Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Who are the most interesting Vikings of the next 5 years?

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about his article on the most interesting Vikings of the next five years and answers Vikings fan questions.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here leading you up to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder, of which now online I am a thought leader in the NBA joke community. I don't know if you guys saw this, but the other night I was watching the game And I was thinking the same thing as you guys were I was thinking what's with all these fouls on SGA What is going on? So I fired off a tweet. I said, you know what? I'm gonna roast them. I'm gonna get them good I'm gonna show this Shay Gildes Alexander guy, what for? So I said, somehow I just followed SGA from my couch. And I thought, well, that's, you know,

it's a stupid joke and whatever. And it ended up with 24,000 likes and 1,700 retweets. So I don't know guys, think I'm pretty ready for the game here tonight to lead the online discussion. No, I'm pretty ready for the game here tonight to lead the online discussion no I'm just kidding but it is a must-win for the Minnesota Timberwolves and I have enjoyed the heck out of their playoff run so far so we'll go till about 730 which means that it is open for you guys to toss in questions

comments thoughts and what I promised was on nights where we don't have a clear news item to break down off the top. I'll try to make a little list for you to get the conversation rolling. You can jump in on the list, comment on that, but everything else is completely on the table for you guys to discuss. So any questions, thoughts, comments. The other night we had some great hot takes if you wanna throw in some hot takes as well.

And I also wanted to know too, I just saw that my friend Judd Zulgad wrote about the Vikings not being on hard knocks. They've never been on hard knocks. And he said sort of like, hey, they dodge the cameras. I'm curious if that's something you guys wanted or you think it's just better off if the Minnesota Vikings are out of the limelight.

So I'll talk about that in just a bit, but I wanna get to my list for tonight, which is, I've mentioned, it is five years of Purple Insider. This May, this month, five years of Purple Insider's existence. So I've been making lists of the five or the 10 or whatever of the time that I've covered the Vikings,

but also I wanted to throw in a little bit of the future as well. So I made a list of the five most interesting players that I've covered from 2020 to 2024, but then I also included the five most interesting players for the next five years of Purple Insider and that's of course if you keep watching, listening, subscribing, going to the newsletter,

purpleinsider.football and signing up over there, then five more years should be easy of Purple Insider. So let's dive into the list. I was considering, should I count it backwards or forwards because number one on the list is so obvious. Maybe I'll just start with number one, which is you'll never believe it. Shocker. Tell your friends.

JJ McCarthy is the most interesting Minnesota Viking of the next five years. There's no doubt about that, especially over the next three. The thing with quarterbacks is even if they struggle in the first year and the second year, they often, if they're drafted that high, even if they show anything, will get at least three years. So, JJ McCarthy over the next three years is really the window. And sometimes that third year is when we see quarterbacks start to take that big next step. Sometimes it doesn't happen in the first year.

Now for JJ McCarthy, the first year was we'll call it behind the scenes development rather than out with an injury or calling him essentially a rookie. We'll say he was assigned to behind the scenes development for the first year as an assistant to the regional quarterback last year. And this year he gets his first year as a starter. But over the next three seasons they will have superstars in their prime like Justin Jefferson, Jonathan Grenard, Andrew Van Ginkle signed an extension. They're looking for other players to maybe rise up their games, but they spent a lot of money on veteran players

to be around him. Jonathan Allen, a multi-year deal, Javon Hargrave, a multi-year deal, Byron Murphy, multi-year deal, Blake Cashman under contract for a couple more years as well. So they have a window here that they've created with a lot of veteran talent, proven players around JJ McCarthy. And I think when we go through this roster and compare it to the rest of the NFC, nor to the rest of the NFC, is it the number one best roster in the entire NFC? It depends on a few things, but it's pretty darn close.

When you just go position for position player for player, how much superstar talent do you have, superstar talent do you have? What weaknesses do you have and then you go through the Philadelphia Eagles you go through the Packers the Bears the Lions? Maybe not quite on the same level as the Lions Maybe not quite on the same level as Philly, but it's pretty darn close between those teams and the Vikings so if the quarterback is what they believe he can be and plays like a Sam Darnold or plays like a Kirk cousins, he has a better supporting cast. And I don't mean like them stylistically. I mean, at the same level,

I think we can all agree that cousins under KOC, uh, during cousins time as a starting quarterback under KOC, the Vikings ranked seventh in offense, seventh in scoring from the time Kirk took over with KOC to the time that his Achilles popped in green Bay. They scored the seventh most points. And during that time, that's around where cousins rated over those that year and a half. If you were to take all quarterbacks in that, how many ever games it was, was it 17 games section?

He would probably be fringe top 10, right? With KOC and last year, Sam Darnall was fringe top 10. But what got the Vikings in 2022 was while they're defensive coordinator, but also they were having to go out and patchwork. They were having to keep players that maybe they would have moved on from otherwise who were past their primes, but they didn't have any other options with the salary cap and they had too bad of a defense to win in the playoffs.

That ultimately got them right. That was the roster around Kirk cousins, not good enough at the guard positions as we've talked about many times. Maybe could have used a little more support with one more wide receiver that year all that sort of stuff, right? And then 2023 they're starting the teardown process clearly not a good enough team to really compete for a Super Bowl at that point. And then with Sam Darnold, he is a fringe top quarterback top

10 quarterback last year, maybe even solidified top 10 quarterback last year. But ultimately the supporting cast ends up getting him. If JJ McCarthy is in the same range, so he doesn't have to be Lamar, he doesn't have to be Josh Allen. But if he's in that same ballpark, when we start naming quarterbacks and you get to okay, the clear top three or four are all set. But then everybody else is in this Stroud, Herbert type of discussion where if it goes really right, they can be elite.

If it's a tough year, there may be fringe top 10, I mean fringe top 10. And they're in that discussion. If he's that tier of quarterbacks, then we have seen that tier of quarterbacks go to the Super Bowl. We've seen Jimmy Garoppolo when he was still playing well. We've seen Jaylen Hertz, who I think is not on the same level as a Lamar Jackson or a Patrick Mahomes. We have seen Matthew Stafford who utmost respect for Matthew Stafford over the

years. He's one of the toughest quarterbacks for anybody to play against, But I don't think that anybody at any time in Matthew Stafford's career would have said, Oh no, he's up there with Brady. He's up there with breeze. He's up there with then the new guys come in my homes. Alan, he's not. But yet these teams have gotten to the Superbowl and sometimes one because of what they have around them. And the quarterback play has to be good enough. So can McCarthy reach that level of being good enough? That is the most interesting question in Minnesota Vikings land because you know,

they can coach and you know, they can build a roster in order to get 13 or 14 wins to make the playoffs. Can they have a quarterback then who rises to the challenge once they get to playoff time? And that's going to be another thing for JJ McCarthy to prove. So of course he is the number one most interesting player on the Minnesota Vikings, but even after number one, it started to get a little bit difficult for me, like who, who am I going to say is interesting or who is interesting to me as reporting on the team and who has

the storylines, who has the arc that we're looking for. And I went with Justin Jefferson for this because Justin Jefferson though is, he is so solidified in his excellence and we know exactly who he is and what he is and how good he can be and all that sort of stuff. I was looking at some fantasy stuff today and no surprise, Justin Jefferson is right now projected to be the second leading wide receiver in the NFL. None of us would be surprised if he was number one, number three. Like that's the floor for Jefferson.

If he plays the full season, his top five, we just know who he is as a player. And we've seen him grow up over these last few years from a guy who were wowed by as a young player to then battling through the Mike Zimmer years. Guys, if you watch the show all the time, you know that I'm a hat guy. But if you're wearing hats to cover up for your hair loss, then I've got something that can help you, it's called HIMS.

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Results vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride. Prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate restrictions apply. See the website for full details and important safety information to now being the centerpiece of the franchise with a quarterback he can actually build with and he can actually grow with because he gets here with Kirk

cousins. They don't win. And then it's all right. Well, he's injured. So it's Nick Mullins. It's a little Josh Dobbs thrown in and then it's Sam Darnold. But I think we all knew that it was kind of tenuous with Sam Darnold. And there was a very realistic possibility, even as the seasons going along, that he wouldn't be here the following year. And so yeah, I mean, he's enjoying playing with Sam Darnold. He's catching lots of deep passes, but is this really the guy? And so now this duo, this tandem, he is such a major part of JJ McCarthy's success. But also there's another thing to it as well, that there are stages of greatness. There is the early part of greatness when you come into the league as a draft pick and you elevate to top five hall of Fame caliber player at your position and

Were wowed by you and oh my gosh. This guy is so good. He's a franchise player. You wouldn't trade him for anybody that sort of thing Maintaining that though after you hit your prime and after you get paid and all that because then the expectations change a little Where it's not just hey, this guy is so exciting and he's great, but now this guy's got to win and he has to be the centerpiece, but also the leader. And the most important person, probably vibe and mentally wise for a franchise is that superstar player. And so Jefferson being able to be someone who is the driving force now rather than, hey, he's the young kid who's really exciting,

but, well, they've got Kirk and they've got Thielen and they've got Cook and whatever else. Well, now he's that guy. He is that veteran guy who is tasked with that. And also the other thing too is there's greatness over a certain period of time, and then there is Hall of Fame, all time, 1% of 1% excellence. And Jefferson in these next

five years, he's going to decide where he's going to be because we've seen receivers like Odell Beckham, they get crowned and they come into the league and they're great. And Beckham is, you know, he was still really good, but it was never quite that level. Well, Jefferson has surpassed Beckham already, but that second section of your career, that's where the true greatness of a Marvin Harrison or old Marvin Harrison or the Larry Fitzgeralds of the world, the Andre Johnsons of the world, like it's in the second section of their career. And then late career greatness is really cool too when you get a Jerry Rice who's 40 years old and get still ball

But we are a long way from that So I will have Justin Jefferson is my number two most interesting player to see how he deals with that transition into being truly the franchise guy I think last year was a really excellent example But they also didn't run into any bumps the road last year until the very end So how does he navigate that with a young quarterback and maybe a more difficult track starting this year? That will be something to watch and just his relationship with McCarthy.

Next guy on the list is Jonathan Grinard. Because Jonathan Grinard was not at all considered a superstar when he signed with the Vikings. He was a bit of a breakout player the previous year. That's cool. He got 12 sacks. They paid him. OK, like this guy can be maybe he'll be three quarters of

Daniel Hunter or something. And instead, he was every bit as good as Daniel Hunter. And that's another thing where when someone goes from not being considered a superstar to suddenly elevating into that ballpark. Now it's about sustaining that year after year after year with Jonathan Grenard because the attention is going to be different for Grenard this year than it was last year where he was really I think he was really a breakout player even though he had sacks the previous year to have 80 pressures to play near a thousand snaps every single week.

He's out there making plays and clutch plays. Well, that's now the expectation for Jonathan Granard. And he's got a chance over the next several years to solidify himself in that conversation. When everybody brings up the miles, Garrett's the Knicks, the Nick Boses, the Max Crosby, like he put up the numbers last year to be in that same sort of discussion, but is it a one year,

wow, he really popped that one year and then they kind of adjusted to him, or is it, wow, they found greatness on the free agent market for a very reasonable price, which will change if he continues to pressure and sack the quarterback the way that he did. And also, Grinard's just an interesting guy. So him being the now centerpiece of the defense with Harrison Smith being on the

older side, someone like Jonathan Grinard becomes the de facto leader, go-to guy. This is your team now. Uh, not that, you know, it's not still Harrison Smith's team to some extent, but Jonathan Grenard is now the biggest star on this defense and that will be interesting to follow going forward. Next guy on the list, I know that all of you are thinking this guy, Dallas Turner. No doubt about it. Probably the most asked about player that is not named JJ McCarthy because we're all obsessed with the NFL draft.

It starts there. How much they gave up for Dallas Turner. The fact that they not only had already given up a lot to move up to that draft pick. We know why, but then trading up even more with some other edge rushers on the board, but they really gave up a lot to say, this is our guy. This is who we want to be our defensive, another defensive franchise

player, and I don't think that his first season was all that fascinating. I think it is what happens sometimes to a draft pick on a really good team when there's great players ahead of you and we saw some development from him's we saw some flashes and I'm like, okay, I feel like it's in a pretty good spot with him. It's not instant superstardom, but it's in a good spot because he showed enough that he could be on the field. He can make plays that there's a dedication there that he started to show already this off season. He is a smart player, but he was asked to do a lot last year that maybe you would never have been asked to do on other franchises where they would have just thrown him at the edge rusher position. I just think about also how funny some narratives can be right?

Like if he was tossed in on the Jaguars at the edge rusher position and he played 800 snaps and he had let's just say, let's just say he had eight sacks last year. He would have already been talked about around the lease. Wow, that was a great pick. You know, he got eight sacks last year. Now he could have had nine pressures and eight of them turned into sacks, but that number just shines so much and the playing time for a bad team.

I mean, this was kind of Yanni Kengakwe, right? The guy kind of hunted sacks and he got them and was talked about as a really, really key player, but that wasn't necessarily the case that he was any kind of superstar. So sometimes our narratives about players are shaped a lot by their circumstance and just opportunity because if you were a starter on the Jaguars last year and you got some sacks in Even if they weren't even key sacks because you were never in an important game

People would have still looked at you in a while. You know, you got those eight sacks like he's on his way So Turner is in a unique spot here But if you can be on this defense and here's why Turner is interesting if you can if if Turner never turns out to be anything, they're probably going to be a good defense still but if he turns out to be really good this year next year, then they are going to be a ridiculous defense because a lot of these pieces if not all of these pieces are in place for multiple

seasons. I just went through it but no you know, pace and Cashman and Granard and Van Ginkle and Harrison Phillips signed an extension. The two veteran defensive tackles have multi-year contracts. Byron Murphy, if Mackay Blackman is something like really Harrison Smith is the only guy you're looking at saying, all right, that will have to eventually be replaced. But if you can slide in, I didn't even mention Mattelis,

if you can slide in, I think he's going to get an extension soon. So I'm assuming that he's going to be a part of it. If Turner slides into that and contributes eight sacks and plays 600 snaps and is a dangerous player, gets an interception, breaks up a few passes, that is going to take this defense to another level from where they have been. If he doesn't turn out then it's always interesting to look at what happened. And I think there was enough evidence already there to say well he's going to be a guy who could be on the field. It's just what's the range of outcomes here because if you look at down the stretch and those big moments for them last year,

he's on the field for 30 40 snaps for a lot of those games last year. So he can already be on the field. This isn't a Lewis scene. It's not. I mean, sometimes Laquan Treadwell was on the field, but too much for my liking. But remember, I mean, Laquan Treadwell had like what one catch in his first year. Lewis Seen didn't even play like we've seen this before. Go so far sideways. So now what's the range of outcomes?

Is it going to be a Xavier Rhodes where at first the guy is not so great and looks like he's very raw and then it clicks and whoa now this now he's a dude. Is it going to be a Trey Wayans where he never becomes what you thought he was going to be but Trey Wayans was a starting outside corner on a number one defense in the NFL. I wouldn't be the one to call Trey Waynes was a starting outside corner on a number one defense in the NFL. I wouldn't be the one to call Trey Waynes a bust. He just never became a megastar outside corner, but he was still a good draft pick. Like there's different ranges of outcomes when it comes to this stuff with Dallas Turner

and wherever he lands will definitely be on my list of the most interesting things to follow. Uh, one more on this list that I most interesting things to follow. One more on this list, did I pick five? Is that five? One, two, three, four, yeah, okay, so this is five, is Jordan Addison, because Jordan Addison is reaching a bit of a fork in the road,

and this whole court case situation, my gracious, is just being, pay law law system. Answers. I don't know, but, uh, don't even ask me where we stand. Cause I've read something and then I read something else and then like, okay, so does he have a court date? Does he not? It's a little tough to sort through, but the whole thing with Jordan Addison is there can't be any more court dates.

That's really the point is that Addison, and I also think that there is another level for Addison that could still be reached, where last year he was extremely good, but there were times where there was some inconsistency. Early in the season, there were moments where I didn't feel like he was as locked in,

and it might've been the distraction of everything that was going on, or there may have been some frustration at one point. There was an IG message that was cryptic, but then the people said it wasn't cryptic. Like, you know, that kind of stuff. But there were moments last year where it seemed like he wasn't as locked in as he needed to be. And then there was the injury that slowed him up off the start and the off-field thing. And yet still had a great year and is still really

important and is talked about as one of the best duos in the NFL. But I think there's a fork in the road coming for Jordan Addison. If Jordan Addison is truly dialed in and truly handles his off season and his career and his life the way that he needs to do to be a superstar in the NFL. I think that he can go even better than where he's been and take off even more. And again, already, I mean, a highlight reel of a wide receiver, but is he the banging drum that Justin Jefferson is maybe a little less so I think than Justin Jefferson. And that's why Jefferson is up here and Addison isn't quite there yet. So if he goes that way, continues to get stronger, continues to master his craft. We're talking, I think, what is he 23 years old?

Has he reached 23 years old yet? There is more to go for him than the Vikings will have to. They will be forced to put down their money on Jordan Addison as similar to Jamar chase and T Higgins and invest in that player. And he could be here for a long time. And you're talking about a Moss Carter type of situation that's on the table. The other side of that is that it could go not that way. And we've seen receivers have short runs and it's something off the field or it's injury or it's so whatever it might be, complacency, frustration, all those things can kick in. There's a lot of potholes for wide receivers in the NFL.

So if he chooses one direction and then has everyone's got to stay healthy, that's always going to be a big part of it. But when you are slight, then it becomes more of the discussion. But there's another way he could go where you're talking about, But when you are slight, then it becomes more of the discussion. But there's another way he could go where you're talking about, Hey, is Ty Felton ready to be wide receiver too, or something down the road. And so that's kind of why he belongs on this list. Cause I think he's a big swing player for what they're going to be in the next three years.

If him and JJ McCarthy, they lock in this year and it looks great. And that's a great relationship and he's dangerous and he's growing. Then you are thrilled that what you have to put with JJ McCarthy and then year after year, it could be like a digs and Thielen thing where they just get better and better. But if he doesn't then that becomes a hole that you might have to replace because you're not comfortable giving him $30 million a year. So there's a lot there with Jordan Addison that, uh, you know, I think

that a lot just around JJ McCarthy depends on Addison taking that step because there aren't too many guys who have the type of raw talent that he has, and I think that he's been very good, but could go even farther than that. So we'll see how that goes. And I, I've included some bonus interesting players. My bonus interesting players were Donovan Jackson, cause he's a first rounder, but also the, you know, the guard thing, uh, Blake Cashman, will Blake Cashman get the recognition he deserves? Uh,

that's something that I'll be watching for. And does it, does this defense become his as far as the leader in the centerpiece, you know a new team it's okay I'm here but now there's something more there for Blake Cashman Will Reichard and I wrote this as an article and I wrote you can go back and look purple insider dot football go back and look at the previous five years the most interesting players because there's a lot of stories there for my reporting and stuff like that. But this was an easy one. Will Reichard, I wrote, I don't have to explain this. I don't have to explain why will Reichard is one of the most interesting players going

forward. And then I threw Ty Felton out there because he's just interesting with his speed and his potential playmaking that will be watching him. So reaction to that, I'll give you the list again if folks are just joining here in the live stream. The most interesting players the next five years, I had JJ McCarthy, number one, Justin Jefferson, two, Jonathan Grenard, three, not exactly going off the board here,

Dallas Turner, four, and Jordan Addison, five. But feel free to let me know who would be on your list. So one more thing I wanna talk about and then I wanna get to your questions, comments and thoughts as we lead up to the Timberwolves game. Feeling a little nerves here. This one's gotta happen. I just followed Shay Gilders Alexander

while I was podcasting, am I right? Gilder's Alexander while I was podcasting. Am I right? So, um, anyway, I did want to ask you guys about hard knocks that, uh, my friend Judd Zolgad mentioned on his sub stack, uh, newsletter that, uh, you know, they didn't, the Vikings did not get hard knocks and that's going to the Buffalo Bills, which should be interesting because that's a team that keeps coming so close to winning. It doesn't quite get over the hump.

The Vikings though, I think would have been a very fascinating team to study because there are so many players here who have been through the NFL ringer time and time and time again and are ready to win. And you heard this desperation even in their offseason workout press conferences from Grenard from Brian O'Neill from Josh Mattel is like these guys are ready to win. They have been through close calls and good seasons and now it's prove it to yourselves that you can do it and a lot of it also hinges on a quarterback who's never played before that that's that's ready-made cinema right there. Hard knocks not ending up with the Vikings. Now they did some stuff NFL films.

They did the Jefferson thing. They did the Kirk thing for Netflix. So I could see why maybe they didn't decide to go with the Vikings, but the drama of it just to see. JJ McCarthy on a daily basis through camp behind the scenes, even a little more in the coaching from Kevin O'Connell, that alone would have been really something. I think what we all have some good amount of understanding, and I think I understand it pretty well.

Why does it work so well? What Kevin O'Connell teaches quarterbacks. What is it that he does that other people don't do that connects so well with the most important position in sports? We would have gotten some more answers from that on hard knocks. I think I know, but maybe we would have felt like we really know after that. And maybe we'll have to wait for another year. So did you guys want them on hard knocks? Because the other part of it is now the Vikings are going to be in the discussion period.

That's just going to happen. They will be in the discussion all year long sink or swim because of a first round quarterback, superstar wide receiver, famous coach now that he's coach of the year, and he's out there all the time now and people know who he is from last year. So they were going to be in the limelight anyway, but hard knocks does turn up the pressure on your team because through the training camp, everybody is paying attention to every little thing that you're doing in training camp, every little injury, every little bit of drama, and it might add a little bit of a layer that they wouldn't want to this situation, which is already pretty intense.

At the same time, when Mike Zimmer talked about it, he said he loved hard knocks. Now, of course, Zimmer looked awesome on hard knocks. If you go back to the Cincinnati days where he's coaching on the sideline pretty intensely. And there were some really cool moments in that one where he has a sit down with a defensive tackle and kind of goes over what he wants to see from him.

And you saw a real NFL coaching there from Zimmer. And I think that they've smoothed out hard knocks quite a bit in the last few years, but that was where you saw some real like, what does it like to be coached by Mike Zimmer? That was what it was like on the sideline behind the scenes. And he said that he liked working with the people. He didn't feel like it was a distraction or anything else like that. So maybe it wouldn't have had any potential distractions behind the scenes

with KOC and McCarthy that would have been, that would have been worth, worth watching. I already have HBO, but that would have been worth like a sign up for HBO. So there you go. Interesting players hard knocks. What else is on your mind before we get some playoff basketball? So Troy has McCarthy Jefferson and Jordan Mason. We'll see about Jordan Mason. I'm interested this year in him.

What is his role? Is he more than just kind of a bruiser or is he going to be someone who is their future RB one for a couple years? We can never really paint anybody in or write anybody in for more than a year or two at the running back position because of the churn at that spot, but is he going to overtake? I would put him on my list for, uh, for just this season for the next five years, I'm not sure if a running back is really going to have that much

pull on the organization, uh, for a past first type of team. But for 2025, I would put Jordan Mason on my list because there's a real chance that he ends up being the guy and he's running for a thousand yards. There's also a chance that it's Aaron Jones with, you know, 1100 yards and Jordan Mason with 400. So he has that potential to be somebody that they can lean on heavily and be a difference maker in a lot of situations. But also are they really going to do that? Are they really going to lean heavily on a rotation? Are they really going to lean heavily on Jordan Mason? We'll see.

So I like his inclusion for this year. David says, can there be anything of interest to happen before OTAs? Well, here's what I would say. David is let's pace ourselves, right? Let's pace ourselves because this is going to be a year where there's a lot going on at all times. Training camp practices. I I'm looking forward already to coming home from training camp every day, sitting right here,

breaking down all the notes and things I saw from JJ McCarthy every single day. I'm sure that the headline for every single live show is going to be like, how did JJ McCarthy every single day. I'm sure that the headline for every single live show is going to be like, how did JJ McCarthy look at practice day one, two, three, four, five, right? So is there anything that can happen news-wise? I mean, I guess so. There could be a quasi-adapthalmense extension

that we're still waiting for. There could be the trade, I guess, or they could add somebody in free agency. I don't expect it, but there always could be. I think that football in the NFL is so like, gas pedal down, fast in the furious, when it's happening during the season, even during training camp, it feels that way,

playoffs, all that sort of stuff. I like when we get some moments to kick our heels back and kind of have fun conversations about football where it feels like there's nothing around the corner. That's really intense. So enjoy the rest of the week. We'll have an OTA practice that we're allowed at next Wednesday. Dane Mizutani and I will be out there and we'll do our breakdown from inside TCO and all that sort of stuff. So look forward to that.

But for now, just chill. Enjoy the football talk. I mean, there's always you're also talking about the Vikings. There's always something that could happen with the Vikings. So is there something that could happen? Of course, there is. Look who we're talking about. Cole says, is it terrible to ask if a baby is due

in September will impact McCarthy's play? Are there stats? Cole, no, as many analytics as I've run across in all the years that I have covered sports, I've never come across kid-alytics to determine when a football player has a child how they perform but I will say though over the last 10 years now it's gonna be year 10 of me covering the Vikings I've seen a lot of guys who are of the age where they are having

kids and becoming dads and stuff like that and I can't say that I have ever seen or thought oh man you know this guy just had a kid like that. And I can't say that I have ever seen or thought, oh man, this guy just had a kid, that's why he's struggling. I mean, those of you who are parents, I'm sure would say it's very difficult. I don't doubt that it is, but I think football players are as good as it gets

at compartmentalizing things and also having resources to help with a new child. So I, I don't think that there needs to be any concern about JJ McCarthy in dealing with that, but it is something new to his plate and congratulations to him as well for that. If you missed it, he announced it on Instagram, him and his significant other. I don't they married yet.

Is there fiance? I don't know what it married yet? Is there fiance? I don't know what it is, but congratulations to them. But no, there's no stats that say quarterbacks, you know, quarterback rating. Well, pregnant is pretty good, but once it comes out, let me tell you. No, I don't be fine. I think it'll be fine. Andrew says, how high are we on?

MacGuy Blackman. Don't really recall seeing much of him in 2023 and not sure what to expect in 2025. Uh, MacKay Blackman is going to be discussed as a young and raw type of player or like, we don't, we haven't seen him a lot, So he's new and fresh, but he really is pretty experienced as a football player. He's like 26 years old already. He was drafted when he was 24 and played just over 400 snaps in his first year performed well, but they had some veterans in front of him. In fact, really might be one of those things that Brian Flores might have regretted is not getting black man onto the field even a little faster, but they were playing well as

a defense in 2023 with Flores. So black man didn't work his way in until a little bit later in the season and overall had a good season. What I saw from him was aggressiveness tackling ability could play the football in the air except for that one touchdown by, you know, Cortland Sutton over him. tackling ability could play the football in the air except for that one touchdown by, you know, Cortland Sutton over him. I thought though an instinctual player, hard nose type of player.

He's not the biggest guy. You might not have the highest ceiling, but I don't think that florist thinks of it that way. Like I don't think he thinks of it as well. Who's going to be the next Daryl Revis or Pat Sertan? I think he looks at it and says who can fit in this defense. Who's got the intelligence, who understands it well enough and then goes and plays aggressively and makes plays. And I think Blackman fits into that. The expectation should be that he competes with Isaiah Rogers for a starting job. And the fact that they only got Isaiah Rogers and not somebody that they spent a lot more money on other than

Byron Murphy coming back. I think that tells us something about how they feel about Mackay Blackman. I know going into last year, they didn't do anything at the cornerback position because they were thinking he's going to be the starter and then, you know, the ACL ends up happening. So he is, you know, again, if we're making that list for just 2025, that sounds like a list for another day, but McKay Blackman would probably be on it for me for most interesting of training camp, something like that. Alex says every year B flow has upgraded the defense way more than anyone thinks.

I'm so excited to see what is possible. If this trend continues well this year, if they put up similar numbers to this year with the quarterbacks that they're going to face, that would be incredibly impressive for Brian Flores. But where I am most interested and this sounds like a podcast idea for maybe a guest who understands defense better than me, what is just how having two pass rushing defensive tackles will change the dynamic.

Last year, Jerry Tillery was kind of just a guy. He had a few moments stuff to run. Okay, didn't grade very well against the run, but I didn't think it was as bad as his grade and he got after the pastor sometimes, but not a lot. He was he was a guy and I thought Jonathan Bullard played very well for the role that they were asking him to play. It was mostly that trio was stuffed the run.

And then, you know, if somebody slips past their guy or, you know, a lot of body moving, a lot of, Hey, Harrison Phillips is going to bring his lineman over here. Create a rush lane for the linebacker. That was really his job in the past rush. Same with Bullard. But in this instance, you're talking about two guys who want to get up field. So how does that change the linebackers? Do they blitz a lot less? They just blitz differently. Does Andrew van Ginkle drop back in coverage more?

So then he gets six sacks and everybody says he fell off and yet he was just as valuable or something like that. That dynamic will be something I'm sure we'll ask Brian Flores about just how much it changes his world when you have four or five guys who could get after the passer in your front seven as opposed to really two. I mean, maybe you could count Pat Jones, but he was pretty inconsistent. So I would go with probably two guys last year, two and a half. Ivan pace was pretty good at it. Cashman was pretty good blitzing occasionally, but just the consistent pressure really just

two. And now they have four, maybe five. If Dallas Turner steps up, how does that get used differently? How does Dallas Turner get used differently than last year? Is it Pat Jones's role? Is it much more than that? So there are a lot of moving parts that I am curious to find out about Brian Flores. I agree. Jonathan says I'd say Turner for most interesting players with how eager they were to get him and how much they gave up. Yeah. And that's the hard part, Jonathan, because from my perspective, I'm always kind of talking about how once he's on the team, I don't think

about the draft anymore. And I know that's a different approach from how it's usually done. How it's usually done is your draft status is something that is talked about to the end of time. And it does matter because look, I mean, Jeff Okuda is here because he was a first round draft pick not because of his performance. And that goes for the Ross Blacklock was a second round pick. That's why they picked him up. Like we've seen a lot of this from the Vikings, but every team does it. Oh, this guy used to be a first round pick. Well, we liked him coming out. So we'll pick them up. Even if you know, Louis

scene is on a team, there's nothing to suggest Lewis scene should be in the NFL, but he's on a team because maybe there's something there. So they never really move on from the draft status. I try to move on from the draft status because I am covering as a reporter, a human being, and he's not just a guy who is not a draft pick and a number, but he is just one person trying to fit into a defense and play well. And that was my example with Trey Waynes and Trey Waynes was a very high draft pick. Now did he ever fully justify that draft pick? No, but he played on a defense that was number one that went to the NFC

championship. Is he a bust? Like, why do we have to do this all the time? Why do we have to throw guys into well, he was either worth it or he wasn't worth it. Well, how about and but you know, so many players who don't get drafted high become great players and stuff. And I know we talk about their stories and how they got there, but it

just we don't do that with guys who weren't the first round picks There's like a never-ending obsession with he was a first round pick So he's got to be this this this or this or it's a bust and the GM should be fired And he should probably never look himself in the mirror again And sometimes I'm just overwhelmed by this like let's just see him play football and if he's good then they did something well and they got a good player and they built a good defense. And if they build a good defense, it's like last year, there's still people talking about the 22 drafts like they have a top five defense and they're winning 14 games. I'm not that concerned about it because they found Josh Mattelis and they found other people to fill those roles where it didn't work out. So I know that if he doesn't explode onto the scene this year,

I'll probably get frustrated if he's just good and not unbelievable that it's still going to be thrown in his face nonstop how they gave up a lot for him and he's not worth it. And I just, I can't take that. I just can't take sometimes the obsession with, well, he was drafted here and he's worth this. Like, are we worried about the team trying to win a Super Bowl or whether each individual draft pick was worth where they picked them. Sometimes I'm not totally sure about that. Mr.

Mayor says I convinced myself for every game this week. They're definitely going to have 600 yards six touchdowns and demolish the Lions and Packers or whatever with Jamie JJ McCarthy, maybe we'll finally do it. Well, that I think speaks to the expectations of him this year and right away and just how much pressure is really on JJ McCarthy because this isn't just you drafted a quarterback and he's going to play this year. We're going to see how it goes. This is you drafted a quarterback. You moved on from a 14 win quarterback and oh by the way,

this is a franchise whose fans have been waiting for you, sir, for a really really long time and that layer of things with JJ McCarthy. I'm absolutely certain is going to lead to a lot of overreaction to every single thing that happens to the OTA practices if it doesn't go perfectly the mini camp mini camps always good You get three days in a row in the middle of June. That'll be fun OTA is a little bit harder mini camp. They start to ramp it up a little bit usually with the intensity, but Then we get more of a sense of where

somebody stands than an OTA practice. But the point is if there's this much, the number of people who've said to me like, yeah, I can't wait to hear how McCarthy does an OTA is. I'm like, okay, I'll try my best. You know, I'm, I mean, I'm sure we'll cover it, but like, is that really something? But no, it is like every single thing becomes magnified 10 times because he's the guy who was promised as the franchise quarterback to take you to places that you have not been. And that means that when he doesn't throw for 600 yards and beat the Lions and Packers

at the same time, then there's, there's just gonna be, I think, a lot of emotion involved with following this season that we haven't had in quite a while, I would say. Matt says, we obligated to shout out Tori Holt in these conversations until they put them in the Hall of Fame. Yeah, the Hall of Fame decided they wanted fewer players in, which to me is one of the dumbest things that I've ever heard in my life,

because there's so many great players who are deserving, who are equal to hall of famers that are not in. But now because Dion Sanders complained that too many good, good, not great players are in the hall, that they're making it harder, like make it make sense to me as Kevin Williams and Torrey Holt and Jimmy Smith and lots of players from the era belong in and are still sitting at home. But yeah, that's, I don't know, but you know, Torrey Holt and Justin Jefferson, I think are probably similar bucket type players, like all, all timer for sure.

Matt adds feel pretty, I assume you mean good about Dallas Turner or strong about Dallas Turner improving and being a solid piece to the defense either this year or next. He'll never live up to the draft spot compensation. We should probably just get over it. Well, that's how I feel. That's how I feel. But you know, every, we just, I think we can separate like the team and their success with this player on it versus playing the computer

simulation front office manager game. Like there's a little bit of a different thing there. And I'm not saying like, this is a, this is a front office manager show. Like this is what I do. And I analyze, you know, everything, but try to remember what the goal is. If Dallas Turner becomes a good contributor to this team and helps them become an elite defense that's competing into the playoffs.

That's a good pick and there will always be somebody who was picked behind another player. That's better. Probably almost always unless you picked Patrick Mahomes. There were teams that passed over Patrick Mahomes that maybe should have some really big regrets, but I understand the desire to do that all the time, but we just don't have to every moment of every day that Dallas Turner plays football, like we can watch his game and study his game. And we don't always have to say, well, was he exactly worth this?

Uh, when we're analyzing the bigger context of the Minnesota Vikings. I think that's my point. And that's why I use Wayans, because where they drafted him, I'm sure there were players that were taken after, and I'm sure there was a lot of unhappiness that was talked about before I got here, when he was picked, 2015, 2016,

where he wasn't making as big of an impact. Rob says, most Jefferson McCarthy Turner, Ingram Dawkins and Okuda. I gotta say Rob, you've brought up in the comments, Okuda, I think every single live show. I wish you the best on this. I hope it works out for him. He's bounced around.

I'm not sure I get it though. I don't really understand that. To me, I've seen so many guys come in with the, well, he was a former top draft pick and they're giving him one more shot. I mean, we'll see, but I don't know. The odds are not stacked for him. Ingram Dawkins, I guess.

Ingram Dawkins kind of has to prove to me that there's a reason that he is going to be interesting. Later round draft picks. We've seen a lot of Jaylen Holmes is types come in or, you know, Steven Wetherly's who are guys, but can you elevate to something else? Ingram Dawkins has the athleticism to do that, but you don't see it too often that there's not much production and then they become that dude. So maybe he's an outlier and then if he is, then he'll be interesting for sure.

Jonathan says, I'm surprised the NFC North didn't get selected for hard knocks, given how good and interesting everyone anticipates each team to be. It looks like to me, they were swinging big for the superstar quarterback with the obvious narrative. The obvious narrative is, can the Buffalo Bills get over the hump and win the

Super Bowl and what is it like for this big superstar quarterback behind the scenes as he prepares for that season? That's what they went for. The Bills have a really good chance to be in the Super Bowl next year. I think if you're picking Super Bowl favorites, who are the most likely teams to win? I mean, the Bills are in your top three picks, top four picks. That's probably part of the reason that they're going there and taking that swing and maybe part of it is that they've done

and I don't know each team for every single year off the top of my head, but it feels like they've done a lot of the off-season hero teams and not enough of the actually this team is going to be awesome. And we all know it. Like everybody knows the Buffalo Bills are going to be really freaking good. And they've often gone with like, Oh, the Raiders got Antonio Brown and now they're a disaster or the Chicago Bears dropped drafted Caleb Williams. Let's look at them. Not that any of the NSE North teams are like that.

So you make a good point. Maybe well, Detroit just did it a couple years ago, but even Detroit. Detroit was that like, oh, they're trying to take a next step. They're off season winners and they did take that next step and they did win the off season, but they haven't done a let's focus on a superstar quarterback who's taken his big shot to go win the Super Bowl. So I get it. I think it's a it's a good choice. Matt says would have loved a Vikings hard knocks, but probably

good for McCarthy to avoid that. I don't know how much of a difference it actually makes. I've never asked the players because I don't know how many of them have ever been on a hard knocks. I guess I'll have to go through and try to find how many have been on it. But I guess if they had been picked for it, I would have gone through and tried to see

who's done this before. But I don't know how much of a difference it really actually makes. I mean, I think early in Hard Knocks, they were very behind the scenes. They were very raw. And it seemed like the teams didn't have any understanding of what it actually was. And a lot of stuff made the air that was pretty juicy and pretty exciting.

And after a while it became much more like the teams, I don't know if they still do this or how much, but the, you know, the teams approved the stuff that goes out and that kind of stuff. And it just has lost that edge to it. Because while the other part is if anything is exciting, it goes viral and then everyone talks about it and goes crazy for a day and that kind of stuff, which I think has maybe limited the edginess of the content, because you know, if there's anything there, then it's going to get ripped apart

left, right and center on the internet over and over and over again or I mean look at the Giants the Giants let the you know Fox in the hen house looking at their offseason last year they have one conversation one conversation where they're like yeah you know we it's okay to get rid or we don't want Saquon to go to the Eagles but we're not gonna pay him this or that or whatever I don't remember the scene. And then they get roasted on it for the rest of the whole season.

Even though it was the right move to let Saquon go, he was not winning the Super Bowl for the New York Giants last year. It was the right move that they got rid of him. It just was unfortunate that he signed with their biggest rival. I will still argue that the Giants had a good off season last year because they finally lived in reality during that show

maybe accidentally lived in reality that they had to go to the bottom draft players and they've started to build up their roster to the point. They're better. They just need a quarterback, but they got just destroyed on that and then all of a sudden we don't get another off season heart knocks. Right.

So every team is looking to avoid being the team that goes viral and gets destroyed for something that has made it less energetic to me. And I think it would have been a lot of like Kumbaya stuff and maybe not a lot of tension. I think great stories have some tension. Alex says, did you watch the untold farve? No, I, I, somebody's gonna have to let me know if it's good, if it's worth it. I wasn't here for farve.

The only thing I have with him is just the same thing that every other 38 year old person who likes football had, which was we all played far in the backyard. He was my college roommates favorite player of all time, even though we were not from anywhere near green Bay. Uh, I'm sure in Minnesota, like how many people are still Packers fans in Minnesota because of Brett far and Brett far of only, you know, does started off their fandom. He was one of the most exciting players to watch that I have ever seen in all sports. And I am aware as a journalist, I feel I have to be aware of what's going on,

but I don't know if I really wanna subject myself to that when it doesn't have any career relevance. If it has career relevance to me, I guess I would watch it cause I have to, but otherwise I don't really, I don't know how much I'm getting out of it. Like sounds kind of bad, but we'll see. If you guys love it, I guess, you know,

I guess maybe I'll take a look. So Sean says any surprise non-cap casualty cuts and no, I'm not hinting at CJ Ham. He's a lock for the roster unless he has a career ending injury. Yeah. Cap casualty cuts and no, I'm not hinting at CJ Ham. He's a lock for the roster unless he has a career ending injury. Yeah. Cap casualty cuts. I'm a little we're a little early for that in my brain, Sean. I have not thought through who could get forced out. The other part is that.

This doesn't happen as much anymore as it used to be since they expanded the practice squad because now you could just fit so many guys onto the practice squad before the practice squad was 10. And I mean, wow, like sometimes you're having to really make a difficult decision and saying, all right, well, this veteran and what and you said non cap casualty, but that you know, the right the caps fine.

So that wouldn't make a big difference. If a young player is beating out an older player, then while that older player is probably gone and they got to make sure they keep the younger guy, the whole B Rob and to Sean Bauer thing, which they made the wrong decision on that kind of stuff with so many practice squad spots. Like remember last year, I remember doing the live show reacting to the the official 53, the first 53 man roster. And I kept saying time and time again, like I think this guy will be back.

I think they'll be on the practice squad. And then everybody that anybody was upset about cutting was on the practice squad and a lot of them made it and I love the drama of the cut down and I Love talking about it and who's gonna make it I like making the 53s, but we've Sort of gone past where that matters as much guys don't get poached very often that almost never happens So you can kind of whoever you like in the preseason just get through and you don't have to cut anybody unless they look really bad So going through the roster who could look really bad? Well that I'm not really sure about yet, but it has taken the drama out of the potential big cut. It kind of has with just the ability to

get everybody on the practice squad, but if you got a name throw it out there. Mr. Mayor we have not yet thought of a better name for Maggie on Mondays, but if you missed the live Monday show, Maggie Robinson joined, and she's going to be joining each week. And I'm glad that you enjoyed her appearance. I think a lot of people did. She's very talented. She's going to do a great job every Monday night throughout the summer. So if you come up with something good, let me know. Matt says, feels they'll keep Taya Monty to round out the defensive tackle room with the bigger run stuffing guy. He's somebody that was kind of odd last year where.

He. Ended up making the team out of camp, which was a very big surprise. Wow. Okay. This rookie undrafted defensive tackle made the 53. Okay. And then he got hurt pretty quickly and it was like, all right, well, where is he, is he coming back and there wasn't really any updates and then I don't know.

Like, is he a guy still for them or was that just, he had a good training camp and that's just how it's going to be. But you know, that position is going to have a lot of competition for sure with, uh, you know, Jaylen Redmond starters and one guy gets left out of that party. So, uh, we'll see. Uh, Matt says the draft stuff is exhausting when the team is good. It's like walking out of a casino with an extra five grand in your pocket and griping about how you shouldn't have hit on that hard. Yeah, I go back and forth on it because I know it's important. The draft. It's a huge deal. The team building. That hard. Yeah, I go back and forth on it because I know it's important the draft It's a huge deal the team building it's also a big deal for fans excitement and you get invested in these players and you want to see them succeed and all those

other things and so we care about it a lot and also team building if franchises salary caps and If you know the franchise is salary caps and timelines and all that stuff and Dallas Turner is a big part of where this defense goes and that's why he's on my list of most interesting. Sometimes I just get beat down by the he wasn't worth it. You know, just like, okay. Well, what does he have to do to be worth it in your mind? Does he have to be Derek Thomas or Lawrence Taylor to be worth it? To some people, it feels like the answer is yes, but it's got to be better than it was last year. And the opportunity has arrived for that.

Uh, Herm says rookie Elijah Williams, number 69 Morgan State Herm. Uh, are you related to Elijah Williams? Because if you are welcome, welcome, sir. Welcome to Purple Insider and for your, maybe family member to the team. You know, Elijah was a guy we pointed out the other day on the show when he signed as an undrafted free agent, some interesting numbers and I'm intrigued.

Also, I think a good performance, if I'm not mistaken in the HBCU game as well. So got my attention, Herm. You got my attention. We'll be definitely looking for Elijah Williams as we go into OTAs, mini camp, training camp. So welcome to the show, my friend. David says Jared verse had four and a half sacks,

Turner had three in a pick. I don't know. He was good and he'll play more. Yeah. Well, we just don't. Jared verse had a ton of pressures and he deserves credit for that. Those are really important. He also played a lot more. He's also a lot older, but we also don't have to do that. We just don't have to look at the next guy and go, well, you know, for every single player, if we do that, I mean, who was the next guy drafted after Stefan digs? Like nobody cares.

Maybe he was great. I don't know, but we don't ever talk about that with any other position except for if you're a first round pick and the other guy who got drafted after you, that's the Anthony bar and Aaron Donald. Yes, if they picked Aaron Donald, then those defenses that Zimmer had would have been unbelievable. But that's how the draft works. It has a lot of randomness to it. So I think you can also look back and say, well, this would have been different or why didn't they pick that guy without also

obsessing over the next guy. And this happened with Laquan Treadwell. The Vikings had Diggs and Thielen, the best wide receiver duo in the league. And it was like, well, why didn't they pick Michael Thomas instead of Laquan Treadwell? Come on, man. Are we really talking about that? So, you know, sometimes it just is a little overwhelming.

Aaron says, Bo Richter, Dwight McClother, Walter Rouse, Michael Juergens, Jalen Naylor, five guys who could have big impacts for cheap nailers in a contract season is intriguing me. Yeah, Jalen Naylor, though, the thing about him is, and this is, I assume this is for 2025, but Naylor, if he does really well, is probably finding that contract somewhere else. but he made a good impression last year. And where he was at his best was when Jordan Addison was out. That may happen again with a suspension and, and Naylor can continue to develop.

He finally proved that he's capable after those, what three years of saying, ah, you know, is he going to be a part of this? Is he going to step up? Can he keep his body in shape? Can he avoid injuries? And last year he avoided injuries and had moments, but it wasn't consistent over the entire season. It's also hard to be consistent when Justin Jeff Jefferson and Jordan Addison are there and TJ Hawkinson.

So Naylor is a guy to me that if you just do your job, then let me, since we have only a few minutes left before the basketball game starts, let me make a basketball comparison. If you are the three and D player where some nights you score 20 and some nights you score four, make it a, maybe we'll make it a factor of three, six, you hit two threes, but you play great defense and you have a good attitude and you don't get a little bit too egotistical or impatient or anything like that. You can have a really good career as a three and D player. And that's kind of what Jalen Naylor is a wide receiver three deep threat type of player has to go into this year thinking not try to overdo it.

I feel like that happened with KJ Osborne in the year. He was going into his contract year, he dropped a ton of passes and he had never dropped passes before. We went like, what's going on? I think that he put too much pressure on himself with that contract year. Rousen Juergens, I think you're really hoping you don't see them. If you see them, then something has gone wrong. Not that they're not, you know, good development players behind the scenes

who have shown something, but you would really prefer that the starters are just playing. Uh, Richter and McClother and could be legitimate contributors for sure. They could be, um, junk buster says thoughts on Levi Drake Rodriguez. Looks like, uh, he might never, uh, ever see the field the way the D line is setting up. Yeah, we'll see a player like Levi Drake Rodriguez is always when he arrives because of his background story.

He's always so exciting. Oh my gosh, Texas and you know, when it's a Texas Commerce A&M University Community College or whatever, we're always going to go John Randall, right? You're always going to go to a small, right? You're always going to go, oh, small school in Texas, undrafted free agent. They love this guy. He's kind of nuts. Let's go.

It's John Randall. John Randall is a one-of-a-kind all-time historic player. You can't put that on somebody. But also when you come from a university like that, it usually takes three years at that position. That defensive tackle position is so technical. from a university like that, it usually takes three years at that position. That defensive tackle position is so technical. Like this is probably the position that is the least understood by anybody watching on a Sunday.

And even for someone like myself who's covered it for many years, I was talking to Harrison Phillips last year and he pointed something out to me and I was like, I've never heard that before in my entire life about the defensive tackle position that is so interesting. And then he said, yeah, go back and watch it on tape. And then I went back and watch and went like that. I had no idea that that was going on because things happen lightning in there.

So you got to know your stuff smart, technical detailed takes a long time for that. My thought on Levi Drake Rodriguez is if he is a rotational player this year, that'd be a big win for him. And then down the road, year three, like we've seen this, we've seen a Josh Metellus where you develop and it's year three, year four. And then we go, oh, where did this guy come from?

We might say that about Theo Jackson this year. Where did this guy come from? Jonathan Grenard did not do a lot through his first couple of years in his career. Neither did Andrew van ginkle. And then they just arrived. So what you're looking for on a roster is do you have eight to 10 guys who are in that bucket of like, Hey, you know, it might click.

And if it does, he's going to be really good because one will click or two will click, maybe he's that guy. I really won't know until we start to see him in training. Okay. Uh, Ned says special teams are interesting, uh, beginning with the young kicker and punter. Well, uh, Oscar Chapman will see, I think Ryan Wright probably still ends up as the punter. Will Reichard is interesting. Will Reichard is very interesting because he is the most talented kicker that I have ever seen up close and I remember talking about this in training camp last year and

You guys in the chat were like stop it stop saying that we have a good kicker I'll come over there and fight you if you say we have a good kicker. I don't know man I've never seen somebody kick like this and then he delivered immediately But the injury happens and then it's not quite the same. He's still good, but it was not quite the same. Is he going to stay healthy after a full off season? Remember how hard that is. You play the full college season and then right out of the frying pan into the fire

of the pre-draft stuff, getting drafted, showing up on a new team. Like now he's a pro and statistics are not great for rookie kickers. So now you go to the next level and, uh, you know, off you go. So I think he's got the potential to be a great, great, um, Type of kicker. And it just really depends on that kind of thing. Like is, is he consistent enough and does he stay healthy? Uh, Leonard points out that, uh, you know, maybe, maybe Jared verse over Dallas Turner, but also the Vikings had this happen with Justin

Jefferson and Jaylen rager. Like there's a, it goes back and forth, right? I mean, the New York jets, Elijah Vera Tucker's turned out to be a good player, but they traded up with the Vikings in that draft and then the Vikings end up getting Christian Derrisaw. So I don't know. The draft is always going to be a really funky thing. And you know, Leonard points out McTinglehoff was undrafted, John

Randall, Adam Thielen, like there's, you know, who knows, right? Um, but if Dallas Turner, and this is the, this is the point for me. It doesn't matter where anybody was drafted on the Minnesota Vikings in 2025. What matters is that they win and that the defense is really good enough to face off with Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, the NFC North. It's going to take a lot. And, and Dallas Turner has to be good enough to contribute off with Lamar Jackson, Jaden Daniels, the NFC North. It's going to take a lot. And, and Dallas Turner has to be good enough to contribute to that because they did not go out and get somebody else.

There is a ton of pressure on Dallas Turner, like throw out the other stuff. He's got the raw talent to be a big impact player and he has to be. And if he's not, then they're, they could still be really good, but I don't think they can be as great as if it clicks. And as if he gives them seven or eight sacks and two interceptions, and he's running down guys in the run game, and he's a he's a dominant player. It can be a totally different defense with that extra layer that with Patrick Jones or previously DJ one.

I'm like those are guys, but they were not. They were smart. They were hardworking, respectable. They weren't freakishly talented guys like Dallas Turner. So to me, that's the storyline with Dallas Turner is that if it works out, this thing can go to a different level with him. Not necessarily. Is it worth the draft pick? It's how much of a swing guy he can be for a defense? That's already very good

So alright good chat guys. It's wolves time, and I wish them the best and I hope Shea gilder's Alexander. I hope he recovers from all those wounds that he suffered in the first game I mean he must have had to be in the cold cold. It must have been like playing an NFL game. He got fouled so hard. I mean, you saw his face flying to the floor. Hi. I don't even know how you could play two days later with all of the wounds that he must have acquired in that first game. But

I think the Wolves might need to hit it a wide open three. I think they will tonight. So we'll see. But thanks, everybody, for the really fun conversation. As always, Mondays and Thursdays, some form of Monday with Maggie will be on Monday. And then next week, keep an eye out for an actual OTA practice getting broken down on the show.

We're there, we're in that part of the season. So I'm excited for that as well. So thanks everybody for your time and thanks for listening. And we'll catch you all very soon. Football. Wolves in six?