering the team typically they do those extensions on the eve of training camp right so if you're anticipating

something happening for brian o'neill for harrison smith i don't think it would happen in the meantime i think that that's something towards the end of you, but how nice is it knowing like what we know with the Neil Hunter, that we're not going to be on like holdout watch for the next couple of weeks. I was so blessed when that happened. It happened much sooner than I thought it would, to be quite honest. They could have waited through training camp, but keeping that relationship in mind that's why they did it this way so i mean i think it's great and i think that it'll be better for us that we can kind of focus where we want to the next couple weeks without having to worry about a disgruntled defensive end and contract no that's a good point thank you for getting it done so we

don't have to be uh refreshing adam schaefter's page every five seconds so courtney as always i appreciate your time and we will do this again soon