Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Takeaways from Vikings free agent introductory press conferences

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about what he learned from Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, Isaiah Rodgers, Ryan Kelly, Jordan Mason and Will Fries introductory press conferences. It seems that The Athletic is keeping the Aaron Rodgers/Vikings thing alive and Adam Schefter kinda hesitated on TV. Things are still weird there.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of purple insider Matthew collar here. And we have spent the last two days as Vikings reporters talking with the new members of the Minnesota Vikings. So the goal is to run through some of the most interesting clips from two guys who you could say won the press conferences. They've also won a lot of football games in their careers, but the most interesting clips from two guys who you could say won the press conferences. They've also won a lot of football games in their careers,

but the most interesting subjects that we had an opportunity to talk with were Ryan Kelly and Jonathan Allen, both of whom could probably host their own podcasts at some point. So I'll dive into some of the questions that I asked both of those guys and we'll give you those answers and some of the other things that I took away from the conversations. I think the biggest thing that we were looking for was number one, why did you sign in Minnesota? I'll bring you some of those answers. And then also there was a lot of health discussions that were going on of where do you stand in terms of your health?

Because if there's one big question mark about a lot of the Vikings free agent signings, it is, are they going to be at 100%? Is there risk involved and all that? So we can get into that, but it's also your night here on the show. There hasn't been any news in like, I don't know, like 20 hours or so. So what do you got? What's on your mind? What are you thinking about?

And yeah, it does seem like the Aaron Rodgers saga for maybe an entire day felt over and then feels less over after some more speculation and Diana Rossini on a Dan Patrick show, guessing, asked to guess where Rogers was going to land and doubling down and saying the Minnesota Vikings. But at least for now, I think we have gotten to a point where we can say,

JJ McCarthy is going to be the quarterback to start the spring. And then we let God take the wheel and whatever happens from there happens and we'll see. But at least from the reporting we can guess that Aaron Rogers isn't walking through that door tomorrow and JJ McCarthy will get his opportunity to show what he's got. And as far as the spring goes, you'd be surprised how much you can

learn about somebody number one, where is he physically? He can be totally fine physically working out by himself. And then maybe not when he actually gets out in the field for OTAs or I mean, from a mental perspective, he should be on point, but last year during this time, he had to do a lot of learning of the technique and how to throw certain routes and the footwork and all that stuff. So I think they want to assess where he is physically, where he is mentally, how he leads a team from the start that, uh, is got very, very high expectations and they'll assess

that and go from there. But at least for now, it appears that JJ McCarthy is the quarterback and there will still be some discussion and talk about it and where he's going to go as long as he is still a free agent. And there was a report today that the Steelers offer for Aaron Rodgers was not very impressive, kind of in the ballpark of what Sam Darnold got, which makes you think that Aaron Rogers is likely not moving for that amount of money, which also until the Vikings spend every last dollar of that cap space, you know that we're still

going to have that, uh, lingering out there as well. But at least for now, I think we can move past having the daily, this person said that that person reported that if momentum starts to begin again with Aaron Rodgers, then we'll talk about it. But at least for now, I think that it's, I don't want to say dead, but it's off the table for me for discussions until there is some tangible evidence that Aaron Rogers could play for the Minnesota Vikings. That's how I'll put it, which means that we have plenty of time to talk about other stuff.

And that pleases me and probably you as well. So questions, thoughts, comments, what do you want to see next from the Vikings? What's your thought on where they go from the draft? How are you feeling about this free agent class and this roster and this team? Maybe Week later two weeks later from where they're at. Let me know what you think and we'll have a fun discussion Also intern clay has his headlines and since there are less headlines now He's also just got some fun questions and things to talk about. But Jonathan Harrison, who produces this show, pulled all the clips of questions that I asked Ryan Kelly and Jonathan Allen, the new Minnesota

Vikings veterans. They were the most talkative during the press conferences, but I'll get to some of the other ones, uh, as well. And some of my takeaways, but Ryan Kelly and Jonathan Allen were so good that I wanted you guys to hear from them, some of the things that they had to say. So let's start out with Ryan Kelly. And I asked him, Hey, um, so why are you a Minnesota Viking? And here's what he said. I'm just curious, uh, what the process was like of deciding on the Vikings and what tip the scales for you to decide to come here.

Yeah, I mean, there was a few different teams calling and to be honest, I was actually on a flight when this was all going down, which is probably the worst place to be since you can't answer your phone. So big shout out to Jimmy Sexton for doing this via text message. But no, I think, you know, there was a few teams involved. And as I started looking at it, like Minnesota was the most appealing place. And I think, you know, I can probably go into super depth into this answer, but you know, even in the AFC South,

watching some of the NFC North teams, like you watch different offensive lines throughout the year. And I think you can watch a team and how they play, their head coach, who they play for. Obviously the NFLPA report card comes out every single year and they're always number one or number two. So all those things kind of go into it.

And I saw from afar more, you know, descriptively it was just how well the offensive line played together. You could tell that that team really relies on the offensive line and their true, you know, band of brothers mentality. And that's what I was looking for. So I think when you couple all those things together, that's ultimately what, you know, pushed me over the edge to go to Minnesota. So the biggest thing I took away from Ryan Kelly was that he has

extremely natural leadership vibes. And when you're handing the ball over to a young quarterback and JJ McCarthy, I think that's a good thing, but he also has a little bit of an edge to him, uh, which I think is a good thing and is necessary for the Vikings as well. And I don't have the clip, but he did talk about JJ McCarthy and he said, he has some stuff to him. And I think we all knew what he meant. He's got some intensity to him.

He's got some competitive nature to him. And we all saw that last year during a training camp. I also asked Ryan Kelly about the interior pressure issue because in, I think this entire off season, one of the main talking things around the NFL from the combine to the draft with offensive lineman and defensive lineman is just how much interior pressure became the thing over the last two or three years. And I did the big article on it over purple insider dot football. You can check that out about the data really shows it.

The data really shows that even the top 20 guards in the league have had their overall average PFF grade go down significantly as a whole over the last couple of years, because there are more DTs in the Aaron Donald mold and also teams are using a lot more strategies to attack the middle and they know that also offenses are not running that much on second down, especially second down and long, which has allowed for more creativity, more attacking on more downs for defenses, which results in more pressure. So I asked Ryan Kelly about just the increase in attack

on the center of the offensive line and how he's been dealing with it right along those same lines. It seems like and I'm sure you watch the Super Bowl. There's a lot of freakish defensive tackles in the league. A lot of teams like, you know, with Brian Flores sending crazy blitzes up the middle attacking you guys,, um, you guys in, in Indianapolis sustained a good interior pass protection. I guess what was the key to that in a changing league where there's a lot of new freak defensive tackles always coming in and a lot of

different types of blitzes and things being sent up the middle? Yeah, I think it's multiple things. Um, you know, certainly you have to have the right protections, right? And that starts from the offense coordinator, the quarterback coach, the offensive line coach. And it's, it's a, it's a, it's a peer to peer mentality, right? It's like, we're both in this together. As a coach, I can watch film for hours and hours, and I can watch this team of what Brian Flores does. And I can get us in the best rules potentially possible. But if my guys don't believe that they can execute it or they call it doesn't make sense for them, it doesn't matter. So it has to be a communication on the coaches and the players at the same time. It also comes from the trust, right? The offensive line coach has to trust the five of us, no matter what. And you can always play armchair quarterback on Monday and

look back at the film and say, well, it should have been this call, this call, this call. But those guys are out there doing it live. So I think it's the belief that the players have in the offensive line coach and the rest of the coaches to go out there, execute the call, play fast. We're gonna make mistakes, but as long as we're all wrong, we're all right, right? I think that's the key to any offensive line playing well. And it's also the belief that you bring five guys together in April and

you have real conversations, you have real meaningful discussions of who we are, you build a room that way in April and you see the dividends that paying off in August, September, October, November, December, when these guys are playing five is one. And even though there could be injuries here, there, guys might miss a game here, there, like you protect the sanctity of the room and that's how you protect the sanctity of the pocket. So that's kind of, I guess in a little bit of a way, that's kind of a

corny, uh, finished with that answer, but you know, that's, that's true. That's how it is, man. And that's how we did it in Indy. Um, and that's how you look at great offensive lines around the league. That's how they. Yeah. I think the, one of the main points that Ryan Kelly and Will fries, when he talked later, they were making was about the chemistry along the offensive line.

And this is a unique dynamic. We very rarely see two free agents from the same team. Just go and join another team together. But in the chemistry aspect, that's going to be a big help. I think for those two to come here and Steve says, wish you could trade for Quentin Nelson, just take all of Indianapolis is offensive lineman and bring them to Minnesota, pair them with the tackles and they'll be good to go. But I think what you really sense from Ryan Kelly and he's communicating to

me about answering the question is what a great communicator he is. And that is one of the biggest things that frustrated me last year about the interior, the offensive line, was it seemed like there were far too many times where they were not on the same page. And it got better when Dalton Reisner came in, but when Ed Ingram was there, there was mental errors, there was, oh wait, was that supposed to be your guy? Was that supposed to be your guy? I mean, it just seems like they were having trouble with a lot of the blitzes and the stunts and things that People threw at them and last year the Vikings faced more stunts than anybody in the NFL I think part of this is because they were throwing the ball down the field

They are a pass first offense so teams know that they could dial it up But the other part is to, that teams attack weaknesses. They don't attack strengths. So if you're looking for, how can we get our edge rusher away from Christian Derrissa? How can we get our edge rusher away from Brian O'Neal? Well, how are they gonna do it? They're gonna swing those guys into the middle.

They're gonna run those stunts. They're gonna run blitzes and stuff like that to try to attack the interior of the offensive line, which means you've got to pick apart a lot of it. And that's where Ryan Kelly, I think will be huge for the Vikings is being able to help them set their protections, help them get into the right looks and then communicate what they need to do. And he's already worked with his right guard for a long time. So that could be good. Uh, Kumar. Yeah. Yeah.

Kelly also said that he had played for 14 different quarterbacks. Like, man, is that true? It probably is true, uh, that he has played with a million different quarterbacks, a lot of different styles, a lot of different talents, um, levels of experience. So him stepping in with JJ McCarthy, that seems like it's going to be a really good fit so I want to bring you two more from Jonathan Allen I asked him about the scheme and

How different it might be because Jonathan Allen was coming from a scheme with Dan Quinn that plays the four three It's not a three four base But you know I mean we've talked about this a number of times, how nobody really plays like the old school three, four, you know, Greg Lloyd and LaVon Kirkland and those, you know, Dick LeBeau Pittsburgh Steelers, but it has its base in that. And so it's a little bit different, uh, when it comes to, uh, you know, sending like different or lining up different people at different places and things like that, making it more of a defensive end that a defensive tackle type of position,

you know, stuff like that. So let's hear from him on that. Here's Jonathan Allen on how he's going to fit into Brian Flores scheme. Jonathan, I'm curious about how different schematically you think it might be. Maybe you know, you haven't had time to dive fully in to that, but just going from working with Dan now to Brian Flores, you know how creative Flores can be. Like, what have you seen schematically and where do you feel like you fit in?

Yeah, you know, when you look at a guy like Coach Flores, man, they refer to him as a mad scientist. I mean, some games will be in a three, four, bringing pressure off both ends. And some games were switching it up. So, you know, every week being in that playbook is a big key, but I really like how he's able to create space on the inside and allow, you know, guys to. Get one-on-ones and when you get a one-on-one and this NFL, you've got to be able to one though.

So I'm looking forward to just fitting right in and, you know, doing what I can to help out. Of course, if I was built like Jonathan Allen, I would also mostly focus on my shoulders and chest on the video. He was a little more, a little more body than face in the, uh, in our conversation, but he is extremely jacked. So he was another one where I asked him just about why he joined the Vikings. And he had a really interesting answer. It was quite a process for him to come to the conclusion that he wanted to join the Vikings. I'm just curious. It seems like the process

came together pretty quickly for you joining the Vikings. Just what was that like for you? The kind of whirlwind and what made the Vikings such an attractive location for you? Yeah, you know, so once I was told by the commanders that I wasn't going to be re-signed, me and my agent put together a list of five things that were important to a city. How great everything was for the wives, for the players' families.

Obviously, salary cap, team success, scheme, coaches, and honestly, culture. I think to have a good team and compete in the next level, you gotta have a good culture. At the very top of that list was the Minnesota Vikings. So once I found out that there was a mutual interest there, I mean, me and I told my agent Blake that, I mean, unless something unforeseen happens,

I mean, let's go all in, let's go for it. And, you know, I always like to say, if you have two people who are level headed and want to accomplish the same thing, you'll get a deal done. So, uh, yeah, it will be able to get some done relatively fast and. Get this whole process over with so we can get started on the next chapter. So all of those interviews, you could see them, uh, Vikings.com. They posted them or on the Vikings Twitter, they stream them live and Ryan Kelly's and Jonathan Allen specifically, I would say are a must watch

for Vikings fans because they were both delightful. But yeah, I mean, it's funny about, you know, go wolves mentions the NFLPA report cards, and I also did ask Ryan Kelly about that. He gave a great answer. They came up with every single free agent. They came up with J von Hargrave and they came up with, uh, Isaiah Rogers even brought it up. I mean, everybody has taken notice of what the Minnesota Vikings have

created as far as a culture. And it really speaks to the both sides of the things they were looking to accomplish when they hired quasi Daphne Mensa and Kevin O'Connell where quasi Daphne Mensa's big picture plan for the Minnesota Vikings was to competitively rebuild. Have a couple of seasons where they compete, but slowly take apart the roster and rebuild it around a rookie quarterback. And that's exactly what they've done. They have drafted their quarterback at JJ McCarthy. They've spent all the money in these guys. And here you are with some veteran star players that are going to surround the young kid, which is been a pretty common thing to succeed in the NFL. And the example that I like maybe the most is Jared golf.

His first year was a total disaster with Jeff Fisher and all that. He didn't even start the first half of the season. It was a wreck. Case Keenum was playing. It was a throwaway year for Jared Goff. He was horrendous. And then they brought in Sean McVeigh. They changed the culture. They got a bunch of free agents, they went and got Andrew Whitworth, who is one of the best left tackles ever, Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, they got all these players.

And then Jared Goff in his second year is leading an elite offense, even though he was not the Jared Goff that we see now. And there was all this criticism for him while Mc you know, McVeigh's in his head said, and they're making it easy on him. And it's like the guy's only a second year quarterback and he's got his team competing because they were able to execute that same sort of plan. And then Brock Purdy in San Francisco is like the all-timer of the seventh round draft pick who comes in and he seems to understand where to go with the football and there's guys open all the time and they got a good running game and they got a good defense and everything around him.

It's exactly what the Vikings are trying to do with this group, but it's very hard to execute it if you can't get the players to agree to come play for you and money is a thing. But with the salary cap going up, a lot of people have money. There are a lot of teams that would have offered Jonathan Allen money to come play for their football team and Ryan Kelly money to come play for their football team with the need for interior pressure and interior blocking. I'm sure that those guys both got a dozen phone calls and offers to come go to other teams. And it seems like one of the main reasons that they came to the Vikings was

because of what they saw from Kevin O'Connell. So it's had to work in conjunction with the vision to actually build it this way, but also the head coach to create this environment and to win enough and to have like, sometimes it's funny. They, those little things like the features on cam buying them and his dances and stuff like that. I mean, it's, or, or even lifting up Sam Darnold on their shoulders. I know everybody made fun of that after it fell apart, but just signs of the comradery from the outside.

And then these guys will ask their friends, Hey, what's it like to play there? And it matters that this is what it's like to play here. Now, I think four or five years ago, if they had asked somebody inside the building, I think it was Ryan Kelly who said he knew Jordan Hicks. Hey, what's it like to play there? No, go sign somewhere else.

The culture's a mess here. It's a disaster. Everybody's going to get fired. Like that's what it would have been like just a couple of years ago in 2021. And now here we are a few years later and guys who have been stars in the league over the last decade, like Kelly and Alan, they're signing here. Uh, Isaiah Rogers was an interesting one because he was suspended for a year with the gambling issue and of course, and we asked him about what he took away

from that year and he said, he kind of realized that the NFL moves on without you that like it or not, even if you're out of the league and nobody's going to wait for you. And so he did a lot of self reflection during that time, came back and played really well with the Philadelphia Eagles and took advantage of his situation there. So the Eagles took their kind of risk on Rogers and he proved that he could still be a contributing player.

And I'm interested to see where he fits in because the contract was not nothing But it certainly wasn't hey, you're definitely a starter It might end up being kind of that Shaq Griffin type of role where he's rotating in or They might draft somebody and there might be a big competition at cornerback But that was interesting to hear him talk just about Being away from the game, having it take away from you and how much that matters to him. Uh, and as far as will fries goes, it sounded to me like, and if someone had a different interpretation, you could tell me that will

fries was essentially saying, if I had to play football today with his recovery from his broken leg, he couldn't do it. but the expectation is that he's going to be on track to be ready to go. And I think, I don't know if he said this, but it sounded like ready to go when the time comes, maybe training camp, um, with his recovery, that he'll be back to a hundred percent. Now, everybody who gets signed to a big contract that had an injury is going to say, what injury? I don't even know what you're talking about. But Jonathan Allen did tell us that last year when he tore his pack that, and you remember

when this happened to Anthony Barr, they thought he was going to be out for the year. They thought it was a devastating injury and it turned out it wasn't as bad as it had appeared originally. And he ended up coming back and playing in the playoffs for Washington. So I assume that he is good to go there and that that's not something that's going to be a concern. So that was a main discussion. And I also learned that Jordan Mason is a man of few words,

maybe along the Marshawn Lynch type of running back where his main thing is running through someone's face. And that's really what he plans to do here. And he's, you know, he seemed like an earnest kid who maybe didn't do that many press conferences before and that was his, that was his main focus was I would like the football and I would like to run through people. And I, you know, I think he's going to do that. So all right, let's get to, let, let's get to your questions, uh, and have a

good discussion here for a bit. And then we can have a Clay's corners got some things prepared for fun discussion as well. We'll start off with Anthony with JJ. We are a gray Zable away from the Superbowl conversation. Well, uh, that is aggressive Anthony. Uh, but I think when you look at the roster that they're able to put around JJ McCarthy, what they've done for him is everything that they could.

There is still maybe another wide receiver out there in the draft that they could get or another free agent. And certainly you're talking about left guard is where Gray's Abel would fit in if they draft him with the 24th pick or if they trade down and pick him and left guard has to be high in the discussion of where they should spend one of their top draft picks. Now a rookie guard is unlikely to come in and completely change the face of your offensive line. Usually there is some development process. Even the really excellent, excellent guards went through that. So I don't know if you're a gray Zable away from the Super Bowl conversation, but what you are is in the discussion for the strongest roster in the NFC. And there's only two teams that I would put clearly ahead of the Minnesota Vikings.

And there are others that are arguably close. I mean, the Rams are close, if not dead even, the Packers are not million miles away from them. Washington is certainly not a million miles away from the Vikings either. I would put them quite close as well, but really only Detroit and Philadelphia are decidedly better rosters, more complete overall built over years, lots of guys in their prime, but the Vikings aren't that far away from that. What it's really going to rest on is two things. Number one is their regression when it comes to their health luck.

Because last year, I mean, very few people got hurt. Darasaw did get injured and that was really tough for that. Excuse me. It was really tough for them, especially in the playoffs where it got them and week 18 where it got them. But as far as the rest of the roster, I mean, getting a thousand snaps out of Van Ginkle, a thousand snaps out of Granard, uh, Blake Cashman missed a couple games was largely healthy same with Stefan Gilmore Like they had really good overall luck the wide receivers were mostly healthy other than Jordan Addison getting banged up

Hockinson was out for half the year so that hurt but they were one of the healthier teams in the NFL So does regression hit you they also took the ball away from other teams like crazy last year. They were at the top of the NFL and takeaways. That's a hard thing to repeat, especially if you play better quarterbacks this year, like they will. So how much does that regression hit them? They were also at the top of the league at sacks. So if you're up there in didn't get hurt got a ton of sacks got a ton of takeaways Those from year to year where they're trying to fight that that regression is by getting Jonathan Allen by getting Javon Hargrave This is how you fight it back against that as you get better, right?

You got to you say we've got to be better than we were last year to have the same results Because there is going to be just some natural can't keep taking the ball away at that level of a clip. So they have to reduce the amount of yards that they give up. And there were a lot of games where they gave up yards and teams move the football on them. So I assume that that's kind of part of the discussion of, well, why do you go out and spend this much on two defensive tackles, because if you play it the same way again,

you're not gonna have the AFC South there to give you four free wins essentially last year, it's going to be harder. So they seem to understand that concept. But then it's really just how ready is JJ McCarthy? Because we know that the Vikings have the weapons, they've improved the line, they've got the coaching, they've certainly got the defense and it's not a crazy thing to set that bar at top five or better

even if they are playing a lot of great quarterbacks. They should be, if you're a Breaking Bad fan, they should be the one who knocks, right? They're the ones that should be scary as a defense as opposed to, well, we're facing a really good quarterback this week. It should be, well, the Vikings defense is making life hell on everybody. That's what they've done the last two years without as complete a roster as they have right now. So how ready is JJ McCarthy to lead a team into the playoffs and deep.

And if JJ McCarthy is as good as Bo Nix was last year or better, or as good as CJ Stroud was as a rookie. I mean, that puts you a really high clip, but if he's ready to be, or even what I was talking about with Jared Goff, that level where there's growing pains and there's a lot of work that the coaching staff has to do, but keep the ball on the fairway for the early part of the season. Jayden Daniels was running a lot of screens and short stuff the first part of the season.

And then the playbook opened up and opened up heck. Even Sam Darnold. We saw that last year. They were running kind of. Is Shanahan Kubiakian type of run first down and then play action off it early. And it wasn't until later in the season that you saw KOC open it up a bit for Sam Darnold. So is that going to be the case for JJ McCarthy? And if he is ready enough, then they can make the playoffs and they can be a

contender, they can go into the post season with everyone saying like, Hey, you know, you might want to watch out for them because they have a deep roster. Someone else asked me another question today about like, what's a successful season for JJ McCarthy? Like where to set the bar? If we now think we could take a deep breath and say, okay, JJ is your quarterback. Where do we set the bar? And the playoffs has to be the beginning of the conversation.

If you miss the playoffs, it's not good enough. Like you can't come off a 14 win season, turn it over to your quarterback who you've had a year with and then go seven and 10 and have everyone say, yay, great job. I got I'm not saying move the franchise to, you know, St. Louis, I'm just saying that like that's not a success. If you win as many games with half a season of Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullins as With your first round quarterback that would not be a success

But if they are in the nine and eight ten and seven or even better than that conversation I think we'll just know with JJ McCarthy that will all watch every single game I'll be there at them and will be talking to people and will be watching every moment of every throw and every interaction and all those things and how he deals with adversity throughout a season and we'll get to the end of the year and go, Yep, Yep, he's got it. Or you know what? I got some questions. It's going to be one way or the other. you know what? I got some questions. It's going to be one way or the other. And of course, there's another scenario where you're going, uh-oh, but at least the most likely scenarios to me, based on what we've seen so far from JJ McCarthy,

are either, I've still got some questions or yep, it's happening. He's got it. And that's something that's going to be a little more based on feel than it is statistics, because if he throws, I don't know, 26 touchdowns and 14 picks and averages seven and a half yards per attempt, like what does that really tell you about how it looked? Or if he doesn't come through on a couple of last second drives, but has really good performances, like that might be losses, but we're saying, you know, he was really good in the game or if he has some struggle games and comes through in some clutch

moments and you might say, well, look, he's at least showing himself there. So it's going to be, I think a moving target and a difficult thing to really pin down, but I also don't think there's going to be a massive debate when all of us, all you guys, myself, everybody in media, when we all watch the same games and gather the same information about a quarterback, you usually have a really great sense for him. And I'll give you a example. I like this story because I wrote an article off of it at one point.

So I was in Cincinnati in 2021 for the Vikings. Was against the cincinnati bangles i think it was. And before that game we talked to mike zimmer about job or. And mike said and remember job or ahead of the half a season they were terrible didn't have great statistics it was just okay and. statistics, it was just okay. And Mike was like, no, I love Joe Burrow. I think he's going to be awesome. And we're like, really? Oh, okay. That's interesting.

And then when I flew to Cincinnati, anybody who's been there, you fly into Kentucky and you got to take a really long Uber drive. And so everywhere you go, you kind of got to take Ubers. And I was in, I don't know, four or five Ubers over that weekend. And I'm not even kidding you at least three or four Uber drivers were telling me we think Burroughs is going to be great. We think Burroughs is going to be awesome. And I was like, well, okay.

I mean, I guess like I hadn't seen more than one game from him the previous year, but the locals and Mike Zimmer, who had studied the tape and everybody who really watched it, saw it there, even though it didn't succeed in his first year. So I think of the same kind of thing is this went on in Buffalo with my friends there with Josh Allen, where you just got that sense. Like the guys got it. It's just that next step. And if he takes it, it's going to be really serious. I think if you get to that point, it's a success and anything beyond that point is a massive success for JJ McCarthy.

How about that for one question from Anthony about Gray's able Maverick says best player available in the draft. This is why I now really love the draft conversation about the Vikings because I mean they really can go in a lot of different directions. They really can look at other positions that we normally would have thrown out and said, no, no, no, they, they, they've got to get this. You can't go with that, but now it's all right. If it's Melchi, Starks is a safety. Okay. But now it's alright if it's melkeye stark says the safety okay there is a very few things that they could do in this draft.

Where i would be like what the heck were they thinking with that pic i remember that happened it's only happened a couple times because normally. We could predict down to a t who they were gonna take. We could predict down to a T who they were gonna take. And now as you know, last year and there's been years in the past, you could pretty easily figure out while they're desperate for a center. So I guess they're going to take him or alignment in 2019, right? Uh, Oh, they need a tight end because Kyle Rudolph's contract is up. I guess they're going to take one and not pick a J Brown or whatever. So there's been a lot of that throughout the years. This is one of the first years that I can remember going into it with.

I'm not really sure because I can justify so many different positions and unless they do some insane trade, I can't think of a scenario. I guess if they took a Omerian Hampton in the first round, after just trading for Jordan Mason, that would be weird if they took a omerian Hampton in the first round after just trading for Jordan Mason, that would be weird. If they took a quarterback, that would be weird. But aside from that, there's not too much, you know, offensive tackle. We'll just assume they're going to be a guard if they took an edge rusher. Now that would be pretty weird because of Van Ginkle and Grenard and Dallas Turner.

So I don't expect that linebacker would be a big surprise. Turner, so I don't expect that linebacker would be a big surprise. Everything else is pretty much on the table and they do have an opportunity to just take the best player that they can find. I mean, that is a rare position that they have been in. Uh, Aaron says, uh, Jordan Mason, a man of few words, but that's not why they signed him exactly. He made that quite clear. And, uh, he was not, I thought, I thought Jordan Mason was not.

Like being Marshawn Lynch. I'm just here so I don't get fined. I think it's just, there are some guys who are not big talkers and they're not in big talking positions. Like if you're going to be a center, I've never met a center who was quiet. You can't be, you have to talk all the time. But Jordan Mason seemed to me to be a very straightforward guy.

Like I'm gonna get the ball and I'm gonna run over people. And again, we just discussed it with Ryan Kelly, where a little bit of edge, a little bit of toughness is kind of what they needed. I didn't think last year was a soft team that got thrown out sometimes. And I get why, because you got run over by an amazing Rams defensive line. I think that was talent based. I don't think that cam Robinson is a great left tackle.

I don't think that Garrett Bradbury has ever been a good pass blocker. I don't think that he's soft because of it. I think he's just not big and it was never really his thing to sit there for three seconds, three and a half seconds to just straight up block the best players in the league. Blake Brando was clearly exhausted by the end of the season, having never played 17 games before and then playing next to Cam Robinson. I mean, I think it was more stuff like that, where,

I mean, Dalton Reiser, Dalton Reiser's not soft. He's just not built to be a good run blocker. He doesn't have explosiveness. He's also, and this gets like really in the weeds, but sort of cut high is what they call it, where the guy has long legs. And usually you want your guards, and this is just really silly, but it's also true.

You want your guards to kind of have shorter legs and get the pad level going football. He just doesn't have that. Like it's not, it's not soft. It's just, they just don't have the guys to do some of this stuff. Who is going to run through a, you know what face like, like Marshawn Lynch. That's not Aaron Jones. Aaron Jones is a small man.

He's not soft and he breaks tackles by being elusive, but he's not just like him versus linebacker, man on man, I'm just gonna plow through you. That's more of Jordan Mason. So they have brought a lot of that to the table this off season and it seems intentional that they have gone out of their way to find players like that.

Uh, aviation MKF says, have we talked about Will Fries yet? No, I have not. Um, we didn't grab clips from too many clips from Will Fries, but I mean, really his press conference was pretty straightforward. Uh, I think the main thing was that Will Fries, it seems like is going to be on track to be good in terms of health. And the other thing he talked about that stood out was his relationship with Ryan Kelly, which I kind of talked about with Ryan Kelly, but it seems like Ryan Kelly was really, really important to Will Fries.

He said, I love that guy. You know, when I came in, he was willing to mentor me and bring me along. And then he wants, he sees where Ryan Kelly signs and wants to sign here as well. Uh, I think people like Ryan Kelly. And I felt this way about Aaron Jones last year and maybe Patrick Peterson in the past. There are certain people who everybody around them are better because they're around that person.

And that's what Will fries was saying about Ryan Kelly. And you just get that vibe from him right away when I play some of those clips of the leadership capabilities that he has. And I think of that as being real leadership. It's not just, hey guys, let's go football. Like sometimes it is, but for the most part, it's do you make everybody around you better?

And that stood out a lot? from Will Fries and You also seem very happy to be here There's also that but yeah, I mean I didn't want to like play every single clip from the press conference Just those are worth checking out though the other ones at Vikings calm, but yeah, I mean I Think that will fries and Ryan Kelly having that chemistry together to bring here is really important for them to jump right in and be a good duo on that right side. And then we'll see what they do on the left. A lot of you have asked, well, you know, could they keep Randall? And I think they could. Yeah. If

they keep Randall on the left side, it's not like, oh no, they're screwed. But he did give up the third most sacks in the NFL for guards last year. He did give up top five and pressures allowed. And I know there's the reasons, but you also guys get hurt all the time. You can't have one guy go down and then you just turn into a well below average player that's kind of a replacement level average guy. I think Blake Brando is clearly an NFL player. He can clearly start in the NFL.

But if you're talking about do you want to have a difference making offensive line, that is the goal. It's not just how many teams in the NFL are just surviving on the line. They just get enough meat up there to make sure our quarterback doesn't die and he'll do the rest. That's what 20 teams, how many teams have an offensive line where the other team in their preparation is going, Oh man, these guys, they know what they're doing up there. So you want wanna be that.

You wanna be the team whose offensive line strikes a little bit of fear into a defense. I'm not sure you're completely there with Blake Brando, though I'm not saying he can't play. He can play. But if you can draft an upgrade and have a competition, I think it's worthy of a competition when someone ranks in the top five

in pressures and sacks allowed for last year. Son of a beavers, Vikings could go sign Desmond Ritter and then have both Rondell Moore and him because they were traded for one another. That's funny. Yeah, Desmond Ritter is just not, not caught on in any way. It actually is kind of. Shocking that Desmond Ritter started in the NFL when he couldn't even really be a backup. Wasn't it Arizona? He was there and they let him go.

That was a huge miss by Atlanta. And that was also when they were talking about, or sending out, you know, we've been discussing information, didn't they send out something to some reporters that they weren't going to make any offer for Lamar Jackson and they've been roasted every single day since then. Brian says so where are we exactly we know what the potential is what is the true. I assume you mean expectations we have been in kind of flux before and it didn't end well yeah I don't think that this is in flux I think that this is in a very clear direction and expectations are going to be high, but everyone rationally understands that when you have a quarterback this young and an experience that there's going to be moments.

Of down and frustration, like even think about Washington, the best ideal performance is what happened with Washington last year, right? Which is a veteran team around a young quarterback and they come together at the end and then they win some, some great games at the end and they get into the playoffs, they show their potential for the future, they get to the NFC championship, it's a great season. The fan base is crazy through the roof, excited about Jayden Daniels. is crazy through the roof excited about Jayden Daniels. That's the best case scenario for the Vikings

with JJ McCarthy. It's of course not impossible to make the Super Bowl, but I think when we talk about this team, we don't quite put it that high just yet. We're gonna have to see some more first, but when it comes to the young quarterback and not being in flux is really the key because then you could try to keep as much of the team together year over year around your guy. You can continue to build on it and you know, who's going to be there.

And you're not constantly having this discussion of, well, should they get Aaron Rogers or bring back Kirk or Darnold or what? It's like that. Have your guy. That's what you're really looking for. But in terms of what the expectations are, I'm setting them at if they're playing their best football toward the end of the season and they're going into the playoffs and they're dangerous, then that's what you are looking for is that another team does not want to play you because

they're like, yeah, you know, they're only 10 and seven, but have you seen their last couple of games? And Jayden Daniels, he went through a dip. How about that one game from Bo Nicks where he threw for like 20 yards? I mean, these things are going to happen. There's going to be some games. There's going to be some times where it's just not going to be pretty and you're going to walk out of the stadium

Go, what the heck was that today? Probably I mean at the it that's just life with an inexperienced quarterback most of the time I suppose it could be like Brock Purdy and how successful he was and I guess I also thought that last year with Sam Dar I probably told you guys the same thing last year like well expect to have some serious roller coaster and It was only a little roller coaster until the end, when the roller coaster crashed and burned. Uh, but you know, aside from that point, just being that that's where I would set the bar for them is be in the playoffs and be dangerous in your first

year with your young quarterback. And you're going to feel really good about where you're at. And the high end of that that's happened over the years has been really good with some other young quarterbacks. Uh, Kumar says, uh, is holding off signing backup quarterback just for comp picks really worth it depends on the market. I don't know that that's what they're doing, but it depends on the market for

those quarterbacks. If everybody is holding off till May 1st, where I believe that's the compact deadline, then you know, uh, I guess you just wait till then. Like, I mean, you're not losing out on anybody. I don't know the formula with cam Robinson. They might've been waiting for cam Robinson and then trying to figure out how they would have to structure a contract like they have this on a spreadsheet. Inside tco performance center they have not given me the spreadsheet so i don't know how much there. They're doing that like whether they're actually waiting for a backup quarterback for comp pick reasons or not, uh, backup quarterbacks are.

Expensive. Uh, so if you're paying and I met, you know, one of you mentioned a fourth round or well, it's not, it's not a fourth rounder, you're not paying enough money to have a fourth round comp pick for Joe Flacco. I promise you're not. It's going to be more like a sixth, which is what they would expect for Daniel Jones leaving is something like a sixth. Now these are small things in my mind. You get a six, the seventh. Okay. You know, Stacy Coley or something, but right.

That's a, that's a deep cut for you. Uh, Brian Cole, the guy that they drafted and then didn't make it through training camp, I think in the sixth round. So a lot of times those picks don't work out. It's not the biggest deal in the world. If you need a player, you should get him and you should just sign him when you need to get him and not worry too much about that. But if everybody is kind of stalled out in this market, then it's fine if you wait, or if they have the formula and they were just waiting for the dollar figure on cam Robinson to say, say alright, we actually do have to wait or actually no, we don't have to wait That might be part of it for sure

Let me remind all of you and i'll get back to your questions here I spent so long on one question that I have to catch up a little more rapid fire for you and Intern clay, you know, he's got his bedtime and everything these kids so but I do have to remind you that this show has at least some sponsors always willing to take more and one of them is called tempo meals you guys know that I eat too much fast food and I have been making an effort to get a little better shape eat a little bit better. And Tempo Meals is part of that. Tempo is a weekly delivery service that delivers chef-crafted meals from a dietitian-approved menu, fresh to your door. They're perfectly

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Do you feel he has that same creativity? The run game. It is my fear that even strengthening the old line of running back, they'll still be fixated on the passing game. Uh, Jenna, I guarantee you he will remain fixated on the passing game. That is absolutely going to be the case. However, what I think you're looking for in the run game is if it's not the centerpiece, it will never be the centerpiece.

That's okay. Passing is still more successful than running by an expected points added standpoint, like tenfold. It's way better to pass successfully than it is to run, even though the run game gained a lot of ground in efficiency over the last couple of seasons. So KOC is barking up the right tree by being a pass first type of offense. What you're looking for with the run game is, and this is what frustrated me last year, alright it's third and two.

Can you just give it to a guy and get a first down? It's third and two at the goal. Can you just hand it off and get into the end zone? Can you have Jordan Mason run through someone? Right. Can you have the offensive line and Will Fries, whose real thing is his aggressiveness, can you have him just go after a dude? Will Fry said today that when he was in fourth grade, his dad put like

chains on his back and made him do pushups. That's a little crazy to me, but he's that kind of guy, right? He's the glass eating offensive lineman who is supposed to get you the touchdown on that play and they weren't able to do that. And the other thing is they got ahead in games and it would be a 14 point lead. And they're throwing. And I think that was because they could not control the game on the ground. The creativity elements, a great question though, because I did feel last year

that it did not have much of an identity. It did not have a lot of creativity and it was predictable when they were going to run, they ran so much on first down, how they were going to run. And some of that's O line limitations. I think it can all improve, but I don't think it's ever going to be like, Whoa, this is just like Gary Kubiak where Delvin Cook's running for 1600 yards or something. It's not going to be like that, but it just needs to be a problem for the other team.

The other team's double teaming. Justin Jefferson all day long. Like think about that Bears game in Chicago. They were hysterically covering Justin Jefferson. Everybody on their team was covering him and Aaron Jones had a great game that day. Like every team is putting so much attention onto the passing game. Can you make them pay for it?

You don't have to be the most creative. You don't have to be the most unpredictable. You just have to make the other team go. Yeah, they might, they might run four times in a row here and get four first downs on us. There was nobody who was afraid of that last year. Uh, LT ranger says Rogers has some good highlights of the sticky corner. You're going to say Isaiah Rogers. Hey, it is funny though, when they sent out the, the press release of like, here's when the guys

are talking. It was like Rogers at this time, like, Oh yeah, Isaiah Rogers. That's right. Uh, has some good highlights as a sticky corner, but was surprised to see he was a top kick returner in FBS 2019. Curious if Rogers and Rondale more will be our kickoff returners. I'm curious if they kick return last year. It did not seem like they had any interest in kick or punt returning.

Rondale more did it in 2021 and that was really it. He did it as a rookie and he didn't do it before or I'm sorry, after he didn't do it after that. It was just that one year and he was just okay. Didn't have big numbers. Kevin O'Connell has not seemed like he really is in love with the kick and punt return game, but maybe if you have someone who's a difference maker there, he would fall in love with it. But they did in Kenai Wong, and they still didn't really use it

when Wong was there and then they cut Wong Wu and he didn't play much for the Jets. So maybe it was the right move to cut him. But the point just being that you had literally one of the best guys over the last couple years in terms of yards per return and touchdowns and they just said that i care about that. It feels like the only way that they're going to start to focus a lot on that kick return rather than just taking the touchback is if the NFL moves it. So there it's more punitive to take a touchback. But as long as, you know, as long as teams can kick off and give it to them, you know, at the 30 or whatever, it's going to be fine. Like they're just not, they're just going to take the, they're just going to take the, the option there and not bother because when you return kicks, you get holding penalties, you get fumbles.

And I think he wants no part of the negative plays. Just give me the football. Let's get on offense. Let's throw it. I think that's how he looks at it, but I'll be interested to see if they increase that if they get someone they like, uh, Kumar says, will the run defense be as good or better with Alan and Hargrave? It probably will not be as good. Uh, last year, Jonathan Buller was tremendous at the run defense.

He was one of the best run defending defensive tackles in the league. He did a great job. He was really strong, powerful, and they might bring him back. Uh, they might decide to sign him to like a one year contract and have him as a rotational player. They might also move Levi Drake, Rodriguez, or Jalen Redmond, who was very good against the run last year. He might have more opportunity, but these two guys, Hargrave and Allen in their later stages of their career, at least by the numbers have not been big, great run defenders.

They've sort of stopped the run on the way to the quarterback, but also it might be schematic because Hargrave in his career was a really good run defender and then became not later on, which might've just been, hey, go get the quarterback. Don't worry about stopping the run. We've got other people for that. So it might depend on just how they use them and like are both of them going to be in on first down? I think that Jonathan Allen will

definitely be on first down. Is it going to be a five man type of front pretty often where Harrison Phillips, Hargrave, Allen, Ben Ginkle, Bernard, they're all on the field at the same time. And it is more like a true three, four, because I always kind of talk about, well, there's a lot of nickel in the league and you don't really see that three, four, but how often will they do that? Will they do that for first downs?

Where they got all those guys on the field and then you're asking Cashman, you're asking Pace, who's a really good run defender, they might have to take on some more blocks. They might have to make some more plays. It's a, even if those guys are the not great run defending versions You already have Phillips whose quality at it you have linebackers who are good at it You have safeties who come downhill corners who tackle

I'm willing to give up a couple more yards on the ground to get way more pressure And I also think because Flores rotates like crazy. He'll have answers there And I also think because Flores rotates like crazy, he'll have answers there. Uh, the daily question from Jason of why quasi-adaphalmenta does not have an extension when I find out, I'll let you know, I, I don't know any more than anybody else on that one. Um, but I do know that they've been busy. There's been a lot going on. So if they didn't get it done by the NFL combine,

then they went right into this crazy whirlwind of signing players, doing all this stuff. They were at the, I think I assumed they were at the senior bowl and then different workouts and negotiating contracts and introducing players and having all this stuff, onboarding, bringing in families and like, there's a lot to do as the general manager in the first week of free agency. Plus you got to have meetings about Aaron Rogers, apparently.

So that would take up some time. If the general manager is not under contract when they draft, that's weird to me. That's weird to me. That's weird to me. I can't think of that many examples around the league that I've heard of where a GM would be going into a lame duck year while drafting. That's just, that's just unique. So you would expect something to be done before then. I've also said it could be done already and they just didn't say anything.

Like they don't have to. It's not like there's a law that the Vikings must put out a press conference saying quasi at Alpha Menta has a new contract. He may have just signed it. I don't know. So that that's always a possibility as well. The next opportunity there appears to be the owners meetings is the next opportunity, which I will be attending along with several others in the local media. Alec Lewis, Kevin Seifert, Dane Mizutani. I assume Ben Guessley, he always goes. Maybe a couple others, maybe Andrew Kramer. So

we'll be down there, a little contingent and we'll talk to the owner. We usually do the owner's meetings. And there's a sit down breakfast with the local media and the head coach Every year at the owners meetings So the question will be asked then what's up with that and we'll see if we can get some sort of answer for you But you know, I don't know. I don't know as of right now. I mean, I also think that There's a lot of stuff that's happened in Vikings world that's been potentially weird or potentially crazy Like oh could they trade Jefferson or could they bring back Kirk? That would be crazy or could they get Rogers that would be crazy and so far none of it's happened

Could they trade Jefferson for Malik neighbors? So could they trade KOC like none of us happen? so I have tended to lean toward the not crazy thing is where this will go. And the not crazy thing would be that way. See just signs an extension and continues to be the GM. And I think at this moment, his rating as a GM publicly is about as high as you could look for in the entire national football league, having drafted his future quarterback and filled up the roster the way he did. Howie Roseman is at the top of that list with an A plus plus plus, but not too far

after that would be the way that Quacey has handled everything here and the way that I should say the whole front office, the whole organization, uh, led by him as the general manager. Ty Descholes says, uh, specifically regarding our new free agent signings, who are you most intrigued to see in camp as far as what they can do? It's a good question because a lot of these guys have played so much football. It's like, well, I've seen Jonathan Allen, I've seen Javon Hargrave, I've seen Jordan Mason run. I think Jordan Mason in person is the most interesting to me.

It's really, you know, that when you say intriguing, it intriguing, it's really the guys that are the lower level signings. It's really the Rondale Moore and the Jeff Akuta who become more intriguing because I think I know what the other guys can do. I've seen Jonathan Allen every time he plays the Vikings, just the whacking their quarterback or in the playoffs where he's going after Jared Goff. I've seen Javon Hargrave destroy the Vikings in the past.

Okay, I know these guys could play. I'm I'm interested to see Mason, but Mason is going to be a game guy. It's not going to be a practice guy. So that also has to be factored in Rogers. I don't know much about Isaiah Rogers. I don't know much about so him and where he fits in, but it's probably Rondale more. And this guy is so explosive, so quick, the quick passing,

the big play ability potential from him. He's one of those reclamation projects that could fit in a very fascinating role for them. I, yeah, I would probably say him more than anybody else. I don't have the highest expectations for Okuda, but I do think more could be something. John says we need to stop trading picks and start using our picks to get top talent. You got to get younger and younger is in capital. So like way younger, like you cannot even legally playing in the NFL younger.

Is that when we use the capitals? No, my thoughts are. So here's the thing about the draft picks. The Vikings over the last three years have won. How many football games is it? Third? Well, let's see. 27, 34, 34 games. They've been in the playoffs twice and a lot of the success has been.

I shouldn't say a huge amount, but some of it has been because they've traded for people. Like TJ Hockinson is definitely one of those people and they've moved draft picks. Now some of it is also moving up and it was moving up to get Dallas Turner. And we don't know where that one's going to go yet. We're going to find out where that one's going to go next year. We might be saying, you know, it's pretty good idea. They trade up for Dallas Turner, but they had to make the trade to get TJ Hawkinson, which I think we all agreed at the time was a good move. He's stayed on the team. He signed an extension. He's a big player for their offense. But when you're in a winning mode, you go get a Cam Robinson with a trade. You go get a Cam Akers with a trade.

You go get a TJ Hawkins. Like a lot of these moves have been with the intent that they are a winning football team. And a lot of the fact that they don't have comp picks has come from. Well, they had to sign free agents. So do you want to give Jonathan and Grenard back? No. Van Ginkle, no. Cashman, no. They had to sign free agent so do you want to give jonathan and grinard back no and ginkle no cashmere no like you want those guys so that's why they haven't had a lot of pictures because they've been trying to win can i can't really blame him for that but i also don't disagree at all what you're saying yes they do have to find i think you can find a lot of complimentary players in a lot of different places. And

it's clear free agency is one of them. And the Vikings hack is that people want to be here and you just heard that from these guys. They all specifically cited that NFLPA survey. That is a hack. That is an edge. Other teams don't have that. There's a lot of other teams that don't have that. So the Vikings can complement their superstars, their pillar players. I like to call them with free agency. They've done it through undrafted free agency where they find some intriguing players for the future, Bo Richter, Gabe Murphy, and then a starter in Ivan pace Jr.

And how do they do it? Well, they create the culture and they create opportunity and Brian Flores is not judgy when it comes to where you were drafted and Agents want their guys to sign with the Viking. So that's another edge, but that doesn't replace drafting guys with the first round and Having them succeed like that. You're absolutely right that they need to drop back in this draft they need to get more right that they need to drop back in this draft. They need to get more draft picks. They need to make sure that they are finding the next group of pillar players as well, or a corner who's going to be here a long time, you know, a defensive tackle who's not just filling a spot for the next two seasons. These are things that they absolutely need for sure.

Kumar is right, the squatty body. I was talking about Dalton Reisner and just, you know, how he's shaped that you're looking for the squatty body. You're right. Maverick says, if Harmon is available at 24, you bring the card ASAP. I like him as a guy you stay and pick. Yep, I agree.

Because the thing about a defensive tackle is if you get a great one, they'll be on your team for 10 years. There are very few positions that you say that, but look how many hit the market. Almost nobody. The defensive tackles, they just don't hit the market. You get a great one. That guy will be good for you. And it's a very predictable position. Year in and year out Guys are the same dude. Like look at Jonathan Allen's prime.

Look at Javon Hargraves prime. They're the same guy year in and year out. There's not these wild ups and downs. That's why I really love that position. And now that it's getting paid crazy money for guys with 500 snaps, uh, you want to draft it, uh, Andrew says, do you see a Cuda and more making the 53 man roster? We are a long way away from having a good opinion on that. But if I were to guess right now, I'd probably say more does and Okuda doesn't these long

shot. This guy was a first round bust and they're bringing him in just for the heck of it. I just don't really ever buy those. And if it one works out it would be fantastic But it's a hard thing to believe where Rondell Moore has been good in the NFL before not great, but he's been good Okuda has not been good in the NFL really at any point. Those are kind of long shots. So I think more will Son of a beavers would will Hernandez be an upgrade upgrade you know on this show that if they get will hernandez It's gonna be like a big moment because he's been talked about so many times on this show and

Has not ever become a minnesota viking. He might be a guy though With the injury you have to wonder where he is going to be Like with the ACL he's a little bit on the older side, so. Maybe that's part of the holdup is not knowing where Will Hernandez is, or maybe people don't think he's as good as I think he is. I think he's good. I think he would be an upgrade at left guard. Chris says, love the content. I appreciate that. Chris says love the content.

I appreciate that Chris. Says the pleasing thing about this off season. The Vikings appear to be correcting mistakes of the past. I fully 100% agree with you. Chris. That is exactly right. That's exactly right. And it's why I was so irritated with the Roger stuff.

Not just that Rogers could be the quarterback, but we all have to fight over who's insider is their favorite insider and their most rightist insider. That's been annoying as well, but put that aside. And it's the stuff that I feel like I've been beating my head against the wall for so long about interior pressure, interior pressure. Remember you guys who have listened for a long time. Courtney Cronin is a big part of this show and she was on the other day, but used to be a even bigger part of the show each week. I don't know how many times her and I had that discussion like how are you going to replace the Tom Johnson? How are you going to replace the Sheldon Richardson? And the answer

was just not. And it was, well, what if we get Michael Pierce and then he plays 250 snaps. And yeah, what if you get Delvin Tomlinson? Big, big fan of Delvin Tomlinson, really good football player and did get after the passer sometimes, but he's not like that guy. He's not that, Oh, it's third down. Jonathan Allen's one-on-one watch out because he's going to wreck your quarterback. Oh, the other team's guard is injured. They're playing a backup today.

Jayvon Hargrave is going to murder this man in front of everyone. Like, that's what they've been missing. And getting it is something. Also, the running game has driven me to the point of madness over the last couple of years, just after having seen it run so successfully with Gary Kubiak. It was just hard to watch these last couple of seasons where it was so unsuccessful. Brian says, we need to not care about the record this year. I don't care if they go oh, and 17 or 17 and oh, it's about JJ's development. Let me tell you, if they go on 17, he didn't develop much.

He didn't develop much. They went on 17, man. It matters. It does matter. No, it does matter. And here's the thing for me. JJ McCarthy is not a rookie. I'm going to you're going to hear that a lot. You're going to, well, you know, it's really technically.

No, it's not. It's not because he had a full training camp. He had a preseason game. He had a full season behind the scenes. He worked with Kevin O'Connell every day. He watched Sam Darnold do this. He knows the playbook. He knows the technique.

He knows the footwork. He knows the offense. He knows the players. You get, you got to win. You can't go 14 and three and then go seven and 10. If you let Sam Darnold walk out the door, we have to remember that too. I care about the record. The Wilfs care about the record. If you let Sam Darnold walk out the door who just won 14 games for you in five games, that's bad. That's a, that's bad. And then if Darnold's in the playoffs, everyone's going to be going, wait a

minute, you let a 14 win quarterback walk out the door, right? Now I think the process is fine. I was more on the side of bringing Darnold back than I think a lot of people. Uh, but I didn't, I wasn't terrified of the Vikings doing that if they brought back Darnold for another year, if they were unsure about JJ McCarthy, which they're showing their cards a little by talking Aaron Rogers, are they not that they're that they're not, Hey, this guy is the next Mahomes or something.

And uncertainty drives football teams crazy in part because they won 14 games. They want to get back to the playoffs. But if you're not in the playoff race at the last week of the season or getting into the playoffs, I think it's kind of a wreck for you. That's where you have to be. We cannot treat this like it's a mulligan year. They just spent the most money in free agency and a bunch of guys who are 30 and injured. They better win.

You're not you're not paying your season tickets to show up at us bank stadium and the Wilfs are not paying all these signing bonuses and everything to be like, oh, it's just a development year. That's not what they've done here. They have said we're moving on from Sam Darnold to go to JJ McCarthy, who we believe can make us competitive. This is not an ownership either who says,

oh, you know, hey, it's just a development year. That's not how they treat it. So I totally disagree. I think the standard is high. I think if they lose, then they deserve a lot of criticism if they don't make the playoffs. But if they're in the playoffs and JJ McCarthy has played really well

and they lose in the first round, it could still be a successful year. That's the point. It's not if you don't win the Superbowl is just send everybody out, you know, and fire everybody's definitely not like that. So I think that's what you're getting at. But not with the money they spent in the veterans. They have these guys. I mean, Justin Jefferson is prime Christian.

Daris is in his prime. Jonathan. Grenard's in his prime. You gotta win It's it's time to win. If you're gonna let Darnold go who just won a ton of games. You gotta win Wade says I want a pie chart on which days of the week are the most annoying to hear about Aaron Rodgers for me It's seven equal slices. That's very funny Wade. That funny and I agree with you I'm tired yeah I'm tired this was an exhausting week and then you feel like it's over and then someone says wait a minute it's not okay I don't know let it be over let it be over Tristan says isn't JJ officially a rookie that I don't know.

Some people have asked me that, like, can he win rookie of the year? I don't think so, but I don't know. I'm not sure, but he's not. That's the thing. He's not a rookie. The key was he had the experience of being in the NFL for a year. He didn't get to practice. I know.

And patience is required for him starting for the first time, but it's not, Hey, it's a rookie who cares what happens. Like that's not where this franchise is at. And if it is, and if he's that far away, then they have screwed something up. If he is so far away, which I don't think he is. I saw him last year, but if he's so far away from playing, then you messed up the timeline, it wasn't supposed to be like this. Like this was when he was supposed to play or then you messed up the timeline. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Like this was when he was supposed to play or the injury messed up the timeline.

This is when he's supposed to play. And if you're not going to bring in Rogers and you're not going to keep in Darnold, then I think it's fair to expect you to win. That's not a crazy thought. This team has done more or less nothing but winning since Kevin O'Connell got here. So it's not a crazy thought to set the bar pretty high at you should win with J.J. McCarthy right away, or you shouldn't have let the other guy go.

That was winning. I think that's fair. All right. This has been fun. A lot of a lot of great, great comments, questions. You guys are you guys are having a good offseason I think you guys have even been fairly rational about the Roger stuff and not total maniacs in the comment section So but a lot of great questions great comments excitement. I've enjoyed it aside from the Roger stuff. I've had a really good time