Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - LIVE DRAFT COVERAGE: Vikings select Caleb Banks at No. 18; Picks 18-29

Episode Date: April 24, 2026

Matthew Coller is live breaking down the NFL Draft pick by pick and then giving a deep dive into the Minnesota Vikings' selections. We will have a check in from TCO Performance Center and Jonathan Harrison standing by to cover the draft buzz. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode of Purple Insider is presented by Fandul. Minnesota Vikings pick is in. And Roger Goodell announces, come on, Raj. Caleb Banks, the defensive tackle from Florida. So, um, guys, with the language a little bit here, if we can, if we can, they go with Caleb Banks, the defensive tackle from Florida. So I'll give you my thoughts on this right away. that Caleb Banks has one of the highest ceilings in this entire draft. He has the potential to be a freak, a Linval Joseph caliber.

He is that size, that level of quickness, that level of potential dominance for Caleb Banks. but there are some issues here that I've talked about over the last few months of being pretty concerned about the idea of taking Caleb Banks. And I can see from the chat already, Dan says horrible and Timothy says at 18, though. Some of you were talking about it is a solid pick, but it is a very, very risky pick for a couple of reasons. Number one is that this is already one of the biggest reach. versus the consensus board. Daniel Jeremiah, for example, had him in the, I think he finished in the 40s, maybe, or in the 30s.

Fire KOC is already out there. But, you know, with banks, this is much more risky than I expected for the Vikings. And also, mock drafters, sorry that your dream is dead. And it is not going to be Dylan Thineman. but this is one that I was not a huge fan of the idea of drafting Caleb Banks because he has had multiple foot injuries and that's really concerning when I was watching Banks at the combine move around I thought this is pretty darn impressive and then he hurt his foot again after it was something that already was injured before so it feels to me like this is a swing for

the fences that I didn't exactly have on my radar. Now, Banks was a guy that early on at the combine initially, I thought this is someone who makes so much sense for the Vikings. But the multiple injuries, that's where you hesitate. He did not play a lot in 2024. And his production was not great. Or I'm sorry, in 2025. And his production was not great in 2004.

And when I did the research on. all the defensive tackles over the last 10 drafts and just looked at how they performed if they didn't have great production. And the answer was not great. So it is a very risky selection that has a very wide range of potential outcomes. If Caleb Banks struggles with injury and becomes Caleb Farley, then this is a big problem for the Vikings. And once again, they're willing to go the.

route of a player who's been hurt. And that is a big surprise, I think, because I would have expected that one thing they might change under Rob Brzezinski would have been, don't go after guys that have such serious injury issues. And Caleb Banks is certainly one of those guys. But I need to go with the other side of this because, of course, there are players that I would have liked more for them. the wide receivers, as you mentioned, even if you're going to go the injured guy, unless

Jermad McCoy is totally screwed than Jermad McCoy there. But let me give the other side of it. If Caleb Banks works out for the Vikings, let's just take a look. We've been talking positional value a lot. Defensive tackle has moved its way into the positional value Hall of Fame. It is very difficult to find defensive tackle. in free agency. I think we know that from how much the Vikings paid last year to get Javon Hargrave,

to get Jonathan Allen. I mean, it just, it was a lot for two guys that were pretty washed up. So if you get a good defensive tackle, Jordan Davis just made $26 million. I mean, Jordan Davis has been okay, but that just shows you how hard it is to get that player.

and I think that Jordan Dave, Jordan Davis is a good kind of comp for Caleb Banks as someone who is freakishly athletic. Now, I think Davis, a better run stopper. Banks has more upside potential of getting after the passer. But in terms of like their size and athleticism, he is the one that in this entire draft falls under the absolute freak category.

There are probably only five players. in this draft, like Sunny Stiles, Jeremiah Love, there's only five or six players that are freaks that have through the roof potential that if it clicks, they can be superstars. And Caleb Banks is one of them. So where they do check boxes in the, let's say in the purple insider, like you must check these boxes to be an A plus draft pick for the Minnesota Vikings in my eyes, he checks a few. it is the correct positional value. It's the correct ceiling that if he does click and he does reach his ceiling,

Caleb Banks will mall people. He's going to play against Garrett Bradbury and he's going to pick him up and he's going to throw him if it works out. The boxes that are not checked for the Purple Insider must do this to get an A plus. One, could you have traded back? because Dallas just traded with Philadelphia. So were they interested in trading with the Vikings? Could you have traded back?

And that is odd. Philly and Dallas. I mean, cats and dogs, they're making a trade. Could you have traded back if you're the Vikings? I would have preferred trading back. The injury history is undeniable. It is a huge concern when you have a guy that size. Now, I'm sure what they've said many times before is,

is our medical team is signed off on this guy. And I have no doubt that the Minnesota Vikings have a great medical team. But they're not future tellers. And they did this last year with free agents. And some worked and some didn't. They've done it in the draft before with somebody like Andrew Ruth Jr. That did not work out. And it's a huge concern.

If Caleb Banks ends up getting hurt and has this consistent foot issue, somebody that big with a foot problem is a major concern. And based on history, there's a few major red flags with Caleb Banks. The biggest red flag is production that he did not have big numbers in college. He did not have great PFF grades in college. And you might say, oh, well, what did they know? But the PFF grades have been incredibly predictive when it comes to defensive tackles. because you think about what is it you do in college as a DT that PFF couldn't see.

You just destroy the other person, right? And if you can do that like Quinn and Williams or something who graded through the roof, then your chances of working out are pretty good. Guys who have not graded well have often turned into busts at the defensive tackle position. Big red flag right there. And it's a big red flag when a team drafts against the consensus board. Areef Hassan's consensus board did not have Caleb Banks as a first round pick. And when teams have gone so much against that through the years, their chances of a miss are much higher.

So the way that I look at Caleb Banks as he's taken at 18, and I will admit, this is something that through the entire draft process, I was not for, I was not for the Vikings taking Caleb Banks through the entire draft process because of these injuries. and because of the lack of production. But it's a pick to me that has the widest range of maybe any player in the entire draft of outcomes. It would not surprise me in the least if they were looking at here are the markers for us in terms of athleticism, in terms of traits, and in terms of what Brian Flores sees and how he clicks with this player. and if we get him in our building, then he's going to turn into a monster.

If he works out, there is a world where Caleb Banks is a star. And it's not that every single defensive tackle ever has had to have the exact right production in college. In fact, I think Sharif Floyd didn't have much production himself. And he turned out before his injury to be a very good player. So it does happen that guys are drafted on their upside and what they have. eventually could be and they end up turning into the stars that their team drafting them sees them becoming. So with Caleb Banks, I love the upside. I am very big on the upside because I think he can

be Linvald Joseph, that type of level. There are just not people walking around the United States of America at six foot six and 330 pounds who move like that. There are just not those people. So I think that what the Vikings are looking for here, and I would agree with the comment, it's not a data driven pick. It's definitely not. But where it is data driven would be the positional value. Because if you land a player, and I know that a lot of you in the comments are deciding right now tonight what he's going to become, well, I don't think we can do that. But my issue is the risk. But on the side of it where they're seeing the upside is if you hit on a player like this, and he becomes Chris Jones.

Let's just throw a name out there for somebody who's this size, this explosiveness. Chris Jones makes $30 million a year. And Dexter Lawrence makes $28 million. And up the middle, it is the hardest possible position to deal with for an offense. We've seen this with Jalen Carter. So if you are an offense, what do you hate trying to game plan for? Linval Joseph, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, defensive tackles who you cannot handle. Akeem Hicks is another one.

We have seen these types of defensive tackles dominate the National Football League. So I see why the Vikings would swing for it. Because if they believe that they have the right role and the right development plan for Caleb Banks and they are okay with him medically, which they must be to take him number 18 overall, then you're swinging for the fences. So I am, I'm very much on two sides of this because the upside and the positional value to me are home runs. I mean, this could be one of the better players and most valuable in the NFL if it all

goes right at his defensive tackle position. But the risk here is so immense. And I think what surprises me the most, well, one, that there was a trade right behind the Vikings and they weren't involved. Mackay Lemon ending up, this is kind of another L, Mackay Lemon ending up with the Philadelphia Eagles is not, not good. That's not good. Because I think he's going to be very good and he's a great fit there.

Akeem Hicks was a third round. I'm just talking about the guys who fit this profile. I'm not talking about when guys were drafted. Guys who fit the profile of this size, this level of dominance physically over their opponents. Caleb Banks falls under that category. Chris Jones was a second round draft pick, but there's just not many that have that speed, that quickness. The other side of it is, it is immensely risky and that's what surprises me. One of the reasons I think that everybody went with Dylan Thineman for the Vikings was probably just the fact that, I mean, he was safe,

right he was obvious it was like if they take dylan thinaman then you plug and play and you're going to be just fine and you know what he's going to be that and you have an acting GM you don't have a locked in general manager so if you're talking about like a guy who is kind of trying to prove himself maybe a little bit but really just make sure he keeps the train on the tracks then you would not think that you were looking for somebody to swing big on, right? You would have thought that, all right, you're going to take the safe pick. Throughout this entire offseason, the Vikings did the safe thing. They didn't restructure too many contracts.

They brought back the players that they were expected to bring back. They signed one defensive back. and they just kind of kept the train moving. So my expectation going into this draft was that that's what they would do, that they would just get maybe it was a safety or maybe it's a wide receiver to, you know, give KOC another weapon and Kyler Murray another weapon. I did not expect them to show up at the plate like Jose Konseko swinging out of their shoes for Caleb Banks.

So, you know, I'm seeing a lot of. of very definitive type of stuff. And there's, for me, I always know that, hey, look, the wide receiver won every single year in the first round is not always going to be something that the Vikings do. They've done it a couple times, but they're not always going to do it. I still think that they'll do it in the third round or maybe even the second round. So you'll get a wide receiver and I think you'll get a good prospect. Caldric Falk made a lot of sense to me. Akemesador made a lot of sense for me as guys, even for, Falk was a little more on the risky side, but he's so young and, you know, potentially

could develop over the coming years. The guy with the big injury history is probably one of the scariest picks that you can make. So, no, I don't think that Rob needs to be put in a spaceship and sent to the sun. But I'm just surprised that him being the guy who's operating it would go in that direction. and, you know, when he was talking about, you know, the sort of thing of, well, what's the guy's path to the field? Here's another part. Here's another part. And I do disagree that it's not a sexy pick.

I think DT is a sexy pick because these players, if they click, are so valuable and so dominant. And who knows this better than Minnesota Vikings fans, right? Like, Vikings fans are well aware that the defensive tackle position is great for. or, you know, back to Henry Thomas or John Randall or, you know, whatever, Kevin Williams, Pat Williams. This is a place that loves itself a good defensive tackle. And Linval Joseph, I mentioned. Sheldon Richardson for a year there in 2018.

I mean, yeah, this place knows DT. Harrison Phillips was tremendously popular here. So if Caleb Banks clicks, I mean, yeah, like he's going to be immensely popular. and it is a sexy pick because it's a guy that can, when you see, when you go and watch the highlight reel, the highlight reel is preposterous, the way that he moves.

When he gets to the backfield, you're going to say, dude, that looks like what Pat Williams used to do only a little faster or it looks, although he was really quick, it looks like Linval, just throwing people. But the risk,

there's just several different things that are risky that I would have thought, thought Caleb Banks would drop. And I was talking about yesterday, hey, man, he might get to number 49. And if he's at 49, then yes, the Vikings should definitely take him. But I didn't expect him to quite go at 18. And it kind of, you know, it goes back to the beginning of the draft process where Banks was considered a high prospect.

But then as it went along, there was the concerns about the injuries. and I think that he is going to still need recovery time before he even gets onto the field. And that is another one of those red flags. And I think it is fair, Purple faithful to trust Brian Flores. But Brian Flores also is not, I mean, perfect by any means. Because no one knows what's going to happen when it comes to Caleb Banks' injury history. Does Draft, C.J, does drafting banks mean Harry returns? I don't know that they're connected.

I never made a connection between Harrison Smith status in this draft. A lot of people did. I did not. That's why I didn't think they'd take Thinamon. So I guess I get a W&L for my predictions throughout the draft process of a W for it wasn't Thineman, but an L for it was a guy that I had much more as a second round pick. And, you know, I think that someone like, Caden McDonald would have been a lot safer, but was never a fit for me.

I think that Brian Flores does want a guy that can get to the backfield, that can create penetration, that has quickness, that has the size to go along with it to dominate the run game, but also get into the backfield like a player like Akeem Hicks or Chris Jones. So there isn't, yeah, I mean, I think that you're right, Marco saying it's not about being definitive. people saying like never let Rob near a draft again or whatever. I mean, okay, that's, that is being pretty definitive. But, you know, I think that if you're saying you're not a fan of the pick or you're very concerned

about the pick, that is fair. That is fair. Because the amount of red flags that are there for Caleb Banks and we don't have his medical stuff, of course I'll, you know, acknowledge that we don't have his medical stuff. but we do have a sense for what has happened to a lot of players that have had injury histories in the past. I want to take a second here to go and take a look at where we're at with just the draft board in general as Messador goes off the board to the chargers.

So let's take a look at the big board here. After the Vikings picked Caleb Banks, Monroe Freeling went to Carolina, then Mackay Lemon the trade up for Philadelphia goes to the Eagles and the the offensive tackle from who I didn't learn his name from Arizona State goes to the Steelers. And then a key messador to the San Diego Chargers formerly. It's a it's a very interesting pick that I can't say that I really expected. and I guess expecting the unexpected was probably the right thing for this draft with just the way it went for a lot of different teams. But before I get Manny Hill in here, I would say what we're going to have to do with Caleb Banks is probably be patient because he missed last year.

And the last time he really played a full season was 2024. He's not going to get an off season here. And patience is not something that Vikings fans have enjoyed very much when they evaluate draft prospects. We have certainly learned that from the way that people responded to Dallas Turner. And this one in particular is going to take time to see how it plays out. First, it's going to start with, can he get on the field right away? Is he going to be 100% for training camp? And then the next step is, well, how far along is he from a technical perspective for

somebody who didn't play a lot in 2024? Is he ready to get on the field? or is he going to be a sort of a smaller rotational player, but a defensive tackle. Now, this is another box I didn't mention enough. The need was enormous at defensive tackle. It wasn't just kind of a need. It's humongous.

They just don't have anything there that's proven. Still don't after Caleb Banks, but looking to build with Redmond and Banks into the future, I see the vision, but I also see why the reaction is what it is. Speaking of which, before we get Manning Hill in here, Jonathan Harrison has been monitoring, moves and reaction. Jonathan, the chat has been using some words.

I don't love to be on the screen. It's a family program. Yeah. What is social media been saying? The buzzer on social media, obviously, kind of mimics the chat from the fans. Fans are not happy. You see some reports coming out. Jordan Schultz saying that there was a ton of late love for Caleb Banks once he got the foot fully cleared.

Adam Schaefter reporting that NFL, teams received a letter earlier this week stating that after a scan on Tuesday, Banks is on pace to be fully cleared for football activities in early June as he recovers from that foot injury. So he should be available by June, according to that report. Seth Walder says Caleb Banks at 18, a little bit of his prize draft day predictor, gave him just an 18% chance to be selected in the first round at all entering the night. Kevin O'Connell talking to KFAN, their draft party saying we feel very confident. that we selected the top 10 talent, also adding,

we think he can play all three spots. He can be an impactful in the sub-packages. So the Vikings obviously very happy with their pick. Reporting coming in, also I want to add, Alec Lewis, from the show, said he had one person who worked at Florida over the past year saying Caleb Banks was a unicorn. He hasn't put it all together, but if he does, dot, dot, dot could be a huge get for the Vikings.

Okay, thank you, Jonathan, for that. Folks, you guys know that I'm a hat guy. I've always been that way because I sunburn easily and my wife likes how it looks. But if you find yourself wearing hats these days to cover up your thinning hair or receding hairline, well, maybe it's time to take some action rather than try to hide away from the world. Luckily, that action is very easy to take. Just try hymns. They make it so simple for you with 100% online access to personalized treatment plans that put

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Featured products include compound drug products, which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety, effectiveness, or quality. Prescription required, see website for details, restrictions, and important safety information. And with that, we're going to bring in Mani Hill, if I can operate this correctly. And I did. Okay, Mani, good evening. So the way that I've laid this out, Mr. Hill, is that Caleb Banks, I see the reaction. I see what people are saying. And I am part of the problem because leading up to the draft, we had a lot of discussions

about Caleb Banks on the show with Chris Trappaso, who actually is a big fan of Banks. But he had the similar concerns. And when you see a player, like now that we have consensus boards and consensus data and all those things, when you see a player that is drafted this high, but the mock draft universe was not high on him as a first round draft pick, uh, that's one where you have to hesitate and you have to wonder, did they reach on Caleb Banks,

but also we didn't have that medical information that Jonathan just shared. And I appreciate Jonathan bringing that in that, you know, the scan on his foot was good. But it still raises some concerns about where he's going to go. So what is your reaction, Manny? to the Vikings sticking and picking and selecting a guy who probably has one of the highest ceilings in the entire draft and one of the lowest floors. Well, you have to love the upside.

I mean, a guy 6.6.330 and, you know, with long arms and, you know, when he's on, the quickness is there. The explosiveness off the line is there. I mean, he has all the potential to be just an absolute menace. from the interior of the defensive line. But the thing of it is with the way the league is gone today, if you tell me this guy's 6-6, he's 3.30, he's got long arms, he's explosive all the line, he has a chance to be a monster defensive tackle. You're thinking that guy's going to go on the top five, typically.

And the fact that he has dropped to 18, obviously there's injury concerns, you know, maybe concerns with, you know, technique and, you know, the fundamental stuff. and consistency and things like that. You do have to wonder, like, is this, is this, you know, when you're the Vikings and you're really thirsty for young talent, is this the right play? I mean, obviously, as you've talked about, the upside is immense.

And if he hits that upside, oh, boy, him and Redmond on the defensive line, sharing that space is going to be incredible. But if the injury becomes a lingering thing and you just never really get what you're looking for out of him, then you're going to look at, you know, this as a real missed opportunity. And you look at some of the other guys that were taken, you know, Messador going to the to the Chargers. You know, Malachi Lawrence going to going to Dallas at 23. These are guys that are defensive linemen that have been pretty productive and figured to step in, right away and have a bit of an impact.

So, you know, I heard you mentioned, you know, you're going to have to be patient with Caleb Banks. And that's just, you know, I mean, we had to be patient with Dallas Turner a little bit in 2024, right? I mean, we didn't really see a lot from him early on. And then he kind of came along as a rookie. And then last year, second half of the year, he really, he really blew up. And so I think that's what you're kind of hoping for with Caleb Banks and you kind of see what happens.

but it's it's risky man because it like you said it's it's kind of a boom or bust type of situation. If he hits this ceiling, oh boy, let's let's play, let's go. But if it doesn't, it could potentially be a disaster. So a Dane Bruegler had Caleb Banks's DT4 and he ends up DT1. And I'm going to read you what Dane Bruegler had to say in his The Beast on the Athletic with 600 pages of draft analysis. he said Banks has a rare combination of size, raw power, and big man Twitch, all of which lead to big time flashes and glimpses of his ceiling. However, the absence of a healthy senior season complicates his projection

and his draft grade will depend on each team's appetite for risk. I think that is perfectly framed from Dane Bruegler, that if you wanted to draft a Caden McDonald and have him stand in there and take up two gaps and just stuff bodies or whatever, you could do that. And he was probably going to hit that ceiling pretty easily. With Caleb Banks, he could be a guy that we barely ever see and go,

what happened to the guy that they drafted 18? Or he could be a guy where we go, oh my gosh, he is unstoppable. And this is your Akeem Hicks. This is your Kenny Clark. This is your Chris Jones. This is your Dexter Lawrence. Because those guys I just mentioned are the only people I can,

think of who have this size and quickness. The issue that I have is that in 2024, he played a full season and I'll pull up his data here, but it was not impressive in terms of his performance in 2024. And the reason I'm having to scroll down is because I was looking at the consensus board. And he dropped pretty far on the consensus boards throughout the draft process. So in 2024, he had 21 quarterback hurries. this is PFF counts half sacks as full sacks, four QB hits and four sacks. So that's only 29 pressures in 12 games.

That's not a high number. And his pass rush grade was 64.2. That was in 2025. That's not a great number. His pass rush win rate was 8.3%, which is not a great number. It's okay. For a guy of this size, you would just expect him to run through people in college. and it's always been one of those obvious kind of things of if you didn't run through people in

college, then why are you going to do it in the NFL? And what they must see is the top plays from Caleb Banks line up with anybody's top plays in the entire draft. It's just that there's a lot of other ones where he's eliminated pretty quickly. And that's why I am surprised by this. I would like to know, Manny, your level of surprise because I would say mine is like, a like a seven out of ten. I mean, you mentioned there's all these rumors out there that they're going to trade

Jonathan Grenar, but Messador is right there. Lawrence is right there. Those are two guys that would make so much sense for the edge rusher position. And Brzezinski talked about, this is funny because he kind of did exactly what he talked about not necessarily doing, which is talking yourself into the glasses half full because you need the position. And they need the position, defensive tackle. badly. DJ Reader is off free agency. There is nobody who can really come help you. And they're looking

100% at the glass half full side of this. Because if you look at the glass not as full, it's like quite bad. And that's where I was pretty shocked by because I would have expected much more of a down the fairway type of pick or a hey, KOC wants to get his weapon for Kyler Murray type of pick, then I expected the here's Mark McGuire at the plate here's Kent Herback trying to hit a grand slam swinging out of his shoes I guess that I just did not totally expect and uh I got a message from just now Jeremiah Searle who's like I don't know man so I don't know man what was your surprise level yeah I was pretty surprised I thought I honestly thought they were going to go with Dylan and just play it safe, you know, because that's kind of where, that's kind of what a lot of

people had them doing in that spot. I was kind of looking at the corners, you know, my guy, Jamad McCoy from Tennessee, Avionte Rale was another one that I was kind of looking at maybe. You know, the other thing I kind of wonder is if they, and I think you might have even mentioned this, is if they could have traded back a few spots and still been able to do this. and you get an extra pick in the middle rounds maybe to kind of work with. I just, yeah, I'm just really, really surprised that this is the route that they go. I mean, you should never really be completely surprised by anything you see in the NFL draft these days.

But this was kind of surprising to me. I would say on a one to 10 scale, I'm probably where you are, about a seven, eight. in terms of level of shock. I didn't really think that this was going to be a route that they were going to go when, you know, Rob Brzezinski is kind of in this role. We don't know if he's going to have this role beyond, you know, June or whenever they're going to, you know, make a decision on who the GM is going to be. So you're kind of thinking, like, maybe you just play it safe here and not really take a big swing on a boom or bust type of player.

But this is the route they go. And you also have to wonder, okay, maybe this was a situation. where Brian Flores looked at Caleb Banks and looked at enough table of them and said, I can do some things with this guy. I can get them. If there's questions about consistency and production, I can get this guy to be productive. If we can just get him healthy. So I think that needs to be taken into consideration too.

I think before we just kind of go with these grandiose, oh, you know, Brazinski, why do they allow Brazinski to make this pick? Well, you know, I got to think that Brian Flores. Even Kevin O'Connell may have had a word in on this as well. So I think you just have to hope for the best and hope that he's healthy. And like I said, if he gets to this, the level that he has the potential to get to, this is going to be a pretty monstrous defense. So Casey Concepcion goes to the Cleveland Browns at 24.

There's another wide receiver off the board. Still available is Denzel Boston. He is, him and Omar Cooper are the last two projected first rounders. Keldrick Falk has not gone yet, and that was somebody I was very curious how the league looked at. Once again, Mani, though, with Dylan Thineman, safeties are just a lie. They're just a lie. They are a media, they are literally a media creation. Emmanuel McNeill Warren, Dylan Thineman, Caleb Downs.

This is the best safety class. These guys are going at number two overall, number 18 overall and number, you know, whatever. some people had top 15 for McNeil Warren. The NFL does not care about your safeties. They truly don't when it comes to the draft. It never, ever pays off when it comes to the draft bets on the safety position. It's actually kind of remarkable. Even the greatest safeties of all time were not really drafted that high.

Ed Reed wasn't drafted super high. Troy Palomalu wasn't drafted like super, super high. They were higher picks, but it's not like they were, you know, I mean, people early on in the draft process, some people had Caleb Downs going in the top five and he goes to, what do you go, 12 to or 11 to the Cowboys. And it's, they traded up from 12. Yeah, they traded up to get him. But and I mean, if you think about it, though, like Caleb Downs is totally like a Cowboys Jerry Jones pick. He is a big name, good, very good player at Ohio State.

I don't think there's any doubting of his ability. But, you know, he's kind of one of the star players of this draft, one of the most well-known players of the draft. And it's like, of course Jerry Jones is going to take, you know, a well-known star type of superstar, you know, type of player in the draft. So, but yeah, I mean, it, and it's hard to really tell, you know, when you take a safety, it's hard to really tell if he's going to be like a great type of. I mean, Harrison Smith, we're wondering about Harrison Smith future and everything. Harrison Smith was end of the first round. Yeah. When he was when he was drafted.

So it's not like, you know, and he's one of the great safeties of all time. And so it's not a position that teams value, you know, in that top five, top 10 range of the draft. And so it's a lot of times those guys, they get drafted a little lower. And then if they're great, they kind of emerge and they surprise people. But, yeah, so I'm not, I thought the team would be the pick for the Vikings because it just felt like a safe pick that Rob Brzezinski would want to make. but you're seeing that it's not a position that teams want to typically want to use a high draft pick on. I just went oof a little when I saw the Texans trade up with Buffalo and they gave up a

second round pick or early third. Maybe it was 60 something. And I was thinking, if the Vikings had traded back like four spots and taken Messador and got an extra pick, I probably would have liked that. But, you know, when we talk about the positional value, though, certainly positional value is something that the mock drafters and the big board makers don't care enough about because it would look almost silly if they made their big board where it was like here's all the edge rushers receivers offensive tackles and that's my whole draft and yet that's

the whole draft even sunny styles who's the best linebacker of fred warner like built in a lab type player and even he dropped a couple more spots than people expected him to this draft a quarterback was massively overdrafted versus the expectation. So this draft has really screamed. The NFL is only caring about, I mean, look, Mansour Delane went super, super high. Carnal Tate went higher than anybody expected. The Arizona Cardinals, you know, they're the Cardinals. So they take running back in Jeremiah Love, which is probably not a good pick for them.

Because I don't know when he's going to be a difference maker, what, three years from now. but the rest of the sane national football league took premium positions. And there is a point to be made about Caleb Banks and the premium position discussion. Because years ago, it would not have been in the conversation with defensive tackle. Because years ago, we know this. There was sure, the Pat Williams. Kevin Williams is an exceptional guy, but there weren't that many pass rushers. and there definitely weren't too many guys who were this size who also rushed the passer.

So that wasn't talked about a lot. And now that we've seen offenses get smaller, more athletic, more outside zone, there has been a swing to where you have the monster DTs are worth their weight in gold as the bears just took DLan Theteman. So two times a year, I'm sorry, everyone. I'm going to say former Viking Dylan Thineman revenge game against the Vikings. It's going to be obnoxious, but I'm sorry in advance. I will be doing that. So Thineman ends up with Chicago and that's a great pick for them.

It just is. They needed a safety and they got the second best one in the draft, a guy who is versatile and a playmaker and now the Vikings will have to play against him. At 25, that's a pretty good pick. I was for a trade down and thenaman combination. But back to the defensive tackle thing, guards became more mobile, more athletic centers under 300 pounds.

And the guys who had the ability and the quickness to get into the backfield at that size, like Caleb Banks has, they started demolishing the National Football League. And I also think that those guys used to be offensive linemen. and now they were like, screw that. I'm going to go get quarterbacks. And those great athletes moved over to that side of the football.

Defensive tackles price tags have been going up, up, up, up. As we saw last year, the Vikings giving Jonathan Allen $20 million a year because they had to. This is the only way to get a pass rushing DT. So the Vikings nailed positional value. It's just that they had to reach versus expectation a ton of, to get it. And I think that we would all agree that a small reach for a positional value is fine, but an enormous reach versus the consensus is just very, very risky. So it's not often many in recent years. Maybe you can think of this where we've had kind of an explosion of unhappiness

with a draft pick. I mean, I think that there was the J.J. McCarthy, I think that it was probably 50-50. People were on board. People were concerned. But I don't think anyone really wanted Bo Nix that much in that draft. I don't remember too many people saying I tattooed Bo Nix's name on my forearm. Like I think people were quite down on him as the pick. So yeah, okay, all right. You got, you know, J.J. McCarthy. And that's always going to be a debate at quarterback.

But I don't remember much discussion about Donovan Jackson last year. Just kind of made too much sense. I don't remember too much debate about Jordan Addison. Hey, it's a wide receiver. Maybe this show's propaganda was just covering up for any criticism of the receiver position. But this one, I think, is going to have a lot of people going. Why didn't you move down?

Why didn't you take Mackay Lemon? And here's the other thing, too, Manny. Knowing that there are some concerns about Addison, knowing that they have nothing at wide receiver three presently, Lemon is on the board and then a great organization takes him two picks later. Yeah. Like, you sort of go, okay, are you sure that you're not going to take the top 10 projected wide receiver that dropped down the board.

I think if there's one criticism that Purple Insider deserves to own, it's the maybe you should have just picked McCoy Lemon. Yeah, I mean, Howie Roseman just does it again, man. It's like it's a perfect pick for them because it's looking like they're going to trade A.J. Brown probably to the Patriots in June. And, you know, you're moving on from from him.

and you're saving a little bit on cap money, and now you're bringing in a young, cheap, wide receiver who I'm with you. I think Mikea Lemon is going to be really, really, really good. And you just, the rich kind of gets richer, you know. And so, yeah, that's what I was kind of thinking of. Like I said before, I was thinking they were going to take Theneman. personally I wanted them to go corner because I don't think you can ever have enough corners. I was in shock that they took banks.

I would have really liked if they would have taken lemon too. I would not have hated that at all. Just because, you know, the kind of the uncertain future of Jordan Addison. But now, you know, I think because you pass on Mackay Lemon, now you really need Jordan Addison to get it in gear in 2026. you know, because if if it's another year where, you know, there's off the field stuff again and, you know, he's just not not very productive for whatever reason. He doesn't click with Kyler Murray. That's going to be a huge detriment to this team being able to have success. They need Jordan Addison to really step it up and go back to the Jordan Addison that we saw in 2023 as a rookie that had almost 1,000 yards and 70 plus catches.

Well, let me make one quick point. Then I'll ask you one more question, Manny. I appreciate you giving some time on your draft evening here. Do want to make the point that the Vikings have other picks. And in recent years, that has just not been true. So it's like, I guess we obsess over one guy. In this particular draft, they will pick someone tomorrow in the second round. And maybe part of their projection.

We will see tomorrow. But maybe part of their projection is, look, we're going to take the big swing on day one because top 10 talents are the guys who make the Hall of Fame. And there also was Christian Derisaw had similar, had injury issues. People weren't sure if he was tough enough or whatever. Christian Darisaw also had insane production in terms of like never allowing a sack or something in college. So it was a little different from that way.

but when you look at Darisol, why is he so good? It starts with the physique. You just don't find guys like that. That's why you take him. And he wasn't a top 10 pick. So they're looking at it, maybe the defensive kind of version for that. And then day two, maybe you address Corner with somebody safer, Chris Johnson. Also, it should be noted because I love Corner.

As an idea, I mocked a bunch of corners. Colton Hood hasn't gone. We have not seen Geron McCoy. We have not seen Aviontrell. We've not seen Chris Johnson. So all the guys who are top corners have slid down the board where again with the NFL kind of saying, even though it's a premium position, if you're not a freak, we're not going to look at you in the top of the draft. We're just not.

We're not going to spend those picks because the crazy thing about the cornerback position is that the guys who are the best of the best, you're only getting them at the top of drafts. Good luck finding them anywhere else. Not too many Richard Sherman's out there. but the second wave level caliber player, the Byron Murphy, those guys do end up in free agency pretty often. So you've got to be sure that you're taking someone who's going to be a difference maker. My point is this could allow the Vikings for a safe cornerback pick like Chris Johnson, Avion, Torell in the second round where you go, all right, well, we thought about that guy in the

first round or Colton Hood, I think is a great second round type of prospect. That's lining up to be in good shape. The wide receiver position is lining up to be. in good shape for tomorrow where maybe if Denzel Boston doesn't get taken, but there's a number of other receivers for day two and day three. There's some edge rushers for day two and day three. Zion Young I really like as a power rusher. So the board is going to look good because they actually have a second round pick. But I want to know. Right. I know, right? There will be by the end of the night, we are getting close to the end of the first round here. By the end of the night as Caden Rutledge just went off the board. There's another pretty big reach, I think, for Houston.

Maybe they're trying to rebuild with some grit and power with Ed Ingram and now Caden Rutledge. But the fact that there's been other reaches in the draft has pushed some guys into the second round. So it's not over with the Vikings draft with one big swing. And you're going to have other opportunities to get starters tomorrow. Here's what I want to know from you. And I was just checking on a fan duel what some of the early experts. expectations are and uh, Jordan Love to, uh, have the top

regular season rushing yards, um, over a thousand yards is, uh, minus 114 on fan duel. What do you expect from Jordan Love? I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm just like, don't even know what to do. Jeremiah, love. I'm sorry. What? Jeremiah love. I've said Jordan Love so many times in my life.

I think Jordan loves be pretty good again for the back. Yeah, he'll go. Over a thousand yards, I think, probably like four times over. And so I'm curious what you thought of them doing that and what his outlook is. I'm also just curious about the rest of the first round and how like your one big thing that as you're sitting there watching a play out, you're like, oh, because I got to be honest, I thought Jeremiah love going to the Cardinals was total BS. I just thought there's no way.

They're trying to leak it out there to get somebody to trade up. But that's not what happened. And so give me your kind of your overarching, like big thing of the first round. Yeah, I did not think I'm with you. I did not think the Cardinals were going to take Jeremiah Love at that high. I mean, you just, you take a running back. And look, Jeremiah Love was great at Notre Dame. He's running up for the Heisman, right?

And he was outstanding. But if you're going to take a running back that high in today's NFL, he better be special. I mean, we're talking Barry Sanders, Adrian Peterson, Walter Payton type of special. Otherwise, you know, good, good solid running back. You can get those guys at almost any point in the draft. So the Cardinals better be really sure that this guy is going to be a special, special, special running back. I liked what Tennessee did taking Carnal Tate. It might have been a little high, but yes, a little high, but, but I really like that.

getting, I mean, you know, you're trying to get your young quarterback some weapons and so that he can kind of grow and develop. And, you know, obviously they have a new coach there and everything too. But, you know, I like Carnell Tate. He was kind of the thought of as like the second guy to Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State. You know, Smith was the big star. And, you know, Tate was just kind of the second guy, but was very productive for the Buckeyes for a couple of years. So I like that pick for Tennessee there. How about Kansas City moving up to take Mansour Delane?

Yeah, yeah. You know, and, you know, and that was, you know, to try and replace, you know, I mean, they lost two quarters. You know, they traded away McDuffie and then and then they lost a guy in free agency too. So good on Kansas City for being a little aggressive and going up and getting him. I also like what the Saints did, getting Jordan Tyson getting another weapon for, for Tyler Shuck, too, to go there. So I thought the teams in the top 10, I thought, did pretty good. I'm still, you know, a little iffy on what Arizona did, taking Jeremiah, I love that high.

But I thought most of the teams in the top 10 did, did, you know, what they did made a lot of sense. I think even Cleveland, you know, I mean, Cleveland could use some weapons on offense, but I think, you know, getting Spencer Fano to try and just help that offensive line that is really, kind of falling apart. A line that was really good when Baker Mayfield was there, but really over the last handful of years is really kind of falling apart. So getting an offensive tackle there to help that line for Shador Sanders, I guess. So I have that little issue of quarterback going on there in Cleveland.

But now, though, Manny, now that the Rams took Ty Simpson, doesn't Cleveland look kind of silly? Because if he was, I mean, I mean, I don't love him as a first round draft pick, but Sean McVeigh presumably knows more than I do. If that organization looked at that quarterback, it said first round, but the Brown's organization looked at him and said, no, we can't do that after trading back and getting additional capital and they had another first round pick to take a receiver, it's kind of like, if I'm,

and I like to follow on Twitter, this is like the thing I do, I go watch all the clips from Cleveland Sports Radio all the time. And it is insane. It is like last year, I was I have a friend there, Ken Carmen, and I follow him and watch all the clips. It was a circus. I can't imagine now that a quarterback went right after them,

what that zoo is going to be like in Cleveland. I think the biggest surprise to me was probably Bain falling as far as he did. I thought that, you know, teams would just go, whatever, man, like you just go for the guy that has the talent and screw it, right? So anyway,

we'll get to the rest of, the draft board, how it's fallen since we've been talking. But give me, give me one summation of your feeling. I know we've discussed it quite a bit. Then we'll get back to your comments and the board and stuff. But summation of a feeling about the Vikings handling of the first round of the 2006 NFL draft. It's definitely a swing for the fences.

There's, there's no question about that. And if it works, it's a grand slam. If it, if it doesn't work, if, if Caleb Banks is dealing with injuries and he's just inconsistent and doesn't really, you know, develop as a talent, it's a swing and a miss and it's a strikeout. And those are not good. I don't care what the analytics people say in baseball. Strikeouts are not good.

They do matter. Yeah. I like putting the ball in play. So, and obviously, you know, Dylan Thineman would have been, you know, maybe a double to the left center field gap instead of swinging for the fences. So I do, I am intrigued by the upside, obviously, of Caleb Banks. And I think, again, if it, if he hits, he's going to be a monster and it's going to be unbelievable and a lot of fun to watch. But it's, it's a, it's a big risk.

We'll see how it plays out. Yeah, I think that my concern with it is that Caleb Banks will work out in three years. Yeah. And because when you, I mean, we saw this from J.J. McCarthy. I mean, when you miss a whole year, it's hard for anybody. Even guys who play at the top, top level. And I know it's not quarterback. It's a little different than that.

And you can work them into a role right away. But he and here's another thing we know. And this is what I could see. I could totally see Brian Flores saying. I wouldn't be surprised. If he sees a little bit of Cam Hayward, it's like, that's the Cam Hayward skill set. And I don't know what Caleb Banks personality is. They know a lot more about Caleb Banks and his personality.

So if they sit down with them and they like the IQ and they like the vibe that they get from him and they see Cam Hayward, but here's the thing about Cam Hayward. He's been a Hall of Fame caliber player for like the last 10 years, but he was not when he first came into the league. And Brian Flores has said this about Dallas Turner. He has said, I am not afraid to develop a player over several seasons. And that's what they might do here, which might mean a lot of you and I. Thursday nights in November talking about how Caleb Banks only has played 18% of the snaps and people saying what the hell is going on is this guy our latest bust. And then in 2008, the guy is in the Pro Bowl.

I could see kind of a path for that with Caleb Banks. So that's what makes this one a little bit hard, actually super hard to evaluate. But we'll create a lot of discussion from the chat. That's for sure. So, Mani Hill, thank you so much, my friend, for stopping in. I appreciate it. And you and I will talk again very soon. So thanks for doing this.

You got it. Football. See you guys. Mani Hill. All right, let's take a look at the board that will get back to your comments. And here's the challenge. Comment section. I've got time for you.

I've got space for you. But here's what I need. I need rational comments. That's what I need. So give me your best rational Caleb Banks Vikings take in the conference. in the comments, and I will get to them in just a moment, okay? Because there was some not so rational reactions right after it happened. Let's take a look at the board, though, what's happened since the Vikings pick, just most recently, guys we talked about a lot.

Akeem Messador went to the Chargers, Malachi Lawrence, to the Dallas Cowboys, Casey Concepcion, wide receiver to the Cleveland Browns. Dylan Thineman picked up by the Chicago Bears. They were always going to get a safety because they're second. Derry was decimated. Now the Vikings will play against Thinemann twice a year, which could be quite a challenge, very talented player. And I think at 25, that positional value thing goes a little more out the board. Well, we're seeing a lot of trades at the end of the first round here. The Jets traded up just now. So we've had a lot of different moves. But the Texans traded up to get Kalin Rutledge guard, which is a big reach there. Chris Johnson, the corner, I talked about him a lot

from San Diego State. He goes to Miami. And then Caleb Lomu, a trade up for the New England Patriots, ends up at number 28. And the Patriots have their head coach for today, not for day three, though, I guess. So we got the Jets moving back. San Francisco is moving up to number 30 is what's happening right now.

There's all sorts of movement. In fact, maybe I can bring in John. Jonathan Harrison here to tell me what's going on with some of the movement. Jonathan, if you're, if you're ready for that, hold on one second. I'll get you in here. Lots of trading while Manny and I were talking. So, um, those, yeah, get you some of those trades in a little bit. Let's see, the Jets traded up to San Francisco's spot in number 30.

San Francisco's traded back a couple times now, uh, in the latter portion of the first round here. Uh, they're getting New York Jets is 33rd and 179. so New York can move up to 30. Elsewhere, got some KOC reaction for you in another draft story. I'll start with a draft story, though, because this one I heard from Ian Rappaport on Unfell Network, and it is a little bit wild concerning that 20th and 21st pick. So we know that the Eagles traded up to 20.

At the time, though, before that happened, the Steelers were on the phone getting ready to pick Mackay Lemon at 2021, and they were on the phone talking with him while the Eagles pulled off that trade. The Eagles were trying to get a hold of Lemon, and they couldn't because he was on the phone with the Steelers. Oh, my gosh. The Eagles end up picking him.

They jumped their in-state rivals to get Lemon at 20, and then the Steelers had to go draft an offensive lineman instead after previously talking to Lemon. The KOC reaction held his press conference, saying at that position, his size, his movement skills, his violence, the type of game that we think he can play, snap in and snap out is something. that we're really excited about.

Kevin O'Connell says he expects Caleb Banks available during the 2026 season and adds, quote, as we work toward the end of the offseason program, our hope is that we'll be able to prepare him in training camp for the regular season and have him in for that. More from Kevin O'Connell. The flashes of high-end talent are clearly there. Any young player sometimes consistency can be a thing, specifically if they're working through doing those things, not at 100%.

if he has those flashes for 13, 14, 15 plus games last year, if he was a little bit more consistent, I think we would have had to call his name a little bit earlier than that. And then Brzynski talking about his foot in the work that they did on scouting that and figuring out their concerns. We have the best doctors in the country, if not the world. We have complete confidence in them. There's nothing without risking any player you select, but we feel very good about where Caleb will be when it's time to go to training camp, so we're comfortable with the injury.

it's not so much that I think his foot will never heal. It's that the projection forward of having multiple injuries, one at the combine, one during the season. And then when you're talking about consistency being affected by injury, do you remember how good of a prospect Andrew Booth was? Like, Andrew Booth was a top 15 prospect. And it was the same conversation. It was the same, hey, man, we would not have been able to get this guy if he wasn't injured. It's like, yeah, well, there's a reason for that, right? There's a reason why Daniel Jeremiah did not have this guy as a first round pick.

Dane Bruegler had him as DT4, like a lot of the analysts and they don't have the medicals and the Vikings do. But I also feel like it's gotten borderline obnoxious, like a little bit arrogant to think that your medical group, which I have no doubt is as good as it gets. But they are not magic. and sometimes it's treated like they are. Like, we'll just bring back Aaron Jones again because we'll have the perfect plan for him and he'll never, ever get hurt.

And it's like, that's not how this works. And I feel like the same thing went for Andrew Booth Jr. Where I remember with Andrew Booth Jr., Quasi Dauvinza saying that he said to the medical staff, really? Like, that was, like, he said, are you sure? I think it was, are you sure? Like, are you really sure? And they were like, yeah.

And Booth actually didn't have. the biggest injury issues, but what slowed him down was having all those injuries made him a worse player, like getting consistent, getting on the field, being able to practice all the time. It's hard to get better when you're hurt. And him missing that entire season last year, basically, he wasn't able to get better while that's happening. So now he starts from a farther position back than most defensive tackles would from a progression standpoint. That would be the concern that I have about Caleb Banks. When I hear them say this, we got the best doctors, I don't dispute it.

All the players, they love this medical staff, they believe in them, but it's like predicting the weather. It's like looking at the radar and going, I mean, yeah, I mean, in my opinion, based on the radar, it looks like it's going to rain. That does not mean it's going to rain. It only means there's a certain percentage it's going to rain. And it doesn't mean a guy's not going to hurt his foot again because at this size, there's just a lot of strain on the body.

So I think that the injury concerns are fair. And when it's just a little bit hard, Jonathan, when you walk up to the podium and say, the guy we draft is not consistent. It's like, okay, you know, it's harder in the NFL, right? Right. Yeah. As you said, the PFF's pretty good at projecting defensive tackles. And we've seen, as you mentioned, consistency and you mentioned it, it's harder to do at the NFL level. So why is he going to just suddenly get better when he gets to a even better?

more difficult level where snapping and snap out, it's not just, or it's not just your teammates are on the line for. It's your paycheck and everything else that goes along with it. There's, it's a bigger, more, there's more pressure on you to get it right. And I think the thing that gives me a little bit of gloom of hope is that point that you made about Brian Flores being willing to develop talent over a number of years. And you saw that. We've seen that with Dallas Turner.

But the concerns are there certainly about the injuries and the way this team has gone about over the past couple years, taking these risks on these guys who are injured, not just in the draft, but in free agency. I mean, you look at Okuda last year, bringing him in after he's had plenty of injuries and you only got six games out of him. You bring in the veteran defensive tackles. That didn't pan out as well as maybe plenty of people were hoping. Ryan Kelly certainly heard a lot.

Yep. Yeah, I think with the injury stuff, it is absolutely a way to get more talent than you would have otherwise. but there's also a reason for that. So it all falls under the category of risk. Like if we're trying to read the weather, the guy's history is part of the weather. And there is a, I don't know, there's like a 40% chance that this doesn't work out because of injury and it sets him back.

But then there might be a 60% chance based on their projection or maybe higher that it'll be fine after this ends up working out. And my concern is not for this year. It's really for the long term. And if you have another one after this and it sets. you back and let's say that you're not only available for half of this season or something down the road, then you're just not able to develop. And that's what he needs because it is not lost on me. How freaky this guy is. It is not. I watched his combine before he got hurt,

but I watched his combine. I was like, oh, okay. That is just something you don't see is someone that's that big and moves that well. So I get it. I totally get it. But when the head coach goes up there and says, yeah, I mean, we don't, we don't think it's going to be a problem with the injuries. And, yeah, he does have to get consistent, but he would have been more consistent if he wasn't injured. You're like, okay, man, like maybe Dylan Thedeman would have been fine. Yes. By the way, there's the person complaining about Dylan Thedeman, the entire draft season.

But the, the pick, it's got, I think it's a coin flip, the chance to work out. And as I mentioned, Darisaw was supposed to be not physical enough coming out of college. And then he just throws people in the NFL. And he had injuries coming out. And he's turned into a superstar. So at 18, this is what happens. If you're picking five, this doesn't happen. So I think the reaction might have been different if the draft board didn't also play out the way it did,

where you had a number of. Lemon options that a lot of people were wanting still on the board. And then you go with the guy who's got the injury history. trade by the way for you bills trade uh back again uh they are trading or the titans are trading up to 31 the bills are getting uh 35 66660 1. So bills trading back into the second round Titans trading back up into the first round uh get or getting 31 69 165. Haven't the bills traded back like three times or something? Yeah. This is a an odd approach from them. and then I see Omar Cooper Jr. goes off the board.

So they are, they're really trolling their fans about the wide receiver thing, right? They just have no interest. Meanwhile, the Titans are the Titans are trading back up in so they can, so they can target while they're getting a defensive end, but the report was they were targeting a wide receiver at that spot. So I guess the report wasn't right. Jonathan,

I appreciate your input this evening. And we're almost at the 30 second pick. So I want to get these reactions from fans before we sign off. for the evening, but thank you for your check-ins, my friend. Keldrick Falk, yeah, is who the Titans end up getting here. But I appreciate the insight from you. So thanks for your time, my friend. Yeah, it's been fun.

Always one of the best days of the year of the draft night. Yes, it is. And it brings energy like no other and reaction like no other.