Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings sign a veteran corner, sign practice squad (Part 2)

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

Matthew Coller breaks down the Vikings' practice squad and the veteran corner who returns to Minnesota. Plus more on the Adam Thielen deal and Drew Magary joins. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel.

R.N says you have to beat the Eagles. They run the ball. You know, as the way that this schedule is going to play out, there are going to be some teams that really test the Vikings run defense. And it's hard to get a beat on how good the run defense is going to be when you're watching camp practices. Now, personally, I think that the running game looked really good for the Vikings.

So then you go, wait, did the run defense look bad? Then, like, I guess so. I mean, I didn't think it looked terrible, but I thought that the offensive line was pretty well locked in. And I thought Jordan Mason and Aaron Jones looked really good, especially Mason to me for the run game. I don't have a good feel for how good their run defense is going to be with Hargrave and Allen on the field at those three technique positions.

And then Jalen Redmond and Levi Drake Rodriguez mixing in. I think it can be still good, but when you take Harrison Phillips out of the mix, that just becomes harder. Now, it's not like Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave are 147 pound defensive tackles. These are big gentlemen, especially Hargrave. And at times in Hargrave's career, he's been a really good run defender, just more with San Francisco. He was a get in the backfield guy.

And sometimes that's dictated just by the role. and Redmond was a very good run defender last year. I keep going back to last year's numbers may have been a little bit inflated. Those guys were good, but they also may have been inflated by the score. So if you let the Eagles get ahead, if you let the chargers get ahead, that's where I think it's concerning for this defense. Because playing from ahead, the Vikings defense should be the nastiest in one of the nasties in the NFL. They have pass rushers everywhere.

These guys, they get into the backfield like crazy Hargrave and Allen and Grenard has been a freak so far in camp and Van Ginkle is really good at this. Flores is dialing up everything. But if you are not winning or at least in a neutral situation and the other team can lean on you with their run game, I do think that that's problematic for the Vikings because you don't want Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave guys in their ancient 30s. you don't want them getting worn down. And how those games play out against Philly and against the Chargers, I think it's good for them that they don't start out with a team that has a scary run game. But even week two, the Atlanta Falcons and Bijan Robinson, like there's a scary running back right off the bat.

So let's see. I assume this says Chewy is Samuel Jr. in October move an option. So the last that I read on Asante Samuel Jr., And this is just football, man. Like he was having a neck fusion thing done, which doesn't sound all that promising. But he was expected to be able to return for the second half of the season. So I suppose that it is possible that that would be someone in case of emergency. If you didn't like how it was going that you call up and you sign for the second half of the year,

you would have to sort of address that when you get there. could you sign him now knowing that he will be healthy eventually, I guess. I guess that would be an option. I don't know how the physical plays into that, but I guess that would be an option to be able to sign Asante Samuel Jr. He wasn't a great corner to begin with. Now, coming off neck surgery, I don't know how promising that is as the savior of the secondary. What they have now is going to mostly determine how they do there.

Matt says pass rush is a cornerback's best friend. And that's the point is that, you know, this pass rush is going to make the cornerbacks a better version of themselves. And I believe in that after what I saw last year with suddenly Shaq Griffin looks pretty darn good. If we go back and look at Shaq Griffin's numbers, you're like, man, you know, he had a good season overall. It wasn't unbelievable, but it was darn solid for a guy who had gotten cut midseason by his own team last year in the Houston in Texans. So I think it does, I think it does enhance. It enhances Byron Murphy. It enhances Isaiah Rogers. It enhances Jeff Okuda. And if the split ends up being, let's just say, Murphy ends up playing a thousand snaps, Rogers ends up playing 800, Okuda ends up playing

475, that should be fine for what they need. And assuming that Theo Jackson steps into that role, assuming that Harrison Smith is still good. The secondary is the one area, though, still, even as I lay it out there, where you go, okay, like that, but don't, don't love it. Like, it's not this, you don't feel the same way about it as you do the front seven. My point is that I don't know how you find anybody who changes that tomorrow. Even morrow does not change it tomorrow. Holton Hill was released from Saskatchewan Rough Riders and,

March. Yeah, there you go. I did not know that. Thank you for the update. Holton Hill, man. Once upon a time, got a lot of attention and did not end up working out all that well. Andrew, what are the players doing this week, two weeks off practice before week one? No, no, no. They're going to be out there. There's going to be a locker room open tomorrow. They're going to be out there. The practices just aren't open to the media now. So they're out there. They're doing their thing. KFT, you can't get by with four corners that play every game. Yeah, I mean, you can. You certainly can, but you've got to have good health.

And that's why I am in favor of them adding one more person, that Morrow shouldn't be the only guy that they bring in, that there should be at least one more corner to fill out this room. Or maybe, look, this is the thing. They could view Zamaia Vaughn as that guy, because as soon as they cut Zamaia Vaughn, or waved Zamaia Vaughn yesterday, we immediately went, all right, well, Vaughn's off the team, so like who else you got? They bring them back on the practice squad, and you can elevate players from the practice squad.

You go in with four corners, you elevate Vaughn, you elevate Morrow, and there you've got five. And maybe they feel okay with the idea of elevating Zamaia Vaughn as the fifth corner and having it be, you know, Okuda, then McLaughern, then. Vaughan, McGoverns developed over a year. Okuda's had a good camp. They might be okay with it. They might be okay with it. I'm not totally okay with it, but they might be. Stevens says, I feel that they had Blackman earmarked for a certain amount of snaps in 2025.

And now that he's traded, they need another vet to take those snaps. Well, I think that that snap count that they were looking for for Mackay Blackman was extremely high. I don't think that it necessarily was for Jeff Okuda from the start of the off season. I never saw it coming. And I think that's probably a little bit on just us assuming that the modern medical establishment just magically takes an ACL and goes zoop. And then your ACL is perfectly back and you're 100% and you feel great and it's the same knee. And there's, There's no, any residual effect or anything like that. I mean, it's, it's altogether possible that there was some issues remaining over

or that there were some mental block a little bit there from getting hurt and, you know, being afraid to go into the mix the same way that he was before. They, I never saw that coming. I don't think that they did either. I think they wanted Black men to be either, either at least CB3 or four, where he would, would mix in or be the direct backup. And I had wondered when he was playing in the nickel, oh, are they cross-training him so he could be the direct backup to Byron Murphy?

And maybe what they saw as the cross-trained nickel was so poor that they're like, okay, we can't do that. They don't really have a backup nickel right now. They probably could use that. But even when they go into the nickel, they often just use Josh Mattelis as that guy. And he's been effective in that role as well. This is a little bit of the rare situation in the NFL where it's two corners. They're playing two corners a lot more than they're playing three.

Rob says, I think we underestimate Tavier a bit. They went and found him and guaranteed him a million dollars. I mean, that's not a very big guarantee there. But, you know, you might be right. Just when they try out another safety, he's the guy that would be most likely on the cusp. Maybe they didn't weren't as impressed by Jay Ward, but, you know, the fact that they did put Tim Jones on the practice squad does make you think that Tavier Thomas will be that special teams expert guy. But when we're looking of, all right, well, where would they make a change from? Where would they borrow from?

He could be that. But underestimating a guy who's very much on the roster bubble who was guaranteed $1 million. I don't know about that. I think that that would be one where you're not going to worry too much if you have to cut him. Son of Beavers, do we look in at any more wide receivers, K.J. Osborne or Tyler Boyd. I'm still in favor. I'm in favor of K.J. Osborne returning if they think that that's something that'll help. We're still kind of wondering, is there a punt returner on the way?

Or because you think about, all right, they get to evaluate. Osborne for three weeks. Like, why has it gone so badly everywhere else? But Minnesota, it did something happen, did he change as a receiver, or did he just not fit in those other places? If you sign KJ. Osborne, then what, do you cut Miles Price? I don't know if anyone's picking up Miles Price. If you wave him and you could probably get him to the practice squad, no problem.

Do you want to do that? Or do you just want to go forward with Miles Price and say, you know, look, you know, KJ. Osborne was good for us several years ago, but that's not something you necessarily need. I am always for a little bit more, one more guy in the wide receiver position, a little bit more depth. So if you want to bring in KJ. Osborne, that's okay. But the room gets pretty crowded once Jordan Addison comes back because you still have Ty Felton there.

And I think that they want to continue to develop Ty Felton. I think they want to get Felton in some games this year and have him make some plays, have him run an end around, have him run a screen, have him run a couple of deep shots. So do you want him lower than Osborne on the depth chart? Like, I'm not really sure. I'm still for it. I just am not really sure if they need anything more than that. Timothy says, I think it's not how many catches.

It's the quality of those catches that he could have. Oh, you're referring to the Fandul question of the day, which is how many catches does Adam Thielen need to justify the two? trade. So the quality of catches, he could catch 30 balls, but if they come and clutch situations, or are the catches, or catches that propel them to the Super Bowl, then it's a win. Oh, well, absolutely. If it propels them to the Super Bowl, then it's definitely a win. That's for sure. Uh, so I think you make a very fair point and a good answer to that question, because I was just doing, uh, as the interview with Zeldad was playing, I was doing some writing about Thielen.

and I was looking at Jordan Addison over the last two years, and Addison had 11 touchdowns in the red zone over the last two years. This is where Adam Thieland could be big. If he catches two touchdowns, the first three games, three touchdowns in the first five games, or whatever it might be, if he becomes a red zone threat or somebody that J.J. McCarthy can lean on, third down even, as they're all chasing around later in the season, Addison and Jefferson.

I mean, that's been a lot of T.J. Hawkinson, but maybe Thielen can be that guy, too. If he converts a handful of third downs, scores a couple of touchdowns, but only ends up with 22 receptions, well, that's still good. What you're, what you're touching on right there, Timothy, is why Jarius Wright was so beloved by Vikings fans was because I think it's crazy when you look it up, I believe it was 17 receptions that Jarius Wright had in 2017. But if you ask anybody, they would tell you that Jerry's Wright had 50 catches that year because that's what it felt like. Mr. Third Down, we still talk about it. We still reference him all the time with his role on that team. And it was, oh, 18 catches. Apologies, 18 receptions. But in the playoffs of

2017, and here's why he was so beloved. He had six catches, including a huge one in the Minneapolis Miracle game. So that's why we still talk about him is because Jarius Wright was that guy that they could go to and they could trust in some of those biggest moments. So if Adam Thielen comes away from this season with 24 catches like Jarius Wright, six of them are in the playoffs, one of them is a big third down playoff conversion, a couple other third downs, a touchdown. This is a good trade. Would you, I mean, would you trade the equivalent of a fourth round pick to get some big moment receptions? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely you would. KFT, I thought I read Granard has not looked as good in training camp as he did last year. Is that true? Oh, my God, no.

No, that's not true at all. In fact, that's a complete opposite. I thought that Grenard looked good last year in camp. I thought he looked like a monster this year. camp. Wherever you're reading, you've got to read someplace different. Jonathan Grenard was phenomenal in camp. I think we all came out of camp saying, I think Grenard is a man on a mission. I remember coming in here after practices and saying they got to take him out. Like he's disrupting the offense so much. They got to give him a break sometimes because he's been in the backfield so often. Grenard came in with a different mentality that has been incredible to watch him, you know, at his craft, he's already one of the best

in the NFL. But then to listen to him talk and we've chatted with him a few times, there's a drive to that man. Like, he wants it. He wants it really badly. And he's shown that this year in camp. So no, no, no, no. He is, uh, he has looked better than last year. Uh, Mel Kills says Vaughn looked promising. He did. I think that Vaughn was a little bit maybe, I, I, I, was it hesitant or lacking in confidence. I'm not sure what it was. He didn't look the same in the preseason games as he did in camp practices. And I don't know what the explanation for that is.

Maybe it's just circumstance. The fact that they're not running complicated coverages, the fact that, you know, they're not running as many blitzes and things like, like maybe that's it. He didn't look the same to me in those actual games as he didn't practice, which is not the greatest sign in the world. and may have played into why he was cut. But promising, yes, I would agree with that. I think his skill set, the way he plays against the football, his height, his ability to track people.

I think that those are all good assets for him, but he's got to have another year. And KFT expect Vaughn to be on the roster by the end of the year. Yeah, I expect that to eventually, you know, people get banged up or whatever. They'll move him up. that was one where I really think that they just believed that they were going to be able to get him to the practice squad and that he wasn't going to be claimed. I think that that was a pretty big part of cutting him, not necessarily reflective of how he played, or at least that's my feeling. You know, they also cut Gabe Murphy, which I think none of us exactly saw coming. And then they get him to the practice squad as well.

So some of these moves are based on what they know that they can do and get away with and getting certain guys to the practice squad and not just a pure evaluation of that player. KFT, do we really need four tight ends? Do they have four tight ends? I thought it was only three on the roster and then two on the practice squad. I think it's only three. Ben UreSek was the third tight end. And then they had two more, Bryson Nesbit and Nick Venet. Vennett is a veteran.

Nesbit is kind of interesting because of his athletic profile, had a couple of really nice plays in the third preseason game that may have helped him. So, Anthony, who do you get access to practice ahead of game one? Well, it will be in the locker room. That's when we're in the locker room. During preseason, we're out there for every practice. During the regular season, that's when we go in the locker room. So the guys, we go in the locker room.

We stand there. the guys finish up practice, they come into the locker room, and then we chat with them. We talk, you know, with J.J. McCarthy, we talk to guys at their lockers, stuff like that. That's how that usually goes. But we're not watching every minute of practice during the regular season. And I think that's pretty standard around the NFL, where teams aren't having reporters watch whole practices during the regular season. You know, you wouldn't want anybody given away the game plan, but, you know, they have the camp practice. is open to fans.

So naturally, the reporters there as well for a few that fans aren't there for, but, you know, mostly if they're open to fans, then while we got to watch as well. But I don't think it would be all that useful for us to watch because it's not really an evaluation time during training camp is an evaluation time during the season. That's when they are preparing for their actual game plan stuff. It's not like we're going, oh, man, Silas Bolden, looks good in practice like we're not going to be doing that in the regular season so it makes a lot of sense but that's kind of how it works during the regular year and then we have press conferences

and things like that uh kit says what do you see them using the final practice squad spot for your guess is as good as my man if we're talking about practice squad spot 16 could be just about anybody but i think that they did keep a lot of the players that i expected them to keep like the Takitai Amani, the Gabe Murphy, those guys that could play a role in on this team. And Zemaya Vaughn is another one and even some of the receivers, you know, Lucky Jackson still could end up getting elevated if somebody gets banged up and getting into a game. Steven says a reliable punt returner is also needed. I am not a warm and fuzzy on Miles Price and Ty Felton, Chicago, week one.

I agree with you, Stephen, very much on that where I really like Miles Price and I was wowed by his 81 yard return. I mean, just some power, some speed. I think the guy's got a great attitude. We chatted with him after that game and it was like, wow, okay, I could see this guy having a little bit of crazy to him and becoming a good punt returner long term. But right now, Soldier Field, week one, this level of expectation. But, you know, sometimes you can't have every single person be totally proven and be great.

And I know that we think that about the roster. Why isn't every single player proven, awesome, in their prime, flawless, no injury history, everyone just perfect? Well, you got a lot of guys on the roster. You got a lot of roles. It's not always going to be the case. And they may end up rolling the dice there. I could still see them getting a punt returner. I could still see them using Ty Chandler and somebody else back there for the kick returning instead of Ty Felton.

Did not love the fumble on the kick return? Jay did Mike Hilton sign with the Colts? I did not see that he signed with the Colts today. Maybe somebody else caught whether he did or not. Hunter said someone mentioned Shaq Griffin got cut. Did Shaq Griffin get cut? Because sometimes you guys just search AI and it's not always. Okay, they did.

They did cut him. Okay. It's not always reliable. I saw you talking about Jalen Naylor earlier. We don't have any evidence of Jalen Naylor having surgery at the moment, but he did once upon a time have surgery. So AI came up with that in the Google search. As far as Shaq Griffin, that's a guy that they should absolutely consider bring him back.

If he wants to come back, they should bring him back. He was pretty darn solid when it came to last year. Was he great? No, but he was solid. And I think he was a good fit. So, oh, Cam Dantzler signed in Miami for a week. Okay, well, I wish the best to Cam Dantzler. I don't think that that is anything that is going to move the needle for the Minnesota Vikings.

Jay said we have two stud quarterbacks in our division, love and golf, that will eat us alive at Corner. that was a big problem last year. Murphy Jr. is the best we have. Was that, well, I mean, Jared Goff actually ate, I think, the middle of the field alive last year when he played the Vikings. And I don't recall Jordan Love eating the Vikings alive last year. Maybe I was watching different football games than you. I thought that Love put up some big stats after his team was down 21 points against the Vikings. And then the second game, actually the second game, the exact same thing happened. So he put up big stats, but they were losing big time for both of those games. I don't think he ate them alive. I actually think that they just got a little bit

to like prevent E in those games and kind of forgot that if you hang back on Jordan Love, he's going to hit big plays on you. But I don't remember eating alive. Did they keep three rookie linebackers? They kept Austin Keyes and Kobe King. So that would be two. Keys is an interesting guy, as far as, like, he's got some potential special teamer. The guy's jacked. Like, I thought that he played with a violence to his game. But he also might be someone that they eventually cut and put on the practice squad if they need to sign someone else.

Let's see. Matt says, I feel like we have a DPLY, defense player of the year, candidate and can't decide who. That seems like a good sign. Well, that, yeah, I mean, between Jonathan Grinard, and Andrew Van Ginkle, maybe even Javon Hargrave if he went absolutely crazy, probably not for a defensive tackle. You don't see that too often unless it's Aaron Donald, but it's usually an edge rusher.

Grenard, yeah, I mean, I think Van Ginkle is probably going to have a little bit of a regression for sacks. I mean, he set his career high by a lot last year, but that's where, you know, Dallas Turner is going to slide into that role and, you know, maybe they're not going to blitz quite as much, so maybe it's a little bit less of him coming from all different areas to rush the passer. I mean, not to say that he's not great at it. It's just that sometimes when you have a career high, you kind of regress back to the

mean a little bit. KFT drop off at defensive tackle pretty big after the top two. I mean, I think that that is, I'll go, I'll go ish on that one. Like, that's a little bit unproven, but I didn't feel that way during camp because Jalen Redmond had a great camp. And last year, in his 200 snaps, he was really good. But that's a leap of faith for them. That is a leap of faith.

But I don't think that they would have traded away Harrison Phillips if they didn't feel like the backups behind those guys were just dog meat. Like, I think they must believe. And you saw Levi Drake Rodriguez had a great third preseason game. We've kind of seen him doing that all offseason. And Redmond was a monster in camp. so I think that they still feel pretty good about where they're at with that, or they must feel actually really good if they were willing to let Phillips go.

I don't think they would have done that otherwise. Stephen is Thielen a candidate for the Vikings Ring of Honor. Oh, yeah, oh, yeah. He'll be in the Ring of Honor. Oh, yeah. I mean, Adam Thielen is definitely one of the best Minnesota Vikings ever. And if the Vikings did not have the crazy receiver history, like the only teams that I could come up with,

Actually, maybe only one team. Maybe two. I think two. I think I could come up with two other teams that rivaled the Vikings for all-time receivers. That would be Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh's got a great case there. And San Francisco. And that is it.

So I think Thielen is buried a little bit in history by Moss, Carter, even Jefferson, surpassing him. Diggs is in the mix. Ahmad Rashad's in that mix. Sammy White, like all the great receivers that they've had over. the years, Anthony Carter, that he kind of just sort of fades into that a little bit historically when you look at the numbers. But I think if he was on another team, he would be an easy top three receiver for that franchise ever. And a lot of great moments for him and the Minnesota

connection does matter with this. I think off-field stuff does matter in the fact that, you know, he was Minnesota kid undrafted free agents, great story. But just his numbers speak for themselves. and if you were to add another NFC championship appearance or something to the mix and play a key role, that would help his case. I think he's an easy pick, though. I think he is a pretty easy pick. Maybe we can coax Revis out of retirement. Probably not.

Probably not. That's the point, though, right? I mean, I think you're hitting on what I was saying, which is, you know, you can add another body at this point. You can add a Fabian Morrow. And I'm sure a lot of you click the video being like, oh, my gosh who was it probably a big star like no not usually it's fabian morrow but that's a guy with a lot of starting experience in his career that now gives you a backup to play if you need to and that's really the best you could do is i think there's an expectation even when they get a feeling it's

like there's an expectation okay okay now do that at corner but teams don't let go their good corners so who are you going to get and there's not too many guys hanging out there And that's why I thought maybe Stefan Gilmore, but I don't think that Gilmore would be willing to come back unless he was really going to play. I would expect that a guy who was a superstar like that would want to play a lot and not be like, oh, yeah, come back and be CB4. Be Dwight McClatharne. I don't know that he's going to want to do that. If you're Fabian Morrow, you're probably okay with doing that. But I don't know if you're a former MVP.

Bob, if that's Bob Cobb, and that's a reference to curbiour enthusiasm, that's hilarious. Let's see, don't sweat the draft choices for Thielen. The Vikings can't draft talent if their life depended on it anyway, so it doesn't matter. Well, that's, that's, that's some twisted logic there, Bob. I got to tell you that. But I love that you worked Quasi can't draft into the Adam Thielen thing. I should have expected that that was coming. Here's what I would say, as far as don't sweat the draft choices.

didn't give up that many that's really the point they just didn't give up that many when we look at this roster uh there are a lot of players on this team and that's really funny that you know that a criticism of the general manager is the the best players they've signed is through free agency as if that doesn't count still but you know as we're talking about the roster there's a lot of young players on it that they've acquired it's just not all of them were drafted so i guess that's a knock uh i don't know I just look at it as players on the team that give you a chance to compete for the Super Bowl this year. I'll let you guys worry about everything else when it comes to evaluating drafts and all that sort of stuff. I did vow the other night that we're done with that because the season's about to start.

Melkill, can you evaluate, explain the practice squad elevation process? Yeah, they just, that was a rule that was put in a couple years ago with COVID, where instead of the old way where you had to add the guy to the roster and then put someone on IR or cut someone else. So that made it hard to bring up guys from the practice squad. Now you get elevations. I think it's three elevations for each guy before you have to put them on the roster. So you can bring a guy up. Okay, let's say Zamaia Vaughn. All right, we're going to have Zemaya Vaughn come up for week one. We're going to have Fabia Morrow come up for week two and go back and forth through the first six weeks of the season

until you have to make a decision on a corner and then maybe someone else is hurt, so you do that. That's how that elevation process works, that each game, you're able to do that. Samaya Vaughn, not completely insane. Zamaya Vaughn is on the practice squad. So that was a little bit of a surprise cut, but a guy that they are able to get right onto the practice squad

so they don't have to give them up. Don and Bethany says, very interested to see what additional tricks Flores has up his sleeve. Now that he has more pure interior pass rush, I wonder how that will affect the coverage options in the secondary. In my opinion, the best thing in the entire NFL that you can do as a defense is succeed with four. We saw it from the Philadelphia Eagles. It's great to blitzing is fun. Blitzing often results in big plays. That was the Vikings last year.

they had a lot of big plays. They led the NFL in picks and were in what, the top five or six in sacks. Tons of big plays from the defense also gave up a lot of yards. And some of it, like those Jordan love yards, who cares? You're up by a lot of points and they're going to come back and they're going to give up your like, okay, whatever. That's going to happen, those fake yards, those yards that don't matter. But when it comes to blitzing, the downside of it always is you're sacrificing something

on the coverage side. And if you can rush four, then you can be more complicated. And that's another point about the corners they are, I think, going to get more help. Flores is still going to blitz, but there's going to be more help in terms of coverage than there was last year, or definitely than there was two years ago. And somebody mentioned that they've seen much worse cornerback units. And I totally agree with that. They went into a year at one point with Holton Hill and what, Cam Dantzler and Jeff Gladney and just hopes and dreams, and they ended up as one of the worst defenses in the league.

This is not that. The two guys that are starting have been in the league. They're in their primes. Murphy is one of the highest paid corners in the league. And there's debates all the time. Is Byron Murphy worth it? Some people like to say, overrated. I've explained that before on the show.

I think Byron Murphy is not overrated. I think it's a zone coverage world now in the NFL. And he is a top-notch zone coverage corner. who fits perfectly in his defense. Rogers had a really good camp. There's been, yes, and has had a good history in the NFL, really good data from him in his more of like rotational roles, but still very good numbers, was on the team that won the Super Bowl, played some big games for them.

I mean, these are, these are guys, these are starting corners in the NFL. It's just after that, that's where it gets a little bit murky. But I've definitely seen much worse than that. Dennis says our defensive tackles this season will make a difference that we didn't get last year. It's not just last year. They haven't gotten a difference in a long time from the defensive tackles. I would argue what was 20, 2018, 2017, the last time they got difference making play from the tackles? I mean, Leval, you know, Linval Joseph was still good, but he was not as good as he wasn't 17 and 18.

and 19. They lost Tom Johnson. They tried to bring Tom back. It wasn't quite the same. You know, the Sheldon Richardson thing worked out for a few weeks, but out of 16 games in 2018, there was probably five where he was really good. Yeah, this is the biggest upgrade in a long time that they have had a defensive tackle. And I agree with you. I'm very interested to see how that plays out. Let's see. not completely insane as didn't Brandon Powell return punts for a while. Yes, Brandon Powell more or less fair caught last year. Didn't return all that many punts.

If they needed a fair catch machine, then Brandon Powell would be perfectly fine for that. They've had every opportunity to bring in Brandon Powell. And they haven't done it. So as we've reached this point, it seems like, unless there's a signing in the next day or two, that Miles Price is going to be your punt returner. I'm a little anxious about that. You heard Judd Zolgat earlier is a little nervous about that

because he was not the smoothest when it came to catching the punts. But he was the most explosive. And maybe there's a kick return potential there as well for Miles Price. I personally would rather have somebody who just catches the ball and just doesn't cost you on offense, doesn't fumble it, doesn't give a possession, free possession to the other team, but maybe you're living with too much fear there of a botch when there's a higher potential for Miles Price. If they bring somebody else in to be a fair catch artist, that's totally fine with me.

Do I think Jerry's Wright's interested in coming back? Maybe you're always looking for the next one, and they have not been able to find the next one so far. Skull Vikings, how is Dallas Turner? I thought Dallas Turner had a very solid training camp. He showed a lot of improvement. He got a lot of reps. He had a lot of pressures. And now he's got to go do it in the actual game. But I thought it was as good of a training camp as you could have asked for Dallas Turner, starting with just day one, where he comes back and what does he look like? What does he look like when he gets to training camp was one of the most important for Dallas Turner.

And the answer was much stronger and a deeper bag of pass rush moves, more explosive. I expect them to be on the field a ton. This defense, you know, we are talking a lot about this cornerback position, but this defense just has so many moving parts. I think they could play Eric Wilson at times. I think they could play three defensive tackles with Jalen Redmond in there at times. I think they can have Dallas Turner and Andrew Van Ginkle on the field at the same time or have Van Ginkle, you know, move back to a linebacker position.

Like, it's very dynamic with Dallas Turner in the mix. Jay says Thielen will get 600 yards and four touchdowns this year. Is that what he needs to get, though? That was the fan dual question of the day is, what does he need to get statistically to justify the trade? 600 yards is a lot to ask on an offense that's going to throw the ball to Justin Jefferson a lot. Hunter says, think about the Thielen thing. is that in other years, the trade may not be worth it, even though it's the same receiver

room, but with this team, their expectations are worth it, that I agree with. And that's what I was in the initial reaction, giving them the most credit for is just biting the bullet, taking Carolina's price, and going with it. Because clearly from the negotiations, it was not the Vikings first offer. And the way that it went down yesterday, where it looked like it was going to be over for this potential trade. The Vikings have to end up going back to Carolina and then getting Adam Thielen today.

I think it was the right way to approach it. And there's going to be draft charts and there's going to be, you know, who won the trade, this and that. I don't think this is a trade that had a loser. I think both teams got off with what they needed to get, which was Carolina wanted draft capital and some cap space and some money off the books because they have other receivers that are younger. and the Vikings, they end up getting the wide receiver that they needed.

So it becomes worth it for also making that receiver room more dynamic as you're implying in a situation where this, the expectations are high. This isn't a, hey, just do a good job and everybody should be totally fine type of season. This is, you got to win. You got to be good. You have to be good. you've you've got to compete seriously you can't just oh well it's all right if it's seven or eight wins in that type of season that's where you go out and get an adam feeling when when it's real uh hero killer

what do you make of seafords comments that a possible reason the vikings kept so many udfas is because they are maxed out on cash and that they are that they are willing to spend this season well they certainly have spent a lot of cash they have put a lot of cash down that is true. But did they cut a lot of people who were veteran players that they would have had to pay more? I don't know if that's the case. I thought that the UDFA is that they kept. Okay, so, well, tight end would have been Gavin Bartholomew's sixth round rookie. So that's not why they kept them. We can go one by one on this. Joe Huber was a 10th offensive lineman. I didn't even have him keeping 10 on the 53. So that one was earned. Who else? Who else were the, uh, other

undrafted free agents. Let me think. Xavier Scott, well, they usually only keep four running backs. Maybe it's because C.J. Ham went on IR that they were able to keep Xavier Scott in the backfield. But we saw Xavier Scott earn it. Miles Price is the pot returner. He's the only guy who can do it. Chas Chambliss. Is he different in terms of cash to Gabriel Murphy? Or is he more dynamic and a special teamer? Like running through the list, I can't figure out where they moved guys who would have created way more cash. So maybe

there's something to that theory, or maybe these are just guys who had good training camps and they fill out the depth of a team, and every team has to have depth filled out by undrafted free agents. I don't know if they have a more unusual group of undrafted free agents overall

in terms of actual number. A lot of teams do have undrafted free agents. KFT, if they get 10 good games out of Thielen, four catches, 60 yards, a game, then they get quality play from Jefferson and Addison. That would be great. Yeah, I mean, even 60 yards a game is probably a lot to ask for justifying the trade. I think that I agree with the comments earlier who just said kind of depends on the plays.

If he gets a handful of big time plays, then that's going to be worth the trade. And if he doesn't or if he gets injured, then it won't. And that's pretty much it. Like, it's going to work out if he ends up getting, you know, just a handful of a very good plays. A couple of touchdowns, a couple of third down conversions and gets them through these first three games, then giving up the equivalent of a fourth round pick will definitely be worth it in my mind in a season where every single win, every single moment counts. Kit says, oh, yeah, the takes on Seafurst about the team running up against their budget.

people panicking about it. I'm just going through those undrafted free agents and I'm trying to find which one of them would have been a money decision for which position. I mean, they chose Chas Chambliss over Gabe Murphy. But I mean, maybe what he's saying is for not signing a bunch of guys who were cut. Maybe that's it. Maybe I'm taking it a little wrong. Maybe it's not signing other guys like, for example, not signing another corner to a huge dollar figure. I mean, they've spent a lot of money on the roster. They've built a really good lineup. And these undrafted free agents, I think, have done a good job to earn it.

Like, who would you pick over which undrafted free agent? I mean, maybe you're signing another running back because you don't love Ty Chandler. I mean, you don't need a 10th offensive lineman in general. So I'm just assuming that Joe Huber made that. And thinking about Chambliss, that's a key special teamer. I suppose that they could have brought in a veteran. an outside linebacker, but I don't know what the difference would be if they're happy with with him on special teams. So I don't know. I mean, maybe that's something that he's heard.

And maybe that would be a reason for, you know, and James says, what about Stefan Gilmore? Maybe that's a reason to not bring back Stefan Gilmore. But I don't think Stefan Gilmore's coming back as a backup corner. I think he's either going to play or that's it. Travis, what about McColl Hardman? I think he resigned with the Packers. So he's going to stay there with Green Bay. And I was never all that high on McColl Hardman anyway. And Jay says we need a corner to get to 11 and 6. I don't agree with that.

I mean, last year they won 14 games with Shaq Griffin and Stefan Gilmore at 35 years old and Byron Murphy. I don't think that they need one to get to that many wins. I think they need their starters to stay healthy to get to that many wins. That might be true. And look, I'm a believer that coverage is. more important in general, or is the most important thing for a defense in general. You can rush the passer, but if you can't cover anyone, you're going to get smoked.

But I think that these, this group, these starters are good enough. It's just that they have to, Rogers and Murphy have to be on the field. If those guys are out, then it all of a sudden becomes a different story. Bill, who are your top four Vikings receivers of all time, loss Carter, Jefferson is easy. I think Ahmad Rashad is the next pick, but Anthony Carter is really, really close. Sammy White's not far away. Thelan's not far away. Diggs is not far away.

It's kind of hard. J.W., where would Shaq Griffin fit on our depth chart? He would be a backup, but that's a guy who's got, who just got cut. So he, if he wants to keep playing, you know, has to find a depth spot. Jay says Harrison Phillips will be missed with his leadership and his help would have been given to the new D-Line players, plus his experience will be missed and his off-field leadership. I don't disagree with any of that, that that will be missed. Actual value of that, though, on the field.

And when you're talking about the young players, it's not like they don't have Hargrave and Allen and other veterans in that room. I think Jalen Redmond is a guy that everyone's going to talk about as we go through this season. I think Redmond is somebody who is unknown in the league, but in training camp, was really very good and when he got in last year was really very good. KFT, I hope McLeathern turns out

to be a good corner for the Vikings. I'll get a 29 McLevin jersey. You know, I don't know where you know, McLeodern stands. He made the team and I thought he rallied in the second half of training camp. I thought it was a little bit

not exactly what you'd want about midway through. And then I thought it got better for him. But he is someone that is promising. He plays the football. still a young player. So, you know, and Jay says, you know, tell us who you'd want a corner. Well, that's hard because, like, who's, how many corners are available right now?

This is the problem. And I also don't know who they think fits schematically. That's why wide receiver is so much easier because we could just look at the available receivers and go, okay, well, that guy will fit, that guy will fit. So I don't have, I don't have like a long list of names for you. I just think they probably do need to add one more, but Marl might be it. That might be it. Purple Dave, they haven't had a difference making DT since Kevin Williams retired.

Don't agree with that because Lindvald Joseph was really, really good. But difference maker in terms of pressure, that probably is true. Let's see, Grogan. Do we think Carson Wentz was ever on the radar prior to signing or was this a call me after training camp type of thing? I do think that he was on their radar from the very beginning. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Carson Wentz was somebody that maybe, and I'm not saying this happen, I'm just saying I wouldn't surprise me if they had a carrier pigeon take some plays to Carson Wentz at some point. It feels like a guy who didn't want to go through training camp. That's what it feels like.

It feels like a guy that they had their eye on the entire time and didn't want to go through camp or that they wanted to judge Sam Howell first. Give Sam Howell every opportunity and then say, hey, Carson, we'll pick you up if we don't like what we see. And they did not like what they saw. Juergen says they really surprised how much people judged Dallas Turner off 10 snaps in the preseason. Yeah, it was absurd. That was completely absurd. You're right to bring up Sharif Floyd. Totally absurd that anybody would try.

I mean, look, if you think that you can evaluate off preseason tape, you got to be very careful. making assertions off preseason tape because Gabe Murphy went out there and killed people and he ends up getting cut. Sometimes you can. Sometimes you can't. I mean, I think if you're using Max Brosmer's tape,

then you're probably getting the truth. If you're using Miles Price's kick returns, okay, I think they valued them. But as far as those 10 snap, I mean, that's just ridiculous. He had a very, very strong training camp, and now they're going to do a lot with him. Oh, Austin Keyes was another one, yeah.

that I didn't mention. But depth linebacker, special teamer, I thought that that mattered. But maybe, you know, maybe it's possible that in terms of the money thing, that you could have gone and picked up this guy off waivers or sign that one or two more veterans here or there. And they've just gotten to the point where it's like, that's enough. That's enough spending for you. That I suppose that's possible. Maybe that's something that Kevin heard.

I don't want to, you know, dismiss something that Kevin Seaford is reporting. I'm just saying I was thinking about, like, which guy would that be, like, which guy would that refer? Like, which guy didn't earn it? And, okay, Austin Keyes, maybe you could mention that might be a practice squad type of guy after they make some of these moves. You know, I don't know. Or maybe it was somebody that they thought could be a good special team or maybe that guy. Aside from that, though, I felt like all the guys. were very good and deserve to be on the roster.

It's, look, it's a team that's got a lot of depth at certain positions, and there's one or two that we're going to obsess over until they actually play a game because that's what we're doing right now. So that's kind of where we're at. Okay, we have reached the point in the show where the FCC can't come after us because we're going to hear from Drew McGarry. And I'm mostly joking. I asked Drew to kind of keep a kid friendly if he can.

Drew McGarry from Defector, not always perfect when it comes to that. But we had a great, great conversation. Earlier today, I talked with Defectors Drew McGarry. He wrote, why your team sucks. About every team in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings is an instant classic, as always, from him. So we had a great discussion about where he's at with this team, the current moves. Drew certainly wants another corner. Yeah, the guys, you guys are mentioning when it comes to the corners who are out

there. Griffin, I would be, I think it would be very happy to, uh, they'd be very happy to have back or at least they should because he played well for them last year. Definitely. Um, let's see, KFT teams are lucky to get one UFA, UFA to stick, maybe two, but six. Uh, yeah, I mean, look, they're in a spot right now where it's pretty hard, it's just pretty hard to argue that these guys didn't make the team that they didn't do enough to make the team. And if you're, if you want Joe Huber, I mean, maybe there's one other veteran linebacker you'd want or one of their veteran something. I don't know.

I don't know about that money thing. They have spent a heck of a lot, though. They have spent and spent and spent and spent. But maybe there's one more corner to come. For now, it's Fabian Morrow. He's your veteran. And this is the second time that we've led a podcast in Purple Insider history with them signing Fabian Morrow and people being.

like, oh, really? He's, these are right for a 30-year-old corner who's going to be CB5. So, all right. Well, let's get to this Drew McGarry conversation. It's a lot of fun. It's also very interesting with Drew's perspective, and he is one of the best writers in the entire universe. So always a fascinating human being. Never looks really directly in the camera.

So you'll have to work through that. But here is my good friend, Drew McGarry. If you watch the show all the time, you know that I'm a hat guy, but if you're wearing hats to cover up for your hair loss, then I've got something that can help you. It's called Hymns. If you've lost your hair, that doesn't mean you can't find it again. Try Hymns hair loss solutions, and you'll be joining hundreds of thousands of subscribers who have found their hair again. Hems makes treating hair loss simple with clinically proven ingredients that can regrow hair in as little as three to six months. Choose from personalized chewable, oral spray or serum treatments to find what works best for you. The process is simple and 100% online, so there are no uncomfortable doctor visits. Start your free online visit today at HIMS.com slash purple insider. That's himms.com slash purple insider for your personalized hair loss treatment options. Hym.com slash purple insider.

Results vary based on studies of topical and oral monocidil and Finesteroide. Prescription products require an online consultation with a health care provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See the website for full details and important safety information. All right. We welcome into the show a return guest from Defector and he has just released Why Your Team Sucks version of the Minnesota Vikings. Drew McGarry back on the show here for our annual, hey, it's right before the season. Let's check in with how Drew McGarry is feeling. What's going on, Drew?

Well, how are you feeling? I was thinking about something earlier today about how we have talked about this moment for the Minnesota Vikings for so long, JJ McCarthy starting, not having an expensive quarterback, all that stuff. It reminds me of stepbrothers where for the whole movie, they talk about the Catalina wine mixer. And then if they finally arrives, like we've made it. We've made it to the Catalina wine mixer.

It's happened. You told me to ruin my swearing. and now I can't say the fucking Catalina wine mixer. The effing Catalina wine mix. I'm not good. Well, that's where we're at. I just said that.

Yeah, yeah. It's nice to be here. Although as we record this, like I spent all of last night refreshing social media waiting for receiver news to come down. And I thought the feeling thing wasn't going to happen. So I was like, okay, well, maybe they're, you know, figuring out something with.

some other wide out that I haven't thought of yet. And then they did the feeling thing this morning. So now you think I'd be satisfied. But nope, I'm still just like refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh, corner, corner, corner, corner, corner, corner, corner, corner, corner, corner. Like those are like, if you're, if you're a Vikings fan, you know not to leave any stone unturned. Like, you know, like you can be, if you're Kansas City, you can have just an absolute dog water offense the entire season and still win the conference championship anyway.

that that's not how things work here like we have to be everything has to be nailed down perfectly so if we don't have the if we don't have a good TE3 on the roster somehow that will bite us in the ass like five months from now and uh i've certainly felt that way from viking fans going through this off season because they have locked in so many of their positions that okay defensive tackle those guys sound like they're doing great like on to the next thing what's the next thing Who can they add? What can they do? How can they be better? But the Adam Thielen move is pretty darn significant. And I won't call it completely unprecedented, but getting a player that has to be a big part of your offense right from the very beginning of the season two weeks before the season starts is a very difficult thing to do.

So getting Thielen here helps with the fact that he has all of his history with Kevin O'Connell and so forth. But what did you think of Thelan being acquired? by the Vikings. Were you thinking this is an old guy who used to play here and whatever? Or do you think this is the best option? No, I think it's the best option. I wouldn't have said that at the time we released him because when we were released him, he looked very much washed. He looked like he just wasn't ready to play anymore. He believed otherwise. And I thought that he was deluding himself, that he, that he overestimated, you know, his current abilities. And then he went to Carolina. And, you know, that's his poor organization as you ever going to see run,

particularly before Dave Canales came. And they had a quarterback who, you know, looked like Dorian Thompson, Robinson, his rookie year. Like, he looked like, he looked like he had to be, like, demoted to, like, NIA-IA football. Like, he just didn't look like he could do it. And Thielen Prosper, and he posted numbers, and he did really well. And, you know, like you said, this is not somebody that we're getting right before the season. that we're going to have to lean on for the entire season. Quarterback's a different story. But in this instance, you're talking about a guy.

You're not even renting it for the year. You're running it for essentially a month. And it's not like other months. Like if Sam Donald were still here or was an established quarterback, you could muddle through with someone like that. But in the case of J.J. McCarthy, it's someone who, you know, it's not that he needs to get off, you know, to a hot start or on the right foot. But you want to do that.

You don't want to be in the Chicago game. You don't want to start off right away, you know, having essentially a protective offense where, you know, you're in the, you're in the T formation, you know, 50% of the time because you're too scared for your quarterback to throw the ball because he's got no one to throw to. So the fact that he has someone with sure hands who knows the offense and can run routes and all that is great. Like it's, you know, I'm not stupid. I'm not like, oh, Super Bowl's on the way. it's just, okay, can this one particular little Nick in the Hulk, can this be patched up, you know, in time for Chicago and Quasi did that. So that was good. Well, and the drop off to the next best guy in terms of the resumes, pretty serious.

I mean, if they had someone else who had risen to the challenge during training camp and preseason, we might feel like, oh, I don't know if you really need to do this because you have Todd, but they don't have Todd. Yeah, yeah. nobody really they gave a lot of opportunities and nobody was that guy yeah it wasn't going to be lucky jackson like it just that wasn't ever going to happen like sometimes camp bodies even when they look good in camp are are camp bodies and this is also this is the time of the year when you know we're so dialed in on the down roster guys you know you you sort of put the you put the first ring out of mind right because you don't even you don't see them you don't see them in in preseason games and if you see them it's for a cup of coffee right so you're you know you're laser focused on

guys like Max Brosmer who ideally you you never watch them play a down during the entire season and you can get in a headspace where you know these things are not only you know top of mind but you know all of a sudden you're sort of investing far more emotional capital into it than you ought to so and and then you're talking yourself into things so it's you know oh well you know this this undrafted guy is really popping in camp well it's an drafted guy, you know? And, you know, it was nice yesterday when they had the 52. And I don't know UDFA's made the roster. It was like seven, six or seven, right? It was seven. And you can say that's a tribute to the front office for scouting these guys. But then you can also say it's a

damning indictment of the roster that this is how they have to fill it out, that they don't have enough, you know, pedigreed bodies to put in the room that they have to get all these sort of guys off the street. So, you know, I'm sort of, you know, I'm stuck in all these different head spaces and, of course, being a guest in your podcast, I always try to communicate all of them at the exact same time. So, you know, it's one of those things where I'm glad that there's clarity from the coaching staff in terms of, no, we don't have the wide receiver in the building right now.

And I know they know they don't have enough corners in the building right now. That's clear from, you know, the temp 53 that they put out. Well, let me ask you, Drew is a lifelong Viking fan question about Adam Thielen. Like, where, where is he in your pantheon? Because this team and. I mean, really, because we had this discussion, I think, last summer about Justin Jefferson's already there for what he's done. Randy Moss is there.

Chris Carter is there. Of course. And that last spot has so many players who could be there. Ahmad Rashad, Anthony Carter, Adam Thieland, Stefan Diggs. Like, there's so many wide receivers. I mean, maybe he adds to his legacy with a huge NFC change. championship reception that he reaches the ball over to just barely get the Vikings in the Super Bowl. I don't know. So maybe his legacy here is not done with. But where does he live in that

space for a franchise that has had so many of these guys? But then he's also got the unique background and the underdog story of all those things. All right. I mean, we'll hear that 500 times in every broadcast, right? We will that he's from here. I thought that was something that I was just bringing up for the first time. You know, it's nice that Elijah Williams made the roster because we'll get that story, you know, maybe we're not going to get it instead of the Thielen story. We'll get it in addition to, but at least there'll be, you know, one other scrappy gym rat underdog that we can, that they'll focus on and Chris Collinsworth can go on about for 15 minutes at a time. But I think Thielen, Thielen is one of the, you know, the best Vikings receivers

or one of the best readers of the Vikings have had, you know, in my time as a fan. But again, it's an embarrassment of riches in terms of that history, right? So was he as good as Randy Moss or Priscard? No. Was he as good as Diggs? I don't think so. I think Diggs was the better, the better wide out.

And Diggs also has the signature historic moment on his side, right? But he was just a really great or just a reliable, excellent receiver for a long time. And if they do something like put him in the ring of honor or something, I'm not going to be like, he didn't deserve that. Like, he was a really good player. Did I, did I buy his jersey? No.

But maybe one day. Yeah, maybe after he pulls off that big playoff moment, he did have a couple against the Saints. The catch that he made over Marshawn Latimore, where he got down and cracked his back in half. And then the one against the Saints in 2019 that ultimately won them the game, the over the head catch down to the goal line. I think that would probably be his. his signature catch as a Minnesota Viking. Yeah, it's short, I'm giving him short shrift because I think of Kyle Rudolph making that play. And I think Kyle Rudolph is way overreed in Vikings history. So I'd rather think of

Thielen when it comes to that game than Rudolph. Well, he did, yeah, he made an incredible catch to get him down there. And his 2018 season was overshadowed by problems between Mike Zimmer and John D. Filippo and Kurt Cousins and all that. But it was one of the best seasons ever in Vikings history at the wide receiver position. It seemed like every week we were talking about a new Randy Moss record that was being threatened by Adam Thieland during that time. So at his peak, clearly one of the best wide receivers in Vikings history. Yeah.

Let's pull out a little bit from the forest and the, let's, or the trees and let's see the, the forest of the big picture here. I was joking about the Catalina wine mixer and this being the time that we've waited for for a long time. but it really does feel like something that is not one year in the making or one off season in the making. It's really more like three years in the making from when Quasi Adolfo Mensa and Kevin O'Connell got here. They have new contract extensions from the off season, but this is finally their team. It is their quarterback. It is their draft pick. It is their selected group of

players. And Harrison Smith, C.J. Ham and Adam Thielen are really the only holdovers. And now technically they have selected Adam Thielen as their guy as well. Maybe I'm missing somebody, but I think that that's it. Everyone else has been brought here by them except for, well, Justin Jefferson. But I mean, but going back, like going because they were part of that development of Christian Darrisaw and the, I think I just said Darrison. So that was there. Yeah, Darrison, Christian Darrisaw. Right. But for the most part, this team has been put together by this group. So are you, uh, let's let's use like your words here. Are you nervous, anxious, excited, happy, pleased? Like, how do you describe your feelings at this moment?

I'm super excited. I've been excited ever since they committed to JJ this off season. And then when you guys gave word that he nailed it in the Patriots practice, the second joint practice, it was like, okay, because I, because everything about what I had heard in terms of, you know, the field reporting. And then when I saw him, and again, I don't live in Minnesota. anymore. So, you know, I'm, I'm going by, you know, I'm going by YouTube clips and I'm going

by, you know, a dozen tidly ass preseason snaps, right? But, you know, you, if you've watched the game long enough, you know, you're, you're not going to end up being, you know, Ozzie Newsommer or anything like that. But you can, I mean, you can sort of instinctively tell, okay, this looks like someone that I have, this looks like other successful quarterbacks that I have watched in my lifetime and that's what he looked like so i was extremely excited about that and what's funny is that we got toward the end of training camp when nailer got hurt and and blackman got traded and those problems started to arise like i felt uh strangely like cheated i was like whoa hey wait this wasn't supposed to be a problem right now i'll be loaded and i'm starting to feel away again

now they got feeling and i think they'll address the corner thing because they they have no other choice and I'll feel more comfortable then. And the funny thing is that so I'm both excited, but I'm also extremely defensive because like our friends of FTN don't have a very good projection for them and most people don't.

And I get that because of the, you know, because, you know, a first time starter quarterback is like a 50-50 proposition at best, right? But the rest of the offense is loaded and this whole thing has gone along a three-year plan that the Vikings have never, ever, ever followed and that few teams ever follow. And so when, you know, people are like, well, they're old, I'm like, kiss my

ass. Like, look like, you're not paying attention. Like, I know this team better than you do. And I, if I'm excited, if I am a Vikings fan, if I, a Vikings fan am excited for this season, then they must have done something really right. Because the average Vikings, fan goes into the season being like, can't wait for him to hurt me this time. I'm not ready to be hurt. I'm ready to kick some ass. Yeah, I just, I get so exhausted of the, the team average age type of thing. I think that it actually correlates inversely from what people think. They think if you have the younger team that you're going to have a lot more success, but historically, veteran teams have done a lot more winning, which makes sense because those are proven players

that have previous histories and so forth. Then I think there's a, there's a lot across the roster and even with the schedule that you could say is concerning, the fact that there are guys with injury histories, the fact that they do play Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hertz, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, like all these for now they do. Right. For now they do. I also, but that's every time you try to kind of pin one of these things down with research and data, you're like, I, I don't know. I mean, second year quarterbacks in the NFL have had a lot of success recently that that young quarterbacks have reached the Super Bowl. They have gone to NFC championships.

And especially if they have a great roster and if they're in the NFC, that combination has worked out pretty well. Older teams have had success. And even with strengths of schedule, as you said, like at this moment, it seems like, wow, you're in a lot of trouble, but you might, who knows, right, face Kenny Pickett instead of, well, they're not playing the Raiders now. How about, well, because Kenny Pickett was the backup for the Eagles last year. whoever, Sam Howell, you might face Sam Howell or Tanner McKee, you just don't really know how these things are going to play out that there's no research to prove that preseason strengths of schedule are accurate.

So all this stuff is kind of like hovering in the air of well, this could happen, that could happen to derail them. But the bottom line is how strong they are. I want your thoughts on J.J. McCarthy, but I don't want you to tell me that he just has to play point guard or if he just does his job, they'll be fine. No, I hate all that. Like all of that that's been said a thousand times because there aren't other things to say about J.J. McCarthy. Tell me something different. Like, I think that there is a very good chance that everyone expects him to be, everyone expects that offense to be sheltered, regardless of the Thielen thing, you know,

that for the first couple months of the season, that basically we're going to trot out the Greg Roman offense, right? We'll run off tackle and then we'll do a play action bootleg and all that stuff. But I think that I have a sense that Kevin O'Connell, you know, being Kevin O'Connell is, you know, more likely than not to say screw it and bombs away. And when I think that happens, I think that I'm excited to see him do it because I think that he can nail those long throws. I've seen him nail those long throws. And I'm really excited for once Addison returns because I know.

New Addison was just a special talent, you know, his first two years. But then I'm watching, you know, the footage from from this, from the summer. And it's clear that he's, he's going to level up and he has a rapport with McCarthy. So once he gets there, I feel like it's a machine after that. Like I, I am ready for, I expect, and I don't like using the word expectation. I should say I believe because expectation sort of connotes demand. But I believe that he can come in and be someone who throws for yardage sooner than we think he can be someone who throws for yards. I don't think he's going to be the 150 yards, you know, with one touchdown and zero interceptions kind of guy.

I don't think he's that sort of quarterback, even though his Michigan pedigree is kind of what created the stereotype of him coming into the league that, okay, he's going to be a game manager. he's going to be a guy who is good at handing the ball off and and saying saying important stuff in the huddle let's go or whatever but i think that he's going to i think he's going to air it out and i'm excited to see him do that is that how he's going to do it let's go that's how he's going to you know what knowing the knowing the personality of most quarterbacks in the nfl yeah basically like i've heard tom brady talk like there you know he he he says the fum more than i do but he never says it convincingly yeah yeah Right. When Tom Brady says it always sounds like it's his first swear. And he's just stealing it out. Yeah. He's a wooden puppet at Disney World. Like he's not, he's not human. Like, come on. So I find myself sometimes falling into a little bit of the, hey, if he could just game manage trap, which we probably said a million times about Sam Darnold. But where I've landed on this is that it actually was true for the first couple of weeks of Sam Darnold. Because I remember being in.

New York last year, and having said that through camp, like, hey, if he could just game manage and then hit a big shot or two down the field, like this will all be okay for Sam Darnold. And in the first game, he throws a nice touchdown on a fourth down. He finds Justin Jefferson down the sideline, let's one rip. And then aside from that, there were a few opportunities to take risks. He kind of didn't. He kept the train on the tracks. They won with defense. And then it wasn't until later on in the season where that started to kind of blossom with j j mccarthy i think that it should probably go the same way from the outset as kevin o'connell and i really want to know your thoughts on how o'connell is going to manage j j mccarthy here because i think that o'connell has to figure out

what he's seeing what he can handle what he's not handling well from the outset because in training camp there's only so much of that that you can figure out on most days i felt like j j j jmc McCarthy was taken on pretty much anything that they were throwing at him. And I really felt that way after joint practices, but it's not real until it's real with him. So I think that O'Connell has to have a really good sense, like finger on the pulse of J.J. McCarthy of when to push down and when to, all right, you know, it's not working the way we needed to work. Let's lean on Jordan Mason a little more. Let's lean on Aaron Jones a little bit more, I think that that relationship is going to be incredibly important to McCarthy's

success. I think you're wrong. I think, and I, I, I wasn't concise enough when you, when you asked me earlier, but what I think about McCarthy is that I think he already has playmaking ability, and I think that they're not going to be afraid to use it right away. And that is, you know, it's something that I, as a fan, have basically been craving ever since Dante Culpepper was here. And, you know, Dante had shortcomings that.

that were evident, even in that year when I think he was second in MVP voting, like the career year that he had. Even then, he was still hanging on to the ball too long. He was still a fumbler. And I think that with McCarthy, I get, we're getting up a guy who can make plays, but isn't going to have those same sort of sticky wickets that just that nag at you every game where you're like,

where you're just waiting for him to sort of blow it by doing something stupid or just getting ruined by a linebacker and letting go of the ball. I think that he is, I think that O'Connell already knows that he has a playmaker back there, and he wants to take advantage of that as soon as he possibly can. And look, you got the bear is the first week, and they're like, maybe they'll be okay. But then you got the Falcons the next week, and their defense is always just a bunch of slabs. So, and then the Bengals are after that, and their defense is bad. So you already have you have this setup where, you know, okay, we can play careful football this first month just so he can feel, you know, at home in the offense or whatever.

But this is the sort of guy who if he's going to feel comfortable in the offense, you're going to know it pretty quickly. And I think that O'Connell already knows that. I think that, you know, I think you have a better sense of this because last year you got the sense in training camp that they knew that they were sitting on something. special. I would imagine they have that same feeling right now, but you would be the one who would be able to intuit that better than me because I'm not around the team. I walked out of the joint practices and over to where we do the press conferences and watched Kevin O'Connell get out of his golf cart and walk up to the podium and or lectern for all you. Beaming like a new dad, right? There was a look. There was a look there of, oh, that was it.

it. That was what we've, now, then they had, you know, they had a scrimmage and they had a few more practices. But for all intents and purposes, that is the end of training camp. And that is the most important two days for Kevin O'Connell and to stand there and watch his, you know, the thing that he's been working on for a long time, perform like that. I do think it was really exciting. But when it comes to pushing the gas pedal down, this is where O'Connell is going to have to manage his excitement because if J.J. McCarthy makes one or two great plays as you're talking about or downfield throws, that doesn't mean go full Darnold where you forget to run for entire quarters. Like they have built in a lot more than they had last year. When we go through like

what Sam Darnold had versus what J.J. McCarthy has, look at the guard position. Look at the backfield. I have very different looks for those spots. So I don't mean to say that O'Connell needs to start out him in in just full like Tim Tebow offense mode where he throws six passes or so what I'm saying is that I think you need to get a feel for that by doing things that are easy button type stuff play actions and getting ahead of the sticks with the running the football and then just start to feel out where those strengths are but would I be surprised if he came out and just said you know we're we're going you know 35 passes first game of course of course I would not be shocked by that. But in an ideal world, you get up 10 points against Chicago and you manage your way

to the end and then you go to Atlanta or back home to face Atlanta and Cincinnati. But the first half of the season, though, you know, there's no joke in Pittsburgh when, you know, with them and their defense overseas. And then Cleveland's going to have a good defense. Like there's going to be, I think, some moments to push it down and some moments to back it off. You know, there's a middle ground. And so, you know, I didn't want to, I don't want to infer that they're just going to run the same sort of play calling that they did a year ago with Darnel. Because they have, they have two running, two capable running backs now and they have a good interior line. So they'll utilize the run. But knowing O'Connell, you know, he's going to want to, he's going to want to sample the boys' downfield throwing ability.

And if he gets a little, it gets a little taste of it, he's going to. going to want to see more. And I think, I think that McCarthy's going to want to do more. He's going to say, I can handle this. Give this to me. I want to do this. And you can, you know, you can go bombs away and still run the ball 20 to 30 times a game. I think he's excited that he's going to, I think that O'Connell is excited that he has a quarterback who may very quickly develop into a weapon. And he's going to want to use that weapon, not necessarily just every down. He's not going to throw 50 yards down the field every down, but he's not going to be afraid to unleash the dragon when he needs to, you know, if it's, you know, third and long or whatever. If we're up

20 points in a game and he's still hucking the ball, okay, that's stupid. Like, learn to run the ball, Kevin, all right? But I, I think that he, I think he now feels like he has the full sort of arsenal at his disposal. And knowing him, he just, he likes firing off that machine gun. more often than he likes firing off a handgun. When it comes to McCarthy, I've been just trying to fiddle around with comparisons. Who does he have to be this year? Who could he be like?

Who could he play like? What's his upside? All those things. What do you got? What do you got for JJ McCarthy? Who he has to be this year and who he could be long term? I think it's one in the same. I don't.

I believe that. he will be more of a finished product soon this year like within this season then us having to wait like you know how like Jordan Love still gets treated as like a project even though he's like 27 years old yeah and is a proven interception machine like this is what you know it's different with McCarthy where he really does you know he has to be on the field but I think he is so primed for this and so physically talented that I think that I think he's that that can happen really quick. And so, you know, my hope would be, you know, I'm trying to think of a good comp, because I don't want to throw out like Matt Ryan, because Matt Ryan's boring and

annoying. I don't want Matt Ryan. That's exactly my comp. Yeah. I mean, you know, I think like, he's not that boring. The ceiling that you, the ceiling that you want, like the daydream ceiling is Steve Young. That won't be, that won't be right. Right. Right. So it would be like Tampa Steve Young at first. Or it's Steve Young, Steve Young when he was doing relief duty for, for Montana. There you go. Okay. That seems that that's like a deep in the weeds like 1991 comparison.

Yeah, but I'm old so I can do that. It is true. The reason that I want to go with Matt Ryan is because I feel like size wise, they're kind of similar and the things that they do best are similar. Like McCarthy doesn't get rattled in certain situations. He's got command. he's got confidence he's got a good enough arm good enough accuracy but it's not flawless and he can move like matt ryan was an no early in his career no early in his career no early in his

yeah he could make he was a playmaker McCarthy is not going to run for 400 yards like matt ryan was definitely that guy early like i'm talking very first matt ryan roddy white era matt ryan tony gonzalez era matt ryan i'm not talking about the indianapolis Colts quarterback who authored the biggest lead lost in NFL history. So, uh, okay, what about give me, give me like two random things from the rest of the roster that are pinging around your brain all summer long. Like what, what is in your, it doesn't have to be concerns, but just that you can't stop thinking about.

I've been thinking a lot about Addison. Um, and I, we, we, we discussed to that. Uh, I, I'm, I'm unsure about T.J. Hawkinson, like, you know, the way that we have framed it is that he'll be a great security blanket, and he'll be, you know, he'll be the guy that JJ relies on when, you know, when there are 10 defenders covering Justin Jefferson or whatever. But he was not the same player when he came back last year. And that's understandable, right? Because he got Kirby Joseph real bad before that. But in light of what. happened with Mackay Blackman because Mackay Blackman clearly has just not fully recovered from an knee injury

and he probably never will and that sucks but you know it's a reminder and we talked about this off the air that modern medicine is incredible but doesn't bat a thousand right so I can't necessarily just I think it's be stupid for me to assume

that he's just automatically going to be the T.J. Hockinson of two years ago. So what happens then? You know, okay, I've seen I've seen Josh Oliver drop passes and I've seen him fumble the ball and I hate it. When past catchers fumble the ball, that's the worst fumble ever because you're like, hey, ah, and you want to die. So I've been thinking about where he fits in all of this.

And then also, this is not new, but like we have the tools to have an effective screen game, but will we? And I think about that because I remember reading about Andy Reed and the Chiefs and how they their screen game is fantastic but it like it is the product of just absolute meticulousness in practice and how they do it and making sure that

you know everyone's in everyone's got their marks you know all the blocking is to use stage hand lingoes all the everyone hits their marks everyone's you know where they're supposed to be and I think this will be a good test of whether or not Kevin O'Connell can engineer a good screen game when he has all of the things on hand that he needs to make that happen. And if he can't, then I'm going to give him a little bit of a side eye the way that I do

whenever he calls a trick play. Yeah, as long as they don't call trick plays, then they're in good shape. But I will say, Justin Jefferson got a lot of throws in during this preseason because he was, when they were running warmups for wide receivers, Jefferson, who is sidelined was throwing all the routes. So his arm is in great shape. I know. I'm just saying that you could see O'Connell being like, that's right. He really does throw the ball quite well. We need to do that. But the screen game was probably the thing that impressed me the most throughout the summer as far as, hey, what's different about the O'Connell offense? Because I think so much of the

screen game is the big guys. And with Donovan Jackson, he is a threat in the screen game because he is legitimately fast and athletic and can work in space. Do you look good? Are you sold on him being legit? Um, oh, that's not yes. Well, okay, so here, here's the trouble with that is, am I sold on him being legit in two years? I think is very, very possible because he is a really intelligent dude.

He's got a little bit of grit to him. And I think that he's going to grow as, yeah, but I need him to not suck now. That's, that's hard to guarantee. Now, I think that he had a better camp, maybe a much better camp than what we had seen from Ed Ingram. Who hasn't? I got a better camp than Ed Ingram. Right.

So I think that Jackson's going to be in the right places. And I think he's going to understand what he's supposed to do. I don't think that he's a lunger. When I see somebody's a lunger, I'm out. So, you know, who just throws himself at the defender because these guys are just too good and they'll go right by you. What Jackson is is kind of, he's kind of a hanger on. like Dalton Reisner was this way, where you'd be like,

Dalton Reisner was two inches from Sam Darnold, but he didn't give up the sack. And there was a lot of that with Donovan Jackson, where he's getting pushed back, but he's going to keep fighting and he's going to hang on for dear life. I think he can survive the early part of the season because they don't play anybody terrifying. Pittsburgh is where I'd be a little bit worried there.

They have one of the best defensive lines in the NFL. Yeah. Cleveland is still very good. You go on Philadelphia. I mean, like, it gets real. Detroit has a really good deal on. But at the beginning of the season, there is a little bit of a nice ramp up

to defensive tackles around the NFL. I don't think he's going to suck. And I think that where he's going to be a plus is in the run game and in the screen game, where Vikings fans have not seen a guy do the stuff that he could do at the guard position athletically. I don't even know what you're going to have to tell me because not since I've been covering this team.

No, I, it's, it's been a, I mean, really it's been sort of like primed Dalvin Cook was, I think, sort of the last time, right? And that was a lot of that was on Cook, right? Right. I don't, you know, I'm not going to. You're right, because they had Josh Klein that year. Yeah, so they had some athletes up there. But the Cook himself was, was so good at it.

So, and I know that, you know, I know Aaron Jones is, is still, you know, has a lot of dexterity out of the backfield, but he's still, he's not the player. He wasn't Green Bay. So, you know, it'll be incumbent on. guys like Don than Jackson, you know, to make sure he, that the back doesn't get his shit ruined right before the sticks. Like, that's, that's important because that's what's been happening a lot. Oh, I'll tell you the other thing.

I'll tell you the thing that's really been sort of I've been obsessing over privately is Jurgens. Is, you know, right? Because if Jurgens sucks, then we're caught in a lot of ways we're right back where we started. And that's a problem. If he is not getting the snap to McCarthy all that well, God forbid, if he pulls Ned Ingram and steps on the kid's foot, you know, on like half the plays, like, I'll go nuts. I'll be so annoyed about that because I can't count on Ryan Kelly to last 17 games. I can't count on anybody to last 17 games because it's inhuman to play 17 football games.

But, you know, that strikes me as, like I said, because I'm a Vikings fan, I'm always looking for the thing that's going to bite us in the ass at the end. I'm like, who's going to be the Waswasaronga of this year, right? Well, you know, Michael Juergens, you know, you can tell me that they like him, but that doesn't mean Dick to me. You know, he's a seventh rounder from Wake Forest who, you know, has not had any real NFL experience. That is a much more concerning case to me than J.J. McCarthy because of McCarthy's pedigree and athletic profile and all that stuff.

On this one, I would totally agree. And normally when people bring up Indeastern. I'm like, eh, or when people bring up backup center depth, which around the league, I don't think backup center depth is all that good. It's mostly seventh rounders from Wake Forest, but where, you know, a few years ago, they brought in Mason Cole and there was an injury and he did well. And they needed in 2022. Actually, it was an Austin Slobman injury that kind of threw them way off. That's right. Oh, that was. Oh, that sucked. That's right. That's right. Because he had done a pretty solid job filling in those were guys who had played in the league before and this is

where it would be concerning to me jurgens the snap issues if you look at the numbers it's not like he was dominating in either one of these preseason for a guy that you might have to use for a lot of snaps and even if it is 13 games from ryan kelly by value that's pretty good for what they paid for them and everything else but that could be the four games that swing the season and if you have to go into Philadelphia with a rookie Donovan Jackson and a backup center while you're not in Philadelphia going to the Philadelphia game in Minnesota or look the Rams or no the Chargers I mean are on the schedule the Chargers have the top defense of the league they've got good defensive tackles like there's a lot there that you're going to have to overcome if you are Michael

Juergen so it could be pretty challenging if he's got to play more than a game or two and that might be a regret that they look back and say why didn't we try to bring in just one more guy who had had a little bit of experience. And I guess it's probably because they do believe in what they've seen from Michael Juergens in the past that hasn't always been predictive for offensive line. I have two more questions for you, though, Drew, two more questions. I don't want you upset. I can't have you obsessing over the backup center for more than like three minutes on the show.

You know, the other thing is because it's, it's also who's the next center because if Kelly gets hurt or whatever, then that, that is a hole that has to be. filled all over again because I'm not buying it like, okay, if Kelly doesn't work out, oh, we're set it in the next 10 years anyway with Juergens like, mm, no. Okay, I'm done talking about that. All right. So question one of two is expectations, what is a successful season for you? How many wins does it have to be? Where does it have to end for you to feel really good about this? Oh, we'd have to be 10 plus wins and a, uh, in a playoff victory too. Yeah. I, I don't want to modify any of my, you know, hopes just, you know, I did a good job last year with Donald

where I'm just, hey, I'm just taking it as a goes, man, just going to smoke a bone and watch the game and what happens, happens, brother. And I was a good way of going about it. And I could do that because Donald was disposable. He was on one year deal, right? It's a bit trickier this time because this is, you know, the three-year plan. And so this is, you know, this is your dream house of a roster right now. And if it burns, that's going to, that's not going to feel so good.

But what I, I believe that McCarthy would be good. I believe that the roster is very good. And so I believe that they have the ability to have a winning season despite the schedule and to win a playoff game. And if they do that and if they, you know, if they get pounded in the divisional round because they had to go to Philadelphia or something like that, well, it'll suck because Eagles fans are annoying. But, you know, that always sucks.

I will still, you know, there's still going to be a next. It's not going to be like the Donald season or the Farr season or the Cunningham season where, you know, you suddenly have a championship window open, but also it's just like it's the size of a porthole on a ship, right? You get this year and if it doesn't happen this year, well, then see you again next decade. I won't have that lingering sort of irritant if we get, you know, if we get Blair Walsh in or you know early in the playoffs well and that's a good sort of test case for it because even though history did not prove successful in 2016 it ultimately did in 17 when the arrow was clearly up

for the viking organization when they lost to seattle which maybe took some sting out of it that there was something on the horizon at that moment no one knew what was going to happen to teddy bridgewater but i think the point is the same that if you get double digit wins and you win a playoff game, you're going to feel like this thing is right on the edge of something. And I think that that is a fair standard. And just in terms of the playoffs, like, of course, everyone should say for them to win the Super Bowl, obviously. But, you know, after, but if you, if you don't win a playoff game and now we're this far into KOC and KC without a playoff win, I don't think that's great for them. I think that they need that. They kind of need to get that monkey off their back to

use Steve Young's words of getting a playoff win and prove that they can do it and not get outcoached into playoff games. See, that's the thing. That's the thing is that it's not that they lost those games. It's that they got so completely outclassed on the sideline. And then, of course, on the field too. So, you know, I would like a playoff appearance that doesn't leave me feeling like we are fundamentally worse than the opponent. Like I, you know, if it's bad, luck okay fine that's football just you know only one team can win the super bowl every year love it's in position where you're going up against sean macbay and he is just beautiful minding all over your ass and and and by the end it's like it's like a joke like i can't that that i would i would be quite

displeased about that okay last thing national football league the other 31 teams you've got a football podcast sort of i do what uh what uh what on your football podcast from the other 31 teams has dominated the conversation. Oh, dominated the conversation. Yeah, what's been at the front of mind for as we are now just days away from the National Football League, National Football League, 2025 National Football League season. I, you know, I'll give you the, the hot take that I had with, I just talked about it with David Roth on our podcast, the distraction from Defector.

And ESPN's Kailen Kailer was with us on it And she actually agreed with me We both thought the New York Giants Would be good this year Oh really? Okay Yeah because It's because of the defensive line

So it's Abdul Carter Who you know is going to be legit Dexter Lawrence who's insane Kavon Tibado Brian Burns That's a New York Giants team Like that is Don't that's the sort of defensive line

That has won Super Bowls more than once for the New York Giants. And I think that Jackson Dart will take over a quarterback faster than expected because Russell Wilson is just whatever. And James Winston's a total bum at this point. So they may as well go with the rookie wall

they're there. And they've got Malik neighbors for him to lob passes too. So it's actually not all that different from what McCarthy is being set up for. They're a worse team than the Vikings. It's like they have worse coaches and, and they have, they have a worse roster. But that defensive strength, and they also, they added, they had Javon Hall and they added Pulse and Adibo in the back. So I feel like that's the sort of team where they end the season 10 and 7, you're like, how'd that team go 10 and 7?

Well, it's because they had a great defense and they won every game, you know, 20 to 16. You just didn't ever watch it. That sounds like Purple Insider opinion adjacent to where, you know, all last year, the Giants are getting crushed. their front office, their general manager. How could they let go, Sequin Barclay? Because instead of four wins, they would have had five or whatever for last year. I mean, to me, that was the smartest thing that they could have done was move on from Saquan Barclay.

They just looked like such boobs when they were doing it. Right. Yes. Yeah, right. Now, releasing the video of that conversation is maybe not the best idea. But their team building has actually been the right way to rebuild, including drafting Jackson Dart, take a shot on a first round quarterback. bringing in a veteran just in case,

loading up your defensive line, getting a star wide receiver. Like all these things are the right boxes to check for the Giants. I don't know if they're there yet, but I agree that I wouldn't be shocked if Dallas just completely comes apart and the Giants finished third in that division. Yeah, Dallas sucks. And Washington's, you know,

everyone's got them aiming for regression. But honestly, now that now that both Kalin and you have sort of agreed with me, now I'm not really, now I'm like, oh, well, they're going to go four and 13. They're going to suck it out. You didn't ask me why the Vikings suck, by the way. Oh, yeah.

Well, you know, why do the Vikings? I've read the article, but you had so many things you wanted to talk about. What do you want to say about your brilliant written work of the year? This must have been, how many versions of this is it for why the Vikings suck and every other team? I've been doing this. I don't know, 15 years. I've been doing this a lot, a lot. long and you know god bless the viking they always give me a reason to complain so i guess i can't

can't be too mad at them i will say this though and i didn't write this but if they can't make this work the way that they've set everything up you know the coaches that they got everybody's in sync the ownership the front office the coaches the players they're all buying in we'd love to use the word buy in right if if they can't make this work i'm not saying i'm going to going to believe in curses because that's stupid that's for babies right but i i'm going to i'm going to say okay well then i don't know i guess i'm just going to have to sit around and hope that one of these randall cunningham years pops up again and they actually win the super bowl like because you can't plan it any better than they've planned it so i kind of need this to work if it doesn't

i'm going to be so pissed because like i'm almost 50 man i'm going to die they got to do this that was kind of the impetus of where you set it up i don't want to ruin it it's a great article why the bike you suck go check you can ruin it but but the start you begin by talking about just the the number of times that we've had these pop up and fraud type seasons and then you know maybe this is more of a process that has been proven and makes a little more sense and i'm really sick of you know i i hate it when we have those pop up seasons and then we lose and then every other asshole is like told you they're frail i hate that it's so so annoying and then meanwhile like the packers fart out 10 wins and it's like oh my god they're so amazing

love is real they should marry taylor swift like it's like i i don't like that we're always treated like the uh like the side kick to the fucking green bay packers you're going to have to delete you're gonna have to believe that one but i said i said the i said the i said you could have one and you almost said it with the catalina wine mixer thing at the beginning but that's i think i kind of did but that's your one you know you slurred it as long as it's not so much the fucking catalina wine mixer there it is there it is he just can't help himself folks uh anyway drew thank you for the shout out in the article by the way i really appreciate you and your support through the many years of purple insider watching this thing come together some years were a lot

harder than others to cover. But now we are in a very interesting spot with this Vikings team. So we sure are. We sure are. Football, football, football, that's it. That's all I'm going to give you. Yeah, that's it. There's Drew McGarry, great conversation with him.

Couldn't keep him off the swear button completely, but he tried his best. Just a couple things to add before I close. One is that tomorrow, Quasi Duffel, Menta, Kevin O'Connell, Carson Wentz, Adam Thiel, and are all going to speak with us. So we will have a recap of that from TCO Performance Center with myself and Dane Mizatani. That will air tomorrow night at 7.30 is when we'll start the live stream tomorrow night. Also, here's what I did. I called up Matt Ryan because I saw a lot of you guys were giving me a hard time about the Matt Ryan comparison. and I called up his scouting report from NFL.com when he first came into the NFL,

not 35-year-old Matt Ryan, not even the version that we saw in like 2016, but when he first came into the league. And I agree with you guys that he was not a running quarterback. And I think that with McCarthy, he is going to scramble a little more than Matt Ryan. But I'm going to read you the strengths category of Matt Ryan from when he came out in the draft from Lance Zeerline of NFL.com. you tell me who this sounds like, okay? More of a short-to-intermediate passer, but does a good job going through progressions

and is limber enough to make those throws well on the move. Very accurate passer when flushed out of the pocket, but has the strength to step up and absorb punishment, shows balance and body control to throw the ball across his body from outside the hash is demonstrating good lateral slide, you had a good, apparently a shuttle drill for his position, has a quick drive-back. from the center to the throwing point, setting his feet properly before delivering the throw. Good team leader who puts in the extra hours in the film room and training room, good lifter who plays with a fiery attitude and won't back away from confrontation. He has

very good game management skills, making quick decisions while generally showing proper judgment, cool under pressure, knows how to step up and avoid the bull rush, seems to have ice water running through his veins and is never rattled despite facing fierce pass rush has complete command of the huddle and the training staff calls him one of the toughest players to ever wear a bc uniform a lot of that stuff there sounds j j mccarthy like that's why i kind of like the early matt ryan comparison where he would throw on the run and could move around in the pocket and could make plays mccarthy will scramble more but a lot of that stuff kind of matched up so that's why i made the comparison to matt ryan anyway all right

Another epic stream for us tonight. Hope you guys enjoyed those interviews with Judd Zulgad and with Drew McGarry. This is going to be the plan going forward, folks. We're going to be streaming at night, going to be playing interviews, going to be answering your questions. So if you've enjoyed this, continue to pop in, add to the conversation, ask questions, argue with each other, have a good time in the comments. And we'll be doing all the interviews that I do are going to run on the show in the evening. We'll post some of them separately if you didn't catch them, but that's kind of how we're doing things. This is a little bit of a new structure, but I've really enjoyed it, especially because of how much you guys have seemed to enjoy it as well.

So look forward to tomorrow night. We'll catch you all then. Football.