Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - What do we make of Rob Brzezinski's draft philosophy?

Episode Date: April 6, 2026

Minnesota Vikings acting general manager Rob Brzezinski had some interesting things to say at the NFL owner's meetings last week about his NFL Draft philosophy. Let's go back and take a closer look at them. What does it mean for the player most mocked to the Vikings, safety Dillon Thieneman? One fan wants to know. Plus Matthew Coller's first ever Purple Insider NFC Power Rankings. There's at least one bold pick in there.... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to another episode of Purple Inside, presented by Fandul, Matthew Collar here. And something slipped by me a little bit that Rob Brzezinski said at the owner's meetings about the draft that I wanted to dive into a little bit more. So let's get into it. Okay, at the NFL owners meetings last week, Rob Brasinski was asked a lot of different questions. Do you want to be GM? Why didn't you make more moves in free agency? And we broke down a lot of the things that he talked about. he was also asked about his draft philosophy.

Now, Brzezinski talked a little bit about this at the combine, and we went over it and analyzed it and tried to break down what it means. And so I had kind of banked it at the back of my head, all right, this is what Rob thinks. And then when he was answering the question, of course, you know, I wrote it down, didn't write a lot about it, didn't think a lot about it. And then as I was going back through all the comments that Rob Brzynski made to the Twin Cities media that were in attendance in Phoenix.

in Phoenix, Arizona for the owner's meetings, I started to think, no, actually, there is some interesting stuff in there. So I'm going to read you what Rob said. And then I would like to talk a little bit more about it. Also, I got a really good fan question about this as well. So we're going to break that down. Also, I promised the other day on the show that I would do some power rankings.

So I have some power rankings for you, a little bit of a purple insider twist to that, along with some other fan questions. and some interesting data about this year's Edge class and how Aaron Schatz sees it. So I want to get into all of that here on the show, but let's start with Rob Borsenski and the draft philosophy. Here's what Rob said to us, quote, where most mistakes happen is when you try to force it. Our core needs still might be ABC, but the draft might not align that way. What is a need this year may or may not be a need next year?

and he went on to say, we want to incrementally get better each year and sustain. And that means being able to look toward next year. And if we're just honest with each other and everybody understands like if we pick this player who's great here because he's in need this year versus this player at a different position, that could have a significant impact on us in the future. Now, what's interesting to me about this is since I have really started to dive in to draft season, the strengths and weaknesses of this draft, what the Minnesota Vikings need, where they could potentially go in this draft.

One thing I keep coming back to a lot is, and when I do my draft simulations, number one, that, well, you know, there are a lot of positions that could go down is pretty darn justifiable for the Minnesota Vikings with the 18th pick, or were they to trade down, or with the 49th overall pick, those first two are the ones that really hit the hardest, but even into the third round, I think there's a lot of good talent in this draft into the third round of players who could potentially be impact guys right away. And as I've worked on different permutations of this, well, what if they took a cornerback first, then a wide receiver second? No, wait, what if they took a DT first and then they went with an edge rush or what about linebacker? And I've,

right? Like your head starts swimming. But I think that what Rob Brzezinski is getting into here is that everything should be considered on the table for any position, even if it's a year down the road. So is there a hint there about a year down the road? And as I started looking a little bit closer into the draft class, one thing that we've only talked a little bit about is offensive tackle and also the edge class, which I think is and pass rusher, 3-4 outside linebacker, I think is a little bit on the underrated side

for the outside linebackers and edge rushers where if you're a team that plays a traditional 4-3 and a single high safety and you're trying to be the 2012 Seattle Seahawks, I don't know if there's a pass-rusher that really is going to blow your socks off. I don't think there's a Nick Bosa, a Miles Garrett, at guys who you can just lock into one position and fire away, and they're going to dominate

down after down against the league's best tackles. But as I was going through the list and looking closer at usages and things like that, I noticed that there are a lot of players that fit pretty well with the Minnesota Vikings. And I want to go over that list a little bit later of some of the guys that either do fit on paper or, you know, they could potentially fit if Brian Flores wanted them to with his malleable system. But I don't know if there's an edge rusher that you want at 18 overall. Caldric Falk and T.J. Parker are the two that come up the most often in the first round.

And then there's the offensive tackle position where it seems like a little bit on the silly side to draft an offensive tackle when you have Derisaw and O'Neill. But as he says a year out, like what does that mean? What positions apply to that? I think those two are at the top of the list. I think receiver is also on that list as well as a position that could make more sense a year out. Corner is a spot that makes sense a year out as well because Byron Murphy Jr. And his contract becomes cuttable after next year unless there's an extension.

And then Isaiah Rogers is a free agent after next year. So you have Grenard and Van Ginkle on the edge positions that we're not sure what their future is going to hold. You have Murphy and Rogers at the corner spots. We're not sure there. And then Derisaw and O'Neill where this could go any direction with them. Extensions, health is certainly a conversation still with Christian Derisaw and how his knee is going to hold up. So I think the Vikings are in a position to where if they don't draft a spot that you could have a little bit now and later,

but really it is supposed to be a foundational piece for the future. and maybe can contribute in the first year. If they don't do that, it would almost feel a little bit on the surprising side. We've discussed this quite a bit that Emmanuel McNeil Warren and Dylan Thineman are getting a lot of conversation with the Vikings, especially Thineman. And I think that he is a very good player. But there's a lot of other spots that you could clearly say, hey, if we bump this out to one year later.

And I would also say if we categorized into immediate needs and then needs for a year later, immediate needs is also defensive tackle, center, running back. I might say wide receiver three, not that I think they will go with that in the first round, but the first couple days. And the ones that go into the category for a year from now, corner, tackle, edge, and I would even say linebacker as well. You look at the linebacker group. There are three guys that stand out to me.

Jake Golday from Cincinnati, Anthony Hill from Texas, who has a lot of great physical talent that could be molded, I think, by Brian Flores. And then Jacob Rodriguez, that is a plug in play. This guy was a dominant player in college. But as of right now,

I mean, they have their starting linebackers in Eric Wilson and Blake Cashman. One year down the road, then, you know, Wilson's in the second year of a three-year deal. and 32 years old. Cashman looks like he's going to be a free agent if they don't sign him to an extension at some point pretty soon.

And it feels like this is the right year. This might be the bottom line. This is the right year for Rob Brzezinski to have this draft philosophy because you can really justify almost anything. I think a tackle would shock people. I don't think an edge rusher would be all that surprising. A linebacker in the first round, that would be. but the second round is kind of robust with linebackers.

This is not a year to draft a running back with the 18th overall pick because there just isn't anyone outside of Jeremiah Love. So they're going to have to make some decisions maybe on day two or day three. But how do you address when they get to a spot where let's say you have a defensive tackle and an offensive tackle who are very closely rated, but maybe the offensive tackle is slightly ahead. As much as this can be true, you also have inside that room. I'm sure some conversations about, hey, you know, we really need this defensive tackle for now and later.

But this offensive tackle, you might not get another chance to draft one this high into the future. So Rob Brzezinski's draft philosophy of not focusing on the right here right now, but trying to see the bigger picture and aim for foundational people. is not only the right way to go, but what the Minnesota Vikings can do. And this is where I think from my perspective, I push back on the Dylan Thineman where everybody has him mocked to the Minnesota Vikings. I could be completely wrong. I'm not in the draft meetings.

They might think that guy is the best player. And when you watch him, when you match up the numbers, he certainly is. So I'm not trying to be against that pick. If they get him, he feels like a really good. Ryan Flores fit. They need a safety for the future. But when you can make arguments for more valuable positions down the road, it's really hard for me to say, well, that's the right way to go,

unless he is head and shoulders above everybody else. Oh, and I should even mention tight end as well with Kenyon Sadiq, that that's another player where right away, certainly you can use him, but he would be a lot better as a pick in 2027 after T.J. Hawkinson hits free agency with his restructured contract. So I think for the first time in a long time, Rob Brzezinski, the decision maker for the Vikings is actually in a position to do this because I think in previous years, a lot of times

they were going into it while you have to draft a quarterback, obviously. If they didn't come away with one in 2024, well, actually, it might have been long term better for them, but that's a whole different conversation with the way that it worked out, but I think we all felt at the time they need to draft one of these quarterbacks. And even last year, we had, what, guard, we threw out corner. I think we threw out safety as positions they might pick. But guard was way up there. We discussed Donovan Jackson.

We discussed Gray Zabel and Tyler Booker and all those guys because it was pretty clear. Like, they're going to get a player who can help them right now. They are shifting. It looks like that mindset. but also there's a lot of positions that can help now and later. So I think that, you know, Rob's draft philosophy is going to match up pretty well with the way the Vikings are set up for this year.

Now, on to the fan question about the philosophy in the draft. This one comes from Jeff. He says, I think it's possible that Brzezinski has convinced the Wilfs that assembling great players is more important than simply taking the best player at some position of need. this draft might reveal whether that's true. If they draft a safety with their first pick, it's the same old stuff to me. That doesn't mean that I'm out on the whole thing, but I'll be disappointed that we're still okay with mediocrity. The last part of that, I'm not sure I would go that far.

If they draft Dylan Thineman, I can't say, okay, well, they have just settled on being eight and nine or nine and eight for the rest of our lives. because Dylan Thinemann has the potential to be a game-changing safety. And if we look at what Harrison Smith's done for the Vikings, if we look at what Kyle Hamilton has done or Troy Palomalu once upon a time, when you go through Thineman and his tape, how many turnovers he's caused where he's lined up at different times, I mean, this is a guy who has graded extremely, extremely well, has eight interceptions over the last three years in college.

He is a difference-making type of player. And, well, that is not necessarily a foundational piece in the same way that an edge rusher would be if you drafted the next superstar Nick Bosa, Aden Hutchinson level type player at that position, it is valuable when your team is really good. I think that safeties can be a glue type of thing. where if everything else is working around that player,

their full impact could be felt. But you might say that, hey, look at Kyle Hamilton. I mean, he's great, but the Ravens defensive line fell off last year and they were not the same. And even with Harrison Smith, there's some pretty lean years in there with Harrison Smith because often it's like a running back where a running back, Sequin Barclay is clearly better than Alexander Madison.

but when the Vikings had a great scheme and really good run blocking, Madison was averaging four and a half to five yards per carry. And Sequin Barclay, even as great as he is, when Philadelphia didn't have as good of rushing a blocking last year, Sequin Barclay wasn't the same guy. It's kind of the same for a safety position where there are certain spots, especially on the D line, that can drive the entire success of a defense with one edge rusher taking over games,

one defensive tackle taking over games, one cornerback taking top receivers out of a game. It's not always the same with the safety position. And that's one of the reasons that they get paid the way they get paid that I keep going back to. It's not just a random thing where the NFL just tossed out a bunch of numbers and said corners get this and defensive tackles. It's really been studied down to the number of how much value do these positions bring. And I think there's only a handful of guys that you could say are true foundational franchise pieces at the safety position. So, no, I don't think that they're settling for mediocrity. If they get a guy who runs in the four threes and can take the ball away,

can play in the box, can play nickel corner, can play free safety. No, no, I don't think so. But if you are looking for guys that are going to drive your success a little bit more from just the, how football has been studied and what's worth what. And there is a wins above replacement in football. It's just always been behind the scenes that teams have looked at it. And I think that's where some of this stuff comes as well. And what drives winning the most.

And it's more edge rushers. It's more top corners than it is safeties. So if you're taking a, hey, we're going to take the best player regardless of position. Well, you know, I mean, I don't know if you want to do that. If you're going to take the best player with also factored in your positional value, then what do you come up with? Do you come up with an edge rush or do you come up with an offensive tackle? Do you come up with a corner? Is it, you know, Jermad McCoy or Avion Terrell or someone like that?

I think there are other players that might be considered not quite as good of a prospect as Dylan Thineman, but they are in positions that tend to drive success more. this is it's a sticky situation for rob brisinski because if he just wants to go best player and doesn't factor at all positional value well you know that might end up being a mistake too because a good player at the safety position is fairly replaceable so uh you know i don't want to be the anti dylan thineman person because i think he could be a really good player if he lands here and very valuable to brian flores but there's also theory that's been studied on this stuff that I think Jeff is referring to and it will feel like, hey, well, they kind of did the

thing that Rob said they weren't going to do. So I've got some other fan questions to get to, but first, I want to bring you a message from our friends at ZipRecruiter. So when I started Purple Insider, folks, I brought on some friends of mine, Jonathan Harrison, Mani Hill, you've seen over the years, Brian Murphy. and the reason those guys have been great for me is because of their passion. So if you're hiring and you want candidates who bring passion to your business and you can't get that insight from a resume, well, you can if you post to ZipRecruiter. And now you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash audio.

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your match on ZipRecruiter. Okay, let's get back to some fan questions here. All right, the next question that we have comes from Joe S. Says, I'm not hearing much about any connections to the Vikings from Mike Washington, Jr. When I watch the highlights, he looks exactly like what they need, but I'm a novice. So what do I know? Any thoughts? Well, when it comes to college football scouting, I'm going to be honest with you, Joe,

I've never considered myself to be the elite brilliant, mind when it comes to scouting college football. And one of the reasons is because I cover NFL all year long and I only look at all 22 NFL players on tape, watch back Vikings games, watch them in camp, watch them in practice. And then we get to the end of the football season and then I start pulling up college guys. Not that I don't watch college football on Saturdays, but not really with that. Oh, I'm scouting this guy today kind of I, just for entertainment purposes. So trying to figure out whether a running back is going to translate, you kind of, okay, well, you know, I mean, if somebody really stands out, I don't think that's hard to figure out.

If it's Sequin Barclay, I'll take that guy. Remember when was it, uh, Jadavian clown? He just blew up that dude in the backfields, like, all right, that looks pretty good to me. But when it comes to this third round running back versus that third round running back, that's where it gets a little bit tricky. one of the reasons we have draft analysts on the show, Mike Washington Jr., but here's what I am good at, which is looking at the data and try to figure out what it can tell me. And something that stands out about Mike Washington Jr. to me is when you look at his numbers at the NFL combine versus what his production score is on NFL.com, it is a pretty enormous gap.

Okay, so the production score for Mike Washington Jr. is only a 55 out of 100 on NFL.com. And they've got their algorithm that they've put together that projects toward the NFL, I guess. They have not released exactly what goes into that. So, you know, it's, I wish that they would show the exact formula, but that's what they've got for a production score. I would assume that for running backs, It's based on rushing yards over expected, but that's just a guess.

When it comes to the athleticism score, though, Mike Washington Jr. is through the roof. He scored a 95. So it was production score 55, which was 17th among Combine running backs and athleticism, 95, which was second. And I think that that's the reason why you haven't heard a ton about him being a top running back, because if a guy has a 433 dash, 40-yard dash, and a 151 split, which is really, really fast, 10-yard split, 40-inch vertical, like, holy cow, these numbers are crazy, but doesn't have the same type of production that you would expect,

then you raise an eyebrow a bit. And I was just looking into his numbers, and he averaged 6.4 yards per carry, which is in the top 10 of all FBS, and was over 1,000 yards. So wait a minute, why doesn't it love his production? I think a main part of that is because it's just not a lot of carries that he only had 167 carries. And he did have 28 receptions to go along with it. He was at New Mexico State the year before that and only had 157 rushes at 4.6 yards per carry.

I mean, he just doesn't have like a huge track record for somebody who's played for a long time. He was at University of Buffalo back in 2020. And so he's played for a long time, this freak athlete, and really only this year had good numbers, but they didn't lean on him that much. So why didn't they when he's such an athletic freak? So let me read to you the NFL.com. This is who I look at a lot, Lance Zeerline and his analysis. So I'm going to read to you what Lance Zeerline says about it because we know, I mean, the Vikings have to be looking at these running backs. So it's a curiosity for me as well.

It says here on NFL.com, Washington made stops at three different colleges and showed improvement with each move to a new school. He's fast with loose hips and adequate agility. He's not very sudden in tight quarters and is a step slow to see it and go when a hole opens. He can glide and swerve around interior traffic when he's on the move, though, and he has breakaway speed in the open field and is capable as an inside or outside runner. running to his size with a greater degree of aggressiveness will be key as he makes the jump. Washington has the traits and talent to become a solid rotational back. So, Land's earline there, not seeing a starting superstar level back. And it seems when I look at where his weaknesses are that he, it says, here, needs gather steps getting into downhill cuts and outside zone schemes can be a step slow to see openings and trigger downhill, needs to become more willful and aggressive.

between the tackles and lacks sudden acceleration for ideal escapeability in small spaces. This is something that I talked about a little bit with Jonah Coleman and Emmett Johnson. That it is absolutely true that if you look at the Bijan Robinson's, the Jamir Gibbs, the Jonathan Taylors, these guys are going to run four threes. They're freaks. They're monsters. They're the best in the league. And they're highly drafted, right?

but there are a lot of running backs who create a fair number of explosive plays who do not have crazy 40 times and Delvin Cook was one of them because Delvin Cook had really fast eyes Delvin Cook was great at seeing a step ahead he had those matrixy types of moves and it felt like he understood his blocking extremely well he made his cuts in acceleration with a really timely manner. And if you have somebody like Emmett Johnson or Jonah Coleman, who may not run as fast, but they have those abilities that are kind of next level, hard to explain. But I think a lot of it is just seeing holes and reading and reacting as fast as possible.

And then those quick accelerations, like so. I mentioned that Emmett Johnson had just as fast of a 10-yard split as a lot of the other running backs, including Jeremiah Love, in this draft. So that's his first 10 yards. Well, what's really important for a running back? I mean, I love that stat for running backs a lot more than I love a 40. Okay, might Emmett Johnson get caught from behind 28 yards down the field? All right.

Well, I guess I'll just deal with that. If he's 28 yards down the field or Mike Washington's getting hit in the backfield, that feels like the difference between the two is that the people who have watched him play the most like Lance Zero line are just not seeing a starting Belkow running back. because the guy was at Buffalo and was okay, and was at New Mexico and was okay. And then he gets to Arkansas and has a really good season, but that's been the only one that he's had for his entire college career.

So I think that those are some of the main questions about Mike Washington. That said, if they picked them, okay, well, there you go. But go back and look at Ty Chandler and look at his numbers and look at how quick and Ed Grative's acceleration. there is so much more to being a great running back than just that, I think. All right. Next question comes from Jason's is what are the top draft needs of the NFC North teams outside of the Vikings? While starting with the Green Bay Packers, I think that they could make another argument for being kind of one of those across the board type of teams where, I mean, they're not picking in the first round. So that's going to hurt the Packers.

but they've got to be looking at offensive line. They've got to be looking at help at linebacker. They lost a key linebacker, brought in another one that's questionable. Defensive back, they cut Nate Hobbs at one year after signing him, but they don't have a ton of draft capital. I'm trying to look up exactly how much the Packers have, how many draft picks they have. It cannot be that many for Green Bay since they traded away.

Yeah, their first pick is at 52. So they need offensive line. I think they need defensive line help. They lost Kenny Clark and didn't feel like they really replaced him. Linebacker corner. I think all those positions would qualify for the Packers. And they just don't really have a lot of draft capital to work with. The Chicago Bears safety is a spot that they could be looking at as well.

Where are they picking in the first round? The Bears. They are number 25. So they could be looking at. Thineman potentially dropping or Emmanuel McNeil Warren. I think that's possible for them. The Bears could also use defensive line help. They might be a Peter Woods team.

They might even be a Caden McDonald team if he gets to them. And while they traded for Garrett Bradbury, so I'm just going to throw out center, could also be on their list. But they need defensive help. They did not beef up in the way that I expected them to do. And with the Detroit Lions, while they lost their, left tackle. So they need a tackle. And it sounds like from some of their comments publicly that Penae Soule is probably going to move over to the left side, he should be fine in doing that.

But they could look at a Monroe Freeling or someone like that on the right side. They could also use D-Line. They got rid of DJ Reeder. They have struggled there. Ty Leak Williams was not that impressive. And they lost Alex Anzolone as well. So linebacker might be in the mix for the Detroit Lions. So there's a, there's a lot of work here. And, and, one thing that I keep going back to with all the NFC North teams is there's a lot of, there's a lot of good here. There's a lot of very good here in the NFC North. But it's a little more rickety than it was even maybe two years ago.

Call it two years, 2024. It's broken down a little bit for all the teams since 2024. All right. Next question. This one comes from Speedy, a little bit of a long one here. Says everyone talked about KOC being on the hot seat, which has gone away. No one is recognizing that Murray chose Minnesota in part to do to the presence of KOC, the coaching staff at quarterback and the culture and the first class treatment of players.

That's like $30 million of value at quarterback. Does anyone think that he still would have come if we had Zimmer? Being able to attract players who want to come and stay to Minnesota is huge. Flores staying is probably has as much to do with KOC's management style. I think this is why we need to keep KOC for the long, term and the and ride through the ups and downs as we struggle to get a true franchise quarterback. So speedy, I mean, you and I are thinking mostly on the same page here about this, where what I have to weigh in this opinion is what I think about the longer term,

like if you were to give Kevin O'Connell the next 10 years, can someone who is one of the younger coaches in the league when he gets hired, can he improve on the things that he did not? do well through this first run through this first four years. I think the answer is yes. I think that Kevin O'Connell is very self-aware when it comes to the shortcomings of this team. I think that fixing those things is a lot harder when you're the actual head coach in the actual NFL than it is when you are sitting here or sitting where you are watching your television. Hey, just run more. Like, right, they want to run more. And I think that they will. But I also,

think that like there are layers to this, that everything when it comes to the NFL that go even beyond my comprehension of how football works. Like that's at the level that NFL head coaches have to think and analyze and make changes and everything else. And there have been some times where I think KOC has missed some obvious stuff. And him saying last year that it really stuck with him that they could win a game with negative passing yards just by playing very conservative. I thought, well, this is, this is progress because I think Clint Kubiak just won the Super Bowl in part because he said, oh, my defense is dominating. I don't have to do anything special with my quarterback. But then in the NFC championship, he said, my defense is getting

shredded. I better dial it up with Sam Darnold playing to the exact score and situation or trusting your defense at the right time. These are things that I think will work out better. Also getting some people on the coaching staff that can truly help with the run game. Frank Smith is a huge hire for them. So I think there's self-awareness. I think there's an understanding of the things that have not gone well for them that they do need to fix. I also think when you've had how many different starting quarterbacks through four years, having the fifth most regular season wins in the league is not someone that you just want to throw out. That's what I think. I think if you give the long haul to Kevin O'Connell, the culture will ride through.

This is like a Mike Tomlin kind of point. Over many years, Mike Tomlin's culture was pervasive there and drove success despite, I don't know, Duck Hodges or Mason Rudolph or whoever playing quarterback. I know they didn't win a Super Bowl, but that's pretty impressive. I think there's something similar with this, and it was really shown last year at the end, where they go from four and eight to nine and eight. It's not, you don't get a championship for that. You don't hang a banner for that.

But it says something. And I think with the way that the players respond to him, it really does matter. The way that they've set up the training staff, it really does matter to players coming here, staying here, wanting to be Minnesota Vikings. And if you hit it right, as you said, with the quarterback, then you have a chance year in and year out to compete. This is why it's funny because I think Vikings fans were looking at Matt LaFleur and saying, oh, yeah, Packers, yeah, get rid of that guy.

Yeah, get rid of Matt LaFleur when you're saying it because you think he's a good coach. Well, what would they say about Kevin O'Connell? Probably same thing, right? That's my view. However, if this doesn't work and Kyler Murray implodes, and you're looking at five years with two playoff appearances and two meltdowns in the playoffs, especially the one in Arizona, but I would even say losing to that Giants team was really bad. I mean, this is the NFL.

Like, there aren't too many situations where you just continue to go down the same road. And there's a teardown that is on the way with the roster. And maybe you just say you're going to flip a completely different switch. The problem with that is I think someone else hires Kevin O'Connell immediately. And if he gets a good quarterback, I think he's playing in the deep in the playoffs. If he's got a good quarterback. We can't lose sight of the fact this guy was Sean McVeigh's offensive coordinator when they won the Super Bowl and threw for 5,000 yards with Matthew Stafford.

So, yeah, I bounce back and forth between this is how things are done in the NFL. It's just not, he said it at the combine about how the timeline has changed with J.J. McCarthy in that situation, and it plays into it with this. But I think now that we've had enough separation from the season, from the intensity of the season, you see the number one by a mile available quarterback say, yep, even though you have a first rounder in the building, I'm coming there to Minnesota. You see, Jefferson's patience last year, don't tell me that wasn't a lot to do with Kevin O'Connell and his relationship with Justin Jefferson.

And so instead of him demanding a trade this offseason, now Kyler Murray's going to throw to him, these things matter. They do matter. So if the ship never goes down and lights on fire and implodes inside of the ocean and shoots up, if that doesn't ever happen, then I think what you can do is, is ride steady until you can get the quarterback situation resolved, which may or may not be Kyler Murray. I guess we're going to find that out.

So that, that's my general view on where we stand the head coach position. I would not put him. If we were doing a ranking of hot seat head coaches, I would not put him on it. I don't think it would be wise to even have that as a consideration right now. And we'll see where we're at in another year. Okay, I made a promise to you guys on the show a couple weeks ago. I was talking about rankings and how they drive me crazy. And I said, you know what?

I think it's time for Purple Insider to get into the rankings game. I don't do it much. But I think we should. And sometimes I'll do, you know, like a top 10 list of free agents or something like that. But not like power rankings, not like quarterback rankings. I don't really love that stuff. It feels clickbaity to me a lot of times. And some people do them really, really well.

And when I sat down to try to do this because I promised that I would, I was like, oh, this is actually a little bit harder than I thought it was going to be. So let me first give you a Fandual question of the day. And then the first Purple Insider NFC power rankings because I was trying to do all 32 teams. And I was like, I mean, I don't know. where do I put the the giants versus the

Titans like I don't I don't know right It was just it was too much I'm an amateur Power Ranker it was too much So I did the NFC and I'll get that in just a moment But first here is your Fan Duel question the day So I am throwing my power rankings out there for you

And a little bit of a spoiler I've got the commanders maybe higher than other people will They are plus 420 to win the NFC East. That's my best bet in the NFC right now. Who do you think is an underdog in the NFC to win a division that we might not see coming, but you would bet on it? That's the Fandul question of the day.

Okay. Let's get to the list. Let's get to the power rankings. Here it is. NFC post-free agency power rankings. Number one on the list is the Los Angeles Rams, obviously. I think that they are the best team in the NFL. They may have been the best team in the NFL last year,

but Sam Darnold had the game of his life in the NFC championship and beat them. And that's how football works. But that team is loaded up even more. There should absolutely be concern about Puka Nakua and his status. But I tend to think that players deal with stuff off the field and play the way they're going to play. and last year he was as good as any receiver in the NFL. I don't want to try to factor that into a power ranking. They still have Puka Nakua.

They have Devante Adams. They've gotten better by a lot at the cornerback position, which haunted them in the playoffs. Rams are number one. Seattle Seahawks have changed. They lost Kenneth Walker. They lost Clint Kubiak. Those are factors.

Those are pretty significant factors. But I think a lot of their running success did have to do with their, scheme, which is Kubiak, but I think they're going to keep the same scheme. A lot to do with building an offensive line that run blocks the heck out of everybody. And we saw that in the Super Bowl. They've got a great defense that largely stayed together. They didn't lose very many pieces. They kept Rashid Shahid on offense.

So they've got their receivers from last year. I think they're in really great shape. So the Seattle Seahawks are number two. This is where it actually got very hard. It was really, really easy to do number one and two. Okay, Rams and Seahawks, if I were a betting person, I would throw out, hey, that's the NFC championship for next year right now. But after that, so who else could challenge them?

I put the San Francisco 49ers and I did it with a lot of hesitation. And I can already feel the like, really the 49ers, but I think Kittles going to come back and they've got Mike Evans now. they were able to be a really good team with last year, Brock Purdy misses half the season. They were still really good during the time that Mac Jones was in there. They've seen some receivers develop. They do not have Joanne Jennings who apparently wants too much money,

and that's why he's still a free agent. Come on down, be wide receiver three, Juwon Jennings in Minnesota, if you like. But they'll get Nick Bosa back. They got Osa O'Digizuo, which may have been one of the biggest additions of the off season that was not talked about much because it was in a trade. I think that the best three teams in the NFL are in the same division, which is wild, but I think it's true.

Number four, I put the Detroit Lions and number five, the Green Bay Packers, in part because I don't know how to separate these two teams. I think that they deserve to be considered one and two. Detroit, I know you could say, hey, they miss the playoffs. Remember, I do. I do remember. But I also think that they have so much talent still on the offensive side of the ball. they have gotten maybe a better offensive coordinator there in Detroit and they are going to improve their defense a bit in the draft. I see them as a team with holes, but they'll have a better offensive line, a better offensive play caller.

And I think they can survive on defense. But I'm giving shrugs here because I don't know how to truly separate them. I mean, they are the favorite on Fanduil to win the NFC North right now because offense tends to drive these things. but how big are they of a difference from Green Bay? Green Bay might not have Michael Parsons at the beginning of the season if they get set back because of that. We've seen Jordan Love get banged up the last couple years and they don't have their backup quarterback now.

They have some issues with their secondary. They have some issues with their offensive line and their run game, but they're still pretty darn good. And Jordan Love through, I don't know, 12 games last year was ranking top five in quarterbacks. Now, here's where the surprising one might show up. So I've got four and five Detroit, Green Bay. If I told you Detroit made the Super Bowl, if I told you Green Bay made it, would you be totally gobsmacked?

No. But here's the surprising one. Number six, I have the Washington commanders. And here's why. Because Purple Insider refuses to do power rankings just based on last year's results. From year to year, a lot of stuff changes. They will have Jaden Daniels coming back. and I know there should be some injury concerns,

but he was in the NFC championship as a rookie, and they've done a lot to that roster. I think that Washington was one of the biggest winners of free agency this year, and they're going to come in and they're going to get a high draft pick. Could be Jeremiah Love that they add or a Rubin Bain or somebody who's a significant contributor right away. And I also think that they made some coaching staff changes that could be really helpful for them,

including Durante Jones, who I know very well and worked under Brian Flores, actually also worked under Mike Zimmer, really great defensive mind. There's changes that are going to be made there. I think the commanders, and I'll get into this a little later, there are some falling teams in the NFC East. I think they're going to be a rising team. After that, I put the other two NFC North teams. I put Chicago number seven and Minnesota number eight,

and this would have the Bears and the Vikings essentially fighting for a playoffs. But I know that's not how it works with the power ranking, but you know, the top seven make the playoffs. Again, I know that the division winners will get in. Carolina can host the playoff game again or something, but you understand what I'm saying. Like the top seven type of teams are the ones we're going to look at of, well, that's kind of where a playoff cutoff is.

Anyway, that doesn't matter. But the Bears and Vikings, I think, are very even. Chicago last year got away with a lot, got a million turnovers. Caleb Williams wasn't that accurate, but was very, very exciting. And what I expected this offseason was massive changes to that roster. And I don't think they've gotten better. They lost players in the secondary. They got much worse at center.

They got worse at wide receiver. And I think the Vikings got significantly better with Kyler Murray, but also have a lot of the holes that they had last year. and in some ways even worse at certain positions that, I mean, there's only so much they can resolve with the NFL draft. So I have the Bears and the Vikings call it neck and neck as seven and eight as teams. And they even have kind of similar quarterbacks that are flawed, but really spectacular and exciting at times. After that, I have the Philadelphia Eagles at number nine.

And I really was batting this around because this would mean I have Washington winning the NFC East, and I do because it feels like this is the time where the clock finally strikes midnight on the Philadelphia Eagles. Look at that roster. There's a lot of holes. The offensive line isn't the same. Sequin Barclay is old. A.J. Brown is getting traded probably to the New England Patriots.

There are issues clearly with Jalen Hertz, whether it's actual issues with offensive coordinators as was reported or with receivers or just his performance was really mediocre last year coming off the Super Bowl. That team has corroded. And I think this is the year that it really hits them and they don't have the head coach to keep pushing them through. I have Dallas as even with the Philadelphia Eagles. So Eagles are nine.

The Dallas Cowboys are 10. They have enough talent on the offensive side. I think they just by a coaching change on defense. last year they had Matt Eberflus. What? Why? I, huh? So they've made improvements there just by getting a new defensive coordinator,

some new personnel, but not a lot. And it feels this very similar type of team that will be exciting, offensively, struggled defensively, and they can win a fair number of games, but not be a Super Bowl contender. Number 11 I have is Carolina. Is there another step for Bryce Young? I tend to think that last year what we saw from Bryce was Bryce,

but their defense should be better. better. They invested a lot on the defensive side, including spending that was it the most money in free agency of any team on Jalen Phillips. So they add him if they're a better defensive team, Ted McMillan's in his second season. I think they've been able to under Dave Canales grind out a lot from Bryce Young. And if he does take another step, that's a serious team. Isn't this crazy, though? I don't think I'm a psychopath for having the best team in the NFC, self rank 11th in the NFC. I think as of right now, that is completely fair.

Because if you were to have, I mean, I want to put Carolina ahead of Dallas, but Dallas has the better quarterback. Next, I have the New York Giants because I think the Giants will get quite a bit better. That was a disaster. You know, regular disaster and unmitigated disaster, probably about the same thing, but you might go full unmitigated. There was no mitigating of the disaster that was the New York Giants last year. They have a young quarterback.

They have a real head coach with a ton of success in his history now. And I actually think it's a crazy take that their front office has done a lot of good things with how bad they've been. Malik Neighbors is coming back. They've brought in some draft picks that I like. They brought in some free agents that I like. Now, this is my argument for them being 12th. But I think that they'll actually be in the mix with the Dallas Cowboys with Harbaugh as their coach. 13th, I have New Orleans.

Now, New Orleans is the team that I think I have the least confidence in their rating right now because I could see New Orleans being more like seven. I could see New Orleans with Tyler Shuck and Callan Moore taking a big step from where they were last year. Remember, they were starting Spencer Rattler at the beginning of the season, and they played pretty competitive football down the stretch. They could win that division. so I'm not feeling great about where I have the New Orleans Saints at 13th. I struggle with Tampa Bay as well.

I have Tampa Bay 14th because, well, Baker Mayfield is a good quarterback. There's no Mike Evans. They've lost a lot of that roster. Levante David is gone. Todd Bowles has to be one of the worst coaches in the NFL at this point. He's on the hot seat. This just feels like when it all comes apart. And Baker Mayfield ends up quarterbacking.

somebody else next year. That's how that feels. Atlanta at 15th. I covered Kevin Stifansky here. Always like Kevin Stifansky, but good luck with that, man. I mean, you've got good weapons to work with, but the quarterback situation's a mess. I don't believe in Tua at all. And if Penix comes back, I've always liked Michael Penix, but he's coming off of another knee injury, which is number, I don't know, 15th or something like that knee injury. So I'll put the Atlanta Falcons number 15th, number 15th, number 15. They also, it does not look like James Pierce is going to play football this year or who even knows when again and dead last the Arizona Cardinals.

So let me run down the list here real quick again. Rams number one, Seahawks 2, then the 49ers, Lions Packers make up 3,4, 5. The commanders with the maybe most surprising ranking as the sixth best team. Then Chicago at 7, Vikings at 8, Eagles 9, Dallas 10, the Carolina Panthers. There's 11, New York Giants 12, New Orleans Saints 13. 14 is the bucks, 15 is the Falcons, and 16 is the Arizona Cardinals. Yes, I think the NFC South is still bad. Something to be noticed there.

The Vikings and the NFC North play the NFC South this year. There's an opportunity. I'm just saying there's an opportunity. So there are your power rankings for the first time ever. Give me the comments. I'll take them. I'll take them. The comments on the NFC power rankings.

And my plan is to keep circling back and we'll take a look at it. I'll shuffle it around each week during the season. I'll shuffle it around in the off season. If different things happen, different reports come out, players get hurt. But we'll remember my initial rankings and then we can laugh at it later. But I tried the best I could. And there wasn't a whole lot else going on newswise. If you were curious about Fan Duel's Super Bowl odds, I'll just show you that.

And then we'll get to one more point on the show. Fan Duel's Super Bowl odds right now are agreeing with me at the top of the NFC, plus 700, the Rams are the Super Bowl favorite, then the Seahawks, Bill's Ravens under Jesse Minter, Chargers at plus 1,500, Chiefs at plus 1,600, just getting the, hey, you have Patrick Mahomes. And then the 49ers and still Eagles is just, Eagles is repubes. reputation points. I just don't see it with their roster. I don't see it with their coaching.

It feels like a drama festival there. And if they lose A.J. Brown, it's a huge deal. So I'm not seeing it there. Okay. Last point before we wrap it up. And happy Easter to all. And thanks for watching. Is Aaron Schatz put out a very interesting article on ESPN.

I encourage you to go check it out. Projecting the top edge rushers in the 2026 NFL draft class. And something interesting that jumped out to me. Now, he's got a whole formula here with their weight, explosiveness, and a sack projection over their first five seasons. So that's what he comes up with here. And I read the explanation.

I don't really fully understand every bit of the math that goes into this. But this is what Aaron Schatz came up with. I'll see if Aaron wants to come on the show at some point. and we can talk about things, but it's a five-year sack projection that he does every year. At the top is David Bailey. The interesting part here is that second is Keldrick Falk. And I think that a big reason for this is that Falk from Auburn, who's been a target for me, and ESPN has ranked as their 24th best player, is that he is very young.

He is only 20 years old. And he's kind of a tweener, 278 pounds. but he did well at the NFL combine. And it feels like that's one of those projects that Brian Flores might be able to get a lot out of. Another guy who I haven't put a ton of work into, and maybe I should, is T.J. Parker from Clemson. He is third on this. And if you're wondering about the numbers, David Bailey projects as through five seasons, first five years, 25.5 sacks, 23.5 for Keldrick Falk and 23.1 for T.J. Parker.

So those are your top three guys. Arvel Reese comes in after that. Akeem Messador is an interesting prospect from Miami that, I mean, I guess the Vikings could look at. He's a beast player. And if you read Tyler Dunn and Bob McGinn has this series where he talks to scouts, there's people who like Messador more than Rubin Bain. My thing is, Messador is like 25. I just, I'm not sure if those numbers and the performance. are a little bit like telling you the truth.

But I want to highlight one guy before I wrap up. And that is the next one on the list next to Ruben Bain. Very close score here. Ruben Bain is ESPN 16th best player, which is surprising because I think he might go in the top 10. Melachi Lawrence. Learn the name. This is a guy from UCF who looks very, very similar to Jonathan Grenard. Long arms, super bendy, very, very explosive, great sack production.

second or maybe even third round because he went to UCF, Melichai Lawrence, very interested in him, and he has 18.5 for his SAC production estimate, which again is right next to Akeem Messador and Ruben Bain. So that's somebody that it appears the data really likes. Okay. Well, that's it for the show. Hopefully you enjoyed the conversation. I'll be back to going live as I usually do Monday night. than, you know, when things come up, but hoping to do at least two live shows, maybe three,

every single week during the offseason leading up to the draft. Now, I mean, the gas pedal is going down for the draft. We are very, very close. And we'll have Chris Trappaso draft show and so forth this week. So thanks everybody for watching and listening. And we will talk to you all very soon. Football.