Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Kirk Cousins talks Achilles injury and his future

Episode Date: November 18, 2023

Matthew Coller talks about what Kirk Cousins had to say about his future and his recovery from Achilles surgery and then answers fan questions about Josh Dobbs' future Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Hey, look at us. It's a Friday night and we're live here on the channel because if you missed what happened when I talked about it last night, well, the usual Friday night round table that runs on YouTube and on the podcast channel, well, it recorded with no audio. So well, we got all of our predictions flawless for this week and nailed the analysis so much to the point that roger goodell called me and said man that was great what you guys did on that podcast but the audio was lost so you guys will never hear it it's unfortunate uh but here we are with actually a lot more to talk about because we have more news as is the way of the Minnesota Vikings

where every day is a new tidal wave of things going on. So today, Kurt Cousins out at TCO Performance Center talked to the media, including myself, for the first time since he suffered his torn Achilles, had surgery. Now he is back around the facility and is doing projects and is in quarterback meetings and will soon be able to travel with the team and be on the sidelines, just the same way that Justin Jefferson has. Well, he has been injured, and he is a resource for Josh Dobbs. He's a resource for Kevin O'Connell. O'Connell said that he could kind of

talk to Kirk about the state of the team, how everybody in the locker room is feeling and things like that. So O'Connell has done a terrific job here of making Cousins still a part of the operation. And he kind of took us through today that he's around the facility, goes to the quarterback meetings, he's working on stuff, and then he's doing his rehab in between. And while he didn't have a timeline for exactly when he would be back, it sounds like everything went to plan. And with this Achilles injury, the timelines are becoming shorter and shorter. So his recovery, at least according to him, maybe won't take him into next season, but more like OTAs or minicamp or training camp, maybe at the worst. And when you look at the other players in the Vikings locker room who had something similar happen,

that was the truth with Brian O'Neill. Tore his Achilles toward the end of last season and then ended up starting day one. And Cam Akers in 2021. So without his medical records, I can't tell you exactly what his timeline is, but it seems that Kirk Cousins will be ready to return. And, you know, he talked a lot very openly today about what happened to him in Green Bay, what his feelings were going through that moment. And it was very interesting to hear him say that as he was being carted off, and I'm sure

some of us thought that as well, that he wondered if his career playing in the NFL was over and then said today, that's not going to be the case, that he will continue to play. So I wanted to bring you a couple of things that Kirk Cousins had to say about his Achilles injury, and then we can get to all of your questions. This is open for the comment section here tonight as I'm flying solo. So let's get to Kirk first. He went through the whole thing about how he knew that he had torn his Achilles, and it was just interesting to hear this perspective.

It's a little bit of a longer clip, but thought I'd bring you the whole thing. So here's Kurt. I was mic'd up for the game. So I was able to watch back how I came across and it was hilarious because I, uh, I hop off and they're like, here, uh, you know, put your weight on me. And I was, I don't want to put my weight on you. I just want to hop. So I hopped to the sideline and then I said, I don't think I tore it.

I just can't press my foot down. And I feel like I've got nothing when I, you know. I'm basically saying everything that would suggest you tore it, and I'm going, I don't think I tore it. I don't know if I'll call it denial or cluelessness, but Dr. Coetzee, I was just giving him day one install, you tore your Achilles, and then we went into the blue tent, and I put my foot up, pulled my sock off. He basically went like that for a half a second and goes, yeah, you tore it. He goes, take a second, we'll bring the cart up,

and I just kind of laid back on the table and took a deep breath and just kind of, okay. But I also wanted to win the game. I wanted to leave Lambeau with a win. So that's a special place to leave with a win. So as we were kind of carting off, I was looking at the guys like, you better come back in the locker room with a win, you know? So, and they did, and they did. Did it hurt them? Were you in pain? No pain. They, you know, they said it's a unique injury and that there really wasn't any pain. Monday, Tuesday, had no pain. And then after surgery, Brian was telling me horror stories,

so I was pretty nervous about the pain afterwards. But really no pain afterwards either. Slept well. But, again, that's the difference between the regular suture and the speed bridge. So been pretty good, you know, walking around, able to put weight on it carefully. And, you know, I've been saying one day at a time a lot, and I think I'm going to be saying it for a while. Kirk, when it first happened,

was there a step that you kind of knew something is off? Yeah. I sprained my ankle so many times that when I did it, I thought, oh, another sprained ankle, you know, in a couple tough weeks of rehab, but we'll play through it. And I got up, Garrett helped me get up and I went to press into the ground and I thought the ground fell down because I felt no ground. I thought, okay, that's a problem. And I was like, oh, you know, I started walking. I thought maybe it's like a nerve where the nerve is in fire. And so I don't feel my foot,

which again, I was like, sorry, I will will work through that i can play without feeling my foot and then i was like i can't even walk so i started hopping and then again i was still in denial on the bench talking to dr coetzee and wasn't too difficult for him to understand what happened so there is the experience that kirk cousins went through in dealing with his torn Achilles, which I must have been extremely bizarre for him because he's never had an injury like that before. He said something that was absolutely crazy. He said that he had never had a surgery because of football ever. I mean, think about playing in the league for that long. Look around the NFL and how many quarterbacks have gotten hurt and yes we will get

to joe burrow being out for the year as well and what that means for the vikings but think about just the sheer number of things that happen the number of times that this man has been hit in the pocket uh the number of offensive guards we've talked about who couldn't block the kenny clarks and akim hicks and grady jared's's who came in and leveled Kirk Cousins. And yet it was an innocuous play in Green Bay and he ends up out for the season. And also I found it to be interesting that Cousins talked about the emotional and mental part of this as well, which is very difficult on him as someone who's never had to go through it before. And as we all know, he was playing some of his best, if not his best football as a Minnesota Viking. And he said, like, he's still

dealing with like being really angry about what happened, but such is life and said that he wants to be there for Josh Dobbs and so forth. But I asked him specifically what it was like to watch football on a Sunday because the guy has basically never had that opportunity. And he said that, you know, you get to the end of the day and it's pretty sad to not be out there with everybody. So I think that he's, you know, revealing and I like the fact that he's doing this, the mental part of going through an injury that so many players have to deal with and his openness about it and talking to someone on the team and the organization who is a psychologist, things like that. I think it's important for people to see that he's open about that because injuries are way more difficult than we think. We see someone got hurt and we're like, okay, when are they going to be back?

Like that's all that matters. And adding that sort of human angle to it was important for somebody in a position and as notable as Kirk Cousins. So commend him for his openness today. But I know what you guys want to know, if you didn't already watch the press conference is what did he say about playing what did he say about playing for the Minnesota Vikings so I will bring you that as well when I was in Washington I always said I want to be a one-team quarterback in my career that'd be pretty special to be able to do that it's very tough to do and then when it didn't work out in Washington and came here I thought not only do I want to be a just a two-team quarterback but I'd like the run

in Washington to go so well that I'm remembered as basically a two-team quarterback, but I'd like the run in Washington to go so well that I'm remembered as basically a one-team quarterback that I played for the Minnesota Vikings. So certainly that desire hasn't changed. You know, that's still the same. And there's a lot that's out of my control in that. And so, yeah, you can want a lot of things. It doesn't mean it's going to happen. So I keep an open mind, but certainly would love for that to be the case.

This injury has made it more or less likely. I mean, people can analyze it either way. Yeah, it's hard to say. Until we get to March, so many things can change. And so, you know, I think you really just focus on this football season, the guys right now, what they're going through, what we're trying to go do, and then cross that bridge when we get there.

All right, so more or less noncommittal Kirk Cousins, who made it clear, as he has many times that he wants to continue to be a minnesota viking i don't think he's ever been unclear about that but if you go back to last offseason and this is what i wonder how it will play out and how both sides end up feeling about it because last offseason season, it was obvious that Kevin O'Connell and Kirk Cousins had a good relationship during the 2022 season. They win 13 games. They go to the playoffs and Cousins has all the clutch comebacks and everything else.

And yet the decision that they ended up landing on was we will not go that far into the future with Cousins where he wanted more of a commitment. They wanted less of a commitment and more freedom for the future, as is usually the case with teams and players. And they ended up at an impasse where they couldn't come to an extension. Of course, even though Cousins' rehab and his path to returning, based on what we know about the Achilles injury now, doesn't look that bad. I mean, maybe if it was 15 years ago, Dan Marino got referenced and things like that, we would be a little more concerned. And it's going to be his plant foot, and who knows about how he comes back but assuming that the science has advanced and the

technology and so forth that he will be able to continue to play quarterback in the nfl if the vikings want him back they will probably be able to do it but what is the price is going to be the question because i think what cousins side will try to make an argument for is that yeah okay had this injury but he's never had it before. Kind of a random thing. Never had any other problems. And Kweisi Adafo-Mensa admitted that his body is sort of younger because he hasn't had a bunch of surgeries than your usual mid thirties quarterback. But if he wants a multi-year commitment, how can the team do that, considering what just happened to him?

And also, from Cousins' side, who else is going to be calling? Certainly TCO Performance Center, the head coach. The whole situation is the wide receivers, of course. TJ Hawkinson's playing great. Christian Derrissaw is the highest-graded offensive lineman in the league, I saw today by PFF. I mean, you can't get much better than that. But at the same time, if Cousins is looking to finish his career somewhere, if he wants a multi-year deal still, then it's going to be very difficult for the Vikings to pull that off. And not to mention

that how Josh Dobbs performs, what their outlook on the draft is, would all play into this as well. But Cousins, once again today, and sort of the big headline coming out of this, is just making his declaration that he's always wanted to be only a two-team quarterback and potentially return for the Vikings. So not that I expected anything else. I did not expect Kirk Cousins, because you guys will say that to me sometimes. Well, what did you expect him to say? No, you're right. I did not expect him to come out and say, I want to be a stealer next year. But there's a lot of factors at play that will go into this. And that's what makes this final

stretch so fascinating with Joshosh dobbs and particularly because the schedule just got easier with the cincinnati bengals starting quarterback going out as it seems almost every starting quarterback in the league is happy you know is is getting injured this year and it's happening in every city but uh you know the vikings might only play two good teams the rest of the way and it depends depends on whether you count Denver because they're playing better. But two games against good teams, both being the same team in the Detroit Lions. So if Josh Dobbs continues to roll, will they say he had an easy schedule? Will they say he looked like a franchise quarterback?

Like, I don't know. The wide range of potential is here for Josh Dobbs. So that is probably going to impact their decision with Kirk Cousins as well, assuming that they haven't already decided, hey, we're not going to go back to this because his price is just going to be too high. I think that's where they were headed if he had continued to play well. And let's say they ended up nine and eight or something. But since he ended playing extremely well and then the injury opens the door to a potential pay cut, everything is different. So that's your takeaway from the Kirk Cousins press conference.

And feel free to fire away on the comment section with whatever you got whatever it doesn't have to be about the quarterback situation can be anything can be Denver can be any other position as far as injuries and things goes it looks like Alexander Madison could return that he was supposedly according to Kevinvin o'connell uh in the latter stages of the concussion protocol kj osborne is very likely to return no designation so looks like he will jaron hall is still going to be out and seems that he wasn't quite prepared to be the backup so nick mullins is going to be the backup and also i think i don't know this could be wrong, but maybe Anthony Barr has a chance to play because when we've asked about Anthony Barr,

there has not been a like, hey, guys, you're going to have to give him a few weeks. And I don't know, why do they even have training camp at this point? If TJ Hawkinson, Josh Dobbs, Anthony Barr, these people could just show up and play. Maybe we should just start the season week one. Everybody just shows up at the beginning of September. No training camp. They just go play.

If these guys can learn it that fast. I don't know. Maybe those are just some special players. But Anthony Barr could have a role, I think, this week if he ends up being active. So that's kind of your rundown. As far as Justin Jefferson goes, they're playing this thing as coy as they can because why wouldn't you? Why would you tell anyone when Jefferson's coming back

what you want to do is walk out of the tunnel with Jefferson and the latest possible moment that you're going to announce that he's coming back, that's when you want to do it if you're a head coach. But even Sean Payton said like, we're preparing for Justin Jefferson as well. And then from the Viking standpoint, you're making them prepare for Justin Jefferson. So there's the game within a game. It's been called from time to time folks. So let me start getting to your comments here and we'll have a good discussion about where this team is at. Giuseppe says, uh, cousins definitely wants to come back. He's comfortable here. Has a great support staff. here and we'll have a good discussion about where this team is at uh giuseppe says uh cousins

definitely wants to come back he's comfortable here has a great support staff but we need to move on regardless if he wants to come back or not uh you and i share the same opinion on that giuseppe because i look at it as if kirk cousins cost seven $7 million and was willing to sign a one-year contract, then it would make a lot of sense to bring him back. But if you're on Cousins' side and you're going to be consistently sending out teams the medical updates and telling them just how wonderfully you're doing and you're ready to go and you're ready to sign a multi-year contract, and I don't know if anyone will sign him to a multi-year contract after this.

But when you look at like Derek Carr, for example, he played terribly with the Las Vegas Raiders and the Saints were still willing to give him a multi-year deal and still willing to give him a decent dollar. So, I mean, there's quarterback desperation around the NFL. Somebody asked me yesterday if this is like one of the worst times for quarterback play. And I mean, partly because of all the injuries. The answer is yes. But there's just so many teams that you go through that you could make a case that they would be interested potentially in Kirk Cousins services, I guess, including the Las Vegas Raiders who have just an injured Jimmy Garoppolo.

You think of the Falcons, you think of the Steelers, but I'm sure we could come up with five more teams after that that would at least be making that phone call about Cousins, whether he's had the injury or not. And that's the trouble right there is the price. But also, and many of you pointed this out over the last couple of weeks, the mobility element is valuable. And Josh Dobbs has been worth more expected points added with his run game than any other quarterback in the NFL this year.

And he has something like, I forget the number. I should look up the number, the number of first downs that Josh Dobbs has, because this is something that I've thought about over the years. And you guys have probably heard me talk about is when it comes to the like hidden numbers that you have to look a little deep for. So in the last two weeks, just the last two weeks, Josh Dobbs has seven rushing first downs. I mean, that's, that's keeping drives going, right? And two touchdowns. So I don't know if those count as first downs in the stats or not. I would think that they don't. Kirk Cousins had six all year. Josh Dobbs has seven the last two weeks. Now, Cousins is a better

passer than Josh Dobbs. He's one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the league. That extra element, though, has kind of shined a light on when we look at the quarterbacks in the league. That extra element, though, has kind of shined a light on when we look at the quarterbacks potentially coming out in the draft and what mobility can do. And it did stand out to me that Adam Schefter said on the Pat McAfee show, there's some people in Minnesota that were wondering what a mobile quarterback would look like in this system. And I think that Kevin O'Connell has a lot of belief that if you operate the system correctly, even if you're not the perfect passer,

even if you're not the perfect, like, not turn it over person, the most safe with the football, that these receivers and this system are going to get people open. And so far, that's been a pretty justified take. So there's like multi layers here. There's what do they believe for a projection for cousins? How much would he want? Will Dobbs actually be an option or will this go sideways? And then they're looking back to Kirk like, wait, wait, come save us because this is only a couple of games for Josh

Dobbs. There's so many things that could happen regarding Kirk Cousins and the quarterback future. And it looks to me like that will be determined in the coming months, but I suppose it's already possible that they've got their plan and we just don't know what it is. Todd says it still depends on whether Dobbs does well or not. If Dobbs does well, I could see him back and Kirk out. Now that, that is true that if Josh Dobbs continues to play the way he is and wins a lot of games, then the decision won't be hard. Like if he ends up going like what, if they go 10 and seven, they make the playoffs, they're competitive in a playoff game or win a playoff game. There would be no reason to turn back.

And then you have to figure out what you're going to pay Josh Dobbs. But because I care about you all, I've already come up with a comparable for that, as you would have expected. Josh Dobbs, Geno Smith, right? So Geno Smith is a backup for a really long time. Didn't have a whole lot of impressive stats and history shows up in Seattle plays well, and they give him a contract. It's a couple years and is very reasonable and his cap hits only $10 million this year for Gino Smith. Then it goes up to 31. Then it goes up to 33, which is a lot lower than say like Kyler Murray's $50 million for next year is a cap hit. If they sign Josh Dobbs to a similar type of deal. Oh, and by the way, they can get out of it after this year, but especially after two years, as far as dead money goes, if that was the structure, if Dobbs were to play well,

they go 10 and seven, they sign a couple of year contract. That's really more like a two year deal. And the first year has a low cap hit to kind of even out that dead cap hit for Kirk cousins. I mean, you're in a pretty good situation there. If that ends up being the case that Dobbs plays well, but if he doesn't, I don't think that that guarantees cousins is coming back. I don't think it's Dobbs cousins. It's going to be all options. And I, you know, I saw a story in Arizona about how Kyler Murray has been a different person, which I actually believe because I don't think that relationship was good with Cliff Kingsbury, but it sounds to me like what Arizona is setting up for is we're drafting Marvin Harrison Jr. If we're at the top, we're not drafting one of those quarterbacks.

I'm going to stick with Kyler Murray. But there's always going to be other options that are out there when it comes to quarterbacks. We've seen tons of movement in the last few years. So I don't see it as just being this guy or that guy. And then of course the draft plays into this as well. Let's see, Matt and Katie, I guess this is both of your questions. Any thoughts on Dobbs's ankle? I think it's okay. It seems like it's fine. So he didn't have any injury designation. Now that doesn't mean it's not a little bit tweaked or banged up. But as far as I could tell from the way that they've reported the injury, that it was something maybe that bothered him coming out of the game, but doesn't look like it should impact him at all.

I would still expect him to be able to play, be able to play the exact same way. And the one concern that you would have when somebody does show up in the injury report, who's a running quarterback with an ankle is if he gets hit, if it gets aggravated and then, you know, that running game isn't quite as good, but I, at least as far as I understand it,

I think this ankle injury isn't, isn't that bad for Josh Dobbs should be. Okay. Hunter says teams do odd things for quarterbacks and sometimes don't like the Atlanta Falcons saying they weren't going to trade for Lamar Jackson. Hey, isn't that interesting though with Lamar Jackson? I know he got a little banged up last night, but not too bad. We've seen all these quarterbacks go down injured and some of the running quarterbacks are the ones that are still surviving. So, you know, I've never really bought the idea that a running quarterback is going to get hurt more often because it seems like everyone gets hurt all the time at some point.

And now that Kirk Cousins has then, I mean, you can count on pretty much anybody to get hurt at some point in their career. But you're right about, you right about teams making odd decisions. The Vikings are going to go play Russell Wilson, which maybe at the time seemed like a good choice for the Denver Broncos. I guess I would have suspected it would have gone much better. But they gave up the house. San Francisco gave up the house for Trey Lance. And I was thinking about this last night and I saw, I saw a tweet.

So it's a good, good way to phrase it. There was a tweet from Ross Tucker today, former offensive lineman, now media guy. And he was saying, he was quote tweeting something that was like, uh, Carson Wentz is acting as Gino Smith in practice with the practice squad or something for the Rams because Carson Wentz is a Ram. And he said, imagine showing this to someone who had been in a coma for five years. Like Geno Smith was a well-considered quarterback that's starting and

Carson Wentz was on somebody's practice squad. It really is so difficult to pin down year to year. Just, I mean, which way quarterbacks are going to go? Who's going to be good from year to year? Because everything changes so quickly. And if you go back and look at people's quarterback rankings from July and then look at them now, they always look hysterical, right? I mean, how bad does Daniel Jones look how bad does Mac Jones look there's so many factors that go into somebody's

performance I mean Mac Jones and Daniel Jones might have the worst two offensive setups in the league and here's Josh Dobbs who a bunch of teams probably now regret not having the Jets the Browns the sean watson is out for the year i mean there's a bunch of teams that are probably watching josh dobbs being like why didn't we have josh dobbs or why did we let josh dobbs go in the case of uh the cleveland browns things change so quickly that uh it's it's impossible to figure out. And so as the Vikings go into this difficult decision, the best way seems to be to have either Dobbs or someone like him and draft a quarterback and just pray to the football gods

that that quarterback becomes good because they do have one of the best situations in supporting casts. And that would be a thing that would be also attractive to cousins potentially coming back. Folks, I cannot believe how many sports are going on right now. And guess what? There's a way to go to all of them with affordable tickets. My friends, you are going to want to check out Game Time.

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Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Scott says, I don't see a universe where Kirk takes less than Daniel Jones. I agree 100%. Achilles, no Achilles, chop the foot off. He's better than Daniel Jones under all circumstances. And I think that that was a game changer. I do. That when Daniel Jones signed his deal, I think, what, $40 million a year,

that suddenly Kirk Cousins couldn't take any less than that and then also wanted a little more commitment from the team after he had won games because that had always been the criticism. Hey, with you, a quarterback, we're a 500 team. And then he won 13 games like, well, sign up or don't. And they went with don't at that time. So that decision, I think maybe tells you about the next decision is if they weren't going to do it last year, why would they do it next year? Something that they weren't willing to sign up when he was completely healthy and coming off the best win loss season of his career. Timbro Slice says, I can't wait to see Justin Jefferson and Josh Dobbs on the field together. I mean,

I'm really interested as well to see how that goes, because the offense is so much built to Justin Jefferson. But what we've seen over these last few weeks is that they've had to lean on other people, TJ Hawkinson being one of those people. And that's had really good results. Jordan Addison has emerged as a star. TJ Hawkinson was just marvelous. And when I went back and looked at the tape, and if you're watching on YouTube or listening, I guess, go check out the video that I did with a football coach, Bobby Peters, who writes books about offense, analyzing a couple of those plays, some really terrific technical stuff from TJ Hawkinson.

And so at the beginning of the year, we're kind of figuring it out still. And it's like, okay, Jefferson is still dominating the target share. But now it feels like a more complete offense with the way that Hawkinson is playing and with the way that Addison is playing. And I mean, yeah, I mean, of course, Justin Jefferson is going to want to be the centerpiece. But if you can find the right mix, then suddenly Kevin O'Connell doesn't feel the need to put it all on Jefferson's plate.

Because when I see the, and it's become a meme on the show, right, where we talk about, like, the trades and should you trade jefferson because they're doing well without him and so forth which of course you guys know how i feel about that but one of the things that i think about is what would the vikings record have been last year without justin jefferson like six wins or something. And part of that was they had Irv Smith at tight end before TJ Hawkinson got there. And then Adam Thielen, though, he's having an okay year in Carolina, still like nine yards a catch was just not really a threat. And they had no additional threat after that. KJ Osborne had an average year, but he wasn't going to scare anybody away.

And Jefferson had to do so much. This around Jefferson is now different with the way that Addison has emerged and the way that Hawkinson has played in recent weeks. The offensive line is also different. There were a lot of times where, okay, Jefferson is a first read and you're just throwing it there because Ed Ingram times where, okay, Jefferson is a first read and you're just throwing it there because Ed Ingram's getting beat instantly, which is happening so much less in recent weeks. So the dynamic is going to be really fascinating to watch. And I'll get you guys an interesting stat that I came across. Maybe I can find it. I wrote it down here somewhere about the defenses that they're playing coming up and how this might play in the favor of Josh Dobbs.

Well, put it this way, since I can't find this stat, they don't play anybody who's got a great passing defense from here on out. And that could really play in the favor of Josh Dobbs when Justin Jefferson comes back. And it's almost hard to see a world where he doesn't play well. And, and I know like you're calling me jinxy jinx or sin for saying that, but when you look at this lineup of defenses that they're going to play and Denver, the way they're playing might be the toughest the rest of the whole year, uh, they don't face a good defense pretty much the rest of the way. I think I have some respect for the Raiders

and the way that they're playing. They have Max Crosby, but it's just not a murderer's row. In fact, Atlanta and New Orleans may be the toughest defenses that Josh Dobbs faces, which again, certainly plays in his favor for the future. Hunter says, do you think they still draft a quarterback if they re-sign Dobbs? That may go under the category of how good are we talking with Josh Dobbs? Because let's say that they go, I mean, look at the rest of the way in the schedule.

10-7 seems very reasonable to me. Lose three games the rest of the way probably one to Detroit who knows at the end of the season they might not have to play for anything at the end of the season the way the rest of the NFC matches up and that's like an again like jinxing big time here considering the roller coaster that we're on but just just trying to project forward let's say they end up conservatively 10 and 7 and Dobbs plays very well has his couple of bumps along the way three interception game or something kind of what we expect from him make some plays and they go into the playoffs they have a chance we don't feel like they're totally

outmanned whatever happens after that happens that would be a situation where you would still I think want to look at quarterbacks in the draft if there's an opportunity, because when you make the playoffs, you're not drafting very high. Are you going to trade away a bunch of stuff to move up? Do you feel like this is the right time to do that though? Because everything is about the windows. And there were some reports that the Vikings looked into how much would we have to give up to go up and get Bryce Young or Anthony Richardson and I do think we'd be talking about a very different Bryce Young if he was here as opposed to maybe one of the worst rosters in

football but or Anthony Richardson for example and if that had happened and Richardson sat a year and then he was going to take over next year, that would really be something. But the fact that they were having that discussion would maybe suggest that they'll have it again about who would we trade up for? How much would we trade? And when you look at the rest of the roster, the secondary massively improved. They certainly could use another pass rusher on the edge. The offense, you're going to lose KJ'll use the cap space that we get from moving on from cousins, not necessarily next year. Cause there's the dead cap, but two years from now and be able to have a winning window with a young quarterback. They should still be looking at that. In my opinion, they should still be looking very close at that.

Unless Josh Dobbs runs the table and wins in the playoffs. And then, okay. All right. Then I'll be looking very close at that unless Josh Dobbs runs the table and wins in the playoffs. And then, okay, all right, then I'll be convinced. Then go get your pass rusher with the 32nd pick after Josh Dobbs. But the bar has to be very high, right? The bar just has to be very, very high as far as what Josh Dobbs would have to do for them not to consider any quarterbacks in the draft. With every win, it does get harder to draft high or it costs more to trade up. So there's that. Terry says, what I find interesting about the success of Dobbs is the potential the Vikings take a quarterback in round two with the depth of the quarterback class and in a different

position in need of round one. We're very far away from this. And so that's going to be hard to figure. Could they, instead of putting all the eggs in the basket, like I was just talking about, take somebody else that's kind of a hedge? For me, I don't love that. Just in part based on the history of quarterbacks that are drafted outside of the first round. It's not great. I know Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott, Tom Brady, everybody, but for the most part, usually you have to kind of go all in on somebody and trying to have one foot in and one foot out. That's like the Kellen Mond thing. I'm not really sure that that's the best statistical

play. I mean, J Jalen hurts worked out great for them. So it would have to be the right guy, the right situation. And maybe there is somebody that they think is better than the rest of the league thinks. There is a lot of debate, no surprise of where these quarterbacks rank for, you know, I saw Dan Orlovsky talking about JJ McCarthy and the Vikings. And then I see, you know, a former NFL scout who does content now talking about how JJ McCarthy is QB eight for him. So there's a long way to go for us to even understand what kind of quarterback class is this? Because I was talking to somebody else who studies quarterbacks in the draft, who thinks that there's two first round picks and it's Williams and May and then everybody else is

just meh so I don't know I like what I've seen from Jalen Daniels Michael Penix is kind of interesting Bo Nix I think is a good athlete and throws a good football so there's a lot a lot to still happen before we can get to that. Hey, would it be worth it addressing another need or not? So it's, yeah. I mean, that's why this situation feels like we're kind of blowing in the wind all the time. Scott says, Kirk is right. Next March will be very interesting. Quasey should have all the options on the table. Unlike Spielman who was held hostage by McCartney and Kirk. Yeah,

that situation is, of course, we know that it goes beyond just Rick Spielman to the ownership as well. And I think that what they were held hostage by was chasing 2017. And I will go back to that over and over and over again, because I, I really feel like Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer would have been a lot better at their jobs had they not made the NFC championship in the future after that. Because when you look at their approach from 2014 to the NFC championship versus what they did after the number of players who they drafted, developed, turned into really good players, not even just first rounders was immense. They got and some of its luck, certainly. But a lot of players got better than they were over that time.

And they gave time for players to get on the field and find out what they had in 2014 and 15 and then start to go to free agency and things like that. They actually did a lot of really and things like that they they actually did a lot of really smart things in that first section of zimmer spielman and the second one after getting cousins when it was desperation was a lot of mistakes trading a fourth round pick for chris herndon is insane it's like it's totally insane but they panicked a bunch of times trading a fifth for cory vedvik cutting daniel carlson lots lots and lots you could go down the whole list that we went through for all those years here on purple insider and when i was on uh 1500 espn radio and all those things there was a regular talking point it's like oh they they're panicking again. And the Vikings are, they put themselves in a situation

because of this last offseason to not do that. They did not do that. They didn't go out and find free agents where they were hoping and praying that those guys could be good. Instead, they put a lot of young players in situations to play, and it's actually paid off uh including you know josh metellus cam bynum ivan pace we're gonna see quite a bit of here a caleb evans andrew ruth jr's getting in really like what i see from kai blackman so i i've always felt like

because they were sort of held hostage by expectations, they weren't able to do things like move on. I mean, because 2019 to 2020 would have been the time. Kirk wins a playoff game, plays great. So then it's like run it all back. And that's kind of what happened there, I think. And also, yes, Kirk's agent that you're referencing. Also Josh Dobbs's agent, by the way. Uh, but Kirk Kirk's agent did a really good job at understanding the leverage

that he had. Let's put it that way. Uh, let's see. I shot you. 99 says, do you think it's now a ride or die? Well, I love that your name is I shot you and you're going ride or die. So you got like the who shot you biggie reference, the ride or die DMX reference. I don't know if those are on purpose, but as an enjoyer of that era of hip hop, I'm looking at it that way. Anyway, do you think it's now ride or die with Dobbs,

regardless of which way the season goes at this point? Yes, I do. Yes. Anything can change if josh jobs plays the next two games terribly and throws seven interceptions and they lose by 28 points yeah you're gonna see nick mullins buddy and i think i i honestly think i know that there were some people who got excited about jaron hall and and I feel you. I do. That Jaron Hall looked comfortable playing quarterback in that second drive. I think they would prefer to continue to develop Jaron Hall and not force him into a

situation where he's trying to salvage the season and that they would probably play Nick Mullins, who understands the offense inside and out has won games before in the NFL, but you might as well just ride it out with Dobbs, right? Like even if he stumbles in Denver, don't be playing this game where you're going back and forth, switching starters every week. I mean, the only situation you should go back to Jaron Hall, I think is if you're out of it, which just doesn't seem very likely. So, you know, yeah, of course. I mean, it's Vikings quarterback.

Anything could change any time. But aside from that, I would suggest sticking with Josh Dobbs. So you have a bigger sample to know at the end of the day, can you have him as your quarterback next year or not? Folks, I hope you've enjoyed listening to us talk about prize picks this year, but if you've missed it, here's how it works. You go to prizepicks.com and it is simple. You pick either more or less between two and six players stat projections, and that's it.

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the code purple, Daily Fantasy Sports made easy. Matthew asks, do you think the Dobbs is a poor man's Lamar Jackson? I like how the Keenum year people said poor man's Kirk Cousins. So if he could stump the Lions like Lamar did. Well, no, I don't think that he's quite. Well, you know, you say poor man. So there's that. Lamar Jackson ran for 1200 yards in a season so there's a impact rushing game from the quarterback like dobbs has and then

there's this all universe all-time great like michael vick averaging eight yards a run for an entire season type of rushing impact that Josh Dobbs does not have. It's an element for him though. And he's good at it. He could break tackles. He can make moves in space. Lamar Jackson has this lightning element to him that if he was a, if he did switch to wide receiver, he'd be one of the quickest and fastest wide receivers in the game. Yet he plays quarterback as far as I mean there is sort of sort of a I don't think Lamar really makes crazy plays outside of the pocket like Patrick Mahomes does so I like where you're going with some of this it's just like you

can't really compare anyone to Lamar because he's so unique historically with his rushing ability but from the he's not the most accurate passer. I think Lamar is a good passer, but he's not like Kirk Cousins accuracy or Patrick Mahomes accuracy. He's just, he's, he's good. And I think Dobbs is probably a little better accuracy wise than the NFL gave him credit for, but he's, he's less accurate than Lamar Jackson. I think as a passer and the Russian game is less of an impact than Lamar for sure. But there's an element of pocket presence with Dobbs. There's an IQ with Dobbs, not just the rocket science part, but you watch how he plays very, very smart

at understanding where he's supposed to go with the football, understanding the defense, all those things. So even if he's not the most accurate, he's going to the right places with the ball. I see what you're kind of getting at with that. I don't really exactly see it playing style wise, but I understand like he either throws from the pocket or it's like a designed run or a scramble. Not exactly like a Patrick Mahomes scrambling around, running like crazy. And then, whoa, he's going to throw a no look pat.

Like that's not Dobbs. So Jinxy Jinxerson. Yes. Yeah. It's that through the years I've had that problem of jinxing the Minnesota Vikings. And sometimes they get back at me by breaking news right after I finish a podcast. So trying here late on a Friday night to avoid that, I guess we'll see. Matthew says, interesting wrinkle to the Cousins contract is that if he's on the roster next season,

only one-fourth of his $28 million dead cap stays and the rest gets pushed out. I still want a rookie quarterback in the draft though. I mean, that's, it's a key point that yeah, it does get pushed down the road, but is that good? I mean, like to continue to have more dead cap. And if it's, if it is one fourth and if it's 7 million, well, what's he signing for? Is he signing for $40 million a year? And then even if they tweak the cap hits around, let's say it's 30 and then you're still paying dead cap and then it's 40, right? So you kind of are not escaping that.

And I think that's what they're trying to do because this roster on defense especially it reminds me a lot of 2014 Vikings where it was and maybe even 2015 Vikings where a lot of young players started to emerge probably 2015 is a better example a lot of players started to emerge and you were a few players away still from being an elite defense and That's on the horizon here. Another pass rusher, an interior pass rusher, maybe some more depth on the D-line, potentially another linebacker to replace Hicks if he's done after this year, but they might bring him back.

So, I mean, they've got guys on this defensive side that could be really good, but they're going to have to spend some more money to make it great. And where is that going to come from? If Cousins is, you know, if that's the case, still getting paid dead cap over the years. But I could see how you'd look at that the opposite way and say, well, you spread it out.

It doesn't hurt you in any given year, and you can still spend. But even if you add seven to what he's expected to get it's going to be a big number very big number uh zen clover 84 says saw bo nix at auburn didn't impress me then but the coaching was punk there at the time i'll tell you what man he looks like a different guy he looks like a different guy to me than what at Auburn when people were talking about Bo Nix is a draft pick at Auburn I was like what who and at Oregon and you know supporting cast is a big deal but I think the way he's throwing the football and operating the offense from now on when we see a college prospect throwing to open receivers we have to go

oh yeah he's going to throw to open receivers with the Vikings as well. Karen says, has anyone seen Lewis? Lewis seen? Yes, I have. Today, after practice, he was catching balls from the jugs machine. This is the thing about the way that they've been able to build this defense is one prospect didn't work out. That is true. But they've found other people who did.

And from I know that no one likes the draft pick and it didn't work and it's been a total bust and it may always be that way. But it doesn't matter one way or the other to me if it's Cam Bynum, who's great and Lewis seen who is it? That's kind of like with Laquan Treadwell did we obsess over Treadwell maybe we did I don't know Laquan Treadwell didn't work out Adam Thielen did who cares where they were drafted or not doesn't matter to me Josh Metellus has taken the role that maybe we thought Louis seen would have and he's been fantastic

does not matter where they were drafted yeah yep if they had jordan davis it probably would be even better than it's been if they had well if they had taken jameson williams then they would might not have taken jordan addison it might be terrible that's the draft for you that's that's how it works sometimes but uh what they've done with their roster building strategy on the defensive side a c, Caleb Evans has turned out to be the best player from the draft so far. And now you have a right guard who's not just bleeding sacks and pressures all the time. And that draft looks better. Look, we might see more Ty Chandler this week. I think there's still some reason to be interested in him as a guy who could be in the

backfield all the time. i don't know like that's how drafts work we're always evaluating it but the last thing that i think about when i'm watching this defense is the one guy that they drafted didn't work out as i'm watching this defense be elite over the last five weeks so it does happen uh hunter says i'd say they're pretty close accuracy wise talking about lamar uh i would say lamar is more accurate but yeah edge to lamar lamar is way better running the ball because he's one of the best running quarterbacks ever yeah i agree and and look uh he said poor man's so like totally fair um but that dynamic of having the running game is something that we just have not seen.

And it stands out. It really stands out when the guy has more rushing first downs than Kirk Cousins had all year in basically like one and three quarters of a game. Jordan says, purely based on athleticism and size, who's your quarterback comp for Josh Dobbs? Let's see. On the fly, this one might be tough to come up with. You guys are going to have to give me some for that. Because we need a running quarterback who has a strong arm but isn't the most accurate, isn't the smoothest player, but also has a high intelligence. Let me think about that. Because I was thinking about it like for historical comps,

I can't come up with somebody who quite runs the same, but I think of a Ryan Fitzpatrick or a Jake DeLome, Matt Hasselbeck. Those are the ones that have run through my mind. Hasselbeck was actually a little bit of a runner. So maybe there's him. Because I never thought of Hasselbeck as a very Accurate passer or like a stupid Accurate passer but I thought

Of him as somebody who had a lot Of guts very high intelligence Could make plays I gotta look up how much Matt Hasselbeck used to run Because I think of him as kind Of making some plays but Not necessarily running away from People the way that

josh dobbs does you have to get you guys have to give me your comps for this because it's a great question it's a fun question but i think of more of him let's see no no i'm i'm wrong well a little bit little bit hasselbeck went over 200 yards once so no definitely not the same type of running ability. I'm going to think about that a little bit more. Let's see. A purple something. I can't. Let's see. Sorry, I'm not good with your name here.

Kwesi has been smart about when he signs guys to extensions. Just because you can sign someone to an extension doesn't mean that you should before you need to. Injuries are too prevalent. Yeah, I agree with that. Look, the thing about the way that this team and this roster has been managed is it's worked out really well. So far, it's worked out really well. If we went back to training camp and I said, look, on November 17th, the Vikings are going to be 6-4, heading to Denver to play a not great Denver team. Joe Burrow is out for the year, by the way.

You're in a playoff spot. And here's a list of players who have outplayed our expectations. And the list is long including jordan addison who has been really good i think that this is a best case scenario aside from no one would have ever wanted the quarterback to get hurt but a best case scenario for the roster the only way this could have been better is like if marcus davenport was incredible as opposed to getting hurt but we kind of knew that that was going to be a thing uh zalene says, how much will Caleb Evans and Hicks be out affect Sunday? I think Hicks is irreplaceable for that run defense predicting a loss because of that. And no JJ, I'm assuming

Jefferson is out, but that might be, that might be a big assumption. Yeah. I think that to your point, that is a huge factor. And Manny and I talked about it a little bit last night, that if you are picking a letdown loss here, adjusting to not having Jordan Hicks is going to be very difficult. And if Ivan Pace is able to do it, man, he's a star. I mean, he is a star if he's able to do it. I think that is a very difficult task to have to communicate all the different things going on. You have alignments, you have different assignments, you have all sorts of different coverages, you have rushes, you have like all sorts of things that he's got to get in and get to everybody else. And the game that the linebacker and quarterback play with different checks and that's a lot to ask uh from a rookie and then a caleb evans i mean mckay blackman's been good

i haven't noticed andrew booth jr that's a big deal but these wide receivers may attack those corners and there are some disadvantages they're going up against somebody like courtland sutton who's such a big guy. Evans has been really good. I mean, he has not given up a lot of big plays. I saw the Vikings, there was a chart today. It's like, we need a chart of the day thing. A chart today that was out there about mistakes in coverage. And the Vikings were one of the best teams in the league at not making mistakes in coverage.

So even if they're getting thrown on or giving up passes underneath, they're not making huge mistakes in coverage that turn out to be costly. And Caleb Evans has been a big part of that. It's been aggressive. He's missed some tackles because of it, but yeah, it could potentially be a big deal because I think he's been really good. Zimbardo asks, is Harrison Smith a hybrid linebacker? Could he wear the dot for a week? You can have a safety do it. Yeah, you can have a safety do it. But it looks like Pace is going to be the guy because he had done it before in training camp and preseason. So he's gone through this before. I don't know that Harrison Smith has ever done it in his career.

You would rather have someone who had practiced it and seen the defense from that perspective and be a rookie than you would as far as like Harrison Smith having to take on something completely new. I don't know how good of a communicator Harrison Smith is. He's a very quiet guy so um caleb says what position would you be your choice for a round one pick if it isn't quarterback that's a good question edge rusher for me well look on brand wide receiver always wide receiver but assuming hey assuming uh you know kj osborne goes am i wrong no i think uh with jaylen nailer brandon powell like you know probably not a wide receiver i'm kind of kidding but edge rusher for sure we don't know the status of deniel hunter as of right now i might guess that deniel hunter

would come back that they might find a way to extend him. But if he doesn't, then you're really on the lookout for an edge rusher. That would be, to me, far and away, unless there was a corner. And, you know, like Byron Murphy's kind of been up and down. I'd say more down than up overall. I like what I see from Evans and Blackman. But as was said once by Mike Zimmer, you can never have too many cornerbacks. And I agree with that, but edge rusher is a big deal for them. Matt and Katie says, how much has the many different

coaches Dobbs has been under helped with his development, even though he wasn't with one team, Kevin Stefanski was always highly touted. Yeah. Well, Drew Petzing is the, and I got an email about this. Drew Petzing is the office of coordinator in Arizona, and he worked with Kevin Stefanski here in Minnesota and then in Cleveland before getting the OC job out there. And there's a lot of connections with those types of offenses. And you look at some of the bootlegs they ran, keepers, and how good those were.

Those are like Kevin Stefanski like plays that they would know would fit with Josh Dobbs. But yeah, I think that that's a huge part of it for Dobbs. And we have seen this before in history where somebody just gathers a lot of information, but then also develops you, you are allowed to develop, but not in the NFL for the most part. I mean, most quarterbacks, they don't get that chance. Most quarterbacks, it's like you're drafted, you're a rookie, oh, you stink, then you're out. And that's the Geno Smith story.

Geno Smith, who's been okay this year, not as good as last year, but Rich Gannon going back in the day. But Geno Smith was pretty up and down, but mostly down with the Jets. He sticks in the league. He works hard. He stays with the right team and then gets his shot. Turns out that he learned a lot along the way. And it's again, it's opportunity. It's how much pressure there is. These franchises are worth five5 billion. There's a lot on the line. So you really don't have a lot of time to mess around as a team. But if you do get that chance, you can improve.

And I think that Dobbs is probably way better than he was when he first got in the league. And part of that is knowing just how everything works. Alex Smith for a Josh Dobbs comp. Interesting. It's an interesting comparison because weirdly, even though Alex Smith was not, Alex Smith was not like the, I mean, he's the number one overall pick. So he's like a very good thrower, but he wasn't very good if he had to move at all. If you remember from Alex Smith and maybe not as accurate as it was thought when he was coming into the league his running ability was legit though

and you know like a quarterback like ryan tannehill i think is probably more accurate than dobbs but that same sort of running ability where he's he's a real good athlete um you guys are going way too far with rand Cunningham and Steve McNair. Like, no, no, I would not. I would not agree with that. No, I don't think that he's Randall Cunningham or Steve McNair. Those are two of the greatest quarterbacks ever. That's I wouldn't go there. Jalen Hurts is kind of interesting from Noah. I think Jalen Hurts has quickly become a better passer than Josh Dobbs. And look, we're going to see.

We're going to see more. But I see what you're saying. He is a really, really strong runner when he gets the opportunity. He isn't the most wildly accurate passer. I think he is better, probably by a decent amount, than Josh Dobbs. But a big part of it is offensive line, wide receivers, opportunity. So there's that Tyrod Taylor. I would not agree with because Tyrod Taylor is mostly deep ball or nothing. And with Josh Dobbs, what's kind of been interesting about the way he plays is, and he completed a couple down the field last week. He's mostly been a dink and dunk quarterback.

And even with the Vikings, I think when the ball has to be thrown over 10 yards, like between 10 and 20, the intermediate passes, he's something like five or 14. So far, like it's, he's been more of an underneath type of quarterback and play it safe, play it smart. Like, so I don't know if it's really like Tyrod. Tyrod threw one of the most beautiful deep balls I've ever seen. And I'm not sure that's quite Dobbs. I also think Tyrod was a better runner. He was more twitchy, more like he could get out of pretty much anything. And I sort of

see it, but not quite rich Gannon is an interesting one. Another great athlete who they wanted to be a running back. Um, so Steve Young, come on, come on guys. Come on guys. Steve Young. No, I don't think he's Steve Young. Steve Young's most accurate passer probably in history, right? Uh, Matt, Matt and Katie says, uh, Flores also said as long as pace tells harrison smith uh what he tells him to say it'll be good yeah that's i mean that's the thing is that you know they have other guys who can communicate other than ivan pace but it's gonna have to be more of a uh more of a group effort todd says andrew booth has been getting reps. How has he been performing? Hasn't been tested to my eye. I'll look this up for you because it's something I can do. Hold on. Everyone

hold, come up with your comparables that aren't all time. Great quarterbacks for Josh Dobbs. If you can, um, although you guys are excited, so I guess I'll take that just very excited. So he's only been tar Andrew Booth jr. Has only been targeted five times and has allowed two catches for 18 yards. So not much to write home about there and not much to really grade from PFF, but it's the fact that he's getting on the field and making some plays is a big step in the right direction for him, considering what we saw last year. Zlin says Makai Blackman looks like that dude is going to be a big opportunity for him on Sunday. Look, I've liked Makai Blackman since day one of training camp.

I mean, he just has a natural type of ability at corner. Like it reminds me in a way of Jordan Addison, where there's just football player there. He plays the ball extremely well. We've seen that from him. He tracks and mirrors wide receivers really well. And some things that happen with the draft and discussions that we have after draft picks, I just want to kind of like, remember when, remember when we were talking about the whole consensus draft board and stuff, which is very valuable, I think as a tool,

but when it's a late third round pick, I would trust Brian Flores taking a shot at that over a draft board where a lot of people are copying Dane Brugler. A lot of people are maybe not watching as much tape of USC and their corners at that point, whereas the first 50 or 60 picks, you have a ton of eyeballs watching the same people. So the consensus probably has a stronger possibility of hitting and making a difference at the beginning. And Makai Blackman is a good example of that, is somebody that by pick whatever, a hundred something, there's a lot fewer people who are

really scouting that position when they make their big boards. John says, I have confidence that Flores can devise a scheme that works against the Broncos. Could be a totally new alignment. Yeah. Uh, I think that the, the strategy that Brian Flores loves the most and you all love the most, which is blitz. Um, it actually works against Russell Wilson. He's not good this year against the blitz. Uh, he's been pretty terrible. And, you know, you just don't see the same. I'm sorry. Hunter reminds me of Aaron Roche. Yeah. Now we're just yeah. Yeah. We're just naming all the great quarterbacks. That's I know you're joking. I know you're joking. But with the way the floor is going to handle this, I would imagine there's just going to be a lot of blitz. It's going to be a very aggressive approach. And Ivan Ivan Pace the best thing he does is blitz and he's he's very tough to handle when he's blitzing

and that could be an advantage that they use against the Broncos uh Terry points out that QB school dude which is uh JTO Sullivan said that Dobbs has a very polished drop back. What you can see with Dobbs is a pocket presence as well. This is a guy who has clearly, clearly worked at what he does extremely hard because you point that out. There's a lot of technical things. The way he drops back, the way his feet are set, the way he goes through progressions, those are high-level technical stuff. I think he just slightly lacks that touch on the football that like great quarterbacks would have a smaller Josh Allen. Think about Josh Allen is he has one of the throws are going to make you go whoa whoa you know don't throw that but yeah that's the and the running is an impact for sure uh people bounce off josh allen

though uh his running can be prolific and and he can also throw the ball 100 000 yards in the air i'm not sure that's quite josh dobbs the thing that someone like alan can do is throw it in any way shape or form too he can be moving any way any direction and just flick and there it goes and that's not quite dobbs i mean he has a good arm i think but i don't think it's like this any angle any time just make stuff up out there i don't think it's quite that um let's see no you know you're right uh jordan uh says uh dobbs is fast enough to run away from linebackers big enough to take on safeties without much worry and is listed at 6 3 2 20 yeah josh dobbs is he's a big dude i mean yeah he's a he's a big guy and i think the only thing he's a big guy. And I think the only thing the NFL, I think there's two things the NFL was held up on,

was that he's a rocket scientist. And they would wonder, are you going to really want to be in the NFL? Or his accuracy. I think those two things. And when you look at his college stats, they're just okay. He's got one year where it's just okay look at his college stats, they're just okay. He's got one year where it's just okay. They're not amazing. They're just okay. And there were people though, I went back and looked at this. There were people, evaluators some, and one of

them was Mike Mayock, who I know had a rough go of it as the GM of the Raiders. I think John Gruden was the GM of the Raiders, but Mayock was good at evaluating players. He was really high on Josh Dobbs. He had him as like a second round pick. So there were people who liked him more. I actually really like this comparison. Colin Kaepernick. I like that a lot because Colin Kaepernick and now arm strength is another part. He could throw a baseball 95 miles an hour.

So arm strength is a thing. But it was not the most accurate passer. And the running game was very serious and made a big difference. When he had great wide receivers and a great offense and a great offensive line, he could take a team pretty far without having this incredible accuracy. When the team fell apart or looked like arizona then he was no longer very good and was it that he was bad or something no it was his circumstance for somebody who's not the most accurate passer you probably need to have like really good wide

receivers and pass catchers which josh Dobbs does that. That might be, that might be the best comparison I've seen. Well done. Blue Scorpion was the person who threw that out there. That's that's nice. I like that. Let's go with that. I like that for,

for how he plays the read option stuff is probably not going to be a ton of Josh Dobbs like it was Colin Kaepernick, but the design run the other day kind of looked like that right kind of looked like with his explosiveness it's just the only difference might be I think Dobbs is a little bit more technically sound in the pocket and doesn't quite throw the ball as fast but that's that's that's pretty close all right one more question for the Knights because I forgot to bring my laptop charger down and it will die if I talk for much longer.

And we already lost one podcast this week. We don't need to have this one go awry because of a laptop charger. Jordan says, now that Anthony Barr is 31, do you think that he's had enough time to learn a pass rush move? That is very snarky and funny the here's my thing about anthony bar and and i will just go down on this hill uh and i'll think this forever i don't think that

anthony bar was ever an edge rusher ever because what edge rushers need is a twitchiness a quick burst first step lightning to or or they need to look like daniel hunter need to be this powerhouse he is neither one of those things and with his intelligence and his ability to communicate the defense the green dot his sideline to sideline his size when when people are taking him on as a blitzer which they blitzed him among the highest blitz rates in the league he was a really really good player there were times where it felt more up and down because it depended on what we notice. And sometimes he would be playing banged up and there were mistakes. Sometimes, look, if he got matched up with a wide receiver, like he did in Los Angeles,

that one time he got roasted. Of course he did. But I think he was a major, major piece to excellent defenses. And you just have a really tough time convincing me that Mike Zimmer was lost in the woods using this player, understanding how much he could do from an intellectual standpoint, how difficult it was for tight ends against him, how difficult it was for people to reach the edge against him. I think he was a really, really good Viking before, and I don't know how much is left there, but as far as how you can replace Jordan Hicks, you can't do much better than that in mid-November for picking up somebody who could handle this defense and play multiple roles in a Brian Flores defense. He's a very good fit. We'll see how that works out. We might see him in Denver. I kind of think

that we will, as you mentioned, you know, with his intellect, or maybe you didn't mention that. Maybe I mentioned that favorite Creed song is time to end the podcast. I'm glad they're enjoying it put it that way it's nice for other people to like things so I will live and let live oh yeah I haven't used any space puns yet so far let's see well time for me to blast off how about that so I am flying out tomorrow to Denver

and I will see you guys in the Denver Broncos press box after the game with Dane Mizutani for the post game. So got to fly. That wasn't that good. We'll see you guys later. Thanks everybody for playing along. Really appreciate everyone in the comment section and everybody who listened. We will talk to you all very soon. Football.