Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings camp recap, Day 11: McCarthy bounces back, talks preseason start (Part 2)

Episode Date: August 7, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about JJ McCarthy's improved day on Wednesday and what he had to say about playing in the first preseason game of 2025

Nick says, how concerned should we be that the O line has not been in much? Will they have time to gel? I think it's a concern. Yeah, I think it's a legitimate concern because if Christian Derasaw is playing week one, it's not going to have a ton of time to practice. He's in there a little, but not a lot so far for 11 on 11s. He's not going to have a ton of time to prepare to play with Donovan Jackson. in and Ryan Kelly being out for any amount of time, even missing the night practice and then

this practice, that's concerning because it's Ryan Kelly and he's been banged up through his career, but also that that relationship is one of the most important on the entire field. And Juergens to me has not looked like anywhere close to Ryan Kelly. That might be a position that they go out and try to look for, but it's hard to do. It's hard to go look for a backup center who then has to learn your offense versus someone you've developed over two years, but, you know, there's always a fall off. They need Ryan Kelly to be healthy. And if he misses more practice next week, then you start, you do start to get concerned about these guys because Donovan Jackson needs all the help that he can get. Um, so yes. And when you hear that the defense is

constantly crushing, you know, the, the offensive line, like, you do have that thought of like, that's great for the defense, but also your backup left tackles in there and your backup center is in there today. And that's kind of what you can expect. If they don't have a healthy offensive line, there's going to be a lot of trouble because I thought that there would be like that we would come out of this saying, oh, there's pretty good depth. I haven't felt that way so far other than feeling pretty good about Blake Brandel if they need a guard. First name, last name says they were arguing about Brady and making excuses about his success, even. and after he won a couple rings, that's absolutely true.

The sports show BSers will always nitpick someone who isn't established great. Look, I mean, there are people who have made their full entire careers out of saying LeBron James isn't that good or whatever, like, okay, again, if you're Cleveland, do you care? So what the only thing J.J. McCarthy can do is be so good that he doesn't have to care. And like you said about Tom Brady, say what you're going to say about Brady, early in Manning's career when he didn't win the Super Bowl he got that same like is he a choker is he not clutch is he etc and there was some maybe some to that where he had played poorly in some playoff games but he's going 14 and 2 and 13 and 3 in the regular season with mediocre or decent teams

and then not winning in the playoffs and it was like oh well he stinks you know i don't know so you're right uh you kind of have to just put that stuff out of sight out of mind because that's how it's going to be if you are on front page news and guess what the minnesota vikings play their first two games on national television and uh you know then they go shortly after that over to uh dublin and then to london and guess what everybody's going to see those games so island games games that exist on their own that every person is watching there's going to be four out of the first five. Everyone's going to be watching J.J. McCarthy to start this season, which means there's going to be a lot of opinions about McCarthy. If he doesn't start out with great numbers, then the

people who said he was bad are going to say, see, I told you. And if he's good, they'll just talk about somebody else. I think that's the trick of it, right? The hard, the hard part is trying to gather as much information as you can and project the best that you can. I think, think with all the things that you've heard things that you've seen numbers that you have information you have all that sort of stuff like that's the fun that's the fun part to me is trying to put it all in a pot and figure out like where exactly is it going to be i think it's lazy to just say a quarterback stinks every single day but i don't know maybe that's maybe that would have earned me more money but we're doing great on the show so i'm extremely pleased

I don't know. Son of Beaver says, do you think that we try and bring in another veteran for the O line, specifically center and tackle? I think you're kind of, you kind of are where you are at this point. It would have to be pretty soon that they did that. Center is possible.

It's just, it's always who. It's always who? Like, who's it going to be? What center is going to be better than Juergens, who's been here for two years? Juergens would probably struggle pretty significantly as a past protector if he's got to be in there for three, four weeks.

But we used to say this about Dakota Dozier, where it was like, if he's got to come in for a week or two, you're going to be fine. If he's got to come in for a long period of time, you're going to be in trouble. And I feel the same way about most of the backup offensive linemen. School is the one where I think he better not be matched up against the guy as good as Jonathan Grenard or then he's in trouble. he's probably not as bad as he's looked just because of the competition. And the first couple weeks don't really have that type of guy. We'll see what James Pierce is. He might be pretty quick for Justin's school.

Like, that's, it's hard. If he has to play through two weeks, it's hard to not have Christian Darrasaw. And there's not that many swing tackles. Remember, the Vikings loved Rashad Hill for years. I mean, just kind, you know, and I like Rashad. He's a great guy, but he's just sort of a guy. If you're even big enough to play left tackle in the league, you could stick around they had david question very like you didn't want that guy to play it's never

it's never not like this there's never a next great left tackle you're looking for but me you know maybe they could look at a center you got to do it fast though uh lewis pons de leon says uh wasn't that an explorer uh says is it too early for a cuby comparison for j j mccarthy um of course the next one that comes in John Elway, which I did make kind of a tongue and cheek comment about once because he does have a rocket arm. And he's much bigger than people think. But I'm not going to rationally say that he's like J.J. McCarthy or that he's like John Elway because that's one of the 10 best quarterbacks ever. Somebody brought up Jim Kelly the other day. Same kind of deal like four Super Bowls, Hall of Fame. Like I see what you're saying with like the toughness and the strong arm

and stuff, but probably a little bit too far to go. See, what I make. these comparisons, people, they don't like them. They want them to be like much better. So if I said that he should play like Alex Smith this year, I think a lot of people would be like Alex Smith, yuck. But at the same time, Alex Smith early in his career, game managed his way to an NFC championship with the 49ers with a great team and made some plays in the biggest moments, didn't have the hugest stats, but won a lot and didn't turn the ball over. and played really smart football. It's like I kind of want him to play like that early on

and then see what else sort of comes about. He is so young that, you know, where's it going to go from here? It is hard to think about because when I think of other quarterbacks that I think can be in the same tier, they're just so different. Even like a Jordan Love, like Jordan Love is just different.

He either throws screens or he throws bombs and his bombs are amazing or terrible. And that's kind of who Jordan Love is right now. but it might end up in that same tier of, you know, this year, just outside of the top guys. When I say Brock Purdy, then people get really unhappy because he's got a stronger arm than Purdy, but I think he's got to play the same way, where it's, deliver the ball where it's supposed to go. Keep getting the ball out of your hands. Don't take sacks.

Don't make big mistakes. And then make a play every once in a while where you're like, wow. And he's got a better arm, but he's probably not as accurate or is experienced. he's more physically gifted because he's a top 10 draft pick, but you want him to play that way as of right now. As I think the best comparison that I have is 2017 Jared Gough. Play like 2017 Jared Gough. Let your coach press all the buttons,

operate the system, run it the way it's supposed to be run, make some good throws. And he's more of a pocket quarterback than he is a runner. you know, obviously Jared Goff isn't a runner at all. But the same sort of stuff, like if you execute and and golf early in his career was kind of a fastball thrower only, like didn't have a lot of touch on the football. And they were still able to have a number one offense that year. So that's probably the comparison.

But of course, people want to go right to Elway, right to Kelly, right to, you know, the Hall of Famers. That's the comparison I would use is these quarterbacks who have been really elevated by great circumstances that are not Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson is the more of the guys that I'm leaning toward right now. Phil says I'm thinking the plan was more of a conservative power running game in the first quarter of the season and then opening things up. That could be true, but it might also just depend on like what the situation is. You know, if you start out against the Chicago Bears and you get up 14 to nothing in the second quarter

and you're going to ground and pound the heck out of the Bears and make Caleb Williams prove it. Like, yeah, there you go. But if, you know, you're talking about, um, getting down in a game or being, you know, even in a game and you're going back and forth, like, you're going to have to throw the ball more. And you can't just rely if you're down to scores or something, you've got to come back. You can't just rely on the run game. So I think that you're right that they want to play it off of the run game to start probably more. And they want to have easier stuff for him to start and then have it open up as it goes

along like it did with Darnold last year. I think that was a good plan. And I agree with it. It's just with Darnold last year, some of it was circumstantial where, you know, C.J. Stroud comes out and throws a pick right away. And you're like, okay, well, you're starting out this game just with a freebie. and then you're playing from ahead and then the defense is playing great

and it's so much easier to play quarterback when your defense is playing great. Let's see. Exposé says we think in Derasaw week two to three more likely than one. I mean, if I had to put money on it, yes, but just don't really know. I think he's going to have to start taking more snaps soon, but I am not his knee doctor.

So this is just the guess is that he would have to start taking a lot more snaps pretty soon in order for him to be really ready for week one uh wouldn't be shocked if he is i think week two is probably more realistic it's just so hard to say when you know we don't have a medical report but o'connell being uh really safe about not saying that also makes me think it's possible uh let's see northern pride did you miss the the kelly update ryan kelly uh yeah o'connell said that it was not serious but he was out of practice today so it's an elbow issue um maybe like a hyper

extended elbow issue seems like he's going to be okay but even when you hear ryan kelly missing any practice at all you go okay uh red bruno there better be a competition for qb too seems like there is yeah seems like there is uh tied to skull uh tuned in late can i get a hawkinson panic crawl uh going or did someone beat me to it yeah well there's no hawkinson panic uh crawl because he was back at practice today. And I don't think he participated in full, but he was at least back. There was no reason to freak out just based on what we saw the other day. If somebody gets hurt and they bring the card out and immediately run them back into the, you know, into the training room, then you go, okay, what's going on there? Because that sometimes means very serious

injuries. This was, he stood around. He tried to stretch it out. He seemed a little uncomfortable, went to the trainer table, you know, said he was okay after practice. So I figured it wasn't super serious. Stephanie, how's the kicking and punting? Well, Will Reichert went six for six the other night. They haven't punted much. This is going to be a huge thing in the preseason game is the kick returning and the punt returning. Who's punt returning? Who's getting the first opportunities? How they do all that sort of stuff. I mean, you know, that's, that's, that's good preseasoning right there. That is good preseasoning. A.J., who plays the most on Saturday? They just being quarterback or just like for the entire roster. I, I would guess that, you know, actually, I really

have no idea how much McCarthy's going to play. I would guess that they wanted to play a few series, though. And then it will be howl and they'll go from there to rip in and to maybe Max Brosmer at the end of the game. I don't know if they'll be able to get him in very much. The quarterback four doesn't always end up in the game too much. As far as who plays the most on the rest of the roster, it would likely be the third team guys that play the second half, where you're just trying to get them reps because they haven't had reps at all

so far throughout training camp. They just haven't. It's really hard to get, you know, those types of guys, the third teamers on the field very often. And so, you know, you guys will say like, how's, you know, Silas Bolden looking at the answer is, well, we just, you know, haven't seen him much other than in the part returning. So the opportunity is there in the preseason for somebody like Silas Bolden or Miles Price or whatever other player, Tyler Batty, who you guys heard all about, whatever other player is out there to get a chance to actually shine because they're not getting many opportunities in camp where it's all first and second team, almost all. the guys who are going to really dictate whether this team wins or loses, honestly. Patrick says, will there be a real number one this year?

Or do you think that it will be fairly evenly split? Right now, I'm leaning evenly split. Right now I'm leaning on the evenly split side. But you did just remind me, by the way, of the Fandul question of the day. And this is where the chat is going to have to help me throughout the year to remember the Fandual question of the day. So here is the fan dual question of the day. Jordan loves over under for passing yards is 3,550.5.

If he throws for only 3,500 yards, how many games will the Packers win? I would go with seven or eight. If he only throws for 3,500 yards, I don't think that the Green Bay Packers have much of a chance. I think they need the over and over big because relying on the run game is nice. They need to throw the football really effectively in this division with these great defenses and good quarterbacks and good offenses. I don't think you can throw for 3,500 yards and win that many games. But maybe you disagree.

Are the Packers good enough? So if he goes with the under, how many games would the Packers win? That's your fan dual question of the day. Look, guys, I am just about at the age where I'm starting notice that hairline fading a little bit so if you're struggling with the same problem allow me to make a suggestion give hymns a try try hymns hair loss solutions and you'll be joining the hundreds of thousands of subscribers who found their hair again hymns provide you with a convenient quality access to a range of hair loss treatments that work all from the comfort of your couch just answer a few questions

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Results vary based on studies of topical and oral, monocidil, and finesteroide. Prescription products require an online consultation with health care provider and will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for details and important safety information. Next comment here from Son of Beavers. I think Howells struggles in the game. We bring in another backup quarterback.

You've wanted CJ Bethard all offseason. But look who we're talking about here. Jeff Driscoll, Jake Fromm. They're not, none of these guys are going to be better than even than Brett Rippin. You might as well just have Brett Rippin at that point. Julio, can we ask KOC how Confini is going into the season with the level of play from the O line?

I feel like that's an unfair question, though, Julio, because we haven't seen the entire O line. that that's really that's really it we just haven't seen the entire o line together yet with christian darisaw and ryan kelly together you know all at the same time so he should be pretty confident in those guys but i think that he's my guess would be he's a little frustrated by how it's looked with it not being a complete offensive line when it's complete i should be pretty good it should be donovan jackson is the wild card though it is definitely the wild card of how much donovan jackson and can develop as a past protector, how much chemistry he can get right away with Ryan Kelly

and with Christian Derisaw, because you know, if you're an opposing team and you're looking at that O line, who's the one guy that you're going to try to target? It's probably going to be the rookie. It's probably not going to be fries. It's probably not going to be Darisaw. It's probably going to be the rookie.

I'm trying to drink more water these days, folks. Actually, I ran out of soda, so we'll have to settle. Let's see. Nick says, I want the team to carry J.J. in a way that is not in any way the same as how they carried Kirk. Yeah, the thing about Kirk versus J.J. McCarthy is that Kirk, well, there's two things. I mean, Kirk after 2022 is a different quarterback in key situations. And what did he win? 17 out of 25 games for the Vikings as the starter. If J.J. McCarthy wins 17 out of his first 25.

Now, I know you're going to bring up the playoffs and you got to win the playoffs. But if he wins 17 of his first 25 with Kevin O'Connell, it's going to feel pretty darn good. But also, this, this roster is better than any roster that Kirk Cousins had. Other than 18, I think the 18 roster was really good and the drama got too heavy for that team, especially between the offensive coordinator and the head coach. And I think the system was wrong and the pressure got to everybody and they cut a kicker after one game. and, you know, all that stuff that happened. But aside from that, it's the most talented team since 17.

And if it's completely healthy, it's probably better because the offensive line can be better than it was in 2017. I think in terms of pass protection. The defense is pretty complete. I don't know if they could be number one. The running game can be just as good. The receiver duo could be just as good. And that team was able to pump up, you know, Case Keenham. and last year's team was able to elevate Sam Darnold.

I mean, it would make sense that this team would be able to elevate J.J. McCarthy as well from whatever he would have been in a neutral situation that he'll probably be better than that. But, I mean, no guarantees based on the health and sometimes the cookie crumbles the wrong way for you. But this team in terms of carrying J.J. McCarthy has all of the things to do it. And I mean, that's what I mean about I would I would never criticize a. a quarterback, unless it was like a Trent Dillfer situation, but that's 25 years ago, I would never criticize a quarterback for winning games with a really good football team. Because the last time I checked, all the Super Bowl champions won a lot of games with really good football teams. And, you know, you can let somebody else rank the quarterbacks. And you can let somebody else

rank J.J. McCarthy the 18th. I mean, imagine, imagine if you were just put yourself in the shoes. This is where you want to be. Put yourself in the shoes of the Philadelphia Eagles. Those fans who are, you know, on the aggressive side, they see all the quarterback rankings every year. And Jalen Hertz is never an elite quarterback, never ranked high by anybody. It's mid, 20th, 15th, whatever it might be.

And then the guy's gone to the Super Bowl two of the last three years. Do you think they care? That's where you want to be. let let somebody let somebody waste their time ranking the quarterbacks one through 32 a very creative endeavor let them do that waste their time with that and rank your quarterback 17th well he goes deep in the playoffs okay fine with me because the last time I checked one of those things matter and the other things doesn't so that's why I think the conversation is kind of funny but in terms of supporting McCarthy the best you can,

it really comes down to protecting him, running, and then deciding how much to lean into him. I think that's the most interesting thing is how much and when do you lean into in this game, we got to attack player X, Y, and Z in the secondary, and McCarthy's got to make the throws and let's see if he could do it or not. I mean, there's going to be moments, I think, with Kevin O'Connell, where he's got to figure out, am I going to put? play this safe. Am I going to lean into McCarthy? And last year, you know, I asked, I asked O'Connell about

this and he really didn't like take, he didn't kind of go with me on it, but I still think it's true that the first, the first drive of the season went horribly last year. Remember C.J. Ham fumbled, like the most unlikely guy, fumbled. And they got the ball back and they drove down the field and they got to the five yard line or something. And they went for it on fourth down. And then bang, Sam Darnold throws a touchdown. It was an immediate, like, I believe in you. Like, that's, that's what, that's what it was from a KOC. I believe in you.

Throw this touchdown. And then he dials up a 97-yard touchdown play, one of the highlights of the last decade for the bike. He's just an incredible play. But also someone had to call the pass play of a deep shot from the end zone because you want to show the quarterback you believe in him. And I don't think consciously, Kevin O'Connell would have been thinking, I must show QB belief.

But there had to be a little bit of, like, if we're going to win anything, then this guy's got to know that we're going to lean on him at times. And he's not going to be treated like a game manager or something. So when does he do that for J.J. McCarthy? Does he come out in the first quarter and throw eight straight times or something to be like, hey, you think that we're going to be this, you know, conservative offense? We're not. You know, that might happen.

Julio says, I think J.J. McCarthy is going to have some games where he is asked to pass the ball more than 25 times. Yeah, I agree. There will be games where they're playing against really, really good teams and they need J.J. McCarthy to win them the game. Last year, they did have Sam Darnold rise to that challenge a lot of times. He didn't at the best time at the time that they really needed it, but he did rise to the challenge a lot of times throughout the season against.

Green Bay at the end against the Atlanta Falcons like this happened all the time with Sam Darnold in the regular season there will have to be several games this year where if you want to win it your quarterback has to I'll play the other team's quarterback it can't it can't just be oh well you're going to hand off and throw the occasional play action that was that was the 19 Vikings the 19 Vikings were good enough to hand off play action beat some bad teams beat some average teams but when they faced anybody good it was pretty brutal. They're going to have to be different than that. They're going to have to get great performances sometimes from McCarthy. I think what you're looking for is early in the season to

guide him into that and to win some games without saying just be the whole offense. And then as you go along, it starts to open up more and more to the point where you can do that. First name, last name says which number three will be on the field more this year, Dallas Turner or whoever wins quarterback three or Theo Jackson. Uh, in order. Oh, that's a really good question. I think I'm going to go Dallas Turner, then Theo Jackson, then cornerback three. And I think they really like three safeties.

And I think they really like what they've seen from Dallas Turner so far. There is a good argument for Theo Jackson being on the field a lot because, uh, last year, um, last year they played. three safeties all the time. But I think they did that to some extent just because of the trust with the corners. And health might play a role in, in that question of, you know, if Van Ginkle gets banged up or Grenard, then all of a sudden Turner's got to play a lot. Or if Mattelis got banged up, then Theo Jackson, who's been playing a ton in camp because Mattelis has been sidelined. So, you know, I think that it's probably Turner because he's going to be in there a lot.

and they're going to find different ways to put them in. But I could see them running three safeties all the time. I could definitely see them playing three safeties all the time. I think three corners is probably the least just based on how they've played in the past. Where, you know, looking at last year's snap count with Shaq Griffin, even with an injury for a couple weeks to Stefan Gilmore, Shaq Griffin still didn't get to 600 snaps. Well, the role that Dallas Turner is taking over last year of Patrick Jones kind of plus,

was about a 500 snap role. And if he plays well, then it could be more than that. First name, last name. Biggest surprises were Felton as a kick returner and Vaughn buried so far down. Oh, I didn't see, yeah, I didn't see Zemaya Vaugh. And that's why it is unofficial, my friends, because there's, that's what I was saying about like the Brian Awesomewa. I mean, Kobe King has been ahead of Brian Ossema.

But if you notice, a lot of it is just sorted by just the way that they're experience plays out like the less experienced guys get sorted at the bottom even if they've been playing more likes of my have on felt it as a kick returner might be real that actually might be real i i definitely want to see him get opportunities to kick return i think we will and we'll see rondale more punt return but i mean the kick returns and punt returns there's a there's a lot of excitement there honestly because the the kick return is going to be a big play this year and the part return they have not had the slightest impact as punt return since Marcus Sherrill's. That's a long time.

We're talking D.D. Westbrook. I remember Brandon Zilstra going back there for a couple. They have just not had any impact whatsoever as far as part returning. Brandon Powell, you know, didn't even have really his moments. He kind of just caught the ball and that was it. His moment was fumbling in Philadelphia and it felt like after that they just, let's not even worry about it. let's see uh kit do you think that there's a bad actor in the viking's facility feeding anti jj messaging to coward

and russini i've thought for a little while now that there's um information that has been put out there to certain people that has been maybe aimed at undermining certain things. That's kind of how it's felt, whether it was, I mean, you think about it, there's all the reports that turned out to be bogus, all correlated to trying to stir chaos. Like this, this is not a chaos team. I've covered a chaos team. It used to be here. 2021 was the most chaos I've ever seen in my life.

And 2016 was a lot of chaos too, both under Mike Zimmer, chaos coach. He caused chaos in 17. They were winning every game and he caused problems. It hasn't been really that way under Quasi Adafo Mensa and Kevin O'Connell. Like, no one knows drama better than people covering the Minnesota Vikings. We just haven't really seen it. And yet at almost any given time over the last two years, there's been some sort of dramatic reporting.

of things that didn't come to fruition. So, I mean, your suspicion kind of makes a lot of sense. It kind of makes a lot of sense. The whole, they're going to trade just to Jefferson for Malik neighbors. I mean, maybe, you know, and every one of them sounds plausible enough,

but you put them all together and none of them come to fruition. You're like, okay, well, you know, maybe they have a conversation in a meeting about, like, what if we did this crazy thing because of the salary cap or something? And then, nah, no, it's not do that. And the same thing goes for Aaron Rogers, where we all figured this out.

They had a conversation. KOC had a conversation with Rogers. It was probably a serious conversation. And then they take it to the front office and they have a meeting because what else do they do there other than have meetings about football players? And then they decide, no, it's not something we're doing. That's that this is not a crazy thing to happen inside of a football building. And yet you would have definitely would have thought that. the dude says our cap problem is why we can't sign anyone right now we're apparently 65 in the

million in the hole for next year no no no no i would no no no i would not make that interpretation if they needed to sign someone right now or make a move right now they can absolutely do that and uh that next year they're going to be able to the way that these contracts are structured easily get to under the cap it's not going to to be a problem. They've set up a lot of these contracts for restructures. There are other players that might get cut at the end of this year. It's not, if you needed to sign one more backup quarterback, one more center, make a trade for somebody, you're doing it. You're doing it. Next year, this is a very much kind of like New Orleans Saints type of situation where you go,

there's 65 over for next year. And then they're like, oh, let me restructure a couple contracts. and then you're back. And you lose this player or that player. But there, I don't think that they're in like serious cap problems for next year. It's just the way that the timing of some of the contracts where there's their cap hits go up, but they can also be restructured and it's not going to be an issue. But next year's free agency won't be exciting. But as of right now, oh, yeah, they could, they could definitely do whatever they wanted right now.

I mean, they can't go out and get someone worth 40 million, but, you know, they can do a lot of the things right now if they needed to a backup center a backup quarterback they can do that uh susan darnold mccarthy comparisons are always tough because they have different strengths mccarthy is a quicker release that may turn out to have better intermediate uh and close game and darnal clearly better downfield yeah so the thing about sam darnold is now you talk about comparisons i mean who you who can you compare them to like it's it's like a james winston with only half the interceptions where it's just constantly looking to throw that ball to the deepest possible route that breaks open and believing in your arm so much that you

can do it. And honestly, he had a lot of success in doing that. And Darnold's arm was so freakishly talented that he can put it in a bucket 40 yards down the field over a linebacker in front of a safety and what we saw him do it. I mean, time and time again with some of these just preposterous throws. I don't think that McCarthy at this point, his career, and Darnold didn't either at this point his career, has that, like, laser sharpness that Darnold did down the field,

but he clearly has throws that he's very comfortable with. And, you know, it's like Julio says, you know, people got to stop sleeping on McCarthy's army as a cannon. Well, yeah, he does have a cannon, but he has a cannon where, it's like a little kid operating a cannon where he fires it and then it kind of throws him back a little bit like he's he hasn't grown into his arm strength yet to make it a complete armed talent the way that Sam Darnold had at that point in the career so that means what is

going to work out a lot better is probably the intermediate stuff and I totally agree with your point Susan of just getting rid of the football like he is a guy who is going to I think be much better at getting rid of the football than Donald who would just wait and wait. And the thing that Donald did that drove me crazy was he ran backwards. He would, you know, turn, turn back around and try to escape backwards to make a play. You just can't do that. Melkill, how would you, would you lean toward KOC leaning on ball control in the run game

as JJ begins his career? I mean, the way that they've run the ball in training camp and the way that the offensive line with Fries and Jackson looks in the run game, the way that Mason has looked in training camp, and we know Aaron Jones, you know, he still, for me, he still has burst that he's shown you should lean on it because it works, like not just even on purpose, not like with the intention of J.J. McCarthy, but lean on it because it's something that can help you and can put him in favorable situations. You look at any quarterback and their stats and what they've done in their careers. And if you go to second down and five or less, every quarterback's going to have

better numbers at second down in three than they would at second down in 11 or second down in 10. And so they have to consider that that those first down runs that succeed are really good in terms of setting up play actions where J.J. McCarthy is going to be, I think, really good. so so that's where you want to lean on that run game but if you're playing the bears and you're going to soldier field and they score on their first two drives well that's out the window so they kind have to have everything if they want to be a complete offense but early on I think you are trying to set things up to be as favorable as you possibly can but I remember this coming up with Josh Dobbs. And I don't think about Josh Dobbs little run very often, but I remember O'Connell talking about how

you can't just have somebody run like half the offense. It's just not going to work. Like, you have to have someone who understands the whole offense. So they were trying to train him to get the whole offense. And it's Josh Dobbs. So it fell off eventually. And that's, you know, how it works sometimes. But, you know, when it comes with backup quarterbacks and journeymen, we love those journeyman on this show, but there are realities to the case keenams of the world and the Josh Dobbs is who have their shining moments and it's great and it's good for them, but usually doesn't last. But I remember him saying that and I feel the same way about McCarthy where ideally you get up, you know, first 15 plays, the script and O'Connell calls the opening script,

which he's usually very good at. They score. They get ahead. Caleb Williams takes a sack and all of a sudden, you know, you got the ball at the 50 yard line with a chance to kind of pound their faces in, then, yeah, okay, that's great. But let's say that you, you know, I don't know, give up a touchdown in the opening kickoff and then, you know, fumble or something and you're down 10 nothing right away. Well, you're probably not just going to be, you know, handing off over and over and over again. So they got to be ready for a little bit of everything. Dr. Smug with a unsmug comment i like watching the preseason gives me a good look at the young guys and backup talent yeah i agree with you dr smug that wasn't smug at all that's just that's just true

and and this year there are a good amount of players on this roster that have shown hey you got to pay attention to me i mean how many times have we mentioned on this show zamaia vaughn's name probably you know repeatedly right zamaia vaughn he's been really good and you're going to get your first chance. Most of you haven't been to practice. So you're going to get your first chance to see him. You see how big he is, see how he moves, all that sort of stuff. Like, that's great.

I love that for, you know, going out to practice time and time again. And then you see over and over and over again, you see these guys practice and you think you have a good sense for them. And then they get in the game. And sometimes it's different. Some people are gamers. Some people are, you know, guys who shrink when the actual hits start coming. Dr. Smug says Goff didn't feel the pressure up the middle last year.

It's different now. Oh, because Julio asked if Jared Goff is going to expose Brian Flores again. When they are putting together, so I don't know, you know, we'll see. But when they're putting together this roster, this offseason, who do you think they were thinking of? Two teams. You know who they are, the Lions and the Rams. They were thinking about how the lions were able to take advantage of their, you know, blitzes and rushers that were vacating areas because Jared Goff's really good. And Ben Johnson, when not a head coach and not a lunatic, good, probably, very good at understanding where those vacated areas were going to be, very good at understanding tendencies like they, you know, as far as an executor of an offense, Jared Goff's as good as it gets in the entire league.

excellent executing his offense so uh you know i i think um that this year what they went out to do was to find two guys who could make it so jerry golf can't just throw to the same places over the middle that are vacated by blitzes and that's jvon hardgrave and jonathan allen go rush the passer go go go make it so uh you know they can't just do do that over and over again. And the defense did play really well for the first for the first half of that week 18 game. I think the defense found some answers for them. But also Ben Johnson not being there is a major factor. Let's see, sloth, who will be the first quarterback to get ginked? I mean, Caleb Williams has ginked written all over him, right? Doesn't he? Will says

Walter Rouse have a chance of stepping in for Darrison instead of school. Does he play that side? I did notice him playing that side i i wouldn't count it out i would not count it out uh because i think schools had a pretty tough time and i haven't really gotten a good sense there there's just been a lot of pressure on the quarterbacks i haven't gotten a really good sense for how rouse has played he needs good preseason games i would not i would not count that out he was on the left side today and school has more experience but if you can't stop anybody then your experience really doesn't matter uh set what about gino smith for a comp i think you know gino smith would fall into maybe the same bucket as i expect him of like a third tier type of quarterback and consider the first tier when

i say third tier it's not an insult because the first tier is alan and mahalms and burrow and the second tier is like jalen hertz and justin herbert and like really good and paid quarterbacks and then right after that you know you do have like your gino smiths i'm I don't think he plays anything like Gino Smith. I don't think he plays anything like him. But because Gino is reckless and crazy and makes insane wild throws. And then, holy cow, terrible throws, you know, stuff like that. I mean, I don't think that that's what McCarthy's going to be.

I think it's going to be a safer type of game and not just like wildly whipping the ball everywhere as Gino Smith does. We don't know that yet. Maybe it will be. But I just think they're a different type of player. And Gino, as far as armed talent. goes layering, like touch on the football. When he pushes it down the field, he's very much Sam Darnold like. I think Gino and Sam Darnold are kind of the same quarterback. Susan interested in punt and kick returns. Aren't we all, Susan? It's not great. You get a neck roll for that.

We are all interested in the kick and punt return game because it's an opportunity to see some playmaking ability. Ty Felton. Bolden needs it pretty badly. I don't know if Tim Jones is going to return. We'll see, but I don't, I would be surprised. I don't know if he's going to return or not. Rondale Moore, though, this is a big game for Rondale Moore. Like, go show it's there, man. Go show that that playmaking ability is still there for you. I think he's looked good in camp the last couple days. Early on, he still looked quick, but he didn't look like he was quite decisive. The last couple days, he's been catching passes. He's been pretty decisive. I've, I've, I've liked where Rondale Moore is going and that's not just because I wrote about him over a purple insider dot football I promise

but I did like where he was going you saw the highlight throw of Tarondale Moore sell them it was really good a really good throw by Sam Howell and it was one of the better throws that he's made but you know is he going to be able to carry that over that was a seven on seven and I always kind of take that for what it is. Kurt says reestablishing control of the trenches was an organizational goal establishing the line of scrimmage, maybe the most important thing we could see on either side of the ball. Totally agree, Kurt. So many years we've sat here and chatted together about the guards and about the, you know, they too soft up front. And, you know, I thought at times last year when Darisaw was in, I thought they had a good offensive line. But once he

went out, I don't know, uh, Conrad is offended that Ryan Tanahill doesn't want to sign with the Vikings. that's you are you are the first person i've seen this take from uh conrad why does ryan tan hill refuse to sign with the vikis what's his problem uh if i had to guess i'm not ryan tanahill's representative so it's only a guess but if i had to uh take a swing at it i would say that ryan tanahill made a lot of money in his career and had a pretty solid NFL career for you know being a top draft pick overall just overall made the playoffs with the Dolphins got hurt and then came back and he played really well with the Titans for a couple seasons. He probably only wants to come back if he is going to be a starting

quarterback. So if a starting quarterback in the league got hurt and they, you know, needed somebody to start and they call Ryan Tannhill, I think he would maybe, you know, put the helmet back on. But is he going to just stand on the sideline with the clipboard for J.J. McCarthy? He's made too much for that. Why would I do that? If I'm him, why would I do that? Like, Joe Flacco seems to be able to not quit football. And so he doesn't mind doing that. But, you know, when it, when it comes to Ryan Tannahill, he might not feel that way. He might feel like not getting hit in the face is better. Joe Flacco is just a football psycho. And I respect that he wants to come back and play for the Browns just because he loves balls so much. That's pretty wild. Not everyone's like

that some for some folks it's like eh i'm in my 30s i've made enough money and you know moving on with life that might be where ryanton hill is at but they check with people you know they're always going to check with somebody like that uh melkill do you think the viking's defense will dominate primarily with takeaways or sacks or both you know what i think it is is that pressure will lead to problems and it certainly has for um you know the Vikings first team and second team offenses. It's last year they were really good at sacks, really good at takeaways, but they were only getting real pressures from two to three people and then they had to just blitz over

and over again. It was really just Grinard was the most consistent pressure guy. And Van Ginkle was more of sacks than he was pressures. And then it was blitz, blitz, blitz, blitz, blitz, blitz, please, blitz. See, now I think it's more of a beating drum. Like it's just it's guys up front who could just consistently pressure, pressure, pressure, pressure. So they were kind of a home runner strikeout defense last year, where this year, I think they could be more of like mix in your home runs, but hit for average and doubles and triples and all that stuff. Do people still get triples?

Stadiums aren't big enough. Should have kept Mullins. You're the first guy to say that, Mark. I have not seen that take. I mean, if Nick Mullins is your backup, it's not very much different than if Sam Howell is your backup. That's kind of how I think about it. Mullen's a great guy in the room and I appreciate him very much

that he carved out a career but I do think that it's a lot of the case around the league that if your backup plays you're in a lot of trouble what you want to see from Sam Howell in this preseason game is show that you can run the offense a little bit if you need to show the offense

that you can run a little bit connect with some receivers look in control the same thing we sort of talked about like he hasn't so far and this is probably the last moment where he gets a break on that for showing up just after the draft getting traded for because until this preseason game we can say all right he's still coming along he's still coming along like we'll see we'll see uh it's not looking great still coming along and then when brett rippin starts to get more reps you go all right well that's you know pretty clear sign right there of that what we're thinking

is right. But if he comes out of the preseason game not playing well, then you probably do have to start having discussions because that was really what turned things with Mannion and Mond in 22. The Mon through those interceptions against San Francisco and they were just like, okay, we need to go find something else. Oh, hold on. Some things happen sometimes with me trying to click in the chat and I make a noise, but it makes no sense to you because you don't know i'm trying to click something sorry about that let me get a glass of water it's been two hours you guys are great you guys are rolling tonight we didn't even really have big news except for we can we we we can close the book now on jordan addison suspension it happened

after a year of talking about a three game suspension it happened and now we move toward week one three weeks without jordan edison and hopefully for all of us us. We do not have to talk about a suspension for a year again because that, that was grading. Can says is McCarthy's release quicker? I can't really judge that well. Then Darnolds, I think so. Oh, Seth, I agree that Darnold in love are similar. I think his release is quicker. Darnold kind of brought the ball down and really torched with his entire body. Like, Donald, part of his brilliance is a thrower in terms of his velocity, but also having touch on it, is he really threw with like his, his trunk, his core. Like, if you look at a golf swing, and then those of you who are

good golfers, like most of the action that you're doing is usually with your body, not so much your arms just trying to like pull the club, right? It's like your whole body. And where Darnel was really good is getting his whole body involved from all the way from the feet to the, especially where he was the strongest, the middle of his body and getting every bit of it into that throw. And I think that that made it for easy power down the field. But his release, I don't think was much different as far as from the time he separated his hands to the time he released it than most quarterbacks. I think it was that he stood there and stood there and stood there and was so unafraid of being hit or unaware of what was going on around him sometimes.

but I also think that he would just stay with reeds he would just like no I'm going to stay with this play I see it I think I can do it and they urged him and he did get better toward the end of the season but they urged him to just like just check it down sometimes it's great that you're going down the field but maybe just you know just drop it down underneath and don't get smashed but he just continued to get smashed will he says can you explain the difference punt versus kick returns while the the punt return goes real high. No, I'm just kidding. Maybe the Vikes, maybe Vikes specific to punt returns need to be more Twitchy. And thank you so much, Willie, for the super chat. Really appreciate that.

You could look it up, but here's $5. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, no, I mean, the difference, the difference between kick returners and punt returners is punt returners have to have an extremely, extremely specific set of skills. Twitchy is a great way to describe it. But, also they have to be really smart and make good decisions too because and in enlightening instances of am I catching this? Am I calling for fair catch? Which way am I taking this? What's the what's the play? What's the blocking scheme versus what I'm seeing in front of me? Like all that stuff has to happen in an instant. Whereas a kick returner. So a lot of it for a punt returner is actually above the shoulders. This is why Marcus Sherrill's was so great. Sherrill's was fast. But I think

his brain was just crazy good at understanding where everything was in a really lightning quick type of moment. I said to somebody the other day, it's like, you got to be a psycho to be punt return. And like, yeah, I mean, you got to be, you got to be a very, very unique dude to punt return because of all the things that are happening while you're staring up at the ball, knowing that people could kill you if you decide to catch it and run with it. As far as kick returning, you can see the whole play develop in front of you. And a lot of times it's a little bit longer speed, too, as opposed to twitchiness.

It's where with a punt returner, you want them to get you 10, 15 yards. And then, whoa, if they break one, that's amazing. But with a kick returner, you want them to be able to, you know, get 35, 40 yards. So long speed is important to be able to not just be quick and short area, but actually outrun people to, because you're going to edges of the field most of the time. it's not too often where you just run straight up the middle, then run for a touchdown. So you're beating people to edges by the tiniest amount of margins.

I also think now you should look for tackle breaking because if you have some kick returners that can shed some tackles, that'll be pretty good for you. All right. David says, be careful with Ben Johnson, even though you may very well, won't be right. However, the first week usually is an anomaly. And my concern is the whole

season of preparation by the mad scientist. I have a huge respect for Ben Johnson as an offensive mind. He's done an amazing job against the Minnesota Vikings. And I also think that he has a quarterback that can do anything he's asked to do and great receivers. And Ben Johnson, let's not forget Ben Johnson had a top three offensive line over the last three, four years. It's just a little bit different. It's just a little bit different than it is in Chicago. And I think that Caleb Williams is not his type of quarterback. Now, yeah, I mean, look, I don't know how it's going to play out. Neither do you. And you're right that weird things do tend to happen sometimes in week one. But the way that Ben Johnson is running training camp from the reports I'm reading from, you know, my friend Courtney Cronin and hoping next week to have a Chicago Bears reporter on at some point and talk through this a little bit more because we've been discussing it so much on the show. It kind of looks like lunacy. It's So you're right that Ben Johnson could come out and they could win and Caleb could get it and all is yelling and screaming and huffing and puffing and camp fighting and breaking people's arms and stuff could all work out or at least for one week it could all work out.

I don't know. I think he's a great offensive mind, but is he a fit for Caleb Williams does not seem that way. Really doesn't seem that way. Let's see. Rob says pre-judged school on his week two game versus. versus the Lions, but rewatching shows he's vulnerable to speed rush, not bull rush, not surprised to see him struggle versus J.G. Yeah. No, I mean, you're right. Like, he is limited when it comes to his athleticism. And yeah, I think he can anchor and I think that he can,

you know, like if someone slams into him full speed, he's going to be okay. But you're right. Grinard's one of the quickest players in the entire league. A lot of teams have guys like granard though like he's really great and he's one of the best players in the NFL but the league is not short on great edge rushers so if you have to play just in school too much it's you're not in you're not in great shape one week versus the bears you could definitely survive uh Andrew what does McCarthy's throw look like golf or baker I well hmm his actual throwing motion I'd have to think about that. I mean, golf feels a little bit more,

a little bit more reasonable for that. I think as far as the actual throwing motion or do you mean the, I think the actual throw of the football reminds me of golf. Baker, when Baker lets it loose, he has an amazing arm, unbelievable arm. So I think, I mean, Baker's number one overall in a great quarterback draft. I think his pure arm talent is higher

than McCarthy's. Gough is who is who his arm reminds me of because it's got great velocity, but it's not always, you know, flawless. It's not always flawlessly accurate, but he makes a lot of really, really good decisions. So as far as the, you know, national conversation about McCarthy, we'll continue to keep an eye on it and drop in. And I know that's going to be of interest for you guys. I'm going to try to not talk about it much and just talk about what I see because I kind of start ranting like you guys do it's you know it could be frustrating when you're on the ground there every day of practice and then you know other people just come from who knows where and say no this is the real

truth don't listen to the any of those 12 people who are there who all come on the purple insider show you know it's just kind of kind of weird but it is a strange media stratosphere because the nfl is huge and the minnesota vikings are big right now they're big in the conversation And when that happens, everybody is looking for their angle to talk about it, to set themselves apart, set their reporting apart, and whatever it may be. But, you know, I think there's a little bit of truth to the concept that was tossed out there a little bit earlier. Okay. You guys are outpacing me with the comment section today.

You're doing a great job. Michael says, do you see the Vikings looking for more depth, the quarterback, given the current circumstances? I don't think really depth is the issue as far as like, I like what Max Brosmer is done. And as a QB3, I like Brett Rippant. I think he's good in the room. I think he knows the offense extremely well.

And if Brett Rippin had to play, he could play. I think Brett Rippin could go into a game and play because he knows enough about this offense to be able to throw the ball to some right place. This is probably wouldn't win a ton of games, but it might look like Nick Mullins or something. It's really what it comes down to is it just comes down to Sam Howell. Can he be good enough to trust if he has to go into a couple games? That's what it really comes down to for the backup quarterback situation.

DeMad, I like the Vikings defense blitzing last year. It seemed to work well last year. Hopefully we do more this year. I don't think they'll do more, but they actually reduce the amount of blitzing quite a bit from 23 to 24 because they just had better players. So you might see it go down a little bit toward average because right now they are just running away from the league in the blitz percentage or at least the, you know, rushing five.

I don't think that they want to be so far out in front that it becomes predictable. They want to be unpredictable is the main thing. They're still going to blitz a lot. I mean, gosh, they have, they have Brian Flores. They're going to blitz. But they don't want to be so obvious all the time where it's always going to be a blitz. Let's Bob says, how much would Thielen cost? It took you guys two hours and 14 minutes to talk about Adam Thielen.

Come on now. What kind of Vikings podcast are we doing here? Yeah. Well, look, I've had two different reporters say to me because I've kind of, you know, I've been in the camp for a couple years when Theelan's name comes up of, I get it. You want him to return once upon a time, if you didn't know, the Vikings, brought back Fran Targiton. That worked out really well.

They also, you know, brought back Anderson Dejo and, you know, he played in a playoff game for them. And that worked actually pretty well in that playoff game in 2019. I think that right now I would probably just rather see them roll with what they have and go from there. I want to see more of Rondale more. That's why I wrote about him, because I want to see more of Rondale Moore. I'm really intrigued by that situation. If they come out of this feeling like, oh, it's pretty, pretty brutal, the wide receiver three position, then that is something maybe you would consider. But they also have Josh Oliver, like they've got a lot of players on this team. Losing one guy for three games is not really

something that should devastate them in week one, two, and three. But I get it. I get the argument of like, hey, you know, bring back Thielen and he knows the offense or at least, you know, probably remembers a good amount of it. And he could drop in and play a veteran type of role and come back home and all that. And it's a wonderful little story. But I don't know. How much would he cost? It couldn't be much because if Caroline is getting rid of him, that means that they're not really in the best spot. So let's see, C. Bake says how, with how, with how, uncharacteristically pointed KOC's comments were on Ty Chandler's pass blocking. Do you think it's lack of effort in trying to improve that aspect of his game or inability to perform?

It's a good question. I actually don't know. I see Ty Chandler working at it. I see him. They have actually one of the funniest, it's honestly one of the funniest drills. I understand why it works, but it's one of the funniest drills that I've ever seen them do where they have like CJ Ham holds a stick. I'm not, I'm not making this up. Holds a stick. And then the other player holds a stick and they kind of practice the technique of like moving the stick around so they're not really jabbing each other but getting the idea of controlling the other person's momentum or whatever it looks really funny and I've seen him doing that I've seen him working on the side on it I think football is a really fast game and guys the guys who

have been good at past protection are usually super super cerebral about the game and I mean like Latavius Murray. Latavius Murray is the best pass blocking running back. I have ever seen in my life. He made a career out of it because you could always trust him. Latavius Murray is a really, really smart dude when it comes, well, I mean, he's a really smart dude in general, but like football, he really understands the game. And I think he was great at identifying tendencies. I think his brain just worked really fast. But when you actually see it up close, how quick this happens and how quick you have to make that decision it might not be for lack of trying it might be for just like you're not great at that and maybe they do like Xavier Scott instead if he's better at it but it's not

that I don't think it's important it's just that like don't lose the forest through the trees that Ty Chandler can get the football in his hand to make plays seldom scenes as you don't have to have the best QB you just need to have one of the top five this is why people people critique guys like JJ so much you figure out you'll know when you see it uh i don't even i don't think see that's the thing about it like i don't i only think of it in terms in these types of terms this is how i've always thought of quarterbacks because i got really frustrated at at this ranking thing because the difference between the fifth best quarterback and the sixth is not the same as the first and the second and it's not the same as the 14th and the 15th right like and that's why

Mike Sando does the tears because that kind of chunks the quarterbacks, which I like, but I've kind of always thought of it like this, that there are certain quarterbacks that will give you 10 shots to win a championship. And if you're an OG listener, you know this, this rant a little bit. But like, Josh Allen is going to give his team 10 chances to win a championship in their career, where they're going to be in a divisional round, AFC championship. They win 13 games, 12 games. That's, that's Peyton Man. that's Drew Breeze, that's Tom Brady. And Brady just happened to win them all.

And, you know, he's the best at that and everything else. But those other guys, like they gave, they gave their teams, those elite all-time great quarterbacks, John Elway, Jim Kelly, the ones we're talking about, 10 chances to win a Super Bowl. Kelly played a little bit shorter career, but don't nitpick that. Then there's the next level down. And I know Kelly didn't win, but he was in four of them. So that's my point, right?

The next level down is guys who get, you know, three or four chances. And if they don't make it happen, they never win one. And they're probably not going to the Hall of Fame and they're not going to be remembered that much. Like, think about Eli Manning or Philip Rivers. Eli Manning and Philip Rivers are on the same level of great quarterbacks. They might not make the Hall of Fame. They might make the Hall of Fame, like right on that bubble. And they probably gave their teams five chances to win over their careers.

Eli won twice. Philip Rivers had his cornerback. fumble an interception from Tom Brady and lose a game that way. So, and a kick or miss on him, right? See, and then the next level down from that is the quarterback who gets one chance. That would be like a Kirk. Like Kirk Cousins over his career probably had one chance to win a Super Bowl is probably 2019 where the team was good enough.

They were in the playoffs. They get a playoff when it didn't happen. It's never going to happen. That was your one shot where the team was good enough to do it. And your team has to be excellent, excellent to do it. Like fantastic. Brock Purdy might be this way where he gets one shot to do it. He's a great quarterback, but he gets one shot to do it. I think where McCarthy ceiling is probably in the Philip Rivers and Eli Manning. I don't think it's in the Peyton Manning. I don't think it's in

the Josh Allen. Figuring out whether he's going to fit into the category of gets one shot at it or gets five shots at it is really, really challenging. And that's like down the road, we figure that out. We figure that out in the next year, in the next two years, seeing him completely develop. This year, he has a chance because the team is so freaking good. And so he might just have three chances. Well, his team is good.

Carson Wentz, Carson Wentz is like a one shot or two shot type of quarterback because his team was so good. He got his one shot. Nick Foles did it for him. And maybe he's that who can only do it when he's on his rookie contract. And there's that kind of quarterback. too. We don't know that yet. I think what I know from seeing him enough is that it would be shocking if he was under a Kirk Cousins. If he was, if he performed below, like in that

17 to 25 range or something like that for quarterbacks, if we want to do a ranking or a fourth or fifth tier, that would be really shocking. Just on the way he's played with his leadership, with his arm strength, with his playmaking. I think it's going to be somewhere in that other range, and I don't know where yet. DeMad says who you picking is the Vikings wide receiver three and four. As of right now, I would go with Rondale Moore and Lucky Jackson. And it's on Ty Felton to make that change,

but I think Ty Felton needs more, needs more work. I shot you 99. What's the goofiest looking drill you've seen in camp that made you question how it's, translates to the football field easily, easily when there's anything with a mattress out there. Now it's it's a purple mattress and it doesn't look like one that you sleep on, but it's a mattress is basically what it is. And there's a fumble drill, I think, where they jump on it. And there's another one where they catch it and jump on it like falling over the end zone,

I think. There's a lot going on out there. There's a lot going on out there in warmups. So Just one more reminder, if you wanted to answer the fan dual question of the day, Jordan loves over under for passing yards, 3550.5. If he throws for only 3,500 yards, how many wins are the Packers getting? Is the fan dual question of the day? I say, if he doesn't hit that over, they are in trouble. I think they're in trouble if he doesn't hit that over. I don't really know what to make of Green Bay yet other than I think that they are just

another team in the league at this point. And I'm not sure what the path is for them being more than that, except for if Jordan Love has a click. And if Matthew Golden is amazing and that could change everything for them, that's the one big question, probably. Skull Vikings says Vikings are built for cold weather and we're the only Super Bowl favorite against Kansas City.

I'm not following that one. I clicked it because I thought it was going somewhere. I've had a pretty good track record with that today, but missed on that one. We got Fran Tarkitin's playoff stats. This means it's probably time to wrap up the show when I'm clicking the wrong thing, running out of voice.

No diet, Dr. Pepper. And, and we got, and we got the, the jokers in the, in the chat. So that's, that's when we know it's probably, uh, probably time to run. But, um, you're, you're right about that kit that could just be a big Josh Jacobs here. I, I agree at the same time, look at, you know, with the division is Josh Jacobs, like, running them to a championship. Cades has seven games. Yeah, that's probably right. It was an interesting over under because I feel like.

Like, Jordan Love should go over that. Maybe injuries, though, could be problematic. Anyway, all right, tomorrow, oh, there's a lot going on tomorrow. Ben Gessling and I are getting together for a show tomorrow. I'm going to be happy about that. So keep an eye out for that on the channel where we are going to preview the Vikings preseason game. And also we'll be, I think, going live.

I think tomorrow night, depending on how practice goes. We'll see. because I'm talking with Ben and also planning a show with Chris Rapaso, that might end up being the show tomorrow. Well, let's see how it goes. If there's no news tomorrow, then keep an eye out for Ben and Christopher Paso. If there is, then live show it is. But anyway, this has been a really good conversation. Again, as always with you guys, thank you so much for the chat.

And we will see you all soon. And I mean, just a couple days away here, guys. Football. Ryan says Matt Ryan type career. Yeah, actually, Matt Ryan. falls into the same category as as like an Eli Manning or a Philip Rivers and Jake the snake plumber. That's a good one. Jake, Jake Plummer with the Denver Broncos going 13 and 3. That's a good comparison, Ryan. All right. Thanks again, everybody. Really appreciate the huge crowd here tonight.

Thanks so much for watching. And we'll see about tomorrow. We'll just see if we got any action, any news otherwise. It'll be myself and Ben Gessling recorded from TCO Performance Center tomorrow night really looking forward to that so we'll catch you guys all later football