Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Projecting the 53-man roster (or 54?) after 10 days of Vikings training camp

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

On a walk-through day for the team, Matthew Coller tries to predict the 53-man roster and talks about the biggest question marks at each position. ***Note: Coller accidentally put 54-players on his roster projection.***

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Inside or Matthew Coller here. And today out at TCO Performance Center, the Vikings just held a walkthrough, which means that there was no practice to react to. And honestly, it's kind of good because yesterday had everybody walking out of that place with such a buzz. Had it been not a great practice today, then maybe that would have been a little bit of a buzzkill, but we're still talking about, I see Vikings fans on the interwebs still talking about

what happened yesterday with JJ McCarthy. So you can go watch that recap if you missed any of that. And then I am very, very excited to be at the night practice tomorrow. So what we'll do on the show is go out there for the night practice, come back, and it will be Vikings talk after dark. But since we had some time here today, I could sit around and think about the Vikings some more, right? And I hadn't made a 53-man roster projection. I saw some of my colleagues making them and I thought,

this is the perfect day to make a 53-man roster projection for 2025. And PSA, I've never gone 53 for 53 and all the time that I've attempted 53 man roster projections, but it does give us an opportunity to have some conversations about every position, where it stands and just kind of do a reset going into the night practice. Because the way I always think of it is that camp is kind of into sections, right? Where it's you start off with, they're not in pads yet. And so we say over and over, Hey guys, remember they're not in pads yet, but so and so it looks pretty good. And then they get in pads. Well,

it's only day one of pads. And then, uh, you reach kind of the dog day phase where they start pushing and shoving each other. That was yesterday. And then I always look at the night practice as a turning point of the summer. It is one of my favorite things about this job. It's I think one of everybody's favorite nights of the year. Hopefully there's no rain. I think that happened last year where the event I think it got moved right last year because of rain. So hopefully that is not an issue this time around for tomorrow. A little bit of rain in the forecast. We'll hope that it holds off.

But the night practice just has the lights, the video boards going, the music, the buzz of the fans. I love that sound in the TCO Stadium. It's not a very big stadium, only a couple thousand fit in there. So there's a real buzz and then people make plays and there's a lot of excitement there. And then usually it ends with the kicking, which should be kind of actually interesting tomorrow because of some of Will Reichard's struggles over the last couple of days. So we could get into that as well. As far as comments section reactions to anything I say here on the 53, but also throw in your questions as well. And after I'm done going through my projection, we'll have the typical answer and questions. So I'll be ready for that.

Let us jump right in with the quarterback position. My first three quarterbacks and somebody or a couple of you keep tabs on how many players there are for me because I have had a tendency in the past, just like with my golf score, you get 18 holes, start adding it up and you're like, Oh, Oh, I had a pretty good score today. And then, Oh, you forgot that seven that you had on the par four. And all of a sudden it wasn't a great score. So that does happen to me sometimes when counting to 53. I think I got it right, but if I mess it up, somebody let me know. All right. So three quarterbacks on the roster. I

have JJ McCarthy, Sam Howell and Max Brosmer as of this moment. And this is very much subject to change. Sam Howell, the biggest question. So if you're watching, I have the three quarterbacks, but then also the biggest question below and the biggest question is clearly does Sam Howell do enough to stick around as of this moment right now? I think that the Vikings should be at least checking their black book. Who do we know at quarterback? Uh, who might be a backup quarterback we could look into at this moment? But I want to give Sam Howell at least this week because that you have the night practice for one and then you have a preseason game.

And I think that if he turns a corner here, we could start to see the quarterback that had a lot of moments in Washington. Not that he was great in Washington. The team is much better here. He's only been practicing with the twos. He's facing the first team defense a lot. We've talked about that for JJ McCarthy, but we haven't really mentioned it too often when discussing Sam Howell,

that he is facing the first team defense. So maybe there will be a bit of a turnaround for Sam Howell as he starts to lock into the offense. But if there is not, then certainly the Vikings have to start looking around and making phone calls. And then Brett Ripon versus Max Brosmer. I've just felt like from the outset from Minicamp that Max Brosmer has shown me that he can play in the NFL, Not as a project starter in the future, but as someone who becomes maybe like a Josh McCown, who could be a guy who plays for seven or eight different teams and is a backup quarterback. And he's great in the room and he throws the ball well enough and can

really run the offense. We've seen a little bit ups and downs from him, but he seems to understand where the football is supposed to g well enough and I think h good camp. I would have b know what Brett Rippon is cut Brett Rippon, it's pr anyone is going to sign B can put him back on the p

wants to stay. I don't imagine that he would want to go anywhere else unless he had an offer to be a QB two. That also seems a little bit unlikely. So, uh, I am going to lean toward JJ McCarthy. Sam Howell turns it around enough because the thing about a backup quarterback is, you know, when Kirk was the quarterback, you could go out and get a Nick Mullins and Mullins and Mullins had enough rooted in the system of his knowledge that he could come in pretty

fast and Kirk had never got hurt before. And so you felt pretty good about throwing a veteran in over the last two weeks of training camp. You know, with JJ McCarthy, I think that you'd rather have someone who's been in that room for the entire time, but it might just be that they feel that he didn't perform well enough and they want to look for other options. So that, that will be interesting. I mean, that's a major storyline going down the stretch. When you have a young quarterback starting who did get banged up last year, that you want to have a veteran backup quarterback, but is Sam Howell going to do enough? Because as of right now, I think he has to do more.

As far as Cbakes asks, if he could, if Brosmer continues to look this good and the team goes with another QB2, do you see them keeping Howell as QB3 and giving that to Brosmer if they think he could be poached? I don't see any situation where Brosmer would be QB2. Certainly hasn't gotten anywhere near the reps to be QB2. I mean, when we're talking about 10 days into training camp, and he hasn't taken any reps with the twos, it

seems very unlikely that they would suddenly just make him QB2. He's a guy that's QB2 next year, I think. But he gets a year to learn the offense, get fully acclimated, and then go into next season as JJ McCarthy's backup. I think that's the best case scenario for him, but right now you would much prefer someone who has actually played in games, who's been through it,

who can be there for JJ McCarthy on a daily basis, having had the experience of being a starter, and then who could come into a game and potentially win. And as bad as Sam Howell has been, he has actually gone into real NFL games and played well. There is some small degree of certainty at least in that. So there are your three quarterbacks on my projected 53, McCarthy, Howell and Brosmer. All right. So, next up is our running backs. We've got Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason, Ty Chandler

and of course, CJ Hamm. And the biggest question here is, would they potentially look for an upgrade at RB3? I don't think so. I think that Ty Chandler is going to be on this football team. I'd like to see him back there, kick returning and to be a guy that every so often comes in. And if Aaron Jones has to miss a game and maybe, you know, last year, I thought if they had a real RB two last year and acres did a good job at the end of the season, but I thought early in the year,

there was a time where Jones got banged up, where he probably should have just missed a week. And I think he grinded through it because they thought they had no real other answer. So now that they have an answer, if Ty Chandler had to be RB2 for a week, I think he'll be okay. I mean, we've all gotten so far down on Ty

Chandler because of what happened last year, but let's not completely forget that in 2023 he had this, the game in Cincinnati where he was flat out excellent game at the end of the year against Detroit, where he showed some potential and started to earn a little bit more of the trust of the coaching staff. And then last year it seemed like he lost that trust with a lot of the details and frustrated them because of his past protection. And when you go back and look at the PFF numbers for him in past protection, woof, I mean, he gave up more pressures in that small run in 23

than Aaron Jones had in like two years. I mean, that's how that's how much he struggled with it. So it's not just Kevin O'Connell being like a nutcase or something. There's a reason, but I think he's experienced enough in the offense that he should still be a part of the roster. And also just, I implore anybody who wants him gone to tell me which RB three that you're taking ahead of him real quick by the way, shout out to Latavious Murray who announced his retirement Latavious Murray. I would put him in the Mount Rushmore of best players to cover for any, any reporter that ran across him in the NFL. Great,

great career for Latavious Murray came from a tiny high school and sixth round draft pick, had a long career, just a great guy. But that means that he will not be a Minnesota Viking. Jamal Williams is a name out there. Is that an upgrade from Ty Chandler? And every once in a while I get that question, is CJ Hamm still on this team? It would be shocking to me if CJ Hamm was not.

I think he matters a lot in the special teams. I think they could still use him effectively in the run game. Remember when they ran a little bit more outside zone stuff or a lot more outside zone stuff with Kevin Stefanski, CJ was very effective. I think it's been in this system, he's been less effective as a fullback, but maybe as they, it looks to me like they're going to do more outside zone stuff with their running back skill sets.

He might be a little bit more valuable there, but CJ is one of those guys that you just never cut. He does so many things. Well, such a great guy to have on the team. And I don't, it's not, sometimes it almost makes it sound like, oh, they just like him as a person. I promise you they'll cut people who they like as a person. He really does bring a lot of value that goes beyond just CJ hams a great guy. So let's move on to the wide receivers guys If you watch the show all the time, you know that I'm a hat guy But if you're wearing hats to cover up for your hair loss, then I've got something that can help you It's called him's to cover up for your hair loss, then I've got something that can help you. It's called HIMS.

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I D E O U.com slash purple insider. I've got them keeping six and I cheated a little bit with the number of players at each position by going back a couple of years and seeing if they ever kept six and they did last year. They kept six wide receivers and I tried to stay with a little bit within the bounds of how many players that they had at each position.

So here's what I've got for wide receiver. Justin Jefferson will make the team, believe it or not. Jordan Addison, Jalen Naylor, Rondale Moore, Lucky Jackson, and Ty Felton. Now the decision that they might have to make here is do they want to keep somebody like Tim Jones, who is a punt gunner, special team specialist, and that kind of guy, would they

like to keep somebody like that as opposed to keeping say like Lucky Jackson, who's really more of a pure wide receiver that could be a difficult conversation. Also because I mean, Lucky Jackson would sign to the practice squad again, more likely than not and then they could just bring him off the practice squad if they need him to play for a couple of games, just as an elevation. So you can do that. And it's not super likely that anyone picks up Lucky Jackson. But what I was thinking is that Lucky has done enough here to show that he knows the offense really, really well. I think he's had a great camp stepping in for Jefferson. I'm sure when Lucky Jackson arrived at training camp this year, he was not thinking,

I wonder if I'll be like wide receiver one. I mean, I know that they are switching roles around and things like that, but he's out there running some adjusted Jefferson's plays it seems and getting the football quite a bit from JJ McCarthy. He's in the right spot. He's catching the ball. Um, see Bakes. I don't actually know if he plays special teams because he's never been in games before. He's only been a practice squad guy. I'm not sure if he could, he could be a punt gunner or something like that. I'm getting, we're going to have to watch in the preseason games. Does it look like he's being given a chance to do that? Because if he can be a punt gunner or something like that. We're gonna have to watch in the preseason games, does it look like he's being given a chance to do that?

Because if he can, then it might work his way onto the roster or they might just think that they could elevate him from the practice squad. That does change things. But as of right now, if they were to play a game today, Lucky Jackson would be one of their top three wide receivers with Justin Jefferson out, because I don't think Rondale Moore or Ty Felton has come far enough to show that they can

totally be trusted within this offense. They've got a few more weeks to lock it down, but neither one of those guys has taken any reps away from Lucky. He has been a first team wide receiver this entire time, so I have Lucky Jackson on the roster as of this moment. Red Bruno asks about Amir Abdullah. I believe Amir signed with the 49ers just recently. I think so. I think Amir is back in the league.

Is Jefferson coming back next week? We'll see. I don't want to push him at all. I would guess after the first preseason game, he'll get back to practice. Slow ramp up as it should be. Mason, Xavier Scott looked really good. I agree.

I've written down Xavier Scott's name every day. I think out of the backfield, he is really good at catching passes and he's got a smoothness to his running, but especially he used to be a wide receiver. When they throw the ball to him, it's impressive. I would keep Xavier Scott on the practice squad. I don't think I would put him ahead of Ty Chandler though, because Chandler has the experience and has shown that he can succeed

in real games. And then also is likely the kick returner, but I don't know. I, the kick returner also could be Ty felt it. I'd be happier with them using Chandler because again, we've seen Ty Chandler kick return. You throw a rookie out there. You just don't really know what you're going to get. Whereas I think I can project that Chandler is unlikely to be, you know, the next Dante hall, but he could be pretty good in that role. Yeah, Rob, good point about that. That last spot for wide receiver six,

Jashawn Jones has had another good camp. I don't think Silas Bolden is in this conversation unless he makes it as a pure punt returner, but I think Rondale Moore is likely to get the punt return spot. That could change the dynamic though. But when they took punt returns, Rondale was the first guy back there,

which made me think that the other guys would have to do something really special in order to take that job away from him. So let's see here. Tied ends, TJ Hockenson, Josh Oliver, and I have Ben Urasek on the team as of this moment. And Josh Oliver, one of the winners of training camps so far, I think he's been absolutely fantastic.

Hawkinson a little bit banged up, which definitely makes you nervous about that tight end three spot. And you know, it's really funny because, uh, Emily Liker who covers the Vikings for the star Tribune, uh, this was her big thing going into the draft. They got to get a tight end three. You know, you guys, I can be a little bit snarky. It's like, come on, man, we're talking about tight end three here.

Like, what are we talking about? And I know on a nightly basis, you guys ask about tight end three. I'm like, oh, man, if you're getting down to tight end three, I don't know. But then when you see Hockatzen get banged up for a team that uses 12 personnel quite a bit, and then the next guy up is an undrafted free agent, I get it. I get where you're coming from. It does make you a little bit on the nervous side that they would have to have somebody who is an undrafted free agent from Georgia that didn't even catch

a heck of a lot of passes last year stepping up into that role. And the biggest question here is, will they acquire a different tight end three? Uh, Giovanni Ricci could also be a guy. Uh, he's played in the league before, not a lot, but, uh, he's been around, I think he's 27 and he was an undrafted free agent. Who's been with multiple teams. He's made catches this year. And if they're leaning toward experience, they could go with him because it seems that Gavin Bartholomew is just not coming back anytime soon.

That's how it appears. Not citing sources or anything else, but we just haven't seen him at all. For the record, I've liked a lot of Ben Urusek. He catches the football. I was watching him on a special teams drill and the dude was trucking. Like he wants to make it on special teams. I think he's got Mr. Mankato potential as he gets into these preseason games. Like right now it's Zamyah Vaughn hands down but

definitely could be Ben Urusek if he catches some footballs in the preseason. Aaron is Johnny Munt could get cut off the Jags roster. I don't know. I don't know. Rob, you make a good point that over 400 snaps for Johnny Munt. Hockinson missing half of the year, you know, was the main reason for that. But if Hockinson misses time or Oliver gets banged up, that guy does have to get in and play in this offense. So that is absolutely true. Monkster is coming in with the TJ Hockinson hate of the night. I'm going to have to make a scroll

for that. I'm going to have to make it a scroll across the bottom. Like you get the award for the first one to be a TJ Hockinson hater. Now, look, I mean, I think that when we talk about like Josh Oliver as being just as good, like that's in part because Josh Oliver is amazing. Like Josh Oliver is really good at football. He is enormous. There's very few people who can cover him because he's so huge and he's fast and he gets open surprisingly and he's got good hands and he blocks the heck out of people. But I don't think that means that TJ Hockinson is worth less.

Hockinson, just keep in mind the career that he's had for himself and how important he is for this offense. So anyway, I've got Ben Urasek as of right now, but if they don't love that idea, then they could go elsewhere and maybe pick up somebody that gets let go. Just don't trade a fourth for Chris Herndon, okay?

Don't, don't trade a fourth. That's way too much. That's why Kevin O'Connell doesn't play the starters in preseason. Anyway, onto the offensive line. For the big men here, I have maybe one surprise. I don't know if it's a surprise or not as of this moment, and I'm really not confident about it.

So of course, with the offensive line, I've got the starters, Darasaw, Jackson, Kelly, Fries, O'Neal, Justin School, Blake Brandle, and Michael Juergens. And even though Michael Juerens was taken out the other day because of some fumbling issues, he was back in there yesterday. Ryan Kelly took a period off and he was jumping in there at center.

So I think that Jurgens should still be in good standing, but this team has to look for every single opportunity to upgrade. This is not a developmental type year for the Minnesota Vikings. This is a every single position has to be the maximum of what they can make it. So if they don't love what they've seen from Juergens, then go find somebody who gets cut by another team and pick them up to be your backup center. And it even did kind of hit me the other day a little bit. And I know why they did this and maybe contract is part of it as well.

But I mean, if Garrett Bradbury had been the backup that would have been not that bad, right? Maybe it's something that you can't do because he could have been a starter somewhere else. You feel like it's just better for him to not have to be the backup. But you know, Michael Juergens hasn't played before in the league, and Garrett Bradbury has a lot of playing in the league, and maybe Juergens could be better, but experience for center is a big deal.

Anyway, I think that is a position that they could potentially look at if they're not in love with how Juergens plays. And then I've got Logan Brown making the team over Walter Rouse as of right now. That is the one that I am probably the least confident in in the entire 53 Logan Brown's been playing a lot of left tackle and Walter Rouse has mostly been playing on the right side. This could be wrong though because Walter Rouse is probably playing on the right side. This could be wrong though, because Walter Rouse is probably playing on the right side because Justin School is really the backup left tackle. But if they think that Brown has higher potential, I just don't know that one.

I just don't know that one. This is one where we really got to see those two go at it in preseason and see who comes out better because they're both going to get a bunch of reps. But I think there's only one position and there's two tackles. Brown, his upside might be higher because of his size and athleticism. Rouse, I thought had a really good preseason and training camp last year. And I'm sure that that's the reason he's at right tackle is because school is the backup left tackle and he's making this team as the veteran swing guy. But I thought if we're going to get a little bit on a little bit slightly more

spicy here and throw something in, how about that? Because, uh, Brown has been playing in the left tackle position a lot, getting a lot of reps there. It's, it's probably, I don't know what we're going to have to see. It's probably Rouse, but I think there's a real possibility of Brown outperforms him that they'll go with him as like that developmental offensive lineman position. And also wondering if there could be another guy like a Joe Huber or someone who works into this as well to make 10. But I looked last year and they only kept nine. So, Seabakes, I think you're right that maybe it's who has the better chance to survive waivers.

And well that, right. And if you have a great preseason as a tackle, you could get poached. Like I always kind of make fun of the poaching idea. Like, ah, come on, you know, there's, how often do we see it in the league? It doesn't happen a whole heck of a lot. But if there's a desperate team,

I mean, what was it? Viderian low got traded to the Patriots a couple of years ago. Like if there, or was he picked up? Was he cut? Uh, I think he might've actually been traded for kind of nothing. Like that's a position where people are extremely, extremely desperate. So if somebody looks good, even in the preseason, there is a possibility that they could get picked up. So Rob says, I think Kelly and next man up Juergens risk by far the biggest risk on the roster. It is. And you know, I was just talking with a friend of mine the other day who's into analytics and he mentioned to me that when there was a study about the different positions and where the biggest drop off is, oh yeah, Tyrese Robinson, did he get picked up? Was it who picked him up last year?

I think you're right. He had a good preseason and then he got picked up. Good point. But my friend was talking about how they looked at all the positions and what the biggest drop off was. So if a wide receiver got hurt, what was the drop-off, corner, safety, linebacker, and of course quarterback was the biggest drop-off on the roster, but center was right up there around the league.

And that's usually been my point here is that, yeah, I mean, Juergens, certainly there is some risk there, but you know, at the same time most backup centers, it's hard to find somebody who's actually good there. You are right that Nick Muse was picked up off of waivers. That was at the end of the season last year, not necessarily on cut down day. There's not a lot that happens on cut down day, but you could be right about that left tackle position though. Let's move over to the defensive side. We have the outside linebacker position.

Jonathan Grenard will make the squad. Also, Andrew Van Ginkle, Dallas Turner, Gabe Murphy, and Bo Richter. That's who I've got as my five. And this is where, you know, Tyler Batty is going to be talked about for many years to come as the guy that JJ McCarthy jumped in his face and pushed him off of Aaron Jones. But I haven't seen a ton from Tyler Batty that says to me that he's a guy that would make the team. Um, Bo Richter is getting a lot of reps. So the first day of camp, it was one of my notes that they had Tyler Batty at outside linebacker instead of Bo Richter. And that ended pretty quickly, maybe like three days in and baddie was actually lining up a little more on the

inside. And I think what they might have planned for him is to become kind of that undersized interior rusher as someone who develops over a couple years, maybe or a year. Um, like we talked about with Levi Drake Rodriguez, where there's some raw talent and athleticism and you're trying to refine it and try to carve out some sort of role. Uh, but I think when it comes to a Bo Richter, he brings a ton to special teams and he's got the juice. He'll get in the backfield. If he's lined up with a tight end, he's gonna win that. I have not focused a lot on Gabe Murphy, but he has taken a ton of reps with the twos.

He has been there pretty much every single snap with the twos, which tells me that he's very, very likely on the team. So I definitely think that Richter is the guy right now and that this will be the group. As far as Turner at inside linebacker, I don't think that's going to happen a ton. I think when it comes to his coverage, what you're going to see much more is he lines

up at the edge with Andrew van Ginkle and they're both kind of on the same side hovering around and then one of them drops and one of them rushes and the quarterback has no idea which one it is. You could see him drop for sure into coverage on like third downs where they're going to be trying to completely fool the quarterback. Who's rushing? Who's dropping? And Dallas Turner could be one of those guys. And when he goes back in coverage, I mean, the movement skill looks like a linebacker. It is really impressive. But he's also beefed up and he's put a lot of pressure on the quarterback

during this camp. So I expect obviously he will make the team and he looks like he's in line to make much more of an impact this year. All right, let's go to the defensive line. Harrison Phillips, Jayvon Hargrave, Jonathan Allen, Jaylen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez and Tyreon Ingram Dawkins. So I have six defensive linemen there. I've been impressed with Ingram Dawkins.

I think he is still learning a little bit what it feels like to get hit by NFL offensive linemen and how the leverage works there. But his flashes of athleticism have been impressive. Levi Drake has had, in my mind, a good camp. Maybe someone stands out more when they're pushing the edge in terms of being a little bit too on the physical side. And Jalen Redmond has had, I think, a really good training camp and made himself stand out last year,

has been in there getting after the passer, has been going against Donovan Jackson a lot in practice. So those battles have been pretty good. And Redmond to me is the number one rotational player right now. I think of it as kind of four and two, like the front, the four guys that are gonna get the most snaps being Phillips, Hargrave, Allen and Redmond,

and then Levi Drake Rodriguez and Tyreon Ingram Dawkins as more of the backup players at this moment. Ingram Dawkins has got to develop and I think Levi Drake has done a good job and is very physical but Redmond looks like a pro. He looks like someone who can play anytime he wants to play. Son of Beavers that's a beautiful D line. It is, you know, it's just like when we talk about the interior O line, where we banged our head against the wall for a really long time, talking about you gotta get interior pressure,

you gotta get interior pressure, and finally they have the dudes to do that, and it cost them a lot of money, and that's one of the benefits of the rookie quarterback do that. And it cost them a lot of money. And that's one of the benefits of the rookie quarterback contract, isn't it? But Yeti, I agree. I think Redmond is an underrated piece and I think he's good.

All right, on to the linebackers. Brent, I'm gonna disagree with you here and I will include Eric Wilson on this team. There is no chance Eric Wilson gets cut. Eric Wilson is going to be a key special teamer for them. He is a huge upgrade in depth from what they had last year with Kamu Grigé Hill. Eric Wilson is a much better actual linebacker. Grigé Hill was a good special teamer, but Wilson can do it all. If they needed him to play 500 to 700 snaps because of a big injury, he would absolutely be able to do that. Uh, a very, uh, experienced player.

He's been here before. He's got a lot of respect from the coaches and he played well for the Packers last year. So Cashman pace, junior Wilson and Kobe King. I only have four linebackers. And this is another one where I'm just not sure Will they keep Brian awesome? Wah as a special team or or not, and I don't think him taking some swipes at Will fries the other day or being a little too physical with Aaron Jones would impact

His status on the team as far as the roster goes I just think that with Eric Wilson here and Kobe King, a King looks like a player to me. He looks like he is a very natural football player with a ton of physicality. He's not going to cover Rob Gronkowski and his prime one-on-one. That's for sure. But special teamer, hard-n dude, kind of reminds me of, this is a little bit of a throwback here, but if you guys remember Kentrell brothers kind of reminds me of Kentrell brothers, I've brought up Ben Gideon before similar types of guys that, you know,

if they're in the game, they're going to be in there to stop the run, but they also just bring a lot of physicality and they can play on special teams. So I think Kobe King is there, but with awesome. Why? I mean, how many years can we go by where Brian forest doesn't want to play him at all on defense? He hasn't even attempted to find a role for him or carve it out, which I think tells you a lot about how florist feels about him, because if floor is like somebody, he will find a

way to get that person involved, but he has not done that at all with awesome. Why? So I only have four linebackers as of right now. And for the record last year, they only kept four linebackers. I think that they will probably do that again with the way that, uh, Kobe King has looked so far. Um, with, uh, with awesome. Why?

Yeah. I, yeah, maybe he would come back on the practice squad, but I don't think so. I think that someone would pick him up because he is a good special teamer and he was probably liked by some teams when he was coming out. I mean, he was the third round pick. So usually what ends up happening? I mean, this kind of goes for someone like a Caleb Evans, right? Where a Caleb didn't

fit with Brian Flores, but someone else picked him up. And after they cut them and they're going to give them a chance because maybe they liked him coming out and maybe they have a different system or something that he could fit in. I, I'm not sure what I've never really gotten a sense for what it is that completely keeps him off the field on defense. I think it might just be that when it comes to the run game, if you remember, uh, was it against the Eagles? Maybe just how much he got pushed around when he did get a chance to get in, in a couple of games in the run game, that may be a big part of the issue. And he's small, like for a linebacker, he is not a very big guy and I think when they

drafted him they had this idea of a coverage linebacker because that was more in the Donatelle system. Like Donatelle system has a lot of those linebackers who just cover a ton of ground where I mean on this one I mean yeah Blake Cashman's not the hugest guy, but he's violent and he could take on guards with no problem So that's where I'm at with that right now And that's a that is a wait and see how that ends up playing out. Let's get to the corner back group I have six corners here. They kept six last year. I got six This year Byron Murphy jr. Isaiah Rogers Jeff Okuda McKay Blackman Zamiyevon and Dwight McLothern.

The commentary from Brian Flores the other day on McLothern did not make me think that he was about to win a starting job anytime soon, but he's still somebody that has made plays every time he's in during training camp. He made plays last year during the preseason. That's funny. Donatelle had a system. Oh, yeah, he had a system. That system was for everyone to stand way back and let the other team catch the ball. It was not an effective system. However, it was a system. And well, the thing is, it's rooted with the Vic Fangio type of system,

but you need the players to be able to play it. And I don't think that they had the right players for that system and they made no adjustment whatsoever. They refused to blitz. We don't need to relive that defense. That was a nightmare. So anyway, your, your sixth corner though, Dwight MacGleather, and I think there's a very good chance that they keep six here. Zamiah Vaughn is just on the team because he's played, unless something goes catastrophically wrong in these pre-season games, he has played really, really well in training camp.

He's been in there for every second team rep. So he looks like someone that they want to build with going forward. And him and McLaughlin are kind of the opposite types of corners where Vaughn has been much more sticky in his coverage and has been difficult for receivers to get away from because of his size. Whereas McClothern has made plays on the football, but maybe otherwise has not stood out as much in coverage or has been beaten more in coverage. But as of right now, I think

this is your group and they will develop those two. Lucas, does Blackman look like he has a role? As of this moment, so we've got a ways to go before the beginning of the season. As of this moment, I would say that the roles are going to be pretty clear with Murphy Jr. and Rogers being the starting corners, and they're gonna play a lot of three safety,

and then Jeff Okuda will be in when they play in the nickel. So if they're facing a team that uses a lot of 11 personnel, then you might see a little bit more Okuda. I think that Blackman can still take that position away. I think he could still end up being a guy who plays outside corner in that role. If they don't love what they see from Jeff Okuda,

that's the option that they've given themselves by signing Okuda and over, you know, camp, it's very possible that Blackman could get back to where he was before. They could be really happy with him. Those are all possibilities that we're watching for. But as of right now, it seems like they're happy with where Okuda is at as the starter. And then Blackman will just be next man up.

That's a heck of a mess. Next man up. I mean, again, with all the things that we talk about with, ah, you know, this used to drive you crazy. This used to drive guards. He strives crazy. No interior pressure, no cornerback depth was certainly one of them that has happened for years. Now I don't even think with Zimmer that they ever really crazy, no interior pressure, no cornerback depth was certainly one of them that has happened for years now. I don't even think with Zimmer that they ever really had cornerback depth. Even in 2017, they didn't have much.

Mackenzie Alexander was a backup on that team, but didn't have a long career in the NFL. I think that they do, at least with Blackman having previous experience, fairly high draft pick, and then the way that Vaughn has played. Yet he says Vaughn is a talented guy with crazy traits. Surprising seeing him now that he wasn't drafted. Yeah, you know, it just happens sometimes. And I don't know why, like even Ivan Pace, right? Ivan Pace had this amazing career at Cincinnati. You would think that somebody in the sixth round would just, you know, scoop them up. And instead they're taking kickers and punters and you know, long snappers and I just, you know,

guys from Australia, which, you know, have worked out before, but you would think that somebody that had a good college career and those traits and that size and that movement skill would have been drafted. I'm not really sure why he slipped through the cracks. Maybe that's something that I need to start trying to find out what happened there with Zamiya Vaughn. All right. So there's your corners. Keep it six. With the safeties,

I will keep five because I am keeping Tavier Thomas, the special teams expert on the team here. The rest obviously Harrison Smith, Josh Metellus, Theo Jackson, Jay Ward, and Thomas has been an above average special team or in the league. It seemed like they went out intentionally to get him to replace Trent Sherfield's role

as that punk gunner, special teams specialist. And I don't know yet whether he or Tim Jones has the better shot to make that role, but Thomas has been really good at it in his career before. So I'm going to go with him here. And J Ward did miss practice, I think two days in a row, but has been ascending looking player to me, but that top three safeties,

there's questions without cam buying them, but Theo Jackson has said, what questions? Theo Jackson is just having another amazing training camp. And I think the guy just might be really good at football. If he hadn't gotten actual interceptions when he's gotten into games for real, I might question it a little bit, but I think it's for real. I think he really identifies what is happening

in front of him super, super well. And this is why Lewis Seen failed among other things is that I don't think he identified what was going on in front of him. I mean, route combinations very well and anticipation and keeping an eye on the quarterback. Theo Jackson is, it's kind of funny about how football works like this level when you get to this level.

The O Jackson was once upon a time like the best football player in the state of Tennessee, and then he went to Tennessee played a bunch of different positions was really good there and got drafted by the Titans. The skill is there. I mean, it's not just like some, you know, try hard from state or whatever. Like this guy went to Tennessee, he's a playmaker and he has been really, really good again.

And if there was any question about, hey, is he gonna be the guy or whatever? Yeah, he's gonna play, he's gonna play a lot. Monkster, you think that Gilmore is somehow back? If there is an injury, I could see that. But as of right now, I think they feel very good about the quarterback room. Did not know where they would be at

when we got to this point, going into training camp. I think that would have been a pretty fair opinion on day one of like, hey, we could see another guy come in here, but the way everyone has played, Murphy looks like he's on a mission. He's just been great. Isaiah Rogers has been really good. Jeff Okuda is making plays every day. Um, we'll see if Blackman kind of gets into a stride here, but I don't think as of this moment that they would make

that kind of move. Um, Felipe turning point for JJ McCarthy during camp was, uh, your interview with the podcast in Brazil. Yes, thank you for having me on. If anybody speaks Portuguese, then they could check that out. No, I didn't speak Portuguese the entire time, but they have captions. But thank you guys for having me. That was a lot of fun.

So the specialists, you know who it is, Andrew DiPaolo and Ryan Wright and Will Reichard. I don't see any shot that Oscar Chapman takes the job away from Ryan Wright, but he will probably stay on the roster just because he can with the international exception. And Will Reichert is maybe a good place to start a conversation.

So there's your 53. If you got thoughts, disagreements, feel a different way about something, please jump in the comments, let me know. And then I'll continue to answer your questions. So there's the 53 as I have it right now. I don't think that there's a ton of wild debates there, but at very least,

I think that there's still a lot of questions to be answered. Maybe there isn't a million questions to be answered of who makes the team, but how it sorts itself out, I think that there is. Okay. So the FanDuel question of the day, by the way, let me get to that FanDuel question of the day, and then I'll get to your questions, is the Chicago Bears on FanDuel have the same over-under as the Minnesota Vikings, 8.5. Now I can hear you guys cackling all the way from here, but here's what I wanna know. What are the chances, give me an odds percentage, that the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings

both go over 8.5 wins. So I'm sure a lot of you think already that the Vikings will go over 8.5. So maybe it's just a question about the Bears, but give me your percentage chance. Maybe we'll just do that. Cause I know you all think they're gonna go over. I do too.

So how about just that? How about just the Bears? Fan dual question of the day, percentage chance that the Bears go over 8.5 wins this season. Um, and, uh, you know, I, I'm going to have to check in with some folks in Chicago, you know, Courtney Cronin at some point, but they, they got week one. So we'll definitely have her on the show for that just about Caleb Williams

and how it's coming along. It seemed like it was a little bit ugly at first there, and maybe it's gotten together a little bit more from the report that I saw today about Caleb Williams and the two minute drill. And I have mentioned that the two minute drills are pretty telling and it seems like he's had some success there. So did I count to 53 is a question. Did I count to 53 is a question. Did I count to 53? If I didn't, then we might have to search through and figure out where it's going to be. So hopefully some of you were counting at home, but I think I got to 53.

Matt says, do you think the Vikings have such good depth at one position that they may trade someone to give depth somewhere else? Do you have a position in mind because I don't for that. I think this is a time where you just want to keep every bit of depth that you can possibly have. I don't think that there's a spot where I would say, oh yeah, well, they've got this guy or usually when it refers to that, if there's a trade, it would be someone who's kind of proven, but they've been bumped down. And then, you know, somebody else, uh, maybe has taken over their spot and then you would

try to make a trade there. I can't think of anybody that they would do that with, but if you have somebody in mind, let me know. Chris says, if Murphy gets banged up, we are in trouble. I mean, yes, I think that's probably true as well. Byron Murphy has been one of the better corners in the NFL over the last two years. And 2023, when he went out, whoa, it was bad.

It was really bad. He was a guy that was kind of keeping it all together in 23. And then last year, he leads the league in picks for corners, but it wasn't just that by any means. I mean, he has really become the, I think the modern 2025 corner who plays inside and outside, who's great at zone, but can definitely hold his own in a big situation where he's got to run with somebody and can turn the ball over. Um, because you know, with teams, this is kind of a theory of mine when it comes to turnovers

is that of course you're always going to hear every single coach of all time always say like, yes, we need to get turnovers. The team who wins the turnover battle wins whatever percentage of the time, right? And that's of course it's true. Of course that's true. But I also think that the turnover battle is increased in value when it's so hard to get them, uh, that the number of turnovers in the league just keeps going down because teams play safer. Uh, they throw underneath more, they emphasize, uh, aggressiveness a little less than they used to. So if it was, you know, 2002 and a lot of your passing game was deep down the field.

If you threw an interception or fumbled, you'd probably figure we could get that back. It's just harder to get the ball back now. So if you get two turnovers in a game, that's probably going to win you the turnover battle. And I'm sure that there's data to support this, but I haven't looked at it recently, but it was really over the last 20, 25 years, turnovers just keeps going down and down and down. So I think that winning that turnover battle is more important. If you can have a corner who plays great in zone and can get the ball, he's valuable.

And so when Murphy signed his contract, there were some folks that went, well, wait a minute, Byron Murphy, because he's not Patrick Sertan, he's not this one-on-one lockdown guy, but he is hard to replace. And I think what they're trying, so, Mackay Blackman said something interesting

the other day. He's not a big talker, but he said, they're using me inside and outside. And that made me think that what Mackay Blackman is training to do in this off season is to be Byron Murphy if Murphy goes down, to be ready to replace that role if Murphy goes down. Because Durante Jones told me, I think it was last year,

I did a article on Theo Jackson last year, always ahead of the curve here on Purple Insider. But so I did an article on Theo last year and kind of how he had stuck with it and you know, had a lot of support behind the scenes, even if he wasn't getting in. And what Durante told me, the defensive back coach for the Vikings was that they tried to have somebody behind everybody who's kind of their copy. And what feel was last year was the Josh Mattel is copy where they're teaching him to play that Mattel is role. Now he's gonna be the can buy them copy this year, but he was the Josh Mattel is

copy last year. And I think that they're doing the same thing with black men where they're trying to make him the Byron Murphy clone. So the drop off isn't significant if Murphy has to miss any time. But if your corners are Isaiah Rogers, Jeff Okuda and Mackay Blackman, we've just got a lot of questions. I think the front seven helps a lot, but there's going to be a lot of questions there. Can Okuda hold up over a long period of time? Or does he end up getting kind of exposed in that role? Is Blackman ready to play more snaps?

Like you're right. If Murphy were to go out, then it's not a great scene. Or at least it's not a certain scene. There's a chance it could be good, but it's only a coin flip as opposed to feeling really good about it. I will say that everything I've seen from Isaiah Rogers, I, and imagine being this bold on a podcast.

I agree with Brian Flores. Yes, I know. That's who you came for is the hot takes. I agree with Brian Flores, but what we're seeing from Rogers is a guy who certainly looks like a starting outside corner to me, plays the ball, is very, very sticky in coverage, great athleticism. I think that the guy was on his way to getting more chances, but then he had the gambling thing and it was suspended for a year.

And then the Eagles kind of, you know, took a chance on him last year. Otherwise he was in route to being a starting corner before. So I think that the front office and coaching staff, they really look for players that are starting to hit their peak and ascending kind of like with Blake Cashman last year or Jonathan Grenard or Van Ginkle. Zumer Kev is Zmaia Vaughn forcing his way onto the field. I don't think that he is ready for that yet as far as like beating out Okuda

or beating out Makai Blackman, but he's forced his way onto the roster at this moment, which is a big deal for an undrafted free agent. You know, I don't remember what we thought of the Zemaya Vaughn free agent signing when he got here, but he introduced himself to us immediately in minicamp. It was like this guy was making plays all over the field in red zone drills and he's just enormous and moves extremely well.

So I don't think he's there yet, but that could be a next year thing where maybe we're feeling like they're really packed. It could be a two years down the road. Like with undrafted free agents, I know that because of Ivan pace, we kind of always want them like, Oh, they're standing out and can't like get them on the field, but they've got some nice pieces here to develop for the future. And I think he's one of them. Uh, Aaron will black men play in the preseason. I think that he will. And I think that he should,

I think that he needs to get back onto the field and start showing that he's good to go. I think that he's looked a little bit on the I don't want to say timid. I mean that makes him sound soft. He's not soft. He's a tough dude, but just like a little bit in needs to get the confidence back in his body to go play the football to really drive on it. I see him maybe not quite driving on the football and make it plays on it quite the same way. And it might be just that he's getting the burst back like it takes time. Any of you I have never had a serious leg injury, but I've seen enough NFL players come back from them.

Like it's not easy to get fully back to that burst that you were at before. And you saw with Hockinson, like it takes a while. See Bakes, if Chapman were to make the roster, does his spot not count? That is a good question. I don't actually know the answer to that. I think that his spot would. That's my guess, but that is deep in the CBA somewhere. That's deep in the NFL rule book somewhere.

Maybe somebody can look that up while we're talking. But I think that if he makes the roster, then yes, it takes up a roster spot. I don't think keeping him gives you like a cheat code, but I mean, I could be wrong. I think it's supposed to work just the other way where, okay, you can keep this guy on your roster without him counting toward a spot if he is. Well, I don't know actually, I mean, cause now I'm trying to make sense of it. I mean, I guess if he's on the roster, he's on the roster, right?

So then maybe they do get an extra spot. That's a good question. I wouldn't think that you could use it as a cheat code by just playing the guy, but maybe I'm'm gonna have to find out. I will do my best. Because now that I'm thinking about it, like, well, if his roster spot's not gonna count, if he was gonna be like on the practice squad,

but what difference would it make? So I don't know, maybe they could earn themselves an extra roster spot by keeping Chapman instead. As of this moment, I don't see that. I think that Ryan Wright's gonna be the punter. Adam says, is there concern with Will Reichard missing so many kicks in camp? I mean, when we're talking about a kicker

missing kicks in camp, yes, there is concern. It doesn't matter how many, it doesn't matter from where, like if you're missing them, it's a concern. Because the baseline we have for Will Reichard last year was that the dude was absolutely fantastic and could not miss in training camp and then came out of camp and was just awesome until he got banged up. So to see him look different, yeah, I mean, anytime any player looks different than what you expect from them, you're going to raise the flag, but with the kicker, it's really easy to see.

And Matt Daniels kind of blamed it on the wind. And the day that he missed a couple from like 48, 53, or whatever, okay, it was crazy wind out there. And he didn't miss a lot of them. He went 10 for his first 13, okay, no big deal. But when he misses a couple from under 40, I look this up, here's a fun factoid. If it ever comes up in your life, feel free to use it.

You would have to have some really, really, really big football friends to use this. But remember when Greg Joseph missed that kick to lose in Arizona in 2021? That was the only one of his entire career under 40 that he ever missed. Now he missed some extra points and had some issues with that,

but you shouldn't miss anything under 40. No matter what the wind is doing, it wasn't windy the other day. And the ball coming out shank into the left. Every once in a while, this is a golf problem that I have, where I get a little bit too amped up.

So here's what'll happen. Let's say I have a good hole before. Let's say I chip in. Oh man, I got a birdie. I just chipped in. I am the man. I will go to the next tee and I will hit the next kick left. I'm sorry.

I will hit the next drive left every time because I get too excited. I started to over swing and then I hit it left. It looks like that. It looks like a golf swing where you just get a little bit too amped up and you hook it left. That shouldn't shouldn't be happening to a guy like Will Reichard, who was a elite kicking prospect coming out and then was so good last year. So, yeah, yeah, I think there is.

And that's why I mentioned the night practice tomorrow as being important. Like, I think it is important for Will Ryker to go out in front of some fans in a packed stadium and try to create a little pressure environment and hit some kicks because he needs to get some confidence here after missing early. But there's still, look there's time and if this was happening the week before the end of camp I would be more concerned but you're always hovering the hand over the panic button when the kicker is missing. Oliver says, I feel good about the defensive depth. Offensive depth concerns me a bit, particularly at quarterback center and maybe tight end. Yeah, at quarterback, there's just not that much depth in the league. There's not 32 guys who can start. So there's

certainly not 64 guys who could start, but usually you want someone that you feel at least okay with getting into a game. Who was the last Vikings backup quarterback? This is a great question. Who was the Vikings last backup quarterback? Not Case Keenum. Don't say Case Keenum. Other than Case Keenum. Because he ended up being their starter for the whole year. So other than Case Keenum, who was the last Vikings backup that you trusted to get in the game? Is it... Sage Rosenfels? My buddy Sage? Is it Gus Farrar? I mean, it's been a while. They had Sean Hill. They had... I mean, Tavares Jackson could go in and play. But since I've been here, I don't think there's been anybody except for case.

It was Sean Hill and then it was Sean Mannion and Nick Mullins and Kellan Mond. It's yeah, you know, if you're starting quarterback gets hurt, you're in a lot of trouble and I think the same thing goes for center. We don't really know what Juergens is though so I'm interested to see you know he's got one preseason underneath his belt. I'm interested to see if there's some progress there in the preseason and then uh tight end three yeah I like how Eurosec is done though I do like how Eurosec has done. Okay you guys percentage chances some of you being more reasonable than others that the Bears get over 8.5 wins. Our fan duel question of the day, Son of Beavers,

give me a 3% chance. Yeah, I think it's probably a little higher than that. Chris, you're much more reasonable at 30% 13% for Northern Pride, 25% from Adam. I think you guys are being fair. 23% I really does feel like it's the same sort of story when it comes to the Bears for every year. They have a lot more weaknesses than they're being given credit for in the national discussion, but 8.5. for in the national discussion, but 8.5, it's almost like you have this thing with, like if you put weight on one side, then the other side goes up or if you take it off,

it goes down. Like if the Bears win nine or more games, like who's falling off the other side? Like those wins gotta come from somebody. Is it the Packers? Do the Lions come apart this year? Is it the, you know, the Vikings struggling with JJ McCarthy? The Vikings roster is just so deep. I think it's a much better roster. I think all the rosters are better than Chicago, but there is that possibility that Ben Johnson takes them to a

different level. Robert 40%, Zoomer Kev 32. I think those are pretty reasonable answers right there. Is probably somewhere in the 40% that they go over. Christine with the 15%. Caleb is a bust. Yeah, I mean, Caleb, I think that they're, Rob going with 10%. I think that they're, uh, Rob going with 10%. I think that there are different tiers to what a Caleb Williams does.

And I don't mean Caleb's tears after getting hit by Jahad ward last year. I mean the T I E R's of like, there is a Caleb Williams tier where this guy becomes incredible. And that's still on the table. I mean, he's so young and he just had one year of starting in a really bad situation with his coaching and all that sort of stuff, uh, and did have some high moments. So it is possible with his physical skill and his upside that he could

still be a great quarterback. I don't think that's off the table. And then this is kind of a pie chart. Like what percentage chance is that? I think that that's maybe still like a 20% chance that Caleb Williams just becomes great. First year has been very much not predictive of where quarterbacks are going to be in the future

as rookies, like what are they going to be? But then there's another tier below that where he is really good and could be kind of a pro bowl caliber if it's a good year and then, uh, you know, not that great if it's a bad year, that's sort of like the Trevor Lawrence tier where ton of talent, everybody likes him, everybody speaks highly of him, but if the team's not great and he could just, you know, get, get banged up or, you know, make a lot of mistakes and then it could go either way for Pro Bowl or just out of the playoffs. And that's been him. It's been a little bit of Justin Herbert throughout his career, too. But, you know, I'd say Lawrence is more comparable.

Then there's a level below that. That's kind of the Justin Fields tier where, yeah, he's playable, but. That doesn't mean he's good and he never can see the field and he's going to have a few up moments and people are going to defend him forever, but it's just not going to really happen. It's sort of the adjusted fields, Tyrod Taylor. I can run around and make some plays and be exciting, but I'm really not a winning quarterback. Right now, that one's really on the table too, if you're splitting, you know, those up. So I think I only gave three. That's hard to make a pie chart out of with the math.

But maybe I think the most likely scenario is that he's got some up years and some down years, depending on just what happens schedule. Is his team healthy? Does his hero ball work that year or not? That's what I think he'll end up being. But it's still on the table that he could be really good. I just the Bears are going to have to show me

before I really actually believe in them. Monster, did I cut Chandler? I did not. I am keeping Ty Chandler on the roster for now because I just think it's really hard to find another guy who's going to be better. And I know that they should be looking for the best possible player

for every position, but having someone who can come into a game with that kind of lightning burst to him and with a ball in his hands, can make plays, can be a kick returner. That's it's not something that you just go find another guy who's going to be a lot better. Still possible, though, kind of depends on how they feel about where he's at with the other mental part of the game. But at this point he's been in the system for three years.

Can you find somebody who knows more about it than him? Uh, I don't know for an RB three, it's, it's hard to improve on that. Uh, Kendall says Mason will take the RB one by mid season possible. Yeah, very possible. And I think they wanted to be a one and one a, I think they wanted to be kind of what the early Jameer Gibbs and David Montgomery split was before Gibbs really exploded. But a similar kind of split to that, where they were kind of every other drive or situationally. But it might just be that Mason's really darn good. And if Mason is really darn good, then.

You're going to have to roll with the guy who's playing better. But I think in an ideal world, you're talking about if let's say there's. I don't want to put myself in a hole here with math trying to figure this out. But like if there's 350 carries, 175 is half of that. Could it be Mason closer to 200 and maybe 150 for Aaron Jones? Just depending on how it goes. Yeah, I think that's on the table. Felipe percentage chance the Vikings get a veteran for the backup quarterback job 50%.

Yeah. Right now it's coin flip. I would go with the coin flip right now. I think still Sam Howell has time to prove that he belongs. He's got preseason games, at least two of them, maybe three, depending on how it goes. And he also, uh, has been facing the first defense. He doesn't know the offense inside and out. And he's not playing with Justin Jefferson. Like there's reasons, but it's looked bad enough that you have to wonder if it doesn't change

and it doesn't improve. The other day in practice was Howell's best day, I think as a Minnesota Viking. And if he builds on that night practice into the preseason, then okay, then they've got themselves a backup. Sometimes it does take the first couple of weeks of training camp, but as of right now, it just hasn't looked too good. Yeti, what do you think of the use of 12 personnel

versus 11 personnel look like with Addison potentially out for a suspension, Josh Oliver getting more work or do they end up relying more on Lucky Jackson and wide receiver depth? No, I think you're onto something there with Josh Oliver playing more. If the idea is to get the best players on the field, then what you would try to do there is have T.J. Hockinson become your slot wide receiver as much as you can. He can also line up in bunches and things like that. One of the things about T.J. Hockinson that I guess I'm going to have to say, like now the haters don't understand is that this guy can run all the routes

that receivers run, like he knows the playbook to that point. And if you need him to line up as an outside wide receiver, he can. If you need him in bunches, he can. If you need him in motions, I mean, he could do anything you need him to line up as an outside wide receiver, he can, if you need him in bunches, he can, if you need him in motions, I mean, he could do anything you need him to do. So I think if Addison is out, you'll see much more of Oliver and Hockinson on the field at the same time. And then you would maybe lucky Jackson or Rondale more tie Felton. Um, but lucky getting all this work.

It seems like he's got to be the guy who would be the next man up, at least as of right now. Maybe they wanted to be Rondell Moore, but Lucky knows the offense, and that's most of the battle. It's most of the battle at wide receiver if you're not Justin Jefferson, because you're never facing double coverage if you're not Jefferson. Monks are still waiting for you to demonstrate the KOC low five. I thought I did, I thought I sort of at least kind of showed it yesterday where he's got that

like couple of step lead up. I can't really, you know, do it here. I've got no one to give a low five to. But what we were talking about yesterday is that when he was, when KOC really likes what he sees, he gives a low five, you know, there's like a casual high five coming off the field. The pad on the helmet is good. The pad on the helmet is like, Hey, nice job. The low five is bro. That was sick. That was a touchdown. Great job. That's,

that's where he really gets into it. We are to the point where we can read KOC's body language from the sideline. You guys have seen enough on TV that kind of that side slump and where he kind of throws his head around like, ah, not happy with what I saw. He's not a yeller, but he's definitely that that type of person. Is there an update on Hawkinson? There's not. We were not out there today because it was just a walkthrough. So we'll find out tomorrow. We're going to talk with KOC tomorrow. So after the night practice, it'll be late when I get on here. It'll probably be maybe 10 central. I mean, I'll get back as fast as I can. I think it starts at seven.

So, you know, maybe hour and a half practice, try to try to get started in the nine o'clock hour for tomorrow. But at the middle of the day, we'll get an update on T.J. Hawkinson. Rob says at worst, Okuda is just a bridge than Blackman gets a bit of lead in time to find his best form. Yeah, I think so. I think you're exactly right. I mean, even though the guy's coming off of an entire year of rehab, you're still not actually facing people during that year. That's why getting into a preseason game is important. Make a couple plays in a preseason game. Get the confidence back, that kind of thing. But you're right. I mean, even Mike Hughes got hurt early in that 2018 season. We didn't see him until, you know, that had some other elements to his injury, but we didn't see him until

what? Week five, six? I think it was five, week five that year. So it does take a lot of time, especially for, I mean, those corners. They're always changing direction. It's a lot about burst. But you're right that having someone who can be that kind of bridge to Mackay Blackman if they prefer Blackman. Let's see. Chris says, how is Huber doing? Not a bad old line, maybe practice squad. They put him at center a couple times the other day. That didn't go go particularly well but as far as making the practice squad there is a good chance. I'm thinking that he is just trying to get this right in my brain playing a lot of second team reps. That's a lot of the old line is going to have to show

themselves in preseason though that's where it's really going to make a difference they're going to get a ton of work those Those second and third offensive lineman. Is there an update on Jefferson? Not really. He started jogging yesterday, doing a little bit of stuff. It just seems like, it just seems like with Jefferson that he is taking it slow and he's rightfully taking it slow.

And I would just be giving you a guess of when he's going to come back. But the progress is starting and KOC said, you know, he's getting back on the field a little bit and start, you know, going that way. So Timothy says that Chapman can be the 17th player on the practice squad. That's the point. Okay. So if he's on the actual roster, it's a, it's not, not an exception for the 53. Okay. Gotcha. I got like twisted around there a little bit because it kind of makes sense if you have, you know, like if you have this international exception, then why wouldn't it be in it? But you can't use it as a cheat code. That's the point.

That was my initial thought, but then I second guessed myself. Steve says, how do the players feel about working with Keith Carter that higher surprised me considering the negative reputation? I haven't heard anything about that yet I I just I can't say that i've heard anything about Positive or negative with the look i've never heard a comment from a player ever about an assistant offensive line coach to tell you the truth this was the first time that any Assisted offensive line coaches hire has ever even come up or

like gotten on my radar at all, just because there were some issues with, uh, Mackay, Bechton and some other offensive linemen. What Jeremiah Searle said that he had some guys that worked with them that didn't enjoy the experience. It is a different place in Minnesota with the mentality of the coaches from other spots, But I haven't taken any notice of anything. If I hear something, you know, I'll bring it up. But I think where him in particular could influence this team is just in the run game where his roots were in Tennessee, where they ran a lot of successful with a big running back outside zone stuff

with Jordan Mason. But I don't know how he's getting along with the offensive line yet. But again, like if I, if I hear that and maybe I'll ask around a little bit because some of you are asking, but again, I've just never, this is not a thing that comes up very often. Uh, see bakes. There seems to be some hesitation to believe that lucky Jackson can contribute in the absence of JJ and Addison. I'm curious to know what the skill divide is between training camp performance and games. Yeah. You know what it is. Here's the best way to think of it.

That if you like baseball or hockey, then you've seen a hundred of these players throughout your lifetime where remember, remember Chris Colabello and remember how he kind of made it with the twins. And then it turned out that he had gotten suspended for steroids or something. Chris Colabello for most of his entire life was a guy who just was a triple-A tweener. Brock Peterson was this way for the twins. And usually that guy, he'll hit a bunch of home runs in the minors.

And you'll be like, but look, he can hit a bunch of home runs in the minors and you'll be like, but look, he can hit all these home runs. And there's something a little bit short for why that guy isn't in the majors. Maybe it's just bat speed or, uh, positional versatility or something, whatever it might be strikes out too much in the minors. And that's kind of where a lot of NFL players fit in who are really good in practice and you love the guy and he tries his butt off and he gives everything he's got, but it's a little bit short on one particular skill. Maybe it's speed, maybe it's athleticism, maybe it's hands,

maybe whatever it might be. Personally though, I think in this situation, in this environment, lucky Jackson has good enough hands and knowledge is really power in the Kevin O'Connell system when you have Justin Jefferson. So if Addison is out, this is where lucky might play is then you're going to have the magnetism of Jefferson where the defense is, going toward, um, Justin Jefferson. And if you run the right routes and you get in the right spots, you're going to be open sometimes and you're going to catch some footballs and lucky knows the offense inside and out.

I think he could probably do it, but that's kind of, there's always like the next guy that you're talking about, like a tie Felton, the next draft pick who's coming up, who's got great speed athleticism. And I mean, honestly, it's probably something that the NFL misses on sometimes because they're always looking for the huge upside with draft picks that sometimes they miss that guy who's just a smart player and a good route runner and can catch the football. So I'm watching that one closely.

Okay, we've resolved the the Oscar Chapman thing. If he makes the roster, he's got to be part of the 53. I thought so, but I was like, is that, I don't know. I, how often does that happen? That out of the first camp that the guy makes the roster, probably not that often. Uh, Vikings backup quarterbacks that you really trusted. Of course, you know, Randall Cunningham's goes back a ways Gus Farah Joe Webb with the laughing emoji Bob Lee. I don't even know if Bob Lee was that trusted. Was he Bradley Taylor Heinecke? I did. I did. Taylor Heinecke play a game as a Viking. I don't think he did. Jaren Hall. I don't think so. I maybe you were joking people. There were Jaren Hall people. There were Jaren Hall people that did not work out. Sometimes the game is just too big.

It's just too fast. And you know, we're just talking about that with Jaren Hall. Jaren Hall look good in practice game was just too fast. That's how it goes. Sloth felt good about Mond and you were misguided. Yeah, Mike Zimmer really let you know that you were misguided with the way he looked in practice. Kellen Mond was one of those guys where I just don't really fully understand how he ended up with some of the draft love that he did because of the way he threw the football.

It was such an ugly kind of motion. And it was almost like, oh, you know, that'll be fine. It was not fine. His decision making also was a struggle too. Susan not sure about Rondale Moore. You pass on him, Jayshon Jones, Tim Jones. Silas Bolton, I mean, if he's a punt returner maybe. I want to see more from Rondale more.

I want to see him continue to grow here. He's coming off a pretty serious knee injury last year. So I want to see if Rondale comes along, see how he looks in the preseason. I understand what you're saying about more, but he does something different. Like, just Shawn Jones is kind of lucky Jackson. They're both smart players, good dudes. They work hard. They catch the ball when it comes to them in practice.

Rondale Moore can succeed in the NFL. He already has. He wasn't a megastar, but he was on a team and he caught passes and made plays and had an 80 yard touchdown against the Vikings and he can do stuff. He can carve out a role. He's already shown that.

So for me, he's getting the benefit of the doubt there from the other guys. You know, Bolden made a diving catch the other day in warmups, but we just haven't seen a lot of him. He's very small. He's not Jordan Addison small. He is extremely small. He's making it as a punt returner or nothing. I don't think he could be unless he's Andrew Hawkins. I don't think he can be, unless he's Andrew Hawkins, I don't think he can be, well, I shouldn't say that. Maybe, everybody's a maybe. The odds are really against him, I would say,

for this year, carving out a role in the NFL beyond being a part returner. Let's see, Susan, Susan's on fire tonight. Ben Johnson was a perfect coach for Jared Goff, particularly at that point in his career with some of his experience, but I think Ben Johnson is exactly wrong for Caleb Williams. It feels that way.

It does feel that way. It feels like Ben Johnson wants a quarterback. You know who he reminds me of or who it sounds like? This relationship, it sort of sounds like Kyle Shanahan and how in Kyle Shanahan's brain, he thought, man, I lost the Superbowl because Jimmy Garoppolo wasn't athletic enough and I got to get Trey Lance. And then he got Trey Lance and was like, Oh, I don't work that way. Give me Brock Purdy.

I work in the way that the guy has to play within a box. He has to paint inside the lines. And that's what Jared Goff does. And Jared Goff is incredible at it. He's one of the best in the league at execution. I mean, how about what he's done to Brian Flores defense because he's got great vision, great knowledge of defenses. He's accurate. He throws with great timing, understands his offense inside and out. Like it's not Kayla Williams. Kayla Williams is somebody who's really relied on his playmaking as opposed to painting inside the numbers because I don't think he sees the field very well. And that's what maybe was missed a little bit was just that seeing the field is going to be more important than scrambling around. But because my homes, I think that that twisted some viewpoints of

certain quarterbacks. Like I think, I think he got elevated because of my homes where in the past there would have been a lot of questions about Caleb the same way there was when Mahomes came out. Remember the river? Okay, I will. What have you seen with the kick return and punt return tryouts anyone muffing the catch? The punt returners have looked fine to me, but they've only done live rep wise just a couple in front of us. That is definitely a preseason thing. It's got to be real. It's got to be real. It has to be guys actually coming to squish you. What's going to be really interesting is when it comes to the kick returns,

do teams try to get that ball on the ground? There was some conversation about that last year. You know, is there some trickery there? And then who can field the football? If they're going to hit it on the ground, who can field the football actually kind of matters. Sean says, don't underestimate a one a one B running back room. They can run, uh, with one over the other, but I think that, uh, I want the tandem. So both running backs are well rested for the playoffs. I think that's exactly right is what they want.

I mean, KOC talked about at the owners meetings, how Aaron Jones had been part of a tandem for his entire career. That last year was actually an outlier for Aaron Jones. He was more used to splitting carries with AJ Dillon. That's what they have here. Only I think that Mason is just better than AJ Dillon. I need to get Josh Oliver on the show working on that.

Speaking of that, I mentioned yesterday that there's plans to have a Viking player on the show. Obviously didn't realize at that time that they were going to have the walkthrough and we weren't going to be out there today. That will happen soon, though. That will happen soon. Got plans for that. Max with the super chat. Forget what the buzz is. I summon Kirk cousins.

Yeah, I don't, I don't think that's, I don't think that that's going to happen. I don't think that's going to happen. Carlos is claiming 54 players. I'm going to, I don't know about that. I think I had 53. I did have you guys. I did have you guys here trying to count them up. But if I had 54, then we're gonna have to cut somebody and we're gonna have to go back. But I think I think we were good. Buddy update eyes right over here to my left. Buddy is he's gotten very good at this now. I think he's realized kind of what's going on as far as I mean,

doesn't really understand live streaming buddy, the dog. But he seems to understand that I sit here and talk loudly while he lays there on his bed. And he's been a lot less mischievous. We also move some wires around to make sure that he couldn't throw his little toy underneath me and rip apart all the wires like he did the other night. So, uh, it's not what I meant to hit. Uh, over under week six for the cam makers trade.

Yes. Yes. Uh, always possible. Always possible. I mean, I'd like to see Chandler be the returner, but that's going to be a competition. Red Bruno of Juergens doesn't look good in preseason. You think they would acquire a veteran David Andrews.

Isn't, is Andrews going to play? I haven't seen anything from David Andrews about whether he's going to play it. I guess he got cut by the Patriots. It's always possible. It's hard to get a backup and it's definitely hard to train one right away. Like you need a guy who's going to know. Now they could cut Juergens, put him on the practice squad, get a veteran. But last year when they had a veteran in Dan Feeney, they still went with, they still went with Michael Juergens. So I would assume that that's where they're going to be going right now. Robert says, how has Ty Felton been looking?

Felton had a good day yesterday, I thought, made a really nice catch over his shoulder. Every single day, there's been something from Ty Felton that I really like. And then there's been something where I'm like, oh, I don't think he's ready yet. And that's how I feel about Ty Felton overall. I see it. I see what they saw in the draft. I see the raw speed. He's made some really nice catches.

There was question about the hands, but I think that drops and ability to make high level catches are two different things. Like you can go up and make a spectacular catch, but also maybe have some easy drops. I haven't seen a ton of drops from Felton, but he had some in college. I think he's looked exactly how I thought he was going to look, which was to not yet be ready to be a starter in the NFL or take Jalen Naylor's job or anything.

On draft night, we all get excited. Like, oh, he's going to do this. He's going to do that. But you know, he's going to need some time. I do think that they could get him the football and these next few weeks in a preseason will be big for him to show that, Hey, if you get him the football, he's got to make some plays. Right. And if he does, then they might consider getting him in.

I think right now that he's not ready to play in the NFL, which is totally fine develop, be ready for next year. Um, but that's not like, that's not that exciting. I think he's going to be a great player to watch in this preseason. It's just this team has so many veterans on it that they're not going to push guys up into roles that they're not ready for. Uh, Lisa heard chat of Parsons to the lions. That would not be good. No, not for the Vikings. Lisa would not.

Do we really believe that's going to happen though? Do we really believe that like a Parsons will get traded because usually the way that this has gone the last couple years, it's just the same story. It'll probably happen with Terry McLaurin is the guy's negotiating a contract. He gets frustrated. He demands a trade.

Didn't Jalen Johnson demand a trade and then the Bears signed him to a big deal? I mean, somebody had the list the other day of like five, six, seven players who had demanded trades then got their contracts and then undemanded the trade. I think that'll be Michael Parsons that it's just a typical Jerry Jones, foolish ploy for more attention and more talk about Jerry Jones. Jerry Jones loves any kind of attention, even if it's negative.

Everybody knows somebody like this, by the way, in your life. I guarantee you know who it is. When I say this, there's always that person that even if it's bad attention, they love it because it's attention and that's Jerry Jones. So everyone's calling him a dope, but he loves it anyway. Like they're talking about me and he wants them to talk about him for a while. And then he'll sign Micah Parsons and then we can all move on with our lives. If he did trade him to the lions, that would be a huge problem though. Yes, I agree with that.

Cause that dude's unstoppable. I mean, we were trying to concoct a Mike of Parsons trade the other day. I couldn't come up with one that was really great, but I was working on that. Jim says, how confident are you with the current cornerback group? If I was doing like a one to ten, I'd probably go like like a six. I think I go a six, one to 10, because in some ways I'm trusting my own eyes on Isaiah Rogers, trusting Flores on Jeff Okuda, because I'm not so sure on that one yet, and that Mackay Blackman will be good depth for them,

and Zamiah Vaughn has come along. I feel like any of the, any combination of those guys, as long as Byron Murphy is in there will be okay. Murphy's the one that's going to take on the tougher stuff and he can handle that. If Murphy were to go out, then I would feel a lot less confident for sure. Uh, let's see, son of beavers. I mean, beavers, you are, you are all about this backup quarterback situation. You, this is, this is your, your day when we, every time we talk about how Sam Hall is down, like you're, you're on it with the list of backup quarterbacks. A Beaver says that maybe they could swing a trade for Tanner McKee. Now we're, now we're reaching, I, they, I don't think they need a Tanner McKee. I think they need a Ryan Tan

Hill if there's going to be somebody that they bring in or a Carson Wentz that could actually play if they needed him to. But it's getting late early when it comes to that. I mean, we're in August 3rd and Sam Howell's been working on this offense for months. Can you bring in like how much more time do you need? What date do we have? That's why I think that after the first preseason game,

that week that you really have to evaluate that decision and get somebody else in if you don't like him. CJ, now how can, this is CJ on CJ crime. I don't understand this CJ. Why does CJ Ham get a spot? They never use him. You, you got it. Like I feel this way about

the car I drive. If somebody I drive a Honda Civic, if somebody cuts me off in a Honda Civic, I'm like, it's cool, man. You're driving a Honda Civic. Like it's good. It's kind of like Larry David, where I don't know if you guys are curb fans, Larry David hired someone because he was bald because Larry David's bald, you should like CJ Ham because your name is CJ. He gets a spot for many reasons. They don't never use him. They use him periodically. It hasn't been as much in the run game as it was during Kevin Stefanski's time.

That offense required a fullback, but he has used them in pass protection quite frequently over the last couple of years. I think that they will increase the amount of fullback usage on some of the outside zone stuff. This year, he's still extremely, extremely valuable in special teams, and he can do a lot of different things. I mean, if you have somebody go down a tight end, and you need him to line up at a tight end position. We've seen him do that. He's just a versatile player who could do a lot of different stuff for you. Pass, protect, run, block, throw him a pass out of the backfield as Kirk liked to do in some big moments, that kind

of thing. I mean, there's a lot of things that he does well. And then, you know, the character element, the work ethic element, like all that stuff. And it matters. Like it matters to have guys. If you cut CJ Ham, I think everybody's going to be like, dude, what are we doing? So I think that's why I understand. Like there's kind of the, there's two different thoughts of that of like, oh, is the guy a mascot and he's not, he's not a mascot. And the other part of it that you have to remember too, is that teams don't prepare for fullbacks.

They never see them. They don't prepare for two tight ends a lot, or as much as three wide receivers, but two tight ends, they kind of prepare for fullbacks. I mean, if you could have Josh Oliver and CJ Ham on the field at the same time with Jordan Mason, like that's a lot of man. That's a lot of beast right there.

So like they want, they want to be able to use that. I think that O'Connell has never fully really grasped how to use the fullback in the same ways the Fansky has, but I wrote an article about this. I interviewed Jerome Felton and Johnny Stanton, some former tight ends or former fullbacks about the role that they've carved out for CJ and how unique it is as a key pass protector on third downs, I think they still want to do that. Uh, Kendall, Jamis Winston should have been QB too. That's a hard pass for me. I am absolutely out on that. He's the same as Sam Howell.

Look at their numbers. Like look at how they play. It's the same kind of guy. Only Winston is, you know, oh, you also counted 54. Really? Okay. Do we have to do a recount? Do we have to do a recount here?

Who are we taking off? If I got to 54 there, we might have to do a live recount. One too many. Okay. Yeah. All right. So we got one too many. Okay.

Interesting. So who are we taking out? Probably Tavair Thomas would be the guy that has to come out, right? One too many safeties. I think that's, I think that's probably who would have to come out. Or maybe it's only two quarterbacks on the active roster. That might also be a thing that they don't keep three quarterbacks that they probably keep too. Yeah, Tavi, Tavi or Thomas is probably the guy that has to come out there. Okay. Good call. Good call. There I warned you guys, you were supposed to tell me an hour ago,

but that, that was, yeah. And that was one where I was trying to think like, is there, is there somebody who they could fit as a pure special teamer? But apparently not. So we're going to have to edit the safety part of that. Yeah, like I mean, maybe Brosmer ends up on the practice squad. That's right. They, they do seem to like to have three quarterbacks. So, OK, well, I'm glad that you guys were counting on my official 53. There were 54 and I worried about that. I counted twice and I still ended up one off. But Thomas is the guy that I would take off of there then. And they would have to work through. Yeah, Rob says, CJ Ham, 262 offensive plays, 282 on special teams.

Like, that's a lot of playing Like that's a lot of playing. That's a lot of playing, but you know, I think, well, if it's not Tavi or Thomas, if they want the special team, or then it is the quarterback, there might be some concern that someone would pick up Brosmer because there has been a lot of Brosmer momentum, uh, over the last, you know, couple of months because he's performed pretty well in training camps. So it's gotta be, gotta be one of those. Although does anybody know about if Addison gets suspended, then does he count toward the roster to start the season? That's a question

maybe. Um, I, I don't know if he does. does he count? So maybe, maybe I was playing 3d chess by including 54. Someone's going to have to tell me that rule. Cause I, I don't think Michael Floyd was officially a part of the roster when he was suspended to start the season in 2017. I'm really asking you guys to get the rule book out tonight, but maybe that's a thing. I do think that if I, if I had to, had to cut someone, it would not be CJ Ham. It would be probably Thomas or just

have two quarterbacks on the active roster and then sign another quarterback to the practice squad and that would probably be Max Brozmer. So, yeah, I think he gets put on a suspended list. Yeah, see, it's not gets put on the suspended list. Yeah. See, it's, it's not me who's wrong guys. I meant to put 54. Someone before I wrap up tonight, someone's going to have to get me the answer on that.

Any lawyers? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. William says suspended players don't count. See. Brilliant. Brilliant.

Cause we're talking about the 53. But wait a minute. They would have to have a final 53 and then elevate somebody. Hmm. Yeah, I guess I'm gonna have to come with a copy of the CBA every night here in Active List. Okay, but does that affect, but does that affect the final cut down though? I think on the final, so they don't count toward the roster, but the final cut down, like if he's suspended before the season,

make the call for Slaughter. Someone had to say it. If he suspended like tomorrow for three games, but he still can go through camp. But Michael Floyd could go through camp. And then we always included an extra player because he wasn't on the 53. Okay. I'm going to stick with it. I'm going to stick with the 54 is right.

And Addison won't count. How about that? They will have to wave someone. Yes. You're right about that. When he's reactivated, but what about the final cut down? When do we find out that? I do not know.

Quick call Roger Goodell. I know. I know. Hmm. I don't know when we're going to find out. And I don't want to bring this up because it was very sad. But like what happened in New York, what I'm sure was very disruptive to everything that they were doing in the NFL.

Like I don't after what happened there Like I don't, after what happened there, I don't know that the first thing on everybody's list the next day was to sort out the Jordan Addison issue. So that may have delayed some things about suspensions. I don't know. I'm just wondering if that could have been the case. Who do we email to ask? Oh wait, they all quit at the NFL PA. That's good. That's good. No, I know. So I know for sure that the suspended player is not on the roster to start he's on the suspended list, but Do you have to cut to 52 and then activate someone off the practice squad or can you cut to?

54 and put them on the list the practice squad or can you cut to 54 and put them on the list? It's good question. Either way, I still like my 54 man roster, uh, at this moment, even though it's supposed to be 53, Lisa is a Brett Rippon progressing. Not really. He's Brett Rippon. It kind of is what it is. You know, he's got some limitations physically.

They've put him in a couple second team reps because I think they've been frustrated with howl, but I don't think he's really competing for that spot. I did not get a chance to see Jared Allen speech live. I have seen some highlights of it was wondering if there would be some emotion there. I really loved Antonio Gates. So I haven't watched the whole thing. I've just seen some clips of Alan's so far. That was something I was planning on doing, sitting around on YouTube tonight, waiting for,

tomorrow, waiting for the night practice. So we'll have to see about that. Okay, well, it's been a really good show and really good conversation tonight, as always, but tomorrow should be very exciting. So, um, Rob says, uh, read somewhere, Addison would not count, but when he came back, they'd have to cut someone. Right. Okay. I think, right. Okay. So it's not, it's not off to have a 54 man roster, but would that include instead? Yeah. That, that would allow them to get Tavi or Thomas.

I'm just curious about whether you have to get it to 53, or you could put him on the suspended list. That means he's got to get suspended soon though, and then they could put him on the suspended list when they cut down. Yeah, okay, that makes sense. So I just didn't mention that because I accidentally had 54,

but it all worked out for me. Anyway, so great stuff and thanks everybody for your answers on the FanDuel question of the day about the Chicago Bears and their chances to go over eight and a half. Most of you were kind of in the, either you really, really don't believe in the Bears and possibly hate them or in the range where I would be,

which is maybe about 40% chance. So, Son of Beavers, yeah. No, Maggie's okay. She wasn't working there. She did work for them at the NFL and she knows people who were involved, who were there when that happened. But, you know, she's doing okay.

But she's gonna be back because we've got the night practice and then she's gonna be back, cause we've got the night practice and then she's gonna be back after that. It's gonna be changing a little bit. She's just had a changing schedule. So she will be back probably doing a prerecorded segment with me as opposed to live just cause her schedule has been a little bit crazy.

So anyway, all right. I appreciate all of you guys and the questions and thoughts and feelings. And we will catch y'all tomorrow night. I cannot wait for the Vikings night practice. Let's hope that there is no rain. We will see you then. All right, football.