Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - NFL.com's Eric Edholm explains his Vikings power ranking (and love for their draft class)

Episode Date: May 20, 2026

Matthew Coller is joined by NFL.com's Eric Edholm to explain his decision to rank the Vikings so low in his post-draft power rankings, as well as why he loves Minnesota's draft class. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All right, welcome back to the show, Eric Edholm. It's, look, your return is under heavy scrutiny here as power rankings mean a lot to this show, okay? I'm sure. I've started power ranking myself, the fans. It means a lot to them. And if somebody power ranks the Minnesota Vikings 28th, you're going to have to explain. So, you know, post draft, I'm reading everything I can read, click it around NFL.com,

all the articles. Okay, yeah, let's check out where Eric's got. the Vikings scrolling scrolling I see the Cleveland Browns I'm like did I miss something did Eric forget that the Vikings are a team and then we get to number 28 and that's where the Vikings ranked and the internet was displeased with you Mr. Ed Holm so you got to start there in your explanation for how that happened well first of all thank you again for having me back it's always a pleasure to be on the show I like how you you know you ease into it too right you know like it just, you know, sort of beat me, beef me up with some softball questions before getting

to the tough stuff. Now, fair game. I did put them 28th. I did hear from the Vikings fans more than any other team. And, you know, it was funny. It was one of those things where as I was doing it and I'm, you know, kind of moving this team up one and this one down too. And it just kind of shuffling the board a little bit. And look, I'm going to be, let you in on a little industry secret for those listening.

There's not a whole lot of science to it, right? I mean, yes, I do involve numbers. I think about the big picture, of course, but it's this time of year. It's a little bit about vibes. And so I did not set out. I didn't say like, hey, this week's power rankings, we're going to give it to the Vikings. We're going to show them where they belong. We're going to put them in their place.

It really didn't start out like that. It was more like moving the Browns up after another great draft, you know, and it was all of a sudden I went back and looked at it and I went, it's probably going to make some people angry here. But if there's ever a time to have a team placed in a spot that they don't belong, it's probably May, I would say. You know, this was a four and eight football team at one point last year entering December. I think there was a lot of question about, you know, kind of the future of the team at that point,

knowing what was coming this offseason and some obvious losses on defense and everything and how they'd replace it, what the quarterback position would look like. you know look they're not the 28th team in football i don't think i don't think i don't think looking back it was a little bit foolish to do that i would probably have them somewhere in the low 20s i think that's really where and even that may be too harsh look i mean i had the seahawks in roughly the same spot last year i maybe a little higher than that actually i think i had seattle 18th and i think i had new england 23rd off the top of my head at this point a year ago so good news like it doesn't matter right like you you you could turn that into a super bowl appearance so

So yeah, I think I definitely deserve some of that criticism, definitely a little bit too harsh. I think it's just the fact that I was excited about Kyla Murray coming back when he tore his ACL came back for that second half of the season and played well out in Arizona. And I was like, you know what? I think people are kind of overlooking him a little bit. But from that point on, I never felt like he progressed all that much. and there was that strange soft benching at the end of the year last year that made me wonder, you know, is there a redeemable starter quality player here? I don't know.

I think so, but I'm not as sure as I once was. The McCarthy situation, the vibes around him, hard not to be a little, you know, discouraged at this point. So I think it starts with that. It also goes to the fact that, you know, they're going to have some people on that defense playing some big roles that I don't know that if they're going to be able to handle that or not. And yes, that unit played great down the stretch. It's a big reason why they finished with the record they had.

But yeah, I was just a little hesitant about the big picture, especially in such a tough division. Yeah, see, I was hoping that you would even like double down on this and really plant your flag. No, the Vikings are 28th. And here's why. I wish I could. But here's why I would prefer that because. so often in Vikings analysis, they are 16th in everything.

Everything. Every chart. The reason I like Brian Flores so much is that they're usually first in something. They're like they blitz the most or they play the most zone coverage or just they're good at defense since Brian Flores got here because this has been the team of perpetually being somewhere between 14th and 18th in every single power ranking. If I go to Fandul, let's take a look right now. I'm going to pull up Fandul and take a look at the Vikings Super Bowl odds. And let me just take a guess where they're going to be. Oh, let's see.

Plus 4,000 right in the middle of the league with Indianapolis, Washington, Tampa Bay, Carolina. Like it's, and this has been the case for such a long time. Yeah. So when you come in with, no, actually, I think your team's going to be bad. I'm like, oh, okay, this is different. Right. This is, this is something different. It's not the side of that that Vikings fans would want to be on.

And I certainly think that there's a world where they are much, much better than you have them being. and even much better than average. But I also think that the question marks, they're immense across this roster. And it really starts with the quarterback situation. Now, you mentioned Kyler. My take on Kyler over the last 22 games, I guess, because he played five and then 17 in 2024,

is that what Drew Petzing and John at the Gannon were trying to do is get him to play in a kind of Kubiak sort of system, under center more, get the ball out of. of his hands a lot and really mitigate his ability to hurt them by trying to go crazy and do wild stuff, which, you know, you still see some of that and you still see some of the high end of that. But I'm really interested to see how it translates because in Arizona, it was Cliff Kingsbury, which was, hey, Kyler, just go figure it out, dude. And then it was, we're really kind of scared of you, Kyler. And can Kevin O'Connell find a middle ground with that? And I also do

think that now that Joanne Jennings is here, which was before your or after your power rankings. Right. But it is the best supporting cast and coaching that Kyler Murray's ever had in his career. Yeah. It's too bad. I actually had a line that I was going to use. I was going to say, hey, man, this was before Joanne Jennings signed. Like, I mean, come on, right?

I completely forgot it, of course. And I did just see, by the way, as we were taping this, Minnesota has been granted the 2020 NFL draft. So congrats to you, everybody out there on that. sure that'll be fun. I love the city. And despite the ranking, I do enjoy coming to visit Minnesota when I get a chance. Nice easy flight. Yeah, you make a great point about Murray. I mean, I hope he does well, and I hope the fit is a good one because obviously the potential for explosive plays is there. You know, you have one of the best receivers in the last 20 years

of the NFL playing for the team. You know, that's obviously a pairing that I think could work. You know, and we've seen Kevin O'Connell that one year when they were, had roughly the same record where it was like, who's it quarterback this week? Kevin will do something with him, right? Obviously, Josh Dobbs was like having scramble mania there for a while and doing some fun stuff. And if we see a version of Kyle or that replicates any of that, you know, I will tip my hat and be very excited about it because, you know,

I feel like he's one of those players who, you know, there are obvious limitations to what he's been able to show so far. but there's also a really high ceiling and moments of greatness that you really can't deny. Does he have that that second or third wind, I guess, in his career? And is this a good pairing between head coach and quarterback? And, you know, those are the questions that linger. I think you're right about the supporting cast, the offensive line looks to be largely in good shape. And, you know, the draft was pretty good.

I think, you know, I like most of their picks. I mean, I think most of them at least sort of made sense to me and fit what they're trying to do. And yeah, I mean, it just, you know, it comes down to splitting hairs on against the Bears, Lions, Packers. You know, this division, Matt, is like, I could make a case for the Bears being a last place team this year, much like Minnesota was, nine and eight or something, you know. So it's a fascinating mix of teams. and they're probably closer together than most of us realize.

Well, and this is the thing about Kyler Murray and the Vikings versus the rest of the NFC North is that the rest of the NFC North, I think we have a really good feel for who they are, including the fact that Chicago could have regression, but also that Caleb Williams could take another step. We know that. And we know what Jared Goff's going to be with that offense. They've been top five every year for the last four years. And you also have, you know, Jordan Love, who seems to find. exactly nine wins every year for himself. And then, you know, I don't know, Tyrod Taylor is going to have to win a game or two for them. And then they'll get to 10 or 11. Like, we kind of have a really good sense. They have the same coaches that they've had, at least from last year. But for Dan Campbell and for Matt Lafleur, those guys have been there for quite a while. We know the questions that those teams have. Kyler Murray is the complete wild card in this entire equation. Because when you go through 2024, if you watch the first half of the 2024 season, you're

like, what? This guy is going to win 13 games for the Minnesota Vikings. And then you watch the second half of the season, you go, this guy's going to win seven games for the Minnesota Vikings. And it's always been kind of Kyler's MO where there are these stretches. And he reminds me of Baker Mayfield in this way, where there are these stretches, where the letters MVP will come out with this player. And if you go to the first eight, nine games of the season,

I think ESPN's QBR had Kyler and I think number one or two or something. through 2024. He was getting MVP mentioned, yeah. That's what I mean. And then, you know, by the end of the season, it's an eight and nine year. And, you know, they weren't a deep team and weren't well coach, but we can't always say that that is the case. So what do you think Kyler has for the extra gear? Like if the extra gear ends up being there, why was that?

How did it happen? Or, I mean, if it's there, like, what would have needed to click? Yeah. I think, you know, having that that. strong connection with Justin Jefferson. Obviously, I mean, I'm starting very much at the top on this one. But like, you know, it was clear that, you know, they were still working through the relationship with Marvin Harrison, Jr.

You know, and he's a player that, you know, has had some moments, but hasn't fully broken out yet. And, you know, those two really couldn't get on the same page a lot. And Michael Wilson did. I mean, he looked great at times. Stray McBride, you know, obviously became a steady option for. them. So, you know, it's not like Kyler didn't have some pieces there, obviously, and they had a real good run game two years ago to start the year before things started, like you said, going off the

rails a little bit. I mean, I, heck, I picked them as a wildcard team last year. I was take one sort of dart throw. I'm not a shame to admit that. Just further proof that, you know, my, my offseason priors can be way off, you know, but, you know, I thought they had a relatively decent core in place. but yeah, you know, it just, I go back to last year and it, and it felt like such a strange situation for him to be healthy enough to play, for the Cardals to not have a true, you know, maybe they said, okay, Jacoby Reset has to be our guy next year realistically, or at least part of the solution. But who's keeping Kylo Murray out of the lineup for Jacoby Reset? Was that specific to Jonathan Gannon and his staff and what was going on? there, Drew Petsing, et cetera, who's with the Lions now, by the way, interestingly enough.

But, you know, I don't know. I haven't been able to get enough information on how that relationship broke down. Now, Kevin O'Connell has obviously forged a reputation of being somebody who can connect with quarterbacks. And obviously, maybe that hasn't happened yet with JJ, but, you know, somebody who can sort of figure out what they do best and put it to action. So I think if they keep the reads clean and simple for not, I shouldn't say it like that.

I should say if they keep the process clean and allow him to improvise within the structure of the system, which is I think what they're going to some version of that, it has a chance to work. And again, I'd love to see it because I've always been a fan. And even if I've recognized, you know, that. his career's gotten off track a few times. He is such an interesting, just character in the NFL because he played so little in college and wins the Heisman, the only time he plays.

So that's just super high end. He comes into a bad franchise, turns them around almost immediately. He's offensive player or offensive rookie of the year. And then the next year, he's looking like, you know, he's going to be a superstar quarterback by his third season. The trajectory is just going up and up and up. and that ACL injury changed everything, but also where that franchise was at,

kind of changed everything too, because they lose the Andre Hopkins, their receivers aren't very good, the relationship with Cliff Kingsbury is breaking down. And I think that the history from Cliff Kingsbury post-Kyler, I mean, it's weird, right? He goes to the NFC championship game with Jaden Daniels and then they get rid of him the next year.

So that's kind of an odd situation. And then everything that I've been told is that his relationship with Drew Petzing and Jonathan Gannon was really good and that the benching came from the top of we are not sacrificing a top three draft pick in which they took maybe the most talented player in the entire draft in Jeremiah Love. Like that was their goal because they knew they were going to have to completely rebuild. But so there's a lot of things within the brief Jonathan Gannon, Kyler Murray relationship

that you can look at and like. But I think that the main reason for his volatility, well, two things. Number one is that he's always had this. I'm either going to throw it to the first read that is there or I'm going to bail. And how do you get someone who is five foot nine, ten to stay in the pocket, go one to two to three? And you see it sometimes, but not all the time on his tape. How do you get him to see the middle of the field a little bit better and be more confident and being aggressive in the middle of the field?

And weigh when it's a right time because I was watching a game against Carolina. All they need to do is kick a field. goal, the game is over. He tries to make some crazy play on a blitz, throws a horrible interception. It's just like, why, why? And I don't know how you kind of take that away. But there are all these things about his game when you go through the data. Like he is one of the most accurate quarterback since he came in the league. His rushing EPA is in the top five since he came into the league. And the Marvin Harrison thing, man, the more I've watched the tape, I'm just like, this guy's bad. Like, I just don't think he can play. I mean, not.

at the high level that they thought. And there was weird stuff where he's running one route and the ball's flying a totally different direction. You're just like, that can't, it can't be Kyler, right? Because he never had this problem with other people. And I think this is how you get talked into Kyler Murray being good for the Minnesota Vikings. But there is a different world where he's had injury issues and he has this up

and down nature that it might not fit. And the other part is too, we assume that it's going to be great with Kevin O'Connell. Hey, they're going to be great. they're going to be on the same page. But O'Connell wants his offense run. And you saw last year, it kind of broke his brain to have to adjust that offense to J.J. McCarthy toward the end of the year.

And if those two don't click the way we expect them to, this is how you end up with this thing. So I've called it the natural tank, which is when a team thinks they're going to be good. And then, uh-oh, like that kind of happened to them midway through last year. But there is that world. Now, let me switch to the J.J. McCarcy. thing. If you were in KOC's shoes, how would you manage the J.J. McCarthy situation? Folks, if you find yourself hunting search engines for different hairstyles that might cover up your receding hairline, or if you're studying every actor and athlete you see of a certain age to see

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Hems.com slash purple insider. Individual results may vary based on studies of topical and oral monocodil and finesteroid. Featured products include compound drug products, which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety, effectiveness, or quality. Prescription required, see website for full details, restrictions, and important safety information. Man, isn't that the $64,000 question, right? I mean, obviously the timing of all this is really tough. When you're entering your third year on an NFL roster as a first round quarterback, by the end of this year, the Vikings are going to have to make a decision on the fifth

year tender. Now, is that the end all, be all, you know, signposts in a player's career? No. Have players had their fifth year not pay? picked up and gone on to greatness, yes. But again, it's just like you, if you're not picking it up, you're shortening the window and you're essentially saying this is a failure. So obviously this year is critical.

I mean, that's the real bottom line. And you can try to keep JJ focused as much as you can by saying, hey, look, you know, you're going to have a chance to reclaim this job. You're going to have, you know, all the resources you need. I still believe in you. Don't forget, you know, Kyler has been her. hurt all these things. You can tell them all that stuff. And JJ may be the most equanimous quarterback in NFL history for all we know with his, you know, his ability to get in that Zen moment, you know,

but it still has to be really tough for both guys to kind of balance that and know that, you know, Kyler's going to get every opportunity to be this starter and he's going to have to blow their socks off, which he hasn't done to date. It's also tough for a guy who's known as a gamer, you know, as somebody who's, you know, capable of conjuring up this magic, much like Kyler. But Kyler has, like you said, the statistical backbone, the low interception totals, the high accuracy percentage, you know, the rushing ability. Those are fallback baseline, solid elements of his game, even if there is, you know, right now, what does J.J. have the fallback on?

So he's got to obviously show way more accuracy and consistency in his approach. I'll be fascinating to see how, you know, the reps are divvied up, what the preseason reps look like and all that stuff. But, yeah, I mean, he's essentially got to be prepared to be on ready alert and be ready at a moment's notice. I look, he seems like a good kid. You know, I mean, you can pick holes in his game. You can say he may not have handled everything the right. way, but I think he really wants to be great. And I think that's an important quality. You know, not everybody was convinced Kylo Murray wanted to be great. I mean, like, I know it sounds weird to say,

but like, you know, I think he does. But, but there were some who wondered whether he did. And, you know, JJ's at least got that going for him. And, you know, I'm fascinated to see what comes of him. Obviously, it feels at this point more likely that if he does have NFL success, it's going to be elsewhere. But we've seen this story of a happen before where, you know, the rug gets pulled out, Kyla gets hurt, whatever, he gets thrown in. And who knows? Maybe it's his time and at some point this season.

Just in general, I think it applies to both guys. When a quarterback is flawed, we look for every other explanation than the most obvious that the quarterback is flawed. And that's like with Kyla Murray. Like, did he, did he play too many video games? Is that why? Like, well, no, I actually think it's because all the quarterbacks who have been this height have always been like this, have been up and down. Most most undersized

quarterback that are not named Drew Breeze are really up and down. And I mean, Baker Mayfield is probably the best example of somebody who when he's on, it's unbelievable when he's seeing it. But when he's not, it's kind of a mess. And going back to my youth, Doug Flutie was like this too, where his best moments and the scrambling. But when you rely on some of that, it can cause this week it works. And the next week, the other team has an answer for it. And with J.J. McCarthy, his fatal flaw has been the throwing technique where it's just so inconsistent. But what I did not expect from J.J. McCarthy based on the reputation and how

hard of a worker that I know he is, is that he couldn't get the offense down. And that right there is inexperience and it's youth. But I think they were shocked by that. I don't think they expected that at all that he would be eight, nine, ten weeks into the season. And they would have to be saying, all right, we can't have as many formations. We can't have as many motions. We committed eight false starts in a single game with him at quarterback, which is insane. Right. Exactly. And that's on the quarterback if you're doing that. So then O'Connell kind of getting to a point of frustration and kind of letting it loose that they've had to, and Aaron Jones called the dumbing down the office. Like that's just not something you ever would have expected. So there's,

with McCarthy, the tough part is there's, you have to, lock into the offense and really get it because O'Connell will not put you on the field if you don't have it. And then you also have to improve your throwing technique pretty massively. It's like if you had one and not the other, you can get by. But you can't have both not working for you. And that's where we were at with McCarthy. But I also think, as you said, with Kyler Murray, he's been injured enough times in his career where J.J. McCarthy, you have to be ready. So I think this is a great test case for McCarthy.

Like, okay, you've kind of been through it in the NFL. it has been a rough ride. And this will be the proof of your ability to be an NFL quarterback. Because if you crush it in training camp and you come in in week six when Kyler goes down and you look great, then everything will feel different than it did sitting here right now in May. I mean, it's, it's really not terribly different from Alex Smith. If you think about the beginning of his career, you know, number one overall pick, obviously that comes a little, you know, over Aaron Rogers.

So there was a different level of pressure from that. but, you know, just being in this in this vaunted quarterback class in general, being in the top 12 overall, you know, adds to the pressure. The injury issues, Smith faced, you know, the injuries and stuff that JJ's had to deal with his first two years, you know, has slowed down the on-field reps. Like you said, I mean, the inexperience, it's crazy to think that a player that we lauded is having, you know, elite football instincts or intelligence or IQ or whatever hasn't, that hasn't manifested. itself really at all outside of maybe like the fourth quarter of Chicago and a few other little moments here and there. So yeah, and the throwing motion, that's a really good call too. It looks long and labored and not efficient, you know, in terms of harnessing power and also cleaning up the motion to where you're putting the ball in the right spot. How many off target

throws to open receivers do we see frustrating stuff, right? The near layups that, that are missed and things like that. So again, like you're 100% right. He's got some of the grit to get there. And he's got some of the raw materials too. I think he's a pretty good athlete. But just haven't really seen it come together yet. Yeah, one of the more disturbing stats last year was,

not only was he at the bottom of the league in terms of expected completion percentage or completion percentage over expected, but also his on target percentage, which is a pro football reference that was basically on the same plane as Nick Mullins, who is an undrafted free agent backup quarterback. They have a hype. All over the place, right? Yeah, exactly. Well, I mean, that's a, that's, but that's a UDFA backup who sort of made his bones and just being able to know the offense and really isn't a color.

I love Nick Mullins. I really do. I use one of my favorite UDFA quarterbacks of all time. 100%. Nick was a joy to have in the locker room and talk to. and you won't, like this is the very clear Nick Mullins, offensive coordinator for some team in like seven years. But that's not what you were looking for with the 10th overall draft pick in terms of throwing the ball.

I think with McCarthy, what it all comes down to because I've seen him practice enough times, I've seen him play enough times, is that the shockingly low number of passes and NFL reps or even just reps in general, college reps, NFL reps. Like he has not dropped back to pass a thousand times since high school, which is insane. because and people have tried to make the Josh Allen took the big step. By this point in Josh Allen's career, he had almost 2,000 throws since college. I mean, that's just double what you're talking about. And I think that it might be the best thing for McCarthy to have a year where he focuses solely on his development.

But I think that's going to test your mental strength because that is a really tough place to be. I was mentioning, I don't know if you saw the AMC documentary with Steve Young, like talking about how hard, or it was the 49ers. but talking about how hard it was to be Joe Montana's backup for all those years. If you're a guy with super high expectations, having the clipboard is a really tough place to be. So I think that's, we'll test him a lot. Now, you mentioned the draft and it had a very wide range of opinions on this draft. And I think it was largely around Caleb Banks. Overall, the draft graders did not love what the Vikings did.

But they, I think that their draft was driven. by coaches and fit with an interim GM in there. And with banks, no one really knows how it's going to come together with from a health perspective, but it's really not hard to see the physical traits that they drafted him on. So take me through like your, what was your reaction to what the Vikings decided to do in the draft? Yeah, no, I, I, you know, obviously when the, the, the, the, the, the, Cui C news drops, you know, I had seen him at the senior bowl scouting, you know, presumably. I kind of wondered, is this just going to be, you know, is Rob going to take a Rick Spielman-like approach to the draft?

And I know I've known Rick for a while. And, you know, that's not a shot at Rick. I just meant, like, you know, having spent so long into that system, is he going to kind of default to that? And, you know, there were definitely some picks that had some, some Spielman-esque qualities to them, I guess. But, you know, taking banks at 18 was a fascinating risk. You know, we'd all heard that the Vikings were interested. in him. I just thought he'd be more likely at, where were they, 50 something in the second round. 49. I think they picked 51, yeah. Yeah, 51 was where goal they went. Yeah. So I just thought,

or moving up from there would be more likely than 18, just given the injury risk. And I got to talk to Banks a little bit after practice at the senior bowl. And I straight out asked him, I said, what is the path to round one? And he's like, you know, come down here, dominate, you know, go to the next stage. the combine and obviously there were there were some setbacks there with the um with the foot and everything and i give them credit for coming back essentially twice last year right i mean he gets hurt comes back a couple weeks later gets hurt again and comes back for the late end of the season i think i have that right at least close on the timing there but um you know kind of like the the we were talking about with mccarthy is like man you know we just haven't really seen it yet

and the inexperienced factor has to be considered. It's less of a worry for a defensive lineman than a quarterback. But, you know, you're gambling on traits there, obviously. And boy, he looks like a heavyweight boxer. I mean, he's a big, you know, massive human being with incredibly big hands. Like, I don't look up to many people or, you know, I'm a six, five guy. But that's a big do when you stand next to him and you notice it. And his performance on Wednesday,

of senior bowl week. I had to think which day it was. Like day one, I thought, okay, you know, we'll see tomorrow. You know, it was hopefully have a better day. Day two, he took over. Day three was somewhere in the middle, you know, so there was a little bit of variance in his play.

How much that matters to his NFL projection? I don't know. But, you know, it's still something where I wonder if he's going to be an effective, you know, five or 600 snap player, if he's even earmarked for that for that big uh you know that's 30 snaps a game roughly and that's you know that's where you where the the top de-tackles can really kind of make their imprint in on a game um because you see these rotations now it's often like four guys playing roughly the

the same amount of snaps unless you have a star at the position so but yeah once he kind of learns to unlock some of that stuff and technique is going to be big and i'm sure you know working with Brian and the defensive coaches on just how to how to harness that that mass and that grip strength that he has and turn pressures into sacks and turn hits into force fumbles, things like that, that, you know, it's going to take a little bit, I think. So just pulled it up. He was hurt at the beginning of the year, came back in week three and then back in week 13. Right. So at the end of the season. Yeah. Yep. And this is clearly buying into a lot of the guy that, you know, when you're talking about someone who is so much raw skill, they have to

believe that he is going to be extremely malleable and coachable. I think on both sides of this, there's a part of me that says when you take a risk on a guy like this who didn't have the college production, the history is not great. Like the history goes against you when you don't have college production at defensive tackle. It's the most lineup and murder people position in college football. Like if you look at Quinn and Williams, his day. from college, like, what? He just, he just had like a 97 PFF grade and like pressures like crazy. Like that should kind of happen for somebody like this. At the same time, I think that they see

it as he's played very little football and we can build him. And when you watch those senior bowl reps and he takes a person who's 310 pounds and just says, nope, you are flying over there. Out of the club. Right. Exactly. Throw him out of the club. Exactly. So you can see what they were seeing. I think that if we tie this back into their first round pick and maybe even Dominique Orange to some extent too, back into you ranking them so terribly in your power rankings, they're going to rely on this. Like this has to be something right away. I don't think Caleb Banks has to be his peak right away, but only two defensive tackles who were rookies played over 500 snaps last year. So, I mean, you're asking him to come in, be a little bit different from that

perspective, be healthy. And I know that they trust their doctors and stuff, but like, there's a history there and then be productive right away, along with another rookie Dominic Orange, because at the rest of that DT position, it's Jalen Redman, who's very good, Levi, Drake Rodriguez, who's unproven, Ty Engram Dawkins, who's unproven, Elijah Williams, who's unproven. Right, all those names, yeah. Right. And they haven't added anything else. So I think a lot does rest on those two draft picks. Yeah, I mean, I, I, when I did my, roster rankings, you know, where I sort of gave a, you know, basically like a two through eight grade at every position and then weighted the positions, you know, quarterback heaviest pass

rushers, block, you know, blockers, receivers, et cetera, corners. You know, de-tackle is not the highest priority position, but it's somewhere in the middle or whatever. You know, they had one of the lower rated grades just because I, for all the things you just mentioned, what they lost, what They're counting on from rookies and unknown players. It worries me a little bit. Now, I think there was probably, you know, Brian Flores obviously came up in a New England system where, yeah, I mean, they had Richard Seymour and some great players, Vince Wolf Fork,

but they also had some role players too, and they were able to sometimes get by with guys who could just sort of, you know, occupy blocks, absorb those things and let the linebackers make the plays. And I think there's going to be an element of that defense. but they were one of my low, I think if not the lowest, tied for the lowest defensive tackle group, interior lineman group, you know, given the front they play or whatever.

But that obviously could change by the end of the year. I mean, again, Caleb Banks, I don't think I would put him in the Jalen Carter category of like, holy crap, watch, have you seen this kid play? Like, you know what I mean? It's not, I don't think there's that high and upside. But, you know, would it shock me if he came out and, and look good.

it against a Bears team that switched centers and had some people move or, you know, Packers have had some offense. Yeah, I think those are the first two games, right, Green Bay and Chicago. No, not at all. I just think that counting on him for 17 games and 30 snaps a game is going to be a little stretch. And Dominique, look, I mean, he does what he does well. He sees, if he gets more than three sacks in his Vikings career, I'll come up there and

I'll, I'll empty the wallet for a nice dinner for the two of us. but but but doing what he does from the middle, you know, even if I think he's maybe slightly overrated because of the nickname and all that stuff. He's very good at at, at being that kind of blue collar role player and run stopper, which they need.

We do milkshake bets here sometimes with our media to be like, hey, how many field goals will Will Reichard make or something this year and we'll do a little bit? Okay. So that's our milkshake bet. I'll take, I'll take the over on Dominique Orange Career Viking sacks over three and a half. How about what are those like those orange Julius things like where it's orange. Yeah, that's perfect.

That's perfect. From DQ who, hey, DQ, if you want to sponsor the show, I love you. Yes. Right, right, exactly. So you brought me on here to give me crap about the 28th ranking, but I'm actually creating promotional opportunities for you, Matthews. Just saying, just throwing it out there. I'll cut you in if it works.

the rest of the rest of the draft class though was there was there somebody that you liked didn't like like what was so bretison yeah no i i love max so i mean i he's gonna you know maybe he'll be the next c j ham if he is i love it you know i i love those kind of guys but jake gold day was a player who i thought was a like probably should have gone 10 or 15 picks earlier you know i thought he was a pick that a guy that could have gone in the 30s and um you know really did a nice job sort of putting his career together and big, powerful linebacker who can, you know, crash in the hole, also cover laterally, you know, gets into blockers with good intentions of knocking them over to. And, you know, I would say it has some blitzing capabilities, which is obviously a big part of this defense too. coverage is the work in progress, but he's definitely improved in that area.

And, but just a downhill attacker in the run game, you know, I think he's going to end up being a captain of this defense eventually at some point, you know, and be a player that's a fan favorite. So he's certainly one of them. You know, Caleb Tiernan's an interesting guy. You don't see guy. He had it as an unusual frame in that he's this big sort of long guy with short arms and I think that's why some people wanted to move him inside. I don't know exactly what the Vikings plans are for him, but really nice, solid, steady player for Northwest. You know, I thought kind of flew under the radar and another player who probably should, you know, especially with all the linemen who went off the board, not just tackles in that, in that second and third round. I thought

he'd have gone a little higher on that ladder. Who else we got? Jacoby Thomas, right? Yep, Jacoby Thomas. Yeah, that was probably the most disliked. I like that. disliked pick by like the analysts. Say it again. He was probably the most disliked pick by the draft. Oh, come on. I mean, dude, did you just watch the playoffs? I mean, he was, he was good.

Like, I understand if you thought he was going to be more of a fourth or fifth round pick, but to me, the Vikings have taken bigger reaches, especially among defensive backs in recent years than Jacoby Thomas. I like the player. I think he has a potential to be a, a contributor. You know, look, I mean, if you think about. about a draft class in general. You're hoping to get like two starters and two contributors.

I think there's a decent chance they get that. You know, Deming's has some intriguing skills. Demand Claiborne could be a perfect third back slash special teams guy. So, you know, Bretteson, we mentioned if he ends up being just kind of the workmanlike blocker and, you know, occasional shortyarned straight, even though he didn't really touch the ball at Michigan. And great. I think that that's, that's perfectly fine for a,

for a, you know, late fifth or whatever. What I like about the draft class overall is that, you know, because we rightfully look at consensus data and everything else like that and stretches and so forth, which I think kind of run out around the Jacoby Thomas pick in terms of their

predictability. But is every one of these players has a very clear path to what the Vikings want for them. They want Caleb Banks to be a, you know, three technique. out a little bit to the four eye or the four technique kind of thing. They want Dominique Orange right over that center,

taking Logan Jones or Garrett Bradbury and pushing them right back into the quarterback, taking up blocks. They want Jake Olday to train in the dark arts of Andrew Van Ginkle. And maybe in the worst case scenario, he's Blake Cashman. And he's just like a very solid middle linebacker. And you could see as Bretteson. They're going to play him.

And they're bringing in a new run system that includes the fullback. and Demings is going to develop, like every single one of those guys. And even with Jacobi Thomas, I was not in love with a lot of the safeties like other people were, like the Thinamen and the Emmanuel McNeil Warren. I think a lot of starting safeties are third round type of draft picks that are high IQ, physical and can make some plays. So I feel like from that perspective, if they draft a bunch of people that you're like, where is that guy going to play?

Right. How is he going to get to the field? like I just, you know, or raw skills type guys, it's much harder to see than this draft class. Yeah, sometimes you see teams, you know, with with eight or nine draft picks and they'll make three or four that. And it's usually the teams that have the fullest rosters too, where you go like, how was that guy going to even get, you know, has to spend the year on the practice squad? But yeah, I think you make a good point, which is that, you know, their first six, seven selections, you could opening roster and or contributing in some way as a rookie, right? and that's not saying that guys below that couldn't do that as well. So, yeah, I mean, I thought the only guy I didn't watch prior to the drive was Gavin Gerhard.

I hadn't, I truthfully hadn't seen him or knew he was an NFL prospect. So, but the other guys I had watched and felt like each of them offered a little something, even if, you know, after the bank's pick, there was a series of, quote, unquote, safer picks, I guess, you know, like less explosive potential in them. but I don't mind high floor guys either, right? I don't mind kind of buttressing your riskier selection with a series of, quote, unquote, safer ones. So, yeah, again, I'm a little surprised.

I didn't look around to be truthful to a lot of the draft grades around the NFL world. But I guess it surprised me a little bit that people weren't, were kind of down on them, I guess this is a group. Yeah, and really, I mean, Banks is a consensus board, stretch only because of the injury because when I went back and looked at grinding the mocks where he was consensus board before that he was 23rd. I was going to say 25th or something. Right.

Yeah, right. Yep. So that's right in the range of where they should have taken him. So I think that that's a little bit different. And we do have to use our brains to adjust to deal with some of the data. Everybody else they picked right in the range that was expected except for the fullback, which is a very specific fit. And each guy is going to have their spot that they can work into.

and not just, hey, show up and we'll kind of try to figure it out. I want to ask you about the rest of the NFC since your power rankings. And like, let's have some more confidence in these next time. You know, get called out. Like, own that. I've been doing NFC power rankings for the heck of it because I make fun of power rankings. Sorry, sometimes. Yeah.

And. Or make funnable. Yes. Here's my struggle. So I start out and I'm like, okay, Rams, Seahawks. and I'm already stuck. And I was just checking on Fandul. Right after that, the number three team for conference odds is San Francisco at plus 800.

And then the Detroit Lions at plus 900. I'm not really sold on either one of them. Who do you think is the third best team in the NFC? Yeah, right. If we assume that Seahawks and Rams are one, two, yeah. I mean, you'll hear some Eagles love too. I mean, there's there are people out there. It was funny. I was sort of talking to a guy the other day that, you know, I think knows a little

something about football. And he was really pushing the cowboys. And I was like, okay, yeah, he's like, look at all the pieces they had on defense. And so, yeah, I mean, I just, you know, everyone's got sort of a slightly different take on this. Yeah, Bears fans around me, as you guys know, I live in closer to Chicago than I do Minnesota. But yeah, like, they, they are convinced that they are being snubbed for that third spot. I don't believe so. I don't think they are. I think, you know, the lack of pass rush help that they got this off season was glaring. Maybe they have some pieces that that end up working pretty well with Booker and a dangbo and things like that. But, yeah, I mean, I don't know.

I wouldn't be too feared of their defensive line. And they won so many games in like miracle fashion. I'm not dismissing what they did, but the schedule is harder. And they're going to have to level up and, you know, a new different weight class, so to speak. And Detroit, look, I mean, the numbers. they were terrible on the fourth downs that cost them a few games, and yet they outscored their opponents by 70-something points. To me, they're going to be back.

And even if they didn't get the exact offensive linemen they wanted, I think Blake Miller is going to be a solid rookie right tackle with some ups and downs. And, you know, I think it's dependent on what their defense can do to, do they have answers when, if Brian Branch is it ready for the start? of the year. Do they have that second pass rusher with Aidan Hutchinson? You know, those are still issues that were, you know, two or three years ago we were talking

about. But I, again, I think I'd be surprised if they weren't back in some respect. The Packers are a tricky one for me, man. They have so few glaring questions, yet so few sure things. Even their two best players, arguably, Tucker Kraft, and Micah Parsons are coming off injuries, you know? And so there's just this, I like him, but I can't love them yet until I know a little clear picture on those two players' health. We did just see Tucker like, I think there was like a Morgan Wallin show at Lambe or something recently, somebody like that.

And he was putting, putting balls with his injured leg into the crowd. So that piece of data did help me feel a little bit better about old talk. But yeah, it's like, are they, are there capable? of getting over the hump. They outplayed the Bears for like, you know, nine of the 12 quarters they played or what, 10 of the 13, I guess, and yet lost two of those three games

and loss of the Vikings at the end of the year, had lost some games where it's just like, they didn't have that extra gear. So I think my surest bet in the division is the Lions, and then you have kind of the Bears, Packers, and Vikings where they're all kind of swirling in the same area, but given what the, what Caleb did leveling up last year, um, I think you, I would put them ahead of the, the Vikings at this point. Yeah. Well, I mean, just the fact that

when you draft someone number one overall and he shows it, even if he's imperfect, then you just have to give benefit of the doubt. I was shocked that they didn't do more on the defensive line. I just said, I can't believe it. I mean, even to just add like a solid free agent here or there. And I know the prices were horrific for, uh, D line and press. pressure guys. I mean, quitty pay got like $16 million a year, which is like four sacks. I mean, so it's not easy to get those guys, but at the same time, I mean, to not really address it at all in the off season, knowing that you couldn't pressure the quarterback last year. And then you lose a couple of your secondary guys who had a bunch of turnovers. You add a rookie that you just assume is going to be really good. So I feel like Chicago, if they even cut in half the number of last second field goals or bombs or whatever, like they're going to. to be struggling to make the playoffs. But if Caleb Williams becomes Joe Burrow level, you know, Josh Allen level, then everyone is screwed for a very long time.

Yeah, I mean, that's a great point. Like, you know, look at the bills. They have an imperfect roster, but Josh keeps them, keeps them afloat. And in most cases, keeps, gives them a better chance to win than the other quarterback. So, yeah, that could be the case. Okay, last thing. What other fan base can't stand you? Like, who else did you, who else are you?

It changes. clearly, clearly the Vikings are the team you're the most skeptical on that most people think will be pretty good. But like, what's the other, who are the other teams that you are not buying as much as their fan bases? So it wasn't last year, but two years ago, like Colts fans were, I had one Colts fan. He's actually a good guy. We've sort of gotten, I got to know him a little bit. But, you know, trolling me on Twitter like, can you believe this jerk? You know, and like one of those kind of things. And we actually ended up passing it out later and he seems like a good guy. But yeah, Colts fans were up by, you know what, for a better part of a season.

Last year, I had them, I was giving them some good praise when they were eight and two, obviously like everybody else. But, you know, they had nothing to say after that. So, yeah, so now it's shifted to Vikings. I'm trying to think Rams fans, like, I know that sounds weird, like they actually exist, but I had a few Rams fans and 49ers fans get mad at me at one point this off season for something I wrote. So, yeah, I think Minnesota fans are probably right now.

even I've tried my best to bring them back home and win them over. We'll see if this pod helps at all. A part of my, you know, PR whitewash campaign. Yeah. Well, the problem with trying to power rank stuff is that you have to go one through 32. You can't put teams in little bubbles. 16.5. And, yeah.

It's not, it's not even that. It's like even tears don't correctly do this. I know. It's like these teams, if their stuff goes right, could actually be really good. You mentioned Dallas. I could totally see Dallas. I mean, they've had an elite offense over and over when Dak Prescott is healthy. If they're even average on defense, they're in the playoffs and scary.

But they have plenty of reason to really doubt them. And I was just scrolling up a little bit. Washington fans are probably very ticked at you as well. You had them 23rd. If Jaden Daniels bounces back and that defense by Durante Jones is all of a sudden, a Brian Flores looking defense, they're a 12-win football team and then their fans are yelling at you. But there's a wide range because maybe. Maybe, you know, Jaden Daniels does have the injury history and everything else.

I think we're going to be able to engineer something in real time here where maybe there's a metric where you say, you know, peak and floor. You know, like for a team that's like obviously to use your Vikings example of your like their peak would be 14 and their floor will be 18, right? I mean, that was the joke, right? But in this case, like you could argue this team could if everything goes right, team X could be sky high or. they could be at the bottom, you know, and I think that applies to teams like the Patriots last year. So yeah, I mean, all those things exist and it's hard to find that, that proper middle ground. Eric Edholm, NFL.com does sometimes more than just power rankings, but when he does, he messes it up horribly. So that's right. Anyway, but you can still go check out the article.

I am curious, though, to see if we've bullied you into a higher ranking for next time. So when you're next one comes up. I don't move him up nine spots. y'all are going to riot aren't you i'm sorry i missed that part what did you say say it again oh yeah i said if if i don't move them up nine spots y'all are going to riot aren't you yeah at least at least all right yeah i'll do my best well no guarantees joan jennings counts for at least two or three at least uh eric ad home nifl dot com thank you so much sir and we will absolutely do it again soon thank you