Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - WCCO's Cory Hepola gives a Viking fan perspective on the offseason

Episode Date: March 18, 2021

Matthew Coller and WCCO host Cory Hepola get together to talk about the Vikings' offseason. Cory talks about whether he'd like to see the Vikings get aggressive with signings and tells a great story about getting super excited about a Vikings signing when he was in college. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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just want to note that Corey and I recorded just before the Vikings signed Patrick Peterson, as seems to happen to me with every single podcast. They make a big move right after I finish recording. But I think as you'll listen to Corey's comments about free agency, you'll get a good idea about how he feels about the Patrick Peterson sign. Really fun conversation. Some great stories from Corey Heppola of WCCO. So here is our chat. Corey Heppola is the host of Hey, It's Corey Heppola.

So, hey, it's Corey Heppola from WCCO. Our first time getting together, I think, ever. Is that right? At least on the air, for sure. At least on the air. Well, just know I'm a huge fan of the show. I listen to the podcast every single day, so this is a thrill for me. I'm excited to be here. Well, I really appreciate that. Yes, we have gotten together for lunch many times. I just didn't know if we had gotten together on any sort of radio or podcast broadcast, so I am excited to do this in part because every time we have lunch, which now feels like a weird thing to talk about since COVID. It's like, remember when

we used to get together and have lunch? But anyway, we would always end up talking just like endless Vikings. So I wanted to take those conversations that we have and bring them here because you have such a great Vikings fan perspective like most of the people that come on the show as you know as a listener are like hardcore football let's break down the two deep and the defensive tackles and how everything affects everything but I want to talk about off seasons with you Corey and how just give me your broad reaction to this like this one feels super weird. Like, there have been others where there's big, exciting moves.

There have been others that felt hopeless. And this one feels like it's floating somewhere in the purgatory middle. And I will tell you that I'm not sure what to do with it. As a Vikings fan who was basically born in a Vikings onesie, so I come at this from, yes, a logical standpoint in that I understand where this team is at today, maybe some of the goals, but I also hold all that baggage from all of those playoff losses, all those epic disasters. So I have all that baggage, and I think I carry that through me through a Viking season. My favorite time to be a Viking fan is the offseason.

Like I'm actually, I'm so much more optimistic in the offseason. I'm always excited. Like every single signing that happens, I'm typically like, oh, that's the one. And then in the draft, I'm usually the first to be like, even if it's not that great, I'm kind of like, well, I think the Vikings may have won the draft. You know, like I'm an optimistic offseason Vikings fan. In fact, that's when my wife would say I'm the happiest person. Because then during the season, it's like one loss.

Even if it's a preseason, it sets me off. I'm like, well, this is – can't hit the restart button now. It's all over. So I kind of look at it that way. But one thing that I have done, and I think I've changed my outlook a little bit differently here over maybe the last few years, but I think I've gotten into Vikings offseason with a little bit more patience. And I think you need to do that with this offseason in particular. And what I mean by that, I look at it like, say, a piece of art, right? So we're looking at this canvas that is blank to start the offseason.

And Rick Spielman and the gang, I mean, they're getting started on it. And, yes, now we get our information in real time. So it's like, oh, man, Delvin Tomlinson, I don't really know what to make of it. And maybe it wasn't the smartest move and this and that. Well, the painting's not done yet. I think for me to be able to evaluate how the offseason is, I'm not going to say they overpaid or didn't overpay for Tomlinson or it's not the right fit or this or that. I need to wait until the end because, to me, what if they add another defensive end?

What if they restructure Hunter and then they add another defensive end? Well, then we can make this work, and then you're coming in and DJ Wadham's a backup, but he's coming in for spurts. So I've kind of like – I've tried to. I'm not the most patient person, but I's coming in for spurts. And then you've got, so I've kind of like, I've tried to, I'm not the most patient person, but I've tried to become a little bit more patient and say, let's just hang on a minute. Just because you don't make a move on day one or two or three doesn't mean that they're not going to do the right thing. And also too, I've heard you and Sam talk about this. And I side with this. I would rather the Vikings sign,

and they have the needs, five or six players that are good players, maybe not great, but if you sign five or six good players that are NFL caliber, well, now you're filling five or six spots that shouldn't have been played by last year's version of the Vikings, which they shouldn't have been NFL players. So that's the way I look at this offseason in particular. You know, what's very different from recent offseasons that I've covered is that we just don't see a lot of the picture yet even after one signing because there are so many needs. And in past years, that just hasn't really been the case. Even last year, they didn't have enough cap space to sign a bunch of players and they elected to trade for Yannick Ngakwe as opposed to bringing in a couple of $1 million or $2 million guys, which clearly turned out

to be not the right move for last offseason. But we still had a really good sense of how they were going to handle all that after the Stephon Diggs trade happened, and we knew there was going to be big movement. It was predictably exciting last offseason, but all the things that happened were not shockers. Maybe the Diggs trade came as a bit of a surprise, but I think we all knew that he wasn't very happy. And in past years, it was like coming out of 2016, they are going to sign some tackles. There's no question about it. And then going into 2018, they're going to bring in a quarterback. We didn't know who, but we knew exactly what was going to 2018. They're going to bring in, you know, a quarterback. We didn't know who,

but we knew exactly what was going to happen. This year, it feels very different because there are so many options and so many different ways that you can paint the picture. And then you add the fact that they have 12 draft picks right now, which will turn into 15, I'm sure. And that there's quarterback movement all over the league. Like this is the most uncertain of what they'll do that I've been. And then their first signing is one that none of us really predicted. Well, I think you had mentioned Tomlinson in a previous pod of like, you never know, he could be a name that fits there. So I think there's a couple of things here. One, they're in this odd spot where they're trying to,

and they did it last year too, they're trying to transition without tanking. They just don't want to tank. They can't. Rick Spielman's in a position where he knows basically this year, and maybe not him so much. I think he's kind of on the hot seat, but Mike Zimmer for sure. Like if they don't make the playoffs, they're gone. Like they just are.

The Wilfs, I think, are semi-patient people. They've said before they kind of want the Steelers model. But if you miss the playoffs again with this roster when they've given you everything and they've said, hey, and you have Rob Brzezinski who's manipulating the cap and doing everything, it's going to come down to, look, we've given you everything. It's just time. And I think that's what the Wilfs have allowed them to do, which is great. But they're trying to do this transition without tanking.

Last year, seven wins, no tanking. We thought maybe at one and five they would tank. They didn't even do that then. They didn't make trades. They said, we're going to get back on here and make a run, which got exciting for a few weeks, and then they lost to Dallas. And then they ended up seven and nine. And, you know, I've talked to on my show Jeff Diamond,

former general manager of the Vikings, who put together that 98 team, and he said, there's just something about it. Losing 10 games sounds way worse than losing nine. So that's a part of it too. And you guys have talked about it, but this current front office with Rick Spielman and then Mike Zimmer as head coach, they know this cannot be another 7-9, 8-8 season. It has to be better. In fact, I would say it has to be better than 9-7. They know it.

They feel it. So they're going to do everything they can. They're manipulating the cap. You know, even with Tomlinson's contract, it's like, hey, look, and then there's this void year in year three. And they're like, I don't know if we'll be here. But regardless, they're doing these things because they know they need to turn it around here soon.

The other part of this, okay, so you have to do enough before you get to the NFL draft, right? You have to do enough because you want to have the flexibility with those what we assume will be 15 picks to be able to mostly attack best player available. I mean, if you crunch the data, that's the best place to go about it is to go best player available. That's, I mean, if you crunch the data, that's the best place to go about it, is to go best player available. Now, you look at it today, if I can have so many holes, they could probably go in any direction, and it's going to be best player available. But I think what you're going to see, and I would imagine, you're going to probably see an offensive lineman and a defensive back and hopefully a wide receiver three. That's what I would do, even if they're not superstars, but good players so that you can go into the draft and say, all right, well, this person will make this core or this position

better. So let's just do that. And that's what I'm hopeful for. And that's why, too, I would much rather than say, OK, we opened up this cap space. Let's spend it all on one player. I would still rather them go, all right, let's bring Mackenzie Alexander back. Let's restructure Daniil. Let's extend Harrison. Let's do that thing with Thielen. And then let's go get two guards, get two of them that can come in here and compete and be average level. And if you get the best player available in the draft in round one, first it gives you the flexibility to move down, pick up a second.

But then if the best is an offensive lineman, okay, go do it. If it's Devontae Smith, go do it. Like, that's the position they need to be in come draft time, and I'm hopeful that now they do enough here. I'm just going to be patient. That's all. Yeah, and I'm sure, at least judging by my Twitter mentions, it is not easy to remain patient when you do have as many needs as they

have. I put out a poll of, hey, what position do you want to see the next Vikings signing? And many people tweeted me all of the above, you know, because there were four different positions and they have needs at all of them. It feels to me like this is a similar type of offseason from going from 2013 to 2014. And even though that was very different with a new coach coming in, there were so many holes at that time. And I thought they made good decisions. I think that they signed, what, Captain Munderland and Linval Joseph in that offseason. Like, those were good decisions.

Those were players who could probably be a little bit better than they had been in their past place if they were with Mike Zimmer, guys who fit needs right away, and they worked out to be really good. And maybe that was the year or it was the next year that they got Terrence Newman. Like, those are the types of players who filled very important roles by 2017. The difference is exactly what you mentioned, though. Then it was, you can take a long-term approach. If Linval Joseph doesn't work out the way you think he's going to work out, it's okay. It's not going to ruin the entire franchise.

You've got three, four years to build this thing up. Mike Zimmer is the head coach. But now it feels like you absolutely have to fix these problems right now, right away. And tell me how you feel about this, Corey, as somebody who has grown up watching a lot of different types of coaches in Minnesota, rise and fall. I always feel like that patience is a better play because you don't want people making decisions for their jobs. So give me perspective

on that for how you feel about it. I would not be a good general manager. I'm too emotional, right? I ride the ups. I ride the downs. That's why I'm not a general manager. I can do that. I want my general manager to be even-keeled and look at the whole process and look at the final results and, yes, give time. And I look at Rick Spielman. Is he perfect?

No. Rick Spielman is a very good general manager, though. And I think he gets critiqued, oh, look at this draft. Look, if you look at any other general manager's draft, they're usually not at Rick Spielman's level, and they're usually not much better, which means he is near the top. He's a good general manager, very good general manager. And look at Mike Zimmer's winning percentage when you consider the fact that he's really had, up until Kirk Cousins, no stability at quarterback. I mean, he's won just about 60% of his games as a head coach

over this amount of time. He's a good head coach. Is he perfect? No. But if you go, all right, Mike Zimmer, you're out of here. Look, the next guy you're going to get in here, one, we have taken for granted up until last season just the defense is is going to be good. Defense is going to be good. And I think they'll be much better this year. But you saw what would happen if you replaced a Mike Zimmer. All of a

sudden, maybe they wouldn't be 29th, but they're not going to be as good. They're just not going to be as consistently good under Mike Zimmer. Now, the thing I give credit for Mike Zimmer is that he has never said, well, this is the only way we're going to do it on offense. He's tried a number of different things. He's trying to make it work. He's okay taking in this information and this information and saying, all right, well, let's try this. Now, I do think he is seemingly set on this Kubiak style of offense

that seems to work. I also think that's predicated on the quarterback. I think that he saw what happened in 2018 and said, we'll let it fly. And then Kirk, what, he had like six or seven turnovers that were straight away pick sixes or fumbles that returned for a touchdown. Like, all of a sudden his defense allowed 18 points a game. They get taxed for these points, and it's 21 points a game. I mean, that's how bad it was. And I think he said, we can't do that. Oh, and by the way, Kirk is better

when he's in play action. A lot of quarterbacks are. So I think that's where they're at. He's like, I like this offense because we need to control the time of possession and we need to limit the amount of potential turnovers, which happened with Kirk. I think that that's a large part of it. But I guess I look at it as, I think that that's a large part of it, but I guess I look at it as I think Rick Spielman is really good. Does that mean you can never fire him? Of course not. But I think he's really good. And I think sometimes he gets undue critique that look,

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Original Minnesota sports inspired goods. Code Purple Insider for free shipping. Yeah, I think that there are tricky different, I i guess processes you can use to criticize certain moves or not like that you walk a tightrope put it that way of like what's fair and what's bad luck and what's good luck that we should or shouldn't give them credit and it's probably a case-by-case basis on the overall the vikings went from a team that was in the dumps when mike zimmer took over to a team that was consistently talked about for maybe a four or five year period as a potential Super Bowl contender. And the thing that that did was set the bar at a different place.

So when you go seven and nine, then you feel like what a disaster season as opposed to, OK, well, that's kind of your average season. And with Kirk Cousins being brought in also at the time that he was, that also changed the goals and that set the bar at a different place. And I also feel like that changed the way everyone operated and the pressure under which they operated. And the results have played out of that. Like we have to pay everyone. We can't let anyone go. We have to make sure that Anthony Barr gets his huge contract, you know, and so forth. And that just put them in a situation eventually to have to take a step back to where they are now.

But I feel like asking them to continue to operate under that pressure for the long term until you go 13 and three again, basically, I don't know if that's really the long term until you go 13-3 again, basically. I don't know if that's really the best plan. And the thing is that the Wilfs don't talk very often. And when they do, you don't get a whole lot of information. And it's not like they have a bunch of people who leak stuff to the media either. So we don't really know how patient they're willing to be with Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman. But I think that this offseason

is going to tell us that our first hint is not super patient because they spent a lot of money on a defensive tackle I don't care if you put void years like no one wants to do that that's a panicky type of thing that you do to make sure you got your guy and that's where I wonder where the rest of this thing goes like are you going to draft another guy where you say you have to step in right away you have to fill a big role because those are the types of this thing goes. Like, are you going to draft another guy where you say you have to step in right away, you have to fill a big role? Because those are the types of things that get you, you know, kind of in trouble is not taking that long view.

Well, when I look at, that's, I guess, why I don't want to see them just go and sign a corner for a big deal or an offensive lineman for one big contract, because I don't think they're one player away from a Super Bowl. I don't think they're one player away from a long playoff run. Now, I think that they are four or five good players away from winning the division, perhaps, and maybe winning a playoff game. I mean, you don't know. The NFL quickly turns things around. And yes, they had very bad luck on defense. I think you know you restructure uh Hunter and if he's here uh Barr and Kendrick stay healthy and and you get another cornerback there and you draft well I think the defense can be very good I think they could be a top 10 defense

certainly uh given Mike Zimmer's track record and stuff like that sure but I just don't think they're one player away from a Super Bowl so So then that goes back to understanding who you are. Like, and I don't know that, I don't know if they've convinced themselves that they are one player away from a Super Bowl. And if they've done that, then they're mistaken because they're just not. Like, they're just not with the way this is constructed. Now, let me pose this to you, Matthew. If Rick Spielman were to draft a quarterback this time around, do you think that extends his tenure as GM? I'll let you answer first because I have some thoughts on that too.

Well, I think it does because what it would say is, A, you don't draft a quarterback without the permission of ownership. That's a decision you're going to take to the top and say, this is what we're thinking about doing with the most important position in the organization. And if they say, yes, you can do that, go forward with it. That says to me, you're going to take the long view of, all right, we realized that Kirk Cousins' contract situation sets up for an exit for him next year, maybe on a trade, or even just taking his contract all the way to the end if that's tenable. I don't think that it is taking it all the way to the end. But let's even say we realize that he's not going to be the long-term quarterback because of his contract. And so now you're going to have time to build this roster around a rookie.

That would set up your timeline as kind of like 2022 for a rookie to be starting. If you say drafted Trey Lance or something like that, it sets up 2022 and that gives everybody a little more breathing room to be patient. It's just that if they've made that decision, you know, it doesn't look like it at the moment when you signed Delvin Tomlinson, if you've made that decision to draft a quarterback and then take the long view, adding a player who's a big name and costs a lot and is going to help you right away

doesn't seem to really jive with that. Not that they're in such dire position, and you mentioned his contract, that they can't do anything else because they poured it all into him. That's not the case. And he's not old either. He's not like 34 years old and they're taking their last swing. So this one could kind of rest in the middle ultimately but that idea of drafting a quarterback which makes a lot of sense in their current situation if you're looking down the road that says long view if they draft the pass rusher

that says to me oh we really needed someone to come in and help us rush the passer today yeah and i i totally agree see i think if think if Rick Spielman were to draft the quarterback, that's a discussion you have with the ownership. But you also then say, hey, look, this is our next step, right? This is our next step. We've got this guy after this year. We're going to entertain an Alex Smith-like trade for Kirk Cousins. We're going to bring this guy in. But that's where they're also playing both sides playing both sides right because then it's like well look then we'll have a we'll have a competitive roster and we'll put this second year quarterback like a Dante Culpepper when they drafted him he sat a year in his second year but in the second year quarterback and the team's not crappy like the team is okay

now are they a finished product certainly not they've got money here here and here and you don't have a ton of cap space but at at the same time, you're not putting that quarterback into a situation where you're like, hey, here's the Jets. Good luck. And that's the worst position to draft a quarterback and put him into a 2-14 team that has no cap space and no talent. And that's where you could see with this team, if they did decide to do that, you can set that player up to have Justinin jefferson and other weapons that you bring in and maybe by that time and this is being very optimistic you could build the offensive line a little more possibly maybe that's probably not though and that's the one issue i have i think

maybe the top issue that i have with this current um administration is that I just don't trust what they're doing with the offensive line I just don't trust it like you know and not that they're going to come out and say hey look we we didn't let we we're uh we let Riley Reif go because we're we're moving Ezra Cleveland to left tackle like that's what makes sense like when I listen to the guys on your show like Brandon Thorne and Jeremiah Searles and all these other people. Every single person is like, Ezra Cleveland is a tackle, and it's because of all these different reasons. Like, can he learn guard? Sure.

But why are you moving him over on the other side of the line? Why are you moving him to a different position where his weaknesses are now accentuated as opposed to his strengths where his speed and agility at left tackle would be able to help with the the quick pass rush like that to me I don't understand what they're doing now maybe Cleveland's just going to move over or Rashad Hill is a swing tackle and everything's fine you just get a couple guards but I don't know what they're doing and this is a consistent thing with them and that's where I'm just like did they know what they're doing uh history would say on the offensive line specifically no um but sometimes it's all about just how much you invest in it and when you try to patchwork left guard over and over and over

again with guys who make eight hundred thousand dollars you kind of get what you pay for and they've been put in a position where they can only pay so much for certain positions so if you were deciding to kind of pick through the positions and where you want to spend your money you would not have picked guard very high it just so turns out with this quarterback maybe you should have picked guard higher but ultimately then this is where luck and randomness plays into it ultimately Riley Re reef deciding not to stick around might work out very much in their favor if ezra cleveland does pop over to left tackle and then becomes very good at it their lack of confidence from last year in him doing that is what's kind of got me

wondering what's going to happen here because normally we would have just said oh okay well you slide them right in and off you go. But the fact that he never played tackle in practice in the very beginning is what kind of has you a little bit mind boggled. But a lot of times, though, when you mentioned like building up the roster and everything else, if you are the team that is sort of exciting and has some money, people want to sign with you. A.J. Green just signed with Arizona. Why did he do that? Their quarterback is kind of exciting and they've got money. And want to sign with you. AJ Green just signed with Arizona. Why did he do that? Their quarterback is kind of exciting and they've got money. And there you go. Like sometimes that's all it takes to fill those positions that were so hard to fill before. Question for you though,

in years past and off seasons, you can go back as far as you want. I want you to tell me the player that you were most excited about or most disappointed, or if you have many names here, it's fine. Like guys that on day one, you were maybe back in the day refreshing ESPN.com or watching the scroll on ESPN or something. You were like, come on, Vikings, get this guy. And then it would not have mattered if they did or it didn't matter that they signed him. You're going to love this story.

So we were in college, and this is the early days of, like, message boards. So there was one, like, KFFL. Was that what it was? We were just talking about it the other day, and I can't remember. But it was, like, message boards for, you know, for every NFL team. And so we were, me and my college roommates, we were in this one for Vikings, for the Vikings. And so one of my college roommates, Kent, he, you know,

he was the guy who didn't go to class and he stayed up all night. And we went to bed on the first or second night of free agency and we're all excited. We're like, what are the Vikings going to do? Now, this is the Red McCombs era. So it's like you're probably not going to do anything, right? Like he forever was so cheap in this Vikings organization. Another testament to

the Wilfs. They're great ownership. They're the type of owners you want to have owning your team. But so we go to bed and me and my buddy, we shared a room in this house. We had seven guys living in this house. So me and my buddy, buddy Aaron, we go to bed and we wake up and there was a sign on our door that said just in capital letters Vikes sign Claiborne with a thousand exclamation points and the Vikings inside linebacker Chris Claiborne and we were so excited we were like partying the next day we're so pumped at the Vikings side Chris Claiborne who I don't even know i think he maybe made it a year but wasn't very good with the vikings but it was like we still talk about that in fact we got a text chain that every year nfl free agency starts we remind each remind each other the viking side clayborne that is tremendous clayborne uh yeah getting super excited about free agents that don't matter is an all-time fun

football thing and i brought this one up not too long ago but maybe you'll remember it since i've been here eddie lacy visiting is my favorite because oh yeah eddie lacy did absolutely nothing was out of the league by the next year and yeah it was oh he's visiting and we're tracking him down at the airport and i think jared cook maybe did the same thing but you know at least cook was good for the saints eddie lacy was just done playing football very shortly after it's like everybody oh he's the next guy after adrian peterson and all that sort of stuff it's i it's it's one of my favorite times of the year just for those alone and the swings too it's like when you're rumored for a guy you're

like oh man Joe Thune I can't wait he's gonna be so great here oh can they get him they need a guard and then he signs elsewhere man it's a lot of money I don't know there's so many swings like that and then even a couple of years ago three years ago when they signed um the wide receiver like Kendall Wright was it um yes yep and being like, well, that's a great third wide receiver option. You know, great third wide receiver. And the guy never even played it down. So there's a lot of those things that happen where you get unnecessarily way too excited about someone. And that's another reason why, too.

I love free agency. But I also think, like, just take your swings. You know, take your swings. Get your guys on good deals. And, well, you had brought it up, too. The problem is now the Vikings are not seen nationally by any free agents as, well, they're just one player away. So nobody's going to take that great deal just to be on a team-friendly deal

to go here because we're not the 2018 Vikings, right? We're not coming off the NFC Championship. So that's the problem right now is we're going to have to pay to get good free agents here. But when you're desperate, then that's when you sometimes make your mistakes, right? So I think that we should be skeptical a little bit of the Patriots. Like, what are you doing? Are you trying to go 9-7 because you are really headed on a steamrolling train toward 9-7 by signing all these guys

and having it blow up in your face a year or two from now. So you might be the team that wins the middle of March, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're going to win when the games actually matter. It just seems so odd from them because they're usually, and now I get it, they had basically they ate last year knowing we're going to have all this cap space, but it's like you have money. Just because you have money doesn't mean you need to spend money. You can save it. You can allocate it in different ways. I hope the Vikings take that advice too where it's like, all right, you may have money, but you don't need to spend it just to spend it.

Let's be wise here. All right. So here's what I want you to do before we wrap up is because you are a fan of the show, you know all about doing pie charts. So I need a pie chart from you. Okay. So here's your pie chart. On this date in the middle of March march while there's snow still on the ground maybe it's melting outside of me right now i want you to give me here's your four options for your

pie chart percentage chance that the vikings are a seven and nine or worse the dreaded middle which is you know eight and eight to ten and six somewhere in there they are better than that so 11 wins or more and other so anything else so meaning 14 and 2 or 2 and 14 so you can have seven and nine and i'll throw in six and ten six and ten seven 9, the middle of 8 and 8, 9 and 7, 10 and 6, 11 and 5 or better, or other? Pie chart. I'm so thankful I got this opportunity. Do you want the music? Yeah.

So, like, most of the guests. I'm going to write it down. Come up with your pie chart right now. Here is what I'm going to do. Okay, work your way through this. Take your time. Let's go. Okay.

Sometimes I have to edit out how long Courtney takes to put together her pie chart, so you can't be worse than that. All right, so I think I got it. Okay. So I'm going to go other. I'm going to start other. So I take that to be like, you know, four and 12 and under, or basically 13 and three or better. That's kind of what I'm putting there. I'm going to go 5%. I just don't see it. I don't see them being 13 wins or more. I don't see them being bad. I just think with Kirk Cousins, I think with the staff. And I also think, too, they had a lot go wrong last year,

so I don't think they're going to be really bad. I just typically those things kind of even themselves out. We saw in 2016 just 10 injuries on the offensive line and all this bad stuff happened, and they still finish 8-8. Last year all this stuff happened, they still finished 7-9. The only way this would happen would be is Ironman Kirk Cousins getting hurt in week one, and you've got to play a backup all year long, and then it's a disaster. And in that case, maybe 4-12, 5-11.

But he's never shown to be hurt, so I'll go 5% there. I'm going to take the next two, and they're kind of evened out here. So I'm going to go like in that 7 and 9 range. I'm going to go 15. I think they're going to be a little bit better than that, and I don't think they're going to be worse than that. So I'm going to go 15% for like 7 and 9. 11 wins to 12 wins, I'll go 15.

I could see it happening. I could see if things fell the right way, they catch a couple breaks. Maybe they got some of the Packer officials over here, and maybe they catch a couple breaks. Then they get to 11, 12 wins. Like everything breaks their way for two straight years like the Packers. We'll go 15%. So at least 65% in that 8-8, 10-6 range. I think that they're going to be better than

last year. I think there's a large shot that, boy, I'm leaving, they could, you know, because I think back now, 2019, they really could have won 11 games had they played any starters that week. So, but I think the 15% covers me there. I go 8-8 to 10-6 in that 65% range because I think that's where they're at. I really think as of right now they're in that 8-9-10 win range. Now, something crazy could happen, right? I mean, we get off the air, as your podcasts typically do, we could see that they've traded for Deshaun Watson. I know.

They've traded for Deshaun Watson, and now this changes everything. But I'm going to go 65% as we sit this moment today. Hey, everyone. I want to tell you about our friends at Scout Logistics. And I really do mean it when I say friends. They are fans of Purple Insider over at Scout Logistics. And since they reached out wanting to support this show, I want to tell you about what they do. Scout Logistics is just-in-time transportation for full tractor-trailer loads.

And if you're wondering what that means exactly, well, if you own or work for a company that needs shipping solutions, they are the preferred carrier of Fortune 500 companies across North America. And we have quite a few of those in Minnesota, right? They can ship perishable, non-perishable, FTL or LTL, and they have on-time delivery rate of over 99%. So if you're like them and you enjoy the show and you have shipping needs, check out ScoutLogistics.com or call 855-217-2688, extension 232, to connect with them directly to find out how Scout Logistics can minimize risk and overperform and go the extra mile for your company. I've been peeking at my phone just in case.

Like I have the Adam Schefter notifications like just in case a peek down like, oh, the Falcons kicker is leaving. So that's not big news. But, you know, you always have to check because you're right. As soon as podcasts are over, that's when things happen. But I love it. That's a great pie chart. And it's just hard. It's hard to disagree with.

Like when you look at just how the roster looks right now, the holes that you still have, but the talent that you still have. Like, is Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen going to let them have a horrible offense? Probably not. Not unless Clint Kubiak is doing it on purpose, trying to take it apart. And like you said, the injury is a very low chance, unless Jake Browning went full Kurt Warner and then just took over and became a superstar. But it's not a high chance that he gets hurt. And that is the only thing that could take you apart to be less than seven wins.

The one thing I would add is that, you know, they have a tough schedule this year. And I don't think they had a particularly tough schedule last year. I mean, they lost to Mitch Trubisky. They lost to Andy Dalton, which is the reason Vikings fans can't laugh at the Bears at the moment. But, like, those were not particularly difficult games when you look at the schedule. They lost to Atlanta. Like, this year they're going to face the West in the NFC and then the North in the AFC.

That's a lot of really good teams and good quarterbacks and good defenses. And it could be tough. But I still think you're right. You get enough wins to put you in the playoffs and then after that you know we might be talking about people fighting for their jobs in the playoffs and that that I mean that's that's up to be very interesting yeah and I and I think kind of taking that into account I just think the defense is gonna be so much better like they're gonna be competitive last year they just weren't competitive and I think they're gonna be games where the defense is just keeping you

in games that you weren't having to play a track meet the whole time. So I think that that will help. And, you know, you look at that hard schedule, I think that plays a factor why I just – until I see it, I can't imagine a Kirk Cousins team winning 12 games or more. I just – I can't. And, you know, there's a lot of people that will say, well, Kirk Cousins played and we heard the general manager say that.

We think he played his best football the last, after the bye and into the off season and the last stretch. That's great. The first six games counted too. Like that's a part of the season. Like I don't understand that theory. It's like, well, yeah, but he, he did lose you two of those first six games. Like, he himself, like, physically lost the Falcons game and the Packers game

and the Colts game, you could even argue, too. So that still mattered. They still counted. That's where I kind of get this. And if you look at his career over a 16-game period, there's always those games. There's all of them. And the data you pointed out, the data points out that when he goes up against the top seven defense, which I didn't face many of them this year, he's not great. Now you put him up against the top 10 defense and he's better

than Tom Brady. He's better than Aaron Rodgers. He's better than anybody. It's quite amazing. Yeah. Bottom 10, you mean? He's better. Yeah, bottom 10. Yeah, bottom 10. It is incredible. And you're right about the way that you know we kind of can pick and choose wasn't it brian dozier who hit like 20 home runs in september or something and then everyone wow it's just a 40 home run hitter and that's what he'll do and then the next april and may he comes out i mean that's just the nature of sports like this and every year of kirk cousin's career he has a five or seven gamegame stretch where he is absolutely fantastic. So it isn't something you could say, oh, let's just copy

and paste that to next year. Plus, didn't he throw like four touchdowns against the Lions on the last day? I mean – Look, Kirk Cousins is good. I don't want anyone to say that, oh, Heppler doesn't think he's good. I think Kirk Cousins is great. I think he's one of the top 12 people in his job in the entire world,

which is amazing. But there's just so many things that factor into this where his success is reliant on so many other factors, and that's why he lands in that, you know, 9 to 12 range, and that's great. Like, he's a very, very, very good player. But that's all a part of it and there's there's a stretch to every single year where there's two three games you're like where is he like what's he what's he thinking like how does that happen a week after he just did that where

so that that's kind of what all factors in here for me as well and and the other thing too you talked about Brian Dozier now he still hit him like that was amazing he had 40 some home runs in a year where they lost 100 games kirk cousins played the best football of his career when they were one in five like the the pressure and like all of that plays a factor too these guys are humans yeah well i just generally agree with your if you grab arbitrary endpoints you can make a lot of people look good like you could go to pff and say hey over this four game section you know armond watts was one of the top 20 defensive tackles like nope it's a 16 game season you got to do it the whole time so sorry armond watts for taking that needless drive by at you but you know that's just a good point about

arbitrary endpoints and just saying from this point to this point, this guy was great. So he'll always be great. Anyway, hey, it's Corey Heppelaw, along with Dave Harrigan, by the way, my friend Dave Harrigan. And people should check out your show if they haven't. It's on from 9 to 12 in the morning. And also follow you on Twitter because you do a lot of great stuff on social media as well. And I know from inside sources inside my own home that CCO is putting a lot of value on that stuff.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I love, did I, have I known your wife longer than you? Yes. She interned for you. She, my wife interned for you in Rochester at, what was it, Channel 8? At Channel 8 in 2009. Yes.

Is when we first met. And so you met her after that, after her internship. No, I knew her during her internship, but you and I, I don't think, ever met while she was interning. No, no, yeah. So I don't think that we met until Minnesota, until we both ended up here. Is that right? That's right. Yeah, and we had known each other on social media, but then once you got to Minnesota is when we got to, like, physically know each other.

And now we can't again. So we'll hope for that soon to change. But this was great. Yeah, anyway. Yeah, and I appreciate all your support for both me and my wife at WCCO. It is amazing. You are a great friend, sir. And I'm glad we could do this because I know you listen and I know you've got takes.

So it was good to get together and hear some. And we'll do it again. I promise it won't be this long until we do it again. Well, if we look at arbitrary stats, this will be the highest downloaded podcast we've ever been a part of, just you and me. That's true. That's great.

For at least March 17th, it's got a shot to be number one for Purple Insider. So really appreciate it. The Mason-Dixon line. Yeah, exactly. Really appreciate it, Corey. We'll do it again soon, man. Thanks, man.