Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - FansOnly: Trade down options and crazy Vikings fan suggestions before the draft

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

It's OFFICIALLY draft week! Matthew Coller opens the week answering A TON of your draft questions, as we countdown the days, hours, and minutes to the draft. Who are the likeliest trade partners with the Vikings, if they look to move down? Plus, we get to your crazy draft suggestions.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider, Matthew Collar here, and this is a fans-only episode, which means it's all your questions and comments and got something fun for today as well. So your final couple of draft questions before it's almost here, just a couple of days away, the NFL draft a couple of great ways to reach out if you want one of your questions on the show Matthew collar at gmails good place to email I'm still on Twitter Matthew collar you could shoot me a direct message there or become part of the

newsletter community on sub stack purple insider dot football is a great place to go you can also support the show by signing up for the daily newsletter there. So we'll dive into your questions and then I've been asking my guests some questions that fans sent in that start with the words, am I crazy? I've still got a bunch of those to get to and I can't wait to see what is on Vikings fans minds

and whether they're crazy. So why don't we begin with a couple of non-crazy and mostly normal questions. We'll start with Derek who says, I know we have pivoted mostly to stick and pick, but any thoughts on who could be a trade partner for the Vikings? I'm wondering if the Chiefs or Texans make sense. Both need offensive line help and both have extra third round picks conveniently sitting one spot ahead of the Texans the Vikings are sitting one spot ahead and I think we've got a pretty good idea that the Texans are going to need offensive line help so that makes a lot

of sense Derek for those two teams I'll toss two more your way how about the Buffalo Bills they are sitting with the 30th pick. They also have 62, 109 from Chicago, 132, and then another extra pick at 170 from Dallas, and another one at 177 from the Giants. I don't know exactly what the Vikings would be looking for for moving back. I would think that it would probably be something in the third or fourth round that they would be looking for for moving back, I would think that it would probably be

something in the third or fourth round that they would be aiming for. So Buffalo having a couple of extra draft picks is helpful there. Here's another thing, if you're the Buffalo Bills, you're probably looking at some of these wide receivers, right? They talked a lot about how they didn't need extra wide receivers, that Josh Allen would just distribute the ball all over the place, and that mostly worked during the regular season, but in that game against Kansas City, some of their weaknesses around Khalil Shakir, who's a very good wide receiver, I think they started to show, and Buffalo might be interested in that, they've also got to add some defensive talent to that roster as well. But if there's a wide receiver, if it looks like they're going on

a little bit of a run of a Bucca and Bird and Matthew Golden, then they could try to jump up and get one of those wide receivers to make sure that they get their hands on a playmaker. Now, the other team that stood out to me is the New York Giants. And this was something that Todd McShea threw out in his mock draft about them trading up for Jalen Milrow, but that could also be, depending on how things go, Shadour Sanders. We do not have a great sense for what the NFL thinks of Shadour Sanders, and when you

look at draft analysts, it's all over the place. Some analysts think you would be crazy as the Giants not to pick Sador Sanders at the top. Others think that he's going to drop out of the first round. It's one of the biggest intrigues of draft night, but if you get to 24 and say the Pittsburgh Steelers haven't taken Sador Sanders and he's still sitting there, but the Giants want to make sure they get him, then they could consider trading up.

The only thing about that is for the quarterback scenarios, there's not a lot of teams at the back end, shockingly, of the first round that are likely to take a quarterback. Now, another interesting scenario might be the Rams, if they're looking at taking a quarterback of the future, thinking beyond Matthew Stafford. I don't know if they're looking at taking a quarterback of the future thinking beyond Matthew Stafford I don't know if they'll actually do that

But maybe it's Jackson dart or maybe it would be should our Sanders that they would consider late in the first so maybe the Giants would want to jump up and Try to get Sanders But it doesn't have to actually be a quarterback for the Giants that team just needs talent and they need it right away So they can't really wait around and the Giants have number 99, number 105, they have an extra pick from Seattle, an extra pick from Buffalo, so they could be a potential partner, but there's really a lot of teams that could be someone the Vikings are engaged with for moving back.

The problem is, do those teams really have the incentive? So that's what I was looking at with Buffalo and the Giants are here's two teams that might actually have a reason to try to do this in Buffalo's case if there's a run on receivers or the Giants if they need a quarterback. But aside from that, it is a little bit hard to find the motivation. I think that's what you did a good job of Derek and asking this question is what's going gonna be the motivation for a team like Kansas City Well, they need offensive line and the Texans are sitting at 25 And if you're the Vikings every time we run these draft simulations, we come up with five players that hey, you'd be pretty

Happy with if it's this guy or that guy or that guy or that guy so if you're moving guy or that guy or that guy or that guy. So if you're moving from 24 to 30 or 31, that doesn't feel like it's dropping down too far where you'd be sacrificing much of a percentage chance to get a very good player. So I like your plans. I tossed a couple more out there, but who knows how far they would actually consider moving down because once we get into the discussion about Pick 36 37 38 and teams have moved from the 20s into the mid 30s in the past Then it's hard to figure out what teams would be aiming for To try to trade up that far and that's the crazy thing about this draft it for the Vikings is

We could see him sticking and picking we could see him moving back just a couple, we could see him moving all the way back into the early part of the second round, and all of those scenarios would make quite a bit of sense. It might just depend on what other teams are looking for. Next question comes from Adam. How would you approach the draft if your sole aim was to do the most to improve the team for next season only, what round and position makes the most sense for immediate impact? Yeah, that's a great question. So I've always thought, and the data backs this up, the studies that have been done, that offensive line is a position that just develops slower.

Think about how fast the game is, how strong the players are and experience you're going up against. It's so wildly different of a game from college that if you're Gray Zabel or even Tyler Booker as high IQ as he is, there's still going to be a development curve there. So I would probably avoid offensive guard, even though I think it could be just as good or better than Blake Brandle, that's a tough bet to make. And we saw the Vikings make that bet in 2022 when they tried to resolve a position by drafting a guy in the second round and it didn't work. And Ed Ingram ranked toward the top of the league and pressures allowed, but

they had to continue to play them because they thought, well, we need to give them time and he'll develop. And that's really the issue with drafting a Guard for immediate impact which is you have to play them every single snap you can't just rotate them in So there's a couple positions that do come to mind defensive tackle is one even though there's two starters there It's a rotational position So if you're looking to just stack up how deep can we make our defensive line pass rush? Well drafting a Derek Harman, those guys do on the interior tend to have a quicker immediate

impact. Every position requires some development, but defensive tackle at 500 snaps or 450 snaps on third downs, pass rushing situations where you can create favorable situations from linebackers blitzing and stunts and twists, I think you could get a lot out of a rookie pretty quickly by doing that. Safety is one of the positions that has the fastest development curve in the entire NFL, you know really quickly if someone's going to play safety or not, so a Melikai could be starting next to Harrison Smith right away and you could expect him to be an upgrade talent wise over

anybody else that you're going to throw in there. Even though we like where Theo Jackson is and think he's a starter for this team, Melikai is the best safety in the entire draft. It's probably that. And then here I go. You know what I'm going to say, wide receiver. If you put in a Mecha Ibuca or a Luther Burden and they catch 45 passes on 70 targets, that is worth a lot to your team immediately.

And again, I go back to that KJ Osborne stat that he had 90 targets in 2022. Even if you look at the wide receiver threes for the Vikings, those options that rotate in over the last couple of years, it's valuable opportunity that that player can get. I know the Vikings probably aren't going to do that, but it is a position that could have a major impact right away. Corner is one I would say would be a little less. Same with Guard. Running back is actually the fastest development position, but the Vikings really don't have

a space for that at the moment. So I think the answer is probably safety number one, wide receiver number two, and defensive tackle number three. For if you're just trying to win this year and you're not thinking long term at all, just fire up one of those picks and go for it. But also draft a receiver anyway. And by the way, I really do think there's a reasonable chance, because I know it's become sort of a meme, but I think there's a very reasonable chance that they take someone in the third round at wide receiver. And I look at the two guys from Iowa State, two different types of receivers. I look at the two guys from Iowa State, two different types of receivers. Noel is the one that stands out the most to me,

but also Higgins is a good outside type of wide receiver. Either one of those guys, there's the Royals guy from Utah State, Trey Harris is another, I mean there's a lot of names for wide receivers. Some of them are gonna slip through the cracks and into the third round. I think they could do it there if they don't in the first and shock us all. Guys, if you watch the show all the time, you know that I'm a hat guy, but if you're wearing hats to cover up for your hair loss,

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Results vary based on studies of topical and oral, minoxidil and finasteride prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate restrictions apply. See the website for full details and important safety information. All right. This one comes from Patrick. He says Vikings on the clock, Harmon, Starks and Zable are all still there. What would you do? What is your best guess of what the Vikings would do? Harmon, Starks and Zable? I'm not sure that they would go.

This is a hard thing to say here. Trying to guess what they are. They would do is difficult because I don't know what their draft board looks like. They could have these guys way higher or way lower than we do they could have Harmon is their 10th player or their 40th player based on just how the outside has evaluated all three of these guys It seems that most evaluators believe that Grey's able is a back end of the first round guard But I wouldn't be surprised if there are teams that don't have him quite as high as that So these are really good prospects here.

Harmon, Starks and Zable. I might need to know who else is on the board in order to decide, is this a situation where you try to trade back? Personally, I like Derek Harmon so much that I would just draft Derek Harmon here and apologize for absolutely nothing. He's one of my favorite prospects in the draft. And I'm going to talk about that a little later in the week, kind of put it on record who our favorite guys are.

But spoiler alert, Derek Harman is one of mine. If you've listened to the show, you've heard me talk about him endlessly. Top two in college football in pressure rate. That's what I'm looking at when I'm going back in history and trying to find the defensive tackles that have succeeded, pass rush win rate, PFF pass rush grade, they tell a pretty clear story for the guys who have succeeded in the NFL. So I'm going for Derek Harmon there, I think he can help now and he could be a franchise centerpiece going forward if everything clicks for him.

I think safety is an easier position to replace. Probably guard still is too. And I'm not down at all on gray Zabel. Actually you picked two of the guys that were on my list of five stick and picks that I did. And I actually might've even included Malachi Stark. So, uh, a lot of good prospects expected to be there, but of those three, I would probably say Derek Harmon. Next one comes from Ryan, says, how big is the guard drop off after Booker and Zabel? Same general question for cornerback and defensive tackle.

Curious to hear more from draft analysts on the Vikings targets from 25 through 50 ranked prospects. Well, that's where it's everybody's opinion is different, right? Just the other day I had Trevor Sikama for PFF on the show and he had Walter Nolan very high and I talked about how that was a little more concerning to me. Some of his data, whereas Derek Harmon, his numbers are so much clearer. Now that doesn't guarantee anything, but if we're doing the odds, all the top young defensive tackle rushers in the league all had, except for one, I did the top 15,

all of them had higher pass rush win rates and PFF grades than Walter Nolan, which concerns me. I mean, you should win and you should have good grades in college if you're going to be a good NFL player. But he also was so excellent against the run. You saw his explosiveness. The point just being that even the people who come on this show who have been evaluating talent for how long have a lot of different opinions on these. So I guarantee that from the people you've heard on the show or PFF the Vikings have very different opinions on a lot of these players

But I'll just that's kind of the disclaimer I'll tell you my sense of it and then it could be completely blown up on draft night as a lot of the analysis Usually is so my sense of it is that Zabel and Booker and then Donovan Jackson are in this conversation. I think that Donovan Jackson is a pretty big notch below the other two guys. I think that Booker and Zable have first round arguments and Donovan Jackson is more of a second round type of player. Again, this could be not what ends up happening depending on how teams look at it,

and they might have very different rankings based on how it works for them. I think there's a bit of a drop off there prospect wise. It's not enormous if the Vikings take Jackson. I'm not going to say what are they thinking. It just seems that way from a lot of the rankings and consensus boards and things like that. But if they if they were to get Jackson, maybe in the third round, or, or if they trade back and get him, maybe there's opportunity there to have not that big of a gap between him and the other guards. I think those are the three that stand way out. Unless somehow Kelvin banks gets to the Vikings and they want to make them a

guard, then things get very interesting. There's so many scenarios, man. You talk about the corners, Jaday Baron and Travis Hunter are the guys at the top. But it's possible that Baron isn't as loved by the league as he is by the draft community. And it's possible he slips the 24 like Dane Bruegler had in his mock. And then you look at the next group. I think they're all bunched together and it's all about how you feel about him.

Siobhan Revelle, Maxwell Hairston, Trey Amos, all these guys are just, what is your fit? Do you think he's a, a mental fit for what you want to do? Do you think he's a physical fit for what you want to do? If you are Brian Flores, it seems like a lot of those corners, the Hairstons, the Amos's, the Ravel's are all going to be early second round type players where there could be a run on those guys. That's the feeling as of now. It all could change really, really quickly.

So I was looking at the NFL IQ just dropped from NFL.com. Their analytics people put out a thing that was projecting a mock and one of the guys heading that up actually formerly worked for the Vikings and he had Maxwell Hairston. I was like, okay, if that's who they love then then go for it and take Maxwell Hairston. But yeah, it's it's hard to say because I think a lot of it's going to go entirely on preference. So when you ask how big is the drop-off, well the drop off? Well, the drop off from one team from the lions that play a lot of man defense and the Vikings play

a lot of zone, they might have a big drop off and you might not have any drop off at all. That's what makes it fascinating, man. This one, there has been no draft that I have covered where I've had less confidence in who I think they're going to draft or what they're going to do. There are so many options that even trying to get it right with who they're going to pick is, uh, is really tricky. One more question. No, two more questions here and then we'll get into the am I crazies. Uh, this one comes from burnt. He says, uh, given the lack of picks, do you expect the Vikings to be even more active in the

UDFA market this year, spend even more money trying to get their guys to sign more quote big name guys? I don't expect them to be more active because they've been extremely active over the last two years. I think that it's one of the best things that they have done under quasi a daful Mensa. And when we talk about fit, sometimes guys just randomly do not get drafted because other teams are just looking for other stuff. Or if it goes the way I think it does with a lot of teams, and there's a video out last year of the Eagles doing this, where a lot of times day three is the Scouts day.

Which guy is your favorite guy? And this was a Levi Drake Rodriguez thing for the Vikings last year, where they brought on their scout who had looked at Levi Drake Rodriguez at Texas A&M Commerce, and that was their guy. So he stood on the table and said, I want us to take Levi Drake Rodriguez. They did it for him because that's who their scout loved. Well, if that's the way it happens, then some guys might just fall through the cracks because they weren't loved by some scout in some building.

And that is like a Gabriel Murphy or an Ivan pace where teams are drafting kickers and punters and stuff and letting a linebacker who could start slide through the cracks. Or I think Gabriel Murphy has potential to be a pass rusher in the NFL. So I expect the Vikings to be looking at the top 10 targets and trying to get every single one of them, no matter what it costs, because they're not spending a lot on the draft. So they can just continue to pony up.

And they've done that anyway, and they've invested a lot on those UDFAs. I think it's a fundamental part of their strategy. And here's another thing. I was told last year by the agent of a UDFA Viking player that they had targeted the Vikings from day one. And one of the reasons was that they wanted to sign with the Vikings for a top UDFA was they thought they would get a chance

that this coaching staff does not have this kind of hard and fast. We're only going to play our draft picks and teams usually do, right? They usually do push their draft picks to the front of the line. But when you see an Ivan pace, get in there and start right away, it's like, no, the best players are going to make the team and start. It's just not always that way. If you have conflicts between the GM and the coaching staff and this guy is, is, you know, got to develop, but you know, the coaching staff doesn't want to play him. It doesn't seem that they have those kinds of conflicts too

often. I'm sure behind the scenes they have debates, but with an, when an Ivan pace jumps right in and plays, it sends a message not only that but the facilities the ownership the coaching It's it's a reputation that is just permeated everybody like they're well known for All this sort of stuff and it benefits them in the UDFA market So I do expect them to get some of the top players One more this comes from Axel. Axel says, I think I might be the only person who thinks one more year of Darnold would have been a good idea.

How about pairing him with this new offensive line they're building? Wasn't that his main problem, basically, not being able to figure out extreme pressure? Well, for the record, he was actually in the top five in quarterback rating under pressure. It's just that no one's good under pressure and not a single quarterback was beating the Los Angeles Rams, no one, no one in the league. If Patrick Mahomes lost the same way in the Super Bowl, then nobody in the league was beating the Rams that day. But anyway, to your point, the offensive line after Christian

Derriss got hurt was 100 percent subpar last year and Darnold had to do a lot to make up for that like the plays he made against Atlanta and Seattle. So yes, he would have had it better for sure if they brought in Ryan Kelly and Will Fries. Anyway, back to Axel, says we'll never get to know how that would have played out. Of course, there's the money issue, keeping Darnold might have kept them from signing players. I guess they don't want to restructure anymore. So I don't think that if we're going to transition into am I crazy, which is essentially this

is a am I crazy for thinking that Sam Darnold would have done really well with this situation or that maybe they should have tried to keep him for one more year. I don't think that you're crazy. In fact, as they were going to make that decision, one of my stances on this topic was, I'm not afraid of the Vikings doing that. If they restructured people, if they moved cap space around to have Sam Darnold take one more shot at it after winning 14 games and then turned it over to J.J. McCarthy, McCarthy would be 23 and he would still have multiple years left on his

rookie contract and it would all be okay. But I think that Sam Darnold did not want to remain a Minnesota Viking and that's important to consider. And if the only option for bringing him back was on a franchise tag, that's where some of the things they did, they would not have been able to do if they franchise tagged him. They would have maybe been able to get a Will Fries and maybe they would have been able to get Eric Wilson,

but I don't know if you're putting $41 million out of 60 something million cap space. And then you restructure, because I did this once for an article where I looked at every restructure and then tried to fill every need in the off season in free agency, and I wasn't really able to do it,

even with structuring the contracts to get bigger and bigger down the road. So they would have had to make some sort of sacrifice, and that's what they're hoping here, is that the money that they spent around McCarthy will elevate his possibilities of performing just as well as Sam Darnold with a lesser team. Like that's the math you have to do. But I also think at the end of the day, if I'm Sam Darnold,

I'm going to go find my own team. I mean, he knows how much this franchise loves JJ McCarthy It's not like they've shied away from that just because they took Aaron Rodgers call like they drafted him tenth overall They put a ton of work into it They called him the franchise quarterback if you're Darnold You know that if you go oh and one all the sudden the fans are gonna be cheering for the other guy So I don't think there was a very realistic situation other than the franchise tag that Darnold would have come back.

But to your point, if you superimpose Sam Darnold's 2024, yes, 2024 on to just had a moment there. I was like, wait, was that last year? Uh, superimpose his performance last year onto this roster with Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave on defense, adding to that, and then on the offensive line, much better interior blocking than they had and Christian Darasaw healthy for a full season, a running game that's going to be, I think quite a bit improved a full season of TJ Hockinson.

Yes. I think that that team does not get blasted in the playoffs, does not get blasted in week 15. Uh, I'm sorry, in a week 18 and come short of their 15th win, that team would have been better. Unfortunately for all of us, uh, we can't go back in time and we can't change things and then superimpose them. So there's no guarantee that he would have played the same level, but I do think he would have been very, very good and they would have been right at the top of that division

if that had been the case, if they could have done all the same things. So that's a great, it's a great scenario that we'll be thinking about a lot as the season goes on, like what if Darnold had been here and maybe we'll see what he does in Seattle and all that stuff. So no, you're not, you're not crazy for that. And I do think you might be the only one though, because the fan base has been so sold on JJ McCarthy from day one. Like this is the thing that I think would have had the 99% approval

rating from Vikings fans is moving on from Darnold after the playoff meltdown and going to JJ McCarthy. So you're not crazy, but I think most people probably would tell you that you are. All right. Speaking of that, I got a lot of those. Let's run through those. All these sentences start with, am I crazy for thinking? Blank first one comes from Matthew

Am I crazy for thinking that this is not Harrison Smith's last season with the Vikings? I can't say you're completely crazy because I thought last year was it I thought after the 14 wins that Harrison would have said Hey, I've got a borderline Hall of Fame career it's going to depend on arguments and whether people actually use PFF data to show how valuable Harrison has really been but I also think he probably got pretty excited about the idea of them spending a bunch of money in free agency and I know he made that decision a little bit before but but knowing that Darnold was going, I don't know how the timing worked with this,

but I'm sure that he figured coming off of 14 win season that they had a chance to go somewhere special again, to take one more shot at it. And probably the last thing in the world that Harrison Smith would want would be to retire and then have the team finally make that deep playoff run that they had made since 2017 so it's not crazy if he continues to play at a high level Then it wouldn't be the most shocking thing in the world I do think that Harrison has probably gotten to a point and I do not want to put words in his mouth at all But he has probably gotten to a point where it takes a lot of work

To get yourself back to being able to play physically There's only so many more games left in the body and the other thing to the young family aspect of it I was just listening to Patrick Peterson talk about his retirement And he said that a main thing was when he didn't get signed by a team he wasn't that sad waking up every day and spending time with his family. And once he kind of lost that urge to go do football things and it moved on, that's when he decided that it was enough and that may be the case for Harrison

next year. It might not be. So you're not crazy, but I think that more likely than not, this will be the last one. I don't know that though We'll see this one comes from GM Am I crazy to think the Vikings will regret not signing a more formidable backup quarterback? All for what appears to be trying to secure an extra comp pick in 2026 well, I don't know that they didn't get another backup quarterback just for the comp pick in 2026. Well, I don't know that they didn't get another backup quarterback just for the comp pick. I believe that they wanted Daniel Jones to be their backup quarterback, but the thing is Daniel Jones got a lot of money and he also got

a really good opportunity in Indianapolis to win that starting job. What were the odds that Daniel Jones was going to beat out J.J. McCarthy? I'm going to go with 1%. I mean, just straight up beat out J.J. McCarthy, it would not have been very high odds. Because we saw McCarthy last year in camp and know how he was closing in on Sam Darnold, and also the whole franchise wants JJ McCarthy. In the case of Indianapolis, Anthony Richardson is not really high on everybody's lists right now.

And people there might want an excuse to move on from Anthony Richardson to say, Hey, if he lost out on a job to Daniel Jones, it's time for him to go somewhere else and move on from that thing. So I think they wanted Daniel Jones. It was just a better opportunity. Are you crazy for thinking it? Of course not. But at the same time, I looked this up a couple of years ago.

This is called being like Viking brained because if you only ever watch the Vikings, then here's what you're pretty sure of. Any quarterback can just arrive here and be great. But just two years ago, and we saw backup quarterbacks who are average backup quarterbacks in the league, Dobbs, he's going to back up somebody in New England and Mullins, he's going to back up somebody like these are maybe the 15th, 17th rated backups and they just lose and that's usually the case. And if I'm not mistaken, a couple of years ago, there was a really big

run on quarterback injuries and I added it all up. Like, what was the win percentage for backups in the NFL? And it was something like 28 percent. So under almost every circumstances or circumstance, you're not going to have a great season. Even when Joe Flacco takes the Browns to the playoffs, just pretty much loses immediately. It's extremely, extremely hard to win with any backup quarterback in the league. And when you say formidable, my question well who I mean Daniel Jones was highly sought after he was 3 and 13 with 10 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his last 16 starts and that's the top guy available there

aren't that many great backups that are just running around that you could pick up that are going to take you somewhere in the playoffs that's why for me I think that it is crazy to be worried about the backup quarterback at all because no matter who it is, it's not going to help you compete for a Super Bowl unless it's a crazy, all time weird situation like Carson Wentz getting hurt right at the end of a season

and then Nick Foles goes on this insane heater. But aside from that, I mean, there's just not many examples. Kurt Warner, like we could pick them out because they stand way, way out. But most of the time, backup quarterbacks win 30% of their games and your season is over. Not to mention that Wentz is still out there. And if they were to sign Carson Wentz, that's a pretty formidable backup in comparison to who else. I mean, you got gotta point to me, somebody who would be able to save your season. There might be five in the league, and Wentz isn't that far off from those guys, if he's

the one they pick up. So I don't know, it's just never been a concern of mine, so I'm gonna say yes, you are crazy to say that they will regret that. Bob says, am I crazy for thinking that Theo Jackson turns out to be better than Cam Bynum? Again, I wouldn't go crazy crazy as in, hey, institutionalize Bob, but I would say it would be surprising. Cam Bynum got 60 million dollars in the free agent market. That tells you what NFL people think of Cam Bynum and they think very highly of him

and he's been a part of two really good defenses a major part play every single snap over the last two years the communication ability coming downhill and stopping the run playmaking on overthrows and things like that he's a really good football player is he Harrison Smith in his prime no but he's a really good football player and Theo he Harrison Smith in his prime? No, but he's a really good football player and Theo Jackson, I don't think is wildly more physically gifted, but has a lot of the same traits as Cam Bynum does that high intelligence, great work ethic, great attitude and athletic enough to be a playmaker when the ball comes his way. But it would be pretty surprising if he outperformed a guy

that got 60 million bucks, 15 million dollars a year, that puts him in the top, what, 15 safeties in the entire league for pay. So, yeah, I think that is a little bit crazy. Now, could he perform on a similar level? I would think so. I don't think the drop off is going to be enormous, but I'm not sure you're quite giving can buy them quite enough credit For how good he was?

Let's see dermo man Maybe is the name. Sorry if I'm mispronouncing that am I crazy for thinking Dallas Turner can get double-digit sacks not No, because there has been a lot of guys who go from a very small sack total as a rookie to a major jump the very next year. The reason why it's a little crazy is that they have Andrew van Ginkel and Jonathan Grenard.

Now injuries we can never project, but Andrew van Ginkel and Jonathan Grenard are two of the best in the NFL and they're going to play. They're going to play all the time and Dallas Turner's role as of this moment looks more like what Patrick Jones did. Now he got to seven and there was a lot of kind of cleanup sacks and things like that, that Patrick Jones was able to get. I think Turner is a much more gifted physically player than Patrick Jones, much more twitchy than Patrick Jones was. So it is

possible that he can get to double digit sacks, but that's setting the bar very high. There's not that many players in the NFL who had double digit sacks last year. And if he gets to nine, like is that a failure? Let me see if I can look up how many guys had let's see NFL sack leaders How many guys had double-digit sacks last year? It could not have been all that many and even you look at someone like Andrew van Ginkle Like that guy just got to double-digit sacks. So 16 players 16 players in the NFL had double-digit sacks last year. I'm gonna go with yes two of them for the Vikings

I'm gonna go with yes. You are crazy He's that's just a very high bar to set but it is interesting to me that Trayvon Walker and Odafi away and will McDonald do those names sound familiar to you guys? Those are high draft picks who did not succeed right away in sacking the quarterback who got double digit sacks last year. I would put the bar at 7 and if it's more than that and we know he could bring other parts of his game, it'll be a big success. Let's go to Jeff who says, this am I crazy for thinking this year's defensive line could

perform at a level that would bring back echoes of the purple People eaters of the Viking Super Bowl era Jeff. Yes, you are. This is a very good defensive line I have the utmost respect for Grenard van Ginkel two of the top players at their position the NFL you could argue two top 20 players at their position two of the top players at their position, the NFL, you could argue two top 20 players at their position, top 15, maybe last year. And the interior guys, Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen, proven defensive lineman Harrison Phillips, very, very good run stuffer and high IQ player does a lot of dirty stuff that not everybody sees. But the Purple People leaders, we are talking about iconic. We are talking about the best defensive line, arguably ever in the NFL. Them, Steel Curtain, there's been a handful recently in Philadelphia put their name on the map for last year.

Maybe San Francisco had a case a couple of years ago for being that good. But I mean, we're talking history. We're talking all time. Yes, it's crazy. They can be good. They could be borderline dominant. Really, really good borderline dominant top five possible, but being the fourth or fifth

best in the league does not make you Carl Ehler and Alan Page. I mean mean it's I'm glad you're excited. It's an exciting offseason and you should be excited but that's crazy. Yep that's crazy. When you go back and look at what they were allowing for points per game in some of those years it's like nine. They were allowing quarterback ratings against of like 43. The numbers of those eras are so preposterous, especially in the years where Fran Tarkerton was away because there's a lot of sick twisted ironies of the Minnesota Vikings history.

So let's go to Kip. Sorry, Jeff. I'm glad you're pumped. I think they'll be very, very good. I do not think they'll be like that. Maybe though, maybe it could more like be Echoes of 09, where you got, you know, your Kevin Williams and your Jared Allen and something like that. Maybe it could be like that.

Or even 2017. Those are great defensive lines. They're not page and L-er. So, alright, let's go to Kip here says am I crazy for thinking that JJ McCarthy will have a similar breakout season to Jaden Daniels last year. In terms of similar here's how Jaden Daniels went last year and here's where I think it could be similar and is not crazy. Jaden Daniels did not just come into the league win every game and play amazing all the time. He got better as the season went along, and by the time he got to the playoffs, he was the best version of himself and was fantastic in the playoffs.

And in that way, I would say, you're not crazy. Now Daniels had one of the best rookie seasons ever, but JJ McCarthy is not a rookie, and he has had quite a bit of experience here, and second year quarterbacks have a pretty good track record, if they're not busts, of taking steps forward, so even though he didn't play, that is a lot of experience to learn behind the scenes from Sam Darnold, from Kevin O'Connell, that does not count as a rookie season for me. That's way too much experience. So he's not really a rookie.

It could be the same. There will be times where J.J. McCarthy is going to run into bumps in the road. And Daniels did in the middle of the season. He got banged up playing through injuries, something you have to learn how to do in the NFL and then came out the other side at the end of the year, a really strong version of himself. So I'm going to say not crazy that he could follow that same arc. Chuck has the next,

am I crazy, for thinking that continuity of the Vikings coaching staff gives them an edge over NFC, every NFC North team. Yes and no. So yes, because the Chicago Bears may not have continuity, but they probably have a way better coach. I mean, they had a roster last year that was in every game. And Caleb Williams, for as bad as he was at times, still had them on the other side of the field ready to kick a field goal and beat the Bears and then, or I'm sorry, beat the Lions and then just completely Matt Eberfluss forgot how to make a tee with his hands. I mean, that's just craziness and they couldn't really run the ball. And so the point is that, you know, the edge over them just based on continuity

is probably not that much because they got a lot better. Matt LaFleur also has a lot of continuity. He's one of the best coaches in the league for my money. But if you're talking about Detroit, there's a very distinct edge over Detroit. Their roster is still great, but we have seen examples in the recent past of teams who had number one offenses or top five,

and then it just wasn't the same when they lost their offensive coordinator Continuity is really really good for JJ McCarthy. It's good for everybody on defense I think if you just took continuity out of your question and just said does the Vikings coaching staff give them an edge Over most teams in the NFL my answer would be yes, and that goes beyond just KOC and Flores They have a good quarterbacks coach, somebody who's highly sought after who's getting offensive coordinator interviews. They have a great, the premier wide receiver coach in the league who for some reason never gets talked

about. Keenan McCardell, every receiver who comes to the Vikings, including Jalen Naylor last year is the best version of themselves and Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison taking steps last year. They have a great coaching staff keeping most of that together outside of grant you didn't ski going to Jacksonville is a huge win for them. And I think it is a big advantage overall, just in the NFL. So no, you're not crazy. Uh, but I think that distinct thing over Chicago specifically, I think Chicago probably got a lot better with their coach

because you couldn't get much worse from what they had with Matt Eberfluss. Next one, Skull Viking 44, my crazy for fearing the wheels will come off this season. I love the way that this team is put together and hoping for the best, but the fatalist in me is concerned over an unproven quarterback coming off a knee injury. Well, you know, of course, if you're a Vikings fan and you tell me you're afraid of a bad thing happening, who am I to tell you that you're crazy? Because the amount of crazy stuff that has happened to this franchise throughout its history is what are the odds of it? Just incalculable odds of all the things happening, including the knee injuries for multiple

either franchise or potential franchise quarterbacks in the case of Culpepper and where Teddy Bridgewater was heading. So of course, I will not say to you, there's no way something could go wrong. It's the Viking, right? I mean even look at last year McCarthy has his best game and then there's a knee injury. So yes things are always possible in Vikings land where I would say it is and you know The schedule is brought up as well where I would say it's a little too far is that it's April And we've got a long way to go and let's see what happens first before we decide that something terrible is going to happen. Right. A lot of you spend a lot of time thinking about the terrible thing

that's going to happen, where that doesn't make it less likely. If you worry about it, I've always felt that way just about this franchise. I guess I am very aware after it's going to be my tenth season now covering this team, all the things that are possible. But if you worry about him or not, it makes no difference. So just worrying about it on itself is a little bit crazy. And I think the variance is wider between what the Vikings can be this year than maybe it would have been in the past. When you had Kirk Cousins, it was pretty wide last year

And I remember saying this like a if Sam Darnold's really good Which I could see then they're gonna win a lot of games because they have a defense and if Sam Darnold's really bad Then they're gonna not make the most of that defense the same thing applies to JJ McCarthy But we do have a big enough sample of seeing him play in Practice to say that he's not going to come in and have no idea what to do. The injury is all, you know, who knows, right? That's a random thing, but it's not like he's going to come in and be like, what's to football?

Like he's already pretty knowledgeable about how this whole operation works. So yeah, I mean, anything could go wrong. It's the NFL, it's the Vikings, but I also think it could go really. It's the NFL, it's the Vikings. But I also think it could go really right, too, for them. And they could win the North and they could be in the playoffs, winning a playoff game. That's a very realistic scenario as well. What would it be if we knew the outcome before it was going to happen? We're going to go into the season and who knows?

That's the best I can do. Skull Viking 44 44 a couple more pickle enjoyer says am I crazy to think Dallas Turner at 6 foot 4 240 ish and coverage ability he was 12th among edges and PFF coverage grade makes him an intriguing option at middle linebacker who blitzes a ton that is something I don't think exactly that they want him to be. I think that they want him to be Andrew Van Ginkle,

or at least that's the way that they've used him so far. And Andrew Van Ginkle is not a middle linebacker, but he plays middle linebacker occasionally, and he's not a defensive end. He plays outside, but moves around to different spots and drops back in coverage a lot, rushes a lot, swings around and rushes up the middle a lot because he's not the twitchiest player, he's more powerful than twitchy, so he rushes into the middle on stunts and twists and things of that nature.

So I think that he's just going to be a versatile type of player. But at the same time, it's not it's definitely not crazy because if they want him on the field every play, this would be a good call. If you if you get this one and all of a sudden we show up at training camp and like, wait a minute, why is Dallas Turner lined up next to Blake Cashman on every play? It's not the craziest thing I've ever heard. And I do believe there was an interview where Brian Flores compared him to Dante Hightower at one point, who was a blitzing linebacker.

And that's really what Ivan Pace has been for them, though. So that's why I see him as taking Patrick Jones's role, where he's a situational pass rusher, rotates with Van Ginkle so he doesn't have to play a thousand snaps. And he rushes in a lot of different ways Rather than just being off the edge not the craziest thing I've ever heard But the one or two snaps that they did have him there last year didn't really look like he was very comfortable with it Maybe that's changed in the offseason. I don't know definitely not the craziest thing I've ever heard Ben says the Viking am I crazy for thinking the Vikings will stick and pick an impact

defensive tackle in the first round? Definitely not crazy. That has been my projection. If they stick and pick is that they take the best defensive tackle. Kenneth Grant or Derek Harmon is there or Walter Nolan. If they like him as well. So nope, definitely not crazy. I've talked about a lot It's a great position to take in the first round

Usually if you're gonna get a freak you got to do it high at defensive tackle Ben 99 going a little crazy here says Colston Loveland is our Gronk am I crazy for thinking Colston Loveland is our Gronk to our Brady McCarthy tight end need for 24. Hockinson did not seem to be 100% last year. Yes, yep, you're crazy. For comparing anyone to Rob Gronkowski, the most dominant tight end in the history of the NFL, yeah, and also the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. So this is kind of like our purple people later question where you're like, it's a little much But I did ask people for crazy stuff. So Yeah, I have no interest whatsoever in a tight end

Zero zero zero zero percent interest in a tight end Colston Loveland is probably fine So is Ty Warren drafting those guys high is not a good idea and the Vikings have a pro bowler at tight end and they also have a really Good number two tight end and I know he's not under contract, but that would just be Strange and goofy to draft somebody at that position when you've already invested so much Unless they thought there was a long-term problem with Hawkinson But I mean Hawkinson has one year that is not mind-blowingly good. That was just solid for him with a quarterback who was throwing it down field more often. And you want to draft a tight end? I don't think you're there.

I also think that tight ends show up on the free agent market a lot. And when Hockenson is ready to go, how many ever years down the road? Could be two, could be two could be ten Then you look to the tight end position, but not now They're not gonna be a Exclusive to tight end team with Kevin O'Connell so you'd be drafting Coles to Loveland to be tight end three It just wouldn't make any sense. Sorry Ben. You are crazy Next question from Sean my crazy for thinking Josh Oliver

will be a better outlet receiver than TJ Hockinson? Rationale is that Oliver will see increased snaps since we'll be in heavier personnel more often to facilitate the Jones and Mason running packages. Yeah, I think that is crazy. I think it's gonna be the same. I don't think it's gonna be different for their percentage of using bigger personnel or

Josh Oliver on the field or the way that they've designed a lot of stuff for Hockinson Remember this team loves TJ Hockinson. They are not down on him at all They spent a ton to get him and then they spent a ton on him They think he's one of the most important players for TJ or for JJ McCarthy, and I agree with them So yeah, they're not gonna throw more to Josh Oliver. I don't think they're gonna use Josh Oliver more I think they're gonna use them 30 to 40 percent of the snaps and they're gonna mix personnel a lot with wide receiver threes plus They're drafting a wide receiver. I think somewhere anyway receiver I think somewhere anyway let's speed run through a couple more of these ice cold north says am I crazy for thinking that with the addition of

Kelly and fries that the Vikings could run more of gap and power rushing concepts nope not crazy those guys are more built for that so I expect them to put that in a little bit more but at the same time Jones and Mason are zone runners in the past so they'll have to kind of balance that. Matt says am I crazy for thinking the Vikings defense struggles against the run next year some tough matchups in Philly Baltimore Washington and an emphasis on interior pressure. No not crazy because they had Jonathan Bullard last year. They do not have him now. If they draft Kenneth Grant, that will help them,

but I think they'll still be good. I mean, you mentioned the three best teams at running, so that will be problematic for them. The numbers might not be quite as good, but, and then, you know, two times against Detroit Green Bay. So I, I don't, I don't think that's crazy at all. I think that regression in an area like that is to be expected, especially when you played the AFC South last year. So yeah, I think that's possible, but how much worse? I'm not sure. I still think that they'll be good and they're gonna situationally

rotate a lot of those guys in. But Jonathan Allen is not the run-stopper he once was, at least by the numbers numbers now that could change based on how they play But I think that those running quarterbacks and stuff will amp up the numbers from where they were last year John says am I crazy for thinking that we host the NFC championship at the bank No, it's possible. Certainly possible. I mean, I'm curious to see if they've put out. I don't know if they put out Super Bowl odds yet and where the Vikings rank in that.

I mean, I saw the over under was eight and a half. I am interested in where they sit for the Super Bowl rankings. But is it possible? Of course, it's possible. We have seen second year quarterbacks. Brock Purdy is one of them. I know Patrick Mahomes went to the AFC Championship. He's a little bit of an outlier, but a lot of second and third year quarterbacks have stepped into the NFL and had a lot of success on great

teams. And all you need is the matchups to line up the right way. What happened last year, always and forever, I will think if they were at home, they're probably winning their first playoff game. But instead, they had to fly to Arizona to play a team that was at least half of a home playoff game for the Los Angeles Rams. It may have inspired even more people to come to Arizona

for such a unique thing to happen. Very different if it's being played at US Bank Stadium. So matchups, and think about the Vikings lost to two teams last year. There were just the two worst matchups for them. So if they had ended up with. A different matchup in the first round, the Tampa Bay Bucks, maybe they win a game and then go to Detroit. And if Detroit gets their best corner hurt, right, you know, who knows what happens?

So, yeah, is it are you crazy? No, it's a it's a great football team from top to bottom. Depends on the quarterback, but it's not insane. It could definitely happen. I'm not going to guarantee it, but it could happen. I'm not going to suggest you put thousands of dollars on it. This one comes from Florian. Am I crazy to think that Ryan Kelly is Mr.

Mayagi to JJ's Daniel son? No, I think that's right. I don't think that Ryan Kelly is Mr. Miyagi to JJ's Daniel son? Uh, no, I think that's right. I don't think that's crazy. I think that's one of the reasons that Ryan Kelly was brought in to PassProtect and also to be the man in charge. Ryan Kelly, we had 15 minutes with him and right away you're like, okay, this guy's a center. This guy's an old center,

knows exactly what he's doing up there and that's gonna help JJ McCarthy a lot. Nope, you're not crazy for that. Josh, am I crazy for thinking that Rondale Moore will be a crucial outlet for JJ and overall X factor, excuse me, in this offense, his tape is so damn exciting and they haven't had a guy since Chad Bebe. Well, KJ Osborne was kind of that guy and then O'Connell didn't use him the same.

He was kind of that guy in 2021 though, where he was more of a quick outlet screen type option. I think it's crazy to think that Rondale Moore is going to be a difference maker based on the history of this kind of guy. The two million dollar signing, the Kendall Wright, the Tajay Sharp, there's not a lot of great history for this player that is brought in from some other team, kind of random, has some good moments, maybe not a great history, but he is different in the way that he's a lightning bolt

when he's got the football in his hands. It is definitely possible. So I won't say you're crazy that he could be an X factor, but I will say it's crazy to put high expectations on him to think that he could be like a different big time difference maker in the offense as of right now. And we'll see how it plays out in training camp. I like the signing. I think it's a good signing.

It's just that let's roll the dice on a guy who gets very little money. I Always try to be realistic about those put it that way. All right couple left this from Gary My crazy for thinking the Vikings don't need a high-priced backup quarterback behind JJ McCarthy Not crazy at all, Gary. In fact, we're on the same page. From Jason, am I crazy for thinking UDFAs are more important than rounds five through seven?

Yes and no. Rounds five through seven have a better chance at success than any individual UDFA, but you get to give 15 UDFAs. So is it more important? Kinda, because you get 15 bites at the apple as opposed to three or four or five if you take it guys if you really load up in five through seven, but The history of the draft is very clear the higher you pick the better chance you have So if the first UDFA has a much worse chance at success

from the first guy in the fifth round, but if you roll the dice on five really good UDFAs, eventually that kinda evens itself out. I was looking today at seventh round picks in Vikings history. There's not too many that have ever succeeded, but there is quite a few UDFAs because they bring in 20 of them. So all 20 of those guys, maybe there's one that you get to be something.

So I get your logic, not crazy. Kyle says, am I crazy for thinking we're in for some defensive regression? The defense is loaded with complimentary players, only a handful of elite players, and last year they had overachievers. They were also 17th in yards while being 5th in scoring. I do not think you're crazy, but I also think that this offseason they spent what they spent and did what they did because they knew that, exactly what you're talking about. It was a flawed defense last year that got a lot of career years, was very healthy, and was

coached by one of the best guys in the NFL while that guy's coming back. But your point is right. They played a lot of bad quarterbacks in the AFC South. They had some good luck with San Francisco not being as strong as everybody thought. Houston not being as strong as everybody thought. So yes, when you look at the schedule, the opposing quarterbacks, and you look at getting a thousand snaps out of both of your edge rushers, not having very many injuries in the secondary, Gilmore was banged up for a couple games, that's it.

Yeah, I mean, that's bound for some regression, but you're trying to stave that off by adding depth in guys like Eric Wilson, Isaiah Rogers and you're also getting the two defensive tackles to create more pressure up the middle to make it harder on quarterbacks, but Yeah, I mean, it's a hard. It's a hard schedule. Who knows how it looks when they actually play those teams I would I'd say you're right I would say top ten is still very very good for this team defensively Because of who they're going to play and if they get more injuries. Yeah, I would agree with that MN fan am I crazy to think that after watching

All the quasi and Kevin have done that we may be on the precipice of long playoff runs annually I can never guarantee you long playoff runs annually because the NFL is weird. However, if J.J. McCarthy is good, you'll be in the playoffs and you'll be right there. Look around the league. It's a lot of the same quarterbacks all the time, but it's also a lot of same coaches all the time.

And so this is where I agree with you and don't think you're crazy is that Sean Payton, you know, I know you guys don't like him. He's there in the playoffs again. Jim Harbaugh might be a little crazy. He's there in the playoffs again. Mike Tomlin, like there are certain people who know how to coach. Kevin O'Connell is clearly one of those people. And when you look at how they've reloaded so quickly over a couple seasons, tearing it down, building it up, they know how to build a roster. And what's going to be something that evens things out is McCarthy's contract and the amount of interest around the NFL in people coming to Minnesota.

You just can't say it enough. They want to be here. They get the free agents that they want and that's going to help them. Now deep playoff runs that I don't know yet That's gonna depend on JJ McCarthy getting to the playoffs being there year after year seems like There's enough evidence over these three years to agree with you From Thomas my crazy for thinking the Vikings might draft a wide receiver in the first round It probably is a little crazy

But since I've brought it up so many times I'm gonna say of course not you're just really smart Tom no I is it crazy no of course not I mean we've been surprised before in the first round and we've seen the Vikings take players at positions we didn't necessarily expect a lot of people thought that they would not take Jordan Addison They would pick a corner and they went wide receiver there right now I would say probably it's unlikely very unlikely What level of unlikelihood do you get to call yourself crazy is it less than 10% you get to be called crazy? So probably probably but if they do it, we're gonna have a party Brian says am I crazy for thinking?

That the Minnesota Vikings cannot continue to break the laws of mathematics By having the fourth highest winning percentage of all time and no Super Bowl trophies to show for it Doesn't the damn have to eventually break the statistical person in me would say yes, but No guarantees. I mean it's not like you get to go have those seasons again and take 50 shots at it, right? I mean if you Simulated knowing how strong the Vikings were in 09 and you use the simulator and you ran a thousand simulations They probably win the Super Bowl 25% of the time or higher maybe higher than that But that's not how it works

So there's no guarantee what's gonna happen in the future I do look at a lot of different franchises though that have struggled for a long time And then once they get there they get there and it happens and sometimes it's in a year where they never expected it I have always get there, they get there and it happens. And sometimes it's in a year where they never expected it. I have always thought that there is no reason that they can't do it. There's the whole, you'll work her and all that stuff. And I get it. I totally understand why you think that, but I've never thought there was any reason it couldn't happen.

If you build the right team and you have the right coaching and you get the right quarterback, and at very least as of this moment in time They're on their way with a lot of that stuff and we'll see but no I mean I think that if you think they'll never break this thing This is what all the fatalists in the back of their mind. They think it's gonna happen I know they do otherwise she would have given up you would have given up a long time ago If you thought it wasn't gonna happen if you've gone through all this and you're still here you think it's gonna happen no matter what you tell everybody. So yeah I mean someday they're gonna win the Super Bowl I think. Maybe. I don't know when it is.

Hunter says, uh, am I crazy for thinking the job Quacey's done is more impressive because how he worked around the bad 22 draft. If drafts are crap shoots everything else should be weighed more heavily we're thinking along the same lines I mean look you don't get any points for screwing up a draft you don't get the like well you know and the thing is that I am the biggest believer in drafts being random and that draft being random at the same time It's it's as bad as it gets you can't have misses like that too many times I that's not your point your point is that sometimes you have bad drafts and you need to figure out ways around that well, that's been a group effort because Kevin O'Connell is the reason Sam Darnall was here and

Kevin and Brian Flores is the reason that Josh Mattel is becomes what he becomes and you could say probably the same to some extent for can't buy them and Andrew Van Ginkle and that like that's a Brian Flores type of thing from their experience. It's really been a team effort. I think what it does tell you though is that when things don't work out, they haven't pushed so many eggs into one basket that they're saying other than everyone is with quarterback. But other than that, it's not like, well, if this draft fails, we're all just screwed. Like they, yes, workarounds options. And really they stayed

to the path. They stayed to the path. And the reason they're able to work around the 2022 draft and never forget this is Kirk Cousins leaving. That's why the reason Rick Spielman was not able to work around bad drafts is because Kirk Cousins was here and he was making 20% of the salary cap. So you can go out now and get Hargrave and you can get Allen and you can get Will fries to make up for a bust, but you couldn't do that when you didn't have any money. So the overall quasi-adaphalmenta arrives has a plan to move on from Kirk and draft a quarterback. That's the main reason you can look smarter as a GM even when you botch the 2022 draft.

Three more. Alan in Delaware says, am I crazy for thinking it'll be a backup quarterback that leads us to the Super Bowl? Yeah, it's happened to happen. But if we're going by the 10 percent rule, less than 10 percent chance of it happening. Yeah, less than 10 percent of the Super Bowls have been won by backups. But it's yeah, I don't even know like where that where would that like come from? Where would the because a lot of these have logic to them and you could sort of see why like the wheels turning and you Just think it's is it because the Vikings history is so random

I guess that's why the Vikings quarterback history is so random It can't just be the guy they draft and then he works it has to be something nuts I actually think because so few times They've even had somebody that they drafted, it's the only path that makes sense. That's the thing that's holding you back. Jake, am I crazy for thinking that there is a high chance that JJ will play, JJ McCarthy will play out three contracts with the Vikings and KOC and KAM are here the entire time as well. Three contracts is a lot for a quarterback, even good ones. So at this moment, let's maybe let him

get his first start and then we'll see if he's in for three contracts. If he's great, then your GM and your head coach can be Andy Reid and Brett Veach or the Chiefs and Howie Roseman and No, Nick Sirianni. They could stay together for a long time three contracts a lot of contracts Is he gonna be a franchise quarterback for ten years is what you're asking It's a little crazy to put that on him right now. Yeah, it's a little crazy It does happen. It certainly happens. Happens, maybe what 15, 20% of the time when you draft a quarterback. This is the best case scenario

for a quarterback, but you're asking the moon there for me not to not tell you crazy. The odds are against it overall, but it is a great situation to be in. Not the craziest thing I've ever heard. Put it that way. It's possible. Last one comes from David. See if David's crazy to end the show. Am I crazy for thinking the Vikings ownership and leadership is so good that another team, oh no, that another love boat or Wisenator scandal is due. What a place to end it. I didn't see that coming when I started reading it. Can you believe some of the things that have happened to this team guys? You're never crazy for thinking that something nuts is around the corner.

I don't think there'll ever be another whiz inator though, because the league doesn't care anymore about that stuff and guys don't have to worry about the drug tests. But is there another scandal around the corner? You never know. Let's hope not. I don't want to deal with that. I would rather just cover football games and drafts and everything else. So let's have a lot of fun this week.

I will be live For the draft the entire first round and if the Vikings trade out of the first round into the early second I'll be live for day two as well if they don't and they're picking 97 I'll probably go out to TCO Performance Center and then do a recap at the end of the night So we'll kind of play that by year but at very least the entire first round and I'm gonna have a group of friends that's popping in for TCO. And also people who, you know, as contributors for this show that are coming and going throughout the night, it's going to be really, really fun. So make sure that you get ready for that to tune in Thursday night for the draft.

Listen to me. I will not spoil picks on you by the way. Watch the broadcast. Listen to me. It'll not spoil picks on you, by the way. Watch the broadcast. Listen to me. It'll be a lot of fun. Everything will be targeted toward the Vikings as we do it live. So it'll be great. Make sure you also check out all that is to come leading up to the draft

here going forward through the week. So this was great. Thank you, everybody, for your crazy and sometimes not crazy submissions and all of your questions. Again, Matthew Coller at Gmail is a great place to send your notes or on Twitter and make sure you check out the newsletter. A lot of good writing and the Purple Insider draft guide is coming out as well.

There's a lot going on here, folks. It's the NFL draft purple insider dot football. That's where you're going to be able to get the Purple Insider draft guide if you become a subscriber. So. All right. What Paul. Thanks, everybody.