Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - The second Vikings OTA practice open to media was rough but Irv Smith Jr. looks ready to emerge

Episode Date: June 3, 2021

Matthew Coller and Sam Ekstrom are joined by Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press to talk about what they saw at OTA practice on Wednesday and heard from players and coaches on Zoom calls. Irv Smith Jr. has looked good in practices -- do we believe he's ready to take over duties as TE1? Mike Zimmer insinuated that the rookie offensive linemen will have a good chance to start but do the Vikings bring along rookies too slowly at times? Zimmer also talked about Anthony Barr's importance -- how will we feel about Barr if this is his last year in Minnesota? Also what if Kellen Mond doesn't start training camp as the backup? And out-of-context quotes that we strongly related to. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get Coors Light in the new look delivered straight to your door with Drizzly or Instacart, Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado, and as always, celebrate. Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here along with Sam Ekstrom. The show brought to you by Scout Logistics as always. And joining us for some conversation about OTAs and what we saw on the practice field today, Dane Mizutani, Pioneer Press.

Dane, back to football, my friend. Leave the wild behind, sir. You are now a football guy again. Yeah, I was excited driving to the facility today, being like, all right, football's starting again. And then like five minutes into OTAs, I was like, this is boring. Let's go back to the playoffs. But you have us to hang out with and snark about what we're seeing. I'm sure the Wild guys and the rest of the Wild beat, they really love hockey.

They want to write about the minutia. We do not. So we have a good time out there. Yeah. It's good to see you guys again. It's good to see your face. It's good to see you too, Dane. What's it like to be out there covering OTAs?

Like this is about it where we're like, oh, nice to see you guys and what you've been up to, you know. But we did watch a practice, and it was a miserable practice that we bared witness to. Okay, so let's try to talk seriously about this one practice that we saw. Every year there's an OTA or minicamp practice where the offense can't do anything and it always happens.

And there's nothing that you can really make of it because it's going to, you know, it's going to have no bearing whatsoever on the future. But, but, but, but, but, but, was it not somewhat interesting to see how much they were struggling with an offense that all of them talk about how it's not any different and hey Clint Kubiak's running the same schemes and everything else and yet just couldn't really get anything going would you take that as oh what's going on with your offense or or would you take it as the defense is back if you had to because neither of these

things are rational I think the defense is back. I think Zimmer pushed all the right buttons this offseason, and they might, you know, according to what we saw in the red zone drill, the Vikings may not allow a red zone touchdown all year. That defense is just so good. They're just so good. Yeah, no, it was terrible. It was horrible.

It was so bad. What the hell was going on out at this practice that we were forced to be subjected to? I thought, like, are they pulling a gag on us? I mean, in all seriousness, it was one of the most miserable that we've seen. Not that it means a whole lot. And I'm sorry to cut you off, Dane. But it's just we should move this in a direction of things that matter and talk about, like, what we've heard today and sort of some of the stuff we saw. But I was just, like, mind blown at how ugly this was.

Let's talk about our favorite plays of the day. Let's just continue this for another couple minutes. My favorite play of the day was when Nate Stanley backpedaled from the pocket all the way to the sideline until he literally had no more room. He just backpedaled at like a stale pace as the pressure like continued to collapse on him and then he threw it about 30 yards out of bounds that was my favorite well uh i'm gonna go with amir smith marset running down the sideline i mean he was going fast down the sideline keellen Mond unleashes by far the best throw we've seen him make in any of these practices.

Just let loose a laser beam right off of the hands of Smith-Marset, and then he volleyed it up in the air and someone intercepted it. Maybe Josh Metellus intercepted it, and that's kind of what we're looking at here. That is a takeaway, though, though in all seriousness that watching the receivers you're kind of going okay well so the free agent market again as we discussed that i mean they're they're just they're only in shorts we've only seen them twice but there's been a lot of players just not catching footballs and we saw a lot of that today i think my favorite play was just like kurt's like fourth check down,

fifth check down, sixth check down. He just checked down all day. It was like the only completion Kirk made. I think he threw one good ball to Jefferson. It was like a post. But other than that, check down city, which is all I can expect out of Kirk. Honorable mention is when Miles Dorn broke up a pass with his helmet that he wasn't looking at it with his

whatever they're calling it with the the dome on his head yeah the biker helmet i guess yeah it hit him right directly in the back of the head which i i think i mean honestly i would not want to get hit even with a helmet on with a football coming at you from an nfl quarterback in the back of the head but he played it off like nothing happened. And this is OTAs, everyone. So let's get into some serious discussion. And then I've got the best quotes of the day, but completely out of context. But a lot of them apply to our own lives.

So this is kind of where we're at today. But let's talk about Irv Smith Jr. a little bit. If there's one thing I notice, it's that Irv Smith looks bigger and that there's a lot of discussion about him. Fantasy people are very interested and very high on Irv Smith Jr. What do we think of just, like, not how he looks necessarily, but trying to project forward here to him and Tyler Conklin? Because this is a big change, Dane, from anything that we've seen before. I I mean since any

of us have been covering this team it's been always Kyle Rudolph yeah I think it's I think it's gonna be good for the Vikings offense I think down this stretch Conklin proved that I think he was just as good as Kyle Rudolph where he is in his career Irv Smith on the other hand is just so much more dynamic than I think Kyle Rudolph has ever been. And I know Kyle Rudolph was a good player in his prime, and I think he probably still thinks he's in his prime. But, like, good red zone target, not, like, a dynamic weapon at the tight end position. I think that's something Irv Smith brings.

And you saw that in the last month of the regular season. Like, I think that was against New Orleans. He caught two touchdowns in that just, like that scoring-fest blowout that the Vikings, I think they needed to win the game to keep their playoff hopes alive. They got killed. But the last half of the regular season, I think, was a good sign. If you were planning on moving forward as the Vikings front office from Kyle Rudolph, that last month showed you that Irv Smith is ready to take the reins.

And then looking at how he's approached this offseason, how he talked about approaching the offseason, I think he's ready to be that guy, you know, to put pressure on himself, like perform. It'll be interesting to see, but I think he unlocks, you know, another level of this offense that maybe we haven't seen. Yeah, I think he and Conklin averaged like eight catches, 80 yards together in the last four games of the year without Rudolph last year, which is pretty, that's pretty good from the tight end

position. And I think it's impressive, like not only how much faith they're showing in Irv, but Conklin too, because they didn't really bring in anyone to challenge them. I mean, Brandon Dillon is still a person and Zach Davidson, the punter, long snapper, tight end hybrid, is a person. He also dropped, like, a really bad pass today, but I digress. They're really giving Conklin the reins here to sort of, like, prove himself, maybe even earn, like, a next contract with this team, and Irv seems really excited to play with Conk, so I'm looking forward to that partnership. And I think when you have a starting tight end in Rudolph, who was like very, very good at one thing, which was like red zone,

but not as effective between the 20s, I do think you're limiting your big play potential a little bit. So Irv Smith, like in the intermediate parts of the field, could be really, really, really effective. Like between 15 and 25 yards, those little seam routes that he occasionally runs could be, you know, a bread and butter play for this team, I think. I also thought it was mildly interesting that he talked about getting with

his, was it his sister or? His cousin. Cousin. Cousin. Getting with his cousin who is a nutritionist and really putting a lot of focus on this. Now, this will come up in our out-of-context quotes that we're going to talk about later. But, I mean, I think it's really noticeable just that he put a lot of focus into this and that he appears to really want to take this next step. I thought it was impressive what he did down the stretch, taking on the full load after being more of the move-around guy for most of the season

and most of his first two years. But then to come back and actually look like even a little bit different and prepared and to have Mike Zimmer sort of taking notice of that, I think these are all good signs. Now let me change the subject a little bit to the offensive line where of course sam was apoplactic last week that the vikings were not putting the rookies in and uh this week christian derisaw was out with a groin strain uh or or something was mike zimmer's quote a tweak did he call it oh he did not call it a tweak but he should he should troll us and this was dane's idea he should troll us and just call it a tweak? Oh, he did not call it a tweak. But he should. He should troll us. And this was Dane's idea. He should troll us and just call everything a tweak.

But Zimmer had this quote, and this is one to be taken seriously. He said about them, I asked about getting those guys in to be starters or competing for the jobs. And, Dane, he said, at some point you've got to get them in if they're a talented guy and they're doing things right. Sometimes baptism by fire. That, to me, sounds like, okay, everybody, relax. These guys are going to start, all right? Yeah, it seems like, and I don't know why it hasn't happened already, but it seems like it's only a matter of time before we see Rashad Hill be kind of the swing tackle

and Christian Derrissaw step in. Right now Rashad Hill is getting those left tackle reps. I don't think he'll get those come training camp. I think at some point you do have to see what you have in Christian Derrissaw step in. You know, right now Rashad Hill's getting those left tackle reps. I don't think he'll get those come training camp. I think at some point you do have to see what you have in Christian Derrissaw. And same with Wyatt Davis. Like, do you want to run it back with Dakota Dozier again? Like, he's a fine depth player, but he shouldn't be on your starting right guard. And if Wyatt Davis is this diamond in the rough that people think he is

and would have been a first-round pick had it not been for the COVID year, like, then you got to see what you have in them. And I think that quote from Zimmer was a little telling because I feel like in the past it's been like, we'll work these guys in when we see fit, or just wait, we're going to be patient with these guys. And he kind of came out today and said, we're going to play them, we're going to baptize them by fire,

which is a little bit different of a tenor than he's done with his offensive line in the past, I thought. Do you feel better, Sam? No, no. I mean, I don't really. My opinion is still the same. But my question is, like, is it entirely dependent on the rookies? Or could the veterans, like like do enough to hold the job and in my mind I think the answer is no there's there's no amount that we could see from Dakota Dozier and Rashad Hill who just have like too much of a track record like we know that Dakota Dozier

is bad and we know that Rashad Hill is like fine. But we're pretty positive that they're not going to suddenly become, you know, Quentin Nelson and Joe Thomas. So if they can't do anything to, like, keep those jobs, then what are we doing here? Like, let's get the rookies in a spot where they can fail with the ones in, like, a safe team controlled environment and like work it all out now instead of waiting to put them with the ones and it's not you know Ezra Cleveland is still pretty new to this too like I think he needs time to get used to the guy he's playing

next to there there are other pieces at work here that also could use the reps, I still don't get why they would wait. Isn't it a little bit of like here is the bar, guys. The bar is set at Rashad Hill. Go beat the bar. Like, you know, they didn't go out and get someone who has this long track record or something. I mean, they got two guys that they brought back in Rashad Hill and Dakota Dozier who were, you know, there's going to be a boxing analogy later, but like there's, you know, tomato cans is what they would call the boxing thing. Like if you're fighting somebody who

you should easily beat to just kind of stack up your record. Like these are guys, and I shouldn't disrespect Rashad Hill that way. I think that he could be a fine starter in the league. And he played like 800 snaps or something in 2017. So I think he could start for someone in the league. But he's still a backup swing tackle that Christian Derrissaw should be able to take over. And the same thing goes for Dakota Dozier. So I don't mind setting those guys there and saying, here's two veterans who we know are great. So you guys should be able to take their jobs. Go ahead. When do you let them try and take those jobs then? Because I thought that should have happened by now.

I guess it's only the second week of OTAs, but if this is continuing into minicamp and we're not seeing those guys with the ones at least intermittently, then I agree with Sam. What are we doing? Why wait? What are we waiting for? But how can we really figure out whether they're ready or not in OTAs? Like, these guys aren't even taking reps.

Like, they're just sort of standing there. So I think what we want to see, tell me if you guys agree with this. I think what we want to see is who cares where they play right now. And once you get to the point of training camp when the pads come on, you at least want to see in and out. Like, okay, Dakota Dozier's taking first reps, but then on the next first team reps, it's Wyatt Davis or something. Like, I think that that's fair. And then by the time you get to, like, the second preseason game, it better be the rookies. I'm good with that.

I'm good with the rotation. And I've said the same thing about Kellen Mond, too. Like, you don't need to declare them the starter or, like, the backup in Mond's case. Just let them, like, have some of those reps. Kellen Mond has thrown, like, three passes in the two practices that we've seen because they keep calling off the third team reps kind of earlier than the first and the second. So he's just not getting the work. And at some point you need to like expect promising prospects to like rise to your expectations. If you expect more of them, they might be able to sort of elevate their game to that

status. Dane, how do you feel about the Browning bandwagon? He was the best quarterback today. Low bar, but he was the best quarterback today low bar but he was the best quarterback today jake i will save this for jake browning he looks like he knows how to play quarterback and in the limited reps we've had with kellen mond he certainly unleashed one really impressive throw but there have been other times where he sort of dropped back and been like oh i don't really i'm not sure what's going on here, which is okay, and that's what happens.

But if Kellen Mond is legitimately not ready to be the backup Dane, do you think that they'll go with Browning? Is this going to happen? I don't think so. I know you're diving the Browning bandwagon. But, like, if Kellen Mond, like like can't figure it out or isn't ready or is like very clearly deer in headlights in the training camp preseason I would assume that Mike Zimmer of all people is not going to go with Jake Browning I it it does appear that Zimmer likes Drake Browning

like he's giving him all the second team reps but like Mike Zimmer has always been someone who's like I need an established backup that's why Sean Manning was on the team like Sean Manning great dude not that good of a quarterback but like they held on to the fact that he started like six games one time in again with for the Rams and like everyone oh he's experienced backup that's what we need I don't think Zimmer's going in to the season Kirk Cousins as the starter and Jake Browning, a guy who's never thrown a pass in the NFL, as his backup. Maybe that can change, though, if Browning shows up in the preseason. But this all goes back to kind of what Sam was saying. Like, you have to see if Kellen Mond's ready.

And I know it's OTAs. You're right about that. Like, these reps, I guess, are kind of meaningless. Like, because they're not real reps. They're not with pads on. They're not hitting. But you have to see what you have in Kellen Mond. But if Mond isn't the backup, I would go ahead and venture to guess

that neither is Jake Browning. Yeah, it's interesting because if Mond is not the backup, that means they're keeping three quarterbacks, right? And that's not something this team's usually done. They usually go with the starter and the vet backup, and that's it. And then they've done they usually go with the the starter and the vet backup and that's it and then they've got their practice squad guy which has been browning the past couple years but they're kind of at an impasse with browning like can you do it another year of practice squad with him like technically yes but um you're kind of running out of time like

at some point you know he's gonna want more and you've got to like give him like more of a chance and and I think this team is looking for kind of in the same way that they look for with Mannion just someone who like understands what to do without being exceptionally talented or threatening to Kirk Cousins so could Jake Browning fulfill that part of it sure sure I guess he could is that inspiring inspiring, like, any fans? No. And is the team going to win a lot of games with him in an extended period of time? No. But I guess, like, now that he's sort of the third-year veteran, maybe he could be a, you know, veteran-esque presence that can, like, help Kirk during the week, game plan plan and learn the playbook I don't think he's like very I don't think he's particularly talented um but I guess he could maybe like kind

of fulfill that mold that the team does look for well let me ask you Dane the similar question about like when does this have to happen though for Mon to be the backup quarterback to not be like oh uh what is exactly happening here because i again have no issue with it happening in otas because this just really doesn't matter that much or isn't i guess it isn't really all that predictive is what i'm saying is like once you get into pad practices and training camp we know who's playing where where everybody stands and we can figure that stuff out on a daily basis when things change it's a big deal oh this guy's finally taking first team reps but with this it's just like

they're getting out there going through the steps and trying to sort of figure out where they're supposed to even throw the football but I would say once even once training camp starts if he's not the number two quarterback that that would that would like make me a little concerned yeah i would think so like i think you take a guy like that in third round knowing that it's going to create a big stir and people are going to already be like they should start him he should be the guy already but like you look at what kellen mond has, and you haven't seen a lot out of him, right? But it's because he hasn't gotten the opportunity. And, like, I keep going back to the fact and reminding myself it's, like, the second week of OTAs.

But if Kellen Mond threw a pass like he threw today to Amir Smith-Marset, and he was throwing it to even, like, B.C. Johnson, we would walk away from this practice and be like, wow, Kellen Mond, that was a great throw. And they threw a touchdown. Well, you've got to give them the opportunity to throw to guys like that, to guys that aren't your fifth-round receiver, Amir Smith-Marset. Maybe he'll be a returner for the Vikings, but maybe he'll be cut. Maybe he won't even be on the team in like the third week of the preseason. So you have to give your third round pick quarterback,

someone you've invested a lot of draft capital into, like opportunities perform in like positive situations, like where he's going to have, you know, help around him. But I think you're right. If he's not in that position by first week, second week of training camp, that's something that we're not seeing. That's something the coaching staff is seeing and saying, like, this kid isn't ready. So it's concerning at that point if he's not with the twos.

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It'll be disappointing if we only see Mond late in preseason games because that's when stuff gets ugly. I mean, the play calling, for one, gets very conservative. The offensive line play gets bad. And what we've seen in the past with QB3s and QB4s is that they usually end up kind of having to freelance. Like Taylor Heineke and Kyle Sloater just ran around. And, you know, they made plays occasionally, but it wasn't all that sustainable for them.

So if you don't see Mond getting some second quarter reps with at least the twos in the preseason, we're not going to learn a whole lot about him. Like, unless they really call, like, kind of an aggressive play sheet for him in the second half of a preseason game, which doesn't seem likely, then that is also going to be a missed opportunity. And at this point, like who needs those reps more, Jake Browning or Kellen Mond? I mean, don't even like bring status into it, like on the depth chart, just like who

needs that experience? It's the rookie for sure. It is. needs that experience it's the rookie for sure it is and yet it's always very much about who's playing better for where you get uh on the depth chart and where you get your reps like we don't see someone who's struggling get bumped up to the first team to see if it sort of inspires them or because they might eventually have to play their uh broad question though for both of you guys like do you think that Zimmer brings these people along too slowly? Because I guess I could see an argument for both.

I was talking with Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus. He made a case about, and this doesn't exactly apply to Mon, but it certainly does to the offensive linemen, and maybe some of the other draft picks if they're capable of getting in the game. But when you have guys on rookie contracts, you have to make the most of that because eventually you'll have to pay them or you'll have to let them go so if you don't get much out of like Ezra Cleveland in his first year and he's the second round pick well you've wasted one year of his rookie contract screwing around with him moving from you know left tackle to right guard

and now he's going back to left guard and I wonder if you guys think that this team has done that too much in recent years. And there's even the example of kind of being, you know, slow with Justin Jefferson, who is, you know, the best rookie receiver in history almost, statistically. So I wonder if you guys think that or if you think it's the right approach. Anyone is fine. I think it's kind of like backwards. Like we saw Justin Jefferson in training camp, and you could tell he was better than B.C. Johnson.

We saw him make these catches, perform, run routes. Like his performance in week three against the Titans was surprising, but because it was so gaudy, like the numbers he put up were gaudy, on routes like his performance in week three against the titans was surprising but it because it was so gaudy like the numbers he put up were gaudy and obviously the performance he put forth after that were also gaudy like he said he was one of the best rookie receivers of all time but it wasn't surprising necessarily that he was hands down better than bc johnson because we saw that and i think there was this, there's always this want with this coaching staff and this kind of regime to

like bring these guys along slowly. And I think it's okay sometimes to throw these rookies in. I'm not saying throw your fifth round pick into a starting situation, but I even look at Brian O'Neill. Like that guy was supposed to have basically a red shirt year and he played in his rookie year and he was really good. And then for that experience, he was even better in year two and now he's a very very good right tackle like it's okay to let to try these guys and I don't think trying them and playing

them in certain scenarios and throwing them into the deep end a little bit means you can't pull back but I think you have to let them try. And sometimes they've been a little bit too slow to do that, I think. I agree with Dane. And I think you have to look at each case a little bit individually, because in some of these instances, they're holding the fort down with somebody who is clearly not going to be a long-term answer or someone who's like evidently not better. I mean, I think Jefferson over B who's like evidently not better I mean I think Jefferson over BC Johnson's a good example I think what they're doing potentially right now with Rashad Hill and Dakota Dozier above Derrissaw and Davis what they did with Hill over O'Neal like

Dane mentioned but then you've got some of the first round corners that they've taken in the past or the second round corner in McKenzie's case and and they were slow played but they were behind you know Captain Munderland who was good Terrence Newman who was good Xavier Rhodes who was good so that was justifiable and that's a harder position to learn but like you know Eric Kendricks being held back by Gerald Hodges like and that that was like six years ago and that that was strange, too. Fortunately, they realized it, and they traded Hodges and started Kendricks, and that worked out okay. But more often than not, it feels like they're bringing them along too slowly, and I think that's something that they keep finding out that they don't necessarily need to do

because a lot of these rookies that they have given responsibility to have been okay. I think probably players are more prepared than they ever have been before and maybe there's a little bit of with Zimmer it's hey you got to have it all down in every single assignment and everything else and the baptism by fire is something that he says but doesn't always apply. They did play Pat Alfline as a rookie, but it took not only one guy getting hurt in Pat Alfline, but also Drew Samia, who played as poorly as I've ever seen anyone play right guard, for Ezra Cleveland to even get his chance. And he came in, and there were struggles, but he was instantly better than both of those guys.

And you wonder, okay, are there situations where that's going to be the case? Cornerback seems to be one where you just have a really tough time doing it in year one. I have one more subject for you guys before we get to our in-depth look at some of the quotes from the day. We'll just put it that way. Anthony Barr, I asked Mike Zimmer about Anthony Barr today, and he said basically having him back is immensely valuable because they can do things with him that they can't necessarily do with other people. And this has been sort of the drum that Zimmer has been banging on Anthony Barr for a long time now of like, hey, look, I mean, I really trust him. He can help me with adjustments.

There's a lot of things that he does. Dane, if Anthony Barr is in his last year and he plays with sort of a typical Anthony Barr season, how do you think we look at his Vikings career for Anthony Barr? I think we look at it as he was a really good player, but I don't know how much he impacted winning and I guess that's kind of hard to say because like he's a linebacker like so he does so many things and he can have the best game of his life and if the quarterback's terrible the Vikings lose but he takes up a good chunk of the salary cap and he he's really good I understand that and I know he does a lot of things. But does he really impact winning at the end of the day? Like, I'm not sure because I know Zimmer said, you know,

having him back is going to allow the defense to do so much more. And I know the defense fell off a cliff last year and was terrible. But that was across the board, injuries across the board. I thought Eric Wilson was okay, like, filling in for Anthony Barr.ony bar i i just think like are you going if i'm going to invest in a linebacker i'm investing in eric kendrick's my middle linebacker can go sideline to sideline play you know against the run defend the pass be all over the field if you invest all that money into an outside guy like like bar again if they're not rushing the passer, I'm not sure how much you're gaining compared to a replacement-level player. So I thought last year, look, Anthony Barr might come in this year and light the world on fire, do everything that Zimmer says he does,

and the Vikings are way, way, way better for it. But I thought Eric Wilson performing admirably in that role last year was kind of a case of like, okay, we don't need to throw all this money at Anthony Barr next year when his contract's up, if he's going to want more, because how much does he really impact winning at the end of the day? Yeah, well stated by Dane. I think we will look back in five, 10 years at Barr's career, which if he's done after this year, it's an eight-year career. And I think we'll look back in five, ten years at Barr's career, which if he's done after this year, it's an eight-year career. And I think we'll look at it sort of like E.J. Henderson from, like, you know, the 2000s and the early 2010s.

You know, I don't know if he had, like, the same impact on the franchise as even, like, a Chad Greenway, who was a first-round pick and played a decade. And I think he got usurped by Kendricks which you know because they're playing kind of on the same teams it's it's very evident like the impact that an elite of an elite of the elite linebacker the impact they can have and Kendricks does and like the plays he makes every game you know whether it's a tackle for loss or a key pass breakup on third down or a really nice interception, he makes those plays so regularly. And I don't know if Barr does that. And I know that they like to talk about him as sort of a decoy or a chess piece that the offense has to account for.

But at the end of the day, there's not as much production to show for it. So I've always kind of been an advocate for like his impact being not really on the box score. But I can't ignore the lack of box score production completely. I mean, both of them are, you know, I think factors here. So if he's done after 2021 and he has sort of like the same type of season that he has had, I think we look back and we say it was a little bit of a tease because early on it was very like encouraging for like the 2014 version of Barr. I think we assumed more ascension and we didn't necessarily see it. Yeah, I think that there's two parts to it, and you guys make great points on

this. The first part is like what someone like Eric Kendricks has or some of the elite linebackers is not only, and Kendricks doesn't like stack the box score necessarily, but splash plays happen a lot. And it could just be a tackle for a one-yard game, but it's a huge play or just like a pass defended or something like that. So it's all that other stuff that Zimmer describes plus. And what we had with Eric Wilson was a lot of those pluses. I mean, he had interceptions, he had sacks, he was just as good at blitzing as Anthony Barr was. And it sort of shined a light on the price tag will just never go away from this conversation it's very much like her cousins where maybe in the legacy part of it or we go like oh yeah you know five years ago

Anthony Barr was a big pro bowler for them we're not going to go but remember his cap hit was a certain percentage so I think that like maybe in hindsight he will be looked at a little more favorably because we focused so much on his contract. But I also think that when he had those splash plays early in his career and they never really came back, the sacks, the pass deflections, the interceptions, it sort of made it even more challenging to explain why he was worth what they were paying him. Even if we can all agree that he's a, that he's pretty good. Do you have something else on that thing? No. Oh, your face said that though. Your face said, I have something else on that, Dane? No. Oh, your face said that, though.

Your face said, I have something else to say. Okay, I wanted to make sure, and tell me, Sam, if you have anything else. Did you want, before I get to this game, did you want to highlight K.J. Osborne's day? I know that you like the way he played today. You know, I'll say on K.J. Osborne is, you can get my take on him on our TCO Takeaways video on the Purple Insider YouTube channel.

Oh, man. How's that for a plug? You called it TCO Takeaways? Yeah, you got to have alliteration. But that's an orthopedics place. It's like performance centers. Wait, you're saying it's copyright infringement? What's your implication here?

No, no, no. Our takeaways from what was going on at the orthopedic center is basically how that sounds. No, I'm, I'm just, we were, we were, we were shooting the video with the orthopedic center in the background.

So I think there's a clear tie in. It's a fair point. Okay. So KJ Osborne was fine. Hey everyone. I want to tell you about our friends. It's Scout Logistics. And I really do mean it when I say friends, they are fans of Purple about our friends at Scout Logistics. And I really do mean it when I say friends.

They are fans of Purple Insider over at Scout Logistics. And since they reached out wanting to support this show, I want to tell you about what they do. Scout Logistics is just-in-time transportation for full tractor-trailer loads. And if you're wondering what that means exactly, well, if you own or work for a company that needs shipping solutions, they are the preferred carrier of Fortune 500 companies across North America. And we have quite a few of those in Minnesota, right?

They can ship perishable, non-perishable, FTL or LTL, and they have on-time delivery rate of over 99%. So if you're like them and you enjoy the show and you have shipping needs, check out scoutogistics.com or call 855-217-2688 extension 232 to connect with them directly to find out how Scout Logistics can minimize risk and overperform and go the extra mile for your company. All right. Okay. So I pulled five.

We had a bunch of Zoom calls today with these people and uh we i pulled five quotes from vikings and it's not really a game so much as i'm going to read them out of context and we need to talk about them okay so this was from uh irv smith he says a lot of times after you eat you kind of get get tired. That was from Irv Smith. And your guy's comments. He says, a lot of times after you eat, you get tired. Go ahead. He's absolutely right.

A lot of times after you eat, you do get tired. Irv Smith, you're talking right into my soul. I feel you. I had lunch before this podcast. It was a late lunch. Almost fell asleep. Fell asleep on the couch. Almost good thing. Good thing. My phone was on not silent because I probably wouldn't be

here right now because I ate lunch and I got a little bit, I got a little bit tired. I feel you 100%. Yeah. And he was talking about, um, the like importance of nutrition and how you can avoid that. And I had two hamburgers off of our new grill for lunch today. I am desperate for a nap right now. Like I'm surprised we've gotten to 33 minutes because after I have a big meal, I mean, it's nap time. Also, you know, I'm a little older than you, Dane. I have found in my mid-30s here the value of a good 15 to 20-minute nap. I think it's really important important yeah i i'm getting

there i'm pushing 30 so i mean the naps they do hit a little different now they hit you know like i wish i knew what i know now about naps like when i was i wish i appreciated those a little bit more than i did um but going back to whatever smith said like i'm sure he takes a little bit of a you know a nap after he eats you know a shrimp po'boy down in new orleans like he was talking about he eats crawfish down in new orleans like he was talking about yeah he doesn't eat those anymore yeah no well this is this is almost some breaking news here um herb smith just replied to the tweet that i sent out about his his diet and he adds, diet is key, exclamation point. Swerving Irvin himself.

That's right. Giving the same extra Twitter I love. He was just spitting facts today, like about being sleepy after you eat, and diet is key. We had, like, a huge Beat Rider dinner in New Orleans the night before the big playoff game two years ago. And I mean, I don't know about you, Matthew, but I went back to the hotel and I slept it off.

I mean, I totally get it. That New Orleans food like requires you to sleep at least one hour. This was actually my question to Irv Smith today. One of my questions, it wasn't important, but I said like how do you even diet when you live in New Orleans? I mean, it's like the best food. So let me get to the next one. This is from Ezra Cleveland. He says, in terms of Mike and Delvin, they're great dudes. They're definitely big. That's Ezra Cleveland. Sam, your reaction. You know what? And by the way, he's referring to Mike Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson.

That might be a little confusing when you hear Dalvin. That tells me that he does not know anything about those people. Because the first thing that comes to mind is, yeah, they're definitely big, I think. Right. Like, do you know their hometowns? Do you know their birthdays, their horoscope or anything? No. OK. They're big, though. They are. But let's be honest, though. You saw him, right? I mean, oh, my God. They are big. So big. Strong agree. Yeah. Yeah. Like half a ton combined, basically. Seem like great dudes in the Zoom conferences yeah we've gotten out of them

okay we'd love to hear more from them next one uh uh this is um from brian o'neill he says and you're like okay this guy really loves football um and he could have been talking about any of us but he was talking about clint kubiak so, the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings loves football. Yeah, thank God he loves football. I mean, if he didn't love football, I don't think Zimmer would have hired him because Zimmer is the most football guy I know. But what a crazy thing to hear out of context. Like, what do you think about your new offensive coordinator and his scheme? He loves football, so that's good. Well, good thing Clint Kubiak loves football. Let's see if he can compliment us, but he loves football. That's great.

My favorite Clint Kubiak-ism from the one press conference we've had is that he has one piece of his dad's mannerism that carried over genetically. Gary would always compliment our questions. He would say, that's a really good question. And Clint did the exact same thing. So I think I'm good with Clint. I think Clint has potential. He's still, he's not Gary yet. Gary was untouchable, but he's working his way there. No one will ever be Gary. But it would be funny if we asked a player about Clint Kubiak, and he's like, I don't know, man. The guy has dad issues. He hates football, and he's only doing this because his dad made him.

But he's an NFL offensive coordinator. What the hell? Dad issues. He doesn't even want to be here. This is from Mike Zimmer. He says, it's like the old saying, what does a boxer do to get ready? Well, he's going to spar. He's got to box.

Football players, that's what they've got to do. They've got to play football. You guys heard that old saying? Is that a saying? I don't think that's a saying. What's the saying? How old is the saying? Boxers got to spar. What do they got to they gotta start they gotta eat they gotta take naps

yeah i mean i assume so like you know sparring is getting in the ring and and practicing you know hitting hitting your opponent getting hit but then mike zimmer like in the next breaths talking about removing all the physicality and the trenches. I think he's kind of talking out of both sides of his mouth here. I think he just started talking and didn't know where he was going. And, like, anytime someone says, like, you know, I do it sometimes. Like, oh, you know that saying? And I can't really think of the saying, so I just blurt out words.

I think it was, like, word vomit. But when I heard him say that this morning, I was like, yes, I am back to covering the NFL football. Like, they don't know. In the NHL, they don't say like, you know, just, you know, love hockey. He's a hockey guy. I guess they say that too. But it was just the most football quote of all time from the head coach,

and it was good to be back. If Mike Zimmer was coaching the Wild, Dane, he would have had Kaprizov on the fourth line until March. He's got to earn his way. You know, and this is one of the, to me, it's one of the flat-out best reasons to cover the NFL and talk about it and everything else is how much these people freaking love football. And like every day they just talk about like, man, football, right? Like,

this is why we sometimes just yell football on the show is because, I mean, listen to this quote, football players, what's what they've got to do. They've got to play football. Like, hell yeah, they do Mike. I mean, it's just like, don't know man it's so great how much they love saying the word football how much they like talking about it they won't say oh you know you kind of throw it down the field they're like we're gonna throw the football down the football field and we gotta catch the football we gotta run the football into the end zone and if you're the defensive backs you gotta go get the football so that's great that was his for today uh last one this is from ezra cleveland again he says it's great to be able to invite people over and have a barbecue or whatever.

And I just, Ezra, I've never, the nap quote, I really felt, well, wait, he didn't actually say naps, but the eating and being sleepy quote, I really felt. But guys, so great though, to be able to invite people over for barbecues. I mean, I really felt that it seems like a lot of these revolve around food like herb is trying to avoid barbecues because he wants to not be as sleepy but dalvin and mike they're going to plenty of barbecues i was just trying to comment on like you you know, COVID almost being gone and stuff. But, you know, take it whatever way you like. Ezra's bigger.

That's it. There's nothing more. I know Neil talked about how Ezra's bigger. He's been going to barbecues. This can't go on any longer. I'm speechless. This is something that I can't wait to continue throughout training camp is out of context quotes that we could talk about. All of those had some sort of important meaning.

So, I just want to say that, that they all meant something. But you'll have to read about it at our sub stack. So, that's it. Dane, you're the best. Glad to see you and hope to golf with you soon because it's the best to play golf with you. And look forward to seeing you

much more often on the football beat, my friend. Football. Can't wait. Also, people should listen to your golf podcast if they want. It's Bunker to Bunker

with a two. So there you have it. They could do that. Listen to Dane talk golf. All right, bye.