Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings will host joint practices with the Patriots -- good idea? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: May 20, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about how the Vikings made it official that they will host the Patriots for joint practices during training camp. Do we like joint practices? Also let's start getting some hot 2025 takes going.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here, and we have reached the point in the offseason where I'm going to tell you the truth. The news is not so hot out there, which means what I would like to do on the show tonight is turn up the heat a little bit in the comments section. So before I get into the one news item that we have regarding the Minnesota Vikings, and then a list that I made to celebrate five years of Purple Insider. And then later on this evening,

we introduce a new intern to the mix, which will be a pretty fun later on tonight. I want hot takes. I want your hot 2025 Minnesota Vikings or NFL opinions, opinions that you think are either pretty spicy or that if you went into a bar and you're talking with your buddies and you said, you know what guys, I think this is going to happen this year that they would be like, whoa, dog, let's calm down. How about some takes like that for the comment section? And then I can react and tell you maybe a one to 10, how spicy you are, or just how crazy you're being. But the one news item for today is that the Minnesota Vikings made it official

that they will be hosting a joint practice with the new England Patriots. And this is something that the Vikings under Kevin O'Connell have really seemed like they enjoy doing. Remember last year we talked a ton about the Cleveland Browns joint practice that was on the road. Actually now we've got some news here coming in from Tom Palisero about the updated language on proposals from the Packers and Lions. So we'll get to that in just a minute too, and your takes.

That's interesting that the owners are having a meeting here in Minneapolis, not one that media is going to or having a big presence at, like the owners meetings in Florida. Don't ask me why exactly, but they are looking at some of the proposals for, uh, reseeding after the first round of the playoffs. And then the other one is the tush push. And I'll just get to it right now before I get into the whole other thing, which is, uh, Tom says that now the Packers, rather than just banning the tush push,

he, the, uh, they are proposing to go back to the old rules where from 19, whatever football starting to 2005, you couldn't push guys with the football. And then after 2005, you could. So now they want to go back to not doing it. And maybe there's an argument for health and safety or something there. And I'll have to try to read and understand a little bit better what the proposal is for receding the teams in the playoffs by regular season record so i was. Struggling understand whether they want to recede after the first round or if they just want to see by regular season record but you guys have heard me talk about that one I am very much on the pro side of if you win 14 games You shouldn't travel to a team that won 10 games. No matter what just shouldn't work that way

And I know that there are some people who really care about division banners I don't care as much about division banners as I do about Playoffs and who gets the right seed based on how good they were. So we'll see how that ends up playing out. But okay, let me swing back to the New England Patriots joint practices. This is something Kevin O'Connell would prefer to preseason games. I think that's become very clear that in preseason games the last couple of years, he has treated those like pure tryouts for the younger players, guys who are trying to make the roster,

guys who are on the bubble of being cut, undrafted free agents, because he has started almost nobody outside of last year, they played some of the starters at the first series. I think it was one series Sam Darnold played last year. And I remember in 2022, he said he was planning on playing Kirk Cousins for a single series. And then I think he was out with COVID that day or something for why he didn't

play. And I don't think that he played at all in 2023 in the preseason. If he did, it was one series and I don't remember it. It's clear that O'Connell views the joint practices as a better warmup for the starters than the actual preseason games. And I think that makes a lot of sense. And this is one thing about the O'Connell and quasi Adolfo Mensa Minnesota Vikings is that everything seems to have a reason for it. And maybe we just feel that way because we get explanations.

What i can't connell has said to us before that the reason he likes these things is they can work stuff out they can actually do some schematics stuff against each other but you're also taking not as much of the injury risk as long as nobody goes crazy and they have a fight in aaron donald swings a helmet. as long as nobody goes crazy and they have a fight and Aaron Donald swings a helmet. Uh, that didn't happen at a Vikings joint practice, but it did happen at a joint practice. So far there have been pushing and shoving one guy, Tier tart got thrown out of a joint practice. It was very physical a couple of years ago against Tennessee. Very, very physical against Tennessee. But overall that physicality has not resulted in too many injuries.

Last year when Jordan Addison got hurt in Cleveland, it was him going up for a football and twisting his ankle on the way down. It wasn't like they were doing something, uh, in that practice that was harming Jordan Addison for him to get hurt. And there was another injury too. I think it was, uh, Thayer Thomas also got hurt, but I don't think it was because of anything outside of just usual football stuff, jumping and falling.

So it's physical and it's aggressive and it can be schemed and they can put guys in very, very physical drills like special teams drills. This is how nausea Thompson made the team a couple of years ago is they had special teams drills where you're having one guy who's playing as the gunner and the other guys trying to stop them and they race to this pylon thing I've never seen them do it in a regular practice but in joint practices they do it and it gets pretty chippy as they're going down the field I think it helps them evaluate players a lot better than in a kind of cartoon preseason setting.

And we have reached the point of preseason games in general, where they are a bunch of guys dressing up in Minnesota Vikings clothes who are not Minnesota Vikings. And I always feel bad for the fans. And here's one thing that I wish they would do. I wish they would hold these joint practices in a stadium for people to come see. I mean, even if it was like the gopher stadium or I don't remember how many people Mankato fit, but a US bank stadium might be a little aggressive for a

joint practice, but maybe not. I mean, the interest in this team is so significant, but then again, the reason to do it is TCO Performance Center and the teams get to come out and they get to be in those facilities and everything for a couple days. That's the selling point. But I also think that a joint practice would be every bit as popular as a preseason game. And I don't think that this is all possible at all in any way. But here would be my proposal on the day of a preseason game, they should hold the joint practice right before the preseason game.

So they come out and they do the joint practice, which means, I mean, in the previous years, we've seen incredible plays like highlight level, amazing catches from Justin Jefferson, great throws from Sam Darnold great defensive performances that were way more memorable to those there the fans or us covering in and meant a lot more to the evaluation and to the preparation of the season than Anything that we saw him preseason. I mean think about last year, you know, Bo Richter, I think helped his status Dwight McClother and like a couple of guys who were probably going to make the team anyway. But the preseason has become almost a little bit more of just, Hey, like we're getting ready for football together and let's all just be watching

something that sort of looks like the Vikings, even those post game podcasts are really difficult to do. It's like, what's our biggest takeaways? Dwayne McBride didn't look that good. Like, I don't know, it's really hard to do in that setting. But if there was some way they could do a joint practice with all the starters before, so they're not actually playing,

the physicality is not there. And then you bring on the pre-season game where you're seeing the guys who are struggling to make the team are fighting to make the team that would be my way to do it i don't think it will ever really happen but if you get your hands on some tickets to come out and see a joint practice it is very exciting it really is and. It is very exciting. It really is. And it's clear that Mike Vrabel and Kevin O'Connell have built a relationship. And I think the Patriots are a great team for the Vikings to have a joint practice with because you know a Vrabel team is going to be well coached and you know they're going to be physical. But I also can't wait to see Drake May and JJ McCarthy on the same field. So this will be exciting to just have that and be able to see some takeaways,

compare and contrast what does Drake-May look like. I think we all know that the Vikings may have wanted Drake-May, but May and McCarthy, it's not really May versus McCarthy because they're on opposite fields. So it's not like they're going back and forth and keeping score, but getting those two in the same place at the same time, uh, will be as good a sports as we can get for the middle of summer.

So I think that the philosophy though, overall by Kevin O'Connell to treat those like preseason games for the starters and then have the preseason games be essentially tryouts is probably the right logical way to do it, but I do feel bad for fans that come to the games because this is always my suggestion. If you buy preseason tickets, get there super early because usually the starters will go out and they'll be on the field and they'll be warming up and maybe sign in some autographs or you know,

going over to fans and playing catch with the football or something. And that's the most you're going to see from them. And I know that this is the right way to do it from a football perspective, but with the Mike Zimmer era, when they had Kirk Cousins play an entire first half in the third preseason game, like that was much more real for the fans to be able to see. And now it's just kind of, well, you get to go inside the stadium,

you get to see the team in Minnesota Vikings helmets and that's about it. But these joint practices with the Patriots will be more of a highlight for evaluation than any of those pre-season games. So guys, 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,

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All right, I got one other thing for you. And then let's get to some takes guys. Let's get to some turn up the spice. There's nobody who's ever gonna hold you accountable for any of these takes. So make them hot, but let's get up. Let's get some predictions. Let's get some opinions going about the NFL off season, the Vikings that we can

have some fun with because it's a terrible day outside weather wise and there's no real news. And the only thing that I see when I scroll social media about the Vikings, the biggest story today, so every day, this is just part of low behind the scenes process. Every day I Google Minnesota Vikings to see what the top things that come up are. And you know, if I missed anything or if there's some story that everybody's into that I kind of don't care about, well, okay, shy be putting that in a headline, should I be writing about it?

And the number one thing today, and this is why, like this is for you, hot takes, but also questions. Always we'll take questions for sure. I mean, the number one thing today on Google was Ty Felton puts on a Vikings jersey for the first time. There was a article that said, Ty Felton shows off his new threads. Like the third round pick putting on a Jersey is the top story, which

means that we can have a lot of fun, kick our heels back and, and get some hot takes, but there's one more thing I wanted to bring to you guys before I get to yours. So throw those in the comment section now. Uh, so I can,, so I can have them. But it's five years, five year anniversary for Purple Insider. I'm very excited about this, that we made it five years. I did not know if it was gonna make it one year

when I first started it, that's for sure. When I launched it, had no idea, will anybody sign up? Will anybody come over from the old radio show to the podcast? And it has not only become something that I can do full time, but also that I have been able to bring all my friends along with me. So Jonathan Harrison working as the producer, he was also a producer on the radio with me and Manny Hill, Brian Murphy, Jeremiah Searles, all your favorite guests that come in every week. I've been able to build this little crew and so forth.

So I am feeling very thankful for all the support that I've gotten over this five years. And what I'm doing is, of course, making content out of it. So I put together a list of the 10 best games of the, let's call it the Purple Insider era. So I want to show you that list over on the newsletter and you guys can toss in other ones and react to those and get your questions, your takes going.

Well, I'm going over this list. So I will share my screen with you so I can show you the list. And you're going to, I think, notice a trend with this list. Let me see if I can get this right shape. Okay, how about this? Okay, there we go. Get me in the corner.

So, I'll thank you very much, Steve, for the super chat. Really appreciate that. So, let's take a look. And I did not do this in any particular order, but you will notice there's a lot of Justin Jefferson on this list. So I did it in chronological order. Just to take you back a little bit in 2020, uh, my radio station shut down in amid the pandemic right after the draft.

So it was in may. So this game of Justin Jefferson's debut was the first or I'm sorry, the second home game that I covered as purple insider because they opened up against green Bay and that was not good. And then they went to Indianapolis and there was no travel at that point. So I didn't go. And then this one was the third third game and just to talk a little bit about this. This is one of my favorite games ever. We had no idea what Justin Jefferson was going to be because Justin Jefferson had missed a lot of practice because he had gotten COVID and then they didn't have training camp in a normal way.

They had training camp. It was kind of truncated. It was shortened and Justin Jefferson, we really just didn't get a great sense for what he was going to look like as an NFL player. And then for him, those first two weeks, because he had had that shortened training camp, those first two weeks, he came out and was playing mostly in the slot. And was it really getting a whole heck of a lot of opportunity just a couple of catches and in this game the way he exploded and it's. Really one of the coolest moments i've ever seen from an NFL player is Jefferson catching the seventy five yard touchdown The way that he did it though,

for his first sort of welcome to the NFL or welcome everybody else to my NFL for Justin Jefferson is he catches the ball and he's out in front of the defensive back and he's got an edge on him. But there's another DB coming over to try to make the tackle. And the way that he cut back, broke the tackle and then gridded into the end zone with the football on his hands was one of those like this, this is greatness. My friends greatness has arrived in the NFL. And so that was definitely one of my favorite games. It

came down to the wire. The Vikings did not end up winning. It was a shootout, but we knew walking out of that building. And also think about too, you might have somebody have like natural energy and okay, all right, they're going to go crazy and dance into the end zone or something. There was no fans there that day at all. And I mean, with no fans at all in the stands for him to still pull that off was, was really, I mean mean something that is impossible to forget So let me see if I can make this on the screen well now. I'm on the wrong side of the screen

Okay, how about that now that still looks weird? Okay, I just felt like I was in a little box. Okay. That's better. That's pretty good. Let's do it that way So I don't feel so tiny on the broadcast here. So that's one. Uh, the next one for my favorite games of the purple insider era was unfortunately Greg Joseph Smith's against Arizona. And this list is on purple insider.football. You can read the entire thing. I don't have to go through that game too much, but it was one of the most back and forth, crazy Rondale Moore scores, a wild touchdown, exciting games that they've played in the last five years.

It just came down to a Greg Joseph miss. And I ran across a really truly crazy stat about Greg Joseph's game, uh, is that during his entire career, he has only missed one kick between 30 and 40 yards. And it was that kick. Of course, right? Of course it was. But in this one, something else happened to this was a KJ Osborne breakout game, which I think it's a, should serve as a reminder.

And I wrote about that here. You could see, uh, serve as a reminder that the Vikings have one of the best wide receiver coaches in the entire NFL and Kenan McCardell and that Kevin O'Connell made a very smart move keeping Kenan McCardell, uh, rather than firing him and hiring his own wide receivers coach. And KJ Osborne hasn't done much since, but in 2021 he was a breakout star and that was under Zimmer. But, uh, I think that Jefferson campaigned, I think he said that he campaigned for McCardell to stay. So that was a smart move, but this one, this was the Rondale more touchdown

game, uh, between the two quarterbacks. It was something like 750 yards passing. Crazy game. The next one on the list is the shootout against the Packers in 2021. If you guys remember that one, that was Adam Thielen catch along the sideline to win that game. When we really knew that the Vikings offense was not, or I'm sorry, defense was not going to be good enough, but they were still fighting for a playoff spot and got to 500 after the horrible start in 2021 by winning that game against the Packers.

But that was a 75 yard touchdown for Aaron Rodgers. And then Kirk responds. That was a good one. And that was also fans back in the stands for the first time against the Packers. Next one on the list. This is a great image I want to show you guys is the Bills game.

And it's one of my favorite images because as I wrote there You know, I love data and it's very nerdy and to my nerd brain This is one of the coolest things that's happened since I've covered the team You remember the Justin Jefferson catch the one-handed catch falling to the ground You probably remember Josh Allen fumbling a quarterback sneak. Guess he's just had some bad moments with QB sneaks. Hey, just like in the playoffs last year, but this truly demonstrates. And if people are listening just to the audio, the images of the win probability

showing how late into the game that the Buffalo Bills had about a 90% chance to win the game almost until it was over they dominated the entire game by win probability the whole second half they are above 75 80% and then the Josh Allen fumble the recovery I think it was Eric Kendricks in the end zone and then Patrick Peterson's magical interceptions Duke Shelley broke up a pass at the goal line. This, this was a, and also just going back to my hometown for the first time since I've been here, uh, Delvin cook. Yep.

Delvin cook had the big run in that game. There were many times during that Bill's Vikings game where we just thought, well, this, this is over. This is ugly. It's a bad loss. They're not who we thought they were. And then they found a way to win that. But Patrick Peterson saying after the game that he understood based on the formation that the bills were going to run in breaking routes. And that's how he picked off the two passes in the end zone. Uh,

that's some high IQ stuff. A lot of really fun memories from that one. Uh, next on the list was 2022. The comeback game, uh, needs no explanation. Uh, the Vikings being down 33, nothing playing about the worst football you could ever play in the entire league as that is possible because they were not only playing a bad team, they were playing a team with an amateur coach in Jeff Saturday who would come off high school coaching and television to try to coach an NFL team.

There was the punt block. There was a fumble. There was an interception. There was a failed fourth down pass by Ryan Wright. And then in the locker room, Patrick Peterson tells his teammates, hey, we just need five touchdowns. And they all kind of laughed and he was serious. And they got that.

That was another KJ Osborne breakout game. The Delvin Cook screen following Ezra Cleveland down the sideline. And one of my favorite stories from that one is that my good friend, Judd Zulgad, who has sat next to me during my entire time covering the Vikings, he left half time. He's never left the game before ever. And he left to just go home and

start his post game early. And while they ended up coming back. So that was, that was fun. A really crazy locker room because they were embarrassed that they had been down so much, but then also proud of their accomplishment. And, uh, I also having grown up in Buffalo, Frank Reich had the previous record for a comeback before this. And you know, when they, this is the largest comeback. It's certainly not the greatest. I think Frank Reich's was much better against an incredible oilers team in the playoffs as a backup quarterback, but still nonetheless, uh, that's a memorable one there.

So a couple more on the list, the crazy ending versus the Chargers in 2023. That was the ball off of Caleb Evans face that, uh, bounced into the hands of a Chargers wide receiver. And it was also the TJ Hockinson. The ball is in both hands, flips it up in the air. And at that point, I think we were all saying they might trade Kirk Cousins after that, and I was thinking about the other day, like, what if they had, like, what if they had, after they lost that game traded cousins and then tanked,

would Drake may be a Viking and JJ McCarthy would be coming here for joint practices. There's another article I'm working on that I'll bring you as well with the what ifs. And again, purpleinsider.football is where you can see the entire write ups for this. The upset against the 49ers in 2023, I think Kirk Cousins' best game that he ever played as a Minnesota Viking. It wasn't the best stat line that he ever had, but the opponent was an elite defense, a violent team that ultimately went to the Super Bowl, and Cousins controlled the game with his arm, even though they weren't running very well at all.

And that was also the, hey, Jordan Addison's really good at this game, where Jordan Addison jumped up and took the ball. I think it took out of chivalrous Ward's hands at the end of the half in that game. And the way that they converted eight for 13 on third down, controlled the football that that was the moment that Kirk Cousins really got it with Kevin O'Connell's offense. That's when he really got it. And it really clicked.

And of course the very next week was when he ended up getting hurt, but that was the energy inside us bank stadium for that game is it went along and fans realize that, Oh, they could actually do this is at the beginning of the game. They were down. And even though it was national TV, they weren't too excited about where the team was at, I think they had beaten the Panthers was their only win. And then they get this win and it reignites the season at least for a moment. Next game on the list.

No surprise, my friends, the Josh Dobbs game, which feels like a dream still. It feels like it never happened. And one of my regrets as a Minnesota Vikings reporter is that I did not travel to Atlanta for the Josh Dobbs game because I thought it was going to be Jared Hall against Taylor Heinecke. And I was like, I just can't really justify the price. Atlanta is not the cheapest place to go to fly to stay. I was like, this is going to be the worst game ever. to fly, to stay. I was like, this is going to be the worst game ever. Wrong.

Josh Dobbs coming off the bench, not knowing the offense. And I forgot, because I reviewed each one of these games. I forgot that Josh Dobbs had gotten a safety and a strip sack in his first two drives. You talk about thinking this is over, there is no chance. And then him running around and scrambling around no matter what happens with Josh Dobbs, he's kind of barely in the league these days. Is he actually with new England?

Is it going to be Josh Dobbs revenge joint practice? Is that possible to have a revenge joint practice? But, uh, one of the most memorable couple of days for him to just pop off the screen, make some crazy, amazing plays, an incredibly likable guy. And all of us pushing the gas pedal down on, uh, chips Goggins calling NASA. And I called an aerospace engineer cause you know, past or not and all that I called an aerospace engineer to break down how hard

it would be to play quarterback in college and take aerospace engineering. I think we all knew that the magic carpet ride might end, but there was some really funny moments along the way in the Josh Dobbs game. One of them was that I did a show just like this with you guys in the comments. And I said, like, give me, give me Josh Dobbs comparisons. What do you guys see in, in Josh Dobbs and the names that came up were like, well, he's kind of like a poor man's Josh jobs and the names that came up were like well? He's kind of like a poor man's Josh Allen I think that's what Dane said and there was well He's kind of kind of reminds me of Randall Cunningham is like well. Yeah

It's for two weeks. It seemed very reasonable and then all of a sudden it didn't After the Denver game, and I always wondered if he got hurt in that Denver game and didn't say anything because he knew it was his only shot. But that hit that he took from Kareem Jackson when they tried to pitch him the ball, I don't know that he ever played quite the same after that. The next one is two more Seattle Sam Darnold last year in Seattle. I was absolutely soaked could not find out how to get into the venue this is the thing that you know you guys

you see me on the postgame and all that and everything and sometimes it's very easy to get into press boxes get set up get everything get food whatever and sometimes it could be treacherous and on this day it was treacherous Dane Mizutani and I were completely soaked. We couldn't find how to get into the building and security people are not often told that where the media gate is. So we're walking around and it's in the drizzle and the rain is nasty. And then we get back to where there is at least one entrance and there's a bunch of

buses with groups of fans coming in and as we're going into the area where we needed to be to get in through security a woman stepped off one of the buses and face planted like straight down in front of us so then everybody's like gathered around and we can't move and we're getting soaked so by the time we got into the stadium I was a hundred percent wet. And luckily though, travel tip, bring extra socks. Luckily I brought extra socks. Uh, but that game, the play alone, the play alone from Sam Darnold, this is

what I want people to separate is what was so much fun about Sam Darnold with the decision to move on from Sam Darnold. Like I think that every time Darnold comes up, people are going to go the playoffs, the Detroit game. That's who he was. We found out he was that's who he was. And there's always going to be this little tinge of like anger at Sam Darnold for not being the real thing and for coming apart at the end, which I thought the Rams game

was not entirely his fault when you watch it back. But I think that moments like this for somebody who had never succeeded really before in the NFL, that game in Seattle were just awesome. And you can hold on to that as being awesome with also recognizing it was the right thing to move to McCarthy. And the last one was the the uh, the heavyweight fight against the Detroit lions and I know they lost that game, but what I really love is the rivalry that is budding with the Detroit lions.

I absolutely love it. What's happening with the lions and the Vikings these last couple of years. Yes, the Vikings lost that game, but it went back and forth. The numbers on that one are crazy. Go look at that box score. The total yardage was separated by like 10 yards. The time of possession was separated by less than a minute. The first downs were separated by three and almost every game

that the Vikings and Lions have played has been these heavyweight fights and I have just come been these heavyweight fights. And I have just come to really, really enjoy these two teams with so many skilled players. They have a crazy coach. The Vikings have coach of the year. And every time they go at it, it seems like Dan Campbell just gets the edge, but Ben Johnson's not there anymore. And these are the two favorites for the division.

Like those games are going to be absolute fire this year. And that's where I think it took another step in the rivalry was that game at US bank stadium last year because Jameer Gibbs was the guy in that one. Like, okay, he is for real. And also the Vikings were at full strength defensively and Ben Johnson still picked them apart in that game And but they were one first down away from winning it as well

So that one just went back and forth the crowd was great talent was out of this world Aaron Jones had a long touchdown Justin Jefferson had a long touchdown Gibbs st. Brown Somehow Calif Raymond every time he plays the Vikings does something awesome. So I love where that's at. So that's the list. My 10 favorite games since I launched Purple Insider five years ago. You can read all the details again over purpleinsider.football. Also a great way to support the show. Okay, let's get to some of these hot takes.

And if you haven't tossed one in, feel free to toss one in. Also questions, though. Doesn't have to be hot takes. takes and if you haven't tossed one in feel free to toss one in also questions though doesn't have to be hot takes I'm just opening the door for for this time a year because I think it's not gonna be OTAs until next week so we got time we got time to discuss and even when OTAs happen we got time to discuss your hottest opinions but questions of course are open as well. And digital planes media kicks us off with if J.J. McCarthy has a twenty twenty four Bo Nicks type season, how many games will the Vikings win in twenty twenty five and ads?

And can they go on a Super Bowl run? Well, let's see. So Bo Nicks definitely had his ups and downs. But let me look at let me look at what Bo Nix did here last year. Because he threw a lot of touchdowns, but was he actually good? I think that he got to be good. I'm going to take a look at his PFF stuff right now. So, Bo Nix rated as the 17th best quarterback by PFF. But within percentage points of Jordan love

Not even that far back from CJ Stroud who didn't have a great season and PFF has Russell Wilson similar I guess Wilson was a tale of two seasons when he first started it went pretty well, and then it got worse after that 29 touchdowns 12 picks 3,700 yards almost 12 picks, 3,700 yards, almost 3,800, 21 big time throws and 13 turnover worthy plays and 93.3 rating and also was playing his best ball at the end, but then they played the Bills on the road with a team that was just not in the Bills stratosphere. I'm going to say how many games they'll win because he also had some bad ones. If I pull up just his player page, there was that game where he had negative passing yards. So his first two games of his career,

Bo Nicks, he threw zero touchdowns, four picks and had PFF grades in the forties. And also his fourth game, that was where he averaged 2.4 yards per pass. So this is what I mentioned about McCarthy, that we are going to have to hold on for dear life. Sometimes we are going to have to come out of games and go down. Not too many of them, you know, if they're going to be good, but even in a good season, like Bo Nicks had,

you still are going to come out of some games going, what the heck was that? Because that's what happens with young quarterbacks. This type of season, how many good games that he played down the stretch. He really had a run of five or six games in a row where he was very good. He was great at the, well, the end of the season, Casey, he pumped his numbers up, though good for him. Casey was not playing their starters and he threw four touchdowns. Hey, that's, that's a good job. So maybe it was a little artificially inflated,

but he had some good games in there. If he plays like that, I think that you're probably looking at a 11 win type of season. It's probably a fair expectation for the Vikings. If he is up and down a little bit at the beginning and then hits his stride and takes advantage of the bad defenses the way that bone next did. I mean, touchdown to interception ratio is a little bit tricky because if he gets them to the one yard line and Jordan Mason runs it in, he gets no credit. So where did they rank offensively that that I'm interested in. Cause that is always more important to me when we look at a quarterback then, because the quarterback is normally the driver that is usually more important to me when we look at a quarterback then because the quarterback is normally the driver

that is usually more important to me than the actual like touchdown interception ratio so in expected points added last year offensively the Denver Broncos were 16th what were they in passing in passing offense they were 17th I'm gonna say were 17. I, so I'm going to say he's got to be better. I'm going to say actually to win 11 games, he's got to be better. They've got to be better than 17th and expected points added for passing. So maybe like 10 games. If he plays like that, I think they had what a top five defense that probably helped them.

Maybe their schedule was easy. But I, I mean, it is a high bar to set if you're looking at just the numbers of like touchdown interception ratio or QB rating but i think the. Analytic numbers there tell a little bit different story with next where they were just a mediocre passing game. And if you have jefferson addison hawkinson this offensive line. game. And if you have Jefferson, Addison, Hawkinson, this offensive line, you need to be better than a mediocre passing game, unless you're going to be an elite running game, which I think they can be good, but maybe not elite. Uh, Matt comes in with the Packers end up last in the NFC North.

It's plausible. It is definitely plausible. The thing you're asking about the Packers or really, I mean when we're trying to project is always what is it that could undo this team. And i mean the number one thing is if jordan love plays a wild brand of football and we saw him do that last year where. You know, he just did not have the same type of juice that he did the year before, but it's also that he didn't have the same type of luck in throwing the ball down the field. I remember there was stats on this about him just heaving it up and throwing it up for dear life in the final eight weeks of the season and how often somebody caught it. It's hard to sustain the contested catch rate was hard to sustain at the same time. Jordan love might be to the point where he's kind of like what Kirk was in a different way.

Obviously he's a huge guy who throws the rockets, but he might end up being where he's going to be, or maybe Gino Smith kind of where he's good enough to get you a lot of wins and put you in a lot of games. But is he good enough to be consistent over an entire season to the point where he could throw, you know, 35 touchdowns and four picks or six picks, uh, and 4,500 yards and be the driver of that offense.

Because I think it's actually telling that they went out and got Josh Jacobs and they wanted to lead with the run when they have Jordan love. I think that kind of tells you something. It's sort of like San Francisco and they just paid Brock Purdy, but it's, it's the problem San Francisco has in paying Brock Purdy, which is they need to be able to run the ball. They need to have everything cooking around him in order to have a lot of success. And when some things went wrong for them last year, they just weren't as good. But can they finish last? They can. If the Bears take a big step, that's the one

where I'd be the most skeptical because the Packers just seem like the 2019 Vikings year after year now with Jordan Love where they're going to be good and they could be dangerous in the playoffs. But at the same time, are they're going to be good and they could be dangerous in the playoffs. But at the same time, are they good enough to get over that level to be a true Super Bowl contender? I'm not sure, but they also might have a floor where even if everything goes wrong, they're still pretty good. I tend to think that's going to be the case.

So can Chicago overtake and I'm putting Chicago there just because they're Chicago and they've got to prove it Can they overtake that baseline level because think about even when everything went wrong for the Vikings in what? 2020 they still won seven Right. I mean so even when Zimmer would have a horrible year They'd still win seven or eight and I kind of think that Matt Lafleur is that same type of coach But there's just, just little things that you're starting to pick up on from them, the Jayden Reed comments,

can Matt LaFleur take this offense to another level with Jordan Love, like he did with Aaron Rodgers, even though not the same guy. Interesting questions there. I think that Green Bay will be fighting for second place. That they're good enough to fight for second place. They're like a 10 win team. But if anything goes wrong with them, they could slide back.

Brian says, early season record prediction, 14 and three. First Super Bowl brought home to the Twin Cities. Yes, drinking the Kool-Aid, but my prediction, my record prediction came to fruition last season. So, hey, that's true. You know, Brian, that's exactly what I was gonna say, is that last year, if you had said that in the comment section, I did ask for hot and juicy, by the way.

I did not say, hey, let's give you our most rational and reasoned out take. I said like, hey, let's have some fun here. It's no rules 14 and 3 would have been something I never in a million years would have predicted last year When we were having discussions at this time last year, they had just drafted McCarthy we had seen all of probably one OTA practice or rookie mini camp and we understood that it was likely going to be Sam Darnold. And what we were saying is I wrote an article about this. It actually seems really funny.

Now I wrote that if they have a six and a half or a six win season that we're going to know, cause that was the over under everybody knows that six and a half, that if they have a six win season, we're going to know that Kevin O'Connell just may not be able to elevate a team and elevate a quarterback like we thought. Like it was, it was a, such a low baseline. Like if they go below that, then we've got problems here with the management. That's the way I was looking at six and a half that it was such an easy mark to get to the Tommy DeVito Giants got to six couple years ago. Such an easy baseline to get to they had too much talent for that that then we would start questioning Kevin O'Connell.

And I didn't think there was much of a chance that they were going to go under that. That seemed like a crazy number when you have two good coaches on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. But I remember picking 10, I think I picked 10 and a large part was that I really liked Andrew Van Ginkle. I really liked Jonathan Grenard is signings. And I thought they were going not talked about. We discussed the analytics of Blake Cashman and how his numbers in 2023 really showed closer to an elite linebacker than what his contract is. So I thought that the

defense would take such a step and that O'Connell could coach it up enough that they could get to nine or 10. But I remember having to reach for that last win when picking the schedule and being like, I don't know, I think, gosh, do I have to have them beat in the Packers twice? Which they did, but I felt like wrong for having them beat the Packers twice in my record prediction because it was just so hard to see them being great last year and then they were everything clicked. Aaron Jones was really good. Bernard van ginkle, Cashman, all fantastic.

Gilmore played really good football. I think where it was, was actually the joint practices. This is why to circle back, I actually think you get a real feel for a team in the joint practices. If they're intense and everybody's, you know, putting in a lot of effort, usually they are. You can really get a sense like they're actually matching up against another team. How does this look much more than preseason? And it was at the joint practices in Cleveland that, uh, I think it was Alec Lewis and I did a podcast inside of their facility in a super echoey room where we talked about how the defense looks so good that this

team could actually be legit if they signed Stefan Gilmore and then they did and they were so circling back like your 14 win prediction history is not kind to that prediction it certainly is not I mean there's very few teams that have ever repeated 13 win seasons much less 14 it's almost impossible to do They make the schedule a lot harder, which we've talked about the following season injury regression happens. One score win regression happens, but the fact that they've been able to pull off two out of three seasons with win totals in that ballpark, 13 and 14, whatever it is that you think that they're going to do coaching just matters so much in this league and having.

One of the best offensive and one of the best defensive minds at the helm it doesn't sound ridiculous when you say it and the expectations are there now I have a very tough time thinking that they can beat. Teams like the Eagles Washington Baltimore Detroit twice like they would last year was a gift from the football gods with that schedule. But it's, it's, it's a hot take and it's not the craziest thing to think that they could have a great season. If McCarthy clicks right away, uh, skywalking McCarthy. Now, how can you be named skywalking McCarthy and say Drake May is going to embarrass JJ McCarthy at the joint practices? Normally there's well, okay. So I will say there has been a few times where quarterbacks have been embarrassed at the joint practices. Maybe

you guys recall the saga of me versus Cleveland media last year of when I was reporting that Deshaun Watson looked terrible and the Browns offense was horrendous. And their reporters said, no, it wasn't that bad. Um, I guess we know maybe who watched the practice better, uh, based on the results, but. So Deshaun Watson to me was a mess and then turned out to be an even worse mess. I also actually thought that Trey Lance when we saw him a couple of years ago in a joint practice really struggled. That was twenty twenty two. That was when I got the sense.

This might not be good with Trey Lance because he just couldn't get the ball out of his hands. So you can learn a lot about a team. Oh, Blake Bortles was another one. They had a joint practice. You can learn a lot about a quarterback when you see them in that environment, because when they're practicing against their own defense, they kind of know it. So sometimes you can look better because you're practicing against guys, you know, and it's a fairly scripted environment, but when you're doing the joint practice, only the coaches really know how it's supposed to be scripted

and you really see how it's gonna look. Now, Darnold had a tough joint practice last year, but had enough moments, but also showed some of the things that got him in the end under pressure. But to what you're saying, you might have to change your name from Skywalking McCarthy. If you're going to think Drake may will embarrass him.

I am excited to see Drake may not again. They're not playing each other. It's not tennis, but I'm excited to see Drake may and JJ McCarthy on the field at the same time to see just the size, the athletic talent, what they look like, you know, going back and forth on opposite fields and what those performances are like. I think the Vikings defense is better than the Patriots, but you know, the variable is going to have a tough defense for the Vikings to practice against. I think we learn a lot from those, but I

don't think that May is going to embarrass McCarthy though. He should be farther ahead of JJ McCarthy. Uh, Aaron says, excited to see digs back in Minnesota doubt. He'd be doing much with his knee injury though. Yeah, probably by that point he might be, but he got hurt in the middle of the season kind of depends. I think at that point he might be trying to push to get on the field. But as you guys saw with Hawkinson, ACLs they heal on their own timeline. It's not like you can just Magically work it into existence like it's not something that works that way with recovery

So you're probably right that he at that point late in the summer Well, I think it's before a week two of theseason, so it's not all the way deep and yeah, you're right. You're right. So I don't even know if he'll make the trip for the joint practices if that's going on or if he'll talk to us. I don't know if there's a kinder, gentler Stefan Diggs though. I will say I always thought that at least from my perspective, he was insightful and he's a very smart guy. Uh, I think he runs super hot and he has trouble containing his emotions, which leads to a lot of criticism from teams that used to have him and so forth.

But like that shouldn't be mistaken with how hard he plays, how talented he is, how much he meant to the Vikings for those few years and also how talented he is how much he meant to the vikings for those few years and also how smart is i mean he is a very bright dude and he is a genius when it comes to route running a fifth round pick like. Anytime digs is back here it should be all appreciation and no hate on stephan digs just because he saw what we saw. I mean this was a thing a couple years ago before we fully realized how great Jefferson was, but digs was right. He was right about the offense. He was right about Kirk. He was right about Zimmer. And, you know, he was probably also right about in some ways, I mean, Buffalo was close to going to, uh, you know, the super bowl.

So I guess he was wrong about that, but he also, I think understood that that roster was supposed to undergo a change and the Texans were going to be a team on the rise. But you know, maybe that's too much apologizing for Stefan Diggs and antics and different things like that. But I think he's a guy that should always forever live in a good place for Vikings fans. Zachary says, Jonathan Allen, defensive player of the year. How often outside of Aaron Donald are there defensive players of the year?

Uh, as a defensive tackle, does it happen that often? How many sacks? I think it would have to be a sack number because pressures still aren't going to win you dply How many sacks would it have to be? In order to get jonathan allen defensive player of the year. I think it's we're probably talking like 15 You got to go crazy as a defensive tackle because edge rushers just get so much more shine In the dply conversation unless it's aaron donnell, but, but Aaron Donald was putting up numbers like 15.

So that's bold and I think that he'll have a great situation with this D line, but if he had to get 15 sacks in order to get it, that's probably too high. So DPLY is a super long shot, but hey, what is it? Kevin in the office said something like he likes to bet the longest shots ever because if it hits, he'll be rich.

Maybe that's one for you. CJ Ham is the man says off season question, will KOC find another fullback after CJ Ham retires or will he fill a different position? If so, which position? Yeah, I think O'Connell has never been fully, fully comfortable with CJ Ham and how to use him.

And last year they used him a lot more in the running game with Aaron Jones. And I thought that it worked more than it didn't. But in 2019-2020, they were playing in an offense that was so fluent in the usage of the fullback. It was just, and Delvin Cook was at his best, but they just, the Kubiak just understood so much, Gary Kubiak, Kevin Stefanski, so much how to use that fullback position in the run scheme. And he was really good for the outside zone.

I don't know if he's as good for the gap stuff, for just plowing forward and trying to take out linebackers. I think he's more nimble. He's a former running back. I know sometimes he puts the neck roll on, doesn't look that nimble, but he, I think is more of good at getting out in front on those outside zone things and reaching guys as opposed to just the Lorenzo Neil Sam Gash, it's a guard playing running back, slamming through and moving bodies,

which they had him doing a little bit last year. So, uh, I don't know if they'll continue to have a fullback after CJ Ham. I really think that he is so special and unique as a human being and as a player on special teams. He can pass block really, really well. They did that on third downs that they want him on the football team But I don't know if it's ever fit exactly the same way Jonathan behind the scenes informs me that the last defensive tackle to win DP. Oh, why was Warren sap in 99? I assume you mean non Aaron Donald. So yeah, that's that's a bold one Yep, that's but but how many sacks is realistic for Jonathan Allen? Like seven or eight. If Jonathan Allen gets seven or eight sacks and forty five pressures,

what an enormous leap that is from what they've had the last couple of years. Enormous. So DPLY big jump. Not Warren Sapp. He's not Aaron Donald. Could be pretty darn effective, though. Brett says the Lions will finish last in the division. The coordinators were all that was making them great. Dan Campbell is a buffoon. Well, if I said I was going to give you guys hot ratings

like one to 10 or something. Well, you guys are bringing it. You guys are bringing a lot of like 9's 8 9's Jonathan Allen for DPLY is probably a 10 14 wins is probably a 10 Dan Campbell's a buffoon is probably pretty high on that list I I don't disagree that Ben Johnson especially was unique and had the perfect understanding the perfect fit for all of those players I don't think Dan Campbell is a buffoon I think he's a buffoon like a fox like he is he presents himself as this like wildly emotional crazy man

who's just screaming and yelling but I think that him even understanding who good coordinators would be and Having them guide that rebuild. He already hired two great coordinators and Aaron Glensby I've criticized him before for his simplistic defense but they played well last year and they certainly won the last battle with the Vikings but I think I think Campbell is clever in that way that he knows how to delegate and just in any position in life knowing how to delegate and trust the people that work for you is pretty important last in the division would probably need a Jared golf injury, but regression is possible here. That that I will give you like it's super, it's, it is super hot to say as far as takes go.

He's a buffoon after they won 15 games and that had nothing of it had anything to do with him. Like that's a lot, but they could regress. They could definitely regress. Uh, CJ says a hot take. The Vikings will win a super bowl under KOC. Hopefully with quasi extend him and during JJ's rookie deal. Yeah. So this is the first time CJ that during the five years of purple

insider to weave multiple topics together. It's the first time I think we can really talk about it. And I also see other people talking about it. Like when they won 13 games and went into the playoffs, my thing was, Hey, if you get to 13, like that's the baseline and the same thing last year. That's the baseline where teams that win 13 and 14, they compete for super bowls. So it was realistic in the way that the regular season suggested they deserved to be talked about as a Superbowl contender, but the rosters

really didn't deserve to get talked about as a true Superbowl contender, not the Adonitel defense, not the offensive line last year that was playing with a replacement left tackle for their superstar. last year that was playing with a replacement left tackle for their superstar. But now we have reached the point where if McCarthy is good, then yes, you're having that discussion. I think as far as and you have the best receiver in the league, that's another part of it too. Anytime you have players and Granada top five pass rusher, like anytime

you have players like that who are superstars, megastars in their prime, and you can spend all the money. Like that's, that's what we see from San Francisco. That's what we see from Philadelphia. This doesn't look that different. And we can actually have that discussion where in all the years past that I've covered this team, except for 2017, but even then it was the case, Kenan question. There's always been that,

ah, can they really overcome X, Y or Z? And ultimately every year they couldn't. So now they've poured enough into it where they possibly could. But even just under KOC in general, like how long is that gonna be? I think that's gonna be a really, really long tenure for Kevin O'Connell in Minnesota.

This is a coach that you treat like Mike Tomlin, where you just don't fire this coach, not somebody who's this good at it. There might be ups and downs, but you just don't fire a coach like this. If you find one, uh, skywalking McCarthy really, uh, not bringing the, uh, the positivity here to the shell says KOC is not winning a playoff game as Vikings head coach he seems to be a regular season mercenary Zim's 2019 team was less impressive than KOC's playoff teams and took them farther well um I disagree with that no I disagree with that the 2019 team was really good it

had almost all the players still from 2017 and they were completely healthy. That was Kirk Cousins best statistical year. Delvin Cook was incredible that season. Top five defense. No, I don't think so. I don't think so. I don't think last year's team with Sam Darnold and a lot of holes on the offensive line, a lot of holes on the defense was necessarily as good as the 2019 team. Uh, and as far as not winning a playoff game as a head coach, you know, it's funny like that with playoffs. And I remember going through this with Sam Darnold because he lost his first playoff game and he played horribly and everyone decided he could never win a playoff game in his life. And I remember looking back at Eli Manning and the start to his

playoff career and how horrible it was. And then he becomes the most clutch quarterback, but only ever wins playoff games in two years and is known for how clutch he was. I think it speaks to how hard it is to win in the playoffs judging Kevin O'Connell off to playoff games is insane. And you did go for hot. So that's like a 10 out of 10 for hot right there. So I'll give you that. But I mean, look at Denny Green.

And I know Gary Anderson missed the kick. Denny Green should have gone to a Superbowl, but Denny Green's history until 1997. Think about this. If Denny Green does not win against the New York Giants in 1997, it's possible he gets fired by the Vikings because he couldn't win in the playoffs and they had to get a onside kick and a game-winning drive from Randall Cunningham for Denny Green to keep his job and then in 98 they

have one of the best seasons of all time. I think trying to judge how about how close was Tom Coughlin to getting fired in New York before Eli won? Sean McVeigh couldn't win the big one after he got out coached by Bill Belichick Andy Reid, oh my gosh Andy Reid look at the criticism Andy Reid got over his career for all the close calls and all the NFC Championships if you are a great coach and you get enough shots at it, there's a good chance you're going to win one. But you know what, if you bet against your team, winning the Superbowl, like you're going to win a lot.

Uh, or against winning playoff game, like you're going to win because it's hard to win in the NFL. Uh, but I think that saying that he won't win a single playoff game and his career is nuts because his career is going to be long with the Vikings. I think he's going to be here a long time when you create this type of environment where you can go into free agency and make a list of the players you want and the guys sign here and I know they had to have the cap space but every single guy to a tee says that NFLPA survey, Kevin O'Connell's coaching style, all of that is bringing them here.

And then what he's able to do with a quarterback like Sam Darnold, if JJ McCarthy is even decent, Kevin O'Connell is your coach for a long time and they will have a chance to win playoff games. So I, yeah, I'd say that's a, that is a pretty, pretty fire take, but I can't get anywhere near on board with that one. I think Kevin O'Connell will win playoff games,

but it takes a while. Not every new young coach comes in and just starts. The thing is, and here's the problem, like O'Connell is actually a victim of overachieving in the regular season and setting the standard of 13 or 14 wins. If they had won nine in 2022, I think we all would have been like, OK, well, good coaching job.

You know, that was like a nine win team. They win 13. Then if you lose in the playoffs, like, how dare you? But a lot of times the playoffs expose. You've seen this in basketball, the playoffs expose whatever weaknesses you covered up. The Golden State Warriors were a great team down the stretch and won a lot of regular season games But when they got in the playoffs even before Steph got hurt you just saw oh, yeah, that's right

They don't have a lot of players. That's kind of how it worked for the Vikings in these two years now. It is different I can't guarantee it, but I think he will win playoff games in his career