Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings looking at Day 2 receivers?!?!?!? (Part 2)

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

Matthew Coller talks about a run of visits that the Vikings have had from projected Day 2 wide receivers. Let's have a closer look. Is that a good idea? Plus an NFL.com mock draft that does a very good job of handling the Vikings' needs. Plus looking at old Purple Insider opinions about the Vikings' drafts. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode of Purple Insider is presented by Fandul. Mr. Mayor says trading up feels like the worst possible choice, but it's also the most fun, Mr. Mayor. Russell says change Banks out with one of the first round wide receivers, and would love that the five-round mock that we looked at earlier. Banks at 18 doesn't feel good. There's such a wide range of opinions for him. There are people who think that he's a top 15 prospect.

There are people who have him way down. as more of a second round draft pick because all of the risks, the risks to me are a lot. So, yeah, I guess if it was, well, yeah, I mean, you know that I would give it an A if it was a wide receiver there. But there are other players that it could go there since they got in that five round mock pawns in the second round. But, I mean, if it was like Peter Woods or something, it would be kind of checking every single box that we're looking for. DLM with so many positions of need and depth or debt, yeah, and depth is a huge priority. Trading up and losing assets doesn't seem like the move. Yeah.

I overall agree with you. Totally. It's a little bit of this push and pull of, I know it's not the right move to trade up for running back. It's definitely not. That's a, is a position that still comes along with a lot of risk. And there's the price tag built into a first round running back. is that as soon as you draft them,

they're already one of the most highest paid players at their position, which is crazy, right? That's how little running backs still get paid is that guy is already going to be one of the 10 highest paid. So not only are you spending a first round pick, not only are you spending other assets, but also in terms of for that position, you're paying more than most teams in the NFL right off the bat. It's a big sacrifice to take that guy,

but it would be entertaining. And now this is where someone will say, why draft are running back? They'll never run the ball anyway. Norse Force ESPN has us taking Spencer Fano at number 18. Oh, well, the Purple Insider show did suggest that that might be a good idea. I think people might be catching on a little bit to the idea that this tackle position is not settled for the future. and also you have to keep in mind that tackles need time to develop.

So if you drafted someone like Fanon, then he could be a backup right away. I promise you he'll play. And then a long-term option at right tackle. It really depends on what's going on behind the scenes with Brian O'Neill and the Vikings. If Brian O'Neill's price tag is too high, I mean, let's just assume, let's just assume. I don't know what's going to happen,

but let's assume that Christian Derasaw is going to be fine. And he's going to be your franchise left tackle. and last year was just a fluke. And he's going to heal fully this time and he's going to be good to go. Are you going to pay two tackles $60 million combined plus? It's worth it. Tackles a great position to have, but that's a lot. If you're also going to pay Jefferson,

the fifth year option for Jordan Addison is expensive in 2027. So you're going to have two receivers and two tackles making up. And I know this is an exact cap hits, but, you know, 60 million from the tackles and another, you know, Addison's going to get like 19 from that fifth year option and then 30 and 40. So like 100 million on four players is a lot. If you sign Kyler Murray to an extension, that's a lot from the quarterback position as well. You're paying your guard 18 million, although I think this could be the last year for Will Fries.

That's just a lot. It's a huge investment, which it would make some sense, even though I think O'Neill is a guy, that you'd like to have as a Viking for life. But if he's looking for $30 million, you just, I don't know how you can do it. They have to draw a line in the sand there. DLM, 2022, they drafted for need and BPA wasn't a factor at all. I don't remember how the 2022 draft played out exactly. Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah. For need. Because I'm trying to think of what they needed in 2022 versus, I felt like they needed everything. Wasn't that the explanation? I don't, I don't, did, I mean, they drafted for need. You're right. They drafted for need. And it was also the explanation that they tried to fill every need.

Because I was trying to think about, well, why did they draft a safety? But they didn't know that Cam Bynum was so good. And they didn't know that Josh Mattelis could play. And they also probably thought that Harrison Smith was going to retire because most safeties don't go past about 34 years old. It's very rare to get where Harrison Smith is right now. I think that, you know, Troy Paul Mowo had retired by 34. or 35. So they probably figured, all right, Harry's going to retire. You're right. Yeah, they went for need

there. They had nothing at corner. They went for need there. I was good with the corner pick. Just Andrew Booth Jr. and the injuries was not inspiring. But I was good with corner pick. But that guard was another one. Well, you need guard. You're just going to go for it. I'm okay with guard. It was really about how much they reached to get that guard where most of the projections were in the fourth round. So, but you're right. Yeah, no, I think you're exactly right. I'm going to assume it's pronounced, is it, oh, we'll just call you Jack, JAC. I wonder about running back Nicholas Singleton, explosive, able to get to the outside, 20 highlight reel, in my amateur opinion, want Nicholas Singleton on my Vikings team.

Okay. Oh, 20 minutes, 20 minute highlight reel, gotcha. Well, let's take a look. And this is the great thing about the, having the athletics huge draft. profile here is, you know, I have a lot of respect for Brugler. And I feel like I have a good sense for, you know, his strengths and weaknesses, too, over the year, many years. So, but he just does really, really thorough, thorough work on these guys so we can call up almost any prospect. So if I don't know them that well, let's take a look. So Singleton is 22 years old. And the takeaway on him is

Singleton could be a frustrating watch because of his inconsistent run discipline and vision, but he offers big play potential with an exceptional blend of size and speed. From day one, his pass catching and kick return skills will expand the ways in which an NFL team can utilize his talent. At the combine, he didn't do anything, and let's take a look at his stats. He, I guess, didn't play that much this year because he only had 123 carries for four and a half yards per carry, but in 2024, he was amazing. 6.4 yards per carry, 12 touchdowns, 41 catches.

That's, that's pretty good. So that, the only thing is that sounds a little, a little much like, kind of like Ty Chandler, where can't, this is sort of my Jonah Coleman argument is Jonah Coleman's not setting anybody's socks on fire. It's not going to be that exciting of a prospect. At the same time, Jonah. a refined player who I think will really understand everything that you need to do offensively. And that is a huge percentage of being successful in the NFL.

If you have a guy who doesn't know where to run and just gets taken down in the backfield, it doesn't matter how fast he is or if he can't pass protect. So that's my concern with Mike Washington. That's my concern with Nicholas Singleton. I think the athletic traits are there. But can they, are they actually going to be better than Emmett Johnson or Jonah Coleman? who seemed to be more natural running backs. That's the Bucky Irving thing,

like Bucky Irving had a bad combine, but he was a natural running back with intelligence and ability to read blocks and quick decision making, which is, I think, really important. So that's the push and pull. Now, if they drafted Singleton in the fifth round, like they did Ty Chandler, why not?

But you're probably not getting someone who's really going to impact your offense unless you take them a little bit higher. DLM, we all thought Wyatt Davis was going to be a beast, We missed there. I mean, he had everything. He had the skill set. He had the production.

It was just came down to a guy who wasn't driven, I think, to be good. Or maybe there was an injury there we didn't know about. I don't know. He never came across to me like he was exactly a glass eater. He came across like he was a very nice and very smart guy. And I remember thinking that when they drafted him, like, wow, I mean, this guy is like really bright and very friendly and that's there are all pros who are very bright and very friendly so those are good traits but maybe didn't have that you know what and vinegar to his game that is

necessary or the drive or that you just have no idea and you know what's crazy is the number of times where there's been a draft pick and brian awesemois was like this for me they drafted brian awesemois i did the same thing as everyone else i went to youtube i watched a bunch of him and i was like, okay, that works. It looks like the modern linebacker. He looks like Jeremiah Ousu Coramoa, where he's a little undersized, but he's sideline to sideline, super fast. Like, this looks great. And then we get to rookie minicamp and he's out there. And I'm like, oh, no, that looks like a running back. That does, it just, this is just not going to work. This is not going to work. And there were some moments for him early on with Ed Donatelle that it looks like maybe it would.

He just wasn't big enough. I mean, there's you, there's linebackers in the league who have worked at being undersized, but not that much undersized. And that's how it goes sometimes where you think it's a great pick on paper. It looks like a great pick. And then, I mean, even Kell and Mon, the way he performed in college, you thought, okay, well, maybe there's something to develop there. I didn't love that draft pick just because he didn't have crazy production in college or whatever, but you know, who knows, right? And we get to rookie minicamp, OTAs, it's like that. Okay, well, that's over.

That's not going to work. You can't throw a football like that and play in the NFL. So you just, I mean, people inside the building, they scouted him, they watched and they saw them, but it's a totally different world. How do you handle yourself around a building? How do you fit in in an NFL culture with pros, with grownups, with coaches? with also they do not care. Like, Brian Flores will play an undrafted free agent over you. Doesn't matter that you're drafted in the third round.

Like entitlement's a big thing too. So it's, that's why the draft is so tricky. Everybody thought, everybody thought Wyatt Davis in the third round was a great pick. But we didn't know that he wasn't that into it. The NFL's hard as heck too. It's, it's really, really hard. I mean, the schedule is hard and the work is hard. You have to really love guys will say this and we kind of go,

okay, whatever, like the process of getting to game day because it's a ton of work. And that's why Harrison Smith's an all time great because he loves all that. But I mean, you have to put in a lot. And it hurts. And there's guys that hit the heck out of you. And like, I don't know. If you don't really, really, really love it, it's a not a fun experience at all, I think. Mr. Mayor is still leery of trading up after the Turner pick, even though he was the best player.

he still wasn't worth five to seven picks otherwise would have had if we hadn't. I mean, part, yeah, I mean, that's not one that I think is quite told accurately when it's relived because they traded up for the first round pick with the expectation that they might need to make a trade up to get Drake May. And once that was off the table and they tried and they called the Patriots and tried at the last minute reportedly to get Drake May. so that's why they got that second first round pick. I don't include that as part of the Dallas Turner trade.

That was insurance to draft a quarterback. They could not walk out of the 2024 draft without one. But they still did give up an arm and a leg to move up to get Dallas Turner, which at the time I thought was great. But then you look at the what they gave up even to was it Jacksonville that they made the trade with. And you go, that is a lot for one guy. And so often, you know, trading up. Okay, it worked out great to get Will Anderson, but did it work out great for Travis Hunter?

Like, probably not for Jacksonville. A lot of times those big trades up, I remember when New Orleans did it to get Marcus Davenport. And we were like, what? That's a lot, man. Or James Pierce last year, you're putting so many eggs in one basket. That's why moving up to get Jeremiah love, well, it would be lots of fun. It probably is not the pragmatic move to make. JP, Banks problem isn't just injury.

He hasn't played like a guy his size and or even been that productive, even against the run, which he should be given his size. Woods has a higher floor and also can develop. Yeah, I agree with that. I mean, if you were giving me the choice, if I'm on the board right now and I'm, then, uh, I don't know, Rob Bersinski calls me. I'm live on the show, but he says, hey, take five and tell me, should we take take Banks or Woods. And you know, of course Rob would ask me something like that. I don't know why he

wouldn't. I would say take Woods because Banks is just so risky. And you know what? If someday Caleb Banks turns into Linvald Joseph or whatever, some freak monster who gets eight sacks a year and stuffs the run and I don't know, destroys everything in his path, I'll live with that because it was really risky to take him. And there was, there's a high, there's got to be a high bust rate when you have multiple of the same injury and you don't have production. But if they did take him, it would be a huge swing on the upside, which is risky, but sometimes it works out. Norse force, you cried when the Vikings drafted Derek Alexander instead of Warren Sapp

and Darren Nelson over Marcus Allen. There are some that you just know. Antoine Winfield Jr. is that for me. Sometimes you just know. And another one, if we're going all draft, which, uh, you know, I'd love to hear any of those from you guys as well. Lamar Jackson was the one where as he was dropping down the board, I was just losing my mind. Just how is this possible?

How is this possible that Lamar Jackson is not being taken high? In that same draft, uh, I was a big Josh Rosen fan. So I missed on that one. But Lamar Jackson watching him in college, this is so special. We have never seen anything like this since Randall Cunningham in his prime or Michael Vic. This is the only other guys who have ever done this. This is he can, where they can.

where they really missed is he could definitely throw the football. It was just that they didn't have great wide receivers and him pushing it to the outsides. He just didn't have much juice. But when he was throwing in the middle of the field, it was really effective from the pocket. I was very sold on the idea that Lamar Jackson was going to work out. So I didn't shed actual tears. But that was probably the most that I was getting as worked up as you and like, what is going on? I've been thinking about some writing articles about rewatching some drafts.

And the Warren Sapp one is one that I want to look back at. I did two of them last year at Purple Insider. Football, the newsletter. So I'm thinking about, I'm thinking about if I can find it on YouTube going back and watching the Warren Sapp draft. You know, he smoked that wacky weed. It's just, just terrible of him, which I guess he says he did it, but I don't care if he did. This is so funny. They used to make guys, if there was some weed connection, they would make the guy to be Al Capone.

And it's like, what? And now we're like, I don't know, he's probably smoking pot on his way home. Who cares? Anyway, it was always the weirdest thing. I used to have a thing on the show going way back of always draft the weed guy because I was borderline obsessed with Tyron Matthew. And I thought, whoever drafts Tyron Matthew, this guy's going to be unbelievable and they're going to get a total steal.

and that was another one of being right. Again, plenty of wrong, but that was another one of being right was draft, draft the weed guy, draft the Warren Sapp, draft the Tyron Matthew, because that doesn't really matter that much. Randy Moss was kind of the weed guy, too. It just, you know, and now we don't have a discussion. Doesn't even matter. Doesn't make any difference whatsoever. It used to be, it's so, it would be hard to explain to someone who's 19 years old and just getting

into the draft. Like, once upon a time, if a guy tested positive, for pot. They, it was like the worst thing that could ever happen in the drafts. I mean, to think about that now is really funny. Dumer K.O. Laughed my butt off when the Bears took Mitch Trubisky. Hadn't seen him play in person.

When they did that, I said, really, this guy, turns out I didn't laugh hard enough. That was another one. And I always want to balance this out with, you know, one where I'm wrong, one where I'm right. I did. There is a tweet. It still exists. that I said on that draft day,

Patrick Mahomes will become the best draft pick in this class. I did say that. I didn't get that one either. And I long had a thing. And maybe I should still apply it to Ty Simpson, but I feel like the NFL caught on. The late rising, hey, where did this guy come from? He doesn't have very good stats,

but they're all kind of talking about him. That quarterback busted so many times in a row. It was like Blake Bordell's Blank, Blaine Gabbard. Ryan Tannahill is like a mid-bust, but kind of a bus. Ryan Tannihill, where did these guys come from? Even E.J. Manuel was someone where I didn't have him on my radar at all as somebody that could be a first-round draft pick.

And then he was projected as like a third rounder and then bang out of nowhere. Christian Ponder was this. As you remember, the famous Mayock meltdown. So, yeah, there's that that 10, that, that, kind of guy tends to not work out. Either they just didn't have great numbers or they, you hadn't heard of them during the college season and suddenly they show up at your doorstep.

Mitch Trubisky was draftable, but he certainly was not the top quarterback. Aaron, if Rav Smith didn't play in that preseason game, what could have been, I know it seemed to take a real toll there because he missed a lot of time. And then he came back, he was with KOC and he had a drop against the Eagles, right?

didn't that happen? Am I misremembering this that that he played. I'm trying to remember if this is right, that he had like a really bad drop against the Eagles in a game that they lost, maybe that they got kind of blown out in. And that was sort of it for him with KOC. And then he was just nowhere to be found. And I believe he's like a blocking tight end for the Texans most recently. It just seemed to be the final straw with his body because we absolutely saw some of the flashes with Irv Smith.

And I thought he was going to be a great tight end. and it just didn't end up working out. Injuries are so tough. Duma K.O., I thought the Bengals were morons for picking Jamar Chase over Pene Soule. Turns out everybody got to be right. There was big debates back then of who are you going to take? Is it a tackle? Is it a wide receiver?

And there was this little cute graphic that people were spreading around and everything else. And it also turned out that Joe Burrow was just fine with pressure and was able to take a team to the Super Bowl and could overcome the pressure. The answer is truly. both wide receiver is more valuable than tackle that is just a fact i mean you go look at what the top guys make versus what the top tackles it's about 10 million dollar gap right now so that tells you how the NFL truly feels about that position but the elite wide receivers drive the success of

your offense the elite tackles allow your offense to have a chance to make stars out of wide receivers that aren't jemar chase by giving you time and look there's a huge difference between quarterbacks under pressure and quarterbacks clean. So you can make every side of the argument. But the answer is really both are premium positions. And if you can draft guys that good, you just draft them. You don't even think too much about it.

But Chase was really, really, really special. And I think that Sewell, even though he is a great talent, as a past protector, there are some shortcomings. And I just mean he's really great and not Trent Williams. He's just good. but maybe there's a little bit of a shortcoming there. I'm curious to see how he plays at left tackle as opposed to right tackle. We'll see on that.

But yeah, I mean, that was a fun debate between those two. And it turned out everybody was right. Iconic says the Vikings aren't getting that safety from Oregon. Dylan Thineman. If he and Emmanuel McNeil Warren are taken as high as people think that they're going to be taken, it would go totally against recent history, which I'm not saying it couldn't. or it won't, but it would. And that would be an interesting twist to this draft is we just don't really even see this.

Even Xavier McKinney, I've mentioned Iman Warray, but there's a lot of top safeties that have been drafted early in the second round instead of in the first. I was looking up today, Darnal Savage, who was a first round safety. He's actually my concern for one of these guys is if you become Darnal Savage, who was okay for a couple years for Green Bay and was a mid-pack safety and has kind of bounced around since, that is a huge miss if the guy, even if the guy's a starter and he's pretty good, it's still a huge miss at that position, which is why I'm not as sold on the idea of taking a safety there. Jack, I'm leery of defense-tackle-ckel Caleb Banks, consistently graded low on the field by PFF,

though through his whole college career, it's not going to get better in the NFL. I mean, that's right, because oftentimes if you can't dominate in college, I mean, I think it's the right line of thinking. I don't know what's going to happen, but why is it that you're supposed to be better in the NFL? And there's a lot of excuses that get made. Well, it's this. It was an injury. It was the usage. It was the this or that or the other thing.

But at the end of the day, you should be destroying people in college. And his numbers by PFF are not atrocious. but they certainly don't wow you. And I tend to lean in that direction. It would be a big projection. It would be a big, I think, stretch to say that this guy was going to be a difference maker. But it does happen. It does happen that guys are taken that don't have the best production and turn out.

And there is a ceiling there. And maybe they think that if they were to do that, hey, just because of his pure size alone, that there is a floor that's going to be okay. But I still think that's really risky because of the injury. issues. Hunter says still a little baffling that they didn't find a way to draft a running back last year missed opportunity. Every mock that I did, every sim that I did, I was always taking running backs.

And Bashal Tutin, I think would have been great. He's exactly what we're talking about now. What was he a fifth round pick, fourth round, sixth round? This is also what happens. I'm just, I've said it so many times, but it's also very true. this is what happens when you trade your sixth rounders for Cam Acres every year. If you're always trading those draft picks, you can't throw a random pick at a running back.

If you have someone else graded much higher, the Kobe King thing is weird because when they took him, I remember hearing from a couple of people, Krista Rpassa was one of them, someone with another team that I know who's like, that guy's really good. We liked him a lot and, you know, we were going to pick him or whatever.

I was like, oh, okay, well, that's, that's great. Great pick that, I guess. And then he's just gone halfway through the year. Okay. And that's been another part of it, too. If you draft those players and have no plans to really stick with them through the ups and downs or develop them, then this is what happens.

But not taking a running back is pretty egregious. I agree. In a draft that was thought of is, has tons of running backs. And then this one has nothing to work with. It was not really a lot of foresight. I think that that's the main other takeaway from the Quasi era was not a lot of foresight. It was what's kind of right in front of us right now, and that's what we'll draft. Dumer K.O. was the biggest non-believer in Kyle Hamilton, thought he was going to be too

slow and monster overrated because he played Notre Dame. Jordan Davis was my dude. Jordan Davis, it took a couple years for him to get to be a good player. He's finally gotten there and is making huge money. Kyle Hamilton, I was on the opposite side of that specter. I wanted the Vikings to take James and Williams with the 12th pick. I know everyone, please don't drop your phone on your face in shock that I wanted them to take the wide receiver with that pick. But that was, hey, you know, look, I'm not that worried that he's not going to play right

away, develop him coming off the ACL. He's got lightning. He's crazy athletic. Like, it'll be great next to Justin Jefferson. That one took a few years to come to fruition. And they wouldn't have gotten Addison if they had taken him and he had his off-field stuff as well. But that's who I wanted them to take with that pick. If you look who came next, if they had traded down just a little bit instead of a lot,

you still have some picks that didn't work out in there and it's always going to happen. It was really more about the logic, because I know Hamilton is the one that everybody focuses on. They might not have taken him. They might have taken a guard. So they might, was it Zion Johnson? Like, they might have taken a guard there instead of, I don't know who they were going to take. But it was more about the historic sacrifice. that you make by moving down 20 spots.

If you look, just go to drafthistory.com. Just call up on draft history.com. You can call up the, well, why don't we just do this? Why do I tell you guys to do stuff that I could just be doing on the show? Drafthistory.com. Let's, let's see. Let's take a look. Because I remember doing this when they made the move.

You can look at the pick in the round. So let's go to 12th. This is not the best way to do this ever. but let's just take a look at 10 11, the 12th overall pick, 10, 11, 12, like, there's a lot of stars there. The 12th overall pick, we're just going to go straight back as far as we want to go and read the names and see who was drafted 12th, because this was my logic for why they should not trade out of 12. And I'm sorry if that's kind of small on your screen, but maybe I can make it a little bigger. Can I make it a little bigger?

Nope, that ruined everything. So I can't make it a little bigger. All right, I'll just read them. Tyler Booker last year instant impact player, Bo Nix, Jamir Gibbs star, Jameson Williams, semi star,

Micah Parsons, mega star, Henry Ruggs would have been good. Roshan Gary was a good pick for the Packers, Vita Vaya star, Deshawn Watson, but, you know,

he was a franchise quarterback at one time. Sheldon Rankin's really good player. Danny Shelton was a bust. Odell Beckon, Beckham, megastar. DJ Hayden didn't really work out. Fletcher Cox,

superstar. I will not say the 12th overall pick in 2011. Ryan Matthews, a running back was probably a very bad pick at the time. No, Sean Moreno didn't work out. Ryan Clayty, I think he did. Marshaun Lynch, of course, did Helodina star, Sean Merriman star, Jonathan Vilma star. And then we go back even farther.

And we've got Keith Brooking, work done, Sean Ellis. There's Warren Sapp. There's a lot of really, really good players. Ken Harvey superstar, Trace Arms. song yeah there's aaron glenn tons of great players who are drafted with the 12th overall pick there's lots of stars there lots of pro bowlers now if we go to number 32 i think we're going to find a lot less other than yes lamar jackson ryan ramcheck was a good pick teddy bridgewater might have worked out eventually but there's uh Xavier leggett bust lewesine bust joe tyrian is a bust

uh Clyde edward tiller bust nekeel harry bust those two are great Malcolm Brown, I don't remember him. Matt Elam Bus, David Wilson, don't really remember him, running back. I think he was a role player. Derek Sherrod, I don't really remember. Patrick Robinson, sort of just a guy. Ziggy Hood wasn't that great. Anthony Gonzalez.

You get my point. There's, I mean, there's a handful here as we scroll through that became starters. D.K. Metcalf, obviously. No, wait, he was the second rounder. Second rounder. Okay. I don't know how this is sorted. but this one is sorted kind of weird.

But anyway, I guess it only goes back to, well, that's weird. Anyway, well, those are a lot of them through 2005, I guess, 2004. And a lot that just did not work out really at all at 32. So that was kind of my main argument. And I know that picking one spot and saying, see, they didn't work out. But I even did it a little bit different where I took picks like 25, through 35. And I compared them to picks 10 through or maybe 8 through 15, whatever, like a section of

picks. And it was just pro bowler and Hall of Famer after Pro Bowl and Hall of Famer in the top area of the draft. And the back end of the first was some guys that were great, but a lot of men, you know, a lot of just okay. Anyway, so that was a long way around that conversation. domer k.O. wanted us to draft anyone besides McCarthy, specifically Penix. I wonder how Pennix might have worked out here for sure. The McCarthy conversation with me specifically is a little bit

dicey because he was the one I was most concerned about for the historic and number related reasons. He didn't have the big stats. He didn't have a lot of starts. Those have been red flags in the past. I remember talking to a former scout leading up to that draft who told me that there was kind of a long thing in football about the number of starts. And I was like, it was that BS or it's like, well, I mean, go look at it. There's not that many guys. There's Cam Newton. There's Kyler Murray who worked out without a lot of starts. But there's not that many who weren't like the number one overall pick that were really great without.

I thought, well, maybe it was like 50 starts or whatever. That was concerning. he was the late riser. This sort of, he's supposed to be a second round pick. And then all of a sudden, college football is not played anymore. And he is getting pushed up aboard. And there were a lot of concerns there that I had about McCarthy. But some people took that for, well, you hate him.

It's like, well, it's the same thing with Dylan Thineman, where I'm expressing the research on this as or presenting the research on this as a reason why you might want to think twice about it or a risk factor. Same with Caleb Banks. The guy could certainly become a megastar, but you have to look at all the information. So I felt that way about McCarthy. And every single thing that was a concern basically has happened. Like it's not enough experience.

How is he going to handle ups and downs when he never had downs at any point in his high school or college career? How is he going to adapt to NFL speed and physicality when he didn't play that much in college. You have to factor that they wanted to run the ball more than put it in his hands. So there was all those things. But when he got to the Vikings by the middle of training camp, I thought, well, I'm wrong. He looks great. And then the meniscus thing seemed to reset everything. And it never materialized. And there was more injuries. And then it kind of falls into that category of a lot of bad luck, too. So I've never wanted to be like, I told you so. Like, I don't know,

because I do this with all of them. Like with Pennix, I liked Penix's fit. But also look at those knees, man. That's a huge worry. And then here we are, he's going to miss the start of the season because of another knee injury. He's not going to be able to walk. He's going to look like Bernie Kosar out there by the time the guy turns 26. So every prospect comes along with a set of, hey, this is worked out historically.

This is not worked out historically. And McCarthy kind of fell under that category. He doesn't have the production. I'm always going to be, you know, very nervous about that. Hunter, Aaron Donald was a player I fell in love with pre-draft and wanted the Vikings to draft desperately. Maybe they would have if we didn't have Shree Floyd at the time. I think that they would have.

Yeah, I think they would have. Yep. I believe that they would have drafted him had they not had Sheree Floyd. But you remember how good of an impression Shreve Floyd made. And it's not like they picked a guy who turned out to be bad. Anthony Barr had a very good Vikings career, but if they had had a Ared Donald, yeah, it would have been insane. I could see why, though, they were very high on what they were seeing from Shreve Floyd. That's another one that's really bad luck.

Sheree Floyd is probably a top 20 defensive tackle in the league for a long time if he doesn't have the botched surgery. DLM willing to concede that Pons might be an outside guy and the draft guys might be putting him in a box. I think they are. I tend to focus so much more on just how does this guy actually play football? More than what his height is or more than any measurable, although his measurables are insane and they matter. But they're insane for this guy. But watch him play.

A dominant player. Best player on the field a lot of times for a team that won a national championship. That's why I like him so much. And if he drops because he's a little shorter, that's great. Fantastic. Eric says Jermad McCoy, A.J. Halls, Mike Washington Jr. Logan Jones, Caleb Proctor would be my dream scenario for five picks for the Vikings. Proctor is the, is it southern Louisiana player who's got some interesting low-key metrics.

And I like Halsey a lot. Halsey's a playmaker. And there's maybe a little risk taking on his side, but the guy gets picks. The guy's, the guy makes plays. If you're telling me, 49th overall pick Halsey and I get a corner in the first or Theneman in a corner in the second, I would rather have the first round corner. I'd rather have McCoy and get the playmaking safety in the second round. Washington Jr. is a fair pick.

I have some reservations about him, but he has all the physical skills of somebody who could be a dangerous role playing running back. I like Logan Jones a ton. I really do. He is undersized. So there's some Garrett Bradbury discussion there to be had. But quickness, he gets on people. He's physical. He looks to me like he could run their system, the outside zone really, really well.

I like him a lot. I shot you 99. Thank you so much for the super chat. What needy position would the Vikings need to bite the nail on this draft just because they need to fill multiple spots on the roster? I mean, I think that there's several. We've been talking a lot about defensive tackle tonight and Caleb Banks. That's probably the one where you look at the roster and it's the most dire. I don't see safety that way like I think outside analysts do because I don't think people realize

that they've developed Jay Ward to be ready for this or that they gave Theo Jackson a contract extension because they liked him so much. This is not me saying they won't draft a safety by the way. They could. But I look at defensive tackle and go, okay, Ingram Dawkins showed some flashes. Levi Drake Rodriguez. I like his trajectory. But Jalen Redmond is kind of on an island.

here and even Elijah Williams like okay like there's there's something there with all those guys but it's really in terms of proven defensive tackles it's jalen redmond and uh maybe maybe maybe that's not really what you're looking for so if you had to lean into got to fill a need right now this man has to come in and play and he's got to start peter woods defensive tackle makes the most sense for me because i think he could start right away with his size and strength and his ability to move people, his explosiveness. And I think he can develop, but they've just got very little there. Now, DJ Reader's still out there. There will be decisions made. I think, of course, they're going to trade for Dexter Lawrence, right? There will be decisions

made based on what happens in the draft, probably of who they go after after June 1st. And reader might be on that list. But as of right now, that's the one that's the most, hey, you should really do, really go out and and get that guy because you need him. Oak Dogs is like to mock last night. Thank you. Looked like what would be the best for the Vikings to do if the two safeties are gone by 18. This could happen. I don't even remember.

Who did I take last night? I don't even remember who I took last night. And this is a little bit of the problem with, you know, mocking so many times. Oh, I traded down, right? I think I traded down. Did I, oh, I think I traded down and took, did I trade down and take Peter Woods? I think that's what I did last night. I traded down and took Peter Woods because I was like, I don't remember what I did.

I ran five draft sims today. So, um, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. The trade down does make a lot of sense, no matter what way you do it. Who's the angel Reese of this year's draft? Well, the thing about Angel Reese is that, and I want to be clear, I think she's a very good player and has one unique tool. but her other skills are so lacking behind that you can't put her in the category of the elite players in the league. And yet it gets treated like that. So, you know, I think that's a little bit of a

misunderstanding maybe because of her celebrity and because there's so much attention that is put on her one skill. But her one skill is a little bit antiquated being the best rebounder in football. What would this be? Like being the best, uh, block. tight end is kind of what that would be like. I don't know who this year's, who is a celebrity in the NFL, but the thing about the difference between the W and the NFL is that the W will draft the celebrities because they want ticket sales. So they'll draft Haley Van Liff in the first round when she has no reason of going in the

first round other than she's got a lot of followers and a lot of fans. I'm not saying that's true for Reese, but I think that her actual performance is inflated because of the attention that's on her and everything else. So you get two first round picks for her. You got to feel pretty good. And I'm not sure I agree with the DLM that first round picks in the W are like sixth and sevenths in the NFL. I don't agree with that. I mean, you draft franchise players with first round picks in the W.

I know it's mostly at the top, but you don't know where those are going to end up. They trade her to Atlanta. They might be bad. I don't know that they're a great team. They were good last year, but you don't, you know, somebody gets hurt. And all of a sudden, that's kind of what's happened here. Chicago thought they were going to be good and they weren't and now the links are drafting number two. So, you know, there's a lottery and that changes the math as well.

But anyway, it would be like, well, maybe it's like Caden McDonald's. That would be my answer. It's Caden McDonald's because Cade and McDonald's could be a really good player. And I think Reese is too. But the overall impact of what they do well is just kind of proven out to not carry the same weight as other stuff. it carries weight that he could stop the run. But it doesn't carry as much weight as it does when a defensive tackle gets 40 pressures, for example.

Your draft, DLM, your draft prediction for this year is Jamari Taylor will be a solid running back. I have not looked deep into Jamari Taylor. I guess I will have to do that. Jack, if Jake Slaughter is there at 49, I'd like the Vikings to have that guy.

Is 49 a little high for a center? I was thinking more day three. I was thinking center and wide. receiver for day three. Maybe I'll do, maybe I'll do a draft sim some night of like, we'll look at all their visits and we'll only try to draft guys from their visits or something. We got two weeks to go, my friends, two weeks to go. You're, you're right about that, that there are a lot of center needy team. So maybe you're right. Rome, keep Grenard, find a way to extend and bridge the gap, 25 to 28 million. I think it would be wise to have Grenard long,

term definitely think it would be wise to have him longer term. There is a little concern injury wise. The price starts to go up. But if you can't draft an edge rusher this year that you're really happy with, I think the Grenard thing should be kicked down the road a little bit. Now, he might be unhappy and you might get one of those training camp standoffs or whatever, but he's got two years left on his contract. He should be able to play out this year and then negotiate a new contract next year.

see where everybody's at. I think if you're the Vikings, you want to do this next year. You don't want to do this right now. See where everybody is at after this year. If he gets 10 sacks, he's looking great. He's healthy. They're good. They need him.

Okay, resign him and give him a lot of money. But if he gets five sacks and plays 12 games next year and you've given him this huge contract extension, you're not going to feel great about that. I'd like to see where it's headed first. And thank you. Thank you, Jack. I'm glad that you are enjoying the show. appreciate that.

Daniel Harrison Smith is the unicorn. Totally right. Harrison Smith is somebody we shouldn't even discuss when trying to project anyone else. We should just not look that high because it's really hard to reach that marker. That is an all-time great player. So if you look at Dylan Thineman,

and I don't even think really Thineman reminds me a lot of Harrison Smith. I think Smith is, and I'll have to look at his exact same. size and specs, but I look at Harry as more of like powerful, but having range with crazy length. And it's the IQ that makes the difference that he's one of the most instinctual football players of the last 20 years in the NFL. That's a hard ask for anybody else. So you could say, hey, if you could give me Harrison Smith in his prime with the 18th overall pick, I'd be like, oh my gosh. Yes, absolutely. I would take that with a time.

top five pick, but the odds that someone becomes that are not that high. The odds that they become a pretty solid, decent Xavier McKinney, good player, and McKinney's really good, but just, just good, are much more likely. That's kind of the point on someone like Dylan Thineman, is that if he becomes the comp from, you know, the athletic, which is Justin Reed, well, that's something you can get in free agency. Like, is it going to be closer to Cambinem or Harrison Smith? If it's closer to Cambyn him, you can find that. If it's closer to Harrison Smith and they really believe in that, then by all means, do it.

But that's just a high bar to set. That's like saying anyone drafted 18th overall is not really a comp for a future Hall famer. Dan, you think the Seahawks will pick Judarian Price in the first round? I think that it's very possible, yeah, because they've just left their running back room and that's a team that clearly after winning the Super Bowl is going to want to maintain a similar system, I would suspect. I know they lost their offensive coordinator, but won't they want to keep a similar system

where they're run first, play action to Smith Najigba kind of stuff? I would think so. And who else are you going to pick other than Judarian Price? There are some people who don't have him as their second running back, but it feels like it's a consensus almost that he is RB2 in this class. feels very Seahawksy to maybe make the same mistake as Clyde Edwards, O'Lear with the chiefs of, oh, we need this position right now, so we got to go get it in the draft.

But I don't know who else is, I mean, Charbonator is ACL? He can come back, but is he going to be ready for week one even? Who's their running back? That's a tough spot to be in. Forrest, we also desperately need young, fast impact linebackers. Everyone is under contract and old, and we let, uh, yeah, King and Austin, was it Austin Keyes was the guy, was it, was that what his name was? Was that someone else?

It was Keyes, right? The, the undrafted free agent that they let go. Linebacker is on my radar. This is why you trade down because Jacob Rodriguez is very much on my radar. I'm wondering if he actually goes in the first round. Anthony Hill Jr., I am just not as sold on Anthony Hill Jr. being a top guy. And I was reading, I know,

Brugler is going to, like, dominate this show for mentions over the next couple weeks, but there's differing opinions on him. There are some draft analysts who think, look at this guy, he's got, you know, sack production. He would be great for Flores. He's rangy.

Like, he's got great athletic skills. His athletics profiles through the roof. And I think that Flores could make that work. But then there is the issue of he didn't play that great at Texas this year for all the athletic skills. that he has. And what has been written about him is that maybe the instincts aren't there to go along with the physical traits.

I like Rodriguez a lot more for the Vikings than someone like Anthony Hill Jr. Because I think he's got all of the IQ, all of the instincts, plus the athleticism to go along with it. If he was 49, that would be good with me. Linebacker might be a position that you look at a little later and try to swing on, like a fifth round pick, try to take a swing on that and see what happens. And then, all right, if it doesn't work out, you're really looking more desperately next year. It's, it's on the radar, though.

It should be. I don't disagree with you. Eric, do I think that Bryce Lance is a Christian Watson clone? It's a very easy comparison because, you know, they came from the same university. But I actually do think he is. I agree with that. Forrest says that he's 100% of a Watson clone. his athleticism is through the roof.

He was a deep wide receiver. I think he can go up and get it. I think he's as fast as anybody in the draft. He's got great size. So if they were looking at him at 49, I would say that's a yes. And whatever it is about NDSU, like a lot of the players that they produce

have been pretty darn good in the NFL. So I am interested in Bryce Lance in the second round or maybe the third, depending on where he ends up going. son of beavers i feel like we are going to trade down into the second round and grab an extra fourth i wouldn't mind them see seeing them do that i don't know if i want them to trade them uh well you mean in the second round i'm a little bit suss on that i don't mind it but i'm a little on it because this is another one of those looking at how drafts kind of play out early second round has tons of really good players into the mid second round back end is where it starts to peter out

in even good drafts. And if you go too far back, then you're talking about the level of prospect in a poor draft is going to be a little bit low. They do need more bodies. They do need more prospects. Matt, do you think that mocking who the Vikings will take this year is so difficult because there's so many options or because nobody knows Brzezinski's draft strategy? I think the answer is yes, yes to both.

So many options is part of it. But yeah, I mean, I wouldn't disagree that the draft strategy, we don't really know. He has given us a couple of hints about his draft strategy. And he has said the words 2027 a time or two. He has mentioned, you know, best player on your board and don't stack your board because of needs and things like that, which may be a little bit of a hint that they might take a position that we don't necessarily expect. that's why I've thrown tackle into the mix. But we just have no idea.

Like Rob's been watching drafts and helping on drafts for 20 years, but he's never been the one call on the shots. I think it's, you know, you still know that KOC and Brian Flores are going to be the ones leading the way. They've got to sign off on the decision. So it's probably more about actual roster and going forward. Because every time I look at it for 2027, I can't believe how many people they're going to have available into the future.

Let me take a quick pause to remind you once again about ZipRecruiter. You know, Purple Insider runs pretty smoothly in part because of great passionate people who work with me here on the show. Not just myself running it, although that's what it looks like sometimes. If you are hiring for your business and you are looking for passionate people like I have working with me, then you're going to want to use ZipRecruiter because you can't just get that from a resume unless you use ZipRecruiter. unless you use ZipRecruiter. You can try it now for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash audio. And there's a lot of things they can do for you to help you find the best candidates,

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Try it for free ZipRecruiter.com slash audio, meet your match on ZipRecruiter. So there you go. Back to you guys. Dumer, K.O. Always draft the weed guy is hilarious. Also completely in on the Honey Badger. Yeah.

That's right. That's right. Great memory, Dan. that Dan Marino may have fallen in part. And if you watch his football life, I mean, again, it's treated like, it's treated like the guy, I don't even want to say crimes,

but crimes. It's treated like very terrible crimes back in the day. And now we're just like, I don't, they don't even test, who cares? It has kind of nothing to do with it. And if somebody smokes themselves out of the league, then, well, they will know that, though. If someone has a problem, they will know.

If someone has a serious drug issue, they have investigations going on on these draft prospects. They have people following them. They have people tracking their social medias. They, like, it is a really detailed process in the background part of it. So if there's somebody that has a serious issue, then the NFL, somebody might fall in the draft that's expected to go high and you're like, really? Why? And, oh, well, you know, nobody knows. there might be something behind the scenes that they don't know about.

Norris Force, if Ty Simpson falls to 18 to you stick with the best player theory and draft him, he is, in my view, he is not the best player at 18. I don't think he's a first round quarterback. Six foot tall, he's barely played any football, he had half a good season. I do not see it. I see that as a second round type of player. He's got traits that you like, but it's a developmental guy. if he was there for the Vikings in the third, I might think about it, but even then I probably

wouldn't. I just, I just don't view him as someone who has the capability to be a franchise quarterback. This could go under worst purple insider take someday, but that, that's how I view it. I just don't view him as being a top player. That was the Fandall question of the day, by the way, was that Ty Simpson is plus 130 to go to the Arizona Cardinals who draft third. It's kind of wild. my take is that he's not going to even be a first-round draft pick. Maybe that'll turn out to be terrible. So I'm curious about your best takes. That's the fan dual question of the day.

Your best takes ever going into the draft. Not sure how to say your name exactly, but you got Mike at the end. So we're going to go with Mike. Vikings should take Vega and cut fries. They can't really cut them. They can't really cut them right now, but they could next year. If they drafted a guard, it would be a huge indictment on Will Fries. I think you got to play that out first and then maybe think about that next year.

That's when I would, like your, your logic's not insane. I mean, if he's the best player there and you're not sold on Will Fries, then figure it out, develop him for a year, get rid of fries, move him in. I'm okay with 2027 picks if it's the best player. That's one I have a hard time seeing, though. John Tuton was picked at 104, so what I had to take him instead of Ty Felton. Okay, right. Yeah. I mean, in my draft sim, yes, he was taken, like, way later than that. But I think we were talking about just in general running backs in that draft, that they were pretty deep through the rest of the draft and they were taking linebackers and tight ends and they weren't taking shots on running backs.

But you're right about Tutin. That might have also looked okay right now, but it also kind of tells you about, just a little bit about, like, third round. the type of players that you're getting, that's a good place to take a running back. John says I'm infuriated with the idea of getting Dexter Lawrence, even though, oh, I'm sorry, not infuriated, John, infatuated. There's two very different things. Wow.

It's been two hours. Usually, I don't start, I start botching comments and it gets weird after two hours. Anyway, let me try again. John, I'm infatuated with the idea of getting Dexter Lawrence. even though the cap space doesn't make sense. I just feel like it would make the defense elite. I know you expanded on this, but why not? I mean, the why not is really the price.

Not only do you have to give the New York Giants at best a second round pick, and they might be holding out for a first, which you're not going to do. But you got to give them 49 and then you've got to give Dexter Lawrence a lot more money. That's just a big ask. It hurts your salary cap right away is very difficult to even trade. for him with his current cap hit. So you'd have to do some stuff right now to make a change with your salary cap. You'd have to restructure.

You'd have to extend. You have to make that cap space to trade for him. Then give him a new contract, which is going to be top of the market, $32, $33 million per year. And he's 29. And he's coming off a year where, you know, there was down a little bit. I think he's an elite player. I think he's as good as it gets at defensive tackle in the NFL.

And if they did it, they would have the potential. to be a top five defense in the NFL. And he's, you know, a final piece to that. It would be an all in for 2026 that they've talked about not doing is basically what it would be. He would be a foundational piece for the future, though. And you could make that argument that they don't have too many of those. So if they do it, I like the player so much that I would go, okay, yeah, I mean, why not?

you got Kyler Murray here just just chips to the middle of the table this roster's coming apart after this so heck with it go for it but from a practical Rob Brzezinski perspective that would be a heck of a move if he's not going to be the GM of the future that would be a heck of a move to make for your future GM of oh by the way you know we traded away a second round draft pick and added 33 million dollars per year to this player that's that's just there's just a lot It's a lot to be done there. JP, Matt convinced me on taking a wide receiver day one, especially if it's Cooper Jr. Lemon or Tyson, we can find safeties on day two or three.

Wide receiver value goes through the roof and gives us leverage with the Addison situation. It also makes your quarterback better. If the guy is even good, it gives you a much better chance to win with Kyler Murray right away because wide receivers often do come in and contribute immediately. That's a position that does take some curve, but not crazy. Not, I know, not everyone's Justin Jefferson, but there's a ton of wide receivers who come in and get 50, 60 catches as rookies and make a contribution. I'm sure that one of those first round wide receivers in a wide receiver three spot can do

something like that. And if it's 45 catches, that's huge for your quarterback versus who do you have there now. it's a third round project and then question marks at this moment. And even if you get DeAndre Hopkins, you're talking about someone who's 100 years old and caught like, what, 30 passes last year or something, 20 passes. There's a big difference between that and top prospects in the draft. John says lives in Arizona and Tyson would be incredible as a number three.

Biswifor wants Elijah Surat. I like him too. Bizwifur is in on Melchai Fields. I guess I got to watch more of Fields. Bryce Lance, I don't know Josh Cameron, along with Dizan stripling. So you're liking the bigger guys, it seems. That's kind of where you're looking is for the bigger guys. Oh, yeah, yeah, Josh Gordon was a, I think Josh Gordon might have been some other things

that it was not just the weed. The magical scientist. Why is Jacob Rodriguez not a first round prospect? If athletic ability was his flaw, he showed out at the combine. I think he is. I think that there's underrating of him going on in the mock draft universe because he's a linebacker, but I think this year, this is a year where you do that. I think he will be taken in the first.

That would be another hot take. Him and Chris Johnson from San Diego State. I think both have a chance. Hoof, that's some good football talk, my friends. That's some, oh, there's zip recruiter. That's some very good football talk, my friends. So here's what's going on on on the show. Tomorrow we'll have a conversation with Max Chadwick, who is from the performance.

Ford Walk-on podcast, and we're going to talk about the safest and most risky players that the Vikings could go after. There's going to be some Peter Woods and Caleb Banks talk then as well. And then on to next week and we start really counting down toward the draft. We'll see if any news comes up. Maybe we'll do a mock draft of only players that have visited the Vikings and we'll grab some fun guests for you guys and we'll have some more draft to talk. I just, I love how dialed in you guys are that every one of these conversations is kind of taking its own little shape and I've enjoyed all of them. So we'll sign off for now.

If anything comes up, if there's any news, then, you know, emergency podcasts are still possible, but probably playing on Monday night as being the live show again the next time. So hopefully see you there. And check out my article at purple insider dot football. I talked to three reporters who covered Kyler Murray in high school about Kyler Mania in Texas. and it was really fun. So make sure you go check that out. And we will talk to you all again very soon.

Football.