Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - The Jets are a fascinating opponent for the Vikings

Episode Date: November 30, 2022

Will Parkinson from Turn on the Jets joins Matthew Coller to talk about the Zac Wilson/Mike White saga and why the Jets are rallying around White. Plus how the Vikings match up in the trenches and Sauce Gardner vs. Justin Jefferson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purple Insider is presented by Liquid Death, delicious water that's bringing death to plastic. Learn more at liquiddeath.com slash insider. Hello, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here, a return guest to the show. The last time he was on, we named random New York Jets quarterbacks. Will Parkinson, I do hundreds of episodes, but I didn't forget that one. Turn on the Jets podcast, one of my favorite follows on Twitter. What is up, man? How are you?

I'm good, I'm good. We're talking about Jets and Vikings playoff teams going head to head. So can't really can't really complain, right? I mean, this is kind of we haven't expected. But at the end of the day, this is where we are. And we're going to be enjoying not looking at tankathon for another six or seven weeks. No, that's right. Yeah, that is right. I have not clicked on that website a single time so far this year and it's been a while since it's been late november and you have not been looking at where the jets will be drafting however i mean considering we did talk about all the funny quarterback situations that had happened in the past i mean we have to begin there with mike white give me give me a comp is there a White comparable situation? The only one I can think of

for the Jets, this is going way back, but I'm sure you'll know it, is when Vinny Testaverde got hurt and then it was like Rick Meyer, the punter played a game, Ray Lucas, and they kind of went 500 with Bill Parcells, but they were still like a good and competitive team and And they were there all the way to the end, had a great defense. And you didn't want to face that team despite the weird quarterback situation. The more apt comparison maybe is Mark Sanchez, where it's a dominant defense with very spotty quarterback play. But the fact that it's not even the starter, though, at least Sanchez was the starter.

Is there a Jets comparison for what is going on? I get Robert saw me this comparison that's interesting one and everyone that follows me knows I am not a Russell Wilson person but he made the comparison to they paid all this money to Matt Flynn everything's invested in Matt Flynn and they draft Russell Wilson third into the third round Mike what was the fifth round pick but just for the comparison dominant defense dominant running game really well coached and Russell Wilson kind of was able to do enough get the ball into these guys hands and I don't hate that comparison just from the aspect of they you know the Jets have all this invested in Zach Wilson you know you want to stick with him as long as you can but there's just a guy that's playing better than him right now it's better for the team.

That was one comparison I saw. I saw a Mark Brunel comparison of just a later round guy. Dak as well, those type of players. I'm not saying he's that level. It's just the player that's the day two, day three pick that kind of just beats out the guy that maybe was supposed to be the guy. Jets-wise, the Ray Lucas one is interesting. I guess comparison-wise in terms of style of play, he's very Chad Pennington in terms of really good footwork, good eyes,

smart with the football, gets it in the playmaker's hands. He's more athletic than Chad Pennington is, probably has a better arm, but very much similar in terms of Mike White's start four games in the NFL. I think he's 68% or 69% completion. More turnovers than Chad maybe would have had, but at the end of the day, 50% of those came against the Bills last year. So I guess from a Mike White perspective, I would say Jets comparison-wise, it's style play more towards Chad.

But I guess your Ray Lucas comparison does – that team does make a lot of sense. The backup guy, the unheralded kind of smaller school. Not Rutgers, the small school, but for comparison. But I like the Robert Sala one that he used with Russell Wilson of just those early Legion of Boom teams where the quarterback just needed to kind of get out of the way and just get the ball out when it is needed and be a little bit clutch and be the mature adult in the huddle.

It feels like right now it's one game, but you saw it a little bit last year. This team loves playing for him, and I'm sure this is before the Let's Ride and Sierra stuff with Russell Wilson, so it makes more sense. Yeah, fame is like a brain disease for some people. Just ask Aaron Rodgers. That can really mess with you, it seems. But it is sort of funny, though, when the coach is like,

hey, you know, like the best third-round pick quarterback ever? That's kind of like who our guy is. I go, oh, I don't know. That might be a little aggressive. But it is really interesting to me to have a quarterback that is supposed to just keep the train on the tracks and keep everything moving. And a Vikings comparison to this would be Case Keenum a couple of years ago. Vikings had the number one defense in the league.

They had two elite wide receivers, a very good running game a good offensive coordinator and just needed case keenum to make a few plays per game and it got them all the way to the nfc championship but you know i think that i i do think that there's probably something closer there because of the physical skill like russell wilson i mean it's kind of i mean even even ray lucas like physically skilled way more talented than someone like mike white but we have seen that it's possible when you have a great team around you to just deliver the football i don't know if it can win you a super bowl but it certainly makes the new york jets a team that are much more dangerous and i was talking about on the show the other day i think this is a really bad break for the vikings to face a competent quarterback versus a twerp who doesn't know what

he's doing in zach wilson yeah no it's interesting you mentioned um you know a lot of jets fans of this week have pointed to the 2017 eagles where i know carson once was really good that year and i'm not taking anything away from but the roster was so good around him that it was like can Nick Foles just like you know stay you know stay be a steady everyone he's the more loved guy in the locker room it is kind of an interesting comparison honestly with Wentz and Zach there's a lot of similarities of kind of the super talented smaller school guy that not really that well liked in the locker room it seems like and then you look at Foles who's like you know the most well-liked quarterback probably it feels like ever based on you know wherever he goes and Mike White's incredibly likable down-to-earth guy it's like it does feel like from a Jets perspective

the different energy they played with last week was yes it's the Bears I get all that it was also a monsoon outside and the Jets have been had a when you ever a venture quarterback in new york it's a absolute like firestorm of just criticism and all that stuff and the jets were the lead you know for benching zackalos on every single major you know media market for five straight days and sometimes it's hard when a bears team comes in everyone's expecting the jets the jets are favored it's a big rainstorm all this stuff's happening and you just expected them to kind of, all right, this is where they don't put the foot on the gas too late. They slip up here, similar to what New England

did against Chicago a couple weeks ago. It feels like they play harder for Mike White. It feels like they have more fun. He gets them the ball. Dan Orlovsky posted a clip earlier. It seems like a very basic thing. To most people's eyes, oh, it's a check earlier. It seems like a very basic thing to most people's eyes. Oh, it's a check down. He went through four reads pretty quickly, got the ball out, and they gained 15 yards on second and one instead of holding it, taking a sack, which is what kept happening with Zach.

There's just a lot of differences. There's too many playmakers here. You mentioned that Vikings team. There are so many playmakers on this Jets team. Garrett Wilson's – I don't know if he'll ever be Justin Jefferson, but that's like the play style in which, you know, can play outside, play in the slot, very, you know, shifty and all that different stuff. Great route runner.

Garrett Wilson's been amazing every game Zach Wilson hasn't played. And Elijah Moore's been awesome every game Zach Wilson has. Like it is crazy to think about. They have all these different weapons, and nobody was really eating when Zach was in. And now that the first game he's out, rainstorm or not, after he complained about the wind the week prior, they go score 31 points easily.

The Jets could have put up 50 last week. They took their foot off the gas, it felt like, pretty quickly into that third quarter. Inside, we'll see. I mean, Mike White's only played one road game, and it was for a quarter, and he looked really good against the Colts. And then he gets hurt and

the rest is kind of history. I'm interested. I do think the Vikings caught a bad break here. I think if Zach Wilson's starting, everyone's picking the Vikings. I think I feel like this game's a toss-up, personally. We'll get to that, but this isn't the best matchup for the Vikings in terms of

where they want to go with the football and what they want to do, especially defensively, too. I feel like it's not the best matchup, but we in terms of, you know, where they want to go with the football and what they want to do, especially defensively too. I feel like it's not the best matchup, but we'll see obviously as we break it down a little bit. Yeah, we'll definitely get to Sauce Gardner versus Justin Jefferson because this is like put it on the marquee for this matchup. And Trayvon Diggs was helped out by a lot of sacks that Kirk Cousins couldn't throw the ball, but that could very well happen this week as well. So we'll talk about that. But the Zach Wilson thing is captivating here because you have a guy who played in a weird COVID season in college and had what, like no fans

and also basically no defenses that he played. And I think that there's a ton of arm talent there for him, but also he thinks he has more arm talent than he does. And I think that there's a ton of arm talent there for him, but also he thinks he has more arm talent than he does. And as somebody made this point, I think it was maybe Matt Hasselbeck on TV the other day. It was like, he seems to think he's Mahomes, but he can't even play like he's a backup or something. And that's with Mike White. When you hear coaches say, well, you know, he gets the ball out. It's like the most sort of like goes in one ear and out the other. Oh no, that's a big deal. Because when you see quarterbacks who can't play, they don't believe in the throws.

They don't just get the ball into the playmaker's hands, and that's what Mike White can do. It's what Mac Jones did last week for 382 yards against the Vikings, so it is a little scary for the Vikings' defense that's still going to be somewhat banged up. I don't think Dantzler's coming back. Not really sure on the Caleb Evans. They'll get Delvin Tomlinson back against the run, defense that's still going to be somewhat banged up. I don't think Dantzler's coming back. Not really sure on a Caleb Evans. They'll get Delvin Tomlinson back against the run, but still the

secondary has been spotty all year. Someone who gets the ball out might have a lot of success, but on Wilson's side, I guess what's your read? I mean, you were a collegiate football player, so you've got some experience of being in the huddle. I guess I wonder what you think of that because from my perspective as a reporter, you can't solve lack of self-awareness. You just can't teach lack of self-awareness or self-awareness in general. The Vikings had this with Laquan Treadwell

where Laquan Treadwell was a pretty talented player and a lot of people made it about, oh, his 40 time or whatever else. No, it wasn't his 40 time. It was the fact that the guy didn't understand what he needed to do and wouldn't listen to anybody. That was really the problem. It was a lack of self-awareness.

I see with Zach Wilson, I'm like, that's not just grow up a little. That's grow up a ton. You're a toddler and you need to be an adult here. I think it's pretty disturbing stuff, and it's kind of like he has almost like a little bit of a Josh Rosen element to him. I mean, I think that it's beyond just, Hey, this looks kind of rough in his second year. Like you're not even a rookie. If he was doing this stuff as a rookie, I'd let it go, but I I'm not ready to quite call it, but I'm almost ready to call it. Yeah, so I guess a couple of things, kind of what you finished on.

Unless Mike White just absolutely poops himself the next two games, which I just don't foresee that happening. Maybe up in Buffalo if they get flexed. We'll see. I doubt that game's going to get flexed. But he goes up to Buffalo in bad weather and doesn't play well or something and is only okay against the Vikings. He'll still get – because the two games the jets have is at minnesota at buffalo if you're a jets

fan you're hoping they split that but then they have detroit and jacksonville in a course of four days both at home so like whatever happens it's a soft landing spot the vikings as you mentioned their past defense has been very bad um at least statistically i don't think i think they've been situationally good like the buffalo game is a perfect example. They got Torch, but in the times they needed Patrick Peterson to make a big play or Harrison Smith and stuff, they still have that star talent that can do it. The Zach thing is tough.

I don't think he's playing this year. Again, I just – I'm not sure if the Jets are winning. Why are they going to make a move there? I guess the argument could be that they were winning somewhat with Zach they were winning in spite of Zach a majority of the games the Pittsburgh game is the only game you could really point to where he was a very big driving force and why they won even the Miami game you know Zach put up decent numbers that you know he was fine they still won that game by 30 points so it's not like you didn't have to do that much. Green Bay, they won in spite

of them. Denver, they won in spite of them. It's just been hard for me to say they should put Zach back in there. He's not even active right now. I'm not sure how he's going to fix the things. I think what they're trying to do is protect his value long term. All the stuff came out about the Yips and the

playbook stuff all came out at the same time. That's not by accident. They're not going to sit there and be like, Zach's not the guy. He sucks. That's just not the way the NFL works. And Robert Sala is kind of – he's done a really good job of learning from mistakes when he's made mistakes at pressers and things like that. Earlier in the year, they asked him about Zach Wilson.

Would he be the starter no matter what? He said he's a starter no matter what unless he gets hurt. Obviously, three weeks later, he benches Zach Wilson. So this time, he's going with the approach of it's day-to-day. Every week will be different. This week's Mike White. If the Jets win or it's even a close game and Mike White plays somewhat decently, he'll be the starter against the Bills.

Now, the Jetsets three games in the last two years where they've put up 30 plus points to 450 yards. Mike White's been the starter all three games. That has never happened in a Zach Wilson start where they've put up that level of offense, especially yardage wise.

Yes, this maturity stuff is tough. I don't, as you mentioned, I don't know that you become this like – it's hard to kind of – and then you almost come off as a fake leader as things kind of progress. You've seen that with – I felt like that a little bit in the beginning with Kirk. I felt like it was – but then you realize, you look back and it is just everywhere he goes that has kind of been his thing.

He's just a little quirky and that type of stuff. Guys like him. I felt like that with Wentz. I know I've pointed that comp a little bit. We've seen that multiple times now, multiple teams, where you say all the right things, you do all the right things, probably publicly, but are you really that charismatic, good leader behind the scenes?

I don't know. I think guys like Zach. I just think that liking someone as a person and, like, whatever, that's fine. But do you like the way they perform on the football field and carry themselves? And this was not the first time Zach deflected blame last year against Miami. The Jets had a stinker offensively. The defense kept them in it.

That was a bad Jets team, obviously. And they asked Zach, you know, do you need to do more? No. And people were like, okay. And then it was like, you know, he made the call on a fourth down against the Bucs box that the jet should have won the game easily. He makes the wrong call. They lose the game. And it was like, not really a lot of accountability there. People were pretty pissed about that. He played in the wind the other day. They're just, it's a lot of,

it's just a lot of excuse making for a guy of you've heard this reference. I'm sure you've said it before. And everyone's heard this. Like you can be annoying or not talented. You can't be, you can't earn not perform well. You can't not perform well and be annoying. Like people are like, you can't be you can't or not perform well you can't not perform well and be annoying like people are like you can't do it right like Aaron Rodgers might be annoying but for his entire career he's performed at the highest possible level Tom Brady same thing like they might be annoying but they get it done or you know you have the opposite side of things where you know teammates love Mac Jones and whatever and even if he's not great like they're gonna

follow him so um yeah I don't I just don't see Zach playing again this year, unless something catastrophic or an injury happens over the next couple of weeks. Cause once you get to week 15, if the Jets are eight, you know, they're eight and four or eight and five with two winnable games at home, you're going to bench them like Mike White again. Like that doesn't make any sense. So, um, I think you'll see Mike White the rest of the year. I have no idea. One idea. I assume one of Zach Wilson or Mike White will be the backup next year and compete and quote-unquote compete in camp with a Jimmy G, Derek Carr, maybe a golf, maybe a lower-level Minshew golf type if White really is the guy. But Zach Wilson will not be the shoe-in starter for the Jets next year

unless something crazy happens. He comes back in and lights the world on fire, which I don't think is going to happen. Folks, the more I talk about liquid death here on the show the more i'm starting to see it everywhere just the other day i was watching a chess tournament presented by liquid death and at first glance it looked like the players might have been playing drunk chess with beers but no that is liquid death mountain water in the tall boy can the reason that this delicious water comes in such a large can is Because they're trying to bring death to plastic most plastics still end up in landfills because they are not profitable to recycle Unlike aluminum, but liquid death is giving 10% of their profits to end Plastic bottles the best part for you, of, is that it gets colder faster than plastic in the

refrigerator too. So check it out. It's your local grocery store water aisle at Hy-Vee, Target, Whole Foods, and lots of other stores. You can see them at liquiddeath.com slash insider. That's liquiddeath.com slash insider. Yeah. I mean, it kind of has like Christian Ponder vibes here a little bit where it was just like a failure to launch altogether. Like maybe there was a little flash here there where they thought something could happen and it wasn't the biggest accountability guy. And then it really got in Christian Ponder's head, like the criticism. And I mean, you know, we talk about the New York thing and it's probably a little overrated. I'm so glad you just brought that up on Friday before the Patriots game.

I don't know if you saw this clip. Someone asked him, do you still think he said people outside this building don't know what they're talking about? And then pointed to a reporter and said, why aren't you a coach? Yes. And then threw for 77 yards. You can't do that. Right. Yes. I saw that. I saw that. and i was like that is a that's all that's actually maybe a bigger red flag than the other thing because after games people are really upset you know especially with a loss and like jerky comments after games happen kind of a lot but that was like a wednesday or something and you're just like, Oh, who are, who are you? You stupid little reporter. You're like, who are you? It's actually kind of the Baker Mayfield thing where it was just like, wait, you're like hammering. I'd love to come boo you at your desk.

Like, yeah, well, I don't get paid $20 million a year to play football. So you can boo me at my desk. If I'm doing a bad job, that's I'll get fired. That if, but the thing is like, man, you're quarterback in the NFL. Can you not like if there's one lesson that every person, whoever comes through, should learn from Kirk Cousins. He has been hit with every criticism there is. And a lot of them have truth to them. But like primetime, Kirk, overpaid, whatever, every game that they lose in primetime, the next day espn spends their whole day hammering kirk cousins which again is totally fair it's the nfl it's like drawing 40 million

people to a dang giants game but like and cowboys but like if you can't take that which most human beings can't a lot of a lot of people don't want to be criticized but if you can't take that especially in new york but just in general in the nfl you're going to be in a lot of people don't want to be criticized but if you can't take that especially in New York but just in general in the NFL you're going to be in a lot of trouble I mean even look across town and I don't believe in the Giants at all but Daniel Jones has been slammed up and down left and right and the guy just keeps going out there and and you know he's finally got them to win some games like there's a lot of quarterbacks you can look to who survived in the league basically because they could deal with it as opposed to melting. And to me, that was like the bit,

the clearest sign when he said that to the reporter, like, Oh, this dude is melting. It's interesting. I didn't, I didn't realize the Vikings could clinch the division this week, which is nuts, which is nuts to think about. Yeah. No, look, I agree. It's just, there's such a maturity that quarterback feels so mental to me. You know, we've seen guys, again, everyone's had this argument, and not to sound cliche, but, like, Tom Brady is talented,

but he is not the most talented quarterback ever, obviously. You know, I don't know that Peyton Manning was great because of his – the fundamentals that he was incredible at, that he was smarter and, you know, made decisions with the football. He wouldn't have the – I mean, he was obviously super talented as well everyone in the nfl is talented but that's that's the thing that drives you nuts right you look at you know any sport baseball basketball maybe it's a little bit different but it's still kind of a similar thing where like you know andrew wiggins was the most talented guy just didn't get it for a long time and now that there's no pressure on him

you know i just i don't know if new york's the right place for zach um you know we throw out the hypotheticals of Derek Carr maybe. Zach gets to compete somewhere in Vegas or somewhere like that where, yeah, it's the flashy kind of market, but there's not the pressure of New York. New York's every single day. I've joked about this on my show. The worst thing that happened to Zach this summer

was all the headlines with the moms and all that stuff. Worst thing that could have happened to him. Because he started to play better at the end of the year last year. Wasn't great, but he was still improving. You saw a tangible improvement from games one through seven or whatever, one through six, through games seven through 13, I guess, he started last year. There was a tangible improvement.

He felt better about it. And all offseason, yes, there was the stuff with the yips and whatever, but he felt like he put on a bunch of muscle he was working hard you heard some good quotes from people some zip on the ball more command of the huddle all that stuff and then right before camp boom the story drops which makes him this celebrity person that everyone's you know he's the milf hunter and all that stuff and all that it was all funny and it was great for twitter and it's great for the locker room and stuff but it puts this pressure on you that now you're in new york and you have a controversy maybe not controversy you know a story about you and women it's like

this isn't going to go well and then if you play like crap it's like it just adds to the oh this guy's a distraction um you know meanwhile mike white's getting you know oh he's taking his twins to the doctor on a tuesday i mean like sometimes, but these are the things that play into a narrative with quarterbacks. Vikings fans, the Kirk stuff in Washington was funny. You like that and stuff, but in Minnesota, they're winning football games, and that's why it's a big deal on the plane with the chains on and stuff. It's not because it's not some shtick that is funny. It's funny because they're winning and you can enjoy it um Kirk's also playing really

well and has put up a lot better numbers to his career than most quarterbacks whether he gets a lot of heat or not so I agree with you I just think some guys are made for New York and some aren't we see it in baseball all the time the Yankees um you know Josh Johnson's not made for New York couldn't handle booing and even if he's at the end of his career, he's a guy that's probably better in Toronto or Minnesota. That happens sometimes. The Jets are a passionate fan base. Anyone with a Twitter handle understands that.

I just don't think it's... Maybe I'm wrong, but as reading the tea leaves, it feels like it's over, which is crazy when he starts in. Josh Donaldson was soft here. Guys are the worst. And having grown up in Buffalo, New York, and then come here,

I try to sometimes explain it is very different, like how media works. And, of course, Buffalo is a small market, but same East Coast sort of mentality. And it's just very different to be an athlete in a place like Minnesota versus a place like New York. And that is the guy not built for it, but who among us has not had a giant controversy with someone else's, but your mom's friend or we're like, No, of course it's just, that's again, it's just a self-awareness to know, you know,

that stuff's going to come out and, you know, it was funny again at the time, but then it It's just – again, it's just a self-awareness to know that stuff's going to come out. And it was funny again at the time, but then it was like posting on Instagram, oh, what just happened? And like, yeah, that stuff's funny, but usually that stuff's funnier when you've proven stuff in the NFL. I guess it's the opposite. Sam Darnold had the mono and all that stuff. But Sam was more proven in the NFL than Zach was at the time.

And it's just – it's tough. He was a very polarizing prospect. I know not everyone in the Jets organization was in love with Zach Wilson. I think some were and some weren't. I don't know if – you redo the draft. That clip that went – that tweet that went out that went viral of, oh, the Jets could add Michael Parsons and Jamar Chase. Yeah, obviously.

But they also didn't have a quarterback on the roster. So that's not really a relevant tweet. It's a pretty stupid one in reality. But, yeah, obviously looking back, you know, you'd feel better if you had Justin Fields right now, even though I'm not convinced fully by Fields either. But at least if you're looking at the Jets with Fields, you're going this team could win a playoff game. I still think they get in the playoffs. I think they could beat anybody just because of how good the defense is. and the run game and special teams have been generally really good. And they

have a lot of weapons, so teams get hot. But they were not winning a playoff game with the way Zach was playing. Likely would not have made the playoffs if Zach continued to play the way he was. Four touchdowns and eight or nine starts is ugly. Or seven or eight starts. I apologize. I think Zach Wilson is a little bit of a victim of timing with his draft capital. Cause I remember that the Vikings started that season one in five. So we started screwing around talking about draft prospects and I was listening to BYU games on the radio on an app just to like,

cause Zach Wilson was so exciting and fun, but I thought he was going to get drafted like 20th or something. Like I didn't think he was going to be drafted at the top, but you had Patrick Mahomes and like, we're talking about playmaking quarterbacks and here's a guy making all these crazy throws and stuff. And I think that he just had this groundswell and this momentum. And then it was, now you go to the toughest market, everything.

And you're, you're way in over your head and you start pretty much with a bad team from the very beginning with a new coach and you know what could get you through that is mental toughness which he clearly does not have and i you know i think you made a great point though that anybody who's drafted in the first round has the arm and like the speed or whatever size to be a first rounder what usually separates these guys is just the mental stuff. And so like the way CJ Stroud handled losing to Michigan the other day, I was super impressed. I thought that he gave a professional level postgame press conference.

He didn't blame anybody else. He put it on himself, even though it wasn't his fault at all. I thought he played totally fine. And the defense gave up 17, you 17 50-yard touchdowns or whatever. But I thought, that's going to work. So a lot of it comes down to that. But there are other aspects of this thing. It is just a super captivating story.

No, it's a crazy story. I talked about it. It led every NFL talk, not just my show or not just anybody else that covers the Jets. It was everybody else. It's the second overall pick, and we're talking about 18 months later. He might be done in New York. It's crazy.

And you mentioned something about C.J. Stroud, all these guys. I know it's been talked about a million times. You're the quarterback. You never take any of the credit. It's always your fault. And sometimes it almost buries you. I almost felt like Sam Darnold took too much fault at times with the Jets where he would blame everything on himself.

But at the end of the day, when you do do well, which eventually most guys have a moment, Zach's had a moment as well, it's all about you, and it's always – the quarterback gets all the credit, right? It's just – I don't know. You look at some of these other prospects, and it is – I wish people would admit when they're wrong on guys. I wasn't super high on Zach, but I kind of talked to myself into, okay, this makes sense for the Jets.

A lot of people right now that either defended Zach or had him QB1 or QB2 in that draft are insufferable right now because they won't admit he's probably wrong. And other guys who didn't like Zach coming out, you know, taking his victory lap, like, you know, I could do the same thing on a lot of guys. But unfortunately, the drafts are crapshoot. These teams know it.

Again, the pro day was really cool and all that stuff. And, you know, Salah's best, you know, player that he kind of developed and that whole thing with Fred Warner being a BYU guy and all that stuff. It just – it probably didn't work here, but, you know, maybe the Jets found a gem in Mike White where there'd be a good, they've built a good enough roster where they are the Vikings or these Broncos, these teams where the Rams, where they are a good quarterback level away from being a contending level

team. And I don't know, the Jets are Jimmy G or Derek Carr right now. You're probably talking about, you know, can they win Superbowl right Right now you're kind of getting into the playoffs and win a playoff game. So it's just that level of conversation. Yeah, I think you make a great point with the, like, you really don't know. And it's a great fraud detector when someone acts like they know, like on Twitter or something. You know, I like to poke draft Twitter pretty consistently because a lot of it's just complete guesswork.

And then when they're right, they hold up their trophies. But then when they're wrong, they delete the tweets from the past. It's like, OK, well, you know, there's really good draft reporting that tells us information about the picks. And then there's people who think that they have some Midas touch for I can pick all the quarterbacks successfully. The reality is you really don't know. And if you're going to tell me that Zach Wilson wasn't an exciting prospect, oh BS, because everyone was excited about what he was doing at BYU in that year leading up to the draft. So, I mean, I guess you could go back in hindsight and change it around, but certainly Mitch Trubisky wouldn't get picked high if you were able to do that or Baker Mayfield wouldn't have gone number one it would have been Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen so that's how that speaks to what you're saying is

that a lot of it you can chunk the players into first round second round third round and if somebody does that I'm totally for it but if you're going to tell me you know one person over the next I just don't believe you but uh anyway moving on from that let's talk about Justin Jefferson and Sauce Gardner I mean what a matchup this is this is like this is the matchup of the week here I I don't know a lot about Sauce Gardner except for he was a high pick so tell me about Sauce Gardner yeah from a Sauce Gardner perspective he's been as impressive as a rookie as you can be i think he's kind of widely regarded already as a top five top six corner in football which to do this quickly is pretty rare i know patrick certain um you kind of had a similar track last year i

actually think you know as good as certain is i think sauce does a few things you know he's got maybe better ball skills at this point. He feels like he's got such a knack of timing of when to kind of turn his head, when to get a hand in there, how physical to be, how physical not to be. You know, it feels like Sauce kind of establishes this level of physicality when it comes to, you know, with other receivers that, you know, what might be deep, you know, pass interference to other guys. Sauce kind of gets, you know, he got flagged for one this past weekend,

which is crazy because Chase Claypool also, like, horse collared him as well. And, you know, Sauce kind of, he commented on it the other day, like he's getting that star when he does anything wrong, people just instantly, oh, he's overrated, he sucks, which means you've made it, means that people think you're people think you're awesome because Justin Jefferson had one bad game this year, and it was like, oh, he's overrated. It's like, not really. It happens to these guys.

You see them at home, throw a one interception, awesome. Sauce has been fantastic. Super long, super fast. His technique's fantastic. He's a smart football player. There's not really a hole in his game. I don't know how much we'll see Sauce and Justin Jefferson. Kevin O'Connell obviously does a good job, as anyone listening to this. His technique's fantastic. He's a smart football player. There's not really a hole in his game. I don't know how much we'll see Soss and Justin Jefferson.

Kevin O'Connell obviously does a good job, as anyone listening to this knows. I'm sure we'll see a ton of him in the slot. But Michael Carter, who's the Jets' slot corner, is a top 12-graded corner in football right now by PFF. So it's not as if it's really – like the Jets have three of the top 12-graded corners. That's why I said I think they do match up well with Minnesota. The Jets did it to Miami earlier in the year. They've done it to Buffalo. It's like they trust these guys so much that if Justin Jefferson goes and gets sauce for five for 85 and a touchdown,

it probably means the Jets win the football game because it means you would assume that DJ Reed, who's playing at a Pro Bowl level, does a good enough job on Adam Thielen or Michael Carter in the slot is able to hold up well enough and they get pressure with four. So I'm excited for this matchup. I hope we get to see it more than one or two times. I just think if you're the Jets, Sauce isn't going to travel necessarily. They're kind of married to their sides.

And, you know, DJ Reed's a good corner as well um you know we saw them both do well on stefan diggs that he probably had one of his worst games you know of the year you know he had the one early play on sauce and they kind of you know when he tried to come back to him and they got him so i'm sure kevin o'connell's going to move justin jefferson around i'm sure he's going to kind of create matchups you don't want you know you don't want to obviously get your best guy doubled and tripled. But this is a pretty heavyweight matchup of receivers and corners. It's a really good receiver room, and it's probably the best corner room in football. So the fact that Sauce is this good this early, as I mentioned,

and DJ Reed, who was a really good player last year, I'm really surprised that Seattle didn't pay him. I know Tariq Williams worked out, but you could have had both. You didn't have to choose. He's been fantastic. Again, Michael Carter, who was a great find for the Jets on day three a year ago. They've been really good. They probably had their worst game of the year last week against the Bears. They still get up 10

points as a defense. It's not as if they're... Their bad games are not bad uh but as i mentioned sauce is really good it will be interesting how they match up justin jefferson super long he's a really good route runner sauce super long player you know crazy long arms and stuff like that just the makeup speed so it'll be a good matchup i think jj is better right now probably than anybody in the sport at his position but but Sauce is damn close at his as well. Tis the season for you to buy the best Minnesota sports-themed apparel in the world for all of your friends and family.

Go to sodastick.com. They have great holiday shopping deals there, and use the promo code INSIDER. That is S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com, code INSIDER for all of your holiday shopping. Well, I think too, for Vikings fans, their biggest concern is probably also Robert Sala, who the last time they saw him,

it went very badly in San Francisco in 2019. And for some reason, Sala didn't get a head coaching job after that. I think it took another year for him to get the Jets job. I was like, really? I think that this guy knows what he's doing. But the concern in San Francisco in 2019, guess what happened? The Vikings offensive line couldn't hold up against the defensive line,

and they shut down the run and so forth. And that's been the formula to beat the Vikings literally since day one of Kirk Cousins getting here, and that maintains. I mean, last week they were able to slow down the New England rush a little bit and win the game, but against Dallas, they got sacked seven times and that can happen against a great defensive line. I look at the New York jets and it feels like it starts there. I mean, the corners are terrific, but when a team has every corner playing well, all at the same time, I do wonder, okay, is this team really getting after the quarterback because like you know when you see teams that don't pressure the quarterback a lot of times it impacts those corners and their

pff grades and everything else so the defensive line i look at it as a huge mismatch in the favor of the new york jets here yeah i i, if Christian Derusaw doesn't play, which it's hard to tell right now, obviously it's concussion, I believe, right? So we won't really know until Thursday, Friday. The Vikings, I would think, will be in trouble. Carl Lawson's been quiet of late, but he's been productive,

and he's actually been really good against the run. So John Franklin Myers was a menace last week. He's another good player. Both those guys are more, you know, they're both kind of 8 to 10 sack a year guys, but really good against the run as well. Very multiple in the way they can play. Bryce Huff is a guy that he's got three and a half sacks, which doesn't sound like a lot.

He was inactive the first three weeks, and he strictly rushes on third down. So he's getting pressure. When the Jets pressure, it's like near 50% when he's on the field, which is ridiculous. He's an explosive, explosive player. Last week, you know, he's the guy who injured Josh Allen a couple weeks ago. He had a massive sack in the week prior. This past week, he's, you know, he had a sack again against New England.

He's been on a bit of a tear here. And when they light guys up on third down um if the jets can stay in third and four plus the vikings you know any team is going to be in trouble against the jets they've done it to every team this year i think they had 12 sacks in the two games against the patriots which is a quick passing offense so just to give perspective on like what type of um you know quinn williams is playing at an all pro level i mean he mean, he's, I think, at 8.5 sacks. He's the guy that, you know, every week there's two or three plays he makes. You know, he's been the defensive player of the month, I believe, in October.

He's just – he's super talented. It's kind of all come together for him. I'm interested if Sheldon Rankins comes back this week. The pass rush has been at its best when they get, you know, Rankins on early downs. Then they'll kick JFM, John Franklin Myers inside. He's more of a bigger three-tack. And he'll start. He'll kick inside.

And then they'll bring in Jermaine Johnson or Bryce Huff. Jermaine Johnson, a rookie, has played nicely as well. There's just a lot of depth. Vinny Curry is like the 12th guy on this defensive line, which is crazy. And Michael Clemens, a guy who's as scary of presence as you'll see. He's nicknamed De, and the whole thing. So their defensive line is really, really good. I tweeted out earlier, I think if you're the Jets, you have to, you know,

kind of approach this the way, you know, Philly and Dallas did against the Vikings and just beat up the offensive line, get to Kirk early, speed up his clock. And then, you know, those deep, long crossers, that play action stuff, they like to hit JJ on. It's just, he might be there and he might be open, but, you know those deep long crossers that play action stuff they like to hit jj on it's just he might be there and he might be open but you know you're forced kirk into one or two of those bad decisions um i really think this game will come down to can the jets defense limit feeling cook hawkinson those guys where you know i feel like when the vikings are at their best you can tell me if i'm wrong yes the huge 12 huge 12-catch, 200-yard JJ game is great,

but if he's at eight catches, Thielen's at five, Hawkinson's at four or five, Dalvin Cook's up around 100 yards, the offense is working at a whole different level. If you can make the Vikings one-dimensional from a Jets perspective and just trust your guys at least to contain him somewhat, I think you feel really good. But, yeah, the defense – defense the derisaw's health is is paramount i feel like it's paramount there's a couple plays that got tweeted out earlier we're

like just it's not great if he's not playing and at any team would be if you're down you're starting tackles it's not ideal in the nfl especially without a mobile quote-unquote quarterback yeah but this team is playing a guy who's essentially never played in the nfl before so i mean this is like it's not great. And what they did against New England was they just moved the pocket all the time. I mean, they were just running. I'm sure you've watched some of it back enough to see, like, the play actions, bootlegs.

And I wrote about how they did that just even for today's article. Like, they ran play action after play action after play action, and that's the only shot you have to get those deep crossers. But one of the problems with New England was they often chase the run. What we've seen some teams do in the past is just go after Kirk regardless.

Like, you know what? If you hand off to Delvin Cook, go ahead. We'll just tackle him five, seven yards down the field. But we are going to blow up those play actions. And if they – and Salah knows. I mean, he knows the weaknesses of Kirk Cousins and of this offense. So I think that that matchup should be really scary for the Vikings and is a great battle really between an offensive mind and Kevin O'Connell, who impressed everyone by adapting last week and making big changes in just a couple of days

coming off the Dallas game. And then Robert Sala, who has just got a great history now of coaching these awesome defenses. So I have a quick – I had the quarterback trivia for you before, so I've got another one prepared. But before we get to that, who do you think wins this football contest between two football teams on a football field? Yeah, so it's interesting you mentioned that. I'm really curious how Minnesota starts. The Jets are a team that's played really well from behind this year.

They play well for the lead as well, but they feel like a team that if they get down early, they don't panic. Even the Bills game, they're down 14-3. Obviously, everyone knows about the Cleveland game. Even early on in the Green Bay game, they didn't start great. Again, they started really well with Mike White, so I don't – it could be more of a Zach Wilson thing. It's hard to really tell there. It's, you know, that will – only time will tell from an evidence perspective. But it feels like Minnesota's either – they're either going to win a close game

or the two games they've gotten kind of smoked, and it's been over pretty quickly. It's like – at least at first from an outside point of view watching them, it feels like when they start pretty quickly, like, they'll be in the game and they'll give themselves a chance. Obviously, the Buffalo game is a little different. Who do I think wins? I'm leaning Jets 28-24. That's kind of like what I'm leaning towards.

I have a hard time seeing this game really be a 13-10 game. I just think that the Vikings have too much talent on offense. I mean, the Jets have too much talent on defense to give up, you know, to give up 28, maybe not. But the Vikings, you know, the Jets' defense holding them to 10 either. I don't see that necessarily. I think this will be a close game. I think these are two teams that, you know, both should be playoff teams.

The Vikings obviously can clinch, you know, the division this weekend, which would be impressive, obviously, this early. It should be great for them getting guys healthy. But I just have a weird feeling the Jets match up well enough and they get enough pressure on Kirk Cousins. They force maybe one or two of those head-scratching decisions where you're like, Kirk, what are you doing, buddy? And, you know, and the Vikings are able to kind of go,

okay, if we get healthy here, we know we can kind of beat anybody. And if we lose, you know, if our three losses are three teams that have eight-plus wins already, like, we'll be okay. So I'll go 20-24 Jets. But I'm not like – I just feel like it's hard. This is a hard game. It feels like a coin flip, personally, when you look at everything. I agree.

I'm going to lean slightly toward the Jets only because I just think they have the kryptonite for the Vikings. But the way things have adapted, TJ Hawkinson's role in this team, it's a little bit different than even where they were early in the year. Okay. So here's your quick jets trivia. Garrett Wilson has impressed the heck out of me. I think he looks like a superstar level player.

As long as someone can throw the ball in his general direction, there have not been a lot of superstars at that position wide receiver for the jets in recent years in fact since 2010 the jets have had 10 different leading receivers obviously garrett wilson is one how many of the other nine leading jets receivers in yardage for a season uh since 2010 can you name? Brandon Marshall I'll go with because it's the easy 2015 one. Go Robbie Anderson and somewhere in there. Yep, 2017 and 2018. That's correct.

So I've got 2015, 2017, 2018. He's 2016 Brandon Marshall too? Or no, there's somebody else. No, it's not. I was surprised. No, it's not Eric Decker, is it? Eric Decker is 2014, so he's on the list. That's correct.

We'll go Santonio Holmes since 2010. No? No Santonio Holmes. I'm going to tell you the truth. The guy who led them in 2016, I don't remember how to pronounce his name because he lasted so short. Quincy Inunua. Yes.

Yes. That's right. Very good. Since, okay, so last year, Elijah Moore, I believe, led them last year. Yep. Year before. Hold on.

Let me just process this. A former Kirk wide receiver. Okay. Led them two years in a row, which is just like, what? Wow. Hold on. I just got to think about this in my head right now, who Sam Darnold was throwing footballs to. Let's say if you were in New England and you were having a soup.

Why can't I think of this? Wow. Oh, Jameson Crowder. Jameson Crowder. Yeah, that's right. It would be a chowder. Yeah, Jameson Crowder. All right.

So you only need three more. And we're going back. 11, 12, 13. Yeah, 2010 and then through. Dustin, 12, 13 or something like that. Yeah, 2010 and then through. Dustin Keller. Dustin Keller maybe gets in there. No.

That's correct. Dustin Keller, okay. With 815 yards. Was it 2010? It was 2010. Plaxico Burris, did he lead them in 2011? You're sort of like in the same ballpark as someone who was good with another team and then had a year. Braylon Edwards, maybe.

Correct. Yes, Braylon Edwards. All right, so you're one away. 2012. 12 and 13, same guy. Led the 29th ranked scoring offense. This team is so bad. Hold on.

I got to think here. Who would have led that one? You can do it. This guy, he had a moment. He had a moment. Let's see. The opposite of, like, what your hair is. This guy's hair would be – yours is straight.

His is – Oh, Jeremy Curley? Dude, oh, what a disaster that team was. 2013 Jets. Awful. Well, you know, the Vikings, they've that team was. 2013 Jets, awful. Well, you know, the Vikings, they've just had Randy Moss, Chris Carter, Stephon Diggs, Justin Jefferson. So I thought your two trivia questions either were going to be Jets 1,200-plus

yard receivers, which there's only five of ever in the Jets history, or who was the last Jet to go over 1,000 yards, which was Brandon Marshall. The other one, the other answer to that trivia question is Brandon Marshall, LaVernius Coles, Don Maynard, and I think that's it. Maybe Keyshawn once. That's it, which is their whole franchise. LaVernius Coles was great on Madden. I loved using him on early 2000 Madden.

Yeah, he was good on Madden. Unfortunately, he's not exactly the, the number one receiver I'd be looking for. Well, it's quite a jets history. And every time you come on, I'll make fun of it. But your breakdown of this game is tremendous.

Will Parkin turn on the jets. I really appreciate your time, man. And well, maybe we could do it again to preview the Superbowl. That'd be great. Jets Viking Superbowl part two. Let's let's do Bowl. That'd be great. Jets-Vikings Super Bowl Part 2. Let's do it.

That'd be fun. All right. Thanks for your time, Will. Thank you.