Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Most interesting Vikings heading into training camp (No. 25-21)

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

Matthew Coller begins ranking his most interesting Vikings heading into camp with players No. 25-21. Plus, he answers a handful of your Vikings questions.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here and I am starting a new series here on the show where I count down the top 25 most interesting players at Minnesota Vikings training camp. There's about five weeks to go before we end up hitting the actual field for training camp So we're gonna count down five at a time over the next couple of weeks. So for this episode Let's look at number 25 through number 21 We begin with number 25 on my list, which is Jay Ward the Minnesota Vikings hybrid Safety has played corner before in the

past at LSU and has mostly been so far in his career, a special team or for the Vikings. So last year Jay Ward played 311 snaps on special teams and had a PFF grade of 70.2, which was one of the higher grades on the entire team last year. Now in the past we have seen a lot of players like J Ward, they start off on special teams, maybe make the back end of the roster as a late round draft pick or an undrafted free agent,

and then work their way up kind of behind the scenes, don't really take notice, oh, there's one big tackle in a special teams game, but they are developing and developing under Matt Daniels in the past. It was under Mike Prefer where we saw players like Anderson Dayhoe or Anthony Harris emerge. And then most recently, Josh Mattelis,

who was purely just a special teams player and a backup when Brian Flores arrived. And then now all of a sudden is one of the more valuable players on defense. And the first step to that, Ward is a fourth round draft pick, is at least making the team and being on the radar at all. And Jay Ward has done that, getting on the field at all

on a special team role, he has done that. And then working for a couple of years to the point where the team trusts you if you have to get on the field as a backup. And that's where Ward has really arrived here because if you look at the off season, they lost Cam Bynum, but they didn't do anything else at the safety position. Also Bobby McCain, who played a little bit for them against Seattle last year, they did not bring him back or any other safety into the mix, which means that the safety room right now is Josh Metellus, Harrison Smith, Theo Jackson, and

Jay Ward. That's one play away, one turn ankle away from Jay being on the field for this team. And my question is, and what makes him interesting to me is, is he in the mix as some sort of part of a competition at the safety position? Could we see Theo Jackson and Jay Ward throughout the summer go back and forth? Now there's been a lot of praise for Theo Jackson. It's very clear that he is ahead and has shown that he deserves to be in that cam-bind-em type of spot, but Ward is the draft pick and might have some versatility to his game as well. In college, he played corner, he played in the box,

he played deep safety, a very Brian Flores type of player. And just because we haven't seen the development doesn't mean that they haven't seen the development. And just watching a little bit at OTAs and mini-camp, Ward looked like he was getting a lot of run out there on the field as a guy who's been here a couple years and may be ready to step into a bigger role. So Jay Ward, not saying he's going to win the job necessarily, but since we've seen this type of path so many times from the safety position, he's going to be one that we're going to be watching closely and whether he does take another step or even just in general, whether he could be trusted if one of those guys gets banged up because even if Harrison Smith were to get banged up for a couple games, this is a team that's going to use multiple safeties out on the field

and would they shuffle around and have Eric Wilson play a versatile role or is Jay Ward really truly the next man up in that safety room? So he is number 25 on the list. Number 24 is someone that's gotten a few mentions on this show. That is Zamiya Vaughn. He is an undrafted free agent from Utah, six foot one, little under 200 pounds. And somebody that each day, just to take you out there a little bit to TCO Performance Center, we come in, they give us a roster, and when it's mini camp or training camp, that roster is big, it's full of undrafted free agents, and I didn't even really look closely at Zamiya Vaughn's name on this list until he made me

and the rest of us by making plays on a daily basis. It is only seven on seven, there aren't any pads, and it is a learning phase, but still, when someone goes out in any capacity in practices and starts making plays, that means you need to pay attention to who they are. This corner back room has Dwight McClothern as a backup. It's not that deep though, where we're talking about, well, you know, who's going to make this team at the backup

spot. It would seem that there is at least some opening in the cornerback room for somebody else to wiggle their way in there if they have a good enough training camp. So as of right now, Zamiah Vaughn is the first guy who has put his name on the map. And I was looking back through Vaughn's history at Utah, and he's a very experienced player, about 2,300 snaps at a very good program at Utah. And I noticed that he had a lot of pass breakups, didn't have a ton of interceptions when he was at college,

but making plays on the football. And that's what stood out in these seven on sevens as it does seem there's a natural instinct and a lanky guy at six foot one to maybe make some plays. So he will be certainly on the radar as someone competing for a backup cornerback spot when we arrive at training camp. Now, number 23 is a player that if he emerges is going to be one of the beloved underdog Minnesota Vikings players from training camp and a good chance at Mr. Mankato because he has a vibe to him and that is Silas Bolded. He played at Oregon State and was a pretty good wide receiver at Oregon State. He made 54 catches in 2023 for 741 yards and five touchdowns really showed that he could be an actual wide receiver.

But when he went to Texas, you know, that team is pretty stacked at wide receiver. They had a couple guys drafted, including in the first round. So they were obviously very good at that position, but Bolden still worked into a role and where he stood out was in the college football playoff against Arizona State with a kick return, or I'm sorry, a punt return for touchdown. The Minnesota Vikings at this moment do not really have a punt returner. They're throwing Jalen Naylor back there, they're talking about Rondale Moore, but he hasn't really done it in quite a long time,

and he's coming off an injury. They've got some other undrafted free agents that are back there trying to catch punt. Got Isaiah Rogers, who is scheduled to be their number two cornerback on the depth chart. Do you really want Isaiah Rogers kick and punt returning when he's going to play such a valuable role on defense? That's where Silas Bolden could

potentially come into this. And one thing I noticed is that he can catch the punts. Now this is in practice and there's nobody coming at him, but he does have enough experience doing this where at least you have to start with that part, being able to catch the punts, being able to make plays after that, having a quickness element to him. And I think he's got some hands and some route running abilities, some chops as a wide receiver,

to the point where he could make things interesting in the back end of that depth chart, if he can prove that he can punt return. And again, you have to be out there really in pre-season games, showing you can do it, not just standing out there on the practice field with nobody bearing down on you, but because he is undersized, because he's a small guy, underdog type of story,

if he is able to make this team, it will be a very, very cool thing at training camp to watch, but the first step is just proving that he deserves to be that punt return guy, and if he does that, then he has a shot at making the back end of that depth chart. So Silas Bolden of Oregon State and Texas

is number 23 on the list. Number 22 is Bo Richter. I have been banging the Bo drum now for, I don't know, what, a year and a half, maybe more than that. Going back to training camp last year, Bo Richter was one of those guys that they bring in as a UDFA, you go,

oh, a guy from Air Force? Like, okay, I guess, you know, maybe. And then, all of a sudden, as I said with Zamiya Vaughn, he makes you pay attention. And that's exactly what Bo Richter did last year during training camp, during the preseason, especially where it seemed like every preseason game, the guy was out there making a play, a tackle for loss, a sack. He was all over the place and going back and researching a little bit on

Bo Richter, he was a really, really good athlete. Like as far as those relative athletic scores up in the 97th, 98th, 99th percentile for the speed for his size, the quickness for his size, and just went under the radar because he was at Air Force and only had one real year of production, but he transferred that over right away to the NFL and was producing on special teams. He was one where I would actually have to go back

and watch on special teams and go, man, he's making plays. And that's how I ended up writing an article about him last year is that he just stood out to me so much on those special teams plays that are not always the most interesting, a lot of fair catches, a lot of kickoffs that went out of the back of the end zone or were kneel downs or something. But when he had his opportunities, and you'll remember a fumble that he recovered

against Chicago, but even the week leading up to that made some tackles, beat his man down the sideline. Like, he's got some physical talent that might result in him getting more opportunity. And when you look at the way the Vikings handled free agency this year, this is what should really stand out about Bo Richter is they did not bring in anybody else to be behind their starters.

They didn't really replace a Jahad Ward type of role. I mean, when you look at last year, they had Jahad Ward and Patrick Jones, where they're two guys that rotated in around and of course Turner, around Van Ginkle and Grenard. And what Jahad Ward's role was often was to be the blitzer up the middle. Well, they didn't go out and get another Jahad Ward in free agency. They really are leaving it to Bo Richter and a couple of other guys who may end up on this list. But Richter, I think, has a very legitimate chance to not just be back on special teams, but actually carve out a real role

for this team, so he is number 22 on the list, and number 21 is Gavin Bartholomew, but I thought about making this a three-man list, or even a four-man list, for all competitors for tight end number three, you're all equally interesting and wonderful. And we'll be watching on a daily basis who is gonna get that tight end three role.

Of course, Gavin Bartholomew is the favorite for this because he was the one that was drafted out of Pitt, but Ben Urasek, Bryson Nesbitt, these guys also belong in that discussion as well. Anybody who also arrives will be talked belong in that discussion as well. Anybody who also arrives will be talked about in that tight end three role, but Bartholomew, really good hands, really good athleticism flashed that at pit on an offense that was not so exceptional and big enough size to be a blocker.

But this is the Johnny Munt role. And look, I know that I've kind of laughed a little bit about like, hey, we are deep on the depth chart if we're talking about tight end number three, but if somebody gets hurt, you are always one play away because this offense is going to use 12 personnel with those two tight ends. And it's really evident by the extension

that they gave Josh Oliver that they want that to be a major part of the now and of the future that they are going to be using three tight ends or two tight ends. And you got to have another guy who's the backup that can fill in who is it going to be. It's not unprecedented that it would be some undrafted free agent to pop into that spot, but Bartholomew is certainly the favorite for that, and that makes him the 21st most interesting player. So keep an eye out for our countdown all the way down to the number one and most interesting player who is I'm sure going to be a huge shock for who's going to be number one, but the rest of the order will be maybe a mystery as we count that down.

So, all right, let's get into your questions that you have sent along, and I wanted to thank all the folks that showed interest in Lindsay Young's book, Olivia the Brave, make sure you go check that out. So a lot of these questions are sent from people. The other night I had a book giveaway, and they jumped in for that.

So, let us begin with Alex's question. He says, I'm still trying to get a better understanding of what JJ McCarthy's arm is at the NFL level. So, can you compare McCarthy's arm to our last three quarterback draft picks in the first round with Teddy Bridgewater, Christian Ponder, and Dante Culpepper, where is he in terms of pure arm talent versus those quarterbacks of the past?

So yeah, this conversation about JJ McCarthy's arm has been interesting to go through, what people thought that he was supposed to be coming out. And I think the main criticism of McCarthy's arm from a lot of the draft analysts was that when he would throw the ball, it looked like he was using every ounce of his soul to put it behind to get that level of velocity, which is also why it can be a little bit dubious to look at the combine and say,

well, this guy threw X miles per hour at the combine, where, how many throws do you get where you're standing? 15 feet away from something and whipping as hard as you possibly can like that usually is not how actual football throws work But what we've seen in action is and I want to talk about this arm talent thing versus pure arm strength because arm strength is how hard you can just whip it. But I also think there's a different element of it as like what kind of situation do you need to be in to throw it as hard as you can?

So Kirk Cousins, for example, we don't think of him as having a strong arm, but Kirk was very good technically at putting every ounce of his being into a football. And if he needed to throw it straight down the field, 15 yards, like really let it loose, he could absolutely do that. Like there's highlights of Kirk Cousins

throwing the ball super fast, but it had to be everything behind it, all of his body. Whereas if you watch Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, those guys can be running left, moving right, flying backwards away from opponents and flick their arm and it just goes. So I think that there's lots of different ways of looking at arm talent versus pure arm strength.

I don't think it's like a baseball where we should just look at velocity. And then there's the other part of arm talent that is how much touch can you put on the football. So when I look at a Sam Bradford or a Sam Darnold, two of the best arms I have ever seen up close, the one thing that both of them had in common was the combination of velocity but also touch.

I have never seen anyone throw the football like Sam Bradford. It may be my whole life before I ever see anyone throw it again up close at a Vikings practice that had that combination of things. Anticipation, velocity, like there's a reason why those guys were those top, top, top draft picks and Bradford was such an incredible prospect coming out

and then had the injuries that set him back. But there's throws all over his 2016 tape where you just go, wow, how did you do that? And for him, he also had to be pretty stable, but he could throw it on the run as well in any way he wanted to do it, even with the broken knees. And I felt the same way about Sam Darnold. I know this isn't exactly your question, but just kind of setting the stage to answer your question.

Where Darnold could be moving to his left, flip his hips and still let that thing rip, or as he did against Seattle, climbing the pocket. And it's pretty much all arm at that point, 40 yards down the field on a line. I don't think that JJ McCarthy, at this point in his career yet, quite has the level that Sam Bradford did for anticipation and touch, where with Sam Bradford, somebody could be just starting to come out of their break,

and he would fire it to a spot that they were gonna be at, in ways that make no sense, except for it's some sort of freakish stuff that exists only in his brain. I think Darnold was pretty good at that, but maybe less consistent. But where Darnold was really good was there's a linebacker standing 18 yards down the field who you need to throw it five inches over his outstretched arms, but also really hard because your guy is just breaking open and is going full speed to the sideline

and he was able to do that. I think that what JJ McCarthy can do with his specific arm talent is if there are tight windows, if he sees something in a flash and just has to let it rip, he is going to be able to fit that football into tight windows, especially in the middle of the field where it is rockets right by the ear holes of linebackers right in between

zones and stuff like that. And he's not going to need to release it way out in front for the anticipation element. He can actually just see something and fire the ball right to that spot because there's so much velocity behind it, especially when he can actually just see something and fire the ball right to that spot because there's so much velocity behind it, especially when he can really get his whole body behind it. I've seen him on college tape roll to his right and exceptionally throw on the run, so he seems to understand like a baseball player,

how to flip his hips, and we've seen him do this in practice as well, where he's really starting to get the handle of it but is not there yet. Is that touch element, is that, can you whiz it just over the defense, but drop it in, kind of like a golfer having to make a flop shot or something. It's not quite like that, but, you know,

where you're trying to get over a hill and drop it in and stick it on the green, or whatever. I mean, like that kind of shot, you can't hit a line drive there, or it's gonna fly off the it on the green or whatever. I mean, like that kind of shot, you can't hit a line drive there or it's gonna fly off the back of the green, but you also can't throw it a million miles up in the air cause it won't make it there. Like he's still figuring out trajectories of throws

and getting the footwork right to hit those exactly how he needs to hit it. So pure arm talent, he throws the ball very, very hard, but it's not quite as refined as some of those other guys that we're talking about now I didn't cover Christian Ponder. I haven't watched a lot of Christian Ponder games in the past because Obvious reasons they did not go that well But I've watched a few and I watched a few from 2012 including the game that he won Against Green Bay and what I think about Christian Bonder was

confidence played a really big role. He just did not seem to be really confident in his arm. So I think he could throw the ball hard, but it never really came out looking like that because he just seemed to be very timid, maybe afraid to try to fit balls into a tight window and ended up throwing the ball underneath over and over and over again, which was fine for 2012, but really wasn't particularly

great for the rest of the time he was there. So I never thought watching him that he really like put everything he had into the throws. It was always kind of like a, oh, hopefully. And, uh, I don't think we ever saw the full breadth of what he could do physically because physically he was very talented. So that plays into arm talent too is how cocky are you about your arm? Are you willing to let something rip? And that's where, you know, Darnold had a lot of success or Bradford had a lot of success as well. And some of the best quarterbacks in the league do all the time is, hey, I can make this throw

because I am confident enough to do it. I think McCarthy has the confidence that Christian Ponder was lacking. Now, as far as Teddy Bridgewater goes, he was a pure anticipation thrower because he did not have great velocity on his football. So when I compare Teddy Bridgewater's arm, I think of a Philip Rivers, for example, or a Drew Brees.

And was he as accurate as those guys? No, but also we only saw those guys in their primes. When we think about them in their primes, Teddy Bridgewater was just starting to get there when he got injured and then never the same after that. So maybe he would have gotten there and looked like he was on the way. But what I mean by a pure anticipation thrower is if someone is coming out of a break, you're really just delivering the football to a spot with timing way out in front of them so they

can run to it. So I think about a throw that he made in 2015 against Arizona. It's a national TV game, night game. I think they came close to winning it, but it went awry at the end where there is a crossing route that goes maybe 40 yards away from Bridgewater. When he actually steps back to release it, whoever caught it, maybe it was a tight end, was probably 15 yards down the field. And he led them all the way to the spot like he had a very good mind for this is where the guy is going to be and sometimes that led to interceptions and it's the same thing for Kirk Cousins this happens sometimes where if he anticipated pretty early but the break wasn't there the way he

thought it was gonna be it would get intercepted and we saw that happen a number of times. That would happen to Teddy. He also threw too many wobblers, no doubt about that. And I think of the spin and revolutions as part of arm strength. And McCarthy throws a very tight ball. And I don't think Teddy Bridgewater did

because he had a lot of strangeness to his release, but that anticipation is where he would make a lot of his best throws. And Dante Culpepper, there is just very few people in the history of the game who you could compare to Dante Culpepper's arm. You talk about pure strength, putting all of that body behind it.

That ball could fly 70 yards in the air, and the arc that he could put on it and drop it all the way down into a bucket 65 yards away from him was astounding. And that's really the highlights that we see. But when you watch Culpepper games, he could also throw a dart right dead to the center of somebody's chest if he wanted to. He completed something like what 75 or 80% of his passes in college.

He was a very, very accurate passer with incredible anticipation when he was throwing straight down the field. I think sometimes he would stretch out his feet a little bit too wide and he would fly balls over people's heads, but he had one of the best arms, was one of the best throwers of the football of the entire 20, what, 2000s to 2020s or 2010s of that entire decade where he played one of the best

of the best. I don't think that the touch and the sheer pure athletic accuracy that came along with Dante is what JJ McCarthy is as a thrower. I think it's very different. But yeah, I mean, at this moment, he is kind of a spear thrower where he is ripping balls kind of as fast as he can still. And he's trying to develop that touch,

which we have seen more recently and has been interesting to watch play out in front of us because we know that's really what he's working on. And some of anticipation and accuracy is just running the play the right way. And that goes along with it too. That's Drew Brees' accuracy. Drew Brees' accuracy is he knows exactly

how to read the defense, he's throwing to spots. And I remember Steve Young saying that when he became an accurate passer, one of the great passers of all time, is when he realized, I'm not gonna be able to see it first because I'm not very big, so I'm going to have to throw the ball just believing in my read of the defense

and believing in my receiver, and a lot of times that would come to fruition. So accuracy takes a lot of different forms when we talk about arm talent. But hopefully that kind of paints the picture for you a little bit as it reminds me kind of a lot of someone like Justin Herbert or Josh Allen, not with the pure velocity,

which I think is higher for those guys, they're bigger, but with those line drive type of throws where you don't always require a lot of anticipation because you can let that ball rip to the level that JJ McCarthy can. So great question. Thank you for that Alex. Next question comes from Matthew says, did it surprise you when Brian Flores said that there's not much more for the team to evolve in his defensive scheme? He seems to me like he is constantly evolving his defensive play style. So it kind of surprised me when he said that. What was your take on his comments? Yeah,

I mean, it did like that caught my ear as well. I kind of perked up like wondering what exactly he meant when he said like there's not that much more to go as far as growing a defense. And I think part of that is that with Brian Flores, it's every game is its own thing for him. Where every single game is its own unique game plan where it's, alright, you're playing the Lions this week, and this is how you're going to approach them very specifically, but then the next week it's the commanders or whoever it is, and that's gonna be a whole different type of coverage and a whole different type of way of trying to stop their run,

rather than just this is our scheme and this is how we play it kind of thing, which I think those defenses these days are getting throttled, is if you're trying to just play a scheme and not make constant adjustments. So the adjustments might not be, all right, we're going to put way more on your plate. I came back this year with 50 different things that we need to do.

Like this is two years with a lot of guys in this group that they've been building this foundation to the point where they can be completely flexible. So think about like, if you were driving to a place and your GPS gave you two different routes that you could take. So all right, we're either going straight or we're taking a left and then going right. And that's how we get there. Well, I think of it as, now with Brian Flores defense,

excuse me, that you can have 50 different routes to get to the same place. Do you bring this guy and drop that guy back? Do you bring that guy and drop that guy back? Do you show this and then do that? He's taught them the foundation of all those things flexibly. So now they know all the roads. Like think about your hometown and where you grew up. You know, a bunch of different routes to get to the same place, right? You can get all the roads. Like think about your hometown and where you grew up. You know a bunch of different routes

to get to the same place, right? You can get on the highway, you can take the back roads, you can go the dirt road by old Farmer Brown's barn or something, right? Like you know that because you have in your brain a mental picture of your entire hometown and you could take a lot of different ways there. You could, if this road is closed,

you could always take another road. And I think that's how it is. Where it's not adding new roads, it's that there's just many different ways to get there. I hope that makes sense. That's how I interpreted it, is that he didn't go into the offense, or into the off season,

and try to build a whole new defense. The foundation is there and it's set, but it's the number of options that they're able to build off of all those different things that he is now like really refining for each individual game plan. That's how I took it. I think also that you can only be so complicated, right? I mean, once you start to put too much on guys' plates,

you might be fooling yourself. So it's not like you're reinventing the wheel. It's zones, it's blitzes, it's fire zones, and a lot of times in the NFL, it's just how you game plan to use your options against the other team, and it's also when you do those things. What third downs? Do you blitz on early downs, which Brian Flores is not afraid to do?

And the play calling element? And do your players understand when they're out there, if I see X, then I can do Y, and that's in my book of different routes that I can take to get to the same place. So hopefully that metaphor made some sort of sense, but I think that that's what he was getting at is like, he didn't go to the off season and go, how do I defense? Not after having a top five defense with a lot of players on this group. Next question comes from Brett.

What contracts are best to be restructured to combat being about 50 million over the cap next year you guys Love your salary caps, so I have over the cap calm here for me And if you ever want to see this just go to over the cap calm go to the Vikings And then if you click where it says dead money and cap savings restructure And you could see all the names for next year that they can restructure. I will read them quickly for you, there's a lot. And this is why, I mean, you just, you're in a mode where Rob Brzezinski and the front office, they're going to deal with that salary cap issue. It's not going to be a huge problem. You're also not going

to be a big spender in free agency next year, but just the players who can be restructured to make at least $5 million in cap space with a restructure, according to OverTheCap.com, Jonathan Grenard, TJ Hockenson, Justin Jefferson, Andrew VanGinkle, Christian Derisaw, Josh Metellus, we'll see on the extension, he's gonna need the extension, so don't count that one, Jonathan Allen, Byron Murphy Jr., Will Fries. So those are all the players that they can restructure.

And you could always extend, I wouldn't be surprised if an extension would be coming for someone like Brian O'Neill, and mentioned, you know, the Josh Metellus extension is likely on the way. They are going to figure out those problems with the salary cap. They will not, I promise you, no team has ever not made the cap. So they will, they will do it. And they've set these contracts up. So it's going to be this group of players for this year and next year as their main foundation.

And the only trouble that could befall them potentially is if a bunch of their bets this year were to go wrong and Then they went into free agency going. Oh, you don't really have the same amount of cap space because we spent it on last year that could be a little bit problematic if a Jonathan Allen doesn't work out a hard grave if Aaron Jones if Byron Murphy like if all these guys don't't work out, well then you're going into next year going, okay, well what do we have? But with those players, a lot of proven guys on their list, so that's the bet that they're making. But as you can see, there's certainly enough restructure and extension room to make for next year, and Over the Cap is usually pretty conservative about how much they think the cap is going up. It'll probably go up more than that because of Netflix on Christmas Day.

All right, Ryan, next question says, How should fans evaluate Donovan Jackson this year? And what are some targets for numbers that would indicate a successful season? It's easy to see the impact on the field of some other recent first-rounding positions like wide receiver edge, but O-line is a little trickier to notice. So that is certainly true. Now when it gets to training camp, I think number one is just, is he out there? Is he taking all the full team reps? Has he made the team as the starting left guard? I guess that's the first step because now I know Ed Ingram did make it as well, but not every first rounder, as you saw from Dallas Turner,

is just immediately and Louisine and instantly in their starting position. So that's the first step for Donovan Jackson. If he makes the team, we're always going to focus on the PFF grades and the pressure numbers because that's what we have to work with. Now every time I talk about them, even though I wrote an entire book about pro football focus, which you can get, it's called Football as a Numbers Game. It's not just about the grades,

it's about how they are used by a lot of different people, including Quasidat Fomensa, but also where they came from, how it's done, all that stuff. But what people will always say to me, well those grades aren't perfect. And you know what? You're right. And neither are interceptions, neither are receptions or targets or yards per carry or any other way of evaluating players. We have to use our noggin and use common sense to evaluate players. So when it comes to Donovan Jackson, we'll start with how is PFF looking at his performance? If he is somewhere in the range of in the middle of the league, that's good for a rookie. Not a ton of rookies have come in at the guard position and just dominated. So if he's off

to a good start, and remember last year, at the end of the year, Blake have come in at the guard position and just dominated. So if he's off to a good start and remember last year at the end of the year, Blake Brandel is at the bottom of the league in grade and in pressures allowed. So are you improving on what they had last year? That's something we're watching for, too. Do you get better as the season goes along? How much do they have to do to help you is another part. Do they always have to have C.J. Ham in there trying to help you is another part. Do they always have to have CJ Ham in there trying to help you out a little bit on pass protection

or can you be trusted on an island? And there's also, when it comes to PFF grades, there's the high-end type of performance versus consistency. If we see the high-end, but the consistency is coming along through the season, well, that's gonna be a good thing. If we only see the high end and not the consistency, that's not great.

If we don't see the high end, and what I mean is the pancake type of blocks, the freakish type of plays where he's out in space, which he's able to do as a great, great athlete, and things like that. I mean, all that stuff has to play into it as we'll start with those raw statistics that they're gonna provide, and is he allowing a lot of the pressures?

Are teams seeing him as a weakness and attacking him, which you definitely felt with Garrett Bradbury that opposing teams knew who they were going after and time and time again would take advantage of that? Is he the weak link? And then are the problems correctable? The things with Ed Ingram, they gave him a long time to try to fix some of those issues. But does it look like there's mental errors?

Does it look like his teammates are going, hey man, come on, like that's not what you're supposed to be doing. Does it look like there are turnstile plays? Or are you fighting to the last moment? Because one thing that Dalton Reisner did really well, he didn't clobber people thing that Dalton Reisner did really well, he didn't clobber people, but Dalton Reisner did a really good job of just hanging on for dear life,

and that is a real skill in the NFL. It's a lot of different things. It's a feel thing as well. Does it feel like they're dominating on runs to the left side? Does it feel like there's pressure coming from the same spot all the time? Or does it feel like JJ McCarthy can have his blind side there or right in front of him where he's got a clean pocket that he's stepping into? So it's a lot of different things. And it's always really hard with a rookie of how much leeway to have on mistakes, but also trying to see where these things could be fixed. I think one of the things to really focus on with Donovan Jackson, as far as a growth

perspective is the intelligence. And last year you saw from Jackson switch positions and then get better and better and better. That was a good sign for him that I think will carry over. But yeah, it's always a tough evaluation because guys have hard games. You play tough players. They will face Dexter Lawrence again this year, they will face Jaylen Carter this year. There's gonna be and we always have to evaluate with that too. Who did you play against? That matters as well. I mean

because a rookie against Jaylen Carter is gonna be a very very tough night and probably not a very good PFF grade. But if you're getting those bad grades against random guys that don't have great histories, well, that's not good. So it's a lot of different things, but mainly it's going to be a field. Does it feel like that side of the line has been solidified or not? And then you can forgive some of the rookie mistakes that happen. But it's always, it's always tough with rookies. You know, even we went through this with Turner last year where he's out there making plays by the second half of the season.

He's making growth, but he's not dominating. So where do we kind of put that? Was that successful for his first year because he took steps forward and showed flashes or was it a big disappointment because he wasn't the star that was promised right away? Guys take time in the NFL to learn. So we will be keeping a close eye on Donovan Jackson. You can bet that he's going to be somewhere on that list of the 25 most interesting Vikings at training camp. Okay.

Next question comes from Roy says, how do you spend so much time thinking about and covering the Vikings and not get yourself emotionally invested in the team to the point where you consider yourself a fan? So this comes up all the time on the show because I think there's some fascination about this. You're right, this is my job to cover the Minnesota Vikings 24-7. And the way that I would like to put it is that I really, really love my job. I really love talking about this. I really love writing about this,

finding player stories, studying the front office, looking into who should be restructured. The next question is about the punting competition. Let's go. Let's get into the punting competition. But to me, it's what gets me excited about this job is the study of all of this, the analysis of all of this, the breakdown, the getting to know players on a personal level, like Bo Richter, when I sat down with him to write the article and he told me his whole story of becoming an NFL player and how he's here now as part of the

active roster. Like I like that. I get excited about that. All of that stuff is me being a huge fan of doing journalism to go into the facility, to watch the games, to study the All 22, to study the data, and then bring it back to you and talk about it. That's what gets me excited. I don't have the same gene as you guys who grew up rooting for the Minnesota Vikings

to where when they score a touchdown, you jump off your couch, you throw your popcorn, and you hug your best friend. Like, that's not how I view any sport, really. It's not that I went to college and they beat it out of me or something. It's always been the analysis of the game and the writing about the game that is what I do and gets me excited, not whether the team wins or loses. And the true sign of objectivity, which I think is incredibly important,

is that I've been doing this through thick and thin. Have I ever done it differently? When it was the seven and nine season with Zimmer in 2020, when the wheels just completely came off, I was still here, same energy to break it down, as when they win in Buffalo and I'm there watching one of the craziest games I've ever seen. That's the energy you need to have to do this, not, oh great, they won, so now I'm excited,

but oh no, they lost now. I'm not excited about it. Like breaking it down and bringing it to you for the conversation. I also view myself as having a role as feedback for your own thoughts and feelings. It's like, well, if I was rooting for the team, then my feedback to you would be the same as you already thought because you were rooting for them to win. But for me, it's I'm giving you an objective viewpoint of it so you can say, oh, I overreacted to that, or no, actually, you should be very upset about that, or thrilled about that, or whatever it is.

Like, if you're excited about J.J. McCarthy, if I was just a fan, and I went out to practice every day, and just came back and told you, oh yeah, he looks amazing, guys, go, let's go, like, what would that do for you? Not a whole lot. Like, I'm just telling you what you want to hear as a fan But instead I'm telling you Objectively what it looks like which is pretty good by the way But I would also tell you if it looks really bad and so I think that that's that's where I live in this world That's what makes me different and I think is the reason to listen to the show is

Getting an objective perspective on the team. And also I think that it would be very unfair to the players if I was in their locker room and I was talking to them and covering them. And if I got mad at them for losing, I don't get mad at them for losing. They need somebody to come in the locker room and ask them professional questions and get professional answers and treatment for them, not come in ticked off at them and yell at them about losing. How dare you make that mistake or something like that? I know people want that from us for press conferences, but that would be a circus. So I think it's only fair to them that I cover them objectively if the

Vikings are going to let me in the building. So I hope that that, that helps. And the main thing I think it comes from is just that I cover them objectively if the Vikings are gonna let me in the building. So I hope that that helps. And the main thing I think it comes from is just that I never rooted for a team growing up. The team that was in my hometown was really, really bad. The Buffalo Bills, when I was growing up. So I just played Madden, I built teams, I read Sports Illustrated and that sort of thing. So I've always been like this about football and not in the realm of wishing I could stand up and cheer in the press box. So I hope that that helps. I know that people always are kind of interested in that, like they really want me to secretly root for the team, but you actually don't. You actually don't. This show and the coverage is so much better if I don't than if I did.

Okay, couple more. I wasn't joking. The next question is actually about the punting competition. This comes from Raymond. Raymond says, I would like to know, do you think we are getting a punting competition? Ryan Wright seems to have declined every year since his rookie year. However, with both kicker and long snapper getting hurt last season, could give Wright the leg up over Oscar Chapman. Did, did Andrew DePaulo, oh he did, you're right. Andrew DePaulo did because that was Jake McQuade.

Good call, good call Raymond. Could give Wright the leg up, leg up. Did you go leg up on purpose over Oscar Chapman as Wright did a decent job of holding and brought stability to the position. So I don't think that there is a real punting competition. Here is why, because number one, you said it. The holding is the most important thing here. Can you deal with a punt that trickles out of bounds

in the back of the end zone and is a touchback? Yes, you can. Can you deal with someone not being end zone and is a touchback, yes you can. Can you deal with someone not being able to hold for field goals? No you cannot. That is something that we saw in the past a couple times and it was a disaster. It's a mess.

You're thinking you got three points, you got an extra point, and then all of a sudden the guys fumble around with the football, the kicker's frustrated, the long snapper doesn't trust him. Ryan Wright's very good at holding that ball, and yeah, that seems like, well, wait a minute, but if he's not the best punter,

no, no, this to me is much more important. The other thing is that Oscar Chapman has the international exception. So he's been wearing number 91 because he's the 91st player on a 90-man roster because he is from Australia and has the international exception. So if Ryan Wright and Oscar Chapman both make the team, Oscar Chapman doesn't count as

part of the roster, which means they could keep him around anyway. And Ryan Wright being the more experienced, having worked with Andrew DePaola so much, he's going to be the punter. But Chapman may eventually take over for him. if there are problems in the middle of the season They might make the switch we'll have to see but I just I just don't think so I just don't see it and if Ryan Wright really struggled I think they would just go out and get another experience punter from somebody else's roster So as much as we have dreamed of it, we've hoped for it. We have prayed to the football gods

Give us this punting competition Just hasn't happened doesn't look like it's going to as much as we have dreamed of it, we've hoped for it, we have prayed to the football gods, give us this punting competition. Just hasn't happened. Doesn't look like it's going to. All right, one more question. This is from Callan, says, wondering if you've had a chance to ask Brian Flores what his plans for Dallas Turner are,

will he see the field more? Well, I can say that he's not gonna tell us his exact plans for Dallas Turner, but we could kind of see it already percolating in minicamp where Turner was lining up at different spots. And the real tell to me was that he was on the field during seven on sevens. Now, if you think about what is seven on seven mean, it means no defensive line. Those four guys on the D line are not out there. But that's linebackers and that's corners and that's safeties. Now if Dallas Turner is taking reps with the linebackers, what does that tell us? That that is something he's going to be asked to do this year.

That doesn't mean he is becoming a linebacker, but I think it's part of his tool bag that they're going to use with Turner. I've also seen him line up on the left side, seen him line up on the right side. I really think that they want him to be like Andrew Van Ginkle. And think about how valuable Andrew Van Ginkle is, where he can play multiple positions, rush from multiple spots. He can be a pure edge rusher on a third down, but he can also be a blitzer. He can also be a stunt guy where it's, you know, running a game where you have a defensive end rushing outside and he circles back inside,

but then he can also intercept the ball and run it for a touchdown. I mean, that's, I think that's what they view Turner as, is not just stick him on the edge and let him rush time and time and time again. And I've mentioned that he's flexible, he's fluid, he can catch the football. He has a unique skill set that goes beyond just as an edge rusher, and I think that's how they're going to use him. But of course, Brian Flores isn't going to come out and announce how they're going to use him,

because even though this group of coaches and players is very, very good to work with, we don't expect them to tell us entire strategies. So I am super interested to see how the Dallas Turner thing plays out as far as the entire season. That's gonna be one that is very close to the top of my list. All right, got some more questions for the next episode

and we'll be continuing to count down those most interesting players headed into training camp when it comes around a few weeks from now. I think this is a great time of year to have some fun. I got a lot of plans for the content. So look, keep listening. We're gonna have a really good time. And this is leading up to one of the most interesting

and exciting training camps, probably the most interesting that I have covered since I got here in 2016 and probably the most exciting for a lot of you guys in a really, really long time. So hang with us and make sure you go check out that newsletter. It never stops over at purple insider dot football. I have an article over there about JJ McCarthy and throwing the football with quotes from McCarthy Kevin O'Connell Wes Phillips, so make sure you go check that out. Thanks everybody again for watching slash listening and we'll catch you all very soon

Football