Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Justin Jefferson wasn't at OTAs, we concerned?

Episode Date: May 24, 2023

Matthew Coller and Jonathan Harrison discuss Justin Jefferson's absence from OTAs on Tuesday and whether we can start drawing conclusions about what it might mean for his contract situation. Also an OTA debate, a bad NFL rule and an "analytics" power ranking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purple Insider is presented by Oakley. Express yourself, build a look that's made for you. When you wear Oakley, there really is more than meets the eye. Try it for yourself. Oakley is not only the best looking, but the best quality. So head on over to oakley.com for more information today. Hey everybody, welcome into Purple Insider. And you're never going to guess this, but the show is brought to you by these shades. I received these in the mail today from Oakley, our new sponsor.

And I got to tell you the truth, there are some benefits to having Oakley as our sponsor. And it's these shades. I've gone from a very uncool person, very uninteresting. All I do is football. I play some golf on the side. That's it. That's my whole life. But now that I've put these on, I am so much cooler, so much more interesting.

Well, I'm kidding about that part. It is great to have Oakley along, and I'm going to wear the shades for the whole show because I like them. And these are, by the way, the matte black prism sapphire polar. If you want to look as cool as me and Oakley express yourself, build a look that is made for you. Is this look not made for me and made for Hot Routes? Absolutely is. It's a fire look, and it's great for hot routes. It's point perfect there. I really feel like specifically for hot routes, like the flames are so hot that I need these amazing shades in order to deal with the heat from hot routes. So I have another pair that are very similar to the ones

that Justin Jefferson wears, but I'm just not cool enough. I just don't, I'm not sure. I think you got to show, show, show the viewers what they look like. All right. I left them in the other room, but these will do. These will do. Maybe we'll see. Yeah. I was going to say, we'll see how confident I start to get in my shade game after this, if I wear them. But yeah, so uh we're gonna have some serious heat that that that's right see right here what Daniel says Justin Jefferson and me team Oakley that's right yeah we're basically the same so uh anyway I feel that my confidence has increased already tenfold

just since I put them on and also it's nighttime and I'm wearing them and I feel even cooler. I like, I, you know, the song, like I wear sunglasses at night. Like that's me now. I could be at the Lakers game, but I'm here. And then Lakers aren't playing. I was going to say the Lakers aren't playing anymore. They're done. No, they're not.

But I could be somewhere cooler than this. And yet I want to be here in order to talk football. And the Vikings had OTAs today. And actually, Justin Jefferson is a great place to start, Jonathan. Jefferson, Delvin Cook, Daniil Hunter, those guys were not at OTAs. It is voluntary OTAs. Harrison Smith wasn't there. Jordan Hicks, there's no controversy with those guys.

But one out of ten on how concerned folks should be that justin jefferson is not at otas maybe if i wear these tomorrow he will come to see how great i look now he'd come to see how great you look if you were the ones that he wears if you wear the other ones so i can go get him if everybody wants to see i I just feel like I look ridiculous. You have to go get those. That's the point. Okay, you talk about it for a second. I'll be right back. Trust me. The sunglasses are great.

On a panic meter scale, I would say I'm maybe a three. And Caller and Alec on the latest Purple Insider podcast did a raised eyebrow, and I think that's about right. So we're about to see Call here with the wraparounds. Come on now. Those are fantastic. They're pretty boss. They're pretty boss.

I have to tell you the truth. I got nothing. I'm just going to continue. I'm not too concerned caller. I'm just going to continue. I'm not too concerned caller. I'm just really not. If, if this was like a second or third time, like we experienced with digs,

then I'd be, then my panic meter would be up in the seven, eight, nine, 10 range. But right now it's probably a two or three. This is going to get done. It feels like,

like it's really hard to turn down $200 million or whatever they're going to offer him. It just feels like something that will be worked out like the Vikings typically do. They'll announce it right before training camp, get everybody excited. Everybody will show up to training camp again, and then there will be a happy camp again. But right now I'm not too concerned. It's OTAs. It's voluntary.

Yes, it'd be nice for him to be there so we can see how that offense might look with the new receiver with Jordan Addison and KJ Osborne and all that but I'm not too concerned it's probably a two or three as I said earlier while you were getting the glasses you and Alec did the raised eyebrow I think that's about right or just like interesting okay but I'm not too concerned I'm told that these look better than the other ones and uh I think I look like a third basement, like, you know what I mean? Like on a, on a sunny day.

All right. So I have to turn up. I would love to turn up the heat on my takes to match my look. However, yeah, I don't know what to make of it. I really don't because in one way I want to say it's surprising because he hasn't missed anything like this before. I don't remember

any time Justin Jefferson has ever not been at an OTA or a mini camp or whatever else. And yeah, well, it's true that, you know, Jordan Hicks isn't there and Harrison Smith isn't there. And so those aren't guys you're too concerned about and it is voluntary. Anybody can say to me, oh, it's voluntary. Oh, it's voluntary voluntary i believe their attendance was like 100 last year when zimmer was here their attendance was if not 98 100 it it is true that you know they're allowed to not be here they will not get fined for not being here but it is also unusual for him not to be here so i think that it is not just as bradley says in the comments a slow news cycle if if he had always skipped otas then sure i'd be like oh jefferson never comes to otas who cares no big deal but we cannot ignore the fact that he has

a massive contract extension uh to try to work out with the Vikings and to make the connection between is he trying to pressure the team or what is going on behind the scenes because that could be the case but it also might not be the case and that's the thing that he has not said anything publicly for why he isn't there which also just kind of leaves us to speculate. The team has not come out and said, hey, Justin Jefferson had a prior commitment. Now, something that I did think of that happened with Anthony Barr in OTAs a couple years ago was he was getting insurance. So, I mean, naturally, if you have a chance to get a huge contract, what you want to do is get insured in case you had a career

ending injury, which of course knees and Minnesota are a thing. So if you had a career ending injury, you would still get insurance from that. I'm sure it's very, very expensive. And even a person with these shades could not afford it. But if you're Justin Jefferson, it's a very wise idea. And that sometimes takes some time to process and be in place. And that's why Anthony Barr did not come to OTAs a few years ago. And that could be why, but I am purely speculating. I have no idea because nothing has come out exactly why he is not there, which does leave us to say, Hmm. And that's about the best I can really do though. As, as far as the Jefferson situation is just to say, Hmm, because it's about the best I can really do though, as far as the Jefferson situation is

just to say, hmm, because it is not mandatory minicamp. If he is not there for mandatory minicamp, then I would absolutely say this is starting to get worrisome because you do get fined, I believe, for not showing up for mandatory minicamp. And if he was willing to miss that and take the fine, then it's him sending a message to the team about the contract extension. It does seem like there's just too much pull of the way things are set up in the NFL, that if you're Jefferson and you want to fight this, it is a long ride to get to free agency.

I mean, you can make a ton of noise and try to work your way out. But the thing is that when, say, like the Jets traded Jamal Adams, they, I think, understood that Jamal Adams was not really worth it. Justin Jefferson is worth it. So the Vikings, I think, would fight him tooth and nail to the end. They would fifth-year option. They would franchise tag. They would use everything in their power to make sure. And the NFL gives the teams lots of power with the

players that they draft. So there really isn't a like truth to all rumors situation here so far. I just am interested to hear the answer when he eventually gets here, which I think that that will be during mandatory minicamp. I would be very surprised if he's not there then, and he will likely talk then because usually he does. I mean, maybe things are being handled differently now, but normally he would talk during OTAs or minicamp at least once going into the summer and then come back at camp, talk again there, and we'll kind of get an update on that i am less confident though that this will be one of those oh it's done by the beginning of minicamp because jefferson was a first round pick he has a lot of sponsorships including just like us oakley uh and he's not struggling for cash. So he can wait it out.

He can go through another year to see where things stand with this team and decide how he wants to handle the situation if that's what he wants to do. And I also like what Josh is saying here. Whoops, that's not the one. Here it is. About being disappointed and would have expected him to show leadership and be there. Well, Harrison Smith wasn't there today either. So I don't know if you can really tie the man's leadership with missing a couple days of OTAs.

I would not do that. But I want to see what happens next, though. I think I wouldn't say, oh, man, you're being selfish or whatever else. We can't really say anything until we have more information about why he's not there. And if he is just not showing up because he believes that he has the offense down from last year, doesn't need to do it, is working on his own, is whatever else. I don't think that's a great idea personally. I think you should just come and be with your team and not separate yourself from the team. But a lot of times there are legitimate reasons for why these guys miss time. I mean, even if you had like, think about this, if you're him and you

played in this offense last year and did what you did, and there's nothing that is so vastly new that you can't pick up on a mandatory miniper throughout the summer. And you had anything going on. You had family obligations, you had friends, wedding, you had whatever. You're just not going to show up that day. So I want to give a lot of leeway here and not start throwing around accusations of you're not being a leader or he's demanding a trade or he's trying to force their hand. I don't want to say that stuff until we know that stuff. It really is just, okay, what's happening here? I think that's as far as I want to go. Yeah, I'm not too, like you said,

if it gets any further past OTAs and it's mandatory minicamp, then I'm getting concerned. But right now, I think there's a lot of, it feels like there's a lot of held over anxiety because of what happened with Stefan Diggs and what's happened to this fan base before, not just with the Vikings, but with other star players in other sports and how it tends to go with those star players on the teams in Minnesota. So I think there's just a lot of held over anxiety from that, which I totally understand. But right now, I'm not too concerned about it

because of the season he had last year. Yes, you'd like to see him be there and be with the team because you saw, and it's not an apples-to-apples comparison here, but you saw how ineffective the Packers were at the start of the season after Aaron Rodgers missed all the off-season activities and only showed up for training camp. It can hamper a team early on in the season after Aaron Rodgers missed all the offseason activities and only showed up for training camp. It can hamper a team early on in the season, and with the schedule they have, you can't afford that.

You can't afford to come out slow out of the gates because of how this schedule sets up for them. So you'd like to see Justin Jefferson there, but I'm not too concerned about it right now. Disappointed, but I don't think I'm too concerned that he's not showing up to a voluntary practice on day, day two of it. It just like day one or day two. If, if it goes on into mandatory minicamp, then there, then we can actually, then we can light up the emergency podcast and be concerned about it.

But right now, no. So I think that that is true for a quarterback. I don't know if it's true for a wide receiver. I mean, think about TJ Hawkinson. I talked to TJ Hawkinson today. And one of the things that he was saying was that, you know, last year he just had to kind of memorize as much as he could and try to go execute it. And now he's using OTAs and TJ's got a contract issue as well that he doesn't have an extension yet.

And he was talking about how, you know, now he's trying to understand like the deeper levels to the offense. But I think that Justin Jefferson already would. And think about TJ Hawkinson last year. He was able to show up in the middle of the season and thrive for the Vikings. And by the end of, you know, the by the end of the playoffs, he was putting up career high numbers. I mean, 10 catches, 129 yards in the playoff game. And that was a guy that showed up mid season. So I think that

some of these things can be a little overstated. Something that I don't understand is like you said, the overreaction and anxiety for just about anything and everything, including Matthew in the comments who wants to trade Justin Jefferson already. No, you don't want to trade Justin Jefferson. That's not what you want to do. I think that though, what you do have to do, and Kweisi Adafo-Mensah talked about this at the Combine. I thought it was a very important statement that he made.

He was saying that they loop Justin Jefferson into what they're doing. So they are communicating with Justin Jefferson about their plan throughout the off season. And he would know, uh, what's, um, you know, like what's, what's coming next for them. Right? I mean, I think that he would know what their plan is. Are they planning to, you know, draft a quarterback next year or look at the market next year for quarterbacks? Or are they trying to extend Kirk behind the scenes? Like he would have a good idea for this. The only thing that I keep coming back to with Jefferson

is the fact that there really isn't much of a negotiation to be had. It's basically, justin wants a short term deal they're going to be like are you sure you don't want a super super duper long deal and if he's like no short deal then they then they're going to have to sign a short deal just like dk metcalf last year and if they say if he if he wants max money the highest guarantees ever whatever else they're going to pay it because they want to keep the best wide receiver in the NFL, particularly in this league where we now, I think, see even more and more that wide receivers are close in value. And remember,

intern Haley did a study on this. She asked the question, could a receiver be close to a quarterback in value? And her answer was basically yes, which is almost unheard of, but it really was for Justin Jefferson and the numbers that he's putting up, the yards per attempt, the total yardage. I think he's over his career, 400 yards more than the next best wide receiver in the league since 2020, which is absolutely insane. I think the next best was Devontae Adams. That's just nuts. So everybody knows the deal. They want it to be done. They know what the price is.

It really comes down to, does Justin Jefferson believe in that direction, I think? And if we find, you know, if he says that he does not believe in the direction, I think they could still drag it out for another year to try to convince him like for next year hey we're going to draft this quarterback or whatever their plan might be for the future so this offseason he has and this is why i don't really buy into he's just missing this because

of a contract like pressure is he doesn't really have much option i after the third year, he really doesn't have very much option at all. If they were going to trade him at some point down the road, it would be very similar to Hawkinson, where they got into that last year. It would be next year. And then it wasn't looking like he was going to sign an extension. Then they would consider that. That's what happened with Khalil Mack. They ran it to the very last minute, traded him right before the season. So I think that we're a while from running into that crossroads,

but I mean, players are putting more pressure on organizations than ever. I just, I'm only going two out of 10 right now in terms of concern for Justin Jefferson. Now, because Jefferson wasn't there, Jordan Addison, by the way, did not practice today. And when he was asked coming off the field why he didn't practice, he just kept walking. So we didn't get an answer. Kevin O'Connell didn't talk, so he didn't get an answer on why Jordan Addison was not practicing. That's another one that raises a little bit of an eyebrow. Again, it is May 23rd. I am not ready to overreact to anything almost at this point.

You wanted to see Jordan Addison practice though in OTAs. You don't want to see him already requiring a day off because that sort of gives you the like Andrew Booth Jr. vibes, which by the way, he was out there fully participating and Louis seen was so very good news on that front. Brian O'Neill was not practicing. He was around, but he wasn't practicing. Wouldn't expect him to be out there until training camp, but good news on that front.

And it is true that like the comment said, Kevin O'Connell is always very, very careful with these players, particularly around this time of year. So not concerned about that. But here's a question that we were debating on the sideline today, myself and Andrew Kramer of the Star Tribune. Who has more catches this year, KJ Osborne or Jordan Addison, do you think? This is a tough one because it feels like, I don't know,

I've kind of waffled on which one I think is going to have more catches. I think I'm going to go Jordan Addison has more catches just because first round pick, they want him to succeed. Uh, as you've stated a couple of times, it does feel like with KJ Osborne coming up in the last year of his rookie contract, that it feels like he may move on next season because, uh, he may get a big contract and the Vikings won't be able to afford him. So they're going to want Jordan Addison to get as many reps and catches as possible to be that number two wide receiver. And it feels like with his route running ability that does play early on in a

wide receivers career, it helps them adjust the NFL a little bit faster than some of these other guys. It feels like Jordan Addison, if things, if the scouting reports are correct and everything that we read going or from the draft is correct, that this kid is really special out route running, then the Vikings have something good on their hands, hopefully.

And he may just, he may take over right away as the number two wide receiver in this offense. And with Justin Jefferson on the other side, taking away some of the defenders, it's going to be a little bit easier for him. So I want to say Jordan Addison, just because of that factor, because of the youth, the, the place where they drafted him at number at with their first overall pick, I think they'll get him, they'll try and get him as much, as many touches as they can get because of their belief

in him and wanting to show that he was worth that first round pick. So I'm going to go with Jordan Addison, uh, on this question. Folks, our new sponsor Oakley, maybe you've noticed it has taken our show to the next level. Oakley express yourself and build a look that is made for you. And guess what? That's exactly what I did. Just got a new pair of matte black prism, sapphire polar sunglasses from Oakley. And I got to say they are are a game changer I'll be wearing them golfing playing basketball training camp it is clear now that I have not been doing anywhere enough for my sunglasses game until now Oakley is changing the game and it's time for you to discover a whole new world of possibilities they are suited for everyday wear with frames and lenses

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change your look for the better. When you wear Oakley, there is more than meets the eye. Try it for yourself. I have worn a lot of sunglasses in my life, and I can assure you that Oakley is not only the best looking, but the best quality out there. Go to oakley.com for more information today. receivers last year had more catches than KJ Osborne that were rookies. So, and last year, remember how good last year's rookie classes. So that was Garrett Wilson, instant star, Drake London, and Chris Alave, instant star. And Drake London was also very good. I'm not sure if he's of the level of the other two, but those are the only guys who had more receptions than KJ Osborne did last year who were rookies. And those guys were, in my opinion and the opinion of the league based on where they were drafted, higher caliber of prospects. Now, that's not me being a doubter or a hater of Jordan Addison. It's only to say that being a rookie in the NFL is not the easiest thing in the world.

And some other receivers who are very good, Jahan Dotson, Traylon Burks, like those guys had their moments. 33 catches, 35 catches. Christian Watson, we think he had a great season last year, right? 41 catches. George Pickens, he flashed big time last year. 52 catches. I mean, even the guys who had good seasons last year as rookie wide receivers,

and I think are promising for the future, did not put up huge numbers. It was really only the insta stars. And the same thing is for the last couple of years, like Jamar Chase, instantly fantastic. But even Devontae Smith did not have this crazy year right away. And he was similar. I think if there's like one player who you would comp Jordan Addison to, and Devante Smith was a better prospect than Jordan Addison, taller, absolutely crushed college football at Alabama. So I think that there's going to be a trust factor right away. There's also the element of KJ Osborne is in the second year in this offense.

And if you go back and look at the end of last season, that was when KJ Osborne was really rolling along. And so, you know, I think that there's going to be some carryover for that, that he's going to take a lot of Adam Thielen's production away. And I would go with KJ Osborne for having more receptions. And again, that's not to say that I think Jordan Addison won't fit in. I think Addison has the right stuff to fit in. Somebody who's a great route runner, somebody who loves ball and picks up on things really quickly and kind of has high football IQ. But I also think that this offense in particular, I remember last year, Justin Jefferson,

who is as football obsessed as any player I've ever been around and is really, really good at picking up on things. He was talking about getting into the first couple of weeks of the season and not having mastered this offense and still felt like they were kind of not going through the motions, but like just having to like really think about it, not being able to play kind of at full speed right away. And, you know, before they kind of got going and started to be fluent about the offense, he said it took like half a season. So if that's the case and it is very complicated for wide receivers, then K.J. Osborne gets a huge advantage here.

So you could see Jefferson and Osborne. And let's not forget also that TJ Hawkinson is going to catch 80 balls. I mean, if he's healthy, it's 60 last year. Well, and then 10 more in the playoff. So he played 11 total games and had 70 catches last year. That is a,

that is a hundred catch pace or more. And he, you know, so these guys have been security blankets for Kirk Cousins in the past, KJ Osborne and now TJ Hawkinson. I think that if Jordan Addison ended up with 45 or 50 catches, but had a good season and got open and made some plays and everything else. I mean, I think you're looking at a great rookie season for for him it's just that especially with the fantasy world we live in i mean i've seen every fanny fantasy analyst talk about well jordan addison he's going to get the ball all the time he's going to be wide open because of justin

jefferson it's like well there's also two other guys that you know cousins has been with longer and our veteran players who are also expected to get the football when it's not going to Justin Jefferson not only that but you know they're going to throw to Madison out of the backfield probably try to increase their screen game they're going to want to run a little bit more this season I think they've made it very clear that they don't necessarily want to throw 600 plus passes with Kirk Cousins again I think that maybe uh Gary Kubiak whispered in the ear of Kevin O'Connell, like, run the boots. You know, I mean, just, I really, I really think that they are putting an emphasis on running more efficiently and throwing fewer passes and it could end up leaning toward KJ Osborne. So that's my

case. I could be very wrong. Like Addison could be a star right away and we could never talk about KJ Osborne again. I just think he's good. Like I think that KJ Osborne, because they drafted another wide receiver almost gets talked about as if the guy he's just like another body out there. And I don't think that's the case. I think that's, I think the Kirk cousins part is the part I may have overlooked when I was coming up with my answer here is that he has a certain trust factor in these guys that are already there. And it takes a little bit obviously to get into that trust factor. And Jordan Addison is going to have to work on that and become a target for Kirk cousins.

It's not just going to happen overnight because he's the first overall, the first round pick for the Vikings. So I think that's probably one of the things that I overlooked there. And I think you might've flipped me on this one. KJ Osborne probably will end up with more catches just because he has Kirk's trust right now. As the season rolls on, who knows how that'll change. But right now he has the trust of Kirk Cousins,

whereas Jordan Atson still has to build into that. Yeah, yeah, I think that's the case. Yeah, I mean, if you guys want to continue to roast me in the comments about the sunglasses, please do. But just remember, I look cooler than you because I am wearing our sponsor Oakley's. So let's just keep that in mind. But roast away. I mean, your roasts are hilarious. Anyway, so I think that that is a really interesting discussion and something that we can see play out. And that's where training camp is where it starts to become really interesting. But that is also why it's a little unfortunate that a Jordan Addison wasn't practicing today.

And again, like let's not overdo it with what an OTA practice means, but Jalen Naylor was out there a lot. I actually liked how Jalen Naylor looked. I think that he has a really good chance to make the team over Jalen Rager. I have not done a 53-man roster because why would I do that? It's only May. I mean, it's so far away.

I guess after the draft, you could give it a shot. But, you know, I really do think that Jalen Naylor has some more upside potentially than Jalen Rager does, And so he could make the team. So he got reps out there. A few more guys got reps out there like Brandon Powell, who they picked up that's likely going to be a part returner if he makes the team. And Jordan Addison didn't get some of those reps that he probably could have used with Justin Jefferson not there.

And KJ Osborne is out there, you know, doing his thing. So we'll see how that plays out. But we'll really get a feel in training camp. Like how many reps with the first team is Jordan Addison getting? Is he getting them right away? Is he, you know, filling in with the second team right away? Like those things start to tell us what's going on. Just like last year, I remember with Louis scene where we were talking about how like Louis scene was not getting the first team reps right away. It was like, well,

when does that become a problem? And as we got through the preseason, it became a problem that he wasn't getting those first team reps. So you can never really say for sure what someone's going to be till you start to see them in training camp. I want to bring up a few other things, Jonathan. One of them is that the NFL made a rule so baffling that if I didn't love this game

deeply, I'd just give it up. I would just never, because I love special teams. I love kick returners. Back in the day, we had great kick returners. I mean, so, I mean, you could just name them like Tamar Vanover and Josh Cribs and Dante Hall, Eric Metcalf. If you want to go back, Mel Gray, Cordero Patterson, Percy Harvin. So there's so many great kick returners. And they have had their jobs robbed from them. And now even worse than that, the NFL is allowing teams to call for fair catch wherever they want and get the ball at the 25.

So Matt Daniels came up with this great strategy, analytically backed, where they would kick it off short intentionally into the corner and try to pin the guy in the corner. Great plan. Super fun. Like this is what you want to see. You want to see a special teams coordinator who's got some interesting ideas and they had some great plays off of it. Started some teams pinned way back in their own zone because of it and now the nfl has said no it's cool if you just call for fair catch on that play even if you're at like the 10 yard line and you get it at the 25 that's what they do in college it stinks it is so boring and so ludicrous

i i don't understand it at all the xfl style kickoff was what they should have gone to if they wanted to protect players i do not know why they're doing this they have basically taken this out of the game and so if they want to just start the ball 25 after somebody scores just do that then yeah why is the kid why is the kicker wasting his leg well why why is anybody they're getting a little uh little wind sprints in there and that's about it it. So, yeah, I mean, I don't get this one. This is one of the most frustrating and baffling decisions, and it seems like from what some people are reporting,

it is entirely based on what? They're concerned about player safety, or they're concerned about getting sued over player safety? I don't understand this at all. Yeah, from the reports that I saw, it was Roger Goodell urging the owners to do it because to protect their liability. Like, what are we doing here? When the coaches wouldn't, when the coaches and players are telling you, this is a stupid rule. You should probably listen to them. They're the ones on the field, not the, not the billionaires in the press or in the, in the owner's suite. Like don't,

those guys shouldn't have the say on the rules. It should be the coaches and everything who have the rules, who get to say whether a fundamental, fundamental change happens. And this is just, this is ridiculous that this is happening. It is one of the dumbest rules that they have. And if you sign the developmental deal or whatever they did with the XFL, the partnership that they had of experimenting on stuff, take what the XFL is doing for the kickoff because it works. It's fantastic. They have no injuries over the past two seasons that the XFL has played with that kickoff rule. It clearly tamps down the injuries, and it provides an excitement.

As you said, if you're just going to give it to them at the 25, why waste our time? Why waste three seconds? Well, it turns out to be three minutes because you get the commercial break before and after and just waste everybody's time. Why waste three minutes or three seconds? Well, it turns out to be three minutes because you get the commercial break before and after and just waste everybody's time. Like stop wasting people's time. If you're just going to start at the 25 every time, just place the ball down there and let's get going. Like if you're going to take out a whole aspect of this game, just get rid of it entirely. Stop with this charade of it. But it, this just reeks of,

it feels like to me, it reeks of ego that they didn't want to take what the XFL is doing because they're embarrassed that a lesser league had a better idea than them on how to change the game and make it safer, make it more fun. That they didn't want to take that and admit that someone else had a better idea when if you do it, you look smart. I mean, look at baseball and how they've changed. They've made fundamental changes and all of a sudden ratings, fan attendance, everything goes up because you make fundamental changes that bring excitement back into the game. What's more exciting than a kickoff return for a touchdown. I can't think of many other things in this sport that are more exciting than

that. When you have guys that are specialists, like you mentioned, Devin Hester, Dante, Dante Hall, all these guys that are in NFL lore for being great kick returners. There is no more exciting player than those guys in the NFL. Yeah, and the XFL kickoff, I agree with you. I know that it was being discussed after the XFL first came out that I was told by a special teams coordinator at the Combine in 2020 that they had had that discussion and i so the xfl kickoff is pretty simple the two teams line up like 10 yards away from each other across the field it looks a little funky and the kicker kicks it off from his normal spot but he

can't kick it through the end zone he's got to kick it into kind of a box of you know whatever beyond the 20. And so the kick, the guy catches it. And then it's like a play. As soon as he catches it, then everybody blocks and they go. And once you see it for the first time, you go, that's pretty weird. But then after a few of these, they started getting more creative. So there was teams that were running like reverses and actual kind of plays and blocking

schemes for this thing. And it was exciting. And there were some big returns. And at very least, it's a play. It's an opportunity for somebody to make a play with the football. I don't know. Maybe this is to delay that, to give it another chance to go back and to look at it closely. It does feel like they don't want to say someone came up with something much better than us.

But that's what has happened here and i i just i just feel like why why even have special teams coordinators if we're going to take all the special teams out and when you look at player safety they have done a ton and this is as a watcher of old games, I could tell you, holy cow, when you go back like 15 years plus, it's a different game. The number of guys who had the cobwebs knocked out or whatever, you know, and do the little smell and salts and get back in there. And the amount of safeties, even 10 years ago, who are flying across the field, head headhunting those safeties were pretty common and even in the early 2000s into the 2010s they have taken that all out of the game i think they've done a great job but you also cannot litigate every single element of the game to where there's not going to be contact and there are a lot of injuries on these plays, but are they injuries that are, you know,

because of the speed of two teams running into each other? Because that's what the XFL sought to solve, was the two teams colliding at full speed. The other thing I'd love to see back that we'll never see back is the onside kick you could actually get. The Vikings won a playoff game because of that in 1997 where they got an onside kick. So anyway,

that's, that's too much ranting about this rule. It will be very frustrating. And I actually feel bad for Matt Daniels. That guy spent all this time studying it, creating it or, or perfecting it for this team, this play where you could kick it down to the corner and succeeding with it

and then gets it taken away for what reasons I'm just not exactly really sure. So one more thing that I had to talk about was ESPN's analytics department. They're getting it online, getting it pretty tough. And I'm not really sure how any of it works. Oh, I'm sorry. I did want to answer the one question about Kenny Wongwu. It does become possible, yes, that Kenny Wongwu could have a job eliminated as a kick returner.

And that really stinks. Because, well, Brandon Powell is here, and essentially all you need someone to do is just catch it. But maybe with Kenny Wongwu they will not do that and they will try to have him return. So it does put his job a little bit at jeopardy, but probably not because he has home run threat ability. I mean, it gets you the ball to the 25. So if you don't have a kick returner with any talent, you could just get it at the 25. But with Kenny Wong Wu, he is a home run touchdown threat. And even if it's one or two touchdowns a year, uh, and he probably has the capability to do even more.

So, I mean, I think that it does threaten his job, but it does not make it a guarantee that he's out because they will return. It's not like this rule requires you to fair catch. So I want to make that clear. It's not like it says anywhere you catch it, it just goes to the 25. You have to fair catch. It just gives you that option. And a lot more teams are probably going to do that when they try to do the pin play. So just to to the 25. You have to fair catch. It just gives you that option. And a lot more

teams are probably going to do that when they try to do the pin play. So just to clear that up, I don't know that Kenny Wong Wu's job is in jeopardy because of it. So anyway, ESPN's analytics department has been just hammered for tweeting out that the Miami Heat had a 3% chance to reach the NBA finals and are now up 3-0. Now, look, if you run a model, here's my criticism on this. If you run a model and you've plugged all these numbers into it, and look, Boston was a way better regular season team. So if you're plugging into this model the regular season,

it might come up with some crazy numbers favoring Boston. But there has to be somebody who says, you know, let's just not like let's just not put this out there because those numbers are not reflective of what's happening today. And that was probably the mistake. How Miami has played today is not like what they were in the regular season. They had the second most games lost to injury all year, which was a major factor for why they were in 80 plus they had to win a play in game to get in. So I see where the gap would be. Boston was a prolific regular season team.

I don't know how that gets to 97%. Nothing should ever be that much in pro sports. The whole point is just that someone's got to say, guys, let's not send this out. But I would not throw out the entire ESPN analytics department because of one, let's say, miscue. So the ESPN analytics department has their football power index that is out and the minnesota vikings are somehow in the same place that the minnesota vikings always are in every ranking ever of all time which is 15th i mean isn't that nuts they are it's like kirk cousins is always ranked 12th in every quarterback and in every power ranking the vikings are somewhere between 14th and 17th all the time, forever, in the entire history of the National Football League.

And maybe I can, or maybe you can, because you're smarter than me, screen share this if you have the link up. But I wanted to know if any of these other ones, if you think that's fair, for one, and if any of these stand out to you for these power rankings, maybe I can screen share. Give me a sec. You talk, I'll screen share. All right. The one that kind of stands out to me for the power rankings by,

by ESPN, the Broncos being above the giants, the Vikings, the Seahawks, all these teams made the playoffs last year, and the Broncos looked miserable and awful, and I don't understand how just bringing Sean Payton in all of a sudden bumps them up to, what do they have, the 13th best team in the league?

That seems ridiculous, especially considering the division they're in, the conference they're in. It seems like everything's going to get harder, and I don't know that that was just a dip year for Russell Wilson that seemed like a guy who just kind of lost it and isn't really at the same level he was before maybe Sean Payton can pull something out there and kind of turn everybody's opinion around but I don't know that they deserve to be up as high as they are considering the year they had last year. Uh, and especially being above the Seahawks and the giants and the Vikings, it just doesn't make sense to me being, being basically on par as the Jaguars, like the

Jaguars have Trevor Lawrence. They looked good. They almost came back or I think they almost came back. Yeah. It was almost coming back against the Chiefs in the playoffs. They had a great year and realized that and brought Trevor Lawrence to the level he is that it looks like he's going to take another step this year. And they only added more talent. They can get Calvin Ridley back this year for them. I don't know that the Jaguars and Broncos should be on even close to the same level. That's the one that sticks out to me. Hopefully everybody can kind of see that. The Broncos one makes no sense.

Like what numbers is it that you're plugging in that would say that the Broncos would be a top 15 team. And I agree with you that it is altogether possible that they could end up turning out to be a lot better with Sean Payton. I think that that's very possible, but why would you start the season with that number? Or what are you plugging in that would tell me that they're going to take this humongous jump after being one of the worst teams in the entire NFL last season?

The one that I would just not agree with is the New York Giants, because I think the Giants season was pretty, pretty fluky very much like the Vikings and I don't see how they got better um can we put our little heads in there that's there there yeah okay um I I don't know if people can still see the list if I put our heads in there let me take our heads out okay goodbye heads we're still here though that's what the key point is um but i i just don't i just don't get that like they had the negative point differential they just didn't get that much better so um you know i i don't know like i i just don't understand versus the seattle

seahawks or the new orleans saints those two teams in my mind should be better than the new york giants considering that they did not really improve outside of getting Darren Waller. Like they didn't get more receiving options that scare you. Probably, I don't know, do the Falcons deserve to be a little higher? Maybe the Bears maybe deserve to be up there a little bit more. And are we sure that the Jets are the sixth best team in the NFL because they got Aaron Rodgers? I am not a hundred percent sure that the Jets are the sixth best team in the NFL, right? Because they got Aaron Rogers. I am not a hundred percent sure that that is going to be the case. And, and really with, you know, a team like the Patriots, if you think that the bills are number two and the Jets are

number six, I are, can the Patriots also be number 16 or does that division just have too much talent at the top of it? The conference. Right, the conference as well. But, I mean, just the division, how are they going to win all these games if they're playing the best teams? So I think that it's a little bit wonky in some areas. Broadly, though, I mean, I agree.

Like Chiefs, Bills, Eagles, Bengals, 49ers, and then having the Chargers up at seventh. Now, when we look at the Vikings schedule, what do you notice? Number one, number three, number four, number five, number seven, number 11 twice, number 13. I mean, that's a lot. Yeah, good luck. That's a lot of the first half.

But overall, I wanted to bring that up because I thought that for the most part, it did a decent job of framing the league as we are, you know, a ways away with the numbers that we have to work with right now. So last thing for you, Jonathan, the Vikings announced their preseason schedule.

I didn't look at it. I don't care when they happen. They happen preseason. Kevin O'Connell and I have the same. They happen preseason. Kevin O'Connell and I have the same view on the preseason. Who cares? Don't play your starters. Just get through it. Just get through it. And look, I like the fact that guys like Ty Chandler get a lot of opportunity. I think you should be developing those players. You know, who doesn't have to develop Harrison Smith. Yep. We're set. Doesn't need, doesn't need to play. You know, who doesn't have to develop? Harrison Smith. Yep. We're set. Doesn't need to play.

You know who doesn't need to play? Justin Jefferson. Not that Zimmer played Jefferson anyway, but he played far too many starters. I am very much for the idea of not playing any starters at all. But I did want to ask you, what is your favorite preseason memory?

It could be recently or it could be as a child, but we always watch them and I always cover them, of course. So we'll be there and we'll be analyzing it as best as we possibly can. So what comes to mind when I say the preseason schedule is out, Jonathan? Well, as a kid, my mom, her work had tickets to all the game for like clients and stuff and she would get tickets every once in a while she was the person at her work that handed those out and every once in a while no one wanted them especially for pre-seasons she's like ah let's go so we we I took a friend once uh to a pre-season game with my mom and we were kind of walking

around the metrodome at the time and we ran into some family friends who had extra tickets. Well, our tickets were, were out in the upper level. Their tickets were front row. And so just walking around, walking into some family friends, lo and behold, we moved from the nosebleeds down to the very front row for a preseason game. So it's the preseason. So it doesn't really matter. But still as a kid who gets to sit front row in an NFL game,

it doesn't matter to him. It was freaking awesome. That was probably my highlight. I don't remember the game at all because I was just enraptured with sitting front row at an NFL game. It was awesome. But that's probably the one besides maybe just going to games and seeing it for the first time as a young kid and experiencing that.

And the Metrodome, as crappy as it is, will always live on in my memory because of how it was our crappy stadium. But, yeah, that's probably the one that jumps right to mind right away. Yeah. If you're a kid and you get to go to one of these games, and this is why I would never want the preseason completely eliminated, they're usually very cheap and you can get seats that you would not get before or opportunity. I don't think there's a bad seat inside US Bank Stadium, but you get an

opportunity to see the team. That is the unfortunate part about not playing any of the starters because you don't even get a glimpse of them. When Mike Zimmer was playing the starters in the third preseason game for two quarters, that meant you to see stefan diggs and adam thielen and kirk cousins for a couple quarters and that's pretty cool for a lot of people who might not be able to afford that experience in the regular season so i do feel bad for those people i think it's much smarter not to play your starters but i have empathy for those who kind of used it that way to see the minnesota vikings because you are not seeing the Minnesota Vikings you are seeing a bunch of folks who are going to be trying out for the XFL soon not dudes who are going to be playing for the Vikings very much and that is unfortunate for me my favorite well one after I

moved to Minnesota I think like two days after I moved to Minnesota was their preseason game right before um the 2016 season so uh teddy had just gotten hurt rick spielman had a press conference where they said they believed in sean hill i guess not uh i believed in him to start week one i suppose um but there it's always the random guy who does exciting stuff or the random exciting game. And I hope I'm not mixing up my seasons. But when Mitch Leidner signed a basically one week contract with the Vikings, and then if I'm not mistaken, led a game winning drive and the place went crazy for Mitch Leidner. And I'm not a hundred percent on this

because I remember regular season games super well, but preseason games, I purposefully don't. But I believe that Leidner threw like a high pass to Caleb Jones and he jumped up and grabbed it. And it was a great play. Caleb Jones made the practice squad essentially because of that game. Leitner just threw it to Caleb Jones every time. I think it was the fourth preseason game of 2017. And then Caleb Jones ends up being the guy who is the first to hug Stefan Diggs after the Minneapolis miracle and thought that he like was going to get penalized for running on the field. So I, there's like a connection there of him making this great catch, making the practice squad, hugging Stefan Diggs after he has the Minneapolis miracle. I think that's right. Are you looking at it? I'm looking at a story. It doesn't look like it was a game winning drive, but he went 14 of 19 in his preseason game for the Vikings in a 30 to

nine loss. Oh, he still had a, he still had a great game. Okay, then who would have been the quarterback that – now in that 30-9 loss, would that have been – did he play – he wouldn't have played two games, did he? He only played one game? It doesn't say. September 1st is when the article was written, so it looked like it was the fourth and final game. Okay, so maybe I've got it mixed up for who was playing quarterback when that happened again pre-season is just not my

not my game but uh when but when mitch leidner started that game he was working for like door dash or something yeah and uh a reporter called door dash to ask what kind of employee he was and um did you just look at his rating on the app? Well, you can't quote the rating. I mean, so got to get management's insights there. So Taylor Heineke comeback win against the Niners. Maybe that was it. Maybe it was Taylor Heineke who had it.

Maybe that could be it. I feel like I remember a game winning, like a walk-off play, because my parents went to a preseason game when they were visiting, and it was an exciting end. So I'm not sure. Daniel also wants a JoJuan Williams update. Big. Yeah, he's very big.

I mean, I guess he's fast. I don't know. He was injured last year. So, I mean, I guess he's fast. I don't know. He was injured last year. So, I mean, hard to say. It was an OTA. It's hard to say. But he's the biggest corner I've ever seen. I mean, I'm not kidding.

He's enormous. It's ridiculous. Our mutual friend Joe wants to know, and he calls you Cyclops, by the way, wants to know if you think Lucky Jackson has a shot of making the team. I mean, everybody has a shot at making the team. So I don't know. Yeah. Well, look, I mean, there have been guys and the practice squad is much bigger than it ever has been before.

So there have been guys in the past. And Chad Beebe was one of them where everybody went, OK, Chad Beebe. Sure. And then he played pretty well I mean Tristan Jackson was this guy last year Tristan Jackson was brought over from the Rams he had been on their practice squad for a year I don't think anybody had him making it over Amir Smith-Marset but he did because he played better in training camp so if he gets lucky then maybe he can be on the team maybe if he rolls the dice and it comes up

Snake Eyes or whatever. Is Snake Eyes bad? I don't gamble. I don't know. Good thing we're going to Vegas. I think I am going to. Yeah, that's another one. Look at it. Look.

We have a sponsorship deal that's coming up that literally is sending us to Vegas. I mean, we are doing some great work Behind the scenes here So anyway, thanks everybody for watching And I think that these have to be a staple Of Hot Routes And maybe breaking news as well But I want to be taken a little more seriously during those

So thanks everybody for watching It's a fun show And we will do it again soon if anything happens But until then Don't get yourself worked up about anything in May unless you have to. So don't worry too much about the Jefferson thing until you have to. OK, it's too nice out. I golfed last week. I'm golfing again.

Maybe I'll wear these on the golf course. I'm not getting worked up. You can't make me. So we'll see you guys later. Thanks, Jonathan.