Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Jordan Addison's trial date set -- is this a pivot point? (Part 1)

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about news that Jordan Addison will have a trial for DUI on July 15. What could it mean if he's found guilty? Is Addison going to be a long-term Viking?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here and hot and stormy day, kind of weird outside. So we're here to talk some football for a couple of hours with you guys. Maggie Robinson will join later on in the show. And just off the top here, anybody watching, jump in the comments, tell me if my audio is okay, because we were having a little bit of connection issue earlier when we were testing this. So just let me know that it's working. All right. Cause if it's having a problem, then I will have to try to troubleshoot that. But, uh, otherwise in for, uh,

what should be a fun conversation starting in not the most fun place though as the Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison now has a court date set for July 15th addressing his DUI citation from last year so I want to have a conversation about that okay Troy says sounds good okay all right good maybe it's just, uh, it was just my headphones are going a little bit awry. I think we'll be all right then. Thanks. Appreciate you guys. Thank you very much. Good. So, uh, let's,

let's get into the Jordan Addison discussion because I think that there's more than just a news update here for Jordan Addison. And I want to ask for you guys clearly your comments are working so throw your questions in and when I'm done talking about Addison we can have more conversation about him but also as you guys know it's all it's your show especially in the middle of June so whatever questions are on your mind whatever you're thinking about with the Minnesota Vikings and NFL jump in that comment section, let me know, and we'll have a good discussion.

And then our two will have Maggie pop in and do her thing as usual for Monday night. So again, July 15th for Jordan Addison. It feels like forever since Jordan Addison had his issue with a DUI being cited for that last year, when he allegedly fell asleep behind the wheel in Los Angeles. And if you recall, I want to go back to that moment first, and then we'll talk about what it means right now and then going forward for Jordan Addison.

So last year, it wasn't just that he got a DUI. These are things, I don't want to say they happen as if it doesn't matter. It does matter DUI. These are things, I don't wanna say they happen as if it doesn't matter. It does matter and it's very serious when it comes to any player representing the Minnesota Vikings or coach in Wes Phillips's case, getting charged with DUI. It is something that from time to time

with NFL franchises, you will have happened. And it's again, not acceptable in any way. But when it happened with Jordan Addison, it was different. It was a little bit more than just your typical DUI. It came right on the heels of Kyrie Jackson dying in a car accident that involved alcohol. And to have that happen just days after it felt like it was as tone deaf as it comes from someone like Jordan Addison to have a teammate pass away in a car wreck that involved alcohol and then get behind the wheel again, allegedly, this

is what he's going to court for, but being cited for DUI at this point. And the other part of it was not just that it felt as lost and just clueless and senseless as you could possibly get from Addison after that had happened right before it, just a few days before it, but also coming from his rookie year where he was pulled over for going 140 miles an hour behind the wheel. And then you get after, okay, one is a really bad mistake, two is a pattern of behavior.

And to have him be pulled over for DUI a year after doing something so serious, such as driving 140 miles an hour, and I believe it was a 55 mile an hour road, which could have resulted in anything, him killing himself, him killing someone else, and then not learning his lesson after that, getting behind the wheel again, allegedly,

and getting cited for DUI. That put us in a pretty bad place last summer with Jordan Addison. I also felt last year that the team's message about Jordan Addison and what they said about the situation and what they did about the situation was not enough. And I'm sure that behind the scenes, there was some fines for Addison

and there was a very tough conversation that he had with a lot of people after he was cited for DUI. But the first day of training camp, it was right back to wide receiver two, right out there next to Justin Jefferson. No reps were missed or anything else like that. And that felt to me like it wasn't a strong enough message to Jordan Addison about what can happen to his NFL career should he continue to get behind the wheel and do things like he allegedly did to get this DUI citation. And I remember sitting on the porch and hopefully this weather starts to turn around so we can get some porch podcasts going.

Everybody's ready to go and to do, you know, to get into the porch pods, but it's been kind of nasty out there. So, uh, but last year I remember sitting on the porch, having a conversation with Dane Mizutani about Jordan Addison and saying, look, if the Minnesota Vikings decide that they just don't want to deal with this anymore and they trade him away, I won't care because of the way that it happened, when it happened and the background from the previous driving incident in the year since now, this is all that we know. We know that Jordan Addison in the year since

has had a really good football season last year in which, I have a stats here, he caught 63 passes, 875 yards, nine touchdowns. It was a really good season despite being banged up at the beginning of the year and struggling a little bit to get on the same page with Sam Darnold. And then once he did, he took off, had that huge game against the Chicago Bears and by the end of the season all of us were saying that they have their

clear-cut number two wide receiver next to Justin Jefferson which makes up one of the most dangerous receiving duos in the entire NFL. That's where we're at. There have been no other instances, issues, problems, no other times cited for anything behind the wheel of a vehicle. It doesn't mean it hasn't happened, but it certainly means that there has not been any documented issues with Jordan Addison

behind the wheel in the year since. There is another thing that I think is worth context too, which is this last during mini camp, last press conference that we had with Justin Jefferson, he talked about asking if Jordan Addison would work out with him. that he wants to have Jordan come to his house or stay in Minnesota or wherever he is working out. I don't know where Justin's working out, maybe back in New Orleans. But to have them get together and work out during this time between the middle of June and the beginning of training camp, because this is the most dangerous time for

a lot of athletes. When we get to the spring, they're up in Minnesota, they're doing OTAs, they're doing team workouts, they're doing mini camp. Once the end of the summer comes and July 17th, 20th, whatever training camp starts, then they know where they're going to be every single day and they go through that. Then the entire season, every single day, you know where you're going to be. But in the middle of June and into July

before the season starts, that's when players are free to do whatever the heck they want to do with no responsibility. And most of the players, 99.9% come back without any citations. Jordan Addison has come back twice with two citations. So you can't go three for three, that's number one. But as this court case comes around, and he's actually going to go to trial with it, which is interesting enough that it wasn't just plead down and maybe this was a way

to drag it out to make sure that last season he wasn't missing any time in the middle of a 14 win season but to have this where he has to go and be a part of a trial I hope for him that if it wasn't already a wake-up call last year that standing in court to address what he had done off the field is as much of a wake up call as anything else could be. And I also was thinking about if he spends more and more time around Justin Jefferson, who seems to have put it on his own shoulders to he talked about get Addison to come out of his shell a little bit more be a little bit more talkative be a little bit more

As a leadership type of role and start to grow up and we do have to remember I've got his exact age here that Jordan Addison is just over the age of 23 Now I think that once you get past that first couple of years into the NFL that any excuses about being young go out the window. Now maybe 21, maybe 22, but after that, not that any of it was excusable, but after that you can't say, oh, it was young and he made a mistake.

No, then it gets to a point where you're a grownup, you've been in the league for long enough and you know how to behave yourself and you know how to deal with things off the field to the point where this should never be a problem again. So when we add up the last year, the way he performed does matter as part of this conversation, and no problems off the field. Jefferson's starting to, I think, get to Jordan Addison as a role model and try to bring him in to work out with him. And then this final step, which is the court date of this is grown up time, you can't just go and screw off

behind the wheel, just because you're an NFL player and think that that's what you're allowed to do, because you're you. And he should then take that even more seriously standing in front of a judge with a jury and everything else. If that's how it's going to go, if they end up ultimately getting there in July 15th, sometimes these things are resolved afterward. And if it wasn't enough for him to also see the aftermath of what happened with Kyrie Jackson, his family, what it meant to his teammates, all those things,

what it meant to his head coach going and the funeral and all of that that can be the implications of driving while intoxicated. If none of this has gotten through, then that will show itself at some point with Jordan Addison. But so far, it appears like it has gotten through to Jordan Addison. And we've heard from him. We've talked to him.

He isn't the most vocal guy. He isn't the most expressive guy. So I can't tell you whether I believe him or not based on his comments and so forth. But it does seem that Addison has taken this event seriously. Now this puts us at what I think is a pivot point for Jordan Addison in his career and maybe in his life, which is, first of all, can you get to training camp with no other incidents, but also learning from what happened here and taking it up a level in multiple different ways, taking it up a level on the field and taking it up a level off the field in the locker room to become a key member of this team and a leader on this team. Because that's something that he has not been in these first couple of years.

He has not been reliable off the field. He has not been someone that everybody is looking to as a leader. He's been a number two wide receiver who has shown flashes of really, really excellent play, but I would still only call them flashes. I have not thought of Jordan Addison as a week to week dominating type, can't stop Jordan Addison level of player. I think that he has been very good, but I don't think that he has become somebody who everybody is looking to to set the standard in the same way as Justin Jefferson, but he can. He can become these things. And that's why I say that it is a pivot point for Jordan Addison. As he goes from here and as he goes through this trial and gets back to training camp and gets back on the field and does not presumably get any more citations or be pulled over for anything else behind the wheel or whatever other a hundred things that could happen with an NFL player off the

field between the middle of June and the end of July that none of those things happen, then we could be talking about Jordan Addison becoming the player that they really want him to become, which is the Chris Carter to Randy Moss right now. He's not that. He's very good, but he's not that. And another part of it is what you are off the field in the locker room, all of those things. Are you a franchise player that is making you are off the field, in the locker room, all of those things. Are you a franchise player

that is making everything better all the time, or are you just a guy that works here and that could get in trouble at any time and can't be relied upon and isn't going to be a leader or anything else like that? We are going to find out about Jordan Addison. I'm not gonna try to predict what's going to happen. I'm just saying that this is a point in his life and his career where it can go one way

or the other. This is the fork in the road for Jordan Addison. And the reason is why it's a major fork is because it's not too far around the corner that there's going to be discussions about a fifth year option for the Minnesota Vikings to either use or not, and then a long-term contract, which they could sign or not sign Jordan Addison to. So if he continues to do the things

that he's done over the last year, and he does follow the lead of Justin Jefferson, then he can be that guy. He can be somebody who gets their fifth year option picked up. He can be someone who is driving the success of JJ McCarthy. He can be a receiver that is very, very hard to stop because he has the skill and the talent to do so. And he can be a guy who is off the field, reliable,

who is a leader to his teammates in the locker room, who leads by example, leads by the way that he carries himself, or he can go the opposite way. And that's going to be his choice. And I'm thinking of it as this court date represents that fork in the road for Jordan Addison and we are going to see where it goes from there. Now there's the other part of this, which is will he be suspended? And I don't know whether the NFL will decide on its ex decision to suspend him

or not just sheerly based on whether he's found guilty or not. I don't know because there is written into the policy that just making the league look bad by having a court date and by being cited for DUI is enough to be suspended. There is nothing in the NFL's policy that says you absolutely must be found guilty in order for us to suspend you. So that could still happen. I don't know which way it's going to go because I've never really understood Roger Goodell's Wheel of Justice anyway. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what is suspendable and what isn't. And I was baffled when Delvin Cook was accused of certain things that included photos and text messages and yet did not get suspended at any point.

And then that was ended up settled off the field but certainly made the shield look pretty bad. And yet there was no penalty whatsoever because there was a story spun to certain reporters that turned out to be not so true but that was the first impression everybody had. I've never been able to pin down exactly what the rules are. They seem quite arbitrary,

but if he is found guilty of DUI, then we do have a pretty good sense from recent history what that could mean as far as a suspension goes. The last time that a player got a DUI and was found guilty of that DUI, a New Orleans Saints wide receiver, he was suspended for three games. If this happens with Jordan Addison on July 15th, assuming this date is not moved back

or changed, then a three game suspension feels very, very likely for Jordan Addison. And if that happens, that means that Jalen Naylor has to step up that they need Ty Felton, they need Rondale Moore, they need TJ Hawkinson to fill a fairly decent size chunk of the NFL season. I mean, three games out of 17 is, I mean, that's significant. And when that happens, I would assume if they're acting swiftly as the NFL,

that might end up being the first three games of the year. So the first three games potentially now I don't know again, I'm not saying any of this definitively or reporting as if I know it because I don't, I don't know how Roger is going to handle it. But if July 15th that comes down or a few days after that he is found guilty of this, the NFL could suspend him very quickly as they did with the wide receiver from New Orleans

as soon as that trial was over. So could it be the first three games of the season? That's a division game, that's a game against Atlanta, a conference game, that's a game against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, or could things end up getting moved back and we don't know where it goes from there? So if he is found not guilty, they still could suspend him

But if they choose not to then this whole thing will sort of be like it didn't happen I don't know in a way. I don't love that because You want there to be? Consequences for actions you want there to be a message that is sent and received by Jordan Addison that this is not okay. You can't just have your lawyers get you out of stuff, especially if you're someone like Henry Ruggs, for example, who drove drunk at 140 miles an hour or so and killed someone.

And what is he just getting out of prison right now and his career was ruined? So there is a lot to be decided here still after this court case, how much he'll be suspended, what could happen, and then just himself making sure that he stays on the straight and narrow. Because if he does, then you're looking at the Minnesota Vikings having a duo of wide receivers that they can count on for a long time with JJ McCarthy.

And that's the best case scenario for everybody. That means that Addison has figured it out. That means he's gotten on the right path. And that means that the Vikings have somebody who can make opposing teams pay when Justin Jefferson is being doubled and tripled and so forth and we've seen that happen throughout Jordan Addison's young career. I also think that he still has a ways to go as a wide receiver before he is going to get that complete level of respect and that might take a next level dedication from Jordan Addison in general of like talking

about working out with Justin Jefferson and following his every move. I don't doubt that Jordan Addison is a football junkie and loves film and loves ball and everything, but 63 catches is okay, but it certainly isn't. Oh my gosh, there's no way we could ever double Justin Jefferson because the other guy's going to destroy us. He has a couple times a year and again, I think he's very, very, very good, but there is another level to that as well, which there may be some correlation between off the field and taking the next step for Jordan Addison. So there's my thought on his upcoming court case is that this is a very important moment for

him and his career with the Minnesota Vikings and in probably his life in general to decide which way he's going to go. So thoughts, comments, questions, uh, I see, you know, there's maybe some comments that I'm not super comfortable with at the moment. So we can talk about anything that you guys want to talk about. I mean, when you call Jordan Addison a cancer, I don't think that that's right. I think that that's lazy and that's just anybody with a problem. That's what you're saying. When I think of it that way, I mean,

I've never liked that terminology anyway. I mean, everyone knows someone who has died of cancer. It just seems like really inappropriate, but for some reason they still use that terminology in sports. I think of when I hear that, I think of this person causes problems with the rest of the locker room and is a constant distraction.

I have not felt that way about Jordan Addison. I have felt like he is appreciated by his teammates that he's sort of been recluse. Like he's been very quiet and to himself and has not really been somebody who is interconnected in the same way as a lot of his teammates. And when he's gotten his chance to make big plays, he often has, but has not become the consistent type of receiver that you associate with being a superstar. But I don't think that he's a locker room problem.

What he is, is every single night, if you're Kevin O'Connell, you go to bed, hoping that your phone doesn't ring at three o'clock in the morning, telling you about something that's happened off the field with Jordan Addison. I think he's somebody who scares you. I don't think that he's a player that hurts the locker room or hurts the team's chances to win on a weekly basis because he's some sort of distraction. It's more of just,

can you rely on him to actually be there or is he going to be suspended or is he going to be in the headlines? for something that is going on with the way that he's handled himself off the field and that's my point is you want him to be a major part of the future of this franchise you would like to be in a spot as you're the Vikings of making the same type of deal that T Higgins just got to go along with Jamar Chase. That's what you want Jordan Addison to be. But I do also think that it's one of the reasons that you know, the Vikings have to draft somebody like Ty Felton, they have to start making plans just in case that there's some sort of

issue in the future that precludes them from being able to sign up to a contract extension. I don't understand what you mean, Alex. Talking about how O'Connell wanted him in the first place, do you think he keeps him up at night? Of course he does. Of course he does. I mean, I'm absolutely certain that Kevin O'Connell is terrified of waking up to that phone call again from some issue with Jordan Edison. I mean, what he's gone through in the first couple of years as the head coach, the guy he drafts goes 140 miles an hour

and then there doesn't seem to really be any sort of punishment. And even at one point, O'Connell made a crack about it in a press conference, which I didn't really think was too good. And then the following year after getting the DUI, I didn't think that there was a strong enough statement made to Jordan Addison either,

but if it's a third time is not a charm, if it were to happen again, so I do think yeah I do think that he should be very very concerned and it does reflect on him because that's been his guy that's been who he's gone to bat for and Who he's always been very supportive of and just personally think that he hasn't been hard enough on after these incidents think that he hasn't been hard enough on after these incidents. So he's made his bets with Jordan Addison and it's going to result potentially if he's found guilty in a three game suspension. And then that's something that O'Connell has to work around.

And if there were another incident after that, that could mean another suspension. Like who knows, right? So yeah, I do think that if I was the head coach of the team and that was such an important player that I would be kept up at night. You know, I so I think we need to characterize this thing the right way, which is not that he is a problem inside the locker room. It's that he has made some very serious mistakes behind the wheel that he is lucky did not cause any other issues for anyone else that he did not crash into anyone going 140 miles an hour as Henry Ruggs did that he did not when he was allegedly being cited for

DUI caused any other problems for other drivers like what happened with Kyrie Jackson like these are very serious things that have happened. And I think you can't roll your eyes at those or say like, oh, it's no big deal. He drafted him. He loves him. Like, well, he's going to love him a heck of a lot less if it happens again.

So this, let it be a lesson to Jordan Addison and we'll see how the rest plays out. So let me get to other questions here. Son of a beavers, moving the conversation along. Do we think that RB3 is on the roster or do you think the Vikings might check and see who is free on cut down day? Yeah, at this moment,

I am not convinced that that is the case. But here's where Ty Chandler does come in to the mix is I think Ty Chandler is a pretty darn good kick returner. He's not quite as good as Kenny Wong Wu, but I think he's a very good kick returner. And do you really want Isaiah Rogers back there as CB2? I think that Rogers looks like, and this is only a tiny sample size of seeing him just move around at minicamp,

but also looking at his numbers and some kick returns before in the past. I think Isaiah Rogers could be an exceptional kick returner, but I would not want anything to do with a top cornerback back there returning kicks and getting smashed into time and time again. I would not want any part of that. So I would prefer that they have Ty Chandler do it, do that kick returning role

and put somebody else back there who can take the punishment of that as well. And then if you end up in a spot where somebody gets hurt, Ty Chandler can be your backup, but both of the starting running backs for the Vikings, Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones, they can play a full role if they need to with only a little bit of Ty

Chandler mixing in. As for right now, I would still have him as RB3. I don't know if Trey Stewart is going to give him a run for his money. It would take one heck of a preseason and training camp for Trey Stewart to do that. And maybe since Cam Akers hasn't signed anywhere yet, he could still end up back with the Minnesota Vikings. But as of right now, I think that Chandler would be the guy and they would wait and see how they felt about him at the end of training camp and preseason. Wade says Jordan Addison is most likely an introvert being mischaracterized as arrogant or aloof.

No, I mean, I think he's an introvert, but I don't think he's being mischaracterized here. I don't think anybody is saying other than the one bad comment, but I don't think anybody is saying anything about Jordan Addison's personality other than what you're looking for from him is to come out of his shell and to be somebody that can be, and I don't need him to rah rah everybody. What you need is here. And because Harrison Smith has always been a more to himself type of player. You need him to be somebody that sets the standard as a guy who is very quickly like

these careers don't last long. By the time you're in year three, you're a veteran man. Like you know how the NFL works and you're the one that is driving your offense, driving your success and being the guy out there and leading by example off the field, which goes into all of this. So I don't think that it's about him necessarily being introverted and I don't know who's characterizing him as being arrogant or aloof. I think what he should be characterized as somebody who's made some very very bad mistakes

Behind the wheel so far in his career And if he continues on that path it is going to be problematic for the Vikings It's gonna be problematic for him And I don't know how much farther you can go with him if that happens again, if this isn't this entire endeavor for him of getting cited all the way through with the court situation and then finally the case that's supposed to happen or the court date that's supposed to happen here, that it needs to be a message to him. So I don't think that people are talking about his personality being harmful or something inside the locker room so much as These decisions off the field cannot continue in this way

We've seen many many players start off good look like they're gonna have great careers And then not go that way because of things that happen off of the field Oh, uh cam acres is currently rb3 the Saints roster. Did he sign with them? I didn't see that trade for him around Halloween. That's, that's good. That's good. I like that. Yeah. I mean, find somebody that you love more than KOC loves Cam Akers. That's for sure. So Jude says, what's your opinion on UDF? A Zamiya Vaughn. I think that all of us were impressed by Zamiya Vaughn at

mini camp. There's a few things about him that stand out. Number one is his height and his length. He is very tall. I would not have to tell you which guy is Zamiya Vaughn. If you just saw his height and weight kind of looks like, if you remember cam Dancer, like he's not the thickest guy. He's probably a little thicker than Cam Dantzler, but remember that very tall, lanky type of guy. That's how Zamiya Vaughn is. And it also

stood out to me that he just made plays on the football. That's something that I always look for in these practice environments is do you make plays on the football because If you're not making plays in practice, this is why everybody likes the ojaxson and dwight mcgloath And so much because that's what they've done If you're not making plays in practice, then you're probably not going to make plays in the actual games And so far it's only seven on sevens But every single day that we saw as a Maya Vaughn, he was making plays on the football, including a kind of highlight reel,

finger quote, interception where his feet may have been out of bounds. I wasn't at a good angle to really see, but kind of went up and the sort of defensive Masta guy and made an interception, had a lot of pass breakups in college, didn't have a ton of picks, but had a lot of past breakups played for a very good program. So he's got my attention. And sometimes the things that work for Brian Flores were, uh, do not work for every team. So I don't get the sense that Zamyavon is super fast.

I could not find a 40 for him. I could only find a vertical that it was a near 40 inch vertical, but I could not find a 40 for him. I could only find a vertical that it was a near 40 inch vertical, but I could not find a pro day 40 or combine 40. I get the feeling that it's not great. That's the reason that he didn't run any 40s, but that doesn't matter as much in a system with Brian Flores where it's really about explosiveness. It's really about quickness. And it's about your ability to read and react of what's happening in front of you. Can you see the field?

And then can you make plays on the football? And that's what zone defenses are really about, which is being able to see what's happening and developing in front of you, understanding space, where you're supposed to be, and then go make a play. And we just the ever so slight amount we have seen has been really good, but it's only been a slight amount when the pads come on, things get different. But you know, the fact that he's got some length and some height to him does make it more interesting. Let's see. CJ says, if Addison misses three games, they can survive those three, pump up his stats

and next year pick up his fifth year option and trade after year four. All right, now CJ, we're too far down the line when it comes to, you know, making a trade. That's something I've never been interested in unless they had decided last year that it was so concerning with the off the field stuff that they just needed to move on.

If they had traded him right after the incident for pennies on the dollar, then I would have said, okay. Or even really if they had traded him this off season, then we all would have known what it was about and why they were trading him because he had a really good season. They didn't do that either. They have decided to stick it out

and ride it through with him, which makes me think that they believe that he can stay on the straight and narrow and that's what he needs to do to get that fifth year option. But look, when you have wide receivers, you need to keep them. And they're important because go look at the free agent, wide receiver list from last year.

It's guys who are unhappy or old or injured, or you have to trade everything for a DK Metcalf and give him thirty two million dollars a year. Like these wide receivers are worth their weight in gold. And Jordan Addison's success here is worth its weight in gold to the Vikings. Having a number two wide receiver who can make defenses pay for covering Justin Jefferson too much,

that is so important. And I don't think that anybody can do it because a lot of the plays where he makes them pay are one-on-one coverage. Can you beat your one-on-one coverage? Can you go up over a guy and make a play? Like he can do all these things. He can contort his body, track the football.

When you see this guy practice, I mean, he is really exceptional, stands way out from the other wide receivers with his route running ability and ability to go get the football. It's not someone that I would want to trade away. And when you're talking about fifth year options, by the time he gets to his fifth year option,

what is he gonna be, 25 years old? I mean, then you could sign him to a five year contract and you get the entire second part of his prime. Like this is really important to the Vikings organization that he gets it figured out. And that contract, I know everybody gets worried about contracts and so forth. It won't be making a big impact

until several years down the road and they can figure it out from there. But he's a vital part of the organization to be able to have this wide receiver duo. And I've always thought that the duo is so, so important when you have that superstar number one wide receiver that somebody else is there and they can't just put all their attention on that one guy. Julio says, shout out from

Los Angeles, my wife's hometown Julio. So hope you guys are doing well there. Strongly believe that Jalen Nailor will have a strong campaign this season. I'm a firm believer he has a new body and he's ready to show it off. It really is. When we asked Justin Jefferson about it, he like laughed because it is so different what we've seen from Jalen Nailor that he clearly went into the offseason and decided that he Jaylen Naylor that he clearly went into the off season and decided that he needed to take another step to be ready to take the punishment of the season. Last year, he took a step being physically ready. And I think this year really another clear dedication from Jaylen Naylor when he came into the league. I'm not really convinced he fully understood.

And this is something guys have to learn how much work has to go into it to hang with the pros because every day that you're not beefing yourself up somebody else is in the NFL and the hits are harder and the strain on your body is a thousand times more than it is playing 10 games at Michigan State or something I mean it's not even close what goes into being great in the NFL and I think that Naylor has progressively figured this out more and more that if you can put on weight, but maintain your quickness and maintain your long speed with more strength and then add maybe a blocking element where he can actually be used in those situations because there were blocks last year or attempts at blocks from Naylor that were pretty sad. So it shows a commitment for him. If he has a great year,

he's going to put the Vikings in a tough spot because they have a lot of the dollars spent for 2026. There's not going to be a whole lot of room for error. There are contracts that are restructurable, but there's not going to be a whole lot of room for error. There are contracts that are restructurable, but there's not going to be a whole lot of room for error to bring back somebody at a pretty big contract, which they may have to do if Naylor is somebody they can't let out the door. But how would they do it and how much money would it cost? Because if he has a great year. So I mentioned on the show the other day, Hey, like I could see Jalen Naylor catching 45 passes for 600 yards or something that if he becomes a favorite of JJ McCarthy as a second option, like that can happen. It happened with KJ Osborne and Kirk Cousins in 2021 and to some extent in 2022. And if you're playing in shootouts, then that means

more passing and so forth than there was last year, where the first part of the season, the Vikings are just playing in blowouts and they're not throwing that many passes. I could see Naylor having a really good season and putting them in a bind, but they might have to move on. And that's part of the reason you draft Ty Felton. That was my big argument for drafting Ty Felton was. You might have to move on, but Naylor could be a very important part of the operation, especially if we're talking about three games just to tie it back in

three games of Jordan Addison. If he's out for three games, then Jalen Taylor is a big deal for this football team. Matt says definitely a turning point for Addison, still like him as a player, but he seems nice enough guy and another incident I'll be fine moving on. Well, that's a turning point for Addison. Still like him as a player, but he seems a nice enough guy and another incident, I'll be fine moving on.

Well, I think that's a very fair way to view it is that he has been a good player for them for the last couple of years. I always have a tough time judging how somebody is as a person, even for me getting to know these guys a little bit, uh, because a lot of it's on a handful of conversations over the years and I don't know them off the field and I'll never forget Judd Zulgad's, uh, story about loving to cover Darren Sharper

and then finding out later what was happening with Darren Sharper, that he was such a nice guy inside the locker room. And then, you know, so you never really know. There are certain guys you would bet on a lot more than others, but you never really know. I think with Addison though, he is liked by his teammates and everybody sees the talent. But I do think there's another level there to him, whether it's just the way that he's carrying himself

on a day-to- day basis and being more of somebody that carries the weight of the franchise. But also you have to represent yourself a certain way to get that respect from your teammates as well. And I agree if there's another incident, then you just can't, you just can't really go forward with that player. If there's another incident, uh, whether that means an immediate trade, I don't know, but as far as a fifth year option, you absolutely cannot give a fifth year option to a player with what three years and three

issues. You can't do that. Mike says, does July court date likely mean he will miss the first three games of the regular season or when do we expect him to be out? That's a hard thing to figure out with old Raj in charge and the spinning wheel of justice, but I would guess that if this went very quickly and I was once a juror for OG listeners to the show, they probably remember the time that I was a juror on a case that was actually involving sex trafficking. It was quite an experience to see what it was really like to be on a jury and all that.

But even a complicated trial like that was maybe four days and then there was a result and we had it. So I don't expect this to go on super long after the court date, assuming that it happens the day it's supposed to happen and it doesn't get moved back or changed or anything else. There's not a lot of wiggle room there before training camp being July 15th. And that's certainly enough time for Roger Goodell to decide that he's going to be suspended if that's going to happen and how long it gives them plenty of runway to make a decision and then have it be at the beginning of the season.

That's what I would expect. I would expect that to be at the beginning of the season, but I don't know for sure. You just never can really predict these things. I'm just going on the most recent incident of a DUI, I forget the guy's name, in New Orleans, who had a three game suspension right after the ruling was laid down by the courts. I would assume that it's going to go the same way.

Steve says if we sign Jair Alexander, perhaps Isaiah Rogers could be in the kick return mix. Now that I agree with, that's if Jair Alexander is actually playing, because if you sign Jair Alexander, how many games do you really expect him to play? But yeah, I think if they were to go out and make a move for a Jalen Ramsey, a Jair Alexander, then it really changes the math on that. And suddenly they would go from a secondary that you felt like is a little bit teetering. Like, Hey, this thing could go one way or the other. It could go really well. And it could blow up and be great.

If guys take another step like Blackman and like Isaiah Rogers, or it could come apart if those guys don't work out as starters. Now, if you had Jair Alexander or Jalen Ramsey in the mix and those are your backups, then you feel awesome about where your secondary is in general. So yes, if they were to sign Jair Alexander, then I would expect Isaiah Rogers to be a part of a rotation,

but I would expect him to be their kick and punt returner because he is different when it comes to that stuff. He has ball skills. He has crazy, crazy speed fluidity. He can get low. I think he sees the field. I went back and watched a few of these things that and just seeing him out there. It's not like they're doing a full speed kick return,

but just seeing the burst that he has catching the football and taking off, it's it's something to see. He's the best option. But if he's corner to you do not want that. Uh, world debt now says, uh, I want Silas back there, even though I haven't heard him of him until Wednesday. Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

Well, you know, uh, Mr. debt now, yes. Uh, we're all kind of like that with undrafted free agents. It's always been my thing to, I look at them when they're signed and I. Take a look, figure out who they are, where they came from and their stats. And then I pretty much forget about them until they make me remember,

which is going out in the practice field, make me remember you. And Zamyia Vaughn is one who's done that. Make me learn your name, make me care about you. And Silas Bolden is exactly that kind of guy from what we saw just in a very small sample size and his pot returning in mini camp. And the fact that he was so good at it

during his college career with Texas this last year, he was very good at the pot returning with them, averaged almost 11 yards per return, had the touchdown, had another touchdown with Oregon State before that.'re on my radar, so. You know I think that. I think he's got a legitimate chance to win that. Is this the same situation as Rashi Rice that I don't know I I'm sorry. I have not really looked into Rashi

Rice and what his situation is. I know that there was an accident, right? Was there a DUI involved? Was there speed? I don't really know. And I haven't heard what his suspension is going to be. If you guys know, you can let me know. I was going off the precedent of the Saints receiver rather than Rashid Rice because I haven't heard a resolution to that if he's going to get suspended or not. Steve says the Vikings sniffed around Khalil Herbert last year too. He's an Indy currently but if Indy season doesn't go well they could trade for him too. Right. We know, we definitely know that what's going to happen when it comes to the Vikings is

they'll look at every option in the middle of the season. They will look at potential trades. If you lose a player to injury, if you're not happy with a current situation at this position or that position, they will make their additions. Every year that Kevin O'Connell has been here, they've made in season trades, whether it was Josh Dobbs or Cam Robinson or Cam Akers and could be Khalil Herbert.

Like they're going to find options to make a move if they want to make a move. And that's why, yeah, for now, Ty Chandler, but you can make that decision later. Like it doesn't have to be make that decision right now on Ty Chandler. They could see how it looks. They could see if he's the kick returner and they have to keep them. They could see if they like Trey Stewart and so forth, uh, before they do that.

And then if there's an injury to Jordan Mason or Aaron Jones, they could go out and make a trade. And running back has got to be one of the easier positions to trade for because the guy, I mean, yes, you have to learn the offense. You got to learn the pass protection. But for the most part, the run plays, like show up, get the football, run the football.

I mean, you know, it's not the most complicated thing if you need to plug and play somebody. If you're Aaron Jones, it's complicated because you're running lots of routes and blocking and all that sort of stuff. But if you're a plug and play guy, can't make her said no problem jumping into the mix last year. That's something that they can definitely do. Alex, the Packers fan, I know Alex says, do you think that

Tucker Kraft is about to become the best tight end in the division? Uh, let's see. Well, you have Colston Loveland and Cole Comet in Chicago. You have Sam Laporta in Detroit and TJ Hawkinson here. I know. I don't think so. I mean, Sam Laporta is probably the best of that entire group. We'll see with TJ Hockinson. TJ Hockinson two years ago was, I mean, a Pro Bowl tight end, clearly one of the best in the league. And then the injury last year, he's coming back from that for the whole second half of the season. And sometimes people act like TJ Hockinson did nothing last year at all. Like he barely even showed up after he returned,

but that's not really true. He ended up last year with 41 catches and 455 yards, 74 PFF grade, which was only a little bit different from 2023, it just was not as many snaps. And Sam Darnold did have a couple of interceptions while targeting him Maybe that kind of shaded how we felt about it didn't have touchdowns So that's gonna be a problem as well But actually interestingly Hocketson had I hadn't seen this stat before but he had 10 contested catches on

16 attempts last year, so he actually did make some contested catches, which was kind of a problem I thought in 2023. Hockinson is still really good. I mean, his last two full seasons, 86 and 95 catches, 11 yards a catch last year. How many drops did he have last season? Two, two drops last season. It was a little bit of a problem the year before. He's plays in the slot.

He can move around. I mean, he's still, he's still a very, very good player who I think is going to be a major part of this offense with JJ McCarthy, but I mean, Laporta is the guy. You got to give it to Laporta and then craft fits in somewhere. I feel like Jordan love either likes to look really deep or really short. Maybe he doesn't fit into that. or really short, maybe he doesn't fit into that. Let's see. Hamza says, Do you think playing in such a run heavy offense in Michigan

really hurt JJ and his ability to fully showcase his throwing talents and playmaking ability? Do you think he is a higher pick if he had second part of the message, if he had played on a team that threw the ball like Ohio State with great wide receivers? I don't know. higher pick if he had second part of the message, if he had played on a team that threw the ball like Ohio State with great wide receivers, I don't know. I don't know because you have to also consider that he averaged nine yards per attempt and completed 72% of his passes in college.

So when he was throwing the ball, he was having very, very high efficiency. If he was throwing more, would he have had the same type of efficiency or would have had more interceptions too and a lower completion percentage and whatever. I don't think that the NFL, and I mean, I did ask quasi at a Fomenta about this when he appeared on the podcast last year, uh, about dealing with the small sample size and the running offense and so forth. And one of the things that he talked about was really trying to cut it down

to what are the real NFL throws? Now that doesn't necessarily mean down in distance, but it means what types of plays and it could mean like third and seven or something like that. He had good third down statistics. We know that, uh, he had really good stats when coming off of play action, but what Kevin O'Connell understands is what type of throws exist in a Minnesota Vikings offense, what type of throws are college throws? And if you look at certain quarterbacks coming out, I mean, you might see three

to five real NFL type throws in an entire college football game because it screens, it's bubbles. It's that's the same thing. It's guys who are wide open down the football field from coverage busts. And so how much is it tight window? How much is it multiple read or full field type of reads? How much is it like understanding where guys are going to be and throwing with anticipation? You know, I thought that Michael Pennex had a lot of those throws when he was coming out, but you know, Bo Nicks had less Bo Nicks had that really, really high screen rate that they threw at Oregon. And that brought some questions with it itself.

Like, can he really make all the NFL throws and how often is he asked to do that? So McCarthy, a high percentage of his throws were NFL throws when he was in college because he has an NFL coach and an NFL style offense that was dominated with rushing. But I think that how much did that hurt his draft stock? I'm not sure because I don't know that teams really draft guys based on their statistics. I think that they might weigh it a little bit,

but it's usually trying to project what is he gonna look like as our quarterback? What's his skillset? What's his character? All those things together and you land on him as a top 10 draft pick and you're trying to project what he's going to be into the future

and not focusing entirely on what he was, uh, in the past at Michigan. So how much can he grow? How much can he approve? And I remember Kevin O'Connell saying that they had seen pretty significant growth from him as a pastor, even between the time that his season ended and the combine and his pro day that he had grown as a pastor. So maybe a little bit. I mean, if he, if he had gone to Ohio State and if he had thrown for 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns and two interceptions, then yeah, maybe the New York Giants would have drafted him. The New York Giants should have drafted him by the

way. I like Malik neighbors a ton, but I mean, they are just lost in the woods at quarterback. I still think that even with Jackson Dart, but we'll see. The point just being like, I'm not sure because so much of it is based on character and makeup and how the guy processes information and meetings and things like that. There's guys who put up huge stats that don't even get drafted high

because the skill sets aren't there. So you're judging the skill set and how the guy responds. And this is why Chider Sanders goes in the fifth round, because if those meetings don't go well, you don't get drafted. And for McCarthy, I get the sense that the meetings went really well for him with the Vikings and other teams. And look, 10th overall is a pretty high draft pick. Let's see, Freaker by the Speaker says, is there a punter battle? I don't believe so. I don't believe so.

I think that it'll be Ryan Wright and Oscar Chapman will stay on the international roster exception. And then what you'll see is if Ryan Wright struggles in training camp, that they'll bring in another veteran and they'll keep developing Oscar Chapman. I don't think that they're in this situation going to just switch to a guy who's a rookie and has never played before. And I really don't think they're going to take away Will Reichard's guy that's

holding the ball. I think they want to keep that up with Ryan Wright. He's been really good holding the football and as silly as that might sound like, hey, can't anybody do that? Not another, not all the same. And some kickers are really particular. There was a story about, was it David Acres? Somebody needed a backup quarterback to be signed by his team just because he liked the way he held the football for the field goals. It's a big deal for these kickers and Ryan Wright has been really excellent with whoever is kicking whether it's Greg Joseph or whether it was Will Reichard. And he's just now he's a lot more experienced. I don't think there's gonna be a change at the punter situation.

I don't unfortunately think there's going to be a punt off and then winner gets to keep the job. unless Chapman just blows everybody away. It's really Ryan Wright versus himself. If he punts really well in training camp, he'll be the guy. If he struggles, then we might end up seeing another veteran who gets cut be brought in, but I don't think it's gonna be Chapman. Alex says, would there be some concern that Darrylson an Addison miss time simultaneously in the offense struggles as a result? Well, they have enough that they can survive stuff like that. I mean, they have TJ Hocketson, two

good running backs, the best wide receiver in the world. It would be harder though. It would be harder to go three and oh, if you were missing Darryl saw for three games and Jordan Addison. Yeah, I mean, football teams like they miss guys, so that's gonna happen. There will be players on the Chicago Bears that get hurt during training camp and you know, right. So every team always has to be able to deal with injuries and work around them as part of just being a football team. And the Vikings have enough to be able to do that. But those are two really

valuable pieces. And yeah, it could be problematic to start the season if both of them are not ready, or one is suspended and then Darasaw is not ready. Do you think that there is a good chance, I'm just gonna call it a chance, that Darasaw is back for the beginning of the season with the fact that he was actually working in Minicamp. But we don't know, it's got to progress

and there are setbacks and things like that, but it was a really good sign to have him out there during mini camp, but you're right. And if they got to start the season without those two players, that's hard. That could add a new layer of challenge for the Vikings because they need to win those games. When you look at how the schedule plays out,

it's really important to go four and two, five and one in those first six games, because it gets really, really tough in the middle of the season. So that is a good point. Mike says, what are the chances the NFC North Championship comes down to the week 17 matchup with Detroit this year? That's really funny. You say that Mike, because I've been working on my 50 bold predictions for

the season and last year it got away from me and I didn't get it done. In previous years I've always done this and then we go back and look at it and oh I look like a genius or oh I look like a complete fool. I think I had Seattle finishing last in the entire NFL and they made the playoffs two years ago you know things like that. And then sometimes it's like, wow, he actually picked the exact week that coach was getting fired. So it's a fun thing to do. And one of the predictions that I just wrote down, I was just working on this last night was that the NFC North would be decided in week 17 in that game against Detroit. I wrote that down. So you took the words out of my mouth with that one. I do think that these two teams, Detroit and Minnesota are very equal.

They have some concerns and some, hey, what if kind of things, but they also have a ton of talent and Detroit could take a bit of a step back. The Vikings could be a little bit better. Both are going to play really tough schedules and would I be surprised if they walked into that game? with both 10 or 11 wins and whoever wins it gets The NFC North championship because I don't really think the Green Bay Packers are quite there on the same level of superstar talent as those two teams and

Chicago is Gonna have to prove it. Uh, Stephen contract year for Naylor, if he plays well in 2025, his agent could be seeking wide receiver two money next off season, which will the Vikings will be out on. I mean, even if he has a good off a good season and he goes into that off season, looking for wide receiver three money, that's really good money. If you go look at the wide receiver three types that sign this off season looking for wide receiver three money. That's really good money. If you go look at the wide receiver, three types that sign this off season, Josh Palmer,

Diami Brown, like guys like that, they were making 10 to $15 million. That's, it's a lot to pay for a guy who's going to catch like 30 passes or something, but that's the type of money that wide receivers are getting because it's so valuable to have a good wide receiver three, uh, in any offense now because offenses are using it so much, but I don't think he wide receiver two money's wild, dude. Wide receiver two money is like $27 million.

So I would put him, even if he has a good season, more in the range of like 15, but that's too rich for the Vikings blood considering all the other guys that they've paid. Dusty says a large part of this could be the success of some of the recent picks as well to ease the cap hits of a possible Addison extension if he does keep it together off the field going forward, right? They yes, I mean, that's true that they need to have other players like Dallas Turner hit They need to have their future draft picks guys that they just took this year become, you know Donovan Jackson becomes significant players for them But with a player like Addison, you would move other guys first if he ends up

staying the right course he will Get paid over other people because the wide receiver position is so expensive and so it can be really hard to find. I know that they've had this great luck in the draft, but it's hard to find guys with this level of skill without drafting him in the first round. I guess they could do that to try to replace him in the future,

but this is it's so vital to your quarterback That you don't want to let guys like that walk out the door That's why Joe burrow was campaigning for the Cincinnati Bengals to pay T Higgins You want those guys to stay so you would rather move on from a expensive defensive tackle expensive corner expensive safety and make room for Jordan Addison if he feels like he can be trusted with that big contract going forward. Dwayne says, how great would it be to have Jets,

Jordan, Naylor, Ty, Pop, who's Pop this year for JJ? How great will it be? It's one of the best situations that anybody has ever walked into as a first year starter. We don't know what Ty Felton is going to be just yet or Rondale Moore is another example or you know if TJ Hockinson is going to gel with him the same way that Kirk Cousins did but considering the offensive line and considering the wide receivers that they have even if they have to miss a couple

of games of Jordan Addison, you still have an incredible supporting cast that JJ McCarthy is going to walk into. I really, I mean, truly like Brock Purdy or Jaylen Hertz are the best examples I could come up with because it's hard to find any of these teams that have put this amount of talent wide receiver wise and offensive line wise and coaching wise around their young quarterbacks just in recent years. Dwayne says if Naylor beefed up as much as you're saying, do you see him giving some blocking relief to TJ and Smith? Or Smith? Who are we talking about? Irv Smith? Who are we talking or Smith? Who are we talking about? Irv Smith. Who are we talking about, Smith?

But do I see him giving some? Do you mean Oliver? I think you mean Oliver. Do I see him giving some blocking relief? Not really, no. I mean, I think that he has done this to prepare himself to play 17 games in a contract year. And I definitely think he needs to block more and better done this to prepare himself to play 17 games in a contract year and I

Definitely think he needs to block more and better than he did last year But I don't think there's gonna be a lot of the offense that's designed around Jalen Naylor blocking or that he's going to take any of the relief off of TJ Hockinson and Any other tight end that they're playing. Those guys are going to, Josh Oliver is going to take on the vast majority of the blocking when it comes to anybody else but the office of Lyman. What they need though is they need to be able to throw a screen pass and have the wide receiver take care of a nickel corner in order for Ty Felton to break something or Jordan Addison to break something. They've just not really had that at all.

Dusty good point about Tutu Atwell. He was another one that made 10 million bucks and you know, that's going up for sure. Hamza says if Naylor has a big season and gets paid big money, the Vikings would get a third or fourth round for Naylor. We've gotten to the point of comp picks, which means that we need to bring in Maggie soon. Anytime the comp picks come up.

Yeah, I mean, look, if he gets a big contract, then that will be good for them as far as the comp picks go, that's for sure. But what you're really hoping for is that just this season, he contributes a lot and helps you compete for a championship. And then whatever happens after that happens, if they find a way to keep them, then that's great.

If they can't find a way to keep them, then they'll have to hope that Ty Felton or somebody else can come along and take up that role. So, you know, I think that Jalen Naylor is a guy that you would circle and say he is poised to be a breakout type of player this year, but if we're just projecting, if we're just trying to project and figure out like what's he going to be this year, it's probably a very similar role to last year, only they want a little bit more yards

after catch, they want a little more underneath, They can't just have him only being, uh, big bombs and stuff like that. Uh, Ham Darnold says, think about the dumb things you did at 23, then throw in fame and money. Um, you know, I don't look at it that way. Ham. I don't look at it that way with Jordan Addison. There is a lot of 23 year old NFL players. And as far as I know, only one at

this moment has a court date for DUI allegations, citations. So I don't look at it that way. There's no excuse. There's no talking your way out of that one, especially when Kyrie Jackson had just been killed in an accident that involved alcohol right before that. It's a problem. And I think that in some ways it felt like the Vikings kind of shrugged it off a little bit more than they should have last year. But I'm not going to shrug it off. It's very, very serious what he did. And just because maybe you did some things when you were a kid, that's not the same. You're representing a what? $7 billion organization.

I mean, come on, there's much more responsibility that goes along with it, but obviously no one, no one should ever. I mean, you're kind of telling on yourself if you say that, aren't you? Like, I think 23 is old enough and being in the NFL is old enough and there's enough people around and there's enough resources and all those things that consequences are consequences. You're not nine. Okay. You're, you're in the NFL. You're old enough to be in the NFL.

You can handle yourself behind the wheel of a vehicle, like a grownup with responsibility to yourself, your family, your teammates, and every other person on the road. No excuses for me on that." Sean says, Hockinson has exceptional speed for a tight end. Is it affected by the injury? Last year, yes. Normally, linebackers couldn't keep up with him.

He and Travis had similar explosive speed. I think last year probably was a long term. I don't expect it to be any sort of issue. I really think of TJ Hockinson as far as his best skill is it's not just speed. I think his speed is fine. If not really good and explosiveness and quickness. Yes, I think he's really good route runner and I also think

he's very very very football smart very Elite football smart. He understands defenses. He understands space He understands gaps in defenses where he should fit in all those things and he can understand where the quarterbacks progression is going to take him where he needs to be and Then even adjust on the fly to his quarterbacks. He talked about cousins being really particular about things where Darnold was less so, and I think he's a very good communicator

and can adapt to J.J. McCarthy. But to me, those are the two things, it's kind of the technical elements for T.J. Hockinson that have made him very good. Tucker Kraft is not better than Sam Laporta, Alex, please. I know you love the Packers, but come on, we can't do that. Let's see, Son of a Beavers, do you think the Vikings take another look at Jordan Ta'amu

as a quarterback for the DC defenders? Ta'amu was incredible in the championship game, did win a championship in the UFL with the DC defenders. I mean, I like him. I like him. He's a beast as far as his arm goes. Big giant guy. I think he belongs in the NFL as a backup. He's had a good number of shots, but when you see him play pro ball, there's a lot of quarterbacks who have been in those UFL type leagues. Tommy Maddox is the most notable who have found their way back. Josh McCown even was in the original UFL and worked his way back into the NFL.

So, you know, yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing Jordan Tomu back here as part of the quarterback competition. He was only here for a few days, but you know. I thought that he had a very like live type arm. How many open roster spots do they have? I don't know. I don't know if they have any. Do they have any right now?

Are they at 90? I didn't count them up the last time that I was out there. I didn't count it one by one. Are they at 90? I didn't think they had any roster spots right now Okay, all right, so we have covered a lot of ground here on the show