Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Former Viking Jeremiah Sirles breaks down Vikings-Packers in the trenches

Episode Date: September 10, 2020

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no Husker football. I was sad there's no Big Ten football, so I just shunned all football last weekend. Went and slaughtered some ducks instead. But tonight, NFL is back. We're going to be back for it. Vikings come back this weekend. I couldn't be more excited. That's an extremely offensive lineman sentence right there. Yeah, me too. And, of course, the NFL just always knows how to ramp up the drama to 11

with Mahomes and Watson to start the NFL season. So you just couldn't do better. And also, like, full congratulations to the NFL for making this work with our COVID-y world and just a great job by them. But we have things to get into here with Daniil Hunter going on injured reserve. And, you know, I can't figure out exactly how they're going to handle this, Jeremiah, because there are a bunch of different options. The one that I landed on for best option is to have Yannick Ngakwe

rush off the left end. Is that how you say it? I've been saying it wrong for so long now. I was like, I don't know how to say it. I feel terrible, and I, like, literally don't know how to pronounce it. It's okay. He started out his press conference by pronouncing his name so everyone had it. Yannick Ngakwe.

Not that hard. Not that hard. Yannick Ngakwe. Okay. Yep. So I think that the best option is to have him rush off the left end and have Adenabo play on the right side because that's where he played all the way through camp. That's where they planned on starting him anyway. And Ngakwe played about 300 of his 800 snaps on the left side anyway. Plus, there's a

mismatch there because we don't even know who's playing right tackle for the Packers. That's how I think they should do it. What is your take on that? Yeah, I completely agree. So I actually got to play against him when I was in Jacksonville. When I was with the Vikings, we played against Jacksonville when he was a rookie, and you could tell he just had the pure athleticism of a rusher. He was still raw in kind of where he was at developing technique-wise and developing with his specialized skills, but he's very natural off of that left side of the defense

and over the right tackle. So I think that we now see why there was that big trade, right? Everyone was kind of like, why do you really sell the farm for this guy? Like you have Daniil, you have a guy who's an up-and-comer in his body like it seemed kind of panicked to me um the trade like it made sense in a lot of ways but at the same time it's like all we've heard all year is like we don't have any money and then it's like we're gonna go sign this big time like pass rusher that's gonna need a lot of money about this year, next year. So I understand it now because obviously this tweak that was for Daniil Hunter

is much more than a tweak. It's obviously pretty serious to put a guy on IR and missing the first three games of the season when there's really not a lot of ramp-up time here. The Vikings got to come out the gate hot. So I think you nailed it. We have a mystery, big question mark at right tackle for the Packers. Put your best pass rusher, best proven pass rusher.

I'm not saying Afadi's not going to have a great game, but your best proven pass rusher over the right tackle. Have Afadi go over there, over the left tackle. Bakhtiari is one of the best in the league. So, I mean, it's going to be hard sledding for whoever's over there. So, I think you go with the mismatch. You go with the opportunities to have the most success. Well, that's what I was thinking about.

You know, Bakhtiari is probably going to neutralize Ngakwe because he's just one of the three or four best tackles in the entire NFL. So if you've got a chance to create a mismatch, it's a much bigger mismatch Ngakwe versus Mystery Right Tackle X than it is Ngakwe versus Bakhtiari or Adenabo versus the Mystery Tackle. Yeah. And one other thing is I think that over the years, if you watch Bakhtiari or Adenabo versus the mystery tackle. Yeah, and one other thing is I think that over the years, if you watch Bakhtiari, where he struggles,

if he does have a part of these struggles, is with the power rush. All of Everson's – I mean, when Everson used to have really good success against Bakhtiari is when he'd get into his chest and he'd push him into Aaron Rodgers' lap. Where Bakhtiari is extremely good is with the speed rush guys. And if you look at Yannick I'm just gonna call by his first name if you look by like Yannick his his game is the speed rush right his game is really quick off the off the ball firing off the line getting around guys getting

tackles to turn their hips spinning back inside like he does a really good job with that that's Bakhtiari's game that's he's athletic he can move his feet extremely well. So I think Afadi's going to probably try and just run through Bakhtiari's chest, and he might not have a lot of success early on, first quarter, second quarter. But if he can start wearing him out third quarter, fourth quarter, I think that's when you'll start to see Afadi start to get some push off that left side if he can just keep getting into Bakhtiari's chest over and over and over again and maybe switch it up every now and then with a spin move or with a chop to the outside.

That's where we're going to have the most success against David. I'm sure that Bakhtiari told friends and family, thank God Everson Griffin signed with another team. The whole NFC North did. The whole NFC North is like, I'm not upset that Everson is not on this team anymore. Like, I mean, he's a game wrecker. Like, all my coaches that I've talked to that I used to play with, like, when you go game week and you put the star around the game wrecker

on defense, it was always around number 97 because he did. He had the potential every game to wreck a game plan. And he absolutely did that in week two last year, 11 quarterback pressures against Aaron Rodgers in that game. I think Bakhtiari was a little dinged up going into it, and if you're not at 100% against Everson Griffin, you're in trouble here. It is amazing. I had this sort of hit me, Jeremiah,

that the starting defensive line right now versus just two years ago is such a massive difference without Daniil Hunter in there. And as much as I like what Afadi Adenabo has done, and I'm assuming that he's going to get the call, it could be Jalen Holmes. They might decide to keep Ngakwe at his position, have Jalen Holmes start on the other side like he did at training camp. But the difference between having Sheldon Richardson, Everson Griffin, and Linval Joseph in there to Shamar, who I know everybody likes, but he's not Linval Joseph, or Michael Pierce and Jaleel Johnson too.

I mean, Jaleel is the one who we've kind of overlooked because there's the trade and then you have now the injury with Hunter. But that position, the Tom Johnson Memorial position of getting after the passer from the three technique, that is something that Jaleel is going to have to really step up his game. And I don't know about the confidence that they should have in that because I don't see him as a guy who is a true penetrator of the offensive line. I agree, but I think it's got to go back to best laid plans, right? In a perfect world, let's say perfect world, the Neal Hunter's healthy, they trade and get their guy out of Jacksonville.

And then all of a sudden, instead of that Tom Johnson role, what do you do? You put a Foddy in there. Right. The Foddy's a big body, right? So I think that was best laid plans. And then now you're kind of like you take one cog out of the machine and everything's out of whack. Right. I think that's kind of probably what happened is they didn't need the Tom Johnson because they had a Foddy.

And a Foddy's actually rushed from the inside fairly effectively a little bit last year. So I think that was definitely the plan that they wanted to do. But I think that with everything going on and the way that it goes, it's just not quite going to be able to be that way. I think that – sorry. I think that they're going to have to just make sure that Jaleel's going to have to have some really big plays this year.

And he's really – I mean, it's his contract year. I mean, it's going into – I mean, he's going to have to have some really big plays this year and he's really I mean it's his contract year I mean it's going into I mean he's going to be as motivated as anyone to play and he's going to be as motivated as anyone to have success so I think having Jaleel in there is going to be a big guy and then I mean again Hercules might show back up too I mean it's hard to say like it's going to be by committee I don't think at least through the first three weeks it's going to be by committee as far as who's going to be doing what. I like that you're living the adult life with a dog and a child walking behind you on the Zoom call. Yeah, so my little man learned how to open doors here in the last week, so nothing is safe anymore.

You can't poop alone, you can't pee alone, you can't do anything alone because he finds you and he opens the door. Yeah, well, I almost let out an an audible awe as they walked by you behind but uh people can't see that so you have a a beautiful golden retriever and child so um now when it when it comes to how they can manage this the natural sort of thing to say is well zimmer's going to have to ramp up the blitzes. But, you know, the way that I look at it is when it comes to the blitzes, if you're doing that against some of the guys that they're facing in the first couple of weeks, that's a really tough task to get Aaron Rodgers thrown off by a blitz or Phillip Rivers thrown off by a blitz. Like, I really think

that the pressure is going to be on these front four guys because you can only do so much with those blitzers or Aaron Rodgers will pick them up and rip you apart especially on those early downs third downs you know when you know they're going to pass but if you're doing it on first down on second down that's where Aaron Jones comes into the mix that's where screen passes come into the mix that there's got to be a balance for that for Zimmer for how creative he tries to get. Yeah, and I think another big thing that people aren't really paying a ton of attention to is the lack of crowd noise. Right, yes, absolutely. The lack of the noise and not being able to communicate.

I mean, so I was on a Buffalo Bills podcast yesterday talking about how the crowd noise is going to affect two types of quarterbacks. The elite quarterbacks, the Aaron Rodgers, the Phillip Rivers, the Kirk Cousins, the Tom Bradys of the world, it's going to make it really difficult for a lot of defenses because every game is going to be like a home game. They're going to be able to be up at the line of scrimmage, making checks, not having to worry about signals. They're going to be able to yell and use their voice, right? And then it's also going to really help the young quarterbacks of the world the Sam Darnold's the Baker Mayfield's the

the Lamar Jackson's the Josh Allen's like those are the guys because again same thing but just it's not as much pressure on them so they're not as concerned about it so I think that's a huge piece I mean you start talking about Zimmerman Aaron Rodgers has had very little success in US Bank Stadium yes like very little success and a large part of that is because of vikings nation right they show up they're loud it's packers weeks everyone's geared up they're drunk they're rowdy like and that's the way it should be that's not going to be a thing this year so aaron rogers is going to be able to get to the line of scrimmage take his time make the checks vocal checks make sure everyone's on the same page you're not sliding the line right and

one guy thought he heard left and goes the other way i mean it's it's going to be a really, really challenging thing for these guys facing these elite quarterbacks week in and week out, and so Zimmer's going to know that because Aaron Rodgers knows that, and so I think you're right. You're going to see it's going to be very much on these front four. Can you generate pressure? And we've had that. We, being the Vikings, have had that over the last, what, since 2016, really. I think since 2016, you have not had to worry about generating a pass rush without blitzing. Now, yeah, sometimes they don't get home, but I'd say majority of the time, those front four were getting some shape of pressure on the quarterback. And if they can't do that this year, Zimmer's

going to have to completely switch up how he does his double-A gap mug defense, how does he send a guy, does he roll perry around more who's he sending off the nickel i mean he's gonna have to get creative but at the same time you blitz you put a pretty new secondary at risk back there too right and that's where i wanted to go next with this with the secondary and the you you have two of the best safeties in the nfl they know exactly what they're doing they They know all the calls, all the signals. I mean, those guys, you could put them on any team and they're going to make any defense better by a lot. But three corners with a total experience of about 1,000 snaps

all added up together in the NFL. Rookies that are probably going to rotate in and out in Cam Dantzler and Jeff Gladney. Mike Hughes, who just hasn't seen the field a whole heck of a lot because of injuries. And Holton Hill, who flashed a little bit in 2018, didn't play very much last year. And then they face a very unique quarterback, Jeremiah. They face somebody who is going to hold the ball for three or four or five seconds, who's going to extend plays and move around. It's almost like if you were just to create a nightmare NFL quarterback to face

for a rookie that you've never seen anything like this before, the guy that can make throws when you think your guy's covered, all those things. I just, it's probably the worst matchup. And if they can just hang tight against Aaron Rodgers in this game with the young corners, I think that'll be a really good sign for them. Yeah, I think that, I mean, you got to be, you can't let the moment get too big for you ever in the NFL.

I mean, nothing's like a bigger moment than week one, all eyes on you because everyone's just been waiting for football their entire time, right? I mean, again, it's not going to be as bad because it's going to be an empty stadium. Like you're not going to have the atmosphere of the loud and rowdy and all eyes on you thing at a personal level, but you'll know that there's millions of people watching.

But I think that you nailed it. I mean, they've got – and it's not like they're going up some slap receivers either. I mean, the Packers got some really good receivers, and they do some really tough things in the run game too that really make these corners have to tackle. I mean, these corners are going to have to come up, and they're going to have to tackle.

And that's one thing I think everyone forgot how great of a tackler Trey Waynes was. Right. That dude was an incredible force edge defender tackler. Not much got by him. He would throw his head in there. And a lot of times if you have a corner that can do that, you can do a lot more stuff inside the box with your safeties and stuff.

You're not terribly concerned about them breaking contain. How well does Holton Hill tackle? How well does Mike Hughes tackle? Those are going to be things that, I mean, we talked about the pass game, but corners are incredibly important in the run game because they're really last line of defense in the perimeter there. If you don't have these guys that are willing to go put their heads in it, I mean, they get the edge, and that's when you see the big explosive plays.

So, I mean, not only are you going to have Aaron Rodgers back there trying to throw to Adams deep, trying to extend plays and doing all kinds of crazy things, but you're going to have a run game because I think that the coach up there, LaFerre, and them want to run the football. It is the NFC North. Aaron Rodgers is getting a little older. Like, you don't want to rely on him as much as you might have to because,

again, like, they just drafted that quarterback in the first round. Are we seeing the end of the Rodgers era in Green Bay? Are we trying to move into a new system? So, I don't know. That'll be a really interesting piece to look at and watch too. Want to remind you to go to sodastick.com to get your original Minnesota sports inspired goods. They just launched their official collaboration with Bud Grant.

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and Jeff Gladney in training camp, I think you want to protect those guys as much as you can. And I also think that LeFleur wants to go a Kubiak Shanahan way of using the fullback more often, using the tight ends more often. And that could, I think, benefit the Vikings because they have three great linebackers. It's not often that teams in today's game have three very competent or very good linebackers. And last year, the Seattle Seahawks didn't like what they had for nickel corners,

so they just played base a lot. And everyone went, what are you doing? Is this 1992? But they performed better when their base package was on the field. And I wonder if Zimmer tries to do that a little bit more. Because when he had Mackenzie Alexander or Terrence Newman locking down nickel corner, you didn't need to do it. But now I think that there's going to be more need for him to do it. Yeah, I think you're right. A lot of it's just gonna be a matchup. Can Eric Wilson run with

whoever they put out there in the slot? I mean, that's gonna be a big piece of it. I think you're right. A lot of it's just going to be a matchup. Can Eric Wilson run with whoever they put out there in the slot? I mean, that's going to be a big piece of it. I think he can. I mean, athletically, he's probably one of the more athletic guys on the team. He always has been since I was even there. I mean, he's an extremely athletic freak, strong, fast, can run to the ball. But can he keep up with the Cole Beasleys of the world, right? I mean, that becomes the question. Because even if you throw your base defense out there because you feel more confident, if Cole Beasley can shake Eric Wilson and get a three-yard slant and turn it into six yards, is that really a positive play, or is that more of a we're just surviving type of thing? Right. Well, I think that's going to be a lot, too, is how the matchup works on that. But I think you will see more base defense out of Zimmer this year,

just because he does. I mean, he's had Kendrickson Barr forever but that that Sam or Will spot whatever which one they're playing um has been kind of a rotating I mean it was Chad Greenway for a while and then it was Ben Gideon for a while and then it was Eric Wilson and then you kind of just been like throwing guys in there I mean it was Kentrell Brothers like you haven't had that like staple guy that's been there so I think if Eric Wilson can become that staple third linebacker for them this year then there's really no need unless there's a matchup issue to take them all off the field all right before we talk about the Vikings offense versus the Packers

defense where would you suspect knowing that Hunter is out here and that it's going to take some ramp up time once he returns because he hasn't been doing anything so far during camp at all like no running on the side or anything like that um where are we putting the Vikings defense at the end of the year top five top 10 top 15 I think it'd be top half I think top half is probably where you want to shoot I'm not saying like top 10 I'm saying more like you want to squeak in like 15 14 because it's just so much unknown now am I saying that they can't be a top 10 defense absolutely not but a lot of what our defensive success will come off of is what is our offense scoring in the years that the Vikings were

good that year we went 13 and 3 we were scoring a decent amount of points up front which then allowed us to be at our strength, which was getting after the pass rusher, right? Being after the quarterback as a pass rush group, like that was our strength. That's always been the strength of these front four guys up till this point was let's get a 14, 10 to 14 point lead and just let these go, these lunatics go do what they do. That's essentially, and that's every offensive lineman's nightmare.

When you're playing a team like the Vikings, where they've got guys that can just rush and pin their ears back and go. Where I think that if this offense can score 28 points a game, you could definitely be a top-ten defense. I think that – and this offense has the opportunity to do that. So I think that the complementary football this year for this team is going to be make or break what they can do.

Yeah, this is a terrific point that last year, Tampa Bay will always be my example. Jameis Winston throws 30 picks. All of a sudden your defense looks horrible. But in terms of efficiency, Tampa Bay had a good defense. And tell me that Tom Brady protecting the football, scoring a lot of points while almost never turning it over, has not helped Bill Belichick's defenses be at the top of the league for a very long time.

And I love the 2017 example of running the ball. Case never turned it over that year. He'll never do that again in his life. But he never turned it over. He had one fumble the whole year. And even though Zimmer was upset about a few interceptions, he had one of the lower interception rates in the entire NFL that season, and it definitely benefited the defense. And so on the offensive side, here's where it's got to start for me, Jeremiah. It's got to start with the two guards proving that they can play

in the NFL. Dakota Dozier has been a longtime backup. Pat Elfline is on his third position in three years. And then even, you know, Garrett Bradbury is a first-round pick with a lot of talent. But, hey, are you better this year? Here's Kenny Clark to find out. Like, you are going to know right away. And as much as there are questions about the other weapons, how much Justin Jefferson will play, will Irv Smith take another step forward, all those things, I have much more confidence that those guys can catch

the football and run with it than I do the interior of the offensive line can block the Packers' defensive line. Yeah, I mean, that's where it all starts and ends, right? I mean, for any game. And, I mean, I might be a little biased here playing offensive line, but the game's always one in the trenches. It doesn't matter if you're in high school, Pee Wee, college, NFL, CFL. It doesn't matter. The game's one in the trenches.

Because you could have an all-pro wide receiver core, and if you're playing with stick figures up front, it doesn't matter. Like, it really doesn't. So, I mean, you're looking at this Vikings offensive line. Let's just go through it. Let's just go through it left to right here. You look, so you got Riley Reif, right, who was going into last year, took a pay cut to stay with the team.

Not what I expected him to do. I really didn't. I think COVID had a lot to do with that, first of all. I think the uncertainty of everyone's just like, I don't really know. Like, the W knows better than the W don't. So, I'm just going to stay here. I think, I mean, he's made enough money anyways, too. I think that that really isn't a huge thing for him.

I think he knows, again, this team's special. This team's got a chance to do some good things. So, solid offensive lineman, right? He's got his hands full in and I mean, Preston Smith and Z'Darrius, I mean, the Smith brothers ain't going anywhere. So you look at Riley, when you go inside, you got Dakota Dozier. He played with me actually in the East West Shrine game. I've known Dakota for a long time. He played with like a good friend of mine, Brent Qualley for the Jets for a long time. He was there last year, came in, did some things all right. I don't think he,

I know he played against the Packers last year, actually, when – who went down? I think Elfline went down. Elfline, yeah. And Dozier gave up more pressures than anyone else on the team during that game. Yeah, so not awesome. Not what you want when you're not out there. Not awesome, not great.

I mean, basically, if Dozier doesn't hold up, they're going to have to go to Ezra Cleveland is the way that I look at it. I don't think that's a good idea. I really don't. I think that if you want to throw your rookie to the wolves, this isn't the game to do it. Yeah, not in this game for sure. Not in this game. But over the first couple of weeks, we're going to find out, is Dozier ready for a starting job,

or are you going to have to do something else here? Yeah, so I look at Dozier kind of like, so I don't know if the name rings a bell for you, but two years ago a guy named Greg Van Roten came from CFL, went to the Carolina Panthers. Unproven. He bounced around forever. Dude won the starting job during camp, which I was a little salty about because I thought I should have won it.

But anyways, won the starting job during camp, plays for two years, and went and signed a nice big deal for the Jets. So, I mean, anyone can do it at any time. I mean, anyone can take that next step. Now, the question is, did Dakota take that next step? Obviously, he did something right to be starting, because I know it's not an easy thing to start in the NFL. So, how much did he grow?

How much more physical? How much more all this? So, but again, that will be on display week one, because this front's not a slap front. So, I mean again that'll be on display week one because this front this front's not a slap front so I mean that'll be on display week one you go to Garrett Bradbury you nailed it young player how much did he improve I mean you know he's loaded with talent but how much of his mental game is he ready to go up there and play fast play more physical than he did last year he looked a little tentative to me at times last year I think if he can play more

fast this year and not be thinking as much which which you should go into year two, you should be way more comfortable. Then you go to Pat. My guy. Love Pat. But three positions in three years is so hard, man. That is so hard to do. You don't get in a groove of things. You don't get in a rhythm.

And they've asked Pat to do a lot. And, I mean, I give kudos to Pat. He's never said no, right? He's never rose a stump. He's never gave a hard time. He just wants to play and help the team. So maybe he's more of a natural right guard. I don't know. He's never said no, right? He's never rose a stump. He's never gave a hard time. He just wants to play and help the team. So maybe he's more of a natural right guard. I don't know. He might be. Maybe he's more of a natural right guard this year, but again, we'll be finding out right away.

And then you got your most solid offensive linemen in all of them in Brian O'Neill, which I'm really glad. I personally believe that if they would have cut Riley Reif, they would have tried to move Brian to left, which I think would have been a horrible mistake because he has a chance to be an all-pro right tackle this year. Right. I 100% agree. Did not like the idea of moving him to left tackle, especially right before you go up against Z'Darrius and Preston Smith. And they move those guys around and you have to find Z'Darrius Smith and then all of a sudden switch everything in your brain and readjust your eyes completely to how you're looking at the game, did not like that idea at all. And so, I mean, really, Brian should thank Riley Reif.

And I know that maybe a little less money could be on the table for Brian O'Neill in the future with an extension if he stays at right tackle. But I think it's still just as valuable as left tackle or very, very close in the NFL today with the number of freaks and the number of guys who move around. Well, I mean, yeah, you start looking at where are you starting to see these big-time pass rushers start to emerge, right? They're all moving over to rush over the right tackle because they know the big money that the left tackles.

You start looking where did Von Miller make all his money? Over the right tackle. Where did Khalil Mack start making a lot of his money? Where did, I mean, obviously, Daniil Hunter. You start, like, the right tackle position where Khalil Mack started making a lot of his money. Where it is, I mean, obviously, Daniil Hunter. You start, like, the right tackle position is becoming extremely important, and people are starting to pay him. I mean, Lane Johnson's gotten paid a good amount of money to be a very good right tackle in the NFL.

Al Collins is getting paid a lot of money to be a good right tackle in the NFL. So, I mean, I wouldn't say, I mean, yeah, you're not going to sign the $100 million deal as a right tackle, but you might sign 85, and you know what? I would take 85. Yeah, yeah. So I think that that's kind of the thing. But, yeah, I think Brian, if he can become a premier right tackle in the league, which it looks like he can.

I mean, this is going to be the year where I think he takes the step from very good to all pro. I really think he could have an all pro type season this year if he stayed with his training regimen, keeps his weight up, and keeps playing the way he has. But, i'm really glad he's gonna stay over there but again he's gonna be tested right away preston smith's very good snap i think you'll see zedaria smith over riley more than you will over brian very much kind of like what we talked about earlier in the show with where do you put um um afadi and gashway yanni i'm gonna struggle with that all

year just so you're aware. Um, where do you put them over? I mean, you're going to create the matchup, right? Where can you get the most pressure? And if we're being real,

we lost the tape from last year. Is there a Smith really kind of had his way with Riley reef last year? He did. Yep. And he had his way with everyone on the Vikings and really he led the NFL in pressures by PFS numbers. So, I mean,

he had an unbelievable year last year. Can he repeat that pressures by PFF's numbers so I mean he had an unbelievable year last year can he repeat that who knows uh so let's talk about the quarterback for a second I mean we've I mean it makes sense it's your area of expertise on the offensive line but uh Kirk Cousins I think in this game and this year has more on his shoulders because of what we talked about with the defense it's just not going to be the same as having Sheldon Richardson, Everson Griffin, a healthy Daniil Hunter, and Linval Joseph. So you're going to have some dip there from where they've been in the past. And I think that that's going to require more of Cousins.

The question is, when he's not as protected in his sort of cocoon of running and play action as he was last year. I think we're going to find out, is this a guy who is growing in his 30s as a quarterback, as we've seen many quarterbacks start to do, or are we talking about kind of the same Kirk Cousins that when there's the requirement for a straight drop-back passing game, it's going to be tough on him? I think that, I mean, just I don't necessarily know how much it's going to be on Kirk Cousins as much as can we run the football effectively.

I think a lot's going to fall on can we run the football effectively on first and second down and not put Kirk in the position of third and nine plus. Because that's where you're going to get the people that have been near the back in an offensive line that's kind of new and shuffled around and jumbled, especially early in the year. You don't want that. Especially with, I mean, second-year centers, still going to get a lot of blitzes thrown at them.

He's never seen before besides in practice. And when things are flying and bullets are flying and you're not very comfortable recognizing things right away, that can get tough. But I think Kirk, I mean, historically, Kirk's done a really nice job every single year. Has he been elite? You could argue it.

You could argue that he's an elite quarterback in this league. I think he's definitely in the top 10 quarterbacks in this league. But I think that in order to continue to prove himself and continue to be where he wants to go, he has to get better in the passing game. The question then, where does he go with the football in panic times? Obviously, you have Adam Thielen, but who does he really trust he lost Diggs which is a huge one right I mean you got you got the you got the big mountain of a man and Rudy um over the middle if you really need something right like you know you know Rudy's gonna be there but how much does he trust Irv

Smith how much does he trust Jefferson how much does he trust trust B.C. Johnson? Like, those are all going to be things of, because people are going to take away Adam Thielen right away, right? They're going to be like, all right, no digs, bam, lockdown on Thielen. Let's see if these other guys can beat us. And it's going to be how much trust is Kirk having these guys to put the ball out there and let them go get it. Get back to the conversation in just a minute. But first, you've always counted on restaurants, and now they're counting on you. And while their dining rooms may be closed, they're still open for delivery with DoorDash.

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Never miss your favorite team and favorite players. No matter where you live, NFLSundayTicket.tv is your key to the most glorious Sundays ever. Use the promo code BLUEWIRE at checkout to get 15% off your subscription. Visit NFLSundayTicket.tv and use promo code BLUEWIRE. I said to Sam Bradford once, when everything goes wrong, throw it at Rudy somewhere because he will catch it. And, I mean, that was the Sam Bradford strategy was when someone beats TJ Clemmings in.5 seconds off the left side, throw it to the biggest man on the field.

And, honestly, Kirk has started to come around on that. But even then, I was looking at the game from Week 16, and there were times where Z'Darrius Smith blew right through somebody. And here's Rudolph. There's a linebacker right behind him, so it looks like he's covered, but he's just not covered. You can throw it. He'll get it.

And that's one thing that Cousins has just never really had click in is instead of taking a sack, he can get four yards or six yards throwing to Kyle Rudolph and that you essentially treat it like a positive run play. And it's, I don't know, it's something that doesn't really click in his brain, and I think a lot of drives stall because of that um well you guys never quite figured that out the quarterback the tight ends that he grew up with I say in Washington where all the speed I mean the Jordan Reed the Niles Pauls like he's not used to having that monster Jimmy Graham Kyle Rudolph old school Tony Gonzalez type tight end, right?

I mean, where you literally just like, it's like basketball. You just lob it up and he's going to go up and get it. I mean, you saw it last year in the Saints game. I think he was trying to throw it away and all of a sudden Rudy just boink, like boinks it right out of the air, right? I mean, or the Dallas game. I'm not sure which game that was. Dallas game, you're thinking of where he was rolling to his left.

Yeah. And you're like, oh, yep, he's throwing it away. And all of a sudden Rudy just comes out of nowhere and hammers it. But I think you'll see more of that this year again, just more of a comfortability thing. I think Kubiak probably is going to hammer home a little bit of that too. I mean, he's used to plugging the tight ends. I mean, he's always had good tight ends wherever he's been

and wherever he's coached. So I think you'll see more of that too. All right. Two things before we wrap up here. Number one is you have a little bit of experience on the agent side of things. I know that because we bumped into each other at the Combine and you were hanging out with your agent. If you're representing Delvin Cook, do you let him step on the field this week?

Absolutely. I think you look at Delvin and it'd be one thing. Now, this would be an entirely different conversation if Delvin had been healthy for all four years. would be an entirely different conversation if Dalvin had been healthy for all four years I mean entirely you're telling Dalvin you sit your butt at home you're not even a training camp right and he's had the numbers and he's had the continued success that he's had from when he is healthy but no one with the Todd Gurley effect is how I call it like everyone watched Todd Gurley get paid all that money and then get ran

into the ground. And now he wasn't effective when you needed him the most in the Superbowl. Right. I mean, it is what it is. That's how it went. So everyone include every single team is gonna be a little wary of paying running backs,

big time money that have health issues, whether it be a knee or soft tissue or whatever it might be. And Dalvin has yet to complete a full season. He has yet to be the featured back for 16 plus games and not been dinged. And I think that if you're his agent and if I'm Dalvin's agent, I'm saying you got to prove that. Like you got to prove that you can be the guy. Like you could go sign a decent deal right now,

but if you want to go sign a decent deal right now but if you want to go sign the the Christian McCaffrey the Ezekiel Elliott the those type of deals you have to prove you can be the bell cow for the entire season it is a rock and a hard place though because you get the age curve it's like if he was any other position going from age 25 to age 26 would be like oh right tackle at age 25 or 26. Who cares? With a running back, it's, well, he's one step closer to that age 28 where everybody falls off of the cliff.

So he's in a tough spot. But that's the same thing is you've got to capitalize while you can, right? Like that's the name of the game for running backs. You've got to make as much money as quick as possible. And in order to do that, you've got to be on the field. If you want to sit out this year, like, like you said, yeah, maybe you can play till 30, but you might not make that extra two or 3 million a year that you could make

before age 28. Right. It's very much a risk reward factor to it. And again, if he would have been healthy this whole time, it's a no brainer. You sit your butt at home and you wait until someone pays you. But I think with the way everything went this year and with last year and the tearing of your ACL, all that, he's got a lot to prove to the other 31 teams in the NFL. All right. Who wins this game, Vikings-Packers?

I think Vikings win this game. I do. I think that even though there is no fans in U.S. Bank Stadium, it's in U.S. Bank, correct? It is, yes. Yes, I thought so. I'm just making sure because I was watching at night. They're playing it in a cornfield.

They're playing it in the middle of nowhere. But I think with this being in U.S. Bank Stadium, I think that each team is going to be juiced. I don't think it's going to be a very clean game by either team, but I think that's going to be the norm across all the NFL. I mean, you watch some of these, like, first-year preseason games, you're definitely getting some junk in there that you've got to get out. Well, that didn't happen this year.

I think it's really going to come down to who makes the mistakes, the fumbles and the interceptions. I really do. I think that it's going to be a turnover game. Every game obviously depends on that. But early in this season, every team is going to be who turns the ball over less. I mean, and I think that if you have Aaron Rodgers is notorious for not really turning the football over.

Granted, we've gotten some picks on him, but that's because we've gotten that rush on him. So I think the Vikings can win this game. I don't think it's going to be an incredibly high-scoring game. I think that the Vikings probably win if they hit – I think it's a race to 24 points. I think whoever hits 24 points first wins. I think that the Vikings probably win this game 24-17 is my guess.

So I've been edging toward with Hunter out the Packers, and I'm probably leaning in that direction but very close because I still think there is some advantage. You don't make that big a difference. Well, I mean, you said it. If it's one in the trenches, I think the team with the advantage in the trenches is Green Bay for this game. And a lot of other – the thing that's pushing me really far toward the Packers is that when Rodgers was not pressured last year in the two games,

the one he went 17 for 17 when he wasn't pressured, and the other one he went 21 for 29 when he wasn't pressured. And when he was pressured, of course, he was terrible. But how are they creating that pressure without Daniil Hunter that's what's holding me up and also Dozier and Elfline are going to have to prove it to me and Bradbury before I start saying oh yeah they can take on an elite defensive line so that that's kind of that's kind of where I'm at but I also think I love this matchup division games are proven over a long period of time to be closer because of the familiarity

these coaches now know each other. These players know each other. And I just could not be more excited for this one to be week one and not like Vikings Jags or Vikings Washington sports team or whatever. So anyway, before we wrap up, we have an important announcement, Jeremiah, that you are going to be a part of our weekly coverage here on Purple Insider with a show called Tuesday Morning Left Guard. Not MMQB, but Tuesday Morning Left Guard. And so you'll be breaking down film and giving all of your analysis.

So we're going to start that since we did a preview two weeks from now. And then every week after that, you're looking at film, you're grinding, you're back on that grind so uh i'm very excited man and i'm very thankful to have you on board yeah man i'm thankful that for the opportunity i'm super pumped i love watching and analyzing football and talking about it and i mean you and i have great rapport going back and forth and how we were very football minded football so i'm excited to be joining the squad up there. I'm going to be going over it, be grinding on the tape, and really try and break down on more of a technical level of things that went

really right and things that went disastrously wrong because each game has them and each game everyone kind of sits around and goes, well, why? And so my hope is I can watch the tape and be like, well, this is why that mic point here, that lift protection here, this slant thing there. So I'm excited to look into it for more technical and really get into it on Tuesday mornings after we have a chance to digest and regroup and kind of get started and put the whole thing to bed on Tuesday before we start looking towards the next week. Yeah, man, I'm pumped about it. And that's why we're doing it Tuesday. So you can grind the film first and we

can really understand what happened. So people should also follow you on Twitter at Searle71 underscore HSKR. If you can't figure that out, then you don't know much about Jeremiah. So looking forward to it, man. And this was great, and we will be talking again very soon. Absolutely. Skol, baby. Hi, my name is Bobby Peters, and I've recently written a book titled the 2017 New England Patriots Pass Game

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