Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - The 5 most fascinating Vikings players at training camp

Episode Date: July 11, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about his countdown of the top 25 most interesting Vikings in training camp, revealing numbers 1 through 5.

Hey everybody. Welcome to another episode of purple insider Matthew collar here. And tonight is the night we have been counting down the top 25 most interesting Minnesota Vikings in training camp for a really long time. It takes a while to get through 25 different players. And even then I still feel like I left some meat on the bone. But tonight we will count down the top five and oh, number one is going to completely shock all of you. So you'll have to stay until I get to number one. But as I go through the list from five to one, throw your questions, thoughts in the comments.

Where are we at? Because we got a schedule today, media schedule for covering training camp. And we are about two weeks almost to the dot of the first time that we will walk out there and watch a certain young quarterback operate his first training camp practice as QB one. And there are so many questions that we've been asking for such a long time, the same information that we've been working with about this roster for months and talking about it in so many different ways. And now finally, we will get to see actual practices, actual depth chart ish, not an official depth chart, but we'll see rep counts.

Who's succeeding, who's starting off hot, who's starting off cold, where everybody's playing all the things that we love about training camps. So I cannot wait for that just a couple of weeks away, but until then we got some time to talk about it. So what's on everybody's mind jump in the comments Let me know what you're thinking and I'm gonna go through this list and then we will just have some fun conversation here on a beautiful July evening, so number five on the list and

I will run down the entire list when it is finished for those of you who haven't listened to every single Second of all of these podcasts Which is a huge mistake and you can go back and listen to the analysis But when I get to number one, I'll go through the entire list and number five is wide receiver Ron Dale Moore and the reason that you got to remember this is the most interesting or most fascinating players at training camp not necessarily the guys who are going to have the biggest impact on 2025.

And I think with Rondale Moore, the reason that he belongs all the way up toward the top of this list is that when you go back and look at Rondale Moore and his career before last season, when he got hurt as a member of the Atlanta Falcons, a very serious injury in training camp, he had started to develop as a player. When he first got into the NFL, it was actually comical because he had the lowest average depth of target in the entire NFL. And all they did was just throw behind the line of scrimmage to him, Arizona, just, all right, here's a screen, here's a bubble. Here's a quick pass and a very, very high percentage. Almost half of the passes that he caught were behind the line of scrimmage.

And there were only two completions that he had in his first year that went over 10 yards. So this was an extremely limited wide receiver when he first got into the NFL. And even though he never put up humongous numbers with the Cardinals, the next couple of seasons, he actually did take a step forward as a route runner, as a more complete wide receiver than just the guy that was catching bubbles and running, you know, end arounds and things like that.

He was starting to go downfield more, starting to catch even some deep passes here or there. As you guys might remember, he had a what 75 year or 80 yard touchdown against the Vikings in 2021 and that crazy game in Arizona. But that wasn't the only thing. It wasn't just deep balls. It was more intermediate, more eight to 10 yard, quick slants, things like that real wide receiver stuff as opposed to pure gadget player. And when he signed with the Atlanta Falcons and you know, of course they were bringing in Kirk and drafting Michael Pennings and they had Drake

London and you know, so forth and that offense, it looks like there was a legitimate chance that Rondale Moore could take another step as a wide receiver if he got into that type of offense where he could do the gadget stuff, but also maybe go downfield a little more. And that ended up being actually Darnell Mooney, who became that player for the Falcons because Rondale got hurt and had to miss the entire season and is just getting back to a hundred percent. He was not participating in mini camp outside of working on the side field

with the players that are rehabbing, but looks to be on track for training camp. side of working on the side field with the players that are rehabbing, but, uh, looks to be on track for training camp. And I think Kevin O'Connell had mentioned that he was the only player that it was possible that he could be set back a little bit. So we start with even that that's a great place to begin because there's multiple layers of the Rondale more intrigue. It starts with, is he healthy?

Is he back to the guy that once caught what, like 14 passes or something against the Minnesota Gophers in a game in college? He was a fascinating player then. I mean, a guy who had this crazy explosion on the scene in college, and then more injuries happened to him. He still gets drafted in the second round, despite essentially just having one really good year in college. That's how much people thought of his ability with the football in his hands.

And maybe his arc kind of reminds you of like a Tevan Austin who was so explosive, so much fun in college and it never really worked out in the NFL. But where is he health wise? Because if that explosiveness is back, then suddenly he becomes maybe a guy for this team. Does he fit in in a way where he adds a new layer to this offense that was missing over the last couple of seasons, really since KJ Osborne, they did not have a yards after catch,

ball in your hands, break tackle type of guy. And I'm not even fully sure that Kevin O'Connell used Osborne to his, to his best with that. Really we saw that more in 2021, but that's the last time that they had a true yak guy, uh, where you can just get them a quick pass and you're talking seven to 10 yards on average. That's what Rondale more could potentially bring to the table for this team. And when you think about the way that they run their offense, and I know Jalen Naylor is going to be a big part of this, and I don't think there's a wide receiver three competition, but there could be a rotational option that could involve

Rondale Moore if he proves that they deserve to have one. And when you think about how many routes go downfield and how much space Kevin O'Connell is able to clear out using Justin Jefferson, using Jordan Addison with post droughts and double moves and things like that, that really forced defenses to get on their horse and get way back. I mean, that's a lot of space potentially for a Rondale more. So even if you were talking a best case scenario where he gets 30 passes his way and makes a few plays that the Jerry is right

role that we talk about all the time still because he was so good at it, just getting a handful of plays and converting a first down here. They're getting an explosive here. There that is a big potential addition to an offense. that's already so complete to even have that one extra dangerous piece if he can be that guy. But we don't really know where he's at. And this type of signing has happened many times in the past. We can run through them. We have before the Tajay sharps, the Kendall writes, the Jordan tailors, the Albert Willsons, like this,

this type of guy who may have had some moments with a different team. I remember when they signed Albert Wilson, I was like, oh yeah, there's a couple of seasons where this guy was pretty good and it just never really clicked. And another part of that is with Rondale more that there might be some returning ability. The Vikings right now have a very wide open part return situation. I don't know who it's going to be. Jalen Naylor was back there.

They had a couple of young guys back there. Ty Felton might get his chance, but Rondale Moore has done it before in the NFL. And I think he had too big of a role with Arizona's offense for them to want him to do it all the time. But if he was much more of a 20 snap on offense type of player per week, you could definitely have him be the punt returner and he has the skill set to do it. I don't know so much about kick returning with him because I think kick returners these days are getting smacked around pretty good.

And I think you need maybe a bigger guy, but maybe there could be there could be a potential returning role So in a best-case scenario Rondale more really adds an extra layer to this team that I think we believed Brandon Powell was going to add and it just never really came to fruition Powell had a couple of games there in 2023 when people were injured, but then last year just was not on the field almost at all. And he never really got into a groove with that quick pass or end around or jet sweep or anything like that.

So can they actually find that role in Rondale Moore? And I think he'll be competing with Ty Felton for that type of spot. But if they both win jobs, then you feel like also with Rondale Moore's experience, maybe he could fill in for our regular wide receiver like Jalen Naylor if he needed to, or if there is a suspension for Jordan Addison. Like it's not hard to imagine this coming to fruition and working, but it also might

not. And when you have this wide range of outcomes for any player, that's how they end up on the most interesting list. So Rondale Moore, number five, most interesting Minnesota Viking in training camp. Number four, folks, as you know, over the last five years, I've built up Purple Insider into my own small business, but I realize as a business owner that I still have a lot to learn. That's where IDOU comes in.

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for every business leader out there at IDOU. Class starts soon, so enroll today. For a limited time, do you is offering my listeners 15% off site wide. So go to IDEO you.com slash purple insider. That is IDEO you.com slash purple insider 15% off again. I D E O U.com slash purple insider Is Isaiah Rogers, his first impression at mini camp at OTAs was very impressive, picked off a pass, but just showed an explosiveness, a quickness,

a speed, a fluidity that will catch your eye instantly. He's a guy that ran a sub four three when he was coming out of college at his pro day But he's a little bit bigger than somebody you'd expect and I mean kind of strength wise Normally when we talk about these blazing fast dudes, and I think he's listed maybe he's listed in the 170s or 180s I think he's bigger than that and he's been in the league for a while now and He's never had the opportunity that he's got this year. So he was with the Indianapolis Colts, but they had signed, if you remember, Xavier Rhodes and they had some

veteran corners at that time. So he was a fill in and mix in type of player and had success doing it. And then he missed the year due to the gambling thing where, you know, I've probably just called it the gambling thing. I should be a little more specific. What happened with Isaiah Rogers was he was allowing somebody else to use his account that used it in a way that involved football. And that's what got him suspended. Uh, so that's kind of the story behind why he had to miss an entire season, but then he comes back with Philadelphia, wins the Superbowl with, plays 300 something regular season snaps was in the playoffs quite a bit for the Philadelphia Eagles. And all of his numbers are strong and they're all in kind

of half samples. I wouldn't say that his overall sample is small. He's played about 1300 snaps in the NFL and the results have been good, but nobody has ever fully bought into Isaiah Rogers as the dude, as a starting outside cornerback. And there may be competition here between him and Mackay Blackman, or they may have them on the field at the same time. And Rogers has the skill set of somebody that can be a little bit of more of a game changer in the secondary. Last year was about survival in the secondary and then chaos in the front seven. It was

Stephon Gilmore be in the right spot. Shaq Griffin stay with somebody be in the right spot. And then Byron Murphy doing his thing and he was a game changer last year. But the other two positions were let's hold on for dear life and just make sure that you're not giving up huge plays, which they did a couple of times in Seattle, but aside from that, they did a good job of stay behind your guy, make the occasional play on the football like Gilmore's great interception against Aaron Rodgers in London. Otherwise just let the front seven confuse the heck out of the quarterback, rally to

the football, you'll be fine. Isaiah Rogers is a different athletic specimen than a 34 year old Stefan Gilmour. If they had had Gilmour when he was 27, it would have been a different story. But Rogers speed, his burst, his ability to play in man coverage, although his numbers in zone are really good, which doesn't surprise me that Brian Flores would like him, but his ability to play in man might offer them a little bit more versatility might offer them a little bit of, you know, locked down element if they need it. We know how much they change things all the time. So how does he, he's going to match up in training camp against some of the best wide receivers

in the world. If he's going one-on-one on a daily basis against Justin Jefferson, how's that going to look? Is he going to look like a starting outside corner or are we going to have concerns and be going into joint practices or coming out of joint practices saying, I don't know, I, you know, maybe they should have made that Jalen Ramsey trade or maybe they should pick up Rasul Douglas or maybe I think that that all swings a lot on Isaiah Rogers. It does also on Mackay Blackman. But if all of them come together and you have three starters that you feel good

about, suddenly you go from, Hey, the Vikings biggest question is the secondary to like, I don't think they have a big question on this team. But if he struggles, then that question mark will remain. And you don't get a whole lot of leeway to start the season. It's at first Chicago, they've got very good wide receivers, even with questions about the quarterback. And then, like right out of the frying pan into the fire with the Falcons,

we're gonna throw the ball down the field a lot. Cincinnati's gonna throw the ball down the field a lot. Cincinnati is going to throw the ball down the field a lot. So you start out the season with some very good wide receivers, Roma, Dune's a DJ more and then Drake London. Like they're going to be tested these corners right off the bat in this season. So where we end training camp with Isaiah Rogers will give us a confidence or lack thereof in that position for the Vikings. So he is number four on the top five most interesting Vikings at training camp.

And number three, why not? Of course, the first round draft pick, Donovan Jackson. It is a good question of how much can you really figure out at training camp about a rookie guard? Like how can you really project a rookie guard? And my answer is always you're looking for every piece of evidence. So does he get in some preseason action? I would guess that he probably does.

And on a daily basis, he's going to go up against some of the most impressive defensive tackles day after day. If he looks comfortable in there, if he doesn't look overwhelmed in there, and if we hear from teammates and coaches that it's going well and they're liking what they're seeing and there's confidence behind those words, then the Vikings might have a very, very good offensive line. I mean, they might have the best offensive line they've had in 15 years, probably. I would go back to 2009 because I don't think over the last decade, they've had a dominant

offensive line. I think they've had some that you could survive with, but none that were difference making. And it kind of swings on Donovan Jackson because we know what Ryan Kelly can do. Will Fry's got that contract for a reason. And those guys have worked together for a long time. We'll see about Christian Daris on his health, but we know what he can do if he's back to full health and Brian O'Neill. If Donovan Jackson is the weak link, they could probably survive it. But if he's not the weak link, then they don't have one. And then you're talking about an offensive line that would have one of the most

athletic left sides in the entire league with Jackson and Christian Derrissa. And you're talking about an interior that might be the one in the NFL out of maybe five that can actually deal with a lot of the blitzing and a lot of the stunts and things like that. If he struggles, I don't think it ruins their offensive line. If there is a natural curve to his development, then yeah, they can work their way through that. They can help him. They can get the full back in there sometimes, or they can put Josh Oliver on the left side and have Darasaw give a little hell. You know, you

can do things if you have that single weak link, but if there's not a weak link, whoa, then look out for this Vikings offensive line. And Donovan Jackson is the swing player for that. So every bit of evidence that we can pick up of how he is performing on a daily basis, I don't think any of us are brilliant enough at football to stand on the sidelines and evaluate every single play of a left guard and know how he's going to perform in the season. So we're just looking for hints. How does it feel with the offensive line coming out of training camp? A lot of that swings on Donovan Jackson. So he will be very interesting. Number two, not a hard pick.

Probably the guy I get asked about the most Dallas Turner listed as an outside linebacker. What is he really? Is he going to rush the passer a lot? Are we going to see him off the edge and Andrew van Ginkle moved to the middle of the field or are the all three going to be on the field at the same time? Is he going to rotate? I saw Kevin Seifert wrote an article about this. Like they're going to have to get creative was the main takeaway from Seifert's article because you're still going to play Jonathan Grinard, a ton of snaps.

But can it be like, instead of a bleep ton, just a regular ton for next year, instead of almost a thousand, can it be like 750 for Jonathan Grinard? So we're not in the fourth quarter and he's calling, you know, O'Connell's calling timeout. So Jonathan Grenard could get back on the field because he's so gassed. I mean, it was an incredible feat for him to make that jump to playing every single play, but it's not ideal when you have a 17 game season.

So does he fit in as more of a rotational rusher? Is he part of the NASCAR package of all the rushers on third down? Is he playing a linebacker role? Is he taking some of Ivan Pace Jr's snaps away? Is he a difference maker in coverage? We saw the interception from last year and that was with him not even really knowing

how to be a cover linebacker. Well, he's had a year now to learn that and to adapt to that. So can he actually make a difference? Can he actually cover guys one-on-one if he has to or drop back and use his instincts and sink into his own and make a play? Or are they going to feel like maybe we missed the boat on that one and he's got to be more of a rusher? What does it look like in training camp for his usage? And does it look like he is clicking a lot more? Cause last year, I think you saw in training camp, you saw the raw skill, which is much easier to see in training camp than the nuance.

Like with just take, for example, like a wide receiver. I mean, you can see speed, you can see ball tracking. Do I know for sure if he's supposed to run in a route at eight or ten? No, I don't because I don't know the play call But I know if he can run it fast and if he could break it off and if you could get open Sort of the same way with a defensive player like this We could see the burst we could see the speed and the in the natural movement ability his ability to Bend and you know get around the edge and all

that football stuff. But what we didn't know is that he had a long way to go from a mental perspective and a development perspective to be on the field a lot more. Also, when you have one of the five best defenses in the league, sometimes I just thought there was a little too much paying attention to how much Dallas Turner was out there when they were putting together such awesome performances. It's like, you know, like when was he supposed to play when the other two guys are playing at an all

pro level. But, uh, this year there's no Patrick Jones. There's no Jahad war. They've moved on from some of those veterans. It is Dallas Turner's time. How does he look in his first training camp since his rookie year? And number one, folks, I don't think we need a drum roll. I don't think we need a giant curtain. It's JJ McCarthy. Yeah, it is JJ McCarthy. I mean, this was the most predictable countdown of all time. This is almost like when they do a countdown of guitar players. And number one is Jimi Hendrix. It's like, yep, a countdown of the best basketball players of all time. And number one is Michael Jordan.

Well, it's the same thing with this list. It was captain obvious. Number one, JJ McCarthy. There will be a lot more to be said in the next couple of weeks as we do the official previewing training camp episodes. But I will say this right now about JJ McCarthy. do the official previewing training camp episodes. But I will say this right now about JJ McCarthy. I think if I were to rank, maybe this is an article, the most interesting players since I've covered the team

going into training camp, because I wasn't here when Favre arrived, I think JJ McCarthy is the number one most interesting player since I started covering the team in 2016 to arrive in Minnesota. Sam Bradford was pretty fascinating in 2017 because it was his first real training camp and he lit it up and we walked out of that thing being like, Oh my gosh, this guy is just in complete control and is slinging it and they could actually be really good. And it worked out a little bit differently than that.

Uh, they were really good. And then with Kirk cousins in 2018, when he arrived, there was weird vibes right away. Mini camp was awkward. Kirk was unhappy. Uh, John D. Filippo was unhappy. And then in training camp, the office of line got hurt and there were a lot of

bad practices and we got the sense that Something may have been amiss with the 2018 camp. So how are we gonna walk out with JJ McCarthy? We've seen the extremes of this throughout the years. We've seen a lot of average camps I mean last year was a real arc for training camp because when it started out Sam Darnold, I think had his first padded practice was atrocious. And of course, you know, we were doing reactions every single day. It's not fair. Uh, the fact that we could be there for every practice that it is, is it fair to the players to react to every single one? But that is what we do here. And I remember

the discussions like it was a really bad brat. And then the next day it got a little better and then there was setbacks and then there was steps forward. And then it started to click really toward the end of training camp. He didn't even have a great joint practice against Cleveland. Um, Miles Garrett kind of took them apart and Cleveland's defense was pretty good. Um, so he didn't have a great joint practice. And then it started to look more comfortable after that. It was like they needed that tough moment,

but maybe there was a confidence thing after McCarthy went down, then Sam Darnold like, okay, it's my show now. There's nobody else that's coming for this. And he looked great. And he looked really good in that one preseason game as well in the one drive, game as well in the one drive, but he made a couple of wild throws.

And so it wasn't until quite a bit into training camp that we started to get the sense of like something's happening here with Sam Darnold and day after day he started hitting downfield passes. And I remember talking to people on the outside, like I remember last year going to Circa and talking to the owner of Circa in Las Vegas for the show. And he was on the show and we're talking about the over under being 6.5. I was like, I don't think so, man. I don't think so.

He's like, well, you know, it's Sam Darnold, Sam Darnold. And so sometimes training camp can tell us a lot about where a quarterback stands. It often does. Where are we going to feel like with JJ McCarthy? Patience will be required. Absolutely. Especially early on patients will be required when the pads first come on. There's always an adjustment period. He struggled in his first couple of practices last year.

And he told us about how he, you know, where's his sweats home and I don't know to shame himself or something and then takes them off symbolically to put it in the past, you know, he's that kind of guy, but you know, he was very good at bouncing back from bad practices. So we can't really ride the roller coaster of every single practice is the truth about JJ McCarthy, but we should see this similar progression and the joint practices are going to be the highlight of the summer. And we'll also see about preseason.

I mean, there's just so many different layers to this. Like how does he connect with Justin Jefferson? How does he look in the joint practices? How much does he play in preseason? Every single step of the way. What does the night practice look like? My reaction to the night practice podcast is usually one of my favorite of the year, but last year spoiled by JJ McCarthy's injury. But yeah, you know, that should be really interesting. And the folks who come

out for that one, we'll get to see a glimpse of, you know, the potential franchise quarterback here. So everything is about JJ McCarthy in this training camp. The top 25 list had a lot of storylines and intrigue, and we're going to continue to preview position by position and you know, underrated players. And I've got a Mr. Mankato list that I'm working on for Monday of, you know, kind of putting into tears those different guys. But I mean this thing every single day is how does that guy look? Does he look like he's getting it?

Does he look like he did last it? Does he look like he did last year? Is he struggling? What's he struggling with? You know, every step of the way I will be there. And, uh, I'm very excited about that. Yeah. And in most part, because you guys are, and like the fact that there's people here watching the live show right now, the fact that, you know, people are reading the newsletter still and all that sort of stuff. Usually around this time of year, I just see the numbers go all the way down into the tank because of course, like you guys are on vacation and you're like, okay, you know, whatever we'll get to training camp

eventually that hasn't been the case. That has felt like the off season has not stopped. Usually it's end is after the draft and then we've got like a week of analysis after the draft and then it just goes down in the tank and then there's some OTAs and mini camp and then yeah, or let me know when the season starts, but not the case, not the case this year. And I appreciate that. So since you're all here, questions, thoughts, comments, feelings, do you, uh, do you like the top file? Oh, I

Said I was going to show you the entire list Okay, let me screen share so I could just show it to you and talk through it Here real quick. All right Okay, let me put me can I put me in the corner? How do I get in the corner? Oh Let me put me, can I put me in the corner? How do I get in the corner? Oh, there I am. Okay. So here is the entire list.

I'll start with number 25 and just count it back down for you guys. So 25 through 21 was J Ward, Zamiya Vaughan, Silas Bolden, Bo Richter, Gavin Bartholomew, 20 through 15, Jaylen Naylor, Gabriel Murphy, Will Reichard, Max Brosmer, who I just wrote a big story on, purpleinsider.football. Make sure you go check that out.

Dwight McClothern and Jeff Okuda. Number 14, Tyreon Ingram Dawkins, 13, Sam Howell, then Theo Jackson, Jordan Mason. And number 10 was Levi Drake Rodriguez, then Mackay Blackman, Josh Vitellis, Ty Felton, Christian Derisaw, and number 10 was Levi Drake, Rodriguez, then McKay Blackman, Josh, Mattelis, Ty Felton, Christian, Darasaw and again, the top five, Rondale more Isaiah Rogers, Donovan Jackson,

Dallas Turner and JJ McCarthy. So did I miss any, did I miss any? Is there any that, that you guys think that I should have had that I did not have or do you love the list? Do you hate the list? Let me know. All right. I'll start with Ryan here. Ryan says excited for what Blackman can bring to the table. Looked great last year. Well, last training camp he was hurt, but I know what you mean. Probably two years ago, he looked good when he was in McKay Blackman in 2023. He has, I think a very natural way of playing and it's a different kind of

athleticism than just pure speed. Like the combine there's combine athleticism and then there's real sports athleticism and maybe the best way to describe this is with basketball players. Like there are some basketball players who can jump from the free throw line and dunk and the, you know, their vertical is crazy high, but then you see them get the ball and try to make a move and you go, Oh, okay. That guy is a in the gym athlete, but not a real game athlete. And I think with McKay Blackman, when you look at his relative athletic scores,

you look at his, the 40, the high jump, whatever, all that stuff, not the most mind blowing. But then when you see him move and you see him play the football and you see him tackle like, Oh, okay. That is a real football player, my friends. And I think that's what Brian Flores liked about him is his work ethic. And he was a very good tackler in 2023. So I think that there is, I don't want to say a super high ceiling because that makes it sound like, Oh, he's going to be the next, you know, Patrick

Surtan or something, but could he be an above average starter who's good at playing the football and is kind of a, you know, a little Rottweiler out there kind of, you know, guy plays with an edge. I don't, again, don't want to say Antoine Winfield Jr. Because that, or senior, because Antoine Winfield senior was one of the best corners of a decade and the ultimate undersized tackling guy. But you know, shades shades of that from McKay Blackman. It's just been so long since we've seen him that it's hard to know exactly what

he's going to look like coming back. It's an ACL. It happens all the time. My expectation is that he's competing for a lot of time on the field, but that's another swing player. He and Rogers are big swing players with small sample sizes, which of course, puts them on the most interesting list. Uh, Aaron says, will Rondale be in the mix for punt and or kick return or pun? I can guarantee he's going to be in the mix kick. I don't know.

Uh, what I got the sense of from Matt Daniels in a mini camp when he talked was that he would love Isaiah Rogers to be that guy who's doing the kick returning. I don't think that it's responsible to have Isaiah Rogers doing the kick returning. I don't think that it's responsible to have Isaiah Rogers doing the kick returning and with if it was the old style kick return and they were only getting to 12 a year, I'd say, okay, yeah, okay. Have Isaiah Rogers go back there and give it a shot because you're only going to return kicks when it's either really short or when you really need just, Hey, we need a burst of lightning and maybe the guy can get us a big return. But now you're going to be returning all the time.

Do you want your starting outside corner to take five extra hits a game? I would not. So that I think does put Rondale more potentially in that conversation. But since he wasn't back to a hundred percent yet, we didn't know, uh, because, uh, we couldn't tell, like, is he going to be back there or not? The guys that were back there, you know, at practice, he was not included because he wasn't practicing yet in mini camp. Um, so we'll, we'll figure that out pretty quickly when they start to practice.

Like who are the guys that are in the mix for that for part returning? I guarantee is because he's done that before in his career, not a ton, not a crazy amount, but he does have experience doing it. Uh, Ryan adds very curious to see what changes for this run and pass game balance could see things being a lot more surgical short yardage plays, the middle of the field and deep shots off play action. So I go back and forth on this all the time, you know, and it's something that we will pick up on in training camp.

Is it going to be still a deep shot offense? One thing that I've been thinking about with JJ McCarthy because I get, you know, I do, I go on other people's shows and stuff like that. People come on my show. I go on their show and it's always the big question is, well, what's the offense going to look like? How different is it going to be?

And my answer is, well, didn't KO C put together this offense for JJ McCarthy last year? I mean, he altered it and he adjusted it for Sam Darnold as the season went along. But when they were building it and teaching JJ McCarthy for the very first time, what the offense is like, they were doing it with him in mind. And then, Hey, Sam Darnold, that you run it and you'll be QB one. But I think if JJ McCarthy, if there was a different way, things had gone last year and McCarthy hadn't gotten hurt and Darnold wasn't great. And they had started off, I i don't know five and seven let's let's make it even fewer games than that how about two and four.

I think jj mccarthy would have been playing and he would have been running that offense from last year now what was that offense it was downfield. It was a lot of taking advantage of arm strength throwing into into windows, throwing those in breaking routes to Justin Jefferson, 20 yards down the field. I think that he's going to ask JJ McCarthy to do that stuff. I don't know how safe they're going to be with their offense, which look, I mean, that might result in more variance, which it always does just like shooting threes or trying to hit home runs. But I just have a tough time seeing Kevin O'Connell invent this offense last year or shape this offense last year, not exactly invent, but shape it for McCarthy and then be like, Oh no, you

know what? I'm going to play like, I want to play like Kevin Stefanski now, and we're going to throw 400 times and we're going to run 600 times. And you know, that's how we're going to do it and hit play action from time to time. And that's going to be our offense. That could certainly work, but I just don't think that's who Kevin O'Connell is. And I also think when you have the ultimate weapon in Justin Jefferson downfield as a contested catch monster, as somebody who can make a play on the football at any level. I mean, are you going to start throwing underneath? Like, I don't think so. I think they're still going to push the ball down the field where what you're talking about is the run

pass balance though. And I do think there's going to be a lot more of that. I do think there's going to be a lot more of the running early on. When you look at last year, they were ahead in so many games early. Like you think about the Giants game, they give up what a field goal to start the game and then never trail again, San Francisco, Houston, Green Bay, they were way up. So it looked a little more 50 50 because they were ahead in so many games early on in the season. And then as the season went along, it sort of went right back to where Kevin O'Connell usually likes it, which is more about 60, 40. It, when they're in close games, they should be able to lean on

the run game a little more. What you would like is to have some drives that are 12 plays and six runs, six passes, and maybe you hit, you know, you hit a 20 yard pass at some point, you get a few runs that go for three yards, you get a few runs that go for seven yards, and you just pound the other team's face in for a little while. That's something that's been missing

from this offense since O'Connell got here. Little spurts we can remember this moment or that moment, but not consistently. With the personnel that they have this year, they can do that a little more consistency. So, uh, consistently. So I go back and forth because in one way, I think, well, yeah, they should do what you're talking about with JJ McCarthy, which is they should run the ball and take deep shots off, play action and stuff. But I'm also envisioning, and I, and we saw

him do it last year in training camp. So it's not just in my imagination. He was running the same offense as Sam Darnold in training camp last year. He was throwing downfield. He was running things out of the shotgun guys in motion and final drives where he's out of the shotgun for the entire time. Um, I don't think that they have to kid gloves McCarthy just because he was in that kind of offense when he was in college. I think that they look at his arm strength and they look at his command and his

leadership and his work ethic to get the offense down and his willingness to take a shot. And I think they're going to throw it. I think they're still going to throw it. Dustin says McCarthy has a similar season to Jordan loves first season, would you consider that a success divisional round with a pretty high numbers or does it need to be more than one playoff win? The success conversation is a little bit layered and nuanced because

my first answer would be if he played exactly the same as Jordan love. It was the same season where early on there's some moments he looks pretty good and then there's some moments he looks pretty bad and this goes for the kind of like patience thing. And then the second half of the season he looks like a star. And then they get within one drive of winning in the divisional round and one drive of going to the NFC championship. Nobody's walking away from that season and saying, ah, no, nobody for a first season. And Jordan love had a couple of more years to develop than JJ McCarthy.

So that matters a little bit too, but how did Packers fans walk out of that season? They walked out of that season with their heads held probably a little too high, but very high about Jordan love. I mean, they thought you've got the next far of you've got the next Aaron Rogers here and maybe they still do. I don't know. I think the ups and downs of Jordan love are kind of who he's going to be.

And when he plays 17 games, nine of them are going to be really good and eight of them are not going to be really good. I think that's kind of who he is as a player. But the point just being that if McCarthy at his age, which is quite a bit younger than when Jordan love began as a starter, if he were to have that big upswing in the second half of the year and have a ton of big wins, light somebody up in a playoff game and then lose in the last moments of a divisional round. Oh yeah. Oh, that's a success.

That's a success because you're going to walk out of that season, knowing that you've got this core together and that JJ McCarthy will not be expensive for at least several more years. If you look at contracts like my homes or Josh Allen or Burrow, it's not until year six that they become pretty expensive. So you're going to walk out of that going, wait three more seasons, if not four more seasons of an affordable and extremely affordable quarterback. With that level of play that he can build on and grow on and everything.

Oh yeah. Yeah. You're, you're going to like that. I think where it gets a little more tricky is if JJ McCarthy comes out of the first season and the numbers are just kind of okay and they get there with the defense and there's not a lot of flashes of like, whoa, this guy, but it's pretty good. And then you're going to be asking like, is there a next step to be taken? Because if there is, he could, you know, they could be really good, but if there isn't, is there a ceiling like that's the hardest scenario, uh, the scenario where he's like really bad, I just don't see happening with this setup.

Cause we've seen really bad quarterbacks have good moments. Uh, no offense to Josh Dobbs, a great human being, but not a great quarterback and has bounced around to a bunch of teams. And even he won some games with the Vikings and Nick Mullins, same sort of thing, where he put up big numbers. And so if those guys can do it, I there's, it's hard to find a scenario where this doesn't work at all. It's when it gets into that gray area of, Ooh, okay.

What like, was that season good? I think about if they're like, you know, call it even the, the, the Teddy Bridgewater 2015 season for a lot of people, I think we're really excited about Teddy Bridgewater, but the skeptics and we'll never find out who was right. Unfortunately for Teddy, but the skeptics were like, when was it special though? Right. I think when was it really truly special? When did he flash big numbers and have huge games and no win games

by himself. That kind of thing. He was the, you know, the game manager with 14 touchdowns. And again, like we, he looked like he was going to take another step. We never got to see it in 2016 and who knows if he was still the quarterback in 2017, how good that might've been. But if McCarthy has a similar to 2015 season as Teddy Bridgewater I think you're gonna feel pretty good about that But you're not gonna be sure where the ceiling is if he does what Jordan Love did at a younger age with less experience

I mean you're gonna think sky is kind of the limit for the next few years for the Vikings Hamza says came across a graphic of every team's winning percentage since the merger and the Vikings had the fourth worst win percentage even ahead of the Packers and they are the only team in the top 13 that does not have a Super Bowl win, let alone even even one Super Bowl. So I came to the conclusion that the reason that I think the Vikings have never won a championship is because I know what you're going to say. It's a long comment, but I'm going to read it all. They have

never had a franchise quarterback. All the teams that have won Superbowl usually have done it with a franchise quarterback. They have had elite players on both offense and defense. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so Hamza it's amazing. Like you and you and I'm only picking on you. Okay, but you may be the last person on earth to have discovered this factoid. I feel like I meet random people in public who are talking about, hey, did you know the Vikings that have the best record ever of any team that doesn't have a Super Bowl? I feel like my dentist said that to me or something at some point. So, yes, that is a fact. I feel like my dentist said that to me or something at some point. So

Yes, that is a fact, but well, there's a few different things I mean your explanation of course is right and I think it ties into exactly why there's so much energy and Excitement for this season and this training camp because this is the piece that's been missing forever season and this training camp because this is the piece that's been missing forever in this franchise. I mean, you can go back to even when they had Tommy Kramer, who was a great quarterback, but there were injuries and he was in and out with Wade Wilson through the years. And you never felt like, I mean, maybe there were a couple of years where you thought that Kramer was the franchise quarterback, but the injuries and stuff in the late eighties, uh, it

wasn't exactly a sure thing. And then you get to the nineties, it's rich Gannon, Jim McMahon shows up for a really fun year, but you're not going to have Jim McMahon for a long period of time. And it wasn't really until Dante and think about how long that is like for a minute there with Tommy Kramer, then all the way to Dante, call pepper. I mean, that's like, I mean, if you were a 10 year old fan, when Tommy Kramer got drafted, you're like an old guy by the time they get their next franchise quarterback, like a real adult with a mortgage and a fence and

everything. And then call pepper gets hurt. And think about that same thing. If you were 10 years old when Culpepper got hurt, you've gone through this whole thing that you're a grownup now and you still haven't seen that franchise quarterback outside of thinking it might be Teddy, or if you were a Kirk believer at the start or ever thought that that was going to get turned around and have different results at some point, Kirk's been the closest thing, but he wasn't the guy who was drafted. He wasn't developed here. He had his warts as a complete player by the time he got here.

So to your point, yes. I mean, I agree with you, of course, that a lot of the teams that win have had that franchise quarterback that you get a bunch of shots at it and eventually you get over the top. Uh, the other part is that, and we all know this, it doesn't have to be rehashed. They had some chances. They had some chances, didn't take advantage of all of them. Uh, Aaron says, uh, crazy, how much has changed in a short time in the quarterback room, uh, Booth jr and a Caleb Evans were hoping to prove something. And then Flores didn't like what he saw and got the guys that he thinks, uh,

will work. I mean, this is a great point, Aaron, about this overhaul of the roster that's been made by this coaching staff in front office, even if we go back a year, how much is different? Go back two years. How many pieces are even here from two years ago? They have really, uh, overhauled this entire thing in, especially on defense in Brian Flores's vision. I mean, we were talking about, you know,

DJ Wanham and Denil Hunter is the starting, uh, edge rushers. And now it's two of the best in the league. And of course, Hunter is still incredible, but two of the best in the league that they went out and got, this is normally a difficult way to build the team But on defense if you identify the right guys you can do it and they've done it With all of these free agent players and now they're hoping to do the same and this is where Somebody said to me not too long ago like that. A lot of coaches are not great at scouting

So they're good at coaching X's and O's. They understand the game, but they don't all understand players skills. And that is the, I think most important thing that Brian Flores does is he looked at a Caleb Evans and he said, that is a guy who's a man corner who uses his size. And look, he could play off a little bit and he could tackle, but he doesn't play the football very well. He's little bit and he could tackle, but he doesn't play the football very well.

He's really good at mirroring guys, but he doesn't play football very well. And he looked at Andrew Booth, Jr. He said that guy soft. And that's just a fact. He was soft. He wasn't getting his hands dirty on anybody. And he was very much like an off type of corner, but you've got to rally and tackle and you got to hit people if you're going to play for Flores.

So he goes out and gets some of his guys as placeholders, but now these are really his guys, black men and Isaiah Rogers. That's a good point that they've changed everybody to really fit his scheme. And that even goes for where Dallas Turner is at right now that last year, you're kind of trying to put in a Patrick Jones into a position to succeed. And he did to some extent, but now it's the guy that you drafted and developed for this exact role. And that's what makes the defensive side, even with the really tough schedule, very

interesting and potentially really, really good if things work out because it's all in Brian Flores's vision. Let's see. Sean says, sometimes offenses breathe a sigh of relief if when a front seven or two, oh yeah, has to get a breather for a play. Yeah, I see what you're saying. If someone in the front seven, too much depth on the Vikings front seven, with the guys subbing in that are solid. We will see. We will see about that, Sean. That's an interesting point we will see. Um, because there is the potential there, uh, where you could see, uh, Dallas Turner being a great fill in player. You could see Jaylen Redmond emerging, Levi Drake Rodriguez emerging,

Taki Taimani gets mentioned on more podcasts than he has plays in the NFL, but you could also see where it might not. And that's one of the biggest question marks going into training camp. And when we do our positional analysis, where we go position by position and talk about every storyline for each position leading up to training camp, when we get to defensive line, like that's going to be the real, the biggest narrative is, do you really have a rotation? Is it have a rotation?

Is it a nasty rotation? Can you plug and play a Javon Javon Hargrave next to Harrison Phillips? Can you put in Levi Drake Rodriguez instead of Harrison Phillips and then, you know, put Redmond next to him and then Jonathan Allen, or are you talking about really having to lean heavy on just a couple guys? Because the last couple of years we've discussed it in the off season. Has it really worked out though, uh, for a rotation? So there, I think they're going to need that.

They're going to need at a couple of different positions, some younger players or some less experienced players to really rise to the challenge here. And D line is that place. I mean, right behind, and even I'll throw Tyree on Ingram Dawkins there as well. Right behind the starters is a bunch of intrigue. Aaron says, I think Jordan Mason will be the straw that stirs the drink this year. Yeah, Jordan Mason is one of those acquisitions that gets made in the off season and with so many other people being signed and so much money being spent, it's easy to kind of forget Jordan Mason. Like, oh yeah, well, and they also got Jordan Mason, like an also, an also signed instead of an also ran and also signed Jordan Mason.

But this is a guy who is average over five yards per carry for his career has a nastiness to him, a violence to the way that he runs. Also really, really fits in an outside zone type of scheme where he was great last year for the San Francisco 49ers. I would imagine the Vikings want to run something similar because Aaron Jones was always in a zone scheme, uh, as well, like a wider zone type of scheme with the green Bay Packers. And they ran more zone with Jones on the field last year. So if he performs even somewhat similarly, similarly, even if it's four and a half yards of carry 4.6 or seven yards per carry behind an offensive line

that is really good at run blocking. You're right. I mean, he could be a guy that the other team just hates to see come in the game. And the best recent run game that we've seen from the Vikings is probably 2019, maybe 2020 early in the season, but probably 2019. And that was where Dalvin cook would wear down teams. They would bring in, uh, they would bring in Alexander Madison and he proved not to be a true number one.

And you know, they had a struggling offensive line. He also may have just had the running back thing happened to him earlier than expected, but for a minute there, Alexander Madison was pretty darn effective and that's the last time they had a really good run game where they could have a duo of, you know, Delvin Cook and Madison. And now with Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason, he gives you a power element that you didn't really have before. Jones is not the biggest guy. He's not running over people. He's kind of slippery as opposed to slamming down your face. And Jordan Mason could slam down your face. It really was.

So Kevin O'Connell over the last couple of years has been talked about a little bit, and this has not been a purple insider opinion by the way. So I think it was just unfair, uh, as being like, is this team really got an edge to it? And then when you get trounced like they did in the playoffs, that narrative is not going anywhere. I don't think that they lacked an edge because Kevin O'Connell, I don't know, like doesn't want to. I think your edge comes from your personnel and you know, how much he has them

hit each other in practice. Look how healthy they've been. Like that's the way you should be doing it. You should be having the main goal to have people be healthy. Even if it's makes for unexciting pre-season games. But they didn't have an edge. I really think because they didn't have the people who had an edge. Dalton Reisner is not a guy who plays with an edge. He's a very good pass protector,

but he's not shoving people around. And with Garrett Bradbury, I thought he was a really good outside blocking center outside zone blocking center, but it was a more finesse type of thing. Whereas Ryan Kelly's got some nasty to him. Donovan Jackson, I think he's got some nasty to him. And then Jordan Mason, he brings a violence to his game. Like they could completely reshape what we think of if Jordan Mason is what he was for the 49ers, just about like KOC and the team's identity and things like that.

Because it has been kind of a, it's been more of a Ferrari than it has been, you know, a big truck or something. Maybe they want it to be a little bit more like a you can tell how much I know about cars, a big truck or something, I said. I drive a Honda Civic, folks gas mileage, though fantastic. T.L. says, how many wide receivers named more have there been ever in NFL history? You could probably find that on pro football reference. I bet you could find that.

There's a few in the league right now. Rob Moore was a very good wide receiver. I think he's a receivers coach somewhere. Angel dust senior with two Z's. Is there any let's get Angel dust junior subscribed. Okay, says in my honest opinion, I have a feeling Blake Cashman will have a great season. Is there an angel? Let's get angel dust jr. Subscribed. Okay Says in my honest opinion. I have a feeling Blake Cashman will have a great season your thoughts He had one last year a really really really good season last year

the only concern I ever have about Blake Cashman is just that he plays with His hair on fire to the point of sometimes getting banged up. And that happened last year. It could definitely happen again, but the ability to cover for me with Blake Cashman was something I was so impressed with. And he had really good PFF coverage grades before when they signed him, but you just don't know, like sometimes those things go up and down. Uh, some years, Anthony Barr would have great coverage grades. Some years he wouldn't.

And if you gave up one big play or two big plays, it could shift that grade. So those are tricky to deal with. And you got to make sure that you understand the context. But what I saw from him, that San Francisco game comes to mind immediately was an ability to close. So when he identified where the football was going to go, he could close on a space, on a receiver, on a target and make an all out play. He could get his hands on the football.

He could tip the ball. I think there was a tip that turned into an interception against San Francisco that he had that were past breakups. And then as a blitzer, he knows how to get after it as well. But I think with Flores, like blitzing is somewhat of a talent in itself, but it's kind of something that's drawn up. Coverage is something that you really cannot,

I don't wanna say you can't teach, but it has to have a natural skillset. It has to have a natural instinct for the game. Um, really good understanding of opposing offenses and then lightning quicks. His fit last year was remarkable. And I still wonder if the Vikings had played the Detroit lions with Blake Cashman last year in the first game, if that would have turned out differently, I think it would have.

And so his health is absolutely vital to this thing. And that's why they went and got Eric Wilson. So you could have a copy. You could have someone who's a really good leader. I mean, anybody who knows Eric Wilson knows like his leadership qualities are fantastic. Uh, and he was great at knowing the defense, knowing where to be when he was here before, and then did a good job for the Packers last year. So that's important, but Cashman, his health, his performance is extremely vital to this defense. So that was an incredible signing last year. Aaron says, which three positions do you think that the depth of the position is a little weak?

Quality depth is something this team hasn't had a lot with the former quarterback's contract. That is, that is totally true. And I was just mentioning Eric Wilson. I mean, you think about last year, it was Kamu Grigé Hill, who was a pure special teamer and when they put him out there, he made a couple of plays, but the more he was out there, the more problematic it was. The answer is going to, I think. Be shown in training camp because there's a lot of players

that I'm unsure of where they stand. So I was really impressed with Dwight McClothern, for example, last year and with Zamyia Vaughan in mini camp. It's just mini camp, but hey, you're out there with football players making plays. So you've got my attention. Jeff Okuda is another one. And I know Rob, who watches the show has been banging the Jeff Okuda drum and he thinks Okuda is going to be really good for this team, but I don't know yet. And I want to see in training camp, do I feel like they have this depth with McClother and Okuda potentially Zamyavon or maybe somebody else shows up as well. Or am I going to go, I don't know.

I don't know about that. If somebody gets hurt in the corner back room, they're in trouble, which was kind of how we felt last year. And then no one really got hurt. Safety is sort of that way, even though there's some flexibility, but we don't really know what Jay Ward is. We don't really know what Theo Jackson is wide receiver is another one where we're still kind of trying to figure that out. Do they have a lot behind Jalen Naylor or do they not?

If Rondell Moore is back there and performing well in camp and if Ty Felton is showing us something like, Oh, well, you're going to feel like, wow, you have an abundance of wide receivers. But if those guys struggle in training camp, you're kind of going to feel like it's a little bit light if anybody goes down. So I think that we're kind of waiting on that answer. But overall, where I think it's really important and I mentioned the D line earlier, where I think it's really important outside linebacker to is on the offensive line.

That's the position that's always getting banged up. It's hard to keep five guys on the field at the same time. And I do think they have good depth on the offensive line because Blake Brando is a guy who could come in and play a few games and you're going to feel good about it. That's the thing with with Brando is sometimes I would talk about his, you know, last year shortcomings, but he's an NFL offensive lineman who can start in five games if you need him to do that and

You know the same kind of goes for Justin school I'm curious to see about Michael Juergens, but this is this really the the true answer is we're gonna find out throughout this training camp Son of a beavers says I Just I sometimes I envision what people who listen on the audio side and what they think when I am talking about beavers all the time there, but it's you. Uh, let's see, have any thoughts on Lloyd Howell and how fast he's going to get fired from the NFL PA for his role in the collusion because Oh boy. Uh, did that dude and JC Treder mess up?

Yeah. Did that dude and JC Treder mess up? Yeah So I saw Kaelin Kahler wrote about it and Don Van Nader wrote about it and Pavel Torey's been reporting it along with Mike Floreo after they got their hands on this Collusion investigation that had basically been buried. I think if you are the leader of the NFL Players Association in I think if you are the leader of the NFL players association in earnest, not with particular interests like Lloyd Howell seems to have, but if you haven't kept up on this thing, Lloyd Howell was involved as a consultant with a firm that's buying portions of NFL teams, if I'm understanding that correctly, and also running the NFLPA. It's kind of a little conflict of interest, I would say. And then J.C. Treder had some very questionable things that were said in this investigation that got unearthed

and should have never been buried. I mean, if you were truly trying to run the NFLPA in a way that didn't seem to very much favor the owners, but in a way that represented the players properly that investigation would have been out there a lot sooner than it actually was if there were were not things that people like JC Treder didn't want the world to find out the way that the owners colluded against Lamar Jackson was wrong there's no world where Dak Prescott should be making more money than Lamar Jackson or the team should be leaking that they weren't going to go after an MVP caliber superstar quarterback when teams are paying out money to Tua and to Trevor Lawrence and so forth. So we all

knew what was going on, but this has actually peeled back a much deeper curtain. So if you're into sports business, this is a fascinating situation. And now all of a sudden it seems like the players are a little bit in peril here. They need new leadership like yesterday, like four years ago yesterday. And that's become quite obvious. However, if you're not into the sports business stuff and you're just waiting for training camp, which is kind of me off we go. Like, I don't know. It can be a little bit. First of all, it wasn't surprising. It wasn't shocking. The Lloyd Howell thing was a little shocking, but the whole ends up not really getting front page treatment because we all kind of know that has gone on and what's the, it's just hard to talk about, right? Like, well, there's this, this really deep business thing happening, but we're all pretty

excited for football. So that's kind of where I've stood on it. I haven't spent a lot of time investigating it. Let's see, Ryan says, the new Tampa two nickel packages this year will be interesting with extra pressure upfront, excited to see what type of disguises Ryan Flores deploys. I just, to me, it's about like personnel

for how he's going to go about it. It's about making those pieces fit with their skill sets where last year it was pretty obvious with someone like cam by them, just for example, can buy them, does one thing and he does one thing. Well, that is play deep safety. Now he can come up and tackle. He's great at it. He's great at identifying route combinations and he catches the

football when it comes to him. But now is Theo Jackson that role or is Theo Jackson just on third down in a dime package and Josh Mattelis is back there having to play a little more in coverage. Is Ivan Pace on the field for every snap these days or is it going to be Dallas Turner or Van Ginkle moving around and stuff like, where somebody's being used, the new skill sets that they have, how much that front seven with Jonathan Allen and J von Hargrave causes things on the backend to be different. So interesting, so interesting to try to pick up on little details of what it's

going to look like throughout training camp and then, you know, see it play out. Uh, son of a Beaver says, when do you think the second rounders are going to sign as 30 of 32 remain unsigned? They'll sign. I mean, there's, there's no world where they don't. I mean, I don't know, probably soon. Uh, I stopped even thinking about all that stuff. Um, just when they put in the rookie wage scale and it made it lock everybody into basically

the same contract. And then, you know, guys fight that whole thing, uh, that the Cincinnati Schmarr Stewart, what he's dealing with, with the Bengals guys will try to kind of fight that whole guaranteed situation. If they cut you before the end of your contract, you still get all your guaranteed money those details but the team is in a pretty clear cut position with those type of things and you know, I'm sure it'll be alright. Was there 32 second round draft picks? I guess it would have been what I mean the third round that's where there's like 47 third

round draft picks. Uh, Steven says tight end depth is suspect a bit backup center behind Kelly is suspect, can't say I'm a big fan of Jay Ward. Well, you don't know anything about Jay Ward yet. I mean, you wouldn't have, I mean, I don't know either. Like that's the thing. Like he's been a good special team or that's all we really know. I, you wouldn't have known a lot about Josh Mattelis either. So I'm interested to see if Ward starts to get in there and starts to get any opportunities.

I mean, it's fair because we haven't seen him to say that that's still a question mark. And that's where I kind of pointed as well. Behind Kelly, same thing. Michael Juergens hasn't played. So I agree with you there. Tight end depth. I don't know how many teams do teams have seven tight ends that are good. I mean, I don't know how many teams, do teams have seven tight ends that are good? I mean, I don't know how many teams that even have two, honestly,

how many teams even have, uh, you know, two players who can play the way the Vikings can. Josh Oliver is a legitimate starter and we'll see if there's, I mean, that's a backup battle that is going to be something too. Uh, Ben Urusek caught a few balls, caught my eye. Uh, Bryson Nesbit. These are guys that, you know, we'll see if you ever have to learn their names ever again, but undrafted free agents who might have a chance to do something in training camp. And, uh, Bartholomew, the six round draft pick has the best chance to be tight end three.

Uh, there are 116 players in NFL history with the last name of more. That's great information, but how many were wide receivers? That was the question that we're going to have to figure out. Okay. T T L has a sky more DJ more Herman more. I don't know Nat more. I don't know who that is. Uh, Rob more Elijah more Lance more. I know all those guys, David more David more. I don't know Nat Moore. I don't know who that is Rob Moore Elijah Moore Lance Moore I know all those guys David Moore David Moore. I don't know

Chris Moore and Ahmad Rashad's real name was Bobby Moore or is originally I mean Ahmad Rashad is obviously his real name But his name was changed to a mod Rashad from Bobby Moore Well, that's a good sign that we should wrap it up, isn't it? Well, that's a good sign that we should wrap it up, isn't it? Who is the best more for a wide receiver? No, it's got it. Well, Rob or Herman, Rob or Herman. Herman had the higher ceiling.

Rob had the longer career. Um, uh, okay. Last question. If there's a legitimate punting competition, what happens? Uh, first winner is crowned, uh, or Jordan Addison gets suspended. A first winner. I don't understand the second part of that. I don't think that they're, oh, you mean, okay,

I see what you're saying. Like what happens first, a winner of the competition is crowned or Addison gets suspended. Now I understand. Punctuation in the comment section can throw me off like Ron Burgundy, but I'm Ron Burgundy. Uh, I'm a punt competition.

So anyway, I don't think there's a pun competition. I just, I just don't, they can keep Oscar Chapman on the roster with the international exception. I think it's just Ryan Wright. And unless Wright struggles big time and Chapman is unbelievable, but probably just keep both on the roster. Right. Will be the guy. And if he struggles in the middle of the season, they might make the change. As far as that suspension goes, boy, have we, we need to have like a hall of fame of dragged out stuff that we followed on the

show. Oh, what is the like quasi a dafthalmense's contract was like in the dragged out stuff hall of fame, but Jordan Addison's suspension. I mean, Los Angeles feel free, feel free to come up with an answer there so we can figure that out whether that's going to happen or not. And remember the NFL still could suspend him even if he is not convicted. If they want to, I don't know if they will, but we will see that it does kind of loom over this training camp though. Is it going to happen? Is it not going to happen?

And I think it's still likely that it happens. So you're focused a little bit more on that wide receiver depth, but don't worry though. I will be keeping an eye on the punting competition just for all of you. Sadly though, Oscar Chapman did not make my top 25 list. So go over to purpleinsider.football. You could see the entire list and all the write-ups. Also huge story on Max Brosmer today. I spent a good amount of time talking with his offensive coordinator for the Gophers and his quarterback trainer,

Quincy Avery who was from here and is one of the reasons that he, uh, is a Minnesota Viking at this time. So I wrote about that. You're right. Mattel is his potential extension. I don't think, I mean, dragged out a little, a little that's nowhere close to the dragged out hall of fame though. I mean, even TJ Hawkinson's where we got to earaches and back injuries, people trying to trade Justin Jefferson for an entire year straight because they started negotiations early,

that was dragged out hall of fame for sure. But certainly not the only thing that was. All right, well, I won't drag the show out much more, but I appreciate everybody popping in to listen and watch. And, uh, next Monday, yeah, should be live next Monday. And maybe we'll do a little Mr. Mankato talk next Monday. I think that's going to be the next article that I'm working on over the weekend.

So thanks everybody for watching and listening. And, uh, the countdown is on, man. We're getting closer and closer. Talk to y'all very soon. Football.