Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Paul Hodowanic of the Pioneer Press talks worst-case scenarios for the 2021 Vikings

Episode Date: June 9, 2021

Intern Paul is back. Paul Hodowanic joins Sam Ekstrom as they go down a dark path: Worst-case scenarios for the 2021 Vikings. They also digest some of the top NFL headlines and ponder whether Stefon Diggs could want a new contract in Buffalo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Sam Ekstrom in once again for Matthew Collar on the Purple Insider Podcast. Welcome to the show. The guest today, you know him, you love him. We affectionately call him Intern Paul of the Pioneer Press. Paul Hodowanek joins us. How you doing, Paul? I'm good, Sam. I'm impressed you attempted the last name. Usually Matt doesn't even attempt the last name. I think that's probably why he came up with intern Paul, just so he didn't have to say my last name. So we can give him crap for that. So the fact that you attempted that I'm feeling

great now, ready to talk some Vikings. Yeah. I meant to actually ask you just to confirm it before the show. And I took a blind stab right there. I'm so glad that you, that it was acceptable to you. Cause I'm sure like, what's the worst that you get? Like, I bet, I bet you get someone every month that messes it up in some way. Oh, yeah. Well, I recently graduated in December, and you give them the layout for exactly how you say it, and they still couldn't say it even for graduation. So, Hedonowick, Hodowainick, they emphasize every part of the name that it actually isn't. So, yeah, no, the fact that you had no idea what it was and did that blind, very, very impressive. I call a lot of high school sporting events and I come across a lot of names and I've gotten to the point where I can guess most of them just by just sort of immersion,

just like reading names all the time. I get, I get that, get that instinct. That's my one skill in life is that I can identify names. We're going to talk about some worst case scenarios today for the Minnesota Vikings. We're going to go down a very negative path and discuss what could go wrong in this 2021 season because I think it's inevitable that for any team, something's going wrong. It's just a matter of like, does it kill your season? Do enough things go wrong that you can't overcome it? What could go wrong for this Minnesota Vikings team? So I want to just kind of just think tank this. Let's hash out some thoughts and some doomsday proposals and talk about what might happen. And then after this, we'll get into some NFL headlines and a little bit of Vikings statisticalings statistical would you rather but let's start off with some doomsday scenarios

so paul i'll give you the floor first give me something that might derail this team maybe we're anticipating it maybe we're not i'm gonna go big picture here and i don't think many people are are gonna agree with me or maybe they will but this is kind of my hot take in the way that I've been viewing this season and kind of the last few seasons. I think for the future of this team, one of the worst things that could happen is they go nine and eight or 10 and seven. If they continue the status quo of winning enough games to maybe sneak in the playoffs or getting to the point where you say, well, if they just made that field goal that one game, then they'd be in the playoffs. And then we, Kirk Cousins plays well for nine, 10, 11 games. He no-shows like he often does for

a few of them. And they continue to re-up his contract. And some people like the direction of being consistently good every year and giving yourself a shot. And the way I've approached it is at least they have tried that for several years now. And it's just not gotten them to that final destination of a Super Bowl or really being competitive for that. And so I just think continuing to pay Kirk Cousins, continuing to have Mike Zimmer, just the status quo of this organization, if we continue to keep doing it year after year, I think for the long- And so I think honestly that that might be worse than Kirk cousins getting hurt, the defense not doing well. And then they go five and 12 because then you have a top pick to work with.

If that wants to be a quarterback, you can do that. If you, you have a chance to get a really high level player, even if that's not a quarterback and you can kind of move on from there, you have the Kellen Mond escape route route but i just think if they hold they hold the course that that is like at least to me i i'd rather them just go super bowl or bust every year instead of what what's kind of going on right now so that would be my worst case scenario and it's not probably what everyone's would be but for me it just feels like we just can't keep doing the same dance every year. Not having direction is especially disconcerting.

And I appreciate that you brought that up. I remember asking Ben Gessling on a roundtable a few weeks ago. I said, if Kirk Cousins duplicates 2019, which was 10 wins, a really nice stat line i think it was you know around 26 ish touchdowns and six picks he took care of the ball pretty well that year and one playoff win if he duplicates that does he get the extension ben thought yes and i tend to do agree with him that that would earn him the extension. But you know what, in this era of player empowerment, while the team might extend Kirk, the players around him might not appreciate that. They're getting smarter. Daniil Hunter, you know, has his own grievances. We don't know what they're necessarily related to. Like it probably pay it's probably not Kirk but we just saw Stefan Diggs kind of force his way out after being frustrated for a couple years and

again you know we don't know how much of that is coaching staff Kirk um being overshadowed by feeling maybe by perception a lot at play here but we just saw with Julio Jones you know the Falcons keep spinning their wheels and Julio wanted out and he got out and now he's with Tennessee. Would the Vikings be risking losing someone like Justin Jefferson in a couple of years if they kept going down this road? And I think the answer would be yes. Stars in the NFL are going to look at stars in the NBA who are probably the most influential athletic figures in our sports culture and say, yeah, like I'm going to take control of my path. And if the team is not going to put a Super Bowl team around me, then I'm going to go, you know, figure it out for myself. And I'm going to use my leverage as a star figure and try to make it work for me. And I'm not saying the Vikings are at that point, but I think if they kept kind of down this 500 give or take path again, I think you're right,

Paul. I think that would, would probably be hurtful to the franchise. And, um, if Kirk does go nine and eight, 10 and seven, get the extension. What does that mean for Kellen Mond? Did they just, did they blow the draft pick? That is, that is a really good point. And I'll bring up one of mine, which is a little, a little narrower focus. Yours was pretty big picture. I think an O and two start would be pretty devastating for this team, because if you look at you know what happens when a team goes 0-2 it's all out panic uh we saw it last year after they lost to the Colts in embarrassing fashion and you look at Vikings teams of the past you know the the 2013 team started 0-2 pretty devastatingly that season kind of felt. And then Christian Ponder was like

out, like he was on the hot seat and it was pretty clear he was going to be done. Tavares Jackson got benched after an 0-2 start back in 2008. So like that's when things start happening. That's when fans start to get angsty. And if the Vikings start 0-2 this year with two of their easier games, honestly, like the Bengals and the Cardinals. That's going to lead to so much noise. Should Cousins be benched? Should Kellen Mond get time? Is the coaching staff on the hot seat?

Is Mike Zimmer going to get fired? There are going to be so many negative distractions if the Vikings start oh and two Paul yeah I I agree and and it that opens the door then for the Kellen Mond conversation then we start okay who's the first coach fired Zimmer he hasn't he hasn't performed these first two then you have all those things the negativity within that building, if there is some sort of Zimmer hot seat, like he's not going to be feeling great, the rest of the team isn't going to be feeling great. And again, it's kind of similar to what I said. You don't then have that direction really.

Like to, okay, we're punting on this, but we have these glimmers of hope. I guess you have Justin Jefferson and you say, okay, maybe we're handing it over to Kellen Mond. But right, with the signings that they've made this offseason, they're trying to win again. They're trying to kind of push forward with Kirk Cousins, with this regime, and see what they can do. They're giving him the offensive line help. They're firming up the defense. And they're basically saying, Mike Zimmer, Rick Spielman, go get it. And Kirk, go get it. Like, this is your shot.

So if 0-2 happens, then they have Seattle next. And they're staring that game in the face with everything that's happened with Seattle. And then after that, if they lost that, then they have Kevin Stefanski, the head coach they seem to have in waiting. Like, you're just thinking about these narratives are now spinning as, OK, now they're 0-3. Cleveland is like this team that people are considering as like a dark horse super bowl team and now you're facing kevin stefanski and this team that like you wanted to be in what cleveland could end up being at that point so yeah i think an oh and two start would not be a good a good situation they have some easier games after those first four,

obviously Detroit, Carolina, where they could bounce back. But yeah, when all the 0-2 teams, they show the stats. I don't know what specifically they are, but it might even be 0-3, then barely anyone makes the playoffs at that point. And so if you're just getting off to that bad of a start, it just sets a bad taste in your mouth, and it really becomes a large hill to climb the rest of the way. I am curious if the 0-2 hole is as damaging with the 17-game season. Like maybe teams will start having the time to reverse that a little bit more, but usually if you're 0-2, it means you're bad. I mean, like good teams in the NFL, playoff teams,

maybe have one stretch in a season where they lose multiple games in a row. And that's just off the top of my head. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe like there's more of that, but it feels like you can't afford many losing streaks if you want to be a playoff team. Let me give you a little bit of a prompt. As we continue our worst case scenarios here, Paul think offensive side of the ball and let's, let's eliminate Kirk because a Kirk injury is obviously pretty bad. What, what's a, what's an injury scenario that would worry you on the offensive side of the ball? Oh man.

I, well, I mean, I think you start jefferson and just what he means to this team uh i i think when adam thielen was out a couple years ago when stefan diggs was out and you kind of looked at the the depth chart behind those two wide receivers now in diggs and thielen and they're trying to recuperate it uh i don't know if the iowa kid the wide receiver if he would be ready to step in. B.C. Johnson's there, obviously. And obviously, Collar is one of the biggest proponents of let's get a capable wide receiver three in here for when one of those things happens. But I think that has to be where you look first is then suddenly, you know, if you lose one of them, you're relying on Irv Smith to be

a really really good player you don't have the security blanket in Kyle Rudolph anymore and the wide distributed depth chart just kind of falls off and so that's where I would look first and foremost they've dealt with Dalvin Cook injuries before I think they can battle back from any of those I would then look on the offensive line. I think that's the other argument is just, uh, they're not particularly deep. They seem to have hopefully a capable starting group at this point with the additions that they made in the draft with Darisaw and Davis. If both those guys come in and start, you presumably have at least a decent, um, starting lineup. But if you lose one of those tackles, if you lose Brian O'Neill,

suddenly all the experience of that offensive line is now kind of down the drain. I guess it's Rashad Hill, but you know, he hasn't come in more for spot starts and in segments. So where are you looking? Are you looking on the offensive line? I don't think I am necessarily because O'neill is the only one i think where like there's a significant uh drop off like i don't i don't know if ezra cleveland is going to be good yet i think he's got potential but i don't know if he's going to be good i mean the the mason cole you know could end up being the great acquisition. Who's kind of the sixth man there.

You know, Bradbury, if he gets hurt, I think that's, that's negative. But again, the, the level of play established by the Bradbury's the Cleveland's it's not like off the charts, you know, those are not pro bowl players yet to the point where I'm that concerned. If you lose O'Neill, that's bad, but you do have Rashad Hill. And I think he can sort of thrive in that spot start role, like you mentioned. So as, as cliche as it is, I think you look to receiver and what you really worry about is the double receiver injury, because not only does this not have really the depth to withstand one receiver injury, they don't have obviously the depth to withstand two. I mean, you can maybe get by as they did in the Carolina game last year when Thielen was out. You can get by for a short amount of time with one receiver out

and then piece together a BC and BB and whoever else group to sort of take his place. What if they both get hurt? I mean, then where are you? I don't know what you do in that case. You obviously ride Dalvin Cook and you try to get him going and try to just get the defense on its heels at that point, but you become so limited because BC is not a deep guy bb is not a deep guy who's going to respect your receiving core in that situation nobody i mean they're gonna play like a zone keep everything underneath they're not gonna let you beat them over the top because they can't so this team has one roster spot left and it's is curious to me, Paul, that they've signed like five corners in the last couple of weeks, kind of free agent corners. They haven't done a thing at receiver.

You know, I know they signed three UDFA receivers, but that's kind of a an unlikely source to count on, especially for this year. I mean, even out of feeling didn't contribute right away. Took him like three years so to expect anything from those guys this year is unlikely and the more time that goes by it seems like they're pretty content where they're at you know with their receiving depth chart and and I would just say I think if any team loses their top two wide receivers they're not in a good spot so I don't think the Vikings are alone in that I don't think teams are ever planning to have both those guys out I mean if you just look like top of mind right now is Tennessee like if they lost A.J. Brown and Julio Jones like they're not in a good spot if you're looking at Atlanta who just got rid of Jones it's like if you lost Kyle Pitts and

Calvin Ridley you're not in a good spot like Green Bay loses Devontae Adams and one of their other wide receivers like they're not in a good spot. So I think, yes, that would be not good for the Vikings at all, but I'm not sure there really is a team outside of maybe like Tampa or the Chiefs or someone that's really built to lose both of them. So yeah, I mean, we're talking worst case scenarios. That is one. And I think that's one that you could really just standard apply to pretty much any team across the league. If you're going to lose the top two receivers you're just usually not built with those three and four and five wide receiver roles to be able to just come in and fill fill a lineup let's do a defensive doomsday i would say um and i'm waffling a little bit here between between kendrickson bar again because i think

that that's the area where you have probably the least security and uh and you've you lost them both last year and obviously you know the double linebacker injury was not that was not helpful for the vikings if you watch that saints game i think think I would not want to lose Eric Hendricks again. That's when the defense really went off the rails last year. They got embarrassed by, even Jacksonville moved the ball on them. Tampa, Chicago, New Orleans, and Detroit. The last five games of the year without Hendricks, they allowed over 30 points a game.

And people didn't really talk as much about that. Like the, the storyline was, ah, the Vikings, their secondary got battered and, but they were playing well, like middle of the season. And then Kendricks got hurt and then things really got sloppy. And I think that that is the sneaky, like spot. Cause I know people don't talk about linebackers as much they're probably the least important position group on the defense but eric kendricks specifically holds things together and if they lost him again i think that would be pretty devastating yeah for this one i went kind of away from injuries and just kind of with the roster construction what players could underperform what things could happen that's not an injury that's realistic, that could really be a worst case scenario.

And I kind of went to the secondary group. They signed a lot of guys, but none of them that you would bet your life on is going to be a stud for them or even solid. Patrick Peterson obviously has clearly lost a step a little bit. He's hoping to rejuvenate himself here. I'm sure that could happen under Mike Zimmer. But then obviously you have the whole Jeff Gladney situation. You don't know if or when he's ever playing for you again. Cam Dantzler had a really nice rookie season, but he's long and injury prone there there and so i'm just looking at the cornerback room and if they don't have a direction after this year because most of the guys they

signed are all on one-year deals mckenzie alexander's a one-year deal patrick peterson's a one-year deal breland like these guys are not here long term so if one of them doesn't stick out two of them don't stick out as guys that you can keep for the next couple of years, you can sign to a nice extension and they look like competent contributors for your secondary. I feel like you're just starting back over with the situation you had last year and you're just piecing it together. So I think fans and even me, to some extent, you see it and you say, okay, they solved their secondary holes. They got Xavier Woods to go with Harrison Smith. They got all these cornerbacks. Like, they'll be good this year.

But you just don't know what's going to happen after this year. They didn't spend a high draft pick on someone who could fill in for years to come, really. So that's where I looked, is if they just don't really pan out and you're back to where you were, where you're just getting torched. I, I, that feels like a realistic scenario. Um, if we're not talking injuries, cause it doesn't feel like Kendrick's his play is going to fall off. If we're not talking injuries, the defensive line should be good.

But the secondary is that one piece where it feels like it, it could go either way. And so again, if we're talking worst case, that feels like that's where my mind jumps and it could go either way and so again if we're talking worst case that feels like that's where my mind jumps and it it doesn't it doesn't seem good yeah it could be a wasted year because that defense like not only would it lose all the one-year deals that it just signed but Harrison Smith might not re-sign Anthony Barr is going to be a free agent so you lose like staples of the defense as well and you know I don't we don't know what's going to be a free agent so you lose like staples of the defense as well and you know I don't we don't know what's going to happen with Daniil Hunter but I I think doomsday scenario would also be speaking of Daniil Hunter that they just can't rush the

passer like what we saw last year is 85 bears compared to like how bad they are rushing the passer this year because if Daniil holds out or gets traded or misses the season for whatever reason they don't have pass rushing noses they don't have a pass rushing three tech and we don't know if their other defensive ends can rush the passer yet Stephen Weatherly hasn't been especially good at it. DJ Wanham is raw. What else is going to help you get pressure? I mean, Mackenzie Alexander has a mean nickel blitz. Mackenzie Alexander might be like plus 300 to lead them in sacks this year

if they don't have Daniil because I don't know where it's coming from. I think Patrick Jones and Janarius Robinson, the rookies, are nice prospects, but I'm not convinced they're going to be in that rotation. Maybe one of them, not both of them. The sack, the joke last year with Yannick Ngakwe leading them in sacks in six games, they may not even meet that benchmark this year if they don't have Daniil Hunter yeah I I think that that would be really tough and I think they're hoping that that defensive line can kind of create some pressure and can stop the run so it puts less pressure on that secondary and so I think those two kind of go hand in hand. If they can't rush the passer, those, those corners are not built to stand out on an Island

and play really well. So I think, uh, I think maybe if the corners didn't play well, but they could still generate a pass rush there, they're looking all right. Um, because at least they're forcing the ball out early, the corners have to cover for a little less time that could help. But yeah, if the the if they can't rush the passer then those corners that we're already saying are a question mark become an even more relied upon part of the defense and then that that it's just harder for them if they if there's no pass rush so yeah that would be another bad thing hey everyone summer is here and you're trying to get out on the golf

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um worst case scenarios that we're laying out here yeah now that our listeners feel dead inside um yeah let's let's move on to some headlines uh here's the bit i'm just gonna read the headline headlines courtesy of um espn.com the nfl page i haven't read the articles. I'm just going to give you the headline. I want you to react to it, and we'll hash it out. So here's the number one headline around the league. Big Ben, pay cut my idea to aid in Steelers' return. What do you think of the Steelers this year, Paul? Well, first of all, I don't know if if he

if it was his idea for a pay cut that seems like a spin on it I wanted to make less money I'm old I want another shot uh maybe that's true but for the most part when those older players voluntarily take a pay cut uh voluntarily in air quotations i i don't know if they actually take a pay cut but this the steelers are a weird one for me uh i i don't i don't feel particularly great about them if big ben is the quarterback just the way that they were so dominant at the start of the year and then completely fell off towards the end it just seemed like they were riding an unreal run by that defense and we know defense is one of the things that just doesn't carry over year to year now if a defense would carry over it would seem to be one of those but they lost bud dupree i believe

that was one of their bigger um defensive players on that side of the ball obviously they still have tj watt they've got some they've got some players on that defense. Don't get me wrong, but especially in that division, when the bangles should be better, the Browns should be better. They seem like one of those teams that doesn't have a clear direction. Like we were talking about a little bit earlier, and there are some other young teams that seem seemingly have more potential. And unless big Ben returns to some, some form of himself from a few years ago i don't feel great where do you where do you land on the steelers well it's tough you mentioned earlier the doomsday scenario is spinning your wheels when you're a 500 team and i look at the

steelers they've never been below 500 in the big ben era but they have been 500 exactly they've had some eight and eight years but here's the thing you when you win two super bowls you get leash right like the the steelers can i think afford to be a little more risk what's the opposite of risk averse risk um embracing when you've got the super bowl cred so you can give big ben like a longer leash than you would most quarterbacks but when you're giving the leash to kurt cousins who doesn't have the cred like he hasn't proven that he has that in him then it's more difficult um i i think that you, the writing is on the wall that Big Ben is probably in the twilight. He probably, you know, he doesn't need the money. He's self-aware enough, I think, to understand that it was going to need to money was going to have to come out of his pocket for that to work. So, yeah, we'll let him think it was his idea. But if it wasn't his idea it would have happened anyway it would have been the stealers

idea um next headline source bills restructured contract of wide receiver digs that's interesting i did actually look this up they just they um they took some of his base and turned it into a signing bonus to save cap okay so nothing nothing yeah nothing crazy nothing crazy i was gonna say it didn't feel like anything was warranted for that contract to change much um so if they're just doing a little bit of the vikings cap flexibility um firming up some some money that they can go out and spend that's probably a good thing um if stefan digs is still getting the same amount of money um I wouldn't really worry too much about it. But yeah, for a second, my eyes lit up like,

I don't think that's the guy you want to rub the wrong way, both because of his talent and what we know he'll do if he's not happy, which is force his way out, which I credit him for if he's not happy. So yeah, you got me there for a second because I was worried about it um i should have just let you think that they like slashed his pay yeah i would have i i would have been in shock but the bill i where are you on the bills where are you on the josh allen regression train do you think he regresses a lot do you think this is a team that stacks up with the chiefs where are you on the on on the bills? The bills are tricky because Josh Allen kind of was an anomaly in like the way he progressed in his third year. That was, that was incredible.

They, the bills got really fortunate with a lot of their mid-level free agent signings last year. They played the mid-level game and it paid off they saved a lot of money and they got big performances from guys that had no business performing that well i don't know if that works again i don't know if that's a sustainable model and um and i don't know if you know i don't know if i can project digs having another like fully healthy year he he does have a propensity to get banged up and he's got pretty high usage as well so i i'm a little down on the bills because i also think the patriots are going to be better the dolphins are pretty good jets are going to be less wretched you know like that that's a tougher division than it was last year yeah i i i don't think i'm in the camp that Josh Allen is going to have crazy regression.

I'm more of a believer in Josh Allen than not. And I like the way he plays, and I think they have a really nice team around him. So I don't know if I believe in the regression as much, but I also agree with just the division around him should be better. They're going to play a more difficult schedule i haven't seen where exactly they are but they were top team there so they're going to face some top teams again and so i would i would count on a regression in terms of their win percentage and uh but i i don't know if i'm i'm ready to say they're losing that division or they're not going to be a contender i never really believed they were a contender with the Chiefs so I'm not there but

they're firmly in that tier two with the Dolphins with some of those other teams and I wouldn't be shocked if they take another step and if Josh Allen plays like he did again uh I can see them being in a similar spot to where they were last year but uh yeah i i'm not i'm not super bullish on them but i'm not ready to discount them either doing some uh some counting here 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 okay here's why i was counting stefan diggs has the 19th highest average annual value in his contract um after the year he had he's sort of in daniel's shoes right um he's got a couple years left on his deal some might argue he's a top three receiver in the nfl the 19th highest average annual value while we're talking about his contract is this going to be a dispute maybe not this year but

in the next couple years if if that's his pay how many how many years does he have left what what's what's he on the books for he is signed through 2023 um and yeah he only played like one year under his vikings extension and then last year with the bills, obviously where he made, you know, $14,000 base and now it's been, been restructured. But, um, yeah, I mean, he is, he is underpaid, I think for his talent. And let me tell you some of the guys above him, including Thielen for average annual value. Um, Diggs is making like 14 million plus per year you know the top paid guys are making 27 22 20 20 19 it's really similar to denille to be honest like i think i think digs would feel like he's a 20 million dollar guy um alan robinson makes more within the vision mike Mike Evans, Robert Woods makes more. Brandon Cooks makes more. Chris Godwin, Cooper Cup. In my mind, Diggs is better than a lot of those names.

No, for sure. And I think that this is kind of the luxury you have when you're not paying your quarterback a crazy amount of money. And so if they can fit in a Diggs extension before they have to give Josh Allen his crazy contract, whenever that comes up, that feels like the ideal time to get a digs contract done. And I don't feel like they're really in the business of not giving him that. I think they gave up a first round pick. And I don't think they gave up a first round pick to like, after two years, he gets unhappy and then they have to ship him off for less cost. Cause he's only there for one year. So it feels like that deal is going to get done. He doesn't exactly, if he has three years left on his deal, uh, he's not really in a position to do something crazy and, um, say I want to deal now. However, we're seeing, maybe that could be a possibility, but yeah, I'd say he probably plays out this

one and then I could see him getting a deal after next year, uh, barring he doesn't get seriously injured or really drops off. But with the team that they have in the cap structure that they kind of have put themselves in having that cheap quarterback for now, it feels like you kind of, you're going to re-up digs and then you re-up Allen right at that. And then that's kind of your core and having those two guys as your core, I think is a spot that you'd sign up for right away. So I wouldn't have any problem giving him more money. And maybe it's, you cut it off early in this contract and then you don't risk yourself too many years down the road if you're worried about how old he's getting or his durability or something like that. So you could see it happen

earlier in the contract and then you're only adding a year, two years, whatever on his deal, the cap's going to spike. It feels like he's primed for something and maybe that's what he's waiting for is that cap to spike and then he can go get a big contract one more time. Yeah, that makes sense. Let's do one more do one more headline. Arians colon Brady might be coaching at mini camp. This feels like he coaches, he coaches every year, kind of. I mean, he's, I like during the Patriots run during every, everything like Tom Brady has his fingertips kind of all over the offense. And so I don't know what coaching, like if he'd have an exact role,

he's not playing. Maybe that's the case where he's not really playing much in training camp, which I don't blame him either. He's getting old. He has nothing to prove. Just go, go through the motions. It also allows Tampa to kind of, if he's not playing, it allows them to see what they have in the trask who they drafted. So you can let him get some more reps. You can kind of see what he's all about. So if that coaching role means he's not practicing as much, I, I don't think that's a problem at all. You get to see what you have behind him. He, if that's what he wants to do, you're making him happy. So that's another good thing. And he

basically is coaching out on the field anyways. He's the greatest quarterback of all time. Let him do what he wants. And, and yeah, I think he's coaching anyways, but if that's an extra role that he has, I'm, I'm all for it. Imagine being Trask in this situation because it's, it's perfect. It's perfect for a rookie quarterback because Brady has accomplished everything. I don't think he's insecure anymore. You know, I don't think he's looking over his shoulder. I don't think he's worried about the second round pick that's going to come up behind him. I think Brady, I would imagine is giving Trask everything that he knows. I don't think there's a, like a wall there between

Rogers and Favre or Rogers and love Now, like where there's animosity, I would assume that Trask is getting the best possible education from Tom Brady. I would be curious if it's the same with Kirk Cousins and Kellen Mond. I think that's the dynamic we don't know. But when you have seven Super Bowls bowls you don't need to worry about anything tom brady has you know the lifetime golden ticket he's the starter for eternity if he wants to be and trask can just soak it in and odds are trask might get a chance at some point i don't know if brady is gonna see too many more years he is is, he is a mortal. He is, you know, everlasting, but he might hang it up and, uh, and then we'll get to see what he taught the guy.

Yeah. And this, this doesn't like, I'm no draft guru or expert, but just reading it, like this isn't some sort of like Jimmy Garoppolo prospect where they felt like he could come in and like, this was kind of a steal of a second round pick. Likeask has a lot of warts and again he this is a few years more down the line Brady I'm sure now probably has a timeline in his mind where he has an exit strategy maybe he didn't have that four or five years ago whenever Garoppolo was drafted so yeah it doesn't feel like that situation is at all similar doesn't feel like Trask was really he Trask seemed more like he was drafted as just a long shot of potentially filling in once Brady leaves not really the Brady replacement he doesn't seem like he has the air he has the keys to the kingdom right when Brady leaves and yeah I think Brady is

pretty secure in where he's at and I think he's realized he can start wherever he wants if that's what he wants so if Tampa were to force him out some other team's going to offer him a boatload of money to come to them so yeah I again I think the coaching thing's super cool and yeah I think at this point he's he's probably just trying to help that organization if and when he does leave here in the near future I gotta get your take on the match brady and mickelson rogers and de chambeau what who do you have oh man i mean i'm not a bryson guy we're both golf guys um and i'm not a bryson guy and nor am i nor am i um i but i'm also not super a fan of like all the like things that brooks is saying to him but we don't have to spin off into golf talk. I think that'll be really fun. I have no idea how good Rogers is at golf. He seems to kind of be good at everything, much to the dismay of many Minnesota fans. He seems to kind of be good at

whatever he's doing, whether it's Jeopardy or football or whatever. So I'll watch. I'll watch to hear the digs that they take at Bryson, that they take at Rodgers and the Packers. I think that has to be appointment viewing just for whatever Brady says to him, whatever, whatever, Phil, whatever, just whatever happens there. Because I think Phil will crack a joke. Brady will crack a joke. Rodgers will have to respond kind of weirdly about his situation. So I'm all for it.

I'm ready for it. I'm ready to see what happens. And I hope something newsworthy comes out of it that we can talk about on the podcast. Yeah, I still don't think they have had the best possible foursome yet for that. Like Tiger Woods is obviously Tiger Woods, but he's not that engaging on these things.

And he's been a part of a lot of them. Peyton Manning's pretty good. Phil, anything he says about golf I'm locked in because I'm trying to learn I'm like oh that's how you chip the ball okay I gotcha but you know Steph Curry was not that interesting Charles Barkley he's the butt of every joke and we're all focused on his golf swing but I mean he's he's average I think this has potential to be like a really good dynamic because Brady's gonna be more confident this year he's won the Super Bowl he you know he got the warts out last year Mickelson is gonna be Mickelson he's gonna be very cocky coming off the USO or the uh the PGA victory Rodgers has that wry humor about him. And yes, there's going to be some Packers talk for sure.

I just want to see Bryson let loose. Like I want to see Bryson have fun. Cause I think he takes himself way too seriously and he's got his own insecurities about, you know, how he's different. And he, he is,

he's kind of, he's kind of in a, an unlikable per. And as you alluded to, you're not a Bryson guy. He's not very likable. So I want to see Bryson out of his shell. That's my one demand for the match this year. Yeah, no, I'm ready for it. And it didn't seem like Aaron Rodgers was really raring to go to play with Bryson,

so I'm interested to see that dynamic too. Because Bryson's personality doesn't seem like it would quite fit with Aaron's either. So that'll be, that'll be fun. Hey everyone. I want to tell you about our friends. It's scout logistics. And I really do mean it when I say friends, they are fans of purple insider over at scout logistics. And since they reached out wanting to support this show, I want to tell you about what they do. Scout logistics is just just-in-time transportation for full tractor-trailer loads. And if you're wondering what that means exactly, well, if you own or work for a company that needs shipping solutions, they are the preferred carrier of Fortune 500 companies across North America.

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to find out how scout logistics can minimize risk and overperform and go the extra mile for your company. Okay. In closing, I've got three, would you rathers for you? Vikings related, statistically related. I'm gonna give you a couple of scenarios. I want you to pick which one you would opt for. Thielen and Jefferson combine for 2,000 yards, or Dalvin Cook gets 2,000 all-purpose yards all by himself. I think I'm in the camp of the Jefferson and Thielen getting 2,000 yards. For me, that shows that Jefferson is continuing on his development of being a really, really good wide receiver. So that indicates to me he's playing really,

really well. It indicates to me that Thielen is continuing to play well at an older age and that his body can hold up, that his play style can hold up as his athleticism goes a little bit. And I mean, just wide receivers are more valuable than running back. So I think if they're performing at a high level and we're seeing both of them play well, I think that means the Vikings had a more successful season. And as much as Dalvin Cook means to this team, I just don't think he's as important for the future as Justin Jefferson or even Adam Thielen if we're looking two, three years down the road. So that would be a dominant season from Dalvin Cook, and maybe that would set up the offense,

but I think it probably works both ways. And so if I'm picking one, I'm going to pick the wide receivers. So for reference, last year the wide receivers combined for around 2,300. Dalvin Cook had 1,900 yards from scrimmage, and he missed two games. So if Dalvin goes over 2000 all purpose, that represents improvement. And it means that Dalvin cook stayed healthy. And to me, that's a bigger question than Adam Thielen staying healthy or Justin Jefferson staying healthy. Um, so in that sense, I'm going to go with Dalvin Cook because even though we talk

about running backs being a little less important, that does mean the Vikings are doing what they want to do offensively if Dalvin Cook is having that much success. So I'm going to go with that one. Scenario number two, either the Vikings defensive line has a season like last year, their leading sack getter has five sacks, or their kicker, whoever that might be, hits 70% of his field goals. I would rather have the kicker that has 70% of his field goals? I would rather have the kicker that has 70% of his field goals if it means we're having a dominant defensive line. I mean, we're used to kickers playing really badly,

and I think the kicking thing is a really sore subject for Minnesota Vikings fans. I mean, myself as a Vikings fan, I remember that Blair Walsh kick like it was yesterday. I remember laying on the ground for like 20 minutes, just staring at the ceiling, contemplating life while that, right after that happened, like in the silence as like eight people are just sitting there heartbroken. So believe me, I'm, I'm, I'm there,

but I don't think the team can sustain another defensive line performance like they saw last year. And they're out on the field more. I just feel like that is more important to the overall success of this team is if they play well. I mean, my heart says I just want a kicker that makes all his field goals. but if I'm thinking logically I think the more important piece would be if the defensive line gets back to average or above average and and and they can be kind of a force there boy I want to agree with you but there's also something about rolling the dice on the defensive line and and having the kicker that makes his kicks. Now, I guess I should have set up the alternative. Like, is the kicker going to make more than 75, more than 80, more than 85?

Let's say that kicker DuJour makes 90% of field goals. That would be pretty meaningful, I think, to be able to trust that kicker because the Vikings had no faith in Dan Bailey in the last three games of last season. And he cost them the previous game, arguably against Tampa. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe they win, maybe they don't, but it would have been close. I think that Ryan Ficken needs a break. He needs to not have to worry about the

field goal kicker this year. If it were today, it's probably Greg Joseph, but maybe Riley Patterson makes a charge. maybe they sign someone who's been cut kind of like with Dan Bailey a veteran who was cut maybe that's the play but I think I would rather go with a field goal stability because of how that just changes everything you know if your defensive line is not getting sacks you can still get pressure you can still create turnovers so I guess I'll roll the dice on that and i'll go with the better field goal kicking uh let's do one more would you rather have uh kellen mond playing four or more games for you or would you rather have Daniil Hunter miss the whole season? I guess this goes to where you think the team is and what they can be this year.

Because if you believe that the Vikings are kind of right in the thick of it and have a playoff run in them, then I think not having Kirk Cousins for four games is probably pretty damaging to them. I don't think you go better than one in three in the games that he's in, depending on where it is in the schedule. So if your mindset is, I think this team is playoff bound. I think they have aspirations. I'm probably looking at that quarterback and just how important that is.

And knowing that they, although the defensive line performance was horrible last year, they went a year without it. They now get Michael Pierce back. They signed another defensive lineman. They draft a couple guys. So, so to me, if, if, if you're coming from a spot of, I think they're a contender, I feel like losing Kirk Cousins for four games is probably where you're gonna go because then you're believing that Kirk Cousins is there to do that um and so I think I'd go with that I don't necessarily believe that they're a strong playoff contender in their current form I think this podcast episode when we're going through some of the doomsday scenarios, a lot of them seem too realistic and not as much doomsday. Like some of them seem like

they're just going to happen. And so for me, I'm not there. So then maybe I, maybe I want to see Daniel Hunter playing because that tells me he's healthy. That tells me he's happy here. And that tells me that the Vikings have their star defensive lineman back. And so I might pick that instead. And then we can see what we have in Kellen Mond for a few games. And maybe that means the Kirk Cousins era is over. We're looking elsewhere. That's probably where I would go. But if you're, I can see both sides of the argument.

Where do you come down? I don't know if it's going to take that many wins to take this division. So in that sense, you need to bank up wins with your quarterback on the field. So while we talked about how nine and eight is kind of a doomsday scenario, that of intrigue going into the playoffs. And I would still prefer that to going 6-11. I don't know if that's the best path for the franchise, but if Kirk Cousins plays all 17 games, hard to see them not going 500 or better. So I think they can probably get by without Daniil again this year. It gets harder.

I think the defensive line would be pretty punchless. But I believe in this offense. I believe that with a little nuance in the way they call the game, they can do great things. They have the pieces to do it. They just need, I think, the leadership to do it and the drive. Last year, it just seemed like they were complacent. This year, I think they need to really put the pedal down

and try to make up for all the warts on defense. Just try to outscore everybody if you have to. That's always been the Kirk Cousins mantra too. He wants to be able to score 50 if he needs to or 15 if he needs to. Score 50 once in a while. Hey, the Saints did it against the Vikings. So it's, it's possible, Paul, this has been a delightful conversation started off kind of negative, but that was, that was by design. We won't hold it against you.

Thank you so much for joining, man. Yeah. Happy, happy to fill in for caller and let him get a little bit of a vacation. He, he, boy, we, we know he needs it after this full year of stuff. So happy to fill in for caller and let him get a little bit of a vacation he he boy we we know he needs it after this full year of stuff so happy to fill in yeah uh taking a vacation and still submitting an anthony bar story for the website today great vacation caller vacation much go to the beach or something man uh paul what are you on twitter just so people know uh i'm just at Paul Hodowanik so that's H-O-D-O-W-A-N-I-C I'm sure we'll tweet it out with my handle in it

so you can just follow me there if you'd like for some Vikings takes some gopher takes and some random interspersing of pioneer press coverage so good stuff check out his work he's Paul Hodowanik I'm Sam Ekstrom it's the Purple Insider podcast thanks for listening Talk to you tomorrow.