Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - How did draft analysts grade the Vikings draft? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: April 29, 2025

Matthew Coller answer a wide range of your Vikings/Football questions and discusses experts draft grades.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Uh, but questions, thoughts, feelings. Uh, what do you got? Uh, what round did a DJ Giddens go? I believe that was, was that the fifth that he ended up going? I I'm going to have to look that up. It was late in the draft and that was where you thought maybe the Vikings that it was in the fifth with the hundred and fifty first overall pick to the indianapolis colts were we a little bit misled on the running back draft maybe. I think it feels that way to guys go in the first judkins and henderson go in the second and then it was talked about as if there was just going to be all these running backs going off the board. Not that many.

I went as high. A lot of the running backs that were talked about as potential high picks, they ended up going in the sixth or even the seventh round for a lot of the names that we threw out there. I guess tootin went pretty high. That was one that, you know, maybe there was a stretch a little bit on. It just didn't feel like there was quite the buzz for some of these running backs and maybe that's just because people thought that they could get them later but like brashad smith a lot of you loved brashad smith 228th overall pick there was another guy that the vikings brought in for a visit

that was taken there's a clemson running back in the seventh round. Maybe just not as much love and interest for those running backs as we thought there was. And if somebody goes in the seventh and the Vikings pass on them, not exactly going to get too upset about it. The severe weather in the Metro is actually a myth. It does feel that way sometimes where we always get that big. It's going to crush the Twin Cities and it ends up going north or south. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen just because it didn't happen to us.

And yeah, I was trying to be safe and ready. You never know. There was a couple of years ago where I live. There was kind of a serious threat of a tornado, but luckily did not happen here today. Smith is going to be good in Casey. Yeah, it's a good pick for Casey. I think it's a good pick for them. It would have been fine for the Vikings, but running back number three.

You know, I don't know, like Ty Chandler, I guess, is still that guy. Maybe they'll bring in somebody else. They, as far as I know, did not. Let me check my Adam Schefter updates. Not that I see brought in anybody after today. The that whole comp pick formula thing is over. So any players that you sign after today or even after this afternoon, they can bring in without having to worry about the comp pick formula. This year, there's more that's been made out of that than I can ever remember any other year.

We'll see though if there's any other free agents that they decide to bring in. Ben said, does this year's class have less of a chance to make the roster due to the increase in free agent spending? If we just run through the guys, obviously Jackson's going to make the roster, Felton's going to make the roster. But aside from that, I mean, Ingram Dawkins is probably likely to make it. If someone's a fifth round draft pick and who's the competition really Levi, Drake, Rodriguez, Taki, Taimani, but there's not much other than that on the interior of the D line. So pretty good chance.

I mean, aside from those starters, but really, if you're looking at the late round guys, it's well, who's there for depth and there's not much outside of Taimani and Levi Drake Rodriguez. So I think there is a decent chance for Ingram Dawkins to make it if not a good chance as a fifth rounder. And then the two sixth rounders, even if you cut them, they most often end up on the practice squad. But let's see. I mean, I think the tight end has a really good chance to make the team because they only have two tight ends right now on the roster. That that was almost like a pick for need in the sixth round and linebacker. That's maybe a little more suspect with Kobe King.

They could also keep Kobe King and move on from someone like Brian Awesome. But even then that's only four linebackers. They might want to have five. Awesome has become a pretty good special team or for them, even if they don't trust him to play in Brian Flores defense, but they have Cashman, Ivan Pace, Eric Wilson, who's really the backup, if anybody goes down there, and then Osamwa, but nobody after that is clear cut. I think all these guys could make the team, and maybe even a couple of undrafted free agents,

because there's a lot of room for those late depth guys, not maybe the immediate next guy up on the depth chart, but those 51st, 52nd next guy up on the depth chart, but those 50 first, 50 second, 50 third on the roster. There's a lot of potential shuffling and battles with that. Skull SC, do you think the Vikings traded down because the Falcons jumped in front to get Xavier Watts possible? Watts I thought was a pretty good prospect with maybe some limited upside.

This is what's hard to figure out when they only have five picks. We can't say, well, they passed on this guy and clearly they, that means they would have taken that guy or whatever. Like there's, there's so far spread out that we don't really have a good sense for that, but I do feel like they wanted the wide receiver. If you look one year down the road at. Where jaylen nailers that with his contract one year down the road from now jaylen nailers leaving in free agency if he has even a decent season. And then also jordan adison they're gonna have to make a decision on the fifth year option and if jordan adison.

And if Jordan has said doesn't have a good season or has something else off the field or whatever it might be they could change their mind about the fifth year option i would assume right now that they would be thinking about doing it but a lock and change in a year so there's a little bit of a fallback option. When you draft a receiver in the third, I think they wanted that position. I mean, look at, and I know those draft videos. What are we supposed to read into with those draft videos? Look at how happy Keena McCarter was. It seemed that they targeted that guy. Had they gone Xavier Watts, that would have made a lot of sense to us. However, the Theo Jackson love is real. The Theo Jackson love has been real.

We've been talking about it forever. It really is. I don't know that they're looking to replace the O Jackson love is real. The Theo Jackson love has been real. We've been talking about it forever. It really is. I don't know that they're looking to replace Theo Jackson. He's somebody that when Flores likes a player, no matter where he was drafted, that he's going to play them. That goes for Mattelis. It goes for pace and they've had several years around Theo Jackson. Just seems like they want him to be that

guy, that starter. So I don't know if they would have decided to get Watts or not. Uh, son of a beaver says any vets you think we bring in now that the comp pick window is passed. I would like to bring acres back running back as a position. I certainly thought of, uh, there's a couple of guys who maybe a JK Dobbins, is he still out there? Someone check on that for me. JK Dobbins would be a good swing, right?

Uh, he must have very concerning injury issues to have a good season last year, but nobody tried to pick them up. But even at the kick returner rolls out there and an additional body, uh, there's a few other guys acres is definitely one of them. Dearness Johnson is another one who's bounced around the NFL. Nobody all that fascinating when it comes to the running back free agents. I could see another safety. I could see another corner that's been talked about a lot.

There might be one or two other players, but I don't know that they're just going to go out and free agency and bring in a bunch of guys that are left over. This seems to be the roster. Maybe one or two players to compete. Corner is always a position you can bring in another guy. And since they didn't draft one, maybe that's something that ultimately ends up working out. But it's not anybody that I would expect is going to really move the needle. anybody that I would expect is going to really move the needle. Jay Mulls says for not having many picks, I didn't mind our draft coming out with a potential starting left guard, possible wide receiver three, four young athletic freak defensive tackle and some depth at linebacker and tight end.

Just wish we got a running back. So the guy that they got as a running back, I want to look at him a little bit more because I just mentioned that, you know, a lot of those guys that were picked, they went in the sixth, seventh, and it might be purely a matter of preference when you get to that point of they just like this guy better. Now I'm never going to say an undrafted free agent has a great chance at ever being something because that's just misleading to say that, but I'm, but I'm

intrigued by Trey Stewart of Jacksonville state, someone that may have slid through the cracks a little bit. And let me see if I can find his, uh, his college stats here. Harder to find the Sacramento state college stats. So last year he had 1600 yards and 25 touchdowns. I mean, this guy was wild last year in his production. And again, it's Jacksonville State. I think this is a much lower level of competition.

We kind of went through this with Dwayne McBride, but 1600 yards and 25 touchdowns. I don't know that that's that different doing it for Jacksonville State than it would be having decent stats at SMU So he's got my attention a little bit. There's not a big difference Between draft, you know undrafted free agent for him or drafting the sixth round running back So maybe they thought we'll just wait on that. I don't think it's a bad draft by any means It's not one where I would say, Oh my gosh, what were they thinking? There's no pick that they made where I went, what? I don't get this at all. There's also not that many picks, but all of them made complete sense. And then all of them, I think

made character sense that would push the needle for me that like a, uh, an Ingram Dawkins, that guy comes across really, really well when we spoke with him and he really gets it as well. He gets it that he's got to develop. He can't come in here and just get a starting job. And how many times every guy will say that, oh yeah, I'm willing to develop. I'm willing to listen to the coaches. And then they come in here and they are like, why am I not playing?

Why am I not the starter? I think with him, he's self aware enough to understand that he's got to develop and there's a potential role at the end of that tunnel for him if he does that. And his upside is extremely, extremely high. So that's a at least by based on his athleticism. So that's a at least by based on his athleticism. So that's a nice swing to take.

It is a very Rick Spielman type of the Neil Hunter swing, but it's also really common in the fifth. You either get guys that were productive who have lower ceilings or you get high swings at someone who has great athleticism but didn't produce. Those are the only two options. So while it does seem Rick Spielman II with chasing the next deal hunter At least we won't hear them say that like we did time and time again We all know that's a really high bar to hit but even if he develops in a year into a role player

They have dice rolls behind the proven guys like Levi Drake Rodriguez and now Ingram Dawkins Every single pick made a lot of sense. Oh, they don't have a tight end three. They went out and got a guy who could be potentially tight end three. It's a really good athlete. It's just there's a different world where they do a much more aggressive version of trading down stockpiling picks, doing a lot of stuff like the move down with Atlanta or the move down with the Giants.

And it's a lot more controversial for us to talk about or people would have a lot more opinions on it. In this case, there's not a ton of opinions to have for big debates. Did they reach on Donovan Jackson? But we're all grown up enough to know that they did a little bit, but not crazy. And we know that he is a really good fit for them.

So that's okay. I mean, I saw some folks trying to turn that into an argument or trying to fight Arif Hasan on Twitter about his consensus board saying it was a bit of a reach because not everybody understands what you do with a consensus board. So I think that it was the quietest most non controversial non hot takey type of draft that ultimately could be very solid for them and we could look at it and go, oh, yeah, they got one player at left guard who was a real true starter and difference maker. And then this guy did a little and this guy did a little. And that's you need those guys on your roster. And when you're out of picks, you only got five. If you get two or three of those guys who become just anything

like nice decorations on a beautiful home, then you've done pretty well for yourself. Folks, I'm trying a new thing to try to stop going to fast food restaurants all the time with my busy schedule. It is called Tempo Meals. Tempo is a weekly delivery service that delivers chef-crafted meals from a dietitian-approved menu fresh to your door.

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You'll have to tell me more about Tommy Hill. The only Tommy from the Huskers I think about is Tommy Frazier. So you have to tell me about him. I don't know a whole heck of a lot about him. Let's see any quarterbacks released today. I know Cleveland was off the Florida keys with a boatload of them. Uh, not that I saw of, but I did wonder if there was maybe a possibility of the Vikings bringing in another quarterback. They have three last year.

They had five. Is there another veteran that they would have to compete with Sam Howell? I don't mind if there is, or do they count Brett Ripon as that guy? Maybe they do. Rob says Ingram Dawkins is the one for one swap. The spots vacated by either Jahad Ward or Pat Jones. If he's ready to play any sort of role, the role for Pat Jones is going to be taken over by Dallas Turner.

I would assume that it's going to be something similar where he is rotating in. And Jones played a lot of football for them. So if Dallas Turner rotates in for 600 snaps or something, that's pretty good. Jahad Ward is the best for them. So if Dallas Turner rotates in for 600 snaps or something, that's pretty good. Jahad Ward is the best for sure comparison to Ingram Dawkins because Ward was somewhere around 270, 280 pounds, but he wasn't quite a DT because he wasn't twitchy enough. And I don't see that from Dawkins either. I don't see that twitchy explosiveness that just shows up in his combine scores. But as I watched him, it didn't feel like, you know, how some guy just has a lightning in him. I'm not sure he has that, but he's got a nice mix of enough speed and enough power to be a

difference maker in a rotational role. If it works out for him, the fact that he didn't have a lot of production in college with that type of athleticism, of course, makes you concerned. But he's a fifth rounder and these are swings you take. Steve says, do you think they'll bring back Shaq Griffin? It's possible. It's possible as a depth corner. Right now, I think they're okay with their cornerback depth. They could add one more. Mackay Blackman, Isaiah Rogers, they like Dwight McClother. And I think that they could add one more. And Shaq Griffin was a nice culture fit for them. I wouldn't be shocked if Shaq came back.

I don't think he has a job yet or has had a whole lot of interest. Maybe he got one visit with Seattle. But as far as his production last year, I mean, his numbers, his numbers were really good. I'll pull it up. There were times where, you know, he was going to get beat by the pure speed because he doesn't have that speed anymore that he used to when he first, wow, when he came in the league, he was four three eight.

That's crazy. But last year, let's see, as far as when he was targeted. Yeah opponents only had a 73.8 QB rating when they threw against Shaq Griffin last year and in the last two years They've been under a hundred would not mind seeing Shaq back also a really friendly guy always a good interview Son of a beavers does Oscar Chapman have a chance to beat out Ryan, right? And thus not count against the 53 doing part of being part of the international pathway program? Does it not count against the 53 if he makes the team and starts? That's what I wonder about.

I've never looked into the international program because I've never thought about it, but does he have a chance? I mean, I guess so. Anybody does. Ryan Wright last year was just the definition of men as a punter. They kept him around with a contract, but it wasn't a crazy contract that they can't get out of. Ryan Wright is all right.

We technically have a punter. It's not a difference maker like we thought he was going to be when he first came into the league and he was putting the ball 75 yards. Last year, though, they weren't pinned in their own zone a lot. They did move the ball pretty well, and a lot of the punts were inside the 20. I'm not really that caught up on the punter situation, but we'll see. We'll see if there's a competition. Last year, there was supposed to be one never really materialized.

It feels like they just kind of like him. Okay. Six shooter nation trade Addison as soon as you can. That's just where I stand. We can find receivers. You really can't. I mean, the Vikings, they fool you into thinking stuff. That's not really true because of their history.

So just for example, with the backup quarterback, where I always say, guys, I don't know the backup quarterback, who cares? They just pick somebody and whatever. Cause you're screwed if your starter goes out, but in Vikings history, I understand why it's more important to a lot of you than it is to me, because you've seen the case Kenums, you've seen the Jeff Georges, I wouldn't call Sam Darnold a backup because he was a starter from day one for them, but it's a random quarterback who shows up. You've seen enough of it to have an inflated version of how often that happens. And I think the same thing goes for wide receivers.

This franchise has had so many freaking good receivers that it's easy to go, oh yeah, well, just find somebody else, whatever. And maybe you forget that run of like the Bobby Wade's and Bernard Barion's that you were kind of hoping for and the Michael Jenkins, right? That didn't exactly work out for a bit of an era before Diggs and Thielen show up. And then you fall backwards into a hall of fame receiver

and Justin Jefferson. Addison is a serious difference maker. Does that mean that I want to pay him $30 million in two years? That's going to be the question of where the cap stands, how he's performed over the last two, see, or the next season or two is going to make the difference of whether they pick up the fifth year option.

If they want him long term, we're going to find out, but trading him. Absolutely not. Not when JJ McCarthy is the reason you're going to win or lose that that to me, stuff like talking about trading really, really good players who are first round picks that make your quarterback better. That's just maybe I'm bored rather than that makes any sense. So what are you trading him for? How are you making JJ McCarthy better in that way? I think you got to let that play out rather than, uh,

trying to do something like that. Rob says, Kweysi intimated that the trade down was part of a two step deal for Howell. Seattle drafted Milrow at 92, so they probably worked on that deal to get the pick for Howell and still get Dawkins. Yeah, I mean, of course it had a lot to do with Seattle getting Jalen Milrow as soon as that happened,

but there was talk of Sam Howell being traded beforehand. I'm sure they discussed it going into the draft that that was their guy. And even when we talked to, um, Kevin O'Connell before the draft, he said, we have a process in place. It was like, okay, so they have a handshake deal with somebody. We're just going to find out who it is. And it ends up being Sam Howell, which is fine with me. I mean, he's on the younger side.

He's got experience. He's got a good arm. I like the fact that. You know, he has played before and he's been on a bit of a journey here and still could have some upside to him because he's not that old. And I think quarterbacks probably peak when they're like 27 or 28. I don't think he's going to be some great quarterback.

If they were trading for him to be the starter, it'd be concerning, but as a backup, that's fine. Uh, Ben's got meteorology takes so many Joe Schmo's criticized meteorology when it is a very good science of estimation and they themselves think they're smarter than NFL GMs on draft day and throw away money on sports betting. Ben, are you a meteorologist? So here's one thing that I know about that is the accuracy of the weather is actually unbelievable considering how volatile it is and how challenging it is. The fact that we even have apps that give us a good idea of when it's going to rain in the day is insane.

When you think about just how many factors go into weather. I was just glad that the tornado didn't come by and a lot of times, but you have to admit though as somebody lives in the relative, you know, twin cities just outside of the city, we get this a lot with like the worst storm of all time. And here come the tornadoes and everything. And then it goes north or south. It just seems to be that way.

So I'm not criticizing meteorologists. My goodness. I could never do anything like that. And the accuracy, they're like umpires where the umpire will get 95% right on balls and strikes, but if they miss one, that's egregious or it doesn't happen, then they're going to get criticized a ton or if it was a big play and it's like, you know, the tornado thing. I mean, there was, there was a lot of, uh of everybody be scared and run inside in your basements yesterday. It just didn't happen.

I'm not criticizing those people. It's a hard job. Just saying, I'm glad it didn't turn out. I'm glad they were wrong. Let's see. A son of a beavers, I could see them trading awesome one Chandler at the end of the preseason, get a 20 twenty eight, seventh round, more like a pick swap. You just can't get anything for guys like that.

Nothing. They have no value whatsoever in the NFL. Teams just are not giving up a thing because they all have those guys. Every single team in the NFL has their awesome one Chandler that they want to trade for a pick swap in the seventh. You might as well just keep them. But with awesome, that's been a little bit of a strange journey because he got replaced in training camp by Ivan Pace,

who is a very good player and deserves that spot. But in a world where Flores will rotate in anyone, he's playing your grandma at least 37 snaps in a season. We've seen him put in Sheldon Day. We've seen him put in Gabriel Murphy for big step numbers in a game. And he just wants nothing of Brian Osama being on the field on defense, but yet on special teams. He's a good player. And normally that kind of translates.

I don't know what the missing piece is there because just his profile strikes you as someone who should have been a rotational type, a hybrid safety linebacker who's in the box. It just has never worked out. I don't know exactly why that is. And because we're talking about the third, fourth, fifth linebacker, it just doesn't come up. Like you only get 15 minutes with Brian Flores. It's probably we're not going to ask about the fifth linebacker. So maybe at some point during training camp we could see about that as far as Ty Chandler goes another odd case of someone that after 2023, four and a half yards per carry 20 catches.

We all thought that Ty Chandler was in for a rotational role and he just lost the trust that fumble in London never seemed to get let go by Kevin O'Connell and they went out and got Cam Akers and acres was good for them. I would not be shocked to see acres back. They really love them. So it might, it might, that might be a thing where they just resign acres and then we know that that's going to be it for Ty Chandler, but he still does have kick return potential and they're going to need to kick return more this year. Anthony says problem with experts is they look at quality over quantity over quality.

We have 20 other rookies wrestling or signed. If we get three of 23, we did great. Yeah. So, um, I think just in, in general, grading drafts, every draft has its own context. And that's why it's so tough where I think that if you had what ends up happening is local reporting tends to understand the thought process better from the team and gets the explanations and everything else. So we'll usually lean a little bit more toward being positive on a draft and the outside world is less informed about it and will sometimes just be dismissive of a draft and not look into it as much because they've got 30 or 31 other ones and the Vikings aren't hot.

But then there's also something to be said for, well, you know, if you have five draft picks, that is a demerit. If we're trying to grade your drafts, like that's what we're doing here. And you didn't add a lot of talent versus the other teams that did. It's always been a goofy process to me. It's something that it seems like is something that's done because it has to be done. There's good details that are given by some draft analysts and others just sort of throw a letter at it and whatever.

So it's not always done the same way. I think what it gives us is a very basic done the same way. I think what it gives us is a very basic, like first impression of what the team did thought process wise. So thought process. And that's how I think you should grade it. Not on the sheer number of players. Did it make sense what they did? So that's why I use San Francisco as an example. They might have just got the two best nose tackles that ever lived, but did it make sense for them to get two nose tackles? No, not with where their rosters at and if they're trying to stop the run better guys, you're missing something there.

I'm sure stopping the run is important and it is going to continue to be but you're drafting a bunch of players to stop the run in a league that's still the best correlation to success is how your quarterback plays. Even after last year, let's not forget Jalen hurts and how he played in the Superbowl and in the playoffs. I just, uh, yeah, I don't know about that. So that's a process thing, right? So if you went thought process of the Vikings, while the one critique might be that if they had trade down opportunities, what Houston did and like what the Rams did

Then you could make an argument that analytically it would have been better to take those trades but if you look at also what they really needed at guard and the player they got was a First round caliber first ish round caliber guard who fits really well with your culture and your situation Then well that thinking makes a lot of sense. And that's how you end up with like a B. That's how I would try to do it. I don't, but it's not like any of these people release the reasons why they gave a team an ABC or D they give a two sentence recap. And that's it.

It's not like here's my outline and here's how I grade every team. It's just like, uh, vibes, let's see So, I don't know As far as I can think at asking about the contracts for the udf a's have not seen that yet that usually Sort of trickles out at some point, but I haven't seen who they gave up a lot of money for I just saw that They were the udfFAs unsurprisingly, they got maybe five of the top 20 or something like that. Five of the top 30.

Who was the running back that averaged seven yards per carry last season? Trevion Henderson did. I'm sure there were a few others. I know RJ Harvey pushed that as well. Super Rod Catches says, so glad we addressed more to the trenches. I think the Vikings wanted to get Jared Wilson to be Kelly's backup, but he got sniped two picks before in a third round in the original spot by Cleveland. That could be.

I think they also like Michael Juergens as well. They developed him last year. And remember, they had gotten Dan Feeney in free agency, but they ended up playing Michael Juergens as the backup. He didn't get into the games because no one got hurt, but he was actually on game day, the guy that was active and not Dan Feeney. It seems to me that they liked what Juergens was able to do and he might be the future guy for Ryan Kelly

They might have looked at somebody else, but you're right about addressing the trenches. I think that's something that We just can't take for granted and as I was looking at Mike Clay's Rankings for each position and he gave the Vikings offensive line a nine and I thought and off to ask Mike this like When was the last time the Vikings would have gotten a nine out of ten for offensive line a nine. And I thought, and I'll have to ask Mike this, like, when was the last time the Vikings would have gotten a nine out of 10 for offensive line? Truly. Is it 2009? 2012? I truly don't know when the last time they would have gotten a nine out of 10. And that's where of all the other things that the Vikings did this off season that we liked interior defensive line. Yeah, there's some question about the health of those guys, but if they work out,

it's got a high potential and maybe they could have got this free agent or they could have drafted that guy instead. But when we come back to if you build a top five offensive line and the team I was really making a comparison to yesterday was Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay had one of the best offensive lines in the NFL last year. Baker Mayfield was 75% of the time from a clean pocket and had 107 quarterback rating almost. And then their running back average over five yards to carry. It's always in forever. If you have a top five offensive line, it's going to make a difference.

Now, if you're the 12th best versus the 20th best, well, then you just, you know, you got some good and you got some bad. That's where the Vikings have lived under KOC is they've had some good. They had some bad. It's not all a disaster and they've been capable of being a top offense, but an elite offensive line can drive your success as an offense. And it seemed that they went into this off season and said, we got to find one of those offensive lines that drives our success,

not hangs on for dear life. Matt says didn't feel like a best player available draft to me, hit on a lot of wants. Totally agree. Yep, totally agree. And that's why I said it's it it's, it's not an analytical draft. It's definitely not an analytical draft because that would have been the trade down if that's what they were doing, but it is a nice fit draft. Every single guy you could understand why they fit for this team.

If it was an analytical draft, they do take best player available. Maybe that's Nicky Minwari right or malachi starks if it's best player available. We would like that pic or maybe it's trade down and instead it's. Trade back and take something else if they traded thirty four let me take a look if they traded thirty four what would that have done. a 34. Let me take a look. If they traded a 34, what would that have done? Because I focused a lot on that Atlanta trade, but 34 would have put them. Yeah, they still could have got even worry. If they had traded back to 34, they could have gotten Nicky Minwari or seven. I had Jonah seven. I have the offensive guard or burden TJ Sanders. There were some nice players that were still there at 34 if they had made that trade

or even Jayden Higgins if they wanted him, but Nicky Maware still being on the board there and Jonah Savenaya, that would have been the good case for trading back to 34. That would have been the more by the numbers type of move to make. They said, no, we want the guy in Donovan Jackson who was our guy, our fit.

And it's hard to argue when you meet him, when you see how he played this year, his athletic traits that fit so well for a run blocker with Christian Derrissaugh. It's hard to argue with that. It's where we can go back and forth of in practice versus philosophy. Mike says, what would you consider to be an ideal number of picks for future drafts? I know having more in early rounds is better, but being that it is so random, how many should a team strive for? I've never thought about an exact number. I mean, Rick Spielman always thought that 10. You wanted to have 10 draft picks in every draft.

It's going to be hard for the Vikings to have a million draft picks in the future if they win a lot of games. You have to be just good at picking guys who fit with your team and your success has to either land on getting lucky like Justin Jefferson or Christian Derriss on the late first getting mega stars or just finding a bunch of guys that suit you nicely, which I think Kansas City did a good job of with someone like Trent McDuffie. He's a nickel corner. The ceiling isn't that high, but he's a really good football player who can help out your defense. And that's where you have to be if you're drafting at the first, the late end of the first round, which they're going to be in the future. I think trying to get those comp picks as much as I make fun of you guys for loving them so much

They do have to pay attention to that formula because that extra draft capital Can be a difference maker and can also help you make moves around in the draft, but I don't know if there's one ideal number Seven eight nine. I'm not sure but you're just looking for the more value you can get, the better. Um, then which can be a long conversation and complicated about the trading down and everything else. But I guess what I would say is. You just shouldn't plan if the Vikings are having great seasons to have great drafts all the time and to have great, a great number of draft picks, because it's clear that quasi-adapthal Mensza and Kevin O'Connell believe in trading these picks

for real players in the middle of the season. And that's probably the right thing to do. But then we get to the seventh round of this draft and go, Hey, you don't have any picks. What happened? Well, you went out and got Cam Robinson. He kind of saved your season for a while there. Rob says, Trace Stewart, who I mentioned the running back

from Jacksonville State as a four or five, 40, hard to tell how much is competition. Well, the 40 is also a bad metric for running backs, bad, bad metric for running backs, unless it's somebody who runs a four eight. But look at Bucky Irving last year. There's a lot of good running backs who run four or five. That's that meets the bill. It's just that he went to Jacksonville State.

Just don't I've never seen him play before, so we'll have to see on that. I just think that if we're comparing, well, why didn't they draft this running back or that running back? How much is the difference between a Trey Stewart, who's a smaller school guy and who they would have taken in the sixth? Probably not that big of a difference. Mama says, would you say next year will be very impactful draft on how many picks we have? We could be sitting real nice.

Well, the compics are going to help that they're going to get one for Sam Darnold, and that's going to be good. But as far as do you mean, I assume you mean like, there's two ways I can interpret this. If you mean next year's draft and how many picks they're going to have, or if you mean like, will these picks impact next year? So I can answer it both ways. I mean, they're going to have more picks next year, which should have more of an impact. But if you're asking about these picks for next year being 2025, it's it's Jackson and Felton have a chance to do something for them.

I mean, if we were just projecting it reasonably, like let's just try to make a middle of the road projection. I remember last year people expecting 10 sacks from Dallas Turner and it's like, OK, let's let's pump the brakes a little bit on and let's be reasonable. If Donovan Jackson is a rookie, Okay, let's let's pump the brakes a little bit on. Let's be reasonable. If Donovan Jackson is a rookie, now I got to go look and see how many rookies have played well at the guard position recently. It is a development position.

So let's look at twenty twenty four. How many rookies played well? There was as far as guards go, there was one great rookie in San Francisco Dominic puny who I don't really know and then one very good rookie Jackson Powers Johnson for the Raiders Two average and three bad was the distribution for last year. Let's look at 2023 Just trying to get an average on this of what we should expect Let's look at 2023 just trying to get an average on this of what we should expect

There were the year before that four or five that were average Nobody was great and then there was a lot of bad Including Cody mock who was really really rough in 2023 so let's just say that it's that it's average in a best-case scenario for Donovan Jackson that he gets a 62 grade or something, which would be just a shade above the very middle of guards. That's really valuable for them considering they've had the worst guards in the league. And then, you know, some of the high upside plays could be really good for them. And if Felton gets 23 receptions for 300 yards, that's a nice contribution.

That's kind of where I would project these guys to be for next year is that Donovan Jackson will play well, but not be completely taking over because we rarely see that. But considering who he's next to, I think that has an impact to where you can be. So you're going to be all right. And with the potential to continue to grow. That's reasonable projections, I think. Jay Mulls, do you agree that you could see this team in the top 10 and both often to defense next year? Yes, I do. I do think that in order to have a top 10 offense,

clearly J.J. McCarthy is going to have to play really well. They have hovered around a top 10 offense with Kirk Cousins and with Sam Darnold. And when Josh Dobbs was here, they didn't. But with two actual top quarterbacks with one of the highest paid and then one of the former highest drafted, they've been able to be in that top 10 ballpark based on who their receivers are and the fact that those quarterbacks could perform at a high level with this offense and operate KOC's offense. If JJ McCarthy can do that, then yeah, they can,

they could be a top 10 offense. And if they can run, I don't think we can expect McCarthy to have quite the level of performance of Sam Darnold from last year. But if you're a running game and maybe you protect the football a little better, he did turn it over. I did take a lot of sacks, not really a big fan of quarterbacks who take a million sacks. That was a major issue with Sam Darnold. I think those things you can even it out a little bit to be a top 10 offense.

I mean, JJ McCarthy is amazing. Then you have a chance for a top five because of all the weapons that you have. But that's, to me, that's getting a little out in front of ourselves. Offensive line, running backs are now better, wide receiver, tight end, TJ Hawkins and having a full season the only thing that holds me back a little bit is just the

just the fact that The schedule is so hard, but then again I Mean who knows what it's gonna be like when they actually play those teams when you look at it on paper And we're gonna get a schedule reveal, that will be really fun. We'll do a schedule show. We'll pick the schedule for the first time. I can't wait for that.

Picking the schedule for the first time, that'll be really fun. That's coming in a few weeks. Whenever it is, they usually announce it like last minute when they're leaking out the schedule or finally revealing it. Most of it leaks out during the day and ruins everybody's fun. But it's going to be tough. It's not going to be easy. And that could hold me back a little bit.

The quarterbacks they face, like they might end up with a great defense in their 11th just because they're facing Jaden Daniels and Jalen Hertz and Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. Like that's a lot. It's a lot of talent. Turley, if I'm pronouncing your first name right. What are the chances chances next year's draft the Vikings will have their second rounder? They love to trade their picks.

Well think about it this way. If the Vikings were to next year be eight and three. No that's too many games. Five and two. And we're going into the deadline trade deadline. They're five and two McCarthy's on the rise. They're a healthy football team. They look really good. The lines look a little vulnerable and somebody becomes available. I don't know who us edge rusher corner. I don't know. Whoever,

would you give up your second to take a shot at another player? This team probably says they, they would with the cap space they have and how they've managed it. This team probably would throw out a second if they were going to get somebody special back. So I think it's, you know, maybe a 70% chance that they still have it. But if it's somebody special, then yeah.

John says, my only concern with how is that the Minnesota media keeps calling him a lesser version of Nick Mullins. That is maybe who's doing that. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. A lesser version of Nick Mullins. No, I don't think so. I mean, Sam Howell has a lot more talent than Nick Mullins. All credit to Nick Mullins, by the way, who is maximized every single ounce of the skill that Nick Mullins has by being an incredible worker

and a great person behind the scenes. And when he gets into the game, he's gonna ball out. But I would not call Sam Howell a lesser version because he has more talent. He's got a stronger arm by far. He's a much better athlete. He can run with the football. I think he gained like 300 yards rushing with Washington.

He played for about the worst team that you're ever going to see. So there's where I think the difference is that Washington team is horrendous that he started on and their offensive coordinator proved that, you know, maybe it was Patrick Mahomes that was the reason Eric Bienneme got all that love. But, uh, Sam Howell put up this type of numbers that you would expect from a Nick Mullins only with Washington, which was on the same level as what Sam Darnold was playing with Carolina. So, no, I think Sam Howell is a better backup in terms of talent.

But, you know, I mean, neither one of them are great. I think Sam Howell could go 500 on a team, whereas Nick Mullins would really struggle to do that, no matter how good they are. Ty says, I would love to see someone do a real draft grading from three or four years prior, at least maybe some real analysis there. See, that's the thing is that nobody ever really cares about hearing whose draft was good three years ago. Just that just don't cares. We already kind of know like, well, these players are already established. And is there somebody who's so this is the thing, right? Is there somebody who's better

or worse at grading drafts? And the answer is not really. It's been looked at. What a graph, what a draft grades really mean. It's been something that people have studied how accurate they are. Something that people have studied how accurate they are and the answer is not really it's for entertainment Purposes which is what we used it for today entertainment purposes and what are the odds we trade for acres? yeah, that's pretty good odds if they don't sign them, but Just yeah, I mean the the grades are to see what the rest of the world is saying about you, really. And what the rest of the world is saying about this Vikings draft is that it was Superman because they didn't have a lot of picks and they picked a guard.

And I think that's a, that's fair. This is by far the least exciting needle moving debatable draft I think I've ever covered, but that doesn't mean it can't be good for them. Those are two different discussions on one side. Certainly it is not one that on the outside, you're going to go, man, I can't wait to get to work on Monday and write about the Vikings draft. They pick the guard. But then on the side of you really need a

guard for the Vikings. And this guy was that range of a pick and is a really good personality fit so take him that makes a lot of sense it's just a difference of how exciting it is to have five picks and a guard highlighting the class you're not gonna get A's for that most of the time John said it's like some of the Minnesota media think KOC is the second coming and that his work with QB's is more impressive than raising Lazarus from the dead. Wow. I don't think I've heard that mention, but, you know,

yeah, look, Sam Darnold was one of the worst quarterbacks in the entire NFL from 2018 to 2023. Statistically, one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL with more than I think 50 starts. I remember looking at this. He was like third worst quarterback rating among guys with 50 starts over that period of time and he won 14 games and played at a near MVP level. I get it.

Does that mean every single quarterback who walks by Kevin O'Connell suddenly can raise the dead or whatever or walk on water? I should have said, yeah, every single quarterback who comes within the vicinity just gets the magic and can be great. No, but Sam Howell has played football games before and looked like he knew how to play football with a bad team and lost games. And they were in a lot of games that Sam Howell played and he threw too many picks and he got sacked too often. If he has to come in and play,

he'll probably win two out of four or two out of five games and keep the train on the tracks and be a wild ride. And that's about all you can ask for from a backup. As far as JJ McCarthy goes, well that's your first round pick, he's supposed to be good and what they've done though, here's the part of the quarterback whispering that really needs to be mentioned, is that Kevin O'Connell is very much responsible for them drafting Jordan Addison. That's a really good decision. He is responsible and Quasid Afomensa together for rebuilding an interior of an offensive line

and not saying it's just good enough. Partly responsible, if not entirely, for taking Ty Felton, another wide receiver, for developing Jalen Naylor, for going out and getting Aaron Jones, a veteran running back who can catch the ball, along with Jordan Mason who can run it in short yardage. All these things, if you want to be a QB whisperer,

here's the secret. Get number 18, draft the number one receiver, spend 30 million on the interior line and a first round pick and go out and get a running back who averaged five yards of carry. That's how you're a QB whisper. It's the players more than the plays. And then what Kevin O'Connell can do is he can coach these guys with a positive

mindset. He can communicate with them. I think his late game play calling is as good as I've ever seen in the NFL. When the game's on the line and the quarterback needs to get a fourth down a third down a key. I mean, that's been you can question. Hey, maybe they got too cute here and trust me we do and we will but as far as end of games, I don't think we could question that from Kirk to Darnold last year. It's been incredible in those tight games. last year, it's been incredible in those tight games. But you can only do all the genius stuff if you have the players who could do it for you, who can run those routes, who can make those plays, who can catch those jump balls.

So the I mean, look, the same thing goes for Bruce Arians wrote a book called QB whisper. A lot of similarities, a lot of similarities between the two. They both love downfield and they both got to whisper to some really good quarterbacks and wide receivers. Hey, I whispered in the ear of Carson Palmer, throw it to Larry Fitzgerald. That doesn't mean I don't think Bruce Arians is great. I do, but the environment that the Vikings have built for a quarterback is

as good as you will ever see. That's what's going to determine it for JJ McCarthy. That's why I've loved their process so much. Just through this whole off season and through the last couple years is get the quarterback, but then do what San Francisco and Philly do, which is give the guy everything. That's why I love the idea of draft and receiver this year. That's like, get them more, get them more.

Doesn't have enough. You know, even a later round offensive lineman, I would have been fine with the get them more whatever you can do for your quarterback. Do it. That's what's going to drive your success. That's what I like. It's roster whispering as much as quarterback whispering. And then I think, I think Kevin O'Connell has a rare just a rare awareness to him about

Training quarterbacks because of what he went through himself He understands how to speak to these guys He understands how they see the game out there when they're actually on the field That's a hard thing to understand for somebody who didn't play that position. It's it's all the things together Here's what we know about J.J. McCarthy and the quarterback whispering. If it doesn't work out, it's because McCarthy wasn't that good, because they've given everything to him.

And whatever his odds were when he was drafted, let's say that the 10th overall pick quarterback, just in general, has a 46% chance to work out. That would be like a guess of mine to be a Pro Bowl caliber starting quarterback, maybe a 40. We'll just say 40. That's easier than 46 40% chance to work out. What is that percentage?

When you have this, when you have an offensive line that could be in the top five to seven, when you have a receiver group group that could be number one in the league, including tight end. When you have a running game, that's a little bit like all those things. And then a coach who's already done this and is driving the offense and everything is run through the quarterback. It's not 40 percent. It's probably much higher than that.

That's how I look at the quarterback whispering thing. It's kind of like funny to talk about because nobody's making Josh Dobbs into a great quarterback. It's just not happening. No one's doing that. You got to have the talent, but it's also part of the entire picture of the way they built the roster. And if it works, then everybody deserves credit McCarthy for his development. Justin Jefferson, Kevin O'Connell, quasi-daful Mensa, everyone who built this thing. Cause they've done it the right way.

Sometimes I'm like, man, what can I pick apart? Because rebuilding the interior of the offensive line is like, well, there goes that guard guy doesn't need to show up in the comments anymore. There goes that. We don't have the guards to pick on anymore. Melkiel says, Do you think we'll see McClother and Walter Rouse, Michael Juergens see some field this training camp to compete for those backup spots? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

I mean, I think they like McClother and a lot. And there's a good chance that he is the next man up. Juergens will certainly be depth as he was for them last year. Rouse, I don't know because they brought in Justin school who is a swing tackle Rouse might move into guard potentially. I don't know that for sure. I just think that's possible that he moves into garden becomes a Blake Brandle type of player Rouse. That's the thing though. If Blake Brandle's not starting.

Rouse will probably be more of a swing player who still developing he might just have to be a little bit on the patient side. Rookie mini camp i think starts. The ninth of may there is an email somewhere that i got. Yeah i think it's the 9th of May. So like a week and a half. I think that's when that starts. Let's see. Good discussion tonight, guys, by the way.

Rob says first pick was definitely best player available. Rest was filling holes. I mean, I don't know how they view those guys. If we're looking at how the outside world viewed best player available, it would have been even war or Malachi Starks. I'm okay with them not doing that because I talked about this through the entire process. Like let's think about the replace ability of the safety position.

You can do it pretty easily in free agency. Guard though, these last two years have changed the guard market. Five years ago, I would have told you, dude, you could get a guard anywhere and the Vikings keep screwing it up, but you could get a guard anywhere. And that was how it normally was. But this has changed when the Aaron Banks'

and even Will Fries are getting the type of money they get. And those are the only guys available. There just was not a lot of guards available. Kevin Zeitler is like a hundred years old and he was maybe the third or fourth best guy. In free agency, they're just becoming more rare teams are keeping their guards. They're letting their safeties go. Oftentimes letting their linebackers go, hip free agency, few other positions, but not definitely not with those guards.

I also think in yeah, in general, it just I mean, edge rushers is a position you seem to be able to get a decent pass rushers that are rotational. But even last year, the Vikings getting Grenard, just hard to find those guards. Now, there'd be probably because there's so few that are actually good. Dusty says love the Jackson pick with Starks would have been right around when Harrison Smith was looking at their draft profiles. I don't think it's even comparable. Why sacrifice the value?

Well, I like Starks as a player. I like Starks as a player. I don't think you need to be down on Melikai Starks to justify the Jackson pick. Starks is a high IQ player. So was Harrison Smith. And also if Melikai Starks doesn't become Harrison Smith, Harrison Smith's one of the best ever do it there. So even if he becomes really good, I just look at the safety position as being one that you can develop. It's just a lot easier to develop than some other spots.

And it's also a lot easier to find in free agency. And that's really, that's really all it is for me with that positional value difference. They needed Donovan Jackson more than they needed a safety. That's how they felt. Or maybe they didn't love Starks or Emanuari as much as some other people did. Not now. When do you get your first look at the practice for the report? Well, we get a rookie mini camp and I am going to be honest with you, a rookie mini camp

is not going to blow your socks off for the report. I mean, there's five guys and they don't play sexy position. So I guess we get a look at Ty Felton. We get a look at the undrafted free agents, some guys that they're going to bring in that is, you know, last year, the rookie mini camp was really exciting because it was our first look at JJ McCarthy. It's not going to be very exciting this time. When we do get to OTAs,

that's where it's going to be really exciting. And again, an OTA practice, trust me, is not the most mind-blowing thing you've ever seen. It's a glorified walkthrough. They don't wear pads. But the fact that the first OTA is going to be JJ McCarthy running a full practice as QB1, it will be a big moment Unless they troll us and come out with Brett Ripon is taking the first team reps, which they will not It's going to be

JJ McCarthy's first real time running the team for OTAs and that's in a few weeks I don't have a schedule yet for that. That's in a few weeks, but you're gonna have to be a little patient We'll play with the schedule. We'll have some fun conversations that kind of thing. That's in a few weeks. But you're going to have to be a little patient. We'll play with the schedule. We'll have some fun conversations, that kind of thing. It's going to take some time. It's going to take some time before we get them real hot takes going. Mini camp is always interesting, though. I think we do get takeaways from mini camp.

It sets the stage. I've always looked at it that way for training camp, where we essentially know for mini camp where everybody is aligned going into camp, and then it all changes once we get to training. for training camp where we essentially know for mini camp where everybody is aligned going into camp and then it all changes once we get to training camp. Could Adam Thielen return if he gets cut by the Panthers? I would be very surprised if he's cut by the Panthers. I'd be very surprised.

They want every receiver they can get. He was good with Bryce Young last year. Ben, do you think this roster is still bringing along developmental talent while also sitting so many vets to go for this immediate window? Not I mean, there's not a lot of players that are on the younger side for this team. I went through the roster today just trying to think of stuff to write about. And I thought about writing about the youth on the team. But the reason I didn't write it was there's not enough. I was looking at players who are under 25 years old.

There's just not that many. And even like a McKay Blackman, I think he's 26, 25 or 26, even some of the players you think of as being young are really not even that young. They're either 24, 25. It's not a young roster, but they do have at least at every spot or at a lot of spots, somebody who catches your eye or we're thinking about like a Gabriel Murphy or a Bo Richter or a Takitayamani and Levi Drake Rodriguez, a Dwight McClothern.

We're thinking about those guys and what they could be. But I mean, this is a veteran roster that's built through free agency and you're hoping not to see those guys. And if one of them becomes any kind of player, then that's a pretty big win for the Vikings, but you're really looking for those guys to just be depth. That's why in training camp, I don't know how many battles we're really going to be talking about training camps, going to be defined by one guy where's number nine, but as far as the entire roster and those battles,

there isn't going to be this, oh my gosh, who's going to win this job. Like most of the jobs are pretty settled and it's going to be about how they actually really look and there's going to be joint practices and stuff like that. So it'll be a fun camp, but it's not a roster that has a ton of developmental options on it. A son of a beavers. Why do you think Dalton Reisner struggled to find a job for three straight seasons? Is it a locker room thing or because he pushed his quarterback

a couple of years back? No, I don't think it's that I don't think it has anything to do with that. It's really about one thing It's about one thing for Dalton riser. It's run blocking. I think Dalton riser is a darn good pass blocker and he is a liability in the run game and locker and he is a liability in the run game and very few teams are willing to start somebody and he and look from his perspective, he's probably tired of hearing this and he's probably looking at his numbers going guys. I don't allow any sacks.

Don't you want me? And I think he was a great upgrade for last year, but ultimately you need to be able to run the ball behind those guards and he probably wants more money than anyone's willing to give him to be just a a pass blocker. You can't really have a pass blocking specialist. If you could, he would do a lot better. I don't think it's locker room or anything else. I just think that he's probably tried to hold out and argue to teams.

Look at how good a pass blocker I am. Isn't that valuable? And they're like, yeah. But I think the Vikings have gotten great value out of him over the last couple of years, they've got him at cheap prices and he's played some good football. It's just that run blocking thing. A hamdarn old. Needed a reef style consensus draft grades.

Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure a reef is written and I haven't read his most recent article looking in comparison. I know from the Vikings perspective that I don't think there were any real reaches outside of Jackson being called a reach, but I don't think that there were any actual like big reaches. I think everybody else was drafted kind of in the same ballpark. Mel kill says, did we all forget to see our new franchise quarterback

hit the field this year? Why are so many fans? Do you mean like Debbie Downers? What is that supposed to say? I'm not I think you may have had a typo there or maybe I don't know the phrase. But anyway, as far as the fans go, I feel like this is as excited as anyone is

as this fan base has been since I've been here outside of gosh, when I mean, 2018, probably going into 2018. Last year at this time, there was excitement because McCarthy was picked, but there was an excitement about the possibility of them winning. And past that, after 18, it was pretty miserable going into 19, even though we knew they were going to be a pretty good team. Going into 20, it was just a horrible situation with the world. And in 2020, there wasn't much excitement that then 2021,

we all assumed everyone was getting fired. We were right. 2022 there was, but I think we also felt like it was the same exact team that had a ceiling and they did. And 23, they had moved on from a lot of guys. So there was a, we don't really know what's going to happen element. And they came out and we're not good right away. It was, you know. So this season, I think considering it's the franchise quarterback that's been promised for so long is actually getting on the field that that takes this dial way up from anywhere where it's been in a long time since I've covered the team. John, thank you so much for the super chat. Really appreciate you, man.

Thank you very much for that. Great analysis on the howl with the commanders versus Mullins with the Vikings offensive machine logical and put me at ease. Yeah. Vikings fans are very rarely at ease, John, but, you know, it's important to remember with someone like Sam Howell that he is only 24 years old and that there could be further development when it comes to him. But also I would say you should just always be at ease with the backup quarterback, just

knowing that if the backup quarterback plays, you're probably going to be in a tough spot and you're not going to win a lot of games. So you bring up another point and thank you again for the super chat that KOC is not perfect. The past or not was better when KOC let him play backyard football and Mullins through interceptions. So here's the thing about that. And maybe this will put you at ease as well. If we look at Josh Dobbs career, I mean, how many teams is this guy played for at this point? His career,

like with the Vikings, just for example, he had a 76.4 quarterback rating with the Vikings and his career is 78.1. It's basically the same exact number. He just, there's no, he came from Arizona where he was one in seven. and before that he was three and eleven as a starting quarterback to even go Two and two for the Vikings was good. This guy is just not a starting quarterback in the NFL by any means He's probably a tremendous astronaut and now I agree on the whole With the Josh Dobbs, they should have let him run around that kind of thing it's also very hard to change 10 other players' positions and jobs from a quarterback that didn't run ever

to then a running quarterback. Again, not perfect, but that's the realities of that kind of thing. You can't just change your whole offense on the fly. I would have liked to see a little more in the running game, but they also didn't have a good running game to win. Any games with Josh Dobbs is pretty good.

Well, what was his record? That's what I should have looked at. What was his record? Because he went to and to is a Viking starter. But I think one of those was that Raiders game and he is three and twelve. So he has one other way. Is that true? Three and twelve career.

Is that right? Now we had three. Oh, yeah. No, that's not right. This isn't adding up quite. Oh, yeah, it must not be adding up quite correctly because he had three wins. Oh, no, wait, that was sorry. I'm sorry. That was counting twenty twenty three of the two teams. Yeah. Yeah. So he's three and twelve as a career starter.

And two of the wins are with the Vikings. I don't know. That's not really something I'm judging a coach on and with Nick Mullins, when you said he threw interceptions, but when he was with San Francisco, he threw a million interceptions. He threw 22 interceptions in 16 games. I mean, that's insane. That's an insane number of interceptions.

So those guys are who they are. There's not really much you can really do at that point. So, um, and another one from John. So you're on a roll here, dude. Thank you so much for these. KOC is amazing and getting better, but you're the first media person who credited 18. He might be a good part of why Donald was so good. Always a huge part of why Donald is so good.

There's no quarterback coach who can ever make magic out of a quarterback. What you can do is you can get the most out of him and that all depends on what is there around him. Every that's why sometimes when I hear like, Oh, Brock Purdy, he's just he's just the the coaching and the receivers. And like, OK, is he supposed to apologize for that? I mean, we're playing to win Super Bowls here, right? You're not playing to just win the who's the number one quarterback by whoever dummies ratings that just we could all do.

Any anyone anybody can do that. Anybody go, I think he's the 12th best rated quarterback. Who cares? Right. That means nothing. People ranking quarterbacks means absolutely nothing to me. Zero less than nothing. And what matters is the offensive ranking, because the higher offensive ranking, you have the better chance.

You have to win the Superbowl. When people talk about Jared Goff, for example, now you're fair in saying that Jared Goff might not be able to get a team over the top to win the Superbowl. I guess we'll see. But my gosh, he's got number one offenses all the time and then no one ever gives Goff any credit. It's always a, you know, just the product of this and product of that. I don't care.

I don't care what he's a product. I care how many games they win and what their offense does. I don't care if you think he's the 12th best quarterback or whatever. It doesn't matter. And that's the point about the receiver. It's tied in to the receiver. It's like. If you have the best receivers in the world, your coach is going to look smarter.

He doesn't need to apologize for that. You know, KOC doesn't need to come and say, well, you know, guys, I have a great receiver, so I'm really not that smart. Who cares? You it's that you want the all of this, all you want all of this. But if we're ranking who's most responsible for these great quarterback performances.

I don't know how you can put anything higher than Justin Jefferson. I really don't because when Kirk was here with Jefferson, he was great. And I think if you took Justin Jefferson and you put him on the Washington commanders with Sam Howell in that one season, he's going to be a lot better so

It's always gonna be the players that drive the success But you don't have to apologize for that we can credit KOC as coach of the year, but everybody knows that you take Jefferson and Addison off the team. It's gonna be way harder than It was before so Any reporting on Darasa? Yeah. I mean, the last we heard from KOC is that Darasa has been doing well in his

rehab and it's just hard to give any sort of specifics there about timelines, which everybody wants. Uh, do I think they're done in free agency? I mean, not entirely, but there's not exactly free agents that are going to blow your socks off. If they were to get a Sancte Samuel Jr., who everyone already has put on the roster, apparently, if they do that, then that's fine. Or if they get J.K. Dobbins, that's fine. If they add another tight end or I don't know, whatever. It's there's nobody that's moving the needle at this point. That's why when they went out and signed Rashad Breland or something

to save the season at corner a couple of years ago, like you might be in trouble. You might be in trouble. They really lucked out last year with Stefan Gilmore. That's the rare exception of a guy who's a NFL MVP who was trying to decide whether to play or not. That was a little bit better. Already looking forward to the 2026 draft? I'm not. I'm not. I'm looking forward to the 2025 season. That's the thing. Yeah, no, it's true with, you know, KOC saying franchises fail quarterbacks, but that's the thing, right? Your quarterback success is the product of your franchise.

It's not just and him, it's also him. And there's some quarterbacks who can make your franchise better, but nobody's doing it with nothing. No quarterback is doing it with nothing. It needs to be everybody in order to have a Super Bowl team. It needs to be a great coach who understands his quarterback, put him in great position to understand where he's supposed to throw the football. It's great wide receivers who can get open and make contested catches.

It's great blocking. It's everything. And that's why I just despise quarterback rankings, because I think if you're gonna do quarterback rankings, you need to do them relative to the team. Jalen Hurts should be a top three quarterback, because he's going to be a top three most effective quarterback with that team. If you're ranking, I mean, Patrick Mahomes, for example,

I would draft Patrick Mahomes over any player in the NFL today by far, hands down, him or Josh Allen, but that doesn't mean Patrick Mahomes has the best situation. If we're ranking quarterbacks for next year, I mean, maybe he's more like seven. But if you ranked him seven, then you would be crucified because he's the best quarterback or whatever, you know. I shouldn't have used that language. Somebody else using the walk on water.

But you know what I'm saying? It's just that when we talk about these quarterback rankings, like I don't care. I just want to see the team have the best chance to go win the Super Bowl and you can think whatever you want about JJ McCarthy. Uh, Kason says the Ty Felton pick was the one that throws me off when Royals was available and is a better playmaker. Well, that's better according to you, but not the NFL. The NFL drafted Royals way later than Ty Felton. I mean, maybe your favorite analyst and maybe he'll be great, but maybe your favorite analyst loved him more.

But as far as what the NFL thought, he wasn't even picked the next wide receiver. That was the guy from Florida. And then there was another receiver after that, Thornton. And there might have even been another receiver after that before Royals went. Yeah, there was Jalen Lane. Clearly that was a draft analysis world loves the guy more than the league did. So, I mean, I'm not saying that one, I mean, they're not drafted wildly apart, but it's a pretty big gap between the two. So, I don't know character concerns with Royals. Okay.

I don't know, but either way, that's just the point is like, I get where you're coming from on that, but I just in trying to help that concern, it's a pretty big difference between where they were picked, that the NFL liked a bunch of receivers before Royals. The OK, this has to be the last question of the night and a neck roll caliber question. Also hungry. Got to go see if a tornado knocked down my house. I don't think it did.

I think I would have heard that. Son of a beaver says the Vikings invited long snapper Austin Riggs to rookie mini camp. You think Andrew DePaula might be entering his last NFL season? I think that Andrew DiPaola might play till he's 45. He's really great at what he does. I also know that they invite another long snapper every year. Usually it's not just one guy.

They give opportunities. Maybe you never know when someone's going to get hurt. If someone we've seen the long snapper get hurt before. If that happens, then you got to have somebody else on speed dial. So they like to take a look anyway. Okay. Great chat tonight. I look forward to a lot more of these. I mean, my plan is to continue to go live every Monday and Thursday

night when there's breaking news. If there is in the off season, we'll definitely have an emergency schedule stream to do where we pick the entire schedule for the very first time. That'll be really exciting. Talk about the best road trips, stuff like that games were most interested in tomorrow, though. There will be a podcast you're going to want to look for because JJ McCarthy is going to speak with us tomorrow for the first time since he's done a few different interviews with the K Adams and maybe he did his friends podcast or something but for the most part he has not done a lot of media over the last nor should he because he's you know recovering from his injuries not much to say but it will be very very interesting to hear from JJ McCarthy tomorrow so you're gonna want to keep an eye out for myself and Dane Mizzetani.

We will be out at TCO Performance Center doing a recap of that. Very, very excited about that. Lots of guests coming throughout the week. Yes, Jeremiah Searles is planned to come through later in the week. Lots of fun discussions. Chris Trapasso loved the Vikings draft. You're going to want to look for that one tomorrow morning. And of course, the newsletter purple insider football. All of my writing on the Vikings draft. You're going to want to look for that one tomorrow morning. And of course, the newsletter, Purple Insider football,

all of my writing on the Vikings draft. Check it out there. So thank you, everybody, as always, for following along. Really appreciate you guys. And we'll talk to you later. Football.