Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - JJ McCarthy passes every test in preseason debut for Vikings

Episode Date: August 11, 2024

Matthew Coller and Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press talk about the Vikings' preseason win and a big performance from JJ McCarthy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider inside U.S. Bank Stadium. Matthew Collar along with Dane Mizutani following J.J. McCarthy's preseason debut in a Minnesota Vikings win capped off by a game-winning field goal by Will Reichard. And I just want to start out by saying, Dane, that this was the most fun that I have had covering a preseason game. In fact, a lot of times it was really kind of a drag. And yet this one, we got to see everything on display that everybody wanted to see from JJ McCarthy, but also some other standout performances as well, including Dallas Turner, Jalen Naylor. We talked to the head coach about those guys as well.

And so there is a lot to get into we'll be reading your questions and comments along the way as well but we have to start out in the most obvious place here which is Will Reichert's I'm just kidding uh J.J. McCarthy's performance Dane why don't you give your overall reaction to how J.J JJ McCarthy looked to you and then we can all talk about it together go ahead I think right now whatever it is is it August 10th 2024 this is the day that JJ McCarthy proved it's possible like is he going to turn into a franchise quarterback that the Vikings hope he can be we don't know the jury's still out but today proved that the tools are there and i think that's very important like you look at sometimes rookie quarterbacks they come into

the nfl it's i don't know maybe they can get there there's no doubt about it after watching j.j mccarthy today and i think the progression from the spring into the summer is important obviously in the spring a little inaccurate reworking his fundamentals summer you see that improvement but then to see it all come together today the arm strength's there you know the ability to maneuver in the pocket it's there he can he can rip a deep ball downfield we saw that twice today one on the 45 yarder to tristan jackson the other i think it was 33 yards to trent sure. Ball's just right on the money, dimes downfield. He showed a little wiggle being able to escape pressure. It wasn't without ups and downs. He did add that interception early in his, I think it was either his second

drive or maybe it was his first drive. But the way he responded to that, I think was also very important and very impressive to see kind of a rookie. I know it's a preseason game, but it's his first time in the NFL and able to respond to that adversity kind of in real time. Come right back and then come out of halftime and just be very, very, very sharp. Everything you wanted to see out of Jason McCarthy, I think was on display today. I completely agree with you. And what I really wanted to see was Kevin O'Connell's reaction to us asking him about JJ McCarthy after the game, because naturally that was most of the line of questioning. And I wanted to see whether he would downplay how he performed. I mean, let's be honest, Trent Shurfield was as wide open as any person

has ever been open in their entire life. And then that touchdown, uh, or if he would have a giddiness to him in the post game. And I would definitely lean toward getting, uh, I think that Kevin O'Connell by his responses was pretty darn excited about the way McCarthy played and the long passes are going to stand out. But I even thought his first completion, which was just a slight adjustment in the pocket. It wasn't even a full step up. It was just a little move and then snaps it off and it goes through the air fast. And we've been talking about how this looks in training camp and even going back to rookie mini camp where we said, whoa, this ball has more velocity

on it than I think we were told that he had at Michigan when people were comparing him to whatever game managing quarterback that he might be. And this is why it is so hard when you're talking about someone who's 21 years old, because six months of progress when you're 21 years old is a lot different than when you say 38 and there is no progress it just goes backwards by then but with McCarthy we have seen so much progress in many areas I mean especially there was an out route that he threw or a crossing route toward the sideline where he had to put touch on the ball he had to lead his receiver into the football and he really did it perfectly it was right on the money several different times

he was able to do that. And when he had clean pockets, he made perfectly accurate throws. The one decision on the interception, I'm sure he regretted because I think he would have tried to put it up over the top or scrambled, or maybe just thrown it away if he were to do it again. But I don't mind him taking a shot at making a play there because the biggest thing you see on that interception is there is a pass rusher that comes through, knocks down Kenny Wong Wu, then trips over Kenny Wong Wu's body and McCarthy is rolling out and he decides on the move after escaping the pocket, I'm going to try to make a play here and it didn't work. And so in the future he could say, all right, that maybe is a little bit of a bridge too far to just fire that into an area where an NFL corner can undercut it and make

a play. So maybe next time he makes a better decision, but the key part of that is the escapability, the pocket presence, pocket presence is probably the most underrated, underappreciated thing that we talk about with quarterbacks it's always arm strength or even mobility how much they run but i think pocket presence is something that is the most valuable because he didn't take any sacks he didn't look like he was slow on getting the football out and if he didn't see what he wanted to see he either escaped or he just straight up scrambled which you did see him run for 10 yards and maybe next time slide, get down there. Let's not put the body in harm's way. So there's a few things that they're going to coach him on going forward because there

were some, some miscues in this game. But as far as we were, had a long back and forth with O'Connell about checking boxes in the postgame press conference. And he talked about the boxes and the list or whatever that existed, but now doesn't exist. I don't know whether it exists or not, but if you were checking boxes, watching JJ McCarthy for the first time saying, does he have pocket presence? Does he throw on the move effectively? Can he lead receivers accurately? Does he look like in the pocket an nfl starting quarterback and i think that it was obvious to anybody who watched that

all of those things were checked and really the only thing that we have to answer now is when i think we've already answered if does he have the talent to play in the nfl can he go out there against nfl players these were second teamers. So these were not guys who are just going to be on the street in a couple of weeks. This wasn't a fourth quarter Kyle Slaughter situation. He was playing against some starters and second teamers. Does he look the part of someone that you would use the 10th overall draft pick on? The answer today, unequivocally, yes.

It has been yes in practice. That doesn't always mean it looks like yes out here a hundred percent looked like yes i think this is a big day for them i really do i i don't want to overdo it and say like franchise quarterback sign them to an extension right now but i think this is a big day for the entire organization to go that that looks like a quarterback that we can develop and play with for a very long time yeah and you talked about the pocket presence i think that's huge i think another thing and we've talked about this on the podcast in the past is like does the ball come out on time we were sitting

on your porch i think it was probably a month ago now saying and you said that's the thing you want to see in training camp does he go through his progressions and does it come out on time? Can he see when his, his players come open downfield? There was a guy in the division last year. He now plays in Pittsburgh, Justin Fields. It never came out. He didn't see, he didn't come out on time. Cause I don't think he saw the progressions open up. I don't think he saw players come open downfield. And you talked about JJ McCarthy's first throw where he kind of does a little maneuvering in the pocket a little half slide and and rips it over the middle there was a throw later in the game and I think it might have also been it was either on his second or third drive where he hangs in the pocket and he takes pressure in his face and he he lets it rip downfield to Tristan

Jackson first of all the fact that he's able to hang in the pocket that goes to your pocket presence, feel that, but no, he still has the arm to rip it there. But I think he saw that come open and he knew his progression one, two, that's where it is. I can make this throw and he trusts his arm to do it. He plants his feet firmly into the ground, gets his feet squared, like Kevin O'Connell talks about and lets it it rip i thought that was a throw that we'll go back and watch all the film but that might be his most impressive throw to me is because he saw it all happen he saw it come open and then he made the throw um i i think you're right this is a day there's going to be ups and downs along the way too i don't think this is just it's going to be a total ascension up, you know, you know,

upward sloping ascension the rest of the way. That's not how quarterback progression works in the NFL, but this was a big day because like I said at the beginning, like you can see it and it's really important to just be able to see it. Um, now when Sam Darnold look good too. So I don't think it's necessarily week one, but I think the fact that we're going to want to have that conversation, that's a win for the Vikings to win for JJ McCarthy. It's a win for everyone that follows his franchise. So I think the,

the telling thing about how well JJ McCarthy played today is that if you were to say, Hey, you know what? I want to talk about his best play of the day. I wouldn't know which one you were necessarily talking about because you can make a case for the deep ball where in practice we've seen his deep ball develop. And I remember watching him during mini camp or OTAs with Josh McCown. He was having the quarterbacks do a drill to specifically work on the arc of the football and dropping it in the bucket. And then to do that in a game. And I know he was wide open,

Justin Jefferson also gets wide open sometimes. And you have to make the throw and you have to hit him on that type of ball to be able to do that. And that was 40 yards through the air pretty easily and putting it right in there on Tristan Jackson's hands to go into the end zone. That's progress right there because it was discussed about him throwing the deep ball, but everything that was talked about as weaknesses to his throwing has just grown even since we saw him the first time. And I think that when you're trying to judge how well someone is going to handle this entire NFL thing, number one might be how much they can grow because nobody playing in college is ready for this. You need

the coaches to guide you. You need to learn and shore up your weaknesses and improve and improve and improve. And JJ McCarthy has done that. The other thing, too, is we've talked to him several times now about where he has something tough, a tough practice, a tough rep, and bouncing back from that. And today he comes out there and he throws an interception on his first drive and he's over at the sideline and they're kind of showing him, talking to O'Connell. They're doing the, should have been over there, should have been over there.

And to go right back out and then lead a couple of touchdown drives after the interception was also telling about how JJ McCarthy has operated in camp. And so what today was, was kind of a confirmation of all the things that we thought we were seeing in training camp practice. And sometimes, you know, there will be really good practices and the guy goes out for the game and you go, what the heck was that? That didn't look anything like what was going on. But with McCarthy, it looks like exactly what we've seen. It was a good decision when he scrambled, it was a good decision to escape the pocket. It was a good decision, uh, to, you know, make the, the, the targets that he had for certain players.

And the passing and anticipation of the throws was much better. Of course, yeah, it's a vanilla defense. There's no way around that. But we can only evaluate what we see in front of us so far. I can't guess what it's going to look like through his first 10 NFL games. But I think that what you can do is eliminate some of the possible disaster scenarios from this and start to project what it can be based on what we know already. So what we know already is that the 21 year old kid handles himself like an NFL starting quarterback from day in and day out at practice, that he gets the guys

lined up. He runs the offense. He throws the ball on time, which was huge today because if somebody's not seeing anything out there in preseason, they will still struggle. And I present you with Jaron Hall later on in the game that's facing fourth stringers and is still struggling to get the ball out. So you can check these major boxes of the arm talent is there. The mobility is there. We're seeing the professionalism is there. The growth is there. All of these things are much more than a stat line for JJ McCarthy today. Yeah. And, and I understand why, because of all those things, all those boxes that he checked today, I understand why now there is this, you you know rush to let's make him the starter i get it like it's exciting like this is what you want when you draft a guy number 10 overall you want to feel

that excitement you want to feel it uh you know like the future is bright but i would just caution people now here i here i am to pour water on the on the on the flames he's not gonna i don't i still don't think he's gonna start week one like he was really good today and i i think it's a great sign that all of the discourse that's going to come out of that is i think he's ready right now maybe he is maybe he's not on a different, maybe they would say this is a big step forward. The competition is fully in gear. It's Sam Darnold and J.J. McCarthy gear up. Competition for the next three weeks for who's starting week one.

I just know Kevin O'Connell. And while I think you're right about how he seemed giddy, he seemed very excited, he seems to, I think, believe think believe that yeah this guy can play i i still think at the end of the day he's going to exercise ultra cautiousness with his progression and his development so i think it's a great sign everything we saw today i i don't i can't overstate that enough but i do think at the end of the day we still have to take what this is which is a pre-season game against like you said vanilla defenses and like not make it more than it it is we can just appreciate this for what it was which is a really good jumping off point for what could

end up being a really good career we don't have to make Well, now let's just start in week one. I think that would be kind of doing a disservice to this entire plan that they've had in place since the moment they took him number 10 overall. Yeah. I think after today, after the entire state gets more of a look at JJ McCarthy, because there's only a couple hundred people at training camp every day. So if you're one of the fans who went out for maybe a day and you played with your kids on the side field and you came up for a few plays, you say, oh, this McCarthy kid looks pretty good.

That's about all the looks that anyone's gotten at J.J. McCarthy except for us on the sideline reporting back. So now after you see this and after you see him throw a deep touchdown, if you see him let balls rip over the middle of the field and you see the and after you see him throw a deep touchdown, if you see him let balls rip over the middle of the field and you see the mobility and playmaking and look, I'm not going to snark about Kirk cousins all season long and everything, but when you see a quarterback take off out of the pocket and look to make a play, it just, Oh, the breeze felt sweeter. And then the air was fresher. I was just like, oh yeah, football can be played that way.

So I think that there will be a ton of excitement because he just had an excellent football game and a tremendous debut today. And it's all stuff that wasn't luck or random. It wasn't, oh, well, somebody fell down. I mean, the Shurfield one kind of, but like the rest of the passes, you could see the

velocity on the ball. You can see the development of the accuracy. And when he put the touch on the one that was going to the sideline, that was what I really wanted to see, because that's not a pass that you just let rip right at the guy. The first one he threw was kind of that over the middle. That's when he was good at college. But that outbreaking route where you need to kind of put it up there. And the guy was open. I think it was Tristan Jackson was open, but he usually won't be. And you have to lead him out in

front and let him run into that ball. And when we talk about Travis says in the comments, his placement placement's a great word for it because that was what happened in college to him a lot was over striding and then it gets a little bit up over here the ball was going in the woods and we talked about it in minicamp it wasn't that good and it wasn't that accurate but then suddenly it was and this was something that they talked about for his workout with them and for his combine that they saw a lot of progress from his college tape on certain throws. And, and so this development mindset that McCarthy takes on, and you know, after the game too, uh, another thing is just when we talked to McCarthy, it was in the locker room and he was taught, he was talking about what a great throw Sam

Darnold had. And I, and i just thought that was cool like him focusing on what sam darnold the veteran with the great arm was doing and we'll talk about darnold in a second and that throw and so i i think that two things i mean one is that the entire state getting their look at mccarthy had to have been impressed there's no way of walking away from that and going i don't know man you could see it you don't have to work hard. This is something I've talked about many times. I shouldn't need a whole bunch of reasons why someone is good. I should just sit here and watch. And he is. And that's what you got to see today. And that, that is, that is big for the buy-in, but to your point, just to answer what you were saying about, uh, the push to play him. I think from a fan perspective, the fan base is going to see this

and want more of this. But I also think that when you tell everyone from the beginning, we're going to be patient. We've got Sam Darnold. Sam Darnold's look great by the way, in practice and here practice is harder than here for Sam Darnold. And he's looked in total control that we don't have to do this quarterback controversy thing. We don't have to say, oh man, he looks great. He's ready to play right away. But, but I can tell you if he had to play right away, I think it'd be all right. I don't think it would be a disaster based on everything that we've seen so far. That's a really good place for Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings to be. I agree. And, and so far that's a really good place for kevin o'connell the vikings to be i agree and and

i guess that's a good way of phrasing it like could he play right now based on what we've seen yes should he for his development and the plan they have in place still probably no like especially and maybe this is a good segue into darnoldold, like especially when Sam Darnold looked pretty good too. He had one drive, but he showed touch on his, you know, the beautiful layered ball, the Jalen Naylor. I thought Sam Darnold at times today was, you know, just as impressive as J.J. McCarthy. You just only saw it for 10 minutes on his first drive.

So I think that is a good distinction like me saying let's you know pump the brakes on jj mccarthy starting week one is not me saying i i think he's incapable because i think today he proved he probably is capable and then he has you know i think he has that it factor we've seen it on and off the field the way he talks to us um but i think you saw the impact for today. Um, I think I keep going back to today and I know we just, I said, we were going to talk about Darnold, but I can't get McCarthy out of my head. So I've talked about the throws that I thought were impressive. Uh, but the thing I keep going back to is a rookie on his first drive throws a pick. And I think you have to have a

little bit of an it factor to be able to go back out there and and not let this thing kind of spiral out of control i'm not saying throw a pick and throw five more but throw a pick lose your confidence not be willing to rip it downfield i kind of liken it to when you used to play madden if if you were just slicing and dicing your friend you felt like you could make any throw. If your, if your friend picks you off a couple of times, you're afraid to rip that, that ball downfield.

I think there was a, an opportunity there for a rookie to throw a pick in his first preseason game at home crowd going wild, lots of expectations, and then to kind of clam up. And he didn't, he actually did the opposite. So,

you know, I don't think we can, I don't think there's enough words to praise how good he was today. Hey, U S cellular customers. I've got some good news. So do not hit that skip forward button just yet. I'm talking about their special customer event us days. What's us days. It means exclusive offers just for their customers just to say thanks. Like $1,200 off any phone plus $300 off any tablet. No, I did not misread that. They must really like you all.

Us days at U.S. Cellular. Exclusive offers just for you just to say thanks. Right now, U.S.s cellular customers get twelve hundred dollars off any phone plus three hundred dollars off any tablet terms apply when jj mccarthy was drafted i had kind of a vision in my head of what this might look like for someone that was talked about that needed development that, and especially someone who had thrown so few passes in college. I think it was 714 dropbacks or something like that, which was about one third of Jaden Daniels and one third of Michael Penix. And what I thought it would look

like was every day in training camp, there's maybe a cool throw here or there, but he's going to look pretty slow, getting everything lined up the coaches are going to be a little frustrated with him they're going to be patting him on the back it's okay kid and so forth that's maybe happening to uh practices uh but and i thought that a preseason game would look like okay throws an interception and there's a tough drive and then he takes a sack and then whoa maybe one throw here or there i had this vision of someone who was going to be a project that you would have to make slow intermittent progress with and then even by the middle of the season if we were talking about him playing we would be saying

you know i don't really know what it's going to look like and based on his training camp at preseason and everything and this is based on all of the analysis that went into it from every draft analyst that I read, how he was talked about on television. It really did sound like this was going to be a slow progression of someone who was way far away from being able to play in the NFL. That has not been our experience in watching him here. And this is why on the show, for those new, the show happens a lot. So make sure you subscribe. But since he was drafted, I talked about, I'm going to throw away all the draft analysis. I don't care about it anymore.

It means nothing. All I care about is what I see in front of my own face. And if I didn't know about any of that and I didn't have a vision in my head, I would say this guy looks like he's pretty close to being ready to go. And what that means is that when Sam Darnold starts week one as the quarterback, they can decide to put in JJ McCarthy whenever they want to, whenever it feels right, because McCarthy is far enough along that they wouldn't have to be afraid he was going to go out there and get hit a couple times and that would be it and I think we've just seen this in practice

somebody who has a capability to bounce back like he has and to not get too down on himself not get frustrated you know not to get a little shy with the football or start holding on to it after he has a bad practice after he has a bad sequence in a game, that's a massive step toward actually playing in games. So they can just go about this and be flexible in any way they want to. They can say, all right, well, we're going to start Darnold week one, but if three weeks into this, it doesn't look great. Then McCarthy's just in, he's going to play the rest of the way. And if three weeks into this, they're three and oh, and 10 weeks into this, they're six, four, then they could just stick with Darnold and you don't have to press with JJ McCarthy.

But I think with a lot of quarterbacks who have turned out to be good, it's sort of in the same type of field. Like you keep kind of waiting for when does the real rookie things happen? And there are some of them but then they disappear very quickly and it starts to look like more veteran things and then you just can't talk enough about the maturity that he's displayed start to finish whether it's in front of us on the field the way that his players relate to him and i'm going to bring up one small thing and we could talk about some other stuff but i know everyone's here to talk about mccarthy so there's no mccarthy too much for this podcast but we will get to some other stuff, but I know everyone's here to talk about McCarthy. So there's no McCarthy too much for this podcast, but we will get to some other things.

There were, after he was taken out of the game, he was standing on the sideline and I believe it was Bo Richter that got a sack and JJ McCarthy was standing on the sideline and was the first person to greet players coming off the field. And it's like a, kind of a cliche type of like oh yeah rah rah thing i think that's who he is i think that's who he's always been and that's what we've seen on a daily basis of him being on the sideline and acting like that toward his teammates and supporting people i mean who is bo richter to him just an undrafted free agent and yet he's pumped about it because they're making plays he ran down there after ken after Kenny Wong will ran for the touchdown. Like just the way he carries himself is so much like a

franchise quarterback that all of these things stand out. And when they, when they, whenever they push the button, I think he'll be ready and good to go. Sure. I'll, I'll go one more on the idea of JJ McCarthy being the first to greet Bo Richter. Justin Jefferson was mic'd up during the game. We're watching the game, so we're not watching the broadcast, but if you're on Twitter, you've seen it now. When JJ McCarthy throws his first touchdown at Tristan Jackson, who is like Justin Jefferson's best friend, Justin Jefferson is mic'd up during the broadcast. He freaks out. But to your point about how J.J. McCarthy was so excited for Bo Richter, everyone on that sideline was so excited for J.J. McCarthy too.

And that matters. That really does matter. It wasn't like a sympathy, like, oh, let's cheer for the rookie, like an obligatory thing. They were genuinely jacked for him. And I think part of that had to do with Tristan Jackson might be the most popular guy on the team, and he caught a touchdown. So I think the entire team was jacked about that.

But I think that almost like a symbiotic thing of J.J. McCarthy being excited for teammates that may be perceived as below him on the on, you know, the hierarchy, Bo Richter's and also being loved and endeared by people that are above him on the hierarchy, you know, Justin Jefferson and anybody else on that sideline that he was dapping up with after he threw touchdowns, like all the pieces matter. And in this development and, you know, whether it's the throws that we've talked about at length on the field, you know, all the plays that he, you he, subtle or not so subtle things he did

while under center or in the gun, or just kind of those things that you notice off the field. It all matters. And like I said, it's all good. It's all part of this bigger development process that they've had in place. But I think when you look back on today, a week from now, a month from now, you're going to remember this as like a very important step in the progression that, that is JJ McCarthy.

Yeah. I think it matters for everybody because the first impression never goes away. And the first impression of them was watching him ball out. And you talk about Jefferson on the sideline, McCarthy and Jefferson have the same energy. energy, that same type of enthusiasm for football that they both share. Now, I remember being told that Justin Jefferson was going to demand a trade if Kirk Cousins left, I guess, I guess that's not what happened. I guess it was pretty happy today. Yeah. I don't know. Strange how some of those things get thrown out there, But let us talk about some other stuff aside from JJ McCarthy, or you can just rewind and listen to us talk about it again here on the live broadcast if you want. But there's a few other players who really stood out. Sam Darnold did. He looked

great. I expected that. He looked exactly how I thought he would. He threw the ball great, led the team down there. Ty Chandler's got to catch two different balls. Uh, and then, you know, there's a 50, 50 play on the throat of the end zone. But as far as how he ran the offense, that was good. It was more important. We threw it too, which was Jalen Naylor. And this is another guy where you never really know when we're singing somebody's praises in training camp, if that's going to be for real or not. But with Jalen Naylor, he has been ripping apart this training camp every day out there. And today he had to play the role of Justin Jefferson played the X, if you will. Jordan Addison got a little work as well. And Naylor was open. He was making plays. And you could tell

Kevin O'Connell's happiness about that as well, because the way that I phrased my question to O'Connell in the postgame press conference was I started by saying, you've shown a lot of belief in this guy over the years. So to see him do something like he did today, and he was talking about how really the entire training camp, it's always just been an availability issue with his injuries. But throughout the offseason, there was this kind of push a little bit, I felt like, from some people to go get Hunter Renfro or something. And my thought was, if Jalen Naylor is who Kevin O'Connell thinks he is, then you won't need that.

And you definitely don't want that because Hunter Renfro isn't good anymore. And neither is anybody else on the free agent market. And at this moment moment through one preseason game no guarantees about over 17 games that bet that they made with brandon powell jalen nailer and the hope that nailer would make big progress is paying off also the 2022 draft will look a lot better if you got a key wide receiver out of it in Jalen Naylor, but at least as for today and through training camp, that one is going very well for them. Yeah, and he's a guy like you're right

when you say Kevin O'Connell has always believed in them. It's almost like he's been trying to convince us to believe in Jalen Naylor as much as he believes in Jalen Naylor. And we see him make plays in practice and training camps past. Even at his rookie year year he had that long touchdown but i didn't always believe it as much as kevin o'connell seemed to and that's why he's the

football coach and i'm a reporter covering the football coach but you he was almost stubborn in how much he wanted this to work with with jaylen naillor and you're seeing the rewards of that right now again preseason week one like there's still preseason week two preseason week three and then then we do this for real but to your point earlier about how McCarthy looked good in practices and now he looked good in the game Darnold like you talked about earlier, great game today. Not surprising considering the past week he's had in practice. He's flipped the switch and he looks ready to kind of run this offense. But with Naylor, it's sometimes easy to look good in practice. I think sometimes practices are designed to make the offense look good.

Seven on sevens, Wes Phillips, the offensive coordinator, was talking about this earlier in training camp. That seven on sevens is an offensive drill. So if you're a fan, you go out and you watch training camp at TCO Performance Center and you see Jalen Naylor just dicing up these cornerbacks on the other end during seven on seven, he's supposed to. So the fact that you can stack all these days

together and then go do it in in a game um in front of however many people were here today 50 000 60 000 i don't know it's pretty full uh that matters and i think another big thing about jalen nailer is he basically played like three series and then they were like yeah that's good we've seen enough um he got almost that veteran treatment of we don't need to see anymore um he had three catches for 63 yards i think everyone would be deemed an explosive every catch that he had kevin o'connell would deem an explosive play um his nickname speedy so that is what he's on the field to do is to generate those explosives um just a great day all around for that guy. And I think probably another one where Kevin O'Connell goes home tonight and says like,

yeah, I know what I'm talking about because he's believed in this guy from the jump. Well, I think that there's a lot of sighs of relief coming from Kevin O'Connell and probably Kweisi Adafi-Fomensa, who we walked by in the locker room and had a pretty big smile on his face as well because he's the one that didn't go out and get a wide receiver three. And yet it has looked good so far for Jalen Naylor. As far as the rest of the battle for wide receiver goes though, maybe I didn't totally expect where Tristan Jackson was going to sit in the pecking order which is very strongly right behind the other guys if there's a wide receiver five but it looks like tristan jackson is ahead

of everybody else we didn't see a lot of lucky jackson today i think he got in a little bit later in the game joshua jones barely played at the end of the game he's been somebody who has stood out playing kind of second third team ish reps. We didn't see very much of Thayer Thomas. It is right now, I think, a very clear order of who's on the team and who is going to end up being maybe in the practice squad. But Tristan Jackson, if he wasn't considered to be that guy before, he is after today because of the way he showed out. And with Tristan Jackson,

he has an interesting story because it actually was the Mike Zimmer, Rick Spielman, uh, regime that brought him in, in 2021. That's how long he's been here. And he is really well liked by the team and each off season, including especially last off season where he made the team, he played extremely well and he ended up getting into a game against Atlanta, had a chance to make a catch, but didn't. And that was kind of it for him. But now maybe there's a little bit of an opportunity to get in the mix there. Also, Trent Shurfield had a few catches today. He's kind of a bubble guy. Maybe you keep him on the practice squad, but Tristan Jackson is a developed player now over a couple of seasons that has put himself in the mix. And suddenly this receiver room goes from looking like it's two guys to a lot more than that.

And I was thinking about today, Dane, about how going into this thing, there were so many things that could kind of go one way or the other. Like J.J. McCarthy, it can go. You're really happy with them and excited for the future or, oh boy, Sam Darnold. Okay. Maybe he could get us through the season if we need, and he could play pretty well thus far. The answer is he looks like he can, especially when he's throwing to Justin Jefferson at practice and that's paid off for them. The bet with receivers has paid off for them so far. There is another side of this that it has not, and that is with the cornerback position. Now, Makai Blackman getting hurt especially is absolutely crushing to this unit,

and there was a report today from Josina Anderson that they are bringing in Stephon Gilmore, and there will be an emergency podcast, folks, if they sign Stephon Gilmore. I believe it's going to be tomorrow or Monday. He's he's going to come in night practice Monday live stream after. But yeah, I think that it makes sense to look at how a lot of things have gone and look at Dallas Turner today. Whoa. And look at the rest of the defense. Look at Theo Jackson's development. Look at the, you know, the linebackers are gelling pretty well together and go, you know what? Maybe we should. And, and really look at the way Sam Darnold has

played and the way JJ McCarthy's play. We've talked about this sometimes as if it's going to be some sort of throwaway season, but after what we've seen so far, it doesn't look like that really at all. This looks like a competitive season, much more than a rebuild season. So I think bringing in Stefan Gilmore at this point, after seeing how the quarterbacks have played, after seeing how your defenses come together, makes a lot of sense. Yeah.

And if, so I think he would fly in Sunday or he told you, I've seen Anderson that he's going to fly into Minnesota on Sunday, work out on Monday. Sometimes that means things are ready to go. As long as he looks good in the workout passes physical, he's on the team. Um, if you're flying in Monday, I would assume that's because they want to bring you to Cleveland. Um, but that's just me kind of pontificating. Uh, it sometimes means that they just want to make that point of contact. Um,

and then we'll circle back later. We saw that with Dalton Reisner last year, they had him in for a visit. Uh, everyone thought, Oh my God, they god they're gonna sign him they didn't sign him they eventually did sign him um so the point of contact matters that they are at least having these discussions with stefan gilmore it would seem um but i'm in favor of it too i'm in favor of bringing it in um bringing him in and trying to kind of imbue some depth into that room that needs it. And I think it probably does at least, I don't think every roster move falls into this category, but I think it is kind of a, we believe in this team kind of move. If you go out and sign Stefan Gilmore, like are the Vikings going to win the Superbowl?

Are they going to be team that you start the season and say like, going to win the Superbowl? Are they going to be team that you start the season and say like, they're, they could win the Superbowl. Clearly. Yes. After beating the Raiders by a field goal in preseason. I don't know. Were you implying something different? Yeah, exactly. So, uh, get those bets in because this team's going all the way. No, I would say real quick, the over though. Yeah. The over six and a half, I think go ahead. Uh, but no, I don't think the move says like we're ready to win the super bowl we're signing stephon gilmore but i think it does say like we think we can be competitive and you deserve to have a room of cornerbacks that is

deep that is talented um and and like no disrespect to jay ward i think he's being asked to do a lot by moving from corner to safety last year and now moving from safety to corner last year or this year. But Trey Tucker burned him today. Jay Ward got a lot of run at a cornerback. And this is not me piling on Jay Ward. He's a microcosm of the room as a whole. They just need more talent. They need more depth. And Stephon Gilmore would represent that talent in depth to the nth degree. Kevin O'Connell was asked about the report. Not surprisingly, he didn't really dive in,

but he did in a way in his own little way. Kind of confirm it sounded confirmed by saying it's like a backwards. Yeah, it was like Kweisi and his team are going to do their due diligence, but let me tell you all about Stefan Gilmore. And then he talked about him for like 45 seconds. So I don't think you have that much Stefan Gilmore in your head. If you're not at least entertaining the idea that he might be on the team, but long-winded.

Yes. I am in favor of them working him out. I am in favor of if he looks good in the workout, signing him. Um, because I think the defense and everything Ryan Flores wants to do, um, you kind of owe it to those guys to, to bring in the most talent. Um, especially if a guy like that is available. Yeah, I think that what it would say is a few things. I mean, number one, it would say, Hey, our owner just said we didn't get a contract extensions yet. Maybe we should get some better players. Now that's not really the

reasoning. I think it just has to do with, if you're watching this training camp, you're impressed with a lot of parts of the roster, except the cornerback group. And when you have as much talent and put as much money into this thing with extensions for players signings like Jonathan Grenard and Andrew Ginkle what's one more and if it's not going to hurt you long term on the salary cap if you give a one-year deal to Stefan Gilmore you've got some cap space use it and then he'll become a free agent after next year or if you love him he'll come back I don't know that's one thing it would say is, I think it brings a little energy and belief into the room that you're bringing in someone who is a defensive MVP.

I would also say that it says a lot about maybe where Shaq Griffin's health is, that they're concerned about this hamstring that's keeping him out. For a guy to be signed in the offseason, get hurt on the second day of practice, and then not practice for this entire time so far, that's got to make the Vikings nervous. And Caleb Evans is someone that they've bought into a bit, but it probably says Caleb Evans, it's just not really working out. And based on practice, it's not really working out. Now I was giving a lot of that credit to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, of course, and Jalen Naylor, who's been great. Same time. If you look at the

overall numbers from a Caleb Evans last year, his inability to play the football, he looks more like a backup corner who would be very good depth. They brought in Duke Shelley. That's not really someone you expect to be a starter there. So maybe it ends up being Byron Murphy Fabian Morrow and Stefan Gilmore which are three veteran players with a defense that suddenly is experienced and a lot of veterans and then Dallas Turner I mean he's looked in practice like a very exciting player too what you saw today was not and that's what I'm saying about a lot of the things today because I know a few of you in the comments are saying it's preseason guys as if we wouldn't know that. But as we were looking for things to be confirmed that we've seen in practice, and I think a lot of those were including some of the issues when it comes to

the issues with the cornerbacks. We've seen problems with those guys in practice and also Jay Ward, and that's a tough gig. And on that play where he gets burned by Trey Tucker, he's like one-on-one with the guy who runs sub four, four. I mean, you know, he's not really going to be able to do that as he's just making that transition. So getting Gilmore would be a step in the direction of solidifying the defense and feeling

much less like, yeah, if a guy goes down here and actually, even if a guy doesn't go down here, it's pretty much a disaster. It would, it would still not make it perfect, but I think it would make it a lot improved. Is there anything you'd like to say about them trading Andrew Booth Jr? I did not do an emergency podcast because Andrew Booth Jr has just never mattered. He's a name that we've said many times, but what was your favorite Andrew Booth Jr. moment when he said on his press conference that he was always injured when they drafted him?

I mean, I don't know. He's just never been believed in by any of the coaching staffs, and that's it. So they traded him probably for a guy who won't make the team. And that's the end of that. Yeah. I got nothing on Andrew Booth jr. He's, uh, I'd have to see him at practice first to tell you anything. He wasn't even getting reps. This is, yeah, this is all I'll say about Andrew Booth jr. If he didn't get traded, he wasn't making the team. That was clear by the fact that they signed Fabio Fabian Morrow off the street and he immediately started to get

reps over Andrew Booth Jr. That was confirmed by they switched Jay Ward from safety to corner and he immediately started to get reps over Andrew Booth Jr. The experiment was pretty much over last year. It's completely over now and it's fine. Maybe he'll figure it out mike zimmer in dallas but there's not a lot of evidence to show that that guy's gonna figure it out but he gets a fresh start we can move on to and eventually we will stop talking about the 2022 draft but that was i guess in one way like it was their first decision to kind of turn the page, cut bait on, on, on that draft. But other than that, like, it doesn't really matter. Like he wasn't making the team. And now he's not on the team. The funny thing about the 2022 draft is we might be saying,

well, they got a starting guard for multiple seasons. They got a running back who can really play, which was a little bit of a journey today with Ty Chandler. And they got a receiver who's a difference maker, but the first two picks were absolutely horrendous. And Louis scene out there in the fourth quarter, I hit more people today than Louis scene did. He does. Doesn't look like a guy who wants to play football. He had opportunities to hit people. And it was just like, nah, I'm not doing that. I don't know if the leg injury made him very nervous about contact. He does not want to hit anyone that's over, over, over a million ways over. And I'll tell you who wants to hit somebody is Bobby McCain. Bobby loves football, as Brian Flores said, and we saw that today.

They go sign a safety and they got another guy who can play and is aggressive. They just have too many safeties and not enough corners. It was one heck of a hit for Bobby McCain. And you can just see Brian Flores curating a defense in his own vision. And it's very cool, honestly, to see a guy who understands what types of players, not exactly what type of scheme he wants to play, but what type of players and bringing them in and formulating this defense. But I don't want to talk too much more about Andrew Booth Jr. or Louis Scene or Bobby McCain.

Sorry, Bobby. I do want to talk about Will Riker and the punting competition. We have to get there eventually. Well done for Will Riker to kick the game-winning field goal. I don't think that the blocked one had anything to do with him. Michael Juergens just got run over and Michael Juergens will not be playing in that position in the season. Cause I think he'll be on the practice squad. Uh, maybe he makes the team. I don't know. It depends on Reisner who was not playing today. Hasn't practiced in a few days, but either way, not a guy they're going to use in that situation, but he hits the game winning field goal. That goes well. The kickoff I thought went horribly for this team because they were not showing anything they're actually going to do.

The punting was, so I can't decide as far as the, the punting goes, Ryan, right. Kick the hell out of the ball. Every kick was an absolute bomb. Was that supposed to happen though?

Like usually you do not supposed to outkick your coverage and Seth Vernon had a pretty tough go of it. So I think round one of the punting competition goes to Ryan, right? He was also the holder, which I think would be important here. And Will Reichard gets to get some confidence right away with a game winning field goal. The only disappointment of the day is when they got near the 40 yard line we were like stop stop make him kick a 58 yarder but instead a pretty manageable game-winning field goal for will reich yeah i mean i guess a good way to start your vikings kicking career by making a game-winning field goal and not missing a game-winning field goal there's a 37 yard kick caller you're right when they got the ball back and the end of the game was wild because it was so clear. Both teams were just trying to win, which I get it. Like you want to

win a preseason game, but like Kevin O'Connell using all his timeouts and then Antonio Pierce using all his timeouts just on, you know, the rare chance that he can get the ball back. It was very weird to me because I think also at that point everyone just kind of wants the game to end but what we got at the end of that was a game-winning field goal from will reicher which matters kind of like i didn't learn anything a little bit i didn't learn anything more about will reicher today but i guess you had an opportunity to win the game and you did so that's good that checks a box that is you know will reicher's good. That checks a box. That is, you know, Will Reichert looked good in practice. His whole podcast has been about if you look good in practice, did you look good in the

game? Will Reichert's looked awesome in practice, sans two misses early in training camp. And he did his job today, made all his extra points. The only time he didn't make a field goal, like you said, Michael Juergens gets bowled over. Alec Lewis from the athletic had a pretty funny way of describing it. He said, it looked like the entire left side of the offensive line got hit by a title wave. It did go watch that back. It's insane. It looks like the ground caves out from under them. And Will Reichert was not going to make that kick. It had nothing to do with his operation. Um, it was a fundamental breakdown up front. That's not on Will Reichert. So Will Reichert did his job today, won the game. I wish it was like a 62 yarder to win the game,

but I'll take a 37 yarder to win the game. The punting competition, like if they cut Seth Vernon tomorrow, I wouldn't be surprised. He had a ball from, he got to kick from his own end zone, shadow of his own goal posts they talk all about this guy's leg strength and he shanks when it goes 35 yards it goes out of bounds um ryan

right i think like and i'm excited to talk to matt daniels this week because i'm always excited to talk to matt daniels but i think you're right like i, I think there were times where Ryan Wright out kicked his coverage. Um, I think he averaged like 56 yards of kick, which I guess when you look at punting longer would generally seem better. Um, but there were times I think he probably kicked it further than Matt Daniels would want. So I am,

I'm curious to kind of dig into that a little bit, but overall like, yeah, round one goes to Ryan. So I am, I'm curious to kind of dig into that a little bit, but overall, like, yeah, round one goes to Ryan, right. And I'm, I could call the fight for Ryan, right. At this point, uh, I think your point about holding to that's mattered. Seth Vernon has not held at all for, for, for Will Reichert. Um, and that is almost as important as being able to punt the football is being able to hold for your rookie kicker. Um, Ryan writes the only one who has done that so far for Will Reichert. So round one went to Ryan, right. And I just, I mean, Seth Vernon's going to have to come back just on fire over the

next three weeks. And I just don't think there's enough time, but the punting competition was fun while it lasted. He did make a tackle. You said a lot about the punting competition there. I mean, this is how jacked up. I love Matt. You are from this preseason contest. You were very excited to talk about that. Kenny Wong Wu showing a little flash there. And it has been notable with Kenny Wong Wu that they didn't bring in anyone

else as a running back. It's clear he's ahead of miles Gaskin and Dwayne McBride is definitely a person who exists, but that is really it. Uh, Wong Wu has gotten a ton of reps in practice. And I was curious to see, like, are they going to give him a lot of runs in this game? Uh, do they want him to prove that he can be someone that they could potentially rely on? And the thing that's always been crazy to me with Kenny Wong Wu is I always thought two times a game, just give it to him in some capacity. Here's the football.

You run that way and see what happens because he's legitimately the fastest man I've ever seen on a football field. I mean, Marquis Goodwin was a Olympic athlete, I think. And he played in Buffalo and I was there. He ran like a four, two. It was about the same type of speed.

And he's kind of big. And he's like, I know he's got wiggle enough to dodge tacklers. And the Raiders looked like they couldn't believe it. They were like, oh, we got what the like? There's no way this guy's this fast. And the way that he makes quick decisions and kick returning and stuff, there had to be a way. And for him to do that last year, I think when he got hurt early in the season,

they just never were able to work him in despite the struggles in the backfield. I'm kind of interested if that becomes a little bit more of a thing of he becomes part of a rotation if he continues to play well in these preseason games. I just thought it was big for him to do something and show that he can be in this, but also the way he got completely trucked on that pass protection. I'll have to go look at it again. There was something about, well, they got down on his feet or something, but that shouldn't really happen.

But I thought it was really, really good for him. Now, let's talk about the other side of this, because we've talked about a lot of things that went well, uh, on the other side of this, I don't think we have to keep doing the Jaron hall thing. It's that that's probably enough of that. Um, I think they're good with their three quarterbacks. If they want to put them on the practice squad, that's okay. But there's just really nothing more to be said there. Uh, I didn't think a lot of depth players past the time that JJ McCarthy came out really showed much that might be because of him, but as far as the running game and so forth, and, uh, really the second team defense was just straight up that like they,

they got a sack from Bo Richter. They got some pressure, um, from Levi Drake Rodriguez, who played a ton in this game. And I'm curious to go back and look at what he did, but you know, Jaqueline Roy and those guys down at the goal line just got pushed a shot aside. I just, the second unit here, it leaves a lot to be desired. Yeah. And you almost hope that because your second unit's coming in, it then also usually means in the preseason that the Raiders second unit is coming in or whatever the opposing team is. Second unit is coming in.

So you would hope for some splash plays, or you would hope for some guys to stand out because they're going against like competition or comparable competition. But you're right. When you say like the only people that did Bo Richter, I thought he showed good motor. He's a guy that I think has put himself in a position to make the team or at least be in that conversation of being on the roster bubble.

And I'm not sure people knew who Bo Richter was before today. Levi Drake Rodriguez, he flashed a little. He had the sack. He played really hard. He also got washed out a couple times because he's small. But other than that, you could tell me this guy played. You could tell me he didn't play. And I wouldn't know because there wasn't anyone else that really just jumped off the page,

which is what you want to see in the preseason. When those second team, third team guys get in, they're trying to make the team. They're trying to do something to make the team. And I really don't think there were a ton, there was a ton of that today. So I guess that's probably the one downside of this preseason game that we can all agree was awesome. But if you're just kind of nitpicking here and looking at just kind of the big picture there needs to be more I think more people stepping up on that side of the ball but yeah I get that's that's really getting into the weeds but I think there were some players like I said Bo Richter Levi Drake Rodriguez after that people need to step up and then I think

joint practices is a good opportunity for that. Cleveland preseason game next Saturday is a good opportunity for that. But yeah, not enough today. Well, I think that it just sort of confirms that the second team defense, the backups on the defensive side have just not really been impressive. And the overall depth has not been very impressive on the defensive side, which may be why they're getting Stefan Gilmore. The interior defensive line is something that's probably going to have to be

addressed by a first round draft pick next year. There's no way to improve that now. It is what it is. And maybe they're hoping to see enough from Levi Drake Rodriguez that he could be a rotational player. We do know, despite the fact that we had a candlelight vigil for Jerry Tillery after he got banged up a little bit, he's okay. He's going

to come back. So that helps a little bit with the depth. I think that if you're asking Levi Drake Rodriguez to be a lot, then it's maybe too much, possibly a rotational player. Andre Carter is another guy that we've talked about in the past that just didn't show a whole lot and hasn't in this training camp needs more than that. I thought that some of the players that we've said, Hey, maybe this could be a backup player. Haven't really shown us that just yet. So here's what I want to do, Dane. I want the final statement from this game from you that just the let's put the bottom line the final thoughts on august 10th 2024 minnesota vikings massive victory for head coach kevin o'connell his first ever preseason win uh i don't think that do you get a cake for that or you get a gatorade bath gatorade but yeah it didn't seem like he was covered in gatorade. I don't know why after

his first preseason win, even he laughed when he said, so that, you know, tells you about the preseason, but a bottom line, give me the bottom line. The bottom line, we started the podcast with it. We talked about it for 35, 40 minutes. It's JJ McCarthy. It's JJ McCarthy looks the part of a franchise quarterback. I can say that right now with definitiveness. And I don't know if I felt that coming into today. And I think it could have gone either way. It could have been that was okay, or that was, you know, that he has a lot of work to do. I walk away from this bottom line. I think J.J. McCarthy could be the guy here. That's a big bottom line. Uh, Dane, uh, put this way,

what we're talking about from our view with JJ McCarthy is much more of a May, July, early August view. It's more of two and a half months of building up to meeting him and seeing him in rookie minicamp, seeing him in OTAs, seeing him in minicamp, seeing him in press conferences, seeing him in practices. This is a larger sample size for us than it is for the audience that we're talking with. And so I think it would be pretty easy to say, Hey guys, like the one guy was really wide open and you know, it was a, you know, it's a pretty easy game say, Hey guys, like the one guy was really wide open and, you know, it's a, you know, it's a preseason game and they weren't game planning for him and so forth. But you could say that for anybody ever in anything, you could say it for practice, you could say it for preseason,

anything that's except for a regular season game. And I would love to fast forward or go in a spaceship to 2027, come back and then tell you if you could do that in a spaceship, how it turned out and be like, oh yeah, I know he's going to be great. Just wait, you know, two and a half years. That's when it's really going to click. We can only go day by day in the information, but the point is that we have a bigger sample size of seeing it. And when you see the things that he's done in practice, the way he's handled himself, the way he's developed and the way he's connected with his teammates, how he is throwing on time, not taking a lot of sacks, how his physical skills look at an NFL setting, not in a college setting, but in an NFL setting versus the ones twos versus ones. And then to see it come

out here against the Raiders who are playing some pretty good players not great players uh i think that it just sent you farther in the direction that we were already going for us i'm sure for the the people who are watching for the first time they're like buy the jersey you know get the autographed mini helmet let's make a mccarthy room of the house and so i understand that but i don't think that you're crazy at all for seeing this and going this looks like an nfl starting quarterback who can be beyond just somebody who game manages much beyond that because of the velocity of the football the improving touch and his ability to make plays out of the pocket and

everything that you've liked about him so far has been on display here today, or was on display here today. That that's pretty important. I mean, I don't, I don't think that we're overdoing it to say it's important to see it in a setting versus another team.

It doesn't mean that the next preseason game will be perfect for him. It doesn't mean that his first 10 starts will go 10 and O the way that he did at IMG or at Michigan. It just means that we're all doing this step-by-step with every bit of information. And this was a really good day for, I think the Vikings organization as a whole to see him do it. And I would also say whenever Kevin O'Connell decides all the boxes are checked and he's ready to go, I won't think like I did of Jaron Hall last year. I don't know. Like when Jaron Hall was going to start,

it was, I don't know. But now I think when JJ McCarthy is ready to start, that we'll be pretty confident that he is capable of doing that. And to have that be the bottom line to come out of here with that is about the best case scenario for this team. So, uh, the Vikings are going to have joint practices will be in Cleveland. There will be a Cleveland podcast version with Dana and I from there, they're going to have their night practice. There will be a reaction to that there will be a pre-season game there will be a reaction to that so lots of places still to go

and if you're joining us for the first time welcome happy to have you here subscribe to the channel get on board because there's going to be a lot of live streams tons of podcasts tons of guests throughout the entire season we're going to follow this journey. And after every single home game, we will be right here inside us bank stadium. So, uh, we're ready for, I think the most fascinating season since I started covering Minnesota Vikings could be on the way here. So thanks for all your time. Dane Mizutani pioneer press. Thank you so much for all of you for listening, for the thoughtful comments, really appreciate appreciate it and we will talk to you guys after the night practice unless they sign the fund gilmore tomorrow then there's an emergency pod but i think they're gonna wait uh till monday so anyway take care everybody we'll catch you later thanks again for watching and listening and football Thank you. you