Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - More bad news on the Vikings injury report???? (Part 2)

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about Dallas Turner being the latest addition to the Vikings' injury report and Emily Leiker joins to break down position by position the game with the Browns, the Manny Hill drops by to talk about the big picture of the Vikings 2025 season. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

So we welcome in to the show, as always on Thursday night. Manny Hill, how are you, my friend? I'm quite good, my friend. How are you? Oh, you know, not bad. It's been a little bit of a boring, underwhelming week for me here, just kind of, you know, screwing around. But I've had some time to get in a car accident, play a round of golf, do a mailbag.

you know, a lot, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I got to spend a lot of time online reading about Nefisa Collier, burning down the commissioner of the WNBA. So it's been kind of interesting. But I gave you a little homework assignment, Manny. I wanted you to look at the NFC in terms of tiers, but not as in like the, okay, tier one, best teams, tier two, but in terms of different descriptions that I'm going to give you. So I want to start out with the obvious this team can definitely win the Super Bowl teams of the NFC.

So I'm going to throw out one, then you throw out one. And what I want to see from these categories are where the Vikings land. So I've got just to give you the categories, the first one being this team can absolutely, definitely win the Super Bowl. And the second category is I'm not really sure who they are yet. the third category is this team is in a lot of trouble and the fourth category would be that team is still in the NFC so just completely teams that are completely lost or irrelevant would be in the last one so to remind myself we've got absolutely contenders not really sure who they are yet this team doesn't look like they're going to make it and then I can't

believe they're still in the week so let's start out where would you like to start out for the absolutely definitely Super Bowl contending teams in the NFC? Well, I'll start off with the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles. I think just, I mean, it kind of goes without saying they just did it

a year ago and they certainly lost some guys on the defensive side. We're seeing their defense get moved on a little bit more this year than last year, but you still have the quarterback. You still have the outstanding running back.

You still have some pieces on the offensive line. We'll see how things kind of play out with A.J. Brown with the way things have been going with him. But we kind of saw this last year with him too. And then, you know, they kind of pick things up with him at the right time of the year, which was the end of the season. So I think the Eagles almost by default, because they did this last year and they have so many key pieces back, I think the Eagles have to be at the top of the list. Okay. I would totally agree on the first. Philadelphia Eagles. I will say the obvious Detroit Lions are in this absolutely definitely

a Super Bowl contending team from the way that they bounce back from that first week. Have they played the toughest slate of teams since then? I would say probably not, but the way that they went into Baltimore and just beat the heck out of that team, the way they've run the football, behind a remade offensive line that there was very serious concerns about. And one, Jared Godf still a great quarterback, not a good quarterback, not an okay quarterback. He is a great quarterback. And if you don't agree, then check the quarterback rating since 2022 in the NFL. He is number one, the Lions team. Number one, not that I have to tell Vikings fans, he has ripped this team apart many times. I just, I can't stand that the guy never gets the billing

of top quarterbacks and yet is always there statistically. But anywho, Detroit, for sure, would be on my list of Super Bowl contenders. Love it, love it. I'm going to go with Green Bay Packers here as well. I think just because of the dynamic, certainly, of adding Micah Parsons, you know, kind of coming out of nowhere and making the big trade for him. You've got a, you've got a quarterback who is maybe starting to get into his prime years. One would think in Jordan Love, you have an excellent head coach in Matt LaFleur.

and I know Vikings fans don't want to hear this, but I think with the way that roster is constructed, they're not a perfect team, but I think when you look at how good that defense is how good they were without Micah Parsons and how good they are now with him, as he gets

kind of healthier and healthier as the season goes along, gets more acclimated to be in there. And then you've got the quarterback as well and the head coach. I think the only question mark is, do they have a true number one wide receiver? That's kind of been the the one thing that people have kind of questioned about them the last couple of years,

but I think outside of that, I think they have all the, all the makings of a team that, yeah, they can win the Super Bowl. I know Vikings fans don't want to hear it, but I think they're there. I would agree. I mean, it wasn't so long ago for them that they were a drive away from what, reaching the NFC championship and the way that their secondary has fallen apart at times is concerning the way their offensive line is struggling is concerning for that team. They're not perfect, but I think in the contention list is the right place to be.

I'll throw the Rams into that conversation. And as we're, you know, having this conversation, like, I don't know what's going to happen in this game. But whatever happens in this game, the Rams are a contender. Their coach is the best in the league. And their quarterback has been there before. He's won a Super Bowl. They have the defensive line that dominated the Vikings in the playoffs last year and almost beat the Philadelphia Eagles. They should have beaten the Philadelphia Eagles.

They should be 4 and 0. botched some, you know, special team stuff in that game. So I will say the Rams for sure would not be a team I'd want to face in the playoffs. I'm going to go one more here. Okay. How do you feel about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? I think that fully healthy the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would be on my list. Not fully healthy.

I can't get them there. I can. Yeah. Yeah, I'm with you there. But I was thinking like they've got a quarterback in Baker who, I think is really grown and matured over the last couple of years and developed nicely. They've got wide receivers. They've got some playmakers on defense that can make things happen.

Antoine Winfield Jr. is one of my favorite players in the league. You know, not sure what to think about Todd Bowles as a head coach, but I don't think he's bad. And I think it's a team that's talented enough. But I think to your point, if they're banged up with injuries, I think it's going to be really hard for them. But I thought they were kind of that team that would be, I kind of looked at them, as kind of a fringe, you know, kind of in between that, okay, yeah, they could win it. I could see them like maybe getting hot at the right time of the year and maybe going on a run. But I think to your point, they've got to stay completely healthy.

Okay, I've got, I've got a caveat for this one. If San Francisco wins tonight against the Rams with Mack Jones in, then I'll throw them in the list. I don't know what to do with Seattle because I think it's, I think it's too early with Sam Darnold and that team. And I don't know that they have the line for it, but, man, they've looked pretty good. Darnold's looked really good. Jackson Smith, the Jigba is becoming a superstar. I don't think they're quite on the level of the other teams. But a part of me wants to put either Seattle or San Francisco there, but I kind of want to put Seattle there.

Yeah, I like Seattle. I, you know, I'm a fan of Sam Donald. I thought what he did last year was outstanding. and it seems like he's kind of like Baker Mayfield now. It kind of feels like, okay, Sam Darnold's figured it out. He's figured out how to be a really good quarterback in this league. And, you know, is he elite? No, I would feel the same way about Baker.

Baker's not elite, but he's very good. And, you know, I think if they sort of get hot at the right time of the year, they've got a line that's pretty good up front protecting Darnold. They've got some weapons. You know, JSN is obviously really, really good and emerging as a star wide receiver. You know, they can run the ball okay. You know, I don't know how good McDonald is as a coach,

but so far it's been pretty solid. So, yeah, I mean, I think Seattle's kind of in that same category that I have Tampa Bay in where it's like if they're really healthy, they get hot at the right time of the year. I could see it happening. So that probably, it doesn't quite meet the definition. It doesn't quite meet the definition of absolutely definitely Super Bowl. contenders so here's what i want to do i want to i want to agree on philadelphia the rams the packers

the lions and then i want to go to the next category and start that conversation with the 49ers seattle and tampa bay as teams that i'm not sure how good they can be yet but they're good like next tier down and i'm going to add washington to that because without jaden daniels and they have one bad game against Green Bay and then it's Marcus Marriota, I don't know yet, but I still expect them to be in the mix. Maybe that's the way we should categorize the second level of this of San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa Bay, and now I'll throw Washington in, is that we expect them to be in that conversation. Yeah, Washington 100%. I mean, this is a team that was in the NFC championship game a year ago. And they've got one of the best young quarterbacks in the league,

if not the best young quarterback in the league. And Jaden Daniels, I think for them, they just need him to be healthy. You know, I think that's going to be the most important thing. They've got a head coach. Look, Dan Quinn, say what you want about Dan Quinn. That's a guy that coached a team to the Super Bowl. And, you know, people like to rip them for, you know,

they blew the 28 to 3 lead against the Patriots. But they were there. And once upon a time, Dan Quinn had a 28 to 3 lead over Bill Belichick in the Super Bowl. They didn't win it. They fell apart in the second half. But Dan Quinn can coach, and I think with what they saw last year with that team getting to the NFC championship game, I think that's a team that, again, kind of in that same category of if they're healthy, you can see them getting hot at the right time of the year, kind of like what they did last year, and get themselves in the conversation. Now, here's the two other teams that I think deserve nominations for this, which would be Minnesota and Atlanta. Now, I think that depending on your optimism, pessimism ratio, you could argue that the Vikings belong in the next category down, because at very least, Atlanta knows who their quarterback is for sure the rest of the way unless Michael Pennix gets hurt.

But even when he had a terrible game, Rahim Morris almost laughed at the question of like, could you bench him? And he was like, no, it's just a bad game. Like, what? I'm not going to play Kirk. The heck are you guys talking about? That was pretty ruthless on his part. But Atlanta, I think, belongs in this could be interesting category. Do you think the Vikings are a second tier NFC team, or do we have to start talking about

the third tier? The Vikings are so tricky. And this is the team we talk about all the time. But they're so tricky because I think so much of that collar depends on the play of the quarterback position. Now, if we're thinking they go back to J.J. McCarthy in the next. couple of weeks. So much of this is just going to depend on how well he plays.

Because what we saw in the first two weeks, say for one fourth quarter at Soldier Field, it just wasn't good. And typically, if you have a quarterback that's playing like that, you're kind of looking like a six and 11 football team, seven and ten maybe. But I think with the other talent that's on the roster, you've got the best wide receiver on the planet. You've got some really good players on defense. Both guys need to start getting more healthy as well. Obviously, you need your offensive line to start getting, get healthier. You've got the pieces to where you feel like they should be in this, that second sort of

tier with Tampa Bay, with San Francisco. And you can throw maybe Atlanta in there as well, Seattle, obviously. But so much of that, it's just going to depend on how J.J. McCr. McCarthy plays and how he develops. And right now, based off what we've seen from JJ, I don't know if I want to put the Vikings in that category. But if he gets there, if he starts to play better, I can put them in that category because they seem to, if healthy, they seem to have everything else. So this is a point that I wanted to make about Vikings Browns, which is if the Vikings beat the Browns, and let's just say it's pretty decided, it's 21 to 10. It's not the best game you've ever seen your life. It's not one that you would be watching on YouTube 10 years

from now to try to reminisce, but hey, they got a victory and they're headed back to old America. Great. If they do that, then I could put them in this second tier NFC team where you are not absolutely definitely a Super Bowl team, but you're also in the mix. And I think coming out of the trip to Europe, the worst place you needed to be was in the mix. I mean, like worst possible in order to still have a good season. The worst possible place you could be would be three and two. Because if you're two and three, then you are on the life support, like you are crawling out of a huge hole that is probably not possible to still make the playoffs.

But at three and two, you get, you get the label of at least being in the mix because when we start naming these other teams, Tampa Bay's got their problems, Atlanta's up and down. Seattle, we're not fully sure that Sam Darnold's going to put together a full season, yet he's going to have to prove that San Francisco's got their issues with quarterback health. And who would be even surprised if Mack Jones just keeps playing quarterback for them? Because that's kind of what they do, just bounce from quarterback to quarterback and make the NFC championship game or Super Bowl. But they still have a lot of injuries on their roster, no Nick Bosa.

They've got question marks up in the air for them. And Washington does too. How is Jaden Daniels going to come back from his injury? Is their defense strong enough? Is Terry McLaurin going to be healthy? like the second tier is full of teams that have the potential to be good but have a lot of questions. If they're three and two, they belong still hanging on in that category. If they're two and three, they're out of it.

Any other team that you would like to put there for should be in the mix? I'm struggling to find another team. I'm struggling. I think once you get past Atlanta, And the Vikings, I think, yeah, I can't really see it. The only other team I could maybe think of, no, no, no, I got, I got, did you almost say Dallas? You wanted to say Dallas, right?

No, I was actually kind of thinking Arizona because of the talent of the, of the quarterback, but I just can't get there because for as talented as Kyler Murray is, he will still do a lot of like really boneheaded things where you're just like, ah, no, no, never mind. I can't see it. I think that there is a tier of its own that's probably just two teams, which is in terms of like third tier, maybe you could, but you're probably in trouble still. And that would be Dallas and Chicago. I guess I could even throw the Giants in there if Jackson Dart is good.

So let's make, let's make that a three team, which is the Giants, Dallas, and Chicago. And Arizona. So that would be the next one. They all have the potential to at least somewhat make things interesting if something clicks for them. The one thing that has happened the last few weeks in Chicago is they've got a lot of receivers open. And the numbers are bearing this out. And Caleb Williams is looking a heck of a lot better than he did against the Vikings. And I know that Vikings fans would love to put their fingers in their ears and say,

la, la, la, la, I don't want to hear this. I don't know if it's true yet or not about what Caleb Williams is going to be. I've had major questions about him the entire time, but the way that the offense is functioning, some of it's starting to work with Ben Johnson, and those receivers are very good. It's not impossible that Chicago could take that other step. And I don't think they're a Super Bowl contender, but they could make things more interesting than we expected after J.J. McCarthy was walking off the field with a win in Chicago. Yeah, I think they are a team that if they get some things to go their way, you know,

I mean, they have a very similar schedule to the Vikings in terms of, you know, they have to play the FC North, they have to play Baltimore, they have to play Pittsburgh later on this year. They have to go to Philadelphia, I think, in late November. So they're going to have a tough schedule. But if they could get some things to go their way, and if Caleb Williams, to your point, really starts to figure it out. And that's the thing we've always talked about with him, right? Since he came into the league, you see him making these mistakes

and you see how, you know, the body language sometimes and how he handles adversity. But you keep thinking, man, if this guy figures it out, oh boy, look the hell out, rest of the NFC. So I think if they find a way to get going and find some consistency with Caleb Williams and this offense, they could be a team that can be very, very pesky and make things very interesting late in the year where you're like, oh, the bears might end up being nine and eight

and they're going to be in the playoff conversation. Okay. You know, that kind of thing. And then Caroline and the Saints may Christ be with you. It just, I pray for you. And we'll see what happens to your franchises in the future. It's so bad. I think I'm ready to call it.

I'm Bryce Young. You're ready to call it. He just stinks. just he's just not a good quarterback. He's too small. He can't make plays. He can't consistently push the ball down the field. I don't care about what the excuses are at this point about, well, Xavier Legat's not good enough for this or that or whatever. He's just bad. Like, there's just no way. You can't play this many games and have this poor of results. We're talking about the worst ever in terms of yards per attempt. It needed to change now or it was not likely to

ever changed. Because this isn't even Sam Darnold where the guy's arm is freakish. So you could always see a world where that suddenly worked. With Bryce, what's there where this all of a sudden suddenly works? To me, he looks like a career backup. Yeah. And he's listed at 510, 204. I think Bryce Young is like maybe 185, 190. So he's so small, man. He's just so small. And seeing him

kind of like try to like shock put the football into like a deep pass is just it's tough to watch and I was rooting for him. I thought he would be pretty good because of sort of the instinctive stuff we saw him do at Alabama for multiple years, but it's just not happening. And he's in year three man. Like if you're not seeing progression in a young quarterback by the third year as a starter then yeah, it's it's pretty much over at this point. So let's get into Mani Pick and the schedule, and then we'll end on your five favorite browns of all time. But I want to remind everybody of the Fandul question the day. Jordan Mason's over under for this game is 67.5 yards on Fandual.

How many yards does he need to make you feel comfortable that the Vikings won this game? So as we begin, our weekly Mani picks the schedule bit, how about you answer the fan dual question the day, Manning? Like, if I just, if you missed the game and you called me up and you said, hey, did they win, what happened? And I said, well, Jordan Mason ran for this many yards. Then you would be like, oh, they won that. How many yards would that be? I'd say about 80. Yeah. About 80 yards. If he runs for 80 yards on like 16, 17 carry, something like that, I'd feel pretty good that they won the game. If they can get going with him, I think that everything else can,

I don't want to say handle itself, because with this many backup linemen, you never really know. but that means that they're not putting the ball in the air too much. It means they're playing from ahead. It means they probably didn't turn it over. And it's so, it just seems so boring to say, hey, whichever team doesn't turn the ball over, it's also so true in this game. Whichever team has the most catastrophic screw-ups will lose this football game.

And if you're running Jordan Mason a lot, your chances of catastrophic screw-ups are just a lot less. So I think 80's a good number, maybe even a little bit higher than, that so let's pick the schedule here and i am fascinated to see where you go with this one you have been you've been hanging around 10 you were at 11 after the first win and then did you drop that to 10 after the loss i think that you've i think you've stayed at 10 since then so that's where you've been at yeah it's been kind of hovering around 10 or 11 i'm not sure i'm going to get to double digits

this time this time around but we shall see here we shall see all right well let's pick it. So the Vikings play the Cleveland Browns this week. Will they win the football game? I do think that they will. I, you know, the Browns have a very good defense. So I think that's going to make it troublesome.

But, you know, Dylan Gabriel, we just don't know what he is. You know, we just haven't seen him. Saw him a lot in college, play for three different schools in college, but haven't seen them play in the NFL. This seems like a dream scenario. Even though the defense is banged up a little bit,

It seems like a dream scenario for Brian Flores to really cook this kid, making his first start. So I think the Vikings are going to win. And I think control most of the game. It probably won't be high scoring, but I think they'll win and have control of it most of the way. Okay. The three and two Minnesota Vikings get their byweek. They get healthier. And then they play the Philadelphia Eagles at US Bank Stadium on October the 19th of 2025.

Will they surprise the Eagles? going to be curious to see how healthy the Vikings will be coming off the bye week. You know, we're seeing, you know, does Donovan Jackson come back? Is J.J. McCarthy starting this game? We'll kind of see how that kind of plays out. I think it's just going to be tough. I think with what we've seen so far, these last few weeks, Cincinnati was great. That game was great.

But I think what we saw against Pittsburgh, I think it could be troublesome against Philadelphia, even though it's at home. I'm going to take the Eagles to win this one and drop the Vikings to three and three. All right. They head out to Los Angeles, was just looking at flight information for that one today. Another trip to L.A. on a Thursday night, it was a nightmare last year. Also, usually, I'm just going to throw it out there for whoever is refereeing this game. If a gentleman from the defense takes his whole hand, puts it on the face mask of the quarterback,

and pulls the quarterback's head off of his body. That is usually a flag. You're welcome. National Football League try to implement that this time around on Thursday night football in Los Angeles against the Chargers. But did the Vikings find a way to win despite whatever horrifying face mask may be on the way? I mean, it's a damn near a fatality and mortal combat. It was.

It was one of the worst face masks I've ever. seen. I mean, I honestly, like, Sam Darnold has a linebacker neck. It is incredibly thick. If he didn't, his head just spins around like a top. Like it just goes around on it. It just goes around on his spine. That's what would have happened. If he didn't, if he didn't do so many of those, I don't know. What do people do? I don't work out. I just play basketball and jog. But like, what, what do people do for their neck? Like, I don't know. So those things I just did. Somebody who lifts waits in the comments. Tell me what people do to get stronger next. Me and Mani don't know

anything about a gym. So anywho, who's going to win the football game? The charges are a hard to figure out, they've got some really devastating injuries on their offensive line, both of their tackles. I mean, do we know what's the word on Joe Alt? Is he done for the year?

Yeah, not for the year, but it doesn't sound great. Sounds like it's a long-term injury. So I don't think he'll be playing in this one. And no, Roshan's on. Yeah. Yeah, obviously. Roshan Slater out for the year. Necklifts. I could have come up with that. It's got to be more complicated than that, right? I do think this is going to be a tough ask for the Vikings because it's a short week and it's a travel out to the West Coast. But the Chargers not having either one of their tackles, I think

could open up an opportunity for them to get after Justin Herbert a little bit more. So I'm going to take the Vikings to win this game. It'll be sloppy, probably. and maybe low scoring. The Chargers do have a good defense still. But I think the Vikings will figure out a way to win this one. All right. Four and three, I think an optimistic outlook to win two out of the next three heading to Detroit and Ford Field on November 2nd.

That should be one heck of an atmosphere. KOC versus his nemesis, Dan the man Campbell. Will the Vikings buck their trend of really struggling at Ford Field? or will they fall to the mighty lion? Can't see it. Can't see it. The lions just, they look like they have recovered quite nicely for that beat down.

They took in Lambeau Field in week one, and they are such a tough team to beat at Ford Field. Can't see the Vikings going in there and winning. Lions will be coming off their actual buy. Vikings coming off kind of a mini buy. So I think that will give Detroit a little bit of an advantage, also being at home. So I think Detroit wins the game.

Okay, Tronagai says there's a strap that goes on your head with weights and you lift it with your neck, 10 to 15 reps. Okay, now you sound like you know what you're talking about. So whatever, okay, necklifts then, Sam Darnold did a lot and it helped his head stay on his body. That's the whole point. Thank you for that, Trone guy. I appreciate that. All right. So the Vikings four and four after losing to the lions, they come home and they play what I probably once would have described as the mighty Raven.

And now, I'm not so sure if they are mighty indeed. And you know, Manny, as great as Lamar is and as great as all so many quarterbacks have been throughout NFL history, sometimes everything just goes wrong for your team. Like Derek Henry is in the same. They just lost another guy on defense. Like things have been kind of just coming apart at the seams for the Baltimore Ravens. Will they get it together by then? They could say the same thing about the Vikings.

will they get it together? Lamar's first trip to U.S. Bank Stadium, if I'm not mistaken, on November 9th. So how do we see this game playing out? The next couple weeks for the Ravens, I think are going to be really, really, really huge. Yep. They're one and three. Their defense looks awful. Lamar can't be asked to do every single thing for this team to give them a chance to win. They need Derek Henry to start running the ball, and he's starting to show his age a little bit. oh boy um i can hear that you want to pick the vikings for this one because the ravens have been so bad

i do yeah and and the ravens you look at the three games or the four games before the vikings they're they have houston and the rams at home then it's their bide and they have the bears at home and then they're at miami you know the dolphins aren't very good obviously well the ravens have found their groove back at that point maybe possibly yeah possible i'll i'll i'll give it to baltimore i think the ravens will find a way yeah all right so the vikings four and five now the bears come to town we were just giving the bears a little credit uh but the last time the caleb williams was at us bank stadium he had one of his most notable caleb williams meltdown moments on the sideline and got pretty well demolished by

brian flora's defense he looked a little better against the flora's defense in Chicago on opening week, but then did a lot of the same Caleb Williamsy things. And as much as I am giving them some credit for being two and two, it was the Raiders. They had to block a field goal. It's not like, and they just got blown out by the Lions. So it's not like you can really buy Chicago yet. How are we feeling here? Yeah, I think if, if this game were at Soldier Field, which obviously it was in week one,

but if this game were at Soldier Field and the Vikings, or the Bears, were kind of playing the way they had played the last couple of weeks. I'd be tempted to pick Chicago, but I think with it being at U.S. Bank Stadium, that crowd is going to be rocking. You know, I'm not sure Caleb Williams is ready to handle that kind of environment

yet. He hasn't really shown that he can. I mean, they were home against the Cowboys and on the road against the Raiders, but that was like, looked like 65% Bears fans at Allegiance Stadium that day. So I'm going to give the Vikings the

win here at home because I think the crowd will, I think, give them a real, a real advantage. All right. So you've got a five and five team going to Green Bay. This is either a really cool moment for J.J. McCarthy or we are saying Carson Wentz is still starting. What is happening? That's the thing that, you know, we didn't make you do here for picking each games. Who's playing quarterback? But that is another game all in itself. I'm assuming that J.J. McCarthy will have come back by now and that some of these wins you're given are J.J. McCarthy wins. But I guess until he's actually back under center and playing, we really don't know. So we'll just call it J.J. McCarthy's first trip ever to Lambeau Field. November 23rd

should be actually a fun little fall drive down there. Wisconsin, Wisconsin, we give them a hard time and they deserve it. Beautiful, beautiful though, through the hills and the, you know, The Great Lakes and everything, all that. That's around there, right? Like Michigan somewhere in the years. Somewhere, right? You could see where my wheelhouse isn't. Geography and weightlifting are not areas of expertise.

Who plays guard for the Packers? Maybe I am more accurate there. But anyway, right now they might not be sure with their injuries. So do the Vikings get a win here? Well, I've been picking these last handful of games, kind of starting with the Eagles game, picking with the idea that J.J. McCarthy's back and starting after the by week. So I think this is just going to be, and Packers have their flaws, as we talked about. But I just think the environment and that defense is still really good.

It's going to be later in the year, later late November, whether might start getting a little bit more sloppy. I think this can be kind of an ugly afternoon at Lambo and the Packers end up winning the game. All right. Five and six. Now they head to face Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks, which is either a revenge game for Sam Darnold or could even possibly be a sorry Sam game.

If the Vikings fall off the rails here, it's a sorry Sam game. Sorry, Sam, we're sorry. We let you go. Apologies, but thank goodness you're doing well. for Seattle, which will we be saying? Are we going to say it's a revenge game? Are we going to be saying that Darnold is seeing ghosts possibly after this game?

What's going to happen here? Seattle has looked really good, but it's hard to really get a strong feeling on how good they actually are because, you know, you lost at home to say. San Francisco to start the year. You went and kick the crap out of Pittsburgh, something the Vikings couldn't do. You beat up on probably the worst team in the league at home against New Orleans. Then you went into Arizona, a team that we're not really sure is all that great, and you had to kind of grind out a win against them as well.

So it's hard to get a real read. I think we'll start to figure out how good Seattle is over the next couple of weeks. You got Tampa Bay at home. They're at Jacksonville. Jaguars look a little bit better than maybe we thought they would be. Yep. Then they got Houston at home. Texans are having a rough year,

but that's a team that has talent that could make things challenging for you. So I think the next couple weeks we're going to figure out Seattle. I think with the game being in Seattle, I think it's going to be tough for the Vikings to go in there and for J.J. McCarthy in particular

to go in there and play really well and win. I know Darnold went in there and found a way last year, but that was with Gino Smith on the other side. Now it's Sam Darnold this time, provided that he's healthy. So I'm going to give Seattle the win. and the edge.

I think it's hard to go into Seattle and win two years in a row overall anyway. I mean, they almost lost last year. They were one amazing Sam Darnold play away from losing that game. Five and seven.

So now the season is feeling like it is tumbling as they come home to face presumably Jaden Daniels and his first trip to U.S. Bank Stadium. And I think that this just underscores how tough the schedule is. It's just become,

At this point, we just have to say it over and over and over. It's a tough schedule. But when you're talking about going from Lambo to Seattle, that's one of the toughest places to play to one of the toughest places to play to the premier young quarterback in the NFC at this moment still jaded Daniels, not an easy ride in the second half of the season, but do they pull out a win and keep the season alive against Washington? I think the commanders went healthy are really, really good,

especially with Jaden Daniels, obviously. I just got a weird feeling that with the Vikings being at home, they're going to play well. Something's going to happen. Something weird and wacky's going to happen, and they're going to find a way to win the game because you're going to be just thinking, how do they win that game?

It's been tough sledding these last few weeks. They're five and seven. How do they find a way to win the game against a team that was in the NFC title game last year? So I'm going to give the Vikings the winning. because I just, I don't know if I can see this. I think this team has too much talent, even with which we've seen with McCarthy. I think this team has too much talent, if they're healthy, to be five and eight.

I feel like five and eight is really on a, I mean, I think if they're five and eight and they lose this game to take them to five and eight, I think it's really, really sounding some, some alarms here. Okay. Can I just stop the, this before we get to the final quarter of the season. is the final four games and ask you something about Kevin O'Connell and J.J. McCarthy because Sam brings it up in the comment section and said that today when O'Connell was talking about J.J. McCarthy, it sort of sounded like he wanted to correct some mechanical things before he comes back and plays. And there is nothing that O'Connell has said that has screamed out to me. McCarthy will be back guys stop asking there's nothing that said i am fully confident in my young

quarterback and he's our franchise guy and remember this is a head coach who once declared j jay mccarthy his franchise quarterback so he's not afraid of that he has not run away from praising j j mccarthy in the past but now the language has kind of changed Do you think that O'Connell has not been definitive about McCarthy's return to play coy, not let the Philadelphia Eagles know who's going to start or the Chargers, to not put pressure on McCarthy to recover too quickly from his injury or pressure to come back whenever it is that they want him to come back or because he is very seriously considering continuing to play Carson Wentz if he plays well against the Browns?

yeah that's interesting because and i and i think so much of it is going to to depend on how well carson went we said this a couple weeks ago how well carson wins plays if carson went plays really well and they keep winning these games how do you go back to mccarthy at that point i mean i know that they want to they want him to be the franchise quarterback but the other part of this is he is still 22 what we saw the first two weeks was really concerning he might

COC might just feel like we might have to sit this kid the rest of the year to make sure that he's right to make sure that he's you know the listener had the question of are they going to correct some mechanical things that wouldn't surprise me if they decide to do that Aaron Rogers they

the Packers worked on his mechanical stuff for three years before he became the starter um in 2008 so yeah i it's it's hard to really tell but it i think it is telling the fact that he is not really given a defense i mean what you talked about what rheim morris said when they asked him about michael pennix and he just said hey michael pennies is our guy this is going to be our guy going forward the fact that we haven't really heard that from i haven't even thought about that but the fact we haven't heard c oc definitively say that yet it does kind of make you raise your eyebrows a little bit.

So enemy cap says I think it depends on how well the O line plays. Doubt KOC wants to throw McCarthy out there. If Josh Oliver is playing guard, that is true. Oliver might be their best guard currently. Bob says need to play McCarthy. Trone guy says need, McCarthy needs reps. So here's the trouble.

Here's the trouble that Vikings fans are going to have if KOC wants to continue to play Carson wins. every single Viking fan wants J.J. McCarthy to play and thinks, I would say, I'm going to go 90, I shouldn't say every single because then I'll get an email that says, I don't think that every time. But let's say 90%, 90% of Vikings fans think it's the right move to just go back to J.J. McCarthy and let him sink or swim. However, I think that based on last year and a lot of other evidence, we would also say that Kevin O'Connell is the premier understanding. of quarterbacks in the United States of America. Like, if you were, if we were electing quarterback whisperers,

we'd probably all pick Sean McVeigh, number one, just because I think he's the best coach in the world. But I think Kevin O'Connell would be elected on the ballot for being elected as the guy that you want to manage your quarterback, right? You heard Caleb Williams tell Seth Wickersham or his family or whatever told Seth Wickersham that he wanted to play here for Kevin O'Connell, didn't want to play in Chicago. We've heard Peyton Mayanings say it.

We've heard across the board, people talk about how knowledgeable Kevin O'Connell is about quarterbacks. And if he makes the decision to stay with Carson Wentz, then we're all who questioned that decision going to have to be saying he doesn't know what he's talking about with quarterbacks. I think it would be probably more that Vikings fans just don't want to watch Carson Wentz. Like, please don't make me watch Carson Wentz for the rest of the season. If this is my thing, if Carson, if, uh, KOC thinks that Carson Wentz has to play because he

believes that McCarthy will get injured if he goes out there and doesn't think that he can see the field well enough or make decisions quickly enough or has the right mechanics to play in the NFL right now. I tend to believe Kevin O'Connell that he would know that better than me. I don't know the, I've watched a lot of football. I don't know the mechanics. I got a lot of a lot of help for my article from Kurt Warner about the mechanics, but I don't know them the way KOC knows them. And I don't know J.J. McCarthy as personally as he does. I don't know what he knows on the whiteboard. I don't know what he sees in a game after watching the film for the first two games. Kevin O'Connell does. But I can tell you, fans are going to be

hella mad if J.J. McCarthy is not back under center. And that's a weird place to be because I totally get it. And I feel a lot of the same way I've said. it this week. Like, I don't really fully care if he's not 100% there. Like, get him back on the field, get him playing, find out what you have this season. But I don't know if the head coach is going to feel the same way. And if he makes that decision to stick with Wentz, I don't think I'm in a great position to be like, I don't know, Kevin. I think, I think this guy, this guy knows what J.J. McCarthy needs. That's the, that's the hard place to be in because I want to see him get reps just like everybody else. I do too. And the other part of this dilemma is like you are

still, you're only four games into this season and you're still trying to make something of this season. You're still trying to, you know, put yourself in position to go to the playoffs. You still have a player or a group of players that, you know, you went out and spent a lot of money in free agency. You brought in a lot of veteran guys who came here with the idea. of this team is ready to win and compete right now. So you still want to have that mindset and you have to balance that between developing a young quarterback who early signs

are showing that he's not really ready to play yet. Now, who knows, maybe you bring him back in and he plays great the rest of the season. It's entirely possible. But again, I'm going to circle back to the question I had a couple of weeks ago. What happens if you do bring JJ? J. McCarthy back and he just plays terribly if we if we see the same j j mccarthy that we saw

against the Atlanta falcons a couple of weeks ago how you know i mean forget about the vikings first for for for for a second here if you're viking fans and you want to see j j j mccarthy play how are you going to be able to handle the possibility that he might come back and play every bit as poorly as he did a couple of weeks ago when he was playing so i don't know it's it's a tough tough situation to be in. And you almost just have to just see how it plays out. And you just, if you're a Vikings fan, you just have to hope for the best. Yeah, I think as always, when you draft a guy and you talk about how he needs a lot of development, it's very easy to say in April. It's very hard to say in October when you desperately want to see him because you can't

stand to watch another journeyman backup quarterback run this team. And Skywalking McCarthy, He says, if KOC is a quarterback whisper, what does that make bears, commanders, Pats, Falcons, QB coaching gods? No, it makes it not apples to apples. The, I, every time I said it, I got notes, I got messages, stop saying that about McCarthy. He played for Michigan. He won the national championship. Every time I said, he just doesn't have a lot of experience.

And it shows, it shows in camp at times. It shows in his accuracy, in his mechanics. It shows in a lot of things, right? And he looked good in camp, and I wouldn't go back on anything I said in camp. He looked good coming out of training camp. But his youth and experience did show at times. And he didn't throw a lot of passes in college. And it matters because when you're talking about, well, Atlanta,

I mean, that guy threw 2,000 passes in college. Caleb Williams was the starting quarterback for, what, three seasons. And you go to Jaden Daniels, 24 years old, Bo Nicks, 24 years old. These guys are grownups. I mean, even, you know, Drake May didn't play right away. They sat Drake May for a large amount of that season. And Drake May had started, what, three years for North Carolina. So I think that it ends up being a little bit, like, you just need it to happen so you

could be excited for Vikings games and watching J.J.J. McCarthy. But if the coach who handles him the closest of anybody feels like he's not there, I don't know how I'm supposed to tell. Kevin O'Connell, buddy, you're doing it wrong. Like, okay, play calls, play calls every once in a while, you know, you have T.J. Hockinson one-on-one on T.J. Watt. And I'm like, you know, I think that was a mistake. But when it comes to something like this, I think he's probably doing it the right way.

And, you know, we could talk about, hey, well, you know, I mean, just for example here, and this is what's hard because there's a lot of cognitive dissonance. There's like, there's a word for this where it's just really hard. to accept like just for example you know trona guy says hard to evaluate with just in school as his left tackle buddy look around the league how many teams have 46 of 46 the guys that they started active on game and the first game and they're all playing it's not too many and you're still expected to play well enough and to win games and i got news for you the rest of the season you won't have a healthy offensive line it's not going to happen a hundred for a hundred

It's not going to happen. And it's what separates the great quarterbacks from the ones that are pretty good. It's what separates Patrick Mahomes from Kirk Cousins, you know, when you factor in the peak of both guys. I mean, we've seen Patrick Mahomes overcome things. The guy was in the Super Bowl with both of his tackles out. He was running for his life, but they were in the Super Bowl at that point, because largely, because of his greatness and how many times did we argue with people over the time that Kirk Cousins was here when there was one guard that was out you know it was like oh well what

is Kirk supposed to do supposed to overcome it like that's what the great ones do and so you know if you put JJ McCarthy out there in not 100% perfect conditions you're going to find out a lot about just how he can handle that adversity and if he handles it well and he plays well that's a good sign. But if he struggles, because Justin School has to play right tackle, I mean, you still got Christian Derriss on the other side. So you got something there. I mean, and if McCarthy can't handle that, kind of troublesome. Yeah. I mean, look, here's the thing. When you guys are telling me over and over who played the Atlanta game, I know I was there. I watched it. I watched it four different times because I watched it live. I watched the TV copy.

I watched the all 22 twice. I know exactly what happened in the Atlanta game. My point is that old Maddie here ain't making the decision. If I was making the decision, I would go back to J.J. McCarthy. I don't have all the information as KOC does. So we don't have to relitigate his game against Atlanta. It was as bad as I've ever seen a quarterback play, okay? Look at the statistics, everything else you could blame whoever you want.

It was really, really, really bad. That doesn't mean that I would. wouldn't put him back in because I would because it's two games and I'd like to see what he could do with this team. I think the ceiling is higher. I think his mobility makes the ceiling higher with the struggling offensive line. I'm on your side. Okay. You don't need to tell me again that Justin School was playing. It's just that if the coach who is here to manage the quarterback position and this guy that he drafted in the most proper way that he knows how says that he doesn't feel like he's ready to come back and play.

I don't know how I'm supposed to tell him, KOC, you're a dope. I'm smarter than you. I know more than you about J.J. McCarthy's development. I know more about you, the tape than you do, and the mechanics than you do. I mean, there's some stuff where we can get on a level of, hey, I'm going to second guess this.

I'm going to second guess that. I have the data to show you that this is a mistake. I have the tape to show you. You know, there's a lot of stuff we criticize. That would be a really hard one. That would be a step too far for me. I would just assume that that means McCarthy needs more behind the scenes work before he's going to be ready to play. And it doesn't mean he's a bust.

I was the one that all offseason was getting screamed at by the comment section for saying, hey, you guys know that McCarthy is like 23 or if he is behind Donald for this year and they franchise tag him, right? I'd probably be okay with that. And it was like, no, no, I am not okay with that. I need to see McCarthy. You can't get everything you want. And in the comparison to Drake May, Drake May led the nation passing for two straight years through 63 or 62 touchdowns

had over 300 yards passing per game at North Carolina. There is no comparison to what those two did in college. Drake May was his entire team. And here's the other secret. On a lesser roster, that's the other part, on a much lesser roster than what McCarthy had. And he's way more talented. It's just a fact.

He's just, he's bigger, he's got a stronger arm, he is super mobile, he's more gifted. J.J. McCarthy, if he's going to be great, needs to be super sharp on all the details. He's got a good arm. It ain't Drake May's arm. He's got good mobility. It ain't Jaden Daniels mobility. What he has to be is on time, in rhythm, getting the ball to his playmakers. He can't take bad.

sacks. He can't fumble the ball at the goal line. He can't throw bad interceptions. Like, that's not who you're going to be if you're going to win because there isn't a freaky upside that's going to balance out the mistakes. Your whole deal is that you're not supposed to be the mistake prone quarterback. And then you have six sacks and two interceptions and three fumbles. And like, what are you supposed to say? So the point being that I'm with you. But we also are going to have to live in reality that O'Connell might know what he's doing if he doesn't decide to make this decision. And the comments have not leaned toward this decision from O'Connell. It hasn't leaned toward, I'm absolutely going back to JJ, but I think it would be the right move.

So I think we need to look at this from the whole picture and not just, I want McCarthy back, so I'm flipping a table, which is kind of most of the opinions. So anyway, let's circle back. let's get the train back on the tracks here. There's four games left that we haven't picked. You've got the Vikings at six and seven. And they're playing the Cowboys on December 14th, scheduled right now for national television. I'm going to tell you a dark secret of mine, Manny.

I'm actually, I'm actually, should I turn the lights out to say this? Maybe I'll put, I'm going to put these glasses on so I can't be identified to say this. I can't wait. to watch national TV games with the Cowboys this year. The team's a zoo. I mean, like, right? It's just, it's, well, it's a circus. It's crazy.

And they, they score 40 points. They give up 40 points. They've got great receivers, no defense. I caught, I, maybe I should have altered my voice. I really want to see the Cowboys secretly. I, you know who else I think wants, would like to see the Cowboys. J.J. McCarthy. Yes. Yes.

I mean, I think Collar, I think the Vikings are going to win this game against the Cowboys. Again, I cannot iterate enough how awful that defense is in Dallas. I know. I think this is

where J.J. McCarthy, provided he is playing at this time and playing fairly well, I think this has a chance to be J.J. McCarthy's best game of the season. I think just against that defense. I know it's on the road in Dallas, but that's never really been.

Jerry World's never really been a strong home field advantage for the Cowboys. It's not hard to go and play there. Seeing the Packers go in there and torch them a bunch of times over the years. I think the Vikings win this game. And I think this is going to be a game where we look at J.J. McCarthy and say, oh, he went 23 out of 29 for, you know, 295 yards and three touchdowns. And he plays really well and the Vikings win by 10 points.

I think that just has that written all over it for me. So I got the Vikings winning this game and going to 7 and 7. The this is exactly what I mean in the comment section about like the cognitive dissonance where I'm saying things and they're just not even being heard is, you know, Trone a guy saying second start and you're expecting him to be Mahomes. literally zero people said that he had 27 dropbacks in the game against Atlanta i think it was 10 of them became a fumble sack or interception and i'm still saying that i would start him like did i not do i need to like put the glasses back on to use a different voice so it's not me uh i mean

i'm still saying i would start him against philly lots of quarterbacks had really bad games bo necks had one way through for 60 yards matt ryan i was just alerted to this by a falcons writer that Matt Ryan's second game he went 13 for 33 with three interceptions it happens and trial by fire makes sense to me for this season but go back and watch Patrick Mahomes first start in 2017 and in week week 17 in Denver for the chiefs he wasn't good turn around won the MVP the next year not saying McCarthy's going to do that but like this kind of happens with every young quarterback they come out and they just don't look as great and you just it's it's not it's not the end of the world

it's concerning but it's not the end of the world yeah i mean that's what i mean is that it's such a small sample size that we just don't really know yet but i'm going to have to defer to o'connell if he decides against this even as much as everybody wants mccarthy to play that's that's the point that's the whole opinion i think it's the right thing to get them out there but if there is a major reason why O'Connell doesn't, then I'm sure he's got a good explanation for that. But because the Vikings have gone two and too many people have decided that O'Connell is suddenly the worst coach in the league.

So that's been a strange twist after winning coach of the year last year. But anyway, so as we continue to try to pick the schedule here, and then we'll have to get through your five Browns quickly. but you got the Giants then at 7 and 7 and this this to me is a very realistic outcome by the way is that this team is sort of tooth and nail trying to get above 500 to get into the playoffs going to New York December 21st at 7 and 7. I think the Vikings find a way to win this game. You know, I mean, Malik Neighbors is out for the year that that is going to change things.

I think for the Giants going forward because he's their best offensive weapon. I kind of like what I saw from Jackson Start. Jackson Dart, you know, okay, his first start. That's a chance to be pretty good, but I think when you lose your best, probably your best, you know, at least your best offensive player overall,

I think it's going to have an impact. So I think things could get out of control pretty quickly here for the Giants. And I think by the time that part of the year comes up, they're going to be really struggling. I think the Vikings will be playing better and I think they'll come away with a win. All right, 8 and 7, home against Detroit.

And then home against Green Bay. Can the Vikings win one of these games to make it a 9 and 8 season and have a chance to reach the postseason? I think they can. I'm having a hard time deciding which one of these two it's going to be I'll give I'll give it green bay so I think they'll be green bay in week 18 and lose to Detroit in week 17 to finish nine and eight I just think that's a very realistic outcome

I think it's very possible very plausible that this team has to sort of fight tooth and nail the rest of the way and then it's going to be tiebreakers and it's going to be do you luck into another team losing a quarterback or something nine and eight is is a chance at the playoffs it's certainly not a guarantee probably 10 is much closer to a guarantee but i i think that whoever starts that this is extremely plausible and probably where i would have them right now and they might be a fully different team when they come back with all those injury or from all those injuries and get themselves together and they might get on a run and it wouldn't be the first time we've ever seen it but i think right now they need to have that as their expectation

is to have this team be still above 500 and still have a chance on the last day of the season to get into the playoffs. Otherwise, and look, if you win nine or 10 with how things have started off and you miss the playoffs because of a tiebreaker, I'm not saying it's a successful season, but that's life.

If they end up less than that, it is a massive, massive failure of a season. If they end up anything less than that. Okay, let's wrap on this. Cleveland Browns are one of my favorite organizations of all time. They are, and I mean that, I don't even mean that sarcastically. I mean that their history is just unbelievable. And since they've been back, it has been unbelievable in a bad way.

But so many great players, so many moments that they've been a part of. And I've always hoped that they would kind of get it together just because it's Cleveland. What else do you have? You're in Cleveland. And they still have nothing. But I would love to know, Manny, your five favorite Cleveland Browns of all time. And comment section, take a deep breath and play along. Okay, number five, I'll go through these pretty quickly because I know we're kind of over in time here.

But number five, I'll go with one of the most exciting special teams, kick returners, punt returners of all time, certainly in my lifetime. Josh Cribs. Yep. So much fun as an electric kick returner. I mean, Devin Hester, Dante Hall, got a lot. of a lot of the fanfare for how dynamic they were in that department. But Josh Cribs was pretty damn good, too, really exciting. Didn't get as much attention because, I mean,

Devin Hester's returning the opening kickoff of the Super Bowl for a touchdown. Dante Hall was on some really good chiefs teams kind of during that time, too. Josh Cribbs kind of got forgotten about a little bit because the Browns were kind of lousy, but he was a lot of fun too. So I got him number five on my list of favorite Browns. it and I don't, I don't want to ruin any other list, but I think there's another guy probably on this list who also did some kick and punt returning. Maybe if there's not, then is number one on my list. Josh Cribs, though, he had one where he fumbled and then like picked it up with

one hand. I'm trying to remember who it might have been against. Just, just breathtaking returns. And I'm glad that the return is back. We haven't seen Josh Cribbs, Dante Hall or, you know, anybody who's dominated that play yet, Cordero Patterson, we haven't seen anyone like that yet with this new play, but I think it will happen at some point where we start to see somebody become the next Josh Cripps. That's a great pick, though. Number four on my list is the guy I think you were, you may have been referring to way back in the original iteration of a Cleveland Browns in the 90s, Eric Metcalf. That is, yes, correct. Just a terrific, another terrific special teamer, punt returns, kick returns,

was really good, more so of a punt returner. He returned some kicks, but more so have a punt returner and was just as dynamic as ever. And obviously went on to have some productive years with Atlanta. I had a good year with the Chargers, I think, in the late 90s as well, where he was a really good kick returner for them. But he really made a name for himself in the early parts of his career with the Cleveland Browns. And, yeah, he was a lot of fun.

I think Xavier Scott is the next Eric McKen. I'm just kidding. but he did play returner running back wide receiver one of the most dynamic players ever when he signed with the Atlanta Falcons they told them you're actually playing receiver and he was like what and I think he told this story somewhere that he was like okay he thought they were insane and then he had an amazing season and they had a great year with June Jones and that whole run and shoot thing so Eric McCaff I mean highlight reel is absurd he would have today been one of the fantasy football favorites, one of my most excited players, and I had a conversation

for like 10 minutes with Keenan McArdle one day about Eric McAff. And I mean, that's something you give to me for my birthday is like, that's like a present. Like thank you, Keenan McArdle. I was interviewing him for something else, but we got talking about Eric McHaff and he was telling stories about him. I'm like, man, that's, that is freaking cool. One of the coolest players I think of the entire nine decade. No question about it. All right. Number three, you probably would not have expected this guy to be on my list.

And the primary reason, well, okay, I'll say who it is first. It's Michael Jackson. Oh, yeah, number one. Yep, number one. So he was with the Browns in the 90s. And then he was part of the team when they, when the original Browns moved to Baltimore. and became the Ravens in 1996. He was part of that he was on the roster.

So he became a Baltimore Raven in 1996 by way of the move. And he actually, his first year in Baltimore, got his numbers up here, 76 catches, 1,2001 yards, and 14 touchdowns. It was great. A Ravens team that wasn't very good. I think they went 4 and 12 that year. But he was great. He was a deep threat. He was awesome.

And here's the other part of this collar. I had his jersey. Oh, really? Wow. I had a Michael Jackson, Baltimore Ravens jersey that I wore when I was in, when I was in middle school. Purple number 81, Michael Jackson. When we were in middle school, jerseys were in. I mean, people, it was half the class would be wearing some sort of jersey. I had a Jason kid, Mavericks jersey, and there was another kid in the class who had the same

Jason Kid Maverick's jersey. I was in Perry, New York. Like, that's just how much people were wearing jerseys back then. When I remember this, when Jordan came back with, this shows the age, but when Jordan came back with 45, it was like a week later and half the class had a Jordan 45. Like, they had just run to the mall and got them because the jerseys were everything. I had Barry Sanders. I had, how about this one?

I had a New York Giants Herschel Walker jersey. I had a Tim Couch. I mentioned that on the show the other day. so yeah i mean i'm not i'm not surprised and uh there was a run there was a there was a video i was watching of j z the other day and he had an adrian morel jersey on like adrian morel was good for like two years right just the most random like everybody was wearing jerseys man it's crazy yeah what were we talking about oh michael jacks all right you got you said i love how you said yeah i'm going to keep this tight just get get through this list real quick and then

And you're like down the rabbit hole of having Michael Jackson, Baltimore Ravens jersey in middle school. That's pretty sick, though. Do you still have that somewhere? I might, it might be in storage somewhere at my mom's house. I don't know. It might be in a box somewhere. I don't know. But yeah, it was had that in seventh grade.

I was a big fan of Michael Jackson because obviously he had the same name as the greatest pop singer of all time. So anyway, number two on my list. is a guy who currently plays for the Cleveland Browns, it's Miles Garrett. He's just, he's just a beast. Yep. He's just,

he's, he is honestly like Aaron Donald level just dominance, where you talk about a guy that is just the best at his position, one of the elite players, just one of the elite football players in the league, um, of his generation. Miles Garrett is it.

It's, it's kind of unfortunate that he's playing for a franchise that just can't get there. what together right now um with everything but he is still just an absolute force to watch and um yeah he's he's he's he's great he's just he's just fantastic what what else can i say so this is my 10th year here in NFL and not i mean i had been in NFL locker before in buffalo but like as a beat reporter where he there every single day gets to know the players and stuff like that uh when i walked out on the practice field in berrea ohio and saw

Miles Garrett. Like he was, it was one of those where he's like lifting or something and had no shirt on and it's just, I'm like, that is the craziest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Like this, to see him roast Christian Derisaw in those practices, which no one does. And he's like six, five. It's just muscles that have their own muscles that have zip codes. And the thing that's crazy about him is that he's so smooth. Like he could play basketball and he can like dunk and shoot. Like there's highlights of him shooting and dribbling. And it's like he's that smooth of an athlete at that size with that amount of power.

It is insane. It is absolutely insane what the way that that man is built. I have the, I had the same feeling when way back in 1999 I was I was 15 years old and I was spending the summer. with my dad down in Tennessee and we went to Titan's training camp and I were there was a bunch of kids that went up to Eddie George yeah and had him you signing autographs and everything and I went up to I didn't get an autograph or anything like that I wasn't a Titans fan but it was still just cool to be there yeah and standing very close in the vicinity of Eddie George it was like wow this guy is is this guy a superhero like it just it didn't feel he didn't seem real it didn't

seem like human beings are not supposed to be built that way but they are and that guy is one of them um yeah i mean the same same type of thing is that jvonne curse you talking about eddie george oh oh you were talking about eddie george okay i you said he was i wasn't sure if you meant like eddie or if there was like someone else that you were talking about because javon curse had the same sort of like whoa yeah yeah very much but i just remember going up to eddie george and you know going up to him and like seeing like this guy's a running back. He's like, yeah. He's like 6.3, 240, 245 pounds. And it's just all muscle. He's just chiseled. Um, yeah, same kind of just like, oh my God, this guy is a real human

being. All right. Number one, manny, number one. Then we got to go watch it Thursday night football. Yes, definitely. Uh, number one, it's Leroy Horde. That's a great point. Heard is one of my favorite Vikings of all time, of course, for obvious reasons. But, you know, Leroy Horde had had a one really nice season in Cleveland. It was so good that he made the Pro Bowl. Yeah. Yeah. In 94. He only ran for about 890 yards. Got 45 passes that year, but it's just kind of crazy. It's like this, this Rand, who's like, who is Le Roy Horde? He's playing for the Browns in the Pro Bowl. And, you know, it's a good, good season that the Browns had in 94 with Belichick and Sabin on the staff and all that stuff. But it obviously went on to be kind of a bigger name, didn't have as never really had as

good a season as he did in 94 with the Vikings, but he was certainly well known and well loved among Vikings fans in the late 90s. I'll toss out a few more. Leroy Hard would be very high on my list as well. Webster Slaughter, great wide receiver, Clay Matthews Senior is a guy that actually should really be in the Hall of Fame and has been kind of an afterthought, maybe just because of that Brown's organization. They had Eric Turner, the safety, who was a big name player for them back, you know, way back then. And Kevin Johnson, I have somewhere a Kevin Johnson autographed football card. He was doing a signing with those card shows used to be huge.

And so he was doing a signing, got his autograph. And it was weird the way that his time in Cleveland ended, but he was a really good wide receiver for them. And I always love Kelly Holcomb. And it's funny because I always thought, like, man, this guy's got nothing, like no talent whatsoever. And that game against Pittsburgh was one of the craziest, the best games in NFL history. And I always love Kelly Holcomb for that. And then so I'm reading Bruce Arrian's book. And the book is basically centered around Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, Ben Rothesberger, and Carson

Palmer. But he's got a chapter on Kelly Holcomb and how much he freaking love that guy. So there's, there's been, you know, there's been a lot of guys through the years that they've had that have been pretty good players. And we should mention Joe Thomas, quite possibly the best left tackle in NFL history, was a big fan of his when he was doing his podcast right after he, he was like one of the first athletes to do a podcast after he retired before that became like a really big thing. But just a super smart guy, unbelievable technician and sad that he had to play with all those different quarterbacks, some of which did not even know his name. Mitch Schwartz was a great player for them as well. So, you know, they've had their guys through the years, but

unfortunately, oh, how do we not mention Peyton Hillis is one of the funniest things. Oh, yeah. For him to end up on the, on the Madden cover. It is one heck of a strange history. Gosh, now I just want Michael Dean Perry, Ted Washington, like they just, you know, this team's got Pepper Johnson, yeah. Great, great, great history. Kevin Mack with the huge pads. And then you could go back even farther to the Bryant-Sypera Eric Zyre. Anyway, so Cleveland Browns. Our guy, Tom Tupah. Yes, yes. He played for the

Browns. Right. He scored the first ever two-point conversion after they made that rule that you could score a two-point conversion. Yes, because Belichick, I believe this was with the Brown. I want to say this is with the Browns that Tom Tupa, they did a fake extra point and had him run in the end zone because the other team was never expecting it because they had just made the rule.

So that's something you could tell all your friends at the water cooler as you're naming random browns for this week. So anyway, well, a season changing game on the way. We will see how it goes. Regardless of what happens, we will be back on Monday for our roundtable with Manny Hill and Brian Murphy. And hopefully you guys have a rest of a good night watching football. And we will see you tomorrow. I'm hosting on WCCO Radio. So I won't be live. But in the morning, I'm recording a podcast with Dave Campbell. It's going to be PorchPod.

So that will be airing on YouTube tomorrow. Make sure you keep an eye out for that. And we will catch you all later. Football. Football.