Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Justin Jefferson skipping voluntary workouts -- DO NOT PANIC

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

Matthew Coller and Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press break down Justin Jefferson's absence from Vikings voluntary workouts and discuss TJ Hockenson's comments about how his injury happened and discuss smokescreens during the final days of draft season Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here along with Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press inside TCO Performance Center where we just finished up talking with Kevin O'Connell, Brian O'Neill, and TJ Hawkinson. And we have a news note to begin with and then we'll get into TJ.J. Hockinson's recovery his thoughts on the hit that put him on the sideline Kevin O'Connell talking quarterbacks of course but we have to start out with the fact that Justin Jefferson is not here and when Kevin O'Connell was asked about Justin Jefferson and whether he would be a part of the offseason the OTAs the mini season, the OTAs, the mini camp, all the things that they do. The answer was certainly not a definitive yes.

It was more, I hope so. We'll see. I would guess that answer is going to be a big fat no, so long as he does not have a contract extension. What is your thought on Justin Jefferson not being here for voluntary, key voluntary workouts and the potential for him to maybe not be here throughout the summer? It's not at all surprising that Justin Jefferson is not at TCO Reform and Center today. If you remember last year, Justin Jefferson did not participate in voluntary workouts. He was in attendance for mandatory mini camp and then

actually participated in off-training camp, which was stunning considering the contract negotiations that were starting last year. But anybody who thought he was going to show up on the first day and be like, Hey, what's up, everyone? What's up, guys? He wasn't. This was never a thing, so it shouldn't be that surprising. And it is newsworthy because he's not here but i think what kevin o'connell is probably trying to do today is in a way make sure this thing doesn't just take on a life of its own he's not

skipping these things because he's mad he's not skipping these things because he's leaving it's part of the process, right? And this thing is what we've kind of discussed is going to drag out probably through the spring, probably through the summer. Deadlines make deals is what Kwesi said at the Combine two months ago in February. There's no deadline right now. So the fact that Justin Jefferson is not at voluntary workouts, not surprising. Also not a big deal. In my opinion, I always try to do my best on the show to preach patience when it comes to things that I think we have to be patient for. And that I also know the NFL media at large does not want

to be patient for. So this happening today is news and it it will, I assume, I have not looked at social media before we record this. I assume it will be everywhere. It will be a headline ticking across the bottom of ESPN. Justin Jefferson is not at voluntary workouts. As you mentioned, he was not last year, and he was not at OTAs. He did show up for mandatory minicamp, and I recall on the first day of mandatory mini camp he smoked absolutely everyone then took every single rep uh during training camp this year it would probably be different if he doesn't have a contract it is unlikely that he is going to have a single

practice before he signs a contract and the way i always look at this is you have to think of it as the player should do what's best for them in their long term. And there is going to be frustration at times from fans who want to see him out there. We even saw this with C.J. Hawkinson that if you recall some of our podcasts as Hawkinson was struggling with his deep inner ear issue or whatever it was, the back tweak. I don't know. Maybe he sneezed too hard or something, whatever it was, the back tweak, I don't know, maybe he sneezed too hard or something, whatever it was, we all knew what it was. It was the hold in where he took warmups and didn't go through practice, which was kind of similar to what Delvin Cook did when he was negotiating his deal that once the contract is signed, we'll all forget that it ever happened. Me bringing it up

probably made everyone just go oh yeah that was funny and then t.j hockinson had a great year and we never talked about it ever again and that would be my suggestion for this we will give you the updates while he's not here this is what's going on but i refuse to start diving into the oh what's gonna happen is he gonna sign is are they gonna trade him on draft night to the patriots for drake may like i'm not going there because i think it's completely unreasonable to go there and every discussion that has to do with the future success of the next quarterback with quesadilla fomenta kevin o'connell other players it always starts with justin jefferson there isn't anybody who has given me

the sense at any point that Justin Jefferson is not going to sign a contract with the Vikings this year. It's just probably going to take a while. So get prepared. Just that's what I'm saying. Get prepared for headlines, for debate shows, for all those things. Well, Justin Jefferson's not at OTAs. They're going to trade him. And look, if it it happens then i'll feel like a fool i lost the milkshake bet today things happen i get stuff wrong too but i just don't see any rational reason to look at something like this or otas or anything else throughout the summer even when it comes to training camp as any reason to be concerned this won't happen with him in the

contract yeah it's hard because we have to report the news that he's not here. But at the same time, us doing that, us asking the question today, is Justin Jefferson in the building? Kevin O'Connell saying no is going to inherently just create. It just popped up on my phone. It just popped up on my phone. Those push notifications. Yep, the alert.

That's just how it is. You have to ask those questions. Kevin O'Connell has to give those answers. But I want people to kind of remember how last offseason went with Nick Bosa. He's probably the best case study in this because I know TJ Hawkinson had the ear infection, had the back injury, ends up signing and ends up getting back on the field. Nick Bosa didn't participate in training camp. He, some people thought, was as good as gone. Then he signs a deal. At the last possible moment before week one, he dominates. They go to the Super Bowl. It's how this thing works, especially with superstars. This thing is not going to get done

soon. It's not going to get done quickly. But to your point earlier, caution everyone. It does not mean he's leaving. It does not mean he's running if he's not signed by June when OTAs roll around, by July when training camp rolls around. It's going to take a lot of time. That's pretty clear, and I think that's something that we all need to kind of get through our heads. So every time something like this pops up, it's not sound the alarms, Justin

Jefferson's leaving. Very, very confident that the Vikings in their current form want Justin Jefferson around as long as humanly possible. Calm down, everything will be okay, though, is a really bad strategy for getting people excited about a topic. So just keep that in mind that entertainment products usually try to build up the drama. And at least I think we have an obligation to be honest with you about this situation. But I will throw this out there for you i would vastly prefer it if they had justin jefferson signed by the first day of training camp or even by mandatory minicamp and sometimes they get things like that done a lot of times historically it's been early in training camp as it was even with daniel hunter reworking

his contract to get on the field i also believe kevin o O'Connell is going to push very hard for this. If there's one detail, it's going to be, come on guys, can we just give this to him? Because we got to get him back out there. If it was Kirk Cousins, I would say, well, whatever. I mean, he's going to go out there. He could probably do that today and run the offense with Kirk Cousins. He is so vital to this next quarterback having chemistry with him getting on the same page with him understanding every detail with him that if they don't get it done by the start of camp that will be my concern I'm not going to say well they're going to trade him or he's going to leave but more so is this going to set behind even if it's Sam Darnold is it going

to set behind Sam Darnold? Does it make the quarterback competition between Darnold and the rookie a little more difficult to figure? Because the guy who's most important to this operation isn't here. I would not be a fan of that, and I do think it could set them back a little bit. The other one concern is the hamstring. That when you don't go through all the training camp that we have seen this in the past durell revis was maybe the biggest example where he sat out he had this big battle with must have been the jets and then he came out pulled his hamstring wasn't the same

that year and he was older than jefferson but there's there these are these are mild concerns that i have but i just when it comes to the vikings negotiating this deal they can't be hard line they were hard line with cousins because they could be they were hard line with delvin cook because they could be they cannot be with justin jefferson because you're setting your entire operation pretty far back if you don't get it done by early in training camp yeah and i and I think that's a good point, hearkening back to talking about Nick Bosa. It's different because Nick Bosa rushes off the edge. You put him anywhere, he's going to go get after the quarterback, and you kind of know what you have in him at that point. And while the Vikings know what they have in Justin Jefferson, they know

he's the best receiver in football, you are right. If you want to run into week one, hit the ground running with Sam Darnold as your quarterback, you're going to want him to have some sort of built-in repertoire with Justin Jefferson. If you want to see how, say they draft a rookie next week, a rookie quarterback, you want to see how he's going to look with Justin Jefferson. You need those reps. You need those physical reps on the field. So it might take a while, but you're right. Every day that passes, once we hit July training camp, when they're pads on, people in the building, people in the stands taking videos on their phone,

all those lost reps, if it gets to that point, will be meaningful, will be harmful to kind of just the overall product because I still think this team feels like it can be competitive once week one rolls around. But if you're waiting to integrate Justin Jefferson into this new kind of normal with whoever's under center, it's going to take a while, even though it probably won't take him a while to, to feel like himself. Speaking of comebacks guys,

when they'll be on the field, there's a transition. TJ Hawkinson also spoke with us today and he seemed to be in quite good spirits about his recovery. However, when he was asked the obligation question, obligatory question of what is his timeline? He gave the natural day-to-day answer, but really hesitated when he was asked if he could be back by week one. And I recall when Brian O'Neill

was recovering from his Achilles and he talked pretty confidently about the idea of being back for the regular season and said, well, I'll be back during training camp. That's the expectation and so forth, or at least that's the way i remember it and hockinson kind of recoiled when he was asked and he's a very very earnest guy he speaks extremely well and was able to kind of express what he meant by that is just there's a process there's different blocks of you're trying to reach this level and that level to his recovery and it was good that his mcl healed so he didn't have to have mcl and acl which would have set him back farther but the expectation of him coming back week one seems far-fetched to me i remember and there i think there was additional damage to

mike hughes but mike hughes got hurt early in the 2018 season and then wasn't back until I believe week six of 2019 so these can take longer than just oh well the guy popped his ACL he'll be back next season that does mean that they're going to have to have somebody else ready to start the year it will also be a challenge for the offense with whoever the quarterback is working back in with TJ Hawkinson I don't think that's a huge concern as much as it would be if Jefferson wasn't out there for training camp, but I just took away. I wouldn't expect to see TJ Hawkinson for the first half of the season would,

would be a very safe prediction or at very least the first quarter of the year. Yeah. I think the exact wording he used was anything's possible. That's not a very set in stone like i'll be back week one if anything that's him saying no without saying no leaving the door open sure but i don't think even he believes he'll be ready anytime soon he talked about what he's physically able to do right now. He can squat in the weight room. He can do certain stability things in the weight room. He's not even running yet, and it's going to take a while. I think the good thing about the MCL healing on its own is

obviously if you have to go in and surgically repair both of those ligaments in the knee. The timeline is pushed down further. However, waiting for the MCL to heal on its own made it so he didn't have surgery until, you know, a month or so after the initial injury, even longer. So it is kind of that catch-22. He didn't get under the knife right away. They waited for that ligament to heal, waited for the swelling to go down, and then went in and surgically repaired the ACL. The good news about that is these injuries, you know, I think in a time, maybe a decade or two ago, an ACL was a death sentence to someone's career.

Now guys come back from them all the time, but they take time. So, yeah, I certainly don't think he's ready for season opener um and it would not shock me if it's week week six week seven week eight before we really see him ramped up ready to go and the other thing i learned from the acl is that it can cause other injuries and that was delvin cook in 2018 where he had the hamstring issue that they thought was kind of connected to the acl and then he got pushed back too fast. And so Hawkinson taking his time with recovery, the way that this season sets up, and I don't want to act like the results do not matter for next season

because Dane and I will be doing a postgame podcast where they miss a game-winning field goal with John Parker Romo, who is their kicker now, and we'll be ripping them apart, of course, as all of you will as well. But if there were ever a season to say, take your time, it's okay, you are a part of the next five years of this franchise, so don't cause additional injuries by pushing it back, it's this season, which is a transition between Kirk Cousins and whatever is going to happen next at quarterback. So he should take his time. He talked extensively about the hit that happened to him. And then also the

same player on Tyler Higbee caused the same injury, which sparked a lot of discussion about how you're supposed to hit receivers and tight ends over the middle of the field when the NFL does not want to hit you high, but allows you to take a player down at the knees and cause an ACL injury. Now, TJ Hawkinson in typical football player form said, Oh, if I have a concussion, I'll be out a week, but my knee, it's going to take this long of a recovery. So I'd rather get hit up top. Of course, I vehemently disagree with him with a lot of medical science to back that up. But also, hey, buddy, 30 years from now, you would change your opinion on that, I think, and prefer a little knee surgery.

So I would not advocate at all for the NFL to say, actually, yeah, you can pop tight ends in the head. a conundrum that is hard to figure out though because i think that what happened to him on that hit was avoidable for the safety but also completely legal so he can do it if he wants to do it and i don't know what i'm supposed to say there because if you take away low hits and you take away high hits and you try to create a strike zone with the tight end over the middle of the field that's going to be really really difficult and result in probably some silly penalties but it might be the only actual answer that we end up having and what we're going to say is you know what if a couple of uh guys break tackles and go for touchdowns because of it then yay we get more

touchdowns it's kind of like how cornerbacks can no longer go at the knees of linemen so corners when a lineman is pulling they have no answer in fact the vikings should do this more with brian o'neill and christian derisaw run them at defensive backs because they can't go low on them anymore and they just have no answer except for to get shoved out of the way. We didn't notice. We didn't really care. I don't remember hearing anyone say, well, that ruined football for me. That the corners couldn't go low.

If the NFL does go to some sort of strike zone for safeties to hit tight ends over the middle, it's probably the best solution to where you're not getting severe knee injuries and potentially ruining careers. But also, we can't go back to actually you know what was great was in the 90s when those guys got concussed every seam route like we don't want that either but i i do think it is a hard thing to ask for those defensive backs who already have rules out to wazoo to then say actually we're adding another rule so now you can't hit him almost anywhere except for in the tummy. Yeah, and I think TJ Hawkinson understands that it is kind of a hard conversation to have

because he was asked, what would you do? What would you change? What would you suggest if you don't want that tackle to be allowed in the NFL anymore? And he said, I don't know. I don't make those decisions. I don't get paid to make those decisions. And sometimes you hear guys say that,

like, oh, it's above my pay grade in a way that's like snarky and like that's not my lane. I genuinely think that TJ Hawkinson doesn't know what he wants as the alternative to that tackle. I just know he wants that out of the game. And it's fair to want that out of the game when you're, as he described it, 25 yards downfield looking back at the quarterback, and you go back and watch that play when your knee is shredded up two days later,

and you see Kirby Josephs looking at the ground and crowning your knee with the crown of his helmet. And then two weeks later, you see him do that to one of your friends, Tyler Higbee. The fact that it was the same play twice, and both plays in a vacuum created two monumental injuries to two tight ends, two of the best in the game. There's going to have to be change. And you're right. It's going to make life harder on defensive players. And you're probably going to hear certain defensive players that are more vocal and outspoken talk about how they're making the game harder for us again and again and again.

And they would be right. They are. The game is probably easier for offensive players. Not even probably. It's easier for offensive players now because a lot of the rules are geared towards keeping those players more safe than probably keeping the defensive players safe. However, to your point about pulling guards and pulling tackles and us not saying, oh, I wish the corners could go low. The viewer who the NFL game is tailored to watching is not going to care if the defensive player thinks the game is a little

bit harder because there's a strike zone between the neck and the knee. They're just going to keep watching. And as a business, the NFL wants those people to keep watching the best players in the league. So if you have to bring in a rule that makes another rule and another rule and another rule that makes it harder on defensive players, but the trade-off is keeping good offensive players on the field, the league's going to do that. And I think they have to just because of how identical those two plays were and how severe the injuries ended up being. Folks, we all have smartphones and we know that they are pretty amazing, but they can also be amazingly distracting, especially when we're around other people. So US Cellular wants us to reset our relationship with our phones by putting down our phones for five. That's right,

a company that sells phones wants us to put down our phones and see what we can find. Learn more at uscellular.com slash built for us. That's uscellular.com slash built for us. I feel like if Harrison Smith heard us talking about this, he would want to fight. He would hate us. Yeah, exactly. But I have to agree that something has to be done here because it does cause too many injuries. And this goes along with the hip tackle that people are talking about. And again, it's hard to tackle. It's hard to play in a safe manner.

It's football. It's dangerous. There is a part of me that says, come on, how are these guys supposed to play at the same time? Who's the one that are making sure you get the salary cap to raise every year? It's the offensive players. It's the exciting players. It's the fantasy players. You don't want Mark Andrews being dragged down on that hip drop tackle and being injured. And when all the data says it it but there are usually solutions and workarounds we're going to see that in the kickoff where they kind of took away the kickoff because it was too dangerous and then found a way to do it where it was less insanely dangerous and there might be some solution here i also thought of just how we assume it's just the hits up here that caused the concussion but if you go down low hit a guy on the knees where does his head go yeah right into the turf and there's probably in fact i think it was never a official concussion but i think t.j hockinson may have had one against kansas city last year where he got hit

low and face planted and ended up being at very least rocked and you know again if they didn't officially report it i can't say that for sure but it certainly looked like it to my eye that he had been knocked out on that play so I think that it also could be that measure as well if you're getting hit in the side you're flying down by the side but if you're being hit low you're going to go face first into the turf so there's your rules breakdown but Hawkinson at very least said uh that he is doing well it's going day to day and we'll see when he eventually ends up getting back we talked to brian o'neill i didn't think there were a lot of headlines for brian o'neill just that like he's

got a full off season this year he looked in comparison to last year this is a guy that struggles to keep the weight on clearly and he looked beefy to me and last year i felt like as he was going through that surgery and the recovery that it put him behind from a physical perspective that i think this year is more set up for the long run with brian o'neill because he is back at 100 for the whole offseason yeah and and he basically talked all about how his recovery process last offseason made it feel like the previous season the season he got injured in 22 basically bled right into 23 there was no downtime because he went right from getting injured in week 16 to rehabbing through the entire offseason there was no time to get away he was spent most of his time trying to get better and that bled all the way into week one of 23 so I think the mental break

is probably good for for all players and necessary for all players but just talking to Brian O'Neill today it did seem like he was more you know ready to get going or just kind of champing at the bit to get back onto the field or into these workouts because he had some time away, which he didn't have last year. I did think it was interesting, as vocal as Brian O'Neal was about we need to keep Kirk Cousins. Brian O'Neal would have died for Kirk Cousins the way he was talking last year. Asked about Kirk Cousins today, he was just like,

meh, you shoot him a text and say good luck and I hope they don't play good against us I'm not going to read into that saying Brian O'Neill is not as close with Kirk Cousins as we thought I think it's just a good example of it I think it's pretty easy for these guys to move on I think in a vacuum last year if you would have talked to Brian O'Neill you would have thought he's not going to be able to function. He's not going to play right tackle if Kirk Cousins is not his quarterback last year, just based on the words he used to describe that man. We asked him about it today. Yeah, Sam Darnold's good. Like, you know, we have a lot of good quarterbacks in the room. Wish Kirk all the best. So I thought it was an interesting change up based on how he was so in the corner of Kirk Cousins towards the middle and end of last year.

The only thing I would want to know, and it's not really that relevant, but just my curiosity, the end of the year sounded like they thought he was just going to sign an extension and be back on the field with them right now and maybe there was some shock from some of the players that he ended up leaving i don't know if kirk told other people it's going to happen i'm not coming back and so forth just the vibe that we got from locker cleanup was that a lot of the other players with he's our guy he's our leader we all want him back i know it's not our decision but whatever there seemed to be some confidence that he would even though he was right around the corner in that same locker room telling us it's what the dollars represent and clearly atlanta's dollars represented more love than the minnesota vikings but almost in the same way with Kevin O'Connell, where when we talked to Kevin O'Connell one day, it was, well, yeah, you know, it's going to be tough in front of us.

And then at the owners meetings, although it's hard to have bad vibes down there, but at the owners meetings, he seemed very excited about the process. And then now he seemed a little tired today. Seemed like it's been a long month for that man uh meeting with all of these different quarterbacks there was something hawkinson said about o'connell that stuck out to me maybe it did to you as well when he was asked about the offense maybe i asked this about the offense and how all these players have been in it for a couple years but the new quarterback will not so what that dynamic is like and he explained that the way that they teach the offense isn't just based on memorizing plays.

It's more based on a deeper understanding of how the offense functions, which he felt like would help someone coming in and being able to learn it because it helped him coming in and being able to learn it. And helped him coming in and being able to learn it and i think it's just a reminder every time they come back to this o'connell does as well the setup here and now is the best for a young quarterback including teaching the offense the players around him the veterans like o'neill hawkinson that have been here jefferson presumably but at very least addison has been in this offense as well. You just really couldn't set it up any better, including that comment, which I had never

thought of and didn't know. But that's interesting as well, that it's an easier offense to at least understand, or at least in his opinion, because they teach a deeper why is the way that they call it. So I thought that was notable that Hawkinson said the way that they call it. So I thought that was notable that Hawkinson said that, that he thinks it's actually a fairly easier offense to learn. I would have expected it would have been hard, but not in his opinion. Yeah, I think that probably speaks more towards just like how good Kevin O'Connell is at what he does. I think we've learned and heard that it is a complex offense,

but I think when you hear TJ Hawkinson say that, it does kind of, and it should give you some encouragement or some confidence that whoever steps into this offense, whether it's Sam Darnold for a full season, half a season, four weeks before the rookie takes the reins, or if it's the rookie right away, there is going to be kind of everyone on the same page. I think you kind of made the point,

like the offense has been here. Like a lot of members of the offense have been here, regardless of who the quarterback is going to be. So the fact that you hear one of those members of the offense saying, you know, this is a hard offense, but in a way it's easy because of the guy who teaches it, that should give a ton of confidence to whoever's getting selected on night one next Thursday. I do think there isn't a better situation for a rookie quarterback.

I think I saw somewhere, I don't know whose tweet it was on Twitter, the take is basically Kayla Williams might be the best quarterback in this draft. At least that's what we're being told. The second best quarterback might just be whoever gets drafted by the Vikings because the situation is ready made, you know, to go to hit the ground running. And that doesn't necessarily mean if they take Drake May or J.J. McCarthy that the guys start in week one. But I think the infrastructure in place in Minnesota is far greater than any place that a rookie quarterback could get drafted elsewhere.

Not really breaking news there. We know that. But it's not often that a team that needs a quarterback and is going to go take one in potentially the top 10 in this case if the Vikings trade up has so many pieces around that guy to succeed you see it more the opposite way where the guy is kind of just on an island and the rookie has to kind of make everything happen on his own or has too much weight on his shoulders right away that's not the case with the Vikingsikings whoever comes here um is going to have just a a great ramp way to be good i think for you know a really long time but also right away real quick um kind of been doing a thing

on the show smoke screen or nah because it's smoke screen season kevin o'connell spent quite a bit of time talking about what is meant by processing which i found to be very interesting because you hear people say it all the time but he actually defined it and he comes back to this a lot playing on schedule playing on time understanding the offense being able to deliver the football where it's supposed to go, understand the defense, all that stuff. And then he tosses in a sprinkle of, and occasionally be able to scramble to make a play. Now, a lot of this sounds like either Drake May or JJ McCarthy, which of course we have pinpointed as a draft universe for a very long time. And Jaden Daniels is the last person for them to meet with of all

the quarterbacks i don't know if it was reported with bo nicks or not but pennix for sure mccarthy and definitely drake may as well so there was just a recent report that they were going to meet with jayden daniels do you think it is a smokescreen or not that he's the last guy to visit and seemed like a bit of an afterthought and that he's constantly talking about well you know scrambling is just kind of tossed in there as part of it but isn't a huge part of it where of course with jayden daniels it's going to be a massive part of his game is he trying to toss us the other way don't look at the jayden daniels keep saying mccarthy wink wink uh or do you think that mccarthy's just going to go to washington Toss us the other way. Don't look at the Jaden Daniels. Keep saying McCarthy. Wink, wink.

Or do you think that McCarthy is just going to go to Washington and they don't think they have a chance at him? Or how do you feel about that? Smokescreen or not? I don't get the sense that the Jaden Daniels love or the suddenness of him being a part of this conversation is a smokescreen. I think it is just kind of their way of doing their due diligence. I just don't think that that is the guy that Kevin O'Connell wants to tailor his offense around. Now, I think it's smart to have him in for the workouts and meet with him because if you do draft him, at least you have that kind of plausible of we you know we liked him but I think everything we've heard and learned and just talking to Kevin O'Connor the

last two years there is a way of playing quarterback that I think fits him more than Jaden Daniels who is dynamic and I would love to see it I would love to see this offense with a guy who can do both who can fling the ball downfield with the best of them and take off and run for a touchdown if nothing's there but it does feel like almost when you hear Kevin O'Connell talk about the scrambling ability I get how it could be a smokescreen and and maybe it is him trying to downplay it so far that that no one expects that the Vikings want Jaden Daniels but that would be really good acting I today it just kind of felt like oh yeah you know we like this this this and this and if they can scramble sometimes yeah that's good too like it just feels like that's how his brain functions I think it always will go towards accuracy precision ability to process whatever that means that's a total

buzzword not processing in all of those things and what we know about him over the two and a half years working with him seem to line up with certain players more than others other quarterbacks more than Jaden Daniels in my opinion so I don't think it's some elaborate smokescreen over the last two and a half weeks of, you know, don't look this way because we're going the other way. I think we kind of know the type of quarterback that they kind of want in the building. Okay, I got a couple more smokescreen or nah for you. Let's do it. Unless you have some other Kevin O'Connell takeaway.

This is a tremendous bit. I think the smokescreen or nah is perfect because what is real at this point? We have no idea. That's the point. That's why we made the bit. J.J. McCarthy meeting with the New England Patriots. Is that a smokescreen or could the New England Patriots take J.J. McCarthy leaving potentially Drake May or Jaden Daniels on the board at number four for the Vikings to trade up.

Is that a smokescreen or not? That feels like a smokescreen to me. That one feels like we'll take him. I swear to God, we'll take him at three unless you give us that extra first round pick. The 11-23 in the 2025 first round pick, Quasey, or we're taking J.J. McCarthy. Look, we just had him in for a meeting. We'll take him. That's what that one feels like to me.

And I think when you hear certain things come out late in the process, you kind of feel that that's what the smoke screen is. I am excited for Thursday to roll around or next Thursday so we can stop thinking about these things. But that one screamed smoke screen to me. It screamed, we know you like this guy.

And if you really like him, you're going to have to give us the next pick. See, I've had a lot of fun with this. I could do this all year round. All the mystery leading up to the draft has been so much fun. I've seen a few people comment that they're tired of it. What? I got tired of not ever thinking the Vikings could go deep in the playoffs. i'm not tired of talking about how the next quarterback is going to be built around and how exciting it could potentially be i will say this is not a smokescreen i i think that the new

england patriots could have very legitimate interest in drafting jj mccarthy with the number three overall pick because of the hype and the buzz over him it probably is coming from somewhere i don't get the sense it's quite a will levis thing where where he just is not a first round pick at all and they just hyped him all up but i also look at the last quarterback who had success in new england and my god did he have success what was his profile didn't have the greatest statistics in college. He was a certain looking type of fella. He was known for his leadership, his diligence.

He was a little bit of a different cat because he was so football obsessed that he ate avocado ice cream and had face surgeries and stuff. So, I mean, I think I'm not saying JJ McCarthy will have face surgeries or that it's ever been proven that Tom Brady's face changed entirely over his career. That's for somebody else to look into and not me. The point is just that Brady was known as this psychotic, all football processing was high leadership. He just had all the look and it's the same college. Could they get talked into that? Yes, they could. Football people. Oh yeah. i think that they could a hundred percent get talked into that and they could just deliver drake may potentially on a silver platter at number four i'll give you another smoke screen or now though the rumor that was out there is that the chargers do not want to trade with the

vikings they don't want to move all the way back that there's a rumor that they need a top-notch player they want to get Joe Alt there at number five they don't want to move back is that a smokescreen from the Chargers to be like not enough guys your offer's not enough or could they be saying hey what does Jim Harbaugh like more than some giant offensive tackle that he can start running the football behind I'll start out what i don't believe first because that you're right like if you bring in jim harbaugh and you say what do you want he wants an offensive line oh yeah and he wants the best offensive lineman so there's probably some truth to like we'll stay put but i it's truth all rumors are you saying truth all rumors that it feels like a smokescreen for that, too, because it's like, why wouldn't you say, like, no, we're willing to sit here and take the best tackle on the board?

Like, that's what you should say in negotiations. Even if deep down you know you would take 11 and 23, like, in the 10 days leading up to the draft, again, smokescreen, you should say, we won't do it. That's not enough for us. We need more. Otherwise, we're going to take this tackle that we love. So that one feels like a smokescreen when you just look at what or how a negotiating tactic should go, right? Like everyone is tied to the Vikings and the Chargers together. Everyone is tied. The Vikings jumping from 11 to five, giving 23, um, and the Chargers moving back,

getting two good players rather than one top tier player. So if everyone is talking about that, you have to create a sense of, well, that's, that's not what we want to do. Um, so that's smoke screen, definitely a smoke screen to me. I agree with do. So that's a smokescreen. Definitely a smokescreen to me. I agree with that. I think every man has his price. And even if Jim Harbaugh, the only thing that has come into my mind is that Jim Harbaugh could have a beef. And maybe he's still friends with Kweisi Daffel-Mensah. But if he didn't like how the whole thing went down, flying out here, telling John Eubacon that he had the job.

Then remember John Eubacon? I love bringing him up. And because he was reporting that Harbaugh was getting this job, which meant that Harbaugh thought he was getting this job. And then at least maybe in his Jim Harbaugh mind, had the carpet pulled out from underneath him and doesn't want to do any favors for the Minnesota Vikings. This is a total conspiracy theory and has no backing whatsoever, but it does, uh, it does

add up a little bit. I also a hundred percent agree with you. Why would two weeks to go? Would you say, you know, we'd take pretty much anything. I mean, no, you want to jack up the price entirely. So as we stand right now dane it's probably the last podcast we'll do before the draft so give me the give me the thought to put a bow on it what do you think what's going to happen they're going to play offense like i don't think this is a the team that where they've we listened to quayseed off immense talk and kevin o'connell talk for the past two months about this didn't just randomly happen when they got together when they sat on that table in TCO Performance Center February 2022 and talked all about collaboration the collaboration was all in

the name of figuring out a quarterback this year I believe that I believe every single step that they've taken. Sure. Did they expect to have 11 one-score wins with Kirk in year one and go 13-4? No, I don't think they expected that to happen. I think that was a happy surprise that that happened. I think deep down everything led to this year because I think when you and these guys guys they're way better at it than than us they project well are they better at it no one's really that good but they would be aware

two years out more than us of what kind of quarterback class might be on the horizon that's what i mean they've they looked at this when they got together we got they got the job and they said 2024 those are some quarterbacks worth hitching your wagon to. Not in 2022 when we first got here, certainly not. 2023, they had some interest. They just couldn't get up to get. So I think when you take into account everything that went into this moment in time, they're going to play offense on next Thursday night. They're not going to sit back and wait and say like, you know,

these guys are all kind of the same to us. And, you know, like we, these guys are all kind of the same to us. And you know, I mean, they should say that, like they should put up their own smokescreen. We'll take, you know, we love everyone. Oh, so you think the love thing was a smokescreen? Yeah. I think that was a smokescreen for sure. Not nah, you thought that was a smokescreen. Nah. I thought it was ish. Smokescreen ish. I do think there's enough for it.

It's a light smoke. Minimal smoke. I do think there was some truth to that. I think they like multiple guys. Oh, that should be the other level. It should be smokescreen, nah, and truth to all rumors. That's the three levels. So this one is more of truth to all rumors. I think so because I think there are multiple guys they like,

and I think that is true. But I think you would be an idiot to go up there two weeks before the draft and say we only like two guys like we only you know we love Drake May and JJ McCarthy I hope somebody trades up but we are screwed if you guys call the chargers and try to help us

if Q England stays put and Arizona and LA won't trade with us we're screwed we didn't prepare for this. You would be an idiot to go up there and say that. So that felt like a smokescreen. All of this is me saying I expect them to be aggressive. I expect next Thursday night the Vikings to have drafted,

for the first time ever, a quarterback in the top 10. I don't know who it's going to be. I think it's probably between Drake May and J.J. McCarthy just because I think my brain has just been trained to think that over the last two months. It could be someone else. It could be Jaden Daniels. But I really expect them to go up and make it happen.

I don't think we're sitting back here in two weeks or three weeks when the rookies come in and saying like, oh yeah, they waited for this guy to fall on their lap. I think they're being aggressive. They're going to go up and get someone. Who that is, I wish I knew. But I think if they are trading up, it's probably going to be either for Drake May or JJ McCarthy, maybe Jaden Daniels if he falls. But they're they're gonna make it happen they're not sitting back at 11 they're not waiting to 23 to take their guy you don't spend two years waiting to then wait some more i think they want to make something do you hear how fast quasey was talking last week like that man is ready to take his quarterback of the future he's not waiting until three hours in the draft to do it doesn't it feel like there is a if then in place already

if jayden daniels is the number two pick then the number three is happening or if whatever then the number four is happening with arizona that they have worked these things out and quacey was even talking about well you know i'm always calling people with all these ideas and everything they have been working the phones since they acquired number 23 without question to try to move up they are willing and ready to give up whatever they've got to give up but you shouldn't take the first deal if you don't have to deadlines make deals we can actually almost put together all the quotes that add up over all this time to form and i present you drake May, as the Vikings' next quarterback. I think that's who they want.

I think that's what they'll find a way to do, almost no matter what gets in their way. So, anyway, Dane Mizutani, Matthew Collar here. Actually, on draft night, you're going to be sitting in this room. I'll be back in my studio, and you'll be popping on, giving some updates. So looking forward to that. Thanks for your time today, and we'll catch you all later. Football. you you you