Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - How much should the Vikings trade for De'Von Achane?

Episode Date: March 18, 2026

Matthew Coller and Chris Trapasso of DraftGradebook.com talk about how much in terms of draft capital that they would trade for Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane if he became available for trade. Plus they discussion NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah's most recent mock draft and then talk about the end of the Minnesota Vikings 2022 draft class and Matthew's Pro Football Focus draft simulation that Chris gave an A+ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Fandul, Matthew Collar, here. And on the show today, Chris Trapassau. All right, Chris, the official draft analyst of Purple Insider and the new draftgradebook.com, which I've been playing with a lot, incredible resource. You can click on any player, get historical comps, get all sorts of scouting reports going back for many, many years. It is incredible what you have built. Just recently launched with draftgradebook.com. So how about this, Chris?

We got a little news today. Jalen Waddle, former top draft pick, traded to the Denver Broncos. Great move for Denver to acquire him. But, you know, I was thinking, well, Miami's selling everything. They might as well give the Vikings Devon A Chan. You and I had talked about this. This was rumbling around a little bit. The combine, we talked about it.

Why don't we start out with this, Chris? How much draft capital? Because they're not accepting players. They want to not win. So they're accepting. drafting draft capital, how much would you give the Miami Dolphins for Devin A. Chan, if you are the Minnesota Vikings? I don't, so this is coming from someone that again, and I've said it every year, I'll say it multiple times. I have a shirt that says don't draft running backs in the first round,

which should indicate just my general thoughts on the positional value. But I think the Vikings would have to factor in, okay, this is probably the worst running back class that we've had in seven to 10 years since that year that what, Bishop Sanky, like 2015, 2016 was the first running back off the board in the middle of round two. It's bad. There's Jeremiah Love and not much else, especially in terms of the explosive type of running back that you've identified, and I think probably the Vikings coaching staff and front office has IDed as this is the type that we need.

Of course, Devon H.N is one of the most explosive running backs in football. Having said all that and kind of factoring all those things together, I don't value running backs crazy high, but I understand that it's not a great class. I think pick 97 is as high as I would go. And that is saying a lot. Now, there's probably people out there that are, oh, I would trade a second rounder. Normally, I would say any veteran running back that's in his third, fourth, fifth year, I wouldn't even go into the like day two slots.

But with those two third rounders, I think pick 97, which you can obviously trade compics now, I think that would make a lot of sense because that is similar to Kyler Murray, like win now, explosiveness. And suddenly you would go from so much instability at quarterback and so much youth there. And barely any, I mean, I love Jordan Mason, but he's not a home run hitter to, holy crap. Now we have one of the more explosive quarterbacks in football and Kyler Murray and a still reasonably young with a lot of tread on his tires, Devon A. Chan.

So that's about as high that you will. ever hear me suggest a team trading away to get a running back because I think the fit would be that perfect. And the Vikings did hire the Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator, Frank Smith. So he has an incredible amount of familiarity there with Devon A. Chan. The real question about A. Chan would be this for me. And I, you know, you see the numbers. They're through the roof. You see the speed, the explosiveness that we're talking about. He's got that. And he also is not very old. So we're not talking about someone who's 28, 29, 30 years old for a running back that's kind of ancient. And that's where that extra step starts to be lost. So A. Chan probably has,

I mean, at least three or four or more years there. You would have to pay him if he performs extremely well, which has to be a factor in how much you give up. You don't have to pay him right away. But if you want to trade for him for more than one season, then you're going to have to give him a contract extension. So that's something to factor into what the price would be. The positional value goes into it. And how much belief do you have in yourself and the scheme that you're going to enhance by bringing in Frank Smith from Miami?

Because when I look at that offense, I mean, you go back to the San Francisco routes. It's had a ton of success with kind of everyone. And Rahim Moster crushed it one year for Miami. So is it a better I use? to spend a day three pick on Dem and Claiborne, who is incredibly fast and the Vikings actually had in for a visit reportedly, which is not surprising to me. Like, they should be looking for the four three type of guy.

But A Chan has already proved that he can average almost six yards of carry. Then there's the question of, like, is that repeatable? Can you do that year in and year out for the next three or four seasons? Because I think if you can, then it's probably worth a second round draft pick. but even then I hesitate because the 49th overall pick, that needs to be a starter. And when we look around at the different positions, defensive tackle, safety.

You can draft a running back in the second round who has no mileage whatsoever on him. How about this receiver draft, I think, has a lot of guys that I would like in the second round. That would be hard for me to sacrifice taking a wide receiver, for example, in the second round versus trading that type of pick. So I think I agree with you. I've seen a handful of people saying,

give up the first, get them right away. I say, whoa, whoa, whoa, folks. Running is certainly back to some extent, but I don't think to the extent that we've made it seem like when people talk about the running game around the NFL. Yeah, I mean, I said 97. If they gave up 82, which is their first pick in the third round, like I wouldn't think that was a drastic overpay.

But for all the reasons that you just pointed out, I couldn't trade a first or a second round pick for H.N. He's really good. It would be a hit the ground running type selection. And I think he and Jordan Mason would be tremendous compliments for each other in this run game. But you're absolutely right that there are still needs on the defensive side at wide receiver, potentially given the uncertainty of Jordan Addison. So what I would normally say, like why I wouldn't usually suggest trade a third rounder for your running back,

the last five or six years, there's like a handful of third to fourth round running back prospects that I love. I'm like, hey, don't draft this or don't trade for this player, draft Tyrone Tracy in the fifth round or draft Chase Brown in the sixth round. There's not really that type where maybe Claiborne could eventually be decent. His elusiveness numbers do not really match all the explosiveness that we saw at the combine. With A-chan, you're probably getting a thousand yards right away. And you're getting, you know, a high efficiency running back that can be an instant starter where you wouldn't say, say, all right, we'll just, instead of trading for him, we'll just pick a running back there. I think it wouldn't make more sense to just get him in and allocate your earlier draft picks and

then afterward to other need positions beyond the running back position. Considering though, Miami has done a very good job of tearing it down. They've gotten good prices, right? I mean, that's the thing is that they have not been giving away these guys for pennies on the dollar. I mean, they got full price for Jalen Waddle. I thought it was actually an excellent deal for the dolphins. It's always easier to sell off great players than it is to acquire them.

But when we're talking about could you get the maximum for him, they got a first, a couple of their draft picks. They had to send a fourth back. But, I mean, that's really good from Denver. So my guess is if A.C.N does end up on the market as well, you're probably going to have a lot of teams that are making that phone call that need somebody in the backfield. So I don't know if the Vikings could send number 82. If they sent 82, I'd be perfectly fine with it.

But for me, there's always been a line that gets drawn in the middle of the second round where the starters just end. When you go through and then it's the projects. And then it's, hey, maybe a smattering of players who end up working out that we can name in the third and fourth rounds. But it's a lot of role players. It's a lot of, hey, this guy showed up in year four or year three. Whereas day one in early day two, so where the Vikings are picking in the second round, those are, hey, those are expected to be starters kind of very quickly, jump right into the mix, make an impact, and then be someone that you have the rookie contract advantage.

And the Vikings do have to start thinking about guys on rookie contract advantages, which you'll see later in a mock draft that I did where I traded down a couple of times and was fairly happy with the results because they need more dudes. They need more picks. And sending out a pick for someone that you'll eventually have to pay if you're very happy with does not feel ideal, except unless you're giving up something where it's a very even trade for you or you're winning the trade. If they gave up 82, I think you're winning the trade for someone as good as A Chan. I also worry too about running backs and injuries. I know every

position can get injured. I know it's almost impossible to predict, but they have more of a tendency. If you trade high draft capital and the guy comes in and takes a bad hit early on in the season, and you've given up something for the potentially next four years for somebody who came in, got hurt, and then maybe you don't end up keeping them long term. To me, trades always seem really great because you imagine, well, this guy in the offense would be amazing. But when you consider risk, then giving up a high draft pick, I think would be not my favorite. Now, I do want to ask you real quick, go ahead and comment on that. But I also want to follow up on this idea of explosiveness, because I really want to talk about what that is and what that means when we scout.

some of these prospects coming out in the draft. But go ahead with your point. Yeah. So I think it's important to frame that we're like, all right, there's still a lot of tread on A Chance tires. He's only turning 25 in October. And normally the running back cliff is like 27, 28.

Like age 27 season is like the end of the prime. We have seen like from Delvin Cook to Christian McCaffrey to a lot of running backs throughout the last 10 to 15 years in the modern era have huge age 27 seasons. 28, things start to go south. And the carry cliff is right around 1,500 carries. A Chan's only at 544 in the regular season. So it's someone where I absolutely agree with you that you are taking probably the highest injury risk position if you're trading for that guy. But this is truly someone that has already established himself as a star at age 22, 223 and 24 in the NFL on just 544 career regular season carries. So I think the Vikings could probably feel even if, I mean, again, I would not advocate

for to trade away 49. But if they wanted, if they had to trade 82 and maybe like one of the seventh rounders or something like that, I think that they would feel like this is not just a, we're trying to like kind of recreate the Sam Darnold situation from two years ago that they can feel like, yeah, we can actually have a feature back for the next two to three years, which in today's NFL, that's a pretty long time to have the same guy as your thousand plus 1,500 yards from scrimmage back in the NFL. I mean, don't get me wrong.

I think it would be wonderful for their offense. I mean, considering his explosiveness and you add Jefferson and Addison to this with, I mean, T.J. Hawkinson is a Pro Bowl tight end at his best. And sometimes we just sort of look over that along with Jordan Mason in the backfield. who averaged what, 4.8 yards per carry last year and was a top 12 running back by PFF. So if they did this all in kind of move, at this moment, I would say, if it was like a 49th overall pick, I would say, yes, you overpaid. But the chances of this offense really exploding on the ground are very high.

And I can already read the snarky comments. Okuddles not going to give the ball anyway. If we go quickly through the running back history of guys they've had, why would you be a run first team when they have not had any reason in the backfield other than about a half a season of Delvin when he got here and a half a season of Aaron Jones, why would you lean into the run with the guys that they've had? They haven't had anybody like A-chan. But there's been this debate over Jonah Coleman and his explosiveness.

And I'm curious what you think of it because what I think is you can watch a guy and you could see that first step that's just different. I mentioned Claiborne, was at Wake Forest. I mean, at the Combine, but also you watch his highlights. You go, oh, yeah, okay, yep, that's the one. That's the jump. But I also think that when there are running backs who are natural as running backs, there is an explosiveness that's a little different.

It's not necessarily the first step, but it's following blocks. It's balance. And I'll give you an example of this because it just, a guy that was a little overthought in the draft was Cam Scatibu, right? where, I mean, I think he was drafted relatively in the right spot, but, you know, he was immediately a very good running back in the NFL. He's not explosive, but he's low to the ground and he has great contact balance and follows his blockers and adds a couple extra yards here or there.

I don't know that many times in the NFL where you are just completely in wide open spaces and it looks like Bo Jackson in 1986. So I think that it might be a little bit on the overstated side, even though I've been the one saying, like, they need more jump. They need more young legs. They need guys who can rip off 20 or 30 yard runs. I think that's true. But I also think when you're talking about a 22-year-old fresh out of college that they're going to have the young jump in their legs.

And those metrics we use, it might be just a little bit on the overstated side because I've also seen Kenne Wongwu and Ty Chandler not be good running backs. And those guys were way faster than Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones. 100%. And this is right at my alley talking specific traits. and styles at the running back spot or really any position in the draft. And I think you framed that perfectly, that v. natural, at times they're almost like fluid or smooth running backs where it's like, oh, they hit that cutback lane that it almost looked like they knew it was coming. And they just were flowing back to the inside from right to left.

And they look pretty explosive doing that. There's a lot of guys where their vision when you're scouting them is not the best. and they test in the four threes with 40 inch verticals, and they just don't have that natural ability. I always go back to Buffalo that years ago, C.J. Spiller had one really, really good season in 2012, like 11, 1,200 yards rushing, but in general, Fred Jackson was technically someone that hit more big plays,

even though he was an tall, upright runner, and that he could just flow through the line and could see creases before they really materialized, almost because he knew I am not like a guy out of the track blocks that I'm just going to hit the hole as fast as I can. And I think there are guys like Claiborne, like Adam Randall from Clemson, who's kind of like this H-back, bigger type running back, Seth McGowan from Kentucky, similar, that actually have pretty good vision and aren't necessarily just track guys out there on the field. The difference, or I think furthering the conversation is,

I believe that with the Vikings offensive line and with the offensive-centric coaching staff that they have, I think what you've been hinting at in the past is when things are blocked very well and when it's the perfect run call against the perfect defense, you don't want to see Jordan Mason bust off a 25-yard run. You'd like to see A. Chan bust off a 75-yard touchdown. And that's the difference. And that is certainly where the 4-3-7 from Claiborne comes in or, you know, A. Chan being as fast as he was running in the low four, three is just a few years ago.

And you'd like to see someone get to the edge. I mean, the last time that there was a running back who was able to turn the corner really was Ty Chandler. It was very brief in 2023. And then they decided that they couldn't trust him. Now, here's another point about Jonah Coleman and why I've been kind of intrigued by him, even though the jump isn't there is the past protection. And the ability. He's great in the past game too. Right, the ability to catch the ball. And those are things that where if Aaron Jones were to go down, you can emulate some of the stuff that he can do. And you might want to try to get another running back eventually down the road with that pure explosion to have a combo there.

So he's not going to be the one that gets the 40 or 50 yard runs, but we're focused a lot on that when those are a few plays per season versus 70 pass reps where you're blocking or 50 catches that you're going to make out of the backfield or. how many times, I don't know, potentially 50 to 100 times where you have to find the right block and wiggle your way through or you take a hit on the side of your leg, but you have to stay up and get a couple of more yards. So when I think about the actual number of times where this comes into play, it's a lot less than the things that Jonah Coleman does well.

100%. And I think you nailed that we're we can be infatuated with combine stuff. And I, if we have time at the end, there's like a pet peeve that I want to bring up that's on this topic. But I will say you're always looking at at combine workouts and I factored in a lot. I think anyone that's listened to me on this podcast last five years knows that. But I would say for running backs, what you just outlined just when it comes to the total array, vision, contact balance, the ability to sink your hips and laterally cut, make those subtle kind of Aryan Foster, Delvin Cook type cuts where it's just one cut and go. That is way more important at the running back spot than how they test.

That there are like, LaShawn McCoy's workout was not good. I'm trying to like, he's like the prime one that I always think about. Even Emmett Johnson, who we've talked about, looks super duper explosive, didn't test well.

I wouldn't be shocked if he's still a pretty serviceable runner in the NFL. Most positions, there's like a threshold where like, hey, if you're not a 4-4 corner or if you don't run, you know, a three cone under seven seconds at edge, you're like, eh, running backs.

I think it is so much weirdly more of a cerebral thing and it's just almost natural. Like are you elusive or not? Can you, like you said, when there's a guy that dives at your feet, are you going down instantly or can you kind of get your equilibrium and continue forward? And I think Jonah Coleman at 5-8-220, like C.J. Anderson size absolutely has some of the best contact balance in this class. So I think the question would be, do the Vikings want to, like you said, emulate that Aaron Jones role? Or are they like, hey, we just want to bust the floodgates open and maybe three to eight times a season have a 50 plus yard run from Devon A. Chan or one of these late round running backs that might not be perfect,

but do have that sub four four speed. I think that they are drafting a running back somewhere. I'm just very curious to find out where and what type they're looking for. Is it somebody that can come in and hand the ball off to, I don't know, 75 times in his rookie season to spell those other guys? or are they looking for more of a long-term option after, you know, Jordan, or to pair with Jordan Mason or even after him or after Aaron Jones, because I think this is very clearly Aaron Jones's last year, unless he finds the fountain of youth. So let's look at a few other things here.

I am curious eventually to get some takes from you on how free agency has changed draft season because I kind of think not much with the Titans and the Raiders and the Jets signing every player, but we'll get to that at some point. but I want to get to Daniel Jeremiah's most recent mock draft. And he has, of course, I'm going to run through just real quick, some of the ones that jumped out to me and scroll through those. And then we'll get you to react to number 18. So, of course, the shocking first overall pick, Fernando Mendoza.

He's got Arvel Reese going second. Jeremiah Love off the board. We had a brief discussion about trading up for Jeremiah Love. He's got him going off the board at the number four overall pick to the Tennessee Titans. so I just, you know, there's no potential trade there. Sunny Stiles goes to the New York Giants at five. Carnell Tate off the board at number six, Ruben Bain and his short little arms at number seven.

Let me scroll down a little bit. Caleb Downs doesn't go till number 10, which is interesting because it feels like your predicted safeties don't get drafted that high is starting to show up a little bit in some of these mocks. Mackay Lemon to the Rams is an interesting one. Jordan Tyson going to Baltimore. so some receivers coming off.

And a little bit surprising, Omar Cooper Jr. 16th to the New York Jets. There's a, there's a riser for you. And at number 18, the Minnesota Vikings select, Dylan Thineman out of Oregon. So no change here, Chris,

for Daniel Jeremiah and who he thinks the Vikings will pick. He has been banging this drum, even during the Combine Broadcasts, when Thineman was out there having this phenomenal workout. He was saying, you know, that guy would look pretty good in purple, I think. So refresh us on whether you like the idea, and you are very high on Dylan Thineman.

I would absolutely love it. He is my number one safety. I think every year during the draft, and I'm not suggesting that I know that I'm going to be right, but there are those prospects that very early get just tabbed with number one player at their position. And I really think Fernando Mendoza was kind of, of that type where Ty Simpson's not great, but Fernando Mendoza is not like, you know,

draft this like Caleb Williams, Trevor Lawrence, Andrew Luck type. The other one is Caleb Downs, where everyone instantly was getting involved, the Todd McShay types, oh my God, he's like one of the greatest prospects ever. It's like, you need to watch the rest of the safeties. And like, let's not get too enamored and deep in the echo chamber. Dylan Thineman is a little bigger than Caleb Downs. We didn't get to see Caleb Downs workout at the combine, but it was. would be hard, like I would be hard pressed to believe that Caleb Downs would have tested better than

Dylan Thineman. And the ball production, six interceptions as a freshman at Purdue two years ago, transfers to Oregon last year four more interceptions. He looks like a corner when he's moving around the field. His back pedal is better than a lot of the corners that I've watched. I'm like 10 to 12 cornerbacks deep at this point. And I'm like, man, Dylan Thineman still looks like the most explosive fluid mover when he is just literally sinking back into his own. He's instinctive. He is one of the best tackling safeties that I've scouted the last three to five years, like dating back to like Brian Branch,

who's still the best that I've ever scouted. They're in the NFC North with the Lions. There's really not a part of his game that I, that stands out where I can say, oh, but this. Like he's, he does everything really, really well.

And I agree with Daniel Jeremiah. I think Brian Flores is just licking his chops to have Dylan Theanaman fall to 18. I've said it to you before. I'll say it again. And unless something drastically changes, like at the end of free agency here, I don't see how that could. If Dylan Theenaman gets passed by the Vikings at 18, I think that would be a shock around the NFL world. I've texted a couple scouts. They've kind of put that two and two together as well. Like that seems to be after the combine. Oh, hey, there's this other safety from Oregon. He's not bad. He might go late first, test through the roof. He's not getting into.

the 20s. And I think the idea is at pick 18, it is just too easy of a transition for him from Harrison Smith to Dylan Thineman. He can be like a 80 to 100 tackle safety that gets you three to five interceptions a season and five to 10 more pass breakups and be like a quarterback of the defense. And last thing I'll say, the fact that he was so productive at like 19 years old in the Big 10 instantly is a really, really good sign. Very similar to K. Caleb Downs in his first season at Alabama, but he just wasn't the only safety who was super productive right away in college. And that historically has been a pretty good indicator of success in scouting as if guys

come in right away and succeed. What Daniel Jeremiah wrote about this pick is he said, I wanted to find a different option for the Vikings after slotting Thineman here in my last mock draft. But every time I do this exercise, the Oregon safety ends up staring me in the face of pick number 18. he's a perfect fit. And I tend to agree at this point, we as Vikings reporters can now sort of identify on defense, what are they looking for?

And versatility is always one of those things that we're circling. And when you look at Josh Mattelis and what his top skill is, and you look at Harrison Smith and one of his top skills, which is kind of all of them, but versatility and being able to line up in the box, be able to play deep. and in Harrison's best, he could play nickel. He can't really play nickel anymore with, you know, age taking its toll. But Mattelis lined up as a nickel corner for the majority of his snaps in 2023. And I think for someone like Fienaman, his side to side movement that you saw, the backpedaling, as you mentioned, the explosiveness, a sub 440.

I mean, that's nickel corner type of stuff. And I mean, it's a little bit of a, a little bit of a crazy. comp. So I don't mean this to be exactly the same type of player. But like Tyron Matthew was a corner and a safety throughout his career. And it kind of has that same feel. It's a little weird because he's the Honey Badger and he was like amazing punt returner. And he was just so explosive and crazy.

But production size, you know, Honey Badger is a little smaller. But when it comes to this guy, if he lined up at Slot Corner for 55% of his snaps, it wouldn't shock you. Or if he was playing deep. safety and he's getting picks over the top or he's blitzing from the corner, like all those types of things. That fluidity, where the Matthew thing comes to my mind is the fluidity. You just don't see safeties that are fluid in the way that Thenaman is. He's fluid and explosive. And that's really, really important that I always bring it up to my

dad, like he's always talking about players. He kind of like dips his toes into draft season late. And he's like, oh, he's really fast. And I'm like, well, he's actually quick. And that's what also makes this player really, really good. I always think to like Tyree Kill. I love to Jalen Waddle. I loved Malik neighbors because they were fast in a straight line and quick. And Thineman has that range where that's his sub four four speed. But like you mentioned, the fluidity, the change of direction is outstanding and it's really cornerback. Like I have his PFF page pulled up here right now. 53% of his snaps were in the box last year. About 30% were at classic free safety like Harrison Smith all the way. And then a

about 14, 15% at slot corner. So he showed that he can literally be that type of player that's playing all over the place. And he made plays there. It wasn't just asked to play there and then was really bad in the slot or really bad at free safety. He feels like someone that it felt like from the jump to me felt like a top 10, 15, 20 overall selection.

I was never from the start ever thinking that this was a guy that would fall to the second around because the instincts, the production, and really what he does and how tenacious he is against the run, even though that's kind of secondary, but it's not like he's flying all over the place, missing tackles on a regular basis or pretty lethargic going after running backs. He really wants to make his presence felt against the run just as much as he wants to make his presence felt in coverage. Well, it is fun that Daniel Jeremiah keeps mocking, like your favorite player in this draft or one of the guys that you're the highest thought.

He really is. Let me look at some other options on this mock draft that the Vikings would have on the board if they were going to stick and pick. Casey Concepcion and this one goes to the Carolina Panthers, which is interesting, adding another weapon there. T.J. Parker is an edge rusher. We're starting to talk about that because it's unclear after if they trade Grenard or after Grenard and Van Ginkle, what their future is at edge. You could do that. Emmanuel McNeill Warren to the Bears at 25, Cassius Howell at 26. to Buffalo, Kenyon Sadiq to San Francisco at 27.

You know, that's been one of my favorite picks, Colton Hood, going 29 to Kansas City. And then you've got, I mean, now a running back sneaking in with Judarian Price into the first round here on this mock draft. So do any of those options stand out to you that you would say, hey, I would consider this or that player over Dylan Thieneman? Well, I mean, no, because Dylan Deneman might be my like overall favorite player. I love Casey Concepcion. There are so many, there are so many similarities to Jackson Smith and Jigba, to his game, to his profile, down the field, separation, press coverage. There are some drops on film, but there are also a lot of contested catch wins.

And I have to mention that I'd be intrigued by Kenny and Sadiq because I think was it last week or two weeks ago, we did that first draft sim and we went with Sadiq over Thinemann. But I think in terms of just the correct value, the bang for your buck in the type of player you would get, the easy transition to Harrison Smith in time. I think that Dylan Thineman at 18 just makes more sense than anything else. Although I will stay true to our joint philosophy that when in doubt, if they're like have the almost the same grades on Thineman and on Concepcion or. on Sadiq, I will never be mad at a team saying, you know what, let's prioritize offense and

try to get defense later, especially in what is one of the better safety classes that we've seen in a long time. They could get a Zaki Wheatley or an AJ Halsey or who knows how far Emmanuel McNeal Warren or I love Jalen Husky from Maryland, like if they can fall to 49 or if they don't trade for Devon A. Chan to have one of those two third round picks ultimately be a safety that they feel good about, but they certainly wouldn't feel as good or excited about any of those safeties as if they just pick Dylan Fiendeman at 18. So this one kind of pulls me in multiple directions because if you can play nickel corner and you could play deep safety, I think there's more value than a traditional safety.

There are generally year to year a lot of safeties that are available in free agency. We saw it this year. There's a ton of them. And if you have that hole in your roster, it's not one of the harder holes to fill. Yet at the same time, when you look at great defenses, they almost always have someone who's a freak. It's not someone who's just, okay, let's just fill in the blanks and safety. It's normally they've got a Harrison Smith. They've got an Ed Reed.

They've got a Troy Paul Amalu. They've got a Nikki Monroe. I mean, you could go through the list of- Kyle Hamilton and Wilmfield Jr. Like a lot of the best defenses. The last, I mean, you were referencing some awesome like late 90s or the 2000s. But even in today's NFL, which is kind of like a paradox when we talk about this, safeties don't really go early in the first round,

and it's viewed as like a low value position, but similar to off ball linebacker, that a lot of the best defenses have a freak safety and one legitimate three, three down coverage linebacker. So it's like you want to shy away from them, but when you have one, you're really, really happy that you do.

I think this goes for about four positions on the field, that if you have one of the best of the best, you have a cheat code that nobody else can really match. I think that running back is one of them. If you have Jumeer Gibbs or Bijon Robinson, you're just different. And if you have the best center in the league, you're just different. If you have Fred Warner, you're different. If you have Harrison Smith, you're different.

But then by about the eighth best player in the league, there's a pretty big drop off. And then there's a lot of guys that are very, very similar. So if you're going to do it with them, and you better believe that his ceiling is one of the top five safeties in the entire NFL, which I think you can believe in that, but you really got to believe in it. Whereas if you draft a receiver, here's the thing. If you get a number two receiver, if that's what Casey Concepcion is, that's worth $30 million and you'll never find them.

Look at what it costs to get Jalen Waddle, who has been a number two wide receiver in his career. Look at what it costs to get him in a trade. A first round pick, multiple draft capital, you've got to pay him. Like, they're so hard to find and expensive that it could move the needle toward a receiver or even a Kenyan Sadiq. I kind of think the same thing about tight ends. Like there's a handful that are great,

but they're also, it's not like they're easy to replace in free agency if you want one of the guys that are at the top. Even like Kyle Pitts, who struggled a bit early in his career with some bad quarterback play, he's not going anywhere. Like they're going to pick up,

or I think they're, are they franchise tagging him, right? And then they'll try to probably sign him to a long term extension if he plays well. And that's a guy who even struggled at the beginning. Because it's not like you could go into free agency and replace that player. So I'm a little conflicted when it comes to that discussion between would you pick

Sadiq or Concepcion there because they're harder to find in free agency than someone who's a safety. Yeah. And this is paradox number two because we've both identified that wide receiver is the second most important position. I will give you all your props. You were the first one to say that on this podcast. And you said it like two or three, like three or four years ago at this point, which I

completely agree with. But everything that you just laid out, I think what was so interesting that gives perspective on this Jalen Waddle trade. If you look at the draft trade charts, it was Jalen Waddle and a fourth for a first, third, and fourth. That equates to about the 25th or 26th overall pick in the draft, which is funny because, sure, Jackson Smith, Jackson Smith and Jigbo was picked in the 20s. There have been future number one receivers that have picked there. But you just referenced that like at 18, if they draft Casey Concepcion and he is a really good number two, then that's worth a lot. It's worth.

between 28 and probably $32 million per season eventually. And that's what the Broncos just gave up, like a later first round pick to get Jalen Waddle, who has never been a true number one at this point. So it's almost like redundant. Like, hey, you already have your number one. Well, it's like in today's NFL, having that number two,

clearly like on the open market is worth like the 25th or the 26th overall pick in terms of the draft trade charts out there. So in a theoretical world, I probably would go with the receiver, just because I think it's the most valuable. But at the same time, if they do, it's sort of like the A-chan conversation. Like, if we're doing the theory and the math, you should not trade anything higher than your third-round pick for Devon A-Cham. But if they trade a second round pick, I'm going to do an emergency podcast and be like, let's go. This is going to be a lot of fun.

And the same thing goes for Dylan Thineman, where theoretically, I don't think it's the right pick to go with a safety. there, especially in a deep safety class. At the same time, I'm going to say, all right, well, this is a perfect fit and it'll probably be more valuable than we think. It's sort of like even Donovan Jackson, picking a guard in the first round, I don't know, but Jackson is a really good fit for what they needed and maybe guards are getting to be a little more valuable and harder to find. But that discussion, I think it has to be had.

it can't just be draft to your board because there are other factors at play with a salary cap. So I did a little mock myself, Chris. So Daniel Jeremiah, you think you're the only guy mocking? Actually, there was a draft simulation using PFF, which they've added some different big boards. So the results come out a little more differently depending on which you use. I think that's a nice little feature over there for them. So here is what I did in this draft simulation, Chris. I traded down.

So it's, of course, funny. I'm looking at it. I also drafted Dylan Thineman, but I traded down to do so. I didn't take him at number 18. And I picked up an extra draft pick from them, the number 86 overall pick. So now with moving down and drafting Theneman, we've got 82, 86, 97, and then I made another trade in the second round to pick up the number 100 pick. So I have stacked some draft capital here.

So I took Thinaman that I trade down in the second and take Judarian Price with the 56th pick. And then in the third round, 82, Jacob Rodriguez linebacker from Texas Tech. I've seen him play, straight baller. Antonio Williams, who I think is the most overlooked wide receiver in this draft for the old Clemson Tigers. Then at number 97, a run stuffing defensive tackle, big giant man in Darrell Jackson, Jr. and cornerback, trading Stukes at number 100, who I thought really helped his draft stock at the NFL Combine. Your reaction, give me a draft grade for my draft sim. Matt, you have come out hot. This is maybe your best one ever. I know we've done like 100 of these,

but I mean, you had me with all the tradebacks and to get three third rounders and then pick up pick 100 in that tradeback in round two. We obviously talked about Thinnaman. Judarian Price ran 4-49 at the combine. I'm not going to, I mean, he's clearly like a step below, Jeremiah Love in general, just as a running back and in terms of sheer explosiveness. But he hits some long runs last season.

He's probably in that tier below where if you're sub four, five at the running back position, that is absolutely ticking the box in terms of explosiveness. He reminds me so much of Miles Sanders, who I think. Maybe at this stage, it's like, eh, but I think that style of running back, we saw him produce early in his career in Philadelphia, in Carolina. Jacob Rodriguez, he is that type of player. I think it will take him maybe half a season, but he is that linebacker that I'm always looking for, that he is a three down type.

He tested extremely well. He's a little on the smaller size. I do not want to say undersized because in today's NFL, if you're six foot, six one, two 30, two, 35. that's like that's perfect size um tackles everything you're not going to see him miss a lot of tackles i think the instincts are there and like we mentioned earlier with the fineman the fluidity flipping the hips finding that dig route behind him jacob rodriguez as a former quarterback i think he has that ability to like understand all right they're going to try to bait me with this check down and they're going to throw it over my head i i don't think he's like through the roof like fred warner

but I think he could be that three down type that's just on the field 95% of the time in the future. Antonio Williams reminded me not quite the production of this former player in the ACC, but his style reminds me a lot of Tyler Boyd, where he's not like the most ridiculous athlete, but he just does everything well. I think he's a good separator underneath at the intermediate level, gives you a little bit of downfield juice, a little bit after the catch, and very, very sure-handed.

So I would like that selection, even though you're waiting until pick 86 on a position that we both clearly deem is super duper important. And on my scouting report on draft gradebook.com for Daryl Jackson Jr. I wrote that he is one of those first guy off the bus types. And I feel like maybe you gravitate toward that type at least once or twice during draft sim season here on this show. A little over 6'4, 315, almost 35 inch arms at the combine. like he bench presses guards and centers on a regular basis. He's one of the best pure run defenders in the draft. And with him, and especially fitting where you got him,

there's the Caden McDonald's. There's the Kristen Millers. There's the first, second round defensive tackles that are really, really good run defenders. Daryl Jackson Jr. is just about as good as those players and has freaky talent and freaky traits and gives you a lot of that same run-stopping. ability and it's what we've always talked about by pick a hundred late third round fourth round fifth round then we're okay then i'm okay with picking someone that at defensive tackle that

has a specialty stopping the run and then trade and stukes the only thing i don't like about him is that he's an older prospect but you cannot argue with his productivity deep down the field and he is someone too like what you were kind of envisioning for the heir apparent to harrison Smith, even with Fianeman in this draft. I saw him play outside corner. I saw him play in the slot. He played split field safety. He was deep middle safety.

And I believe he was at Arizona for six years. So there's a lot of experience to his game, at least five seasons of regular playing time. So I think that hits a lot of what the Vikings need. And there was no one that felt like drastically too early. I love the Jackson pick. And even the Antonio Williams pick, who I think can just be that constant. chain moving slot receiver in this draft. I like Williams.

You mentioned it in your draft gradebook.com write up about him and just how smooth he is. And I think that's really noticeable. And that's one of the things that stands out to me. I mean, even with like a Concepcion, because I mean, maybe just I watched a lot of Stefan digs. And I know that everybody's not Stefan digs when it comes to route running. But the smooth nature is something that I think it was Stefan.

Gilmore asked him one time about why Justin Jefferson is so hard to guard. And he said, because you just can't get a read on him. Like he goes in and out of his breaks, so fast and so smooth, but he does give you a tell. And that's why I tend to lean toward those players, even if he doesn't have other special traits. Can you get open is the best trait that you can have. And you also mention he catches the ball away from his body, which is something that you notice from him as well. I'm going to tell you the truth about Daryl Jackson.

I picked him because he was huge. I just, that's what I, he's a monster. I clicked on him and I looked at his run defense grade and I looked at his size and I went, yes, I will say sometimes this doesn't have to be that complicated. And yes, I am picking that guy to be the run stuffer. And, and I have him graded in the third round like between pick 76 and 105 and you got him at that perfect spot. Not crazy explosive, not J.J. Watt with his handwork, but powerful, tremendous stack shed, make a tackle near the line of scrimmage.

A lot of those PFF run stops that we talk about a lot. And you're right, he's enormous. Like he's listed at 65325, probably tried to slim down a little bit for the combine, but still over 6, 4, 315 and just extreme length where there are not going to be many, certainly not centers, but not many even guards that are going to be able to get their hands on him before he contacts them first. So I'm curious, I want to shift gears a little bit to free agency. and your thought on the way that free agency has played out

because the Vikings have done really basically nothing. They picked up a veteran backup defensive back, which they needed. And they've kept some of their players. They kept Eric Wilson around, which was a plus move for them. And that's why I waited a little longer to get the linebacker. I thought developed behind the other guys.

And then there you go with some older linebackers on the team right now. But, you know, that's not around the league considered too much of a needle. to keep your linebacker to a multi-year contract. I am curious if you think that anything in free agency change the way that we view the draft. Because a lot of times when you're putting together mocks and draft sims and everything, you're saying, well, all right, so this is how this is going to play out.

And then, oh, they signed a guy, a big name at that position. So that's kind of taken off the board. Maybe the only one that I could think of is Kansas City, who a lot of people thought was going to get Jeremiah Love. Now the feeling is that Tennessee is just going to take them. They're going to try to find their next Eddie George or something there. And he's not going to make it to number nine. So they signed Kenneth Walker.

But I was curious if as you were watching free agency play out, you thought, oh, you know what? I'm going to have to shift this. Or if you feel like there were shifts in how you feel about different teams around the league. No, it's a good question. and it's a fitting one like appropriately timed. But like you hinted at the beginning of this episode, there was no, I mean, obviously there were some big contracts like thrown around,

but not any with like the top 10 teams that totally shifts everything. I mean, the only other one, which I'm going to try to pronounce it right with the Saints, Travis A-chan, apparently. That was the other potential landing spot for Jeremiah Love right before the Kansas City Chiefs at pick eight. and it seemed like at seven, like the Washington commanders signed like everybody that the Titans or Raiders didn't sign, but not any specific, oh man, now they're not going to pick blank because I think a lot of the teams inside the top 10 have a ton of needs. So the only other one, I guess, would be Miami at 11 that they need a receiver, but like I just outlined, they need everything. They have like the worst receiving group in the league.

They have their offensive line is in shambles. They have 175 million in dead cap. So like there's not a previously telegraphed position or player that suddenly is different two weeks into free agency in my. Yeah, I feel the same way that nobody made a move that you all the sudden went, oh my gosh, wow, that changes everything. A move that didn't happen kind of changed everything, which was Max Crosby and that trade not going through. I do think that we've seen the bad teams make a statement that want to get better right away. And that might shift in a win now type of draft pick like a Jeremiah Love for the Tennessee Titans. They need a running back to help them right away.

I don't like that pick for them. I still think they're multiple seasons away. But they can, it reminds me of Bejohn Robinson with the Falcons and they're running out Taylor Heineke as their quarterback. It's like, is there a reason for this? But, you know, when it comes to love, I mean, what they're hoping is that by next year, they're not 2026, but maybe 2027, they've got their franchise quarterback and the running back is still young. They can maximize that rookie contract. In a draft like this, fair enough, that's a special kind of guy.

You see the Raiders very clearly saying, we know who our quarterback is going to be. And now we want to stack up the roster as much as we possibly can, even if some of these contracts are too far, too much, whatever it might be. and the Jets, I think, need to win several football games next year to be considered in the NFL still. So, but you know what we did see. That's true. We did see, I think, the teams that sat this out that were not doing what Tennessee and the Raiders were doing, they made a pretty clear statement. Now, what I've seen is March for Arch, for Arch Manning to get to the bottom.

I haven't heard that yet. I like it. It's okay. I don't know if the suck for luck was just. right there. It is so clear. Oh, my God. It was great.

Tank for Tuo was pretty catchy as well. I don't know if March for Arch is quite there. Um, is it worth it for the Arizona Cardinals and the Miami Dolphins who have just emerged very clearly as we want to get to the bottom next year to try to get to the top of the 2027 quarterback class. Like what is your feeling on that as of right now? So I didn't want to disparage, uh, Fernando Mendoza because great.

season. I think he can be a top eight to 12 quarterback in time in the NFL. I think a lot of things would have to go right. But I'm always looking at this from a traits perspective. And from Archmanning, I didn't love Dante more. I actually watched him before he decided to return to Oregon. But he's someone that certainly was drawing first round buzz before he decided to return. There is DJ Lagway, who has super traits at Florida. Lenora Sellers had a down season after South Carolina lost all the Nicomann worries and all the big time talent last year. They're going to be better.

He's, I don't want to say he's Cam Newton, but he's like 6'4, 2.30 and can run and has a big arm. There's Brendan Sorsby who had a great season at Cincinnati, transferred to Texas Tech. There's Marcel Reed, who I think, like, looks so much like RG3 when he was at Baylor. And these are big time, like, bigger athletic, strong-armed quarterbacks that will be in like either year two or year three

and sometimes even in year four as starting quarterback. So I think for the teams, maybe like the dolphins and like the Jets and like the Cardinals, it would make sense to position yourself to maybe have whatever the idea would be, to have multiple first or to like maybe not try to necessarily be super duper good next year because, yes, some of those players that I just referenced those quarterbacks for next year, they'll have down seasons or something will happen, but there's five or six or seven that are coming in that have loads more hype than any of the quarterbacks last year. So I think next year's class could be similar to what we saw in 2024 in terms of hype and general

like higher level traits collectively at the quarterback position. This could also be in Trinidad Chamble's winning his lawsuit to go back to college as well. Tim Levitt, LSU. Yeah, I mean, there's right. there's a lot of guys that have a chance to kind of make a statement here as well. And even if four of the guys that even if there's 10 that you identify as possibilities and four, that's a really good draft class. It's also why the Vikings have to consider if they're making some trades down,

trying to get some extra draft capital for 2007. And it could be one of the reasons to trade Jonathan Grenard. Because if you could get like, I don't know, a second rounder in 2027, along with a fourth rounder this year. Maybe you do that just to have some extra draft capital if you have to move up because well, Kevin O'Connell reportedly told Kyler Murray, we could see you as a long-term option.

It doesn't mean he will be. It doesn't mean that this is going to go well enough. And they could be going back to the board and saying, we need to draft a first round quarterback. How can we move up into whatever area and try to get that player? One last thing, Chris, Today is a special day. And I don't know, I don't know if you could ever guess what I mean by that.

But the entire Minnesota Vikings 2020 draft class, which will go down in history is one of the worst that any team has ever had is now all gone. Jalen Naylor signed with the Raiders. And today, Ty Chandler signed with the New Orleans Saints. Now, here's an interesting thing, though, about the 2022 draft class, Chris. when I go through it, there's a lot of players that are still in the league. Now, it's not Lewis Seen, who turned out to be a gigantic bust. And Andrew Booth Jr. might be somewhere, but I don't know where. And he's not going to play.

But when you go through some of the other guys, so Chandler signs a contract to play with the Saints, Nailer signs a big contract for a number three wide receiver, Asasia Toma wo is still out there kicking, Vedarian Lowe signed a pretty solid contract as a swing tackle. I might be missing one. I think five of the guy. Oh, Caleb Evans returned to the Carolina Panthers.

Now, he didn't play a lot for the Panthers last year, but he returned to the Panthers. So these are guys who are with- Ed Ingram too. And, oh, right. And Ed Ingram signed a big contract.

Um, that's a weird one because he played exactly. He's not good. No. Yeah. He's not. He played exactly like Ed Ingram played here. And yet they were desperate and gave him a big contract.

But even then, As we do draft evaluations, a lot of times that's the way we'll do it. We'll do it of like how many starts or did they sign a second contract or how much did they get paid? And if you go through that draft class, you go, Ingram got a big contract, Nailer got a big contract. And these four other players are on teams. There is a conclusion that you could draw that I wonder if you think is fair or you could say like, all right, well, look, teams need football players. So stop doing this. is it when it comes to draft success as much about commitment as it is the actual player?

Because they let go Vedarian Lowe after one year. They never really tried to play Ty Chandler. They let go and bailed on Ed Ingram. Again, not saying he's great, but they paid $18 million a year for his replacement. So they bailed on Ed Ingram a year and a half through his career. and even someone like Asasia Tomow or Caleb Evans, those guys were gone very quickly. They didn't give those guys a whole heck of a lot of chance,

not even into their third years of their contract. And yeah, and Lois, he played quite a bit for the Patriots. I just wonder if this team, this coaching staff, was so committed to we're winning right now over the last few years that they may have not wanted to stick with some of these guys, guys that they didn't love right away to see it through. I'm not saying that's a terrible thing with this draft class, but when you call it the worst draft class that a franchise has ever had

because of the production for your team, but they've also signed with other teams and played for other teams. It's a little conflicting for me of how to view that. I've never heard this get mentioned before. So this is a really good perspective. And to your point, like I have some questions that popped into my head. like even though that was, is that the first draft class for Quasi? It was.

Yeah. That I mean, obviously you would think first draft class, but I wonder, is that like the original like planting of the seed of like disconnect between him and Kevin O'Connell, maybe? And we talk about it a lot too. Like the second question I had is, which is not for you. It's more rhetorical. But we've been really juggling like what are the Vikings trying to do?

And that you've referenced that the ownership. The Wills are like, we never kind of want to like tank and rebuild. We want to be, and they've been a, I don't want to say Super Bowl contender, but they've had those seasons where they're either on the cusp of the playoffs or in the playoffs with Kirk or winning 14 games with Sam Darnold that, yeah, I think it's been a lot harder for them to say, let's keep Ed Ingram out there and see if he can materialize into like an average starter. Or let's have Vedarian Lowe go from swing tackle to starting tackle.

or bump him into guard where he can play. A lot of that, I think, does come with the timelines of teams. And I've always had, as a draft analyst, there's so many players every single year that either get drafted later than I thought or just don't get an opportunity. And then you're like, oh, yep, that was a miss. You missed on that guy. And then the Jalen Naylars go somewhere else and they get an opportunity

and they get thrown the ball a hundred times in a season. and they have 70 catches and it's like, oh, well, yeah, they were given an opportunity. I think this goes back to like an old PFF conversation that I remember listening to from Steve Palazolo and Sam Monson, that like those practice reps when you're a early round pick and the Laquan Treadwell, I saw he signed a contract somewhere. He's still in the league. If Laquan Treadwell was a sixth rounder, he would not still be in the league. I was a former first round pick. didn't work out ironically in Minnesota, but I'm using him as an example because I think

the opportunities that you are afforded when you're in earlier selection are absolutely invaluable. And there are so many players in the NFL every year that whether it's on a new team or because of injuries on their original team in front of them suddenly get the opportunity and it's like, oh yeah, he can actually play a little bit. And I think there probably was premature moving on from a lot of those 20-22 draft picks. just because the Vikings in that whole Kirk saga were still trying to like win nine or ten games and just get to the playoffs to have that good feeling going into the next year. Well, I mean, even when you think about like the timeline, as you mentioned and how they've been in a mode in 2024, for example, where they going into it, no one else thought that they were going to win. But I think they thought they were going to be pretty good if Sam Darnold played well.

But you look at the roster and how many veterans are on it. those players are hard to beat out. And what they've always done is in a training camp because you know that Fabian Moro is 31 years old and he's going to come in and know what he's doing. And Bobby McCain, like they kept Bobby McCain over guys who were development type players like Caleb Evans. And again, these players, Tomoa Evans, Ty Chandler, they're not becoming megastar. So I want to be clear about that.

It's just interesting to me that if you were a rebuilding team who had a different mindset about your draft picks. And maybe also there wasn't disconnect. If you would have said, oh, that is my guy. And even like a Thai Chandler, talk about commitment. He struggled with past protection. And sometimes it looked like he may not have known the plays. And instead of, hey, this guy's got explosiveness.

We're going to lean into this. It's like, oh, he's part of that bus draft class. Like, let's just go get somebody else. We need a running back who could do everything. Let's just go get somebody else. And I don't know. Like, I'm not sure that Ty Chandler. ever becomes a superstar, but he could have become a 500 yard running back for you.

Or a Caleb Evans probably could have been a rotational depth corner. They signed Jeff Okuda, who was horrendous for every year of his career. But he'd been around longer. So he beats out somebody, you know, they had Nashan Wright. And he beats out, you know, he gets beat out. They let him go. Like he, he's actually part of that draft class because they traded Andrew Booth Jr. for him. And once again, not saying that Sean Wright is this mega star, but these are all players who

could kind of fill out little roles on a team as day three or day two draft picks that they decided, you know what, Dalton Reisner, you're a better choice for 2024 guard because you can pass protect better than Ed Ingram. So that pick ends up becoming a bust in part because of that and he goes somewhere else and starts. I'm not saying they should have stuck with him in 2024. It was going miserably in past protection and mental errors and stuff like that. It's just if you're going to get guys in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth round, you have to stick with them if you want them to be successes. So the tie together of your timeline, your coaches and the person drafting these players,

because clearly these guys had enough talent to be somewhere and they aren't all playing for the Jets. They're playing for and even like a Chaz Sarat. Like it's just these guys pop up and you know, like Seattle decided to keep. keep chas sarat you know like well that's a guy the vikings took one look at when they got here and said get out of here and i just wonder about like they've so much preferred the eric wilson's to come in and play as opposed to the younger players that this is kind of the results it's a self-fulfilling prophecy is kind of what i'm getting at to some extent it it definitely is and

everything that you were outlining there with little um weaknesses for tie chandler's game or Akeleb Evans, yeah, those are fourth and fifth round picks. Like you're not getting a complete past protecting specialist who's explosive, who reads the blocks well, who's amazing right away if you're picking a fifth round running back. And a lot of the times

your fourth round corners like Akelaub Evans aren't you know, like defensive rookie of the year candidates right away. So I think it is absolutely fair at this stage, whether it was Quasi, whether it was the coaching staff. And I would actually kind of

leading the coaching staff that the Vikings do have a little bit of a development problem where they're not the best developmental team in terms of, all right, you're a third rounder. We know you're not good at this. At Ingram, you need to work on pass protection. And the actual hands-on coaching of technique. And look, our scouting staff thought that this was your problem at Ingram. You need to get better here kind of because if we get you to play at an average level, we're getting a huge financial boon with having you on that rookie deal as opposed to like you

mentioning, you know, paying $18 million per season for your replacement. And I think the cherry on top to all this or putting a bow on it is that's how you get to be $43 million over the cap when you're like, hey, these guys aren't working out. We got to just trade for Andrew Ganga or sign Andrew Van Ginkle, get Andrew or Jonathan Granardin here, Eric Wilson, a lot of these veterans that have helped raise the floor and keep the Vikings relevant, but then down the road put you in a bad financial situation because you don't have those rookie deal fourth and fifth rounders. That's not like a first round rookie deal. That's still five, six, seven million in cap hit every season. That is as cheap as it gets in the NFL.

So I think that's one thing. If the Vikings want to look inside and like what's wrong with our internal process, it's probably whether it's giving these draft picks more time or just their assistant coaches need to be coaching better to or not being so nitpicky about these players in the on day two and day three not being perfect prospects or perfect players earlier in their career because that's just not what you're going to get at those stages of the draft. There's a little bit of like are we criticizing them for it or explaining it and I think it's like maybe a little bit of the criticism and more of the explanation because just for example, I mean if you're going into a season where your roster was eventually capable of winning 14 games.

I mean, if you're 8, 2, then replace Ed Ingram. Like, you got to do everything you possibly can to win at that moment. And that even goes for like this offseason where they were planning on winning. They were not planning on developing a lot. But I also think that you sort of robbed Peter to pay Paul sometimes there too, because then you bring in a Bobby McCain, who, you know, is a great resource for them and played some special teams and filled in for a game or

whatever, but, you know, you're also then asking that position to be replaced again very quickly. I mean, they were able to resign an Eric Wilson and move off from Ivan Pace Jr. in that starting type position, which I don't think was wrong. And Wilson has been fantastic as a Viking and everything else. But, you know, he's 31 and eventually you have to replace that again. So then you have to draft someone else. Or you have to find some other undrafted free agent or whatever it might be. And you're kind of chasing, chasing, chasing when you've bailed on your prospect so early. I think that's what's unique about this situation is it's not like they ran them to the end

and said, sorry, it just didn't work out. They got rid of these guys when they lost camp battle. Sorry, if you can't win the camp battle, you're out of here. And then they end up kind of sticking on some other teams. So it's interesting. Again, I don't think that this changed the fate of the entire franchise, but it goes to sometimes successful draft classes in part are because of the commitment to certain players and patience and all that.

And I'm curious if that shifts a little bit with a new general manager, whoever that might be. Chris Trappaso, draftgradebook.com. All the players we talked about, just go there. Look at them. Click around. Check it out. Tons of tons of scouting reports, comparable players. I mean, going back years.

So even if you're curious what Chris said about 2022 draft picks, you could go back and see how right or wrong you were about some of those. Sir, we will talk again very soon. and we'll see what shifts and changes around the NFL by next week. I don't know if you can have a better draft sim than the one that you had in this episode. So that's like the challenge that I'm setting forth to you. Like next week, let's see if you can have a draft sim that I universally like the picks more than this week. It was really that good.

Here's what I'm going to go for next week. Here's your promise. I'm drafting a wide receiver in the first round and we're going to see how it works out from there. All right. We'll see how the dominoes fall after that. Football. Football.