Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - ESPN's Myron Medcalf makes bold predictions on the Vikings and NFL for 2021

Episode Date: August 30, 2021

Maatthew Coller gets together with ESPN's Myron Medcalf to go through their annual bold predictions. Why doesn't Myron think Trevor Lawrence will be the best QB of the rookies? Matthew tries to guess when the outside world will be most critical of Kirk Cousins. Why Myron thinks the Packers will fall off this year and believes in the Vikings' defense and more... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider, Matthew Collar here and joining me on the show today to make bold predictions. We're making this our preseason tradition. Myron Metcalf from ESPN. How are you, Myron? I'm doing well, man. It's good to be back on the pod, man. All right. So we're going to go through the league, but also the Vikings.

And we're going to try to find a space between being completely ridiculous with our predictions and also being maybe too obvious with our predictions that is where the bold world exists so why don't you kick it off you deliver me some boldness and then we'll just go back and forth bold battle style and see who can i don't know maybe get one of these right so fire away well i'm going to start by saying that number one draft pick in the 2021 nfl draft trevor lawrence will be the fourth best of the five quarterbacks taken in the first round whoa now here's why here's why i'm going to say this i do not think you can separate a quarterback from the culture of a team. And I do think Urban Meyer as a coach at this level is going to struggle.

And I think the concerns that we saw last game in Jacksonville where people were talking about sort of this archaic offense, it honestly seemed like Urban Meyer thought he was going to play Illinois and Minnesota this season and not actually having to deal with the AFC. I just think you have to be in 2021 innovative to some degree. And you have to be open-minded. And if you think you can just get by on what you've always done, you'll struggle.

And I think that's going to be urban Myers first year in Jacksonville. And I think Trevor Lawrence is going to pay for that. I think there are also, it's not just about Trevor Lawrence. Why I think that I think it's going to be Herbert Meyer's first year in Jacksonville, and I think Trevor Lawrence is going to pay for that. I think there are also – it's not just about Trevor Lawrence why I think that. I think it's the other quarterbacks. I think Zach Wilson, who I know he's only played in the preseason. I watched him the other night against the Packers, and you can't get too excited about preseason football, I understand. But the way he's moving the ball, I just think he'll be effective.

And then you have a guy like Justin Fields, who I think is an incredible playmaker, and he's going to have a chance to either start the season or I think he'll be the starter fairly early for Chicago. And then from there, it's between a Matt Jones, who could end up being the starter. Maybe he starts early. It does seem like Cam Newton maybe is losing some favor in

New England with Belichick. And then Trey Lance is the other variable. I just don't think it's crazy to think that we look back at this season and say, wow, Trevor Lawrence was the fourth guy in this class. Now, I'm not saying that that means he's fourth

in terms of potential. I'm not saying he's fourth in terms of talent. I'm not saying he's fourth in terms of talent. He's number one in all of those categories. But I do think this is going to be a year where the other quarterbacks, three of them, will stand out above Trevor Lawrence this season. And I think he'll be fourth in this class this year. So is your order then Zach Wilson first, and then Justin Fields,

then Trey Lance, then, um, then Trevor Lawrence and then, and then Mac Jones or is Mac Joe is, well, you've got him fourth out of the five. So are you,

so are you thinking that, uh, Mac Jones jumps right in and is good or like, what's your order? What is going to be Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Matt Jones, Trevor Lawrence, Trey Lance. Okay, I think that's fair because Trey Lance has a really long way to go. I mean, the man just did not play football.

And I think it shows where he will let an 80-yard touchdown launch out of his arm that is just crazy. And he threw a ball the other night i was like uh brett is this jeff george like terry bradshaw is that he was he let go uh pass over the middle that was like it looked like when cam newton first came into the league and it was just this rocket but then there's the shaky moments as well that i think will probably keep him on the bench he also has jimmy garoppolo there who I know gets hurt a lot, but has been very successful when not hurt that could keep him at fifth. So I think that that's a fair prediction.

And I don't know if I'm going to agree that he ends up with fourth because the raw talent is so high. And even Kyler Murray, I think has overcome to some extent a bad college coach trying to make it in the nfl but isn't it amazing to you that they keep doing this in the nfl like isn't it remarkable it's like this guy everyone was a great recruiter folks that if someone got hurt the next guy behind him was a five-star recruit. Okay. And he could bully everyone and he could do whatever he wanted and there were no consequences. And then when he actually got in trouble, he faked the heart thing and walked away and then

upgraded his job. And the first thing he tries to do in Jacksonville is hire a racist strength coach. What a great play from the beginning. And then you're already hearing before we're out of the first camp that he's lost people there. What? Like, this is hard to do. I mean, look, if it couldn't work for Nick Saban, I'm not so sure that it's going to work for Urban Meyer. I do wonder about the talent level of Trevor Lawrence and his ability to go

off schedule and his arm strength and all those things. And the fact that I think they have some playmakers there. I wonder if it wins out and he has a decent season as a rookie. That division is not impressive Myron, but if your fundamental point is urban Meyer looks like it's going to implode. I am a hundred percent with you. Yeah, no, that's what it's going to implode i am 100 with you yeah no that's what it's completely tied to i mean it's it's the situation over everything right and i think you can't separate that listen the biggest thing that college coaches struggle with is honestly the most powerful coaches in all the sports are Division I college football coaches. Like literally, they are not even just the people who run the most important programs on campus.

They're the most famous people, not even just on campus, usually in that whole city. A lot of times in that entire state, they are that big. I mean, in Ohio, it was the governor and Urban Meyer. Florida was the same way. So there is a certain level of power and authority that comes with that. And now you get to the NFL, and I don't think you could make the case in terms of power. NFL coaches are not at the top at all because it's so easy to get rid of them.

Think about the stability of that position, how many coaches in the NFL have been with the same team for the last five years or more, if there's only a handful. So you know that there's a volatility there, and you know you've got to do everything right, and that every year, for the most part, unless you're a handful of coaches, you're coaching for your job. I think that, to me, is the biggest thing with Urban Meyer. You can't be sort of dismissive of the moment and the situation

and sort of act like, I'm Urban Meyer, what's anybody going to do? Well, that worked in Columbus. I don't know that that's going to work here. And already you're hearing sort of the buzz about, hey, man, you've got to do something with this offense. You've got to find a way to put Trevor Lawrence in a position to be the playmaker that he is. I just don't have a lot of confidence that he can do that and that he'll do that this season, especially.

I think that's extremely fair. I would probably go. I also like the way that the New York Jets are constructed now from a coaching situation and a system situation for Zach Wilson to be the best quarterback of the first year because they're running a Shanahan style offense and their defensive coach, I think is one of the most respected defensive coaches in Robert Sala in the entire NFL. And that we've seen that defensive coaches and even here in Minnesota, they can raise the level from where your talent is of what you produce as a defense. So even though I don't think, especially after Carl lawson's injury that the jets have a particularly talented defense i think they

could be a little better and i think this system where you have bootlegs and rollouts and easy throws i think it's great for a young quarterback to be dropped into and then every so often you can let zach wilson loose and then and put slowly more and more on his plate. We see this type of offense work for the Kirk Cousins and the Jimmy Garoppolo's, the guys that don't have crazy arm talent. I want to see it with Zach Wilson. I think if you put Trevor Lawrence in it, he would do well. I think if you put Trey Lance, once he gets it down in it, he'll do well.

This offense has taken over a good portion of the NFL and actually leads to my bold prediction, which is that the Atlanta Falcons will be good this year because I believe in Arthur Smith. I think that Matt Ryan has not been terrible over the last couple of years, but they have been coached terribly. And, uh, they've brought in isn't Dean Dean Pease their defensive coordinator now? He's had a long history of a very good defensive coordinator. Dan Quinn fell off the map as a defensive mind in recent years. I think the upgrade in coaching, even though they lost Julio Jones, will be enough to get Atlanta into, I think, legitimate playoff contention.

Plus, I also do not believe at all in New Orleans or in Carolina. So that is my worst-to-first team. Were they worst? No, Carolina was. No, were they worst? Yeah, that's my worst-to-first team, and I think Arthur Smith running this Shanahan-style offense will work extremely well for Matt Ryan. There is my NFC South bold prediction.

I actually like that but I like because of what you said about New Orleans I don't have any faith in New Orleans I don't know what's happening on the internet with the Jameis Winston buzz like I don't know there's people saying crazy things that he was overlooked

and he didn't get a chance he didn't get a chance what do you mean who's had more chances than Jameis Winston? And the reality is he did throw for 5,000 yards, but he made so many mistakes that that team couldn't do anything. And then a year later, they go and get 49, 59-year-old Tom Brady, and they win the Super Bowl. So I'm with you.

I don't believe in Carolina. I don't believe in New Orleans. I think Matt Ryan has always faced an elevated level of scrutiny because of the lead he blew in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. But I do worry about not having

Julio Jones, and if that exposes Matt a little bit, because Julio was always such a target, and that opened up the field for Matt, so I'll be interested to see that, man. I love that prediction because I'm just not on the New Orleans train, man. I'm not on it at all. Absolutely nobody is better for not having Julio Jones,

so don't mistake my point here. But Julio Jones being in and out of the lineup constantly, and then when he's in the lineup, not 100%, but you're still forcing him the football all the time. Matt Ryan not being as good at throwing the ball deep anymore, but still needing to throw it deep all the time to Julio Jones. I almost feel like there's a thing there where it was like Odell Beckham in New York where you have to, like Manning has no arm strength left,

but he has to force the ball to Beckham in New York where you have to like Manning has no arm strength left, but he has to force the ball to Beckham. And it just became like predictable and maybe frustrating for everyone because like Matt Ryan cannot make a 50 yard throw down the field anymore. And yet that's what's sort of required to get the most out of Julio Jones. So you're just continuing to attempt that, even though it's not a good thing for you. Like Kelvin Ridley is much more of an underneath, a great route runner gets open all the time type of guy. I wonder if that actually takes a little pressure off Ryan to be constantly forcing the ball down the field.

Can I, I'm going to like interject a game within a game here. Um, can we, can we talk about NFL internet gaslighting for a second? I have never felt so lit with gas as Jameis Winston. Like, what in the world are all of you talking about? This guy did absolutely nothing as the number one overall pick on his rookie contract. They give him another chance with one of the great quarterback coaches ever in Bruce Arians, who coached Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning,

and now Tom Brady to a Super Bowl. Carson Palmer revamped his whole career in Arizona with Bruce Arians. This man has had success. And he was horrendous, everyone. He couldn't beat out Taysom Hill for the backup job in New Orleans. And suddenly you guys are telling me that 5,000 yards is a thing that matters to you?

Like, oh, don't look at the fact that you're playing from behind constantly because he threw 31 interceptions. Yardage totals is like a thing that's being brought up in 2021. Like, is there another thing that you feel as gaslit about as Jameis Winston love? Because that is bizarre. Not nothing. I mean, I really haven't seen anything like this. It is weird that people are going to the volume thing, you know, and it's like, okay. It is 1993, I guess, if that's how you want to view the world.

But my other thing is, like, more than any other quarterback that's playing right now, and I mean this, if there's any quarterback where you don't give him the benefit of the doubt with a small sample size, it's him. Because the reality of james winston's career certainly he's had some incredible moments he's had some highs but over the course of a season if you let him play 14 15 16 17 games that's when the mistakes show up and that's when the problems come so i don't know anyone who's watched him can say oh he hasn't been given a

chance yes he's been given a chance. He's been given many chances. And guess what? Michael Thomas has his whole situation. He's got to figure that out. So you're going to need James Winston to be better. Remember, Drew Brees had all of his struggles. You know, toward the end, Drew Brees wasn't the same quarterback. He was obviously efficient.

But now you're asking James Winston to come in because he's not that efficient quarterback to be a big playmaker. And he can do that one game. But over 17 games, I just don't see it. I just don't understand where people who were criticizing Jameis Winston, which he deserved it. It ain't like it came out of nowhere, are suddenly saying that, oh, we have found he deserves a moment of redemption.

What? Because he gets to start over Taysom Hill. Is that what we're talking about right now? It's because he's such a great guy as well. Oh wait, like this is the thing. So everyone's rooting for Teddy Bridgewater, right?

In the whole world. I mean, there's no one, there's no, they're right. There's no player I've ever met. No one off the record ever who has criticized Teddy Bridgewater. And I've heard many, many stories of just people who care about him deeply and want

to see his success. All of us are realistic about what's there with Teddy Bridgewater. I mean, he's a game manager at this point in his career coming off the knee injury. He's a filler. He's a bridge quarterback. Like we all get that. He's way better than Jameis Winston. Way better.

Like his, his career is just way better than Jameis Winston, who was supposed to be this like transformational quarterback. I swear people never let go of where you were drafted ever. It's just like for all of existence, you will be considered great if you were drafted number one. And, and if you weren't, then someone should have given you 69 more chances so i don't know it's it's just it's so wild to me i've never felt so much like what wait what league are you talking about so i won't rant about this more but that's totally crazy to me um how about a bold prediction from you pertaining to the Minnesota Vikings?

The healthy Minnesota Vikings defense, when everybody's back and when they can go. I think we're going to see a top 10 unit. That's my bold prediction. Is that bold? Does that sound bold at all? I don't know. Maybe that's not bold enough. But I do think that that'll be one of the biggest differences, I think, in the NFL.

When I talk to people around the country about Minnesota, everyone knows obviously Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook, who haven't been available, the same pressure on Kirk Cousins. This is a yearly tradition that we have here. But there are a lot of people who are wondering what this defensive unit could be. And knowing that if Mike Zimmer is going to go out, he's not going to go out without giving everything he has on that side of the ball so i know there are questions but i think that unit uh can can evolve into that which to me shakes up this division because i don't have the confidence in green bay that other people have going into this year. Okay, explain that last part.

I do think no matter how much people want to act like you can do whatever you want in the offseason, you can be Aaron Rodgers, you can have sort of this disconnect from the team, and you can sort of waltz in and say everything's okay. I just have a hard time believing that that situation, when things aren't in sync with your front office, with your coaching staff, with your top player, that that doesn't potentially bleed into the product we see on the field. I mean, I think Green Bay has been a good team in the last couple years,

of course. But they've also been a team that has just won a lot of really close games. They have been right there with a number of teams, and guess what? The coin flip went their way, and a lot of it had to do with Aaron Rodgers, and they're a good franchise. I understand that. But I just wonder if this is a locker room that is over Aaron Rodgers and is tired of the act, if they feel that way,

that's going into this season, knowing that he's essentially just trying to set himself up for a trade to another team. I just don't think that's the kind of thing that you just ignore. It works if you're great, 100%. But I think this Green Bay team will have some struggles, and I think that's where the drama becomes a bigger issue uh for the team and i also think it's hard to see a guy at this stage of aaron rogers career just

continue to get better that's usually not the trajectory of guys in their late 30s even so i think there will be some drop off there as well not because he's not great but because that's just what happens to guys at this stage so i think that Green Bay can drop off a little. And part of it is that they lost a couple of offensive linemen this year, and that might make a difference. And that they'll still win the division and be really good. Like, even if they're not quite as strong as they were last year or two years ago, and even if Aaron rogers doesn't win mvp i think there's there's just too much talent from aaron rogers and his unstoppable wide receiver davante adams and the system that like we were saying is designed to help young quarterbacks or quarterbacks who aren't that dynamic it's designed

for them and it works for them and here's aaron rogers running it who is one of the great playmakers at quarterback in nfl history and we've seen the results of that um of running multiple tight ends and and trying to you know get more linebackers on the field and running play actions and bootlegs and pushing the ball downfield like i think that he's coming back with an attitude that it better like work for him. Right. I mean, I don't, I don't think that anyone has ever viewed him as, as someone who, like we were saying about Teddy is universally loved by all of his teammates, but the way that he acted this off season and then calling it the last dance, I mean, Michael Jordan

won championship at the last dance. So I've felt like this is Rogers finding a new way to push himself and motivate himself as sort of a bleep you to the team i'm gonna have another great year and then walk away from you and that would be scary to me if i was in the nfc north even if i believe that team isn't quite as strong as it was last year so i will say it is bold for both of those predictions to say that the vik Vikings will have a top defense. That one's less bold. I think your Green Bay take is more bold because I think everyone, including myself, is writing them in for another 12 or 13 wins.

And I get that. And on paper, that makes sense. One hundred percent. It does. And I would say about Aaron Rodgers and again, Tom Brady has spoiled all of us, and it's made a lot of people just convinced that there's a new generation of guys coming where they're going to be able to play until their 40s. LeBron James is doing the same thing.

When the reality is that, like, maybe it's just Tom Brady and LeBron, right? Like, maybe it's just actually two guys who are actually going to do this, and then everybody else is going to be normal. I think all of the things you described, the playmaking, the bootlegging, that to me is something that Tom Brady hasn't had to deal with, right? Like his greatest strength is that as he got older, he became even less mobile. And Aaron Rodgers is still a guy who wants to be that guy, that mobile quarterback, even at this age.

And at some point, that just gets to be that guy, that mobile quarterback, even at this age. And at some point, that just gets to be more difficult. And we've seen that drop off from a lot of players who play that way from one year to the next. So, again, I think he's still a really good player. I still think that team has all the potential in the world to get back to the Super Bowl. And then between the potential decline with aaron rogers and i think the way that drama can affect locker rooms when a team is not as successful as it as

it has been in past years that to me is just something to watch with with green bay edgar bennett is weeping at this take he is he can't myron not you not you mad at me um so i'll give you uh two vikings ones one is somewhat facetious but i actually believe in it and then the other one is more broad i'm gonna try to pick out the week in which the national media is crushing kirk cousins okay so i like that i'm gonna go bold prediction that by week four the media at large the get up the nfl network the so forth will be on their sort of horse about kirk cousins and saying he's letting them down he's paid this number of dollars and everything else and it will be because of just the typical up and down of Kirk

cousins. But every time he has the down, we have this flood. It's like hating Kirk cousins week. And I mean, I make fun of the whole, you know, hating thing, but the time that they went nuts over him, apologizing to Adam Thielen for an overthrow was like, okay, this is a tradition. They like this. Uh, and so I think it'll either come from maybe covid or maybe he says something or maybe it's losing to the browns or whatever it might be but there's going to be a let's dunk on kirk cousins week i will predict it's week three that doesn't mean at all the season ends or anything else like that i still think they'll be competitive i i agree with your bold take that they'll have a top 10 defense,

but there's going to be a week. You know it. Every year is coming, and I'm going to pick week, like week after week three going into week four where this happens. And my other one for the Vikings is that the kicking will be fine. I think that's very bold in Minnesota to say the kicking will be fine. That is extremely bold. That's far more bold than the national media going after Kirk Cousins. He's very bold in Minnesota to say the kicking will be fine. That is extremely bold.

That's far more bold than the national media going after Kirk Cousins. I mean, that could happen in week one. But I'm with you. I mean, if they – because the assumption with the first thing about Kirk Cousins is, okay, they beat the Bengals, right, and then they lose to the Cardinals and the Seahawks, and, you know, they're 1-2 or 0-3 going into Cleveland and that's when the noise happens. I could certainly see that. That makes sense.

But the kicking, I don't know. I don't know. That's the boldest thing you've said, man, because I have been here for 20 years and I have never thought the kicking was going to be okay with Minnesota. And I've always thought that at some point, not only will the kicking not be okay, but going to cost you at least two critical games that shape your season. Like that to me is a, is a constant. So that is super bold, man.

Hey everybody, the season is on the way. Fans are going back to stadium. So you have to be ready with the best Minnesota football gear. That's why you have to check out SodaStick. I saw a ton of SodaStick gear around training camp. I expect to see it in the stadium as well. There are so many cool designs on hats, T-shirts, and hoodies for the fall weather, including the John Randall design that is extremely cool. There's also the straight cash homie Randy Moss homage.

Can't stop the feeling hats and a personal favorite. The old video game designs that Tecmo fans will appreciate. Check it all out at SodaStick.com. That is S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com. Everything is screen printed here in Minnesota. And I can tell you that the shirts are comfortable and they last because half of my closet is now soda stick at this point. Again, that's sodastick.com Minnesota sports inspired goods and keep your eye out for our soda stick giveaways. Okay. Allow me to get even more specific on the Kirk thing. I think that they'll lose a home game to Cleveland and then it will be crush Kirk cousins week. And maybe he'll even miss that game to Cleveland and then it will be crush Kirk cousins week.

And maybe he'll even miss that game for some reason. And then he'll come back against Detroit and throw for 380 yards. There's your, there's like, this is what's going to happen. Maybe that's not bold based on history, but whether they keep Greg Joseph or get someone else, um,

kicking is just like chasing this mythical beast. No, no one understands how to get a good kicker. And when you get one, you just try to grip onto it for dear life, like Adam Vinatieri or something. Uh, and that's why we see, you know, Sebastian Janikowski play for the same team for his entire career and that sort of thing. And Gary Anderson be around until he was 7,000 years old because no one has any idea how to find a good kicker. So it's like, well, you've had some bad ones and maybe there's a good one around the corner and it will probably be okay. Um, last year they were also the worst kicking team in the league percentage wise. So you're, I guess,

bound to sort of bounce back there. And I greg joseph is an okay kicker from what i've seen if they stick with him he's okay if they get someone else it'll probably be better that that's the best i could do to actually back that take up but but um i also do sort of believe in sports curses a little but not enough to say every single year the kicker will be bad so how about that hey man i think that's just hard to it's hard to imagine because it feels like that is that is like an ongoing curse that you can't just quite get rid of yes rid of here man all right what's your next one um i don't really know how bold it really is, but I think we're going to see Kirk Cousins play 17 games,

and no matter what happens, as much as we have heard so much about moving on from Kirk Cousins, as much as we have heard about, you know, finding a new quarterback, all of those things, I think the Vikings are going to be in the same spot they've always been in with Kirk Cousins after that 17 game, no matter what happens, whether they're a playoff team, whether they're way out of contention, they're still going to feel like they may not have a better option.

And as much as we've been here so many times before, we've had so many conversations about it, I get it. But I think the rollercoaster of emotions around Kirk Cousins will continue, and we're going to end in the same place. And he's going to be in the same position to find a way to be this quarterback of this team in this franchise going forward and the big hit the button blow everything up is not going to happen so i do feel i do feel this is bold considering that they drafted a quarterback last year and they were sniffing around other quarterbacks. He's got a $45 million cap hit,

which, you know, does open the door for a contract extension to change that. But you have to be really sold if you're going to sign up for three more years of what you've seen, which would mean them having a really good season. I think like winning 12 games, winning a couple of playoff games getting yourself into the nfc championship game again i think that the bar has been bumped quite a bit higher from where it was even in 2019 when they decided to extend him again i think it's gone to no you really have to win something because if it's four years in and they've done so much to this roster to get the defense back to where it's supposed to be and they've done so much to this roster to get the defense back to where it's supposed to be,

and they've given him nothing but superstar mega talent at wide receiver and running back. If you can't do it now after all this time, four years, huge sample size, then I think they have no other choice to move on. But Kirk does have this way of playing just well enough. And that's the sort of fun point about how at some point he'll be low and he'll be getting slammed by everyone with a Twitter account. And then he'll bounce back is because he always does that. And he always finds a way to be a top 12 quarterback at the end of the season. And so, yes, it is possible that they could go, Hey, yeah, well, I don't know where we're getting another one of these. But I also think that if it's not good enough win wise, they're going to make changes in

other places, too, and say, let's let's kind of redo this thing, because a lot of players could leave on defense after this year as well. I'll give you mine. And it connects to this. This is along the boldness. And I don't know if this will happen or anything else. And it's not like someone told me this, but if there's going to be a last man standing of the big three that run this team right now, Kirk cousins, Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer, I think Mike Zimmer is the last man

standing. If indeed that things are not perfect, they don't go to the nfc championship game and changes are made i think that the head coach would have the best odds of those three to be the guy who's still here for next year how you feel about that oh man i think that's super bold super i mean because you know i i think you know we're maybe a few months, maybe even six months ago, it just seemed inevitable, right? Like at the end of the day. Like the vibe has been Zimmer coaching for his job and the reverse of what you said, I feel like. Like at the end of the day, like maybe he's the first one going.

Like I think I've thought a lot about, okay, if this team gets off to a really shaky start and we get to week six or week seven, is this thing just going to implode? Because I get the sense from what we've heard from Zimmer and just sort of his, how raw he has been, how open he has been. I just get the sense that he's just not going to give in in any way. And if we get to that point week five week six week seven i just don't know if that's going to be something that you could look at that and go

we'll be okay and we'll figure it out the next nine or ten weeks so i think that's a really bold prediction because much of what we've thought about has certainly been the other way. So I think that's bold, man. Really, really bold. Yeah, I did decide to ramp up the bold meter for that one, but I'll explain the scenario that I'm thinking here. And the bold predictions always have to have some sort of backing because otherwise you're just being completely ridiculous. So here's my line of thinking is let's say that they go nine and eight this year and

they miss the playoffs and Zimmer goes to ownership. It says, look in this nine and eight season, we saw the same thing from Kirk that we've seen every single year. We gave him the receivers. We gave him linemen. We drafted a bunch of them. We gave him Delvin cook. We gave him Irv Smith and he's just kirk and and there's

not a whole lot i can do and oh by the way he won't do the thing that you guys want him to do to make sure he stays on the field so he really isn't like signing up for this long term so we need to draft quarterback and move on and oh by the way check the roster depth on our recent draft picks and how we've done and look who's sort of been at the head of the front office and maybe you should give me a little more power with some of these draft picks because it hasn't worked out so well for your general manager like you could see them having a top 10 defense and and Zimmer saying look I did my job and our offensive coordinator even did his job, but the quarterback is who he

is. So you have to give me a fresh start at quarterback to give me a chance. That's my line of thinking. Now, is it, are the odds for it? I know, of course not. I mean, the odds are for, if you go eight, nine missed playoffs, that it's a whole new start for everybody. But I think that they're really sold on the idea that mike zimmer is a very very good head coach and when we were talking about urban meyer earlier like i don't disagree with it that he's a very good head coach when you look at some of the guys that you know the grass is not always greener with um but yes i i'm i'm going a little bit bold there so if you have one more i thought we could like rapid bold take um the end, unless you have another one.

Let's go rapid bold. I like it. Okay. Jalen Hurts will be good. It's my rapid bold take. I think that Philly will be better than we think because Jalen Hurts is going to take a big step forward. And at the end of the year, people will be like, Jalen Hurts didn't see it coming. It's my bold take.

Now you go. I love it. I love it. I love it. Tua Tungvaloa will be good. Oh. I know there's a lot of concern and a lot of doubt in Miami. I still think guys like him were certainly at a disadvantage with COVID and everything attached to that and the challenges and limits of that. With a full offseason, I think Tua will be better.

He'll be good. I think we're going to say about Los Angeles chargers. Huh? What happened there this year? Didn't, didn't go as planned to have Justin Herbert, take them to the super bowl. They only went seven and 10.

I thought that they were supposed to be the team on the rise. That's what I think happens to the chargers in part because their division is extremely good and i'm not fully sold on any quarterback who has like a good rookie year going into their sophomore season i like that the pittsburgh steelers will finish third in the afc north and ben roethlisberger will struggle. And for the first time in a long time, we will look at the Steelers and say, what is their future? And that means everybody. Mike Tomlin, who's going to be the quarterback? All of those questions will be in play.

And I think they'll start happening by about midseason with that team. I believe Detroit's over under is like four and a half. I'm going to say Detroit not only hits the over, but either comes very close or beats the Minnesota Vikings in one of two games. I think Matt Patricia was that bad as a head coach that they have very, very good coordinators, and Jared Goff is not so awful that he can't have good games. So I'm going to say that the detroit lions are better than you

think i'm not saying they're making the playoffs but i do think they'll hit the over i like it week seven mark it down week seven all five rookie quarterbacks who were picked in the first round will be starters week seven will be the the week when it happens. All seven. Trey Lance, Matt Jones, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson. Going into that week, we'll be the starters for their respective franchises. I'm going to go. Everyone who's talking about how Washington is the sneaky team of the NFC will be wrong. That Ryan Fitzpatrick is Ryan Fitzpatrick forever. And I know that their defense is pretty good,

but I think we're overrating it a little. If you look at the quarterbacks that they held down last year to get some wins. So I think that Washington is a, is the disappointment of the year after getting lots of off season hype. Love it. Staying in that division. Mike McCarthy will not make it to the end of the season with the Dallas

Cowboys. I was going to use that. Not, he will not be the head coach at the end of the season in Dallas. This is a recipe for disaster expectations. Mike McCarthy. That is not a good situation to be in. And I was going to use that one. Okay. Let's,

let's do our bold Superbowl prediction then. So you can't use Kansas city and you can't use Tampa Bay. Cause I think everything else outside of that is pretty bold. Okay. So I'm going to double up in my boldness and say, Kevin Stefanski wins back toback coach of the years and takes the Cleveland Browns to the Super Bowl in the AFC and in the NFC we are totally surprised that there's a rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl in Trey Lance San Francisco Cleveland Super Bowl that's the bull that's the boulder ball this is like

how you'd predict it for sure but like this is the bold or Super Bowl I love it I also love Julio Jones in the Super Bowl in year one changing the Tennessee offense. Ryan Tannehill gets another target. Obviously, Derrick Henry doing what he does. And the Tennessee Titans is a bold prediction, right? This is all about being bold. Will face, drumroll, please, Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears. Oh, my God. That is my bold.

You want it bold? The boldness. I gave you bold. The boldness. You're going to have to explain that. I gave you bold. How are they protecting Justin Fields throughout the playoff? I don't know.

Yeah, I don't know. None of it. It doesn't make sense. San Francisco, you can see because their roster is really good. I mean, basically. Yeah, well, basically San Francisco, it's like you were up by 10 in the Super Bowl going to the fourth quarter with Garoppolo. Can Trey Lance be slightly better than that with a healthy team? No, it makes a lot of sense.

I don't know if my prediction makes a lot of sense, but hey, I went bold. You did go bold, and I appreciate that. I appreciate all of the boldness, and this was super fun. I enjoy getting together with you and just screwing around and talking football so uh myron you are the best sir and i look forward to doing this again and this is one of my favorite times of year is that like that for you where it's like we're finally here man it's about it's about to go it's like it's like when they uh just before they wave the flag at the Indy 500 or something. It's like, let's go. I'm super excited, man.

This is football. I love it. All right. I appreciate your time, and we will do it again soon. Thank you all for listening. And we're almost there, folks. We're getting there. We'll catch you later on Purple Insider.