Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Who do the mock drafts think the Vikings will take?

Episode Date: April 22, 2025

Matthew Coller and intern Clay take a look at the mock drafts and Matthew talks about ESPN's Adam Schefter suggesting that the Vikings could be a team for Kirk Cousins as the Falcons look to trade him after the draft. What did KOC say about the backup QB situation in his press conference? Plus answering Vikings fan questions and going through.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here. And what an exciting week it is. We have finally reached draft week. And so I was sitting here thinking, what else do we have to talk about? What other scenarios can we discuss? What other players can we break down? And what other ways can we talk about the NFL draft?

So some of that is on you guys to ask questions, comments. And I'm interested to find out what is on your mind. Also, we had a Kevin O'Connell press conference along with Aaron Jones, Harrison Smith and Byron Murphy. So if you have questions about what those guys had to say, feel free to jump in. I wouldn't say there was any huge headline outside of that JJ McCarthy is going to be 100% ready to go physically

as they begin the spring program here, which is what all of us expected. And it would have been pretty shocking news if it was anything other than that because he had his surgery many many months ago way back in august so the timeline for that. Getting on the field in january having four months since then to get ready yeah the expectation was that he would be good to go and the other thing is too that I wish someone would just say Look, obviously McCarthy's QB one. Are you guys joking? I mean, why do we do we need to continue to do this? They haven't named him QB one. I mean coaches are just like that. They'll name the starting quarterback The night before on the Saturday after he's taken every single first team rep for the entire offseason. So even that Kevin O'Connell talking around it just doesn't really

move the needle for me. And we'll see what the backup quarterback plan is. Adam Schefter had to just, it was almost like Schefter wanted to needle me personally by mentioning the Vikings and Kirk cousins as a potential pairing. I don't think the chances are high of that. It would be weird. And it would also make me wonder, are they really sold on JJ McCarthy starting? And I don't think they want to do anything that ends with the center or ends a sentence with are they really sold on JJ McCarthy?

Anything that would undermine him would make zero sense to me. Plus the Atlanta Falcons want the other team. They're going to trade him to to pay some of the salary back, in which case I would say nope, you don't want to do that. And I just think Kirk Cousins is a starting quarterback that last year he was hurt and he was still recovering from his Achilles injury, but you can't tell me he wasn't better than everything Pittsburgh had a quarterback and Probably five six other teams.

So he should have some options at least still to start from teams that are still screwed and maybe don't get anyone in the draft. But I guess what I would say about the cousin thing is if it happens, then we'll talk about it until then. I see it is so unlikely that I would not dive into that discussion of whether they should bring him back to be QB2. But here is what we're going to do tonight. So questions and comments and reactions and things very much welcome. Happy to answer anything that is on your mind.

I also have a very interesting comment or answer to a question I asked from Harrison Smith about him coming back. But here's what I want to do. Normally I make intern Clay sit behind the scenes for the first hour of the show so he can learn something. Actually, it's usually because you guys have so many great questions that I try to answer them all first and then bring him into the show. But what I want to do, since he had a homework assignment, is I want to bring in intern Clay here right off the bat of the show.

Good evening, Clay. Here's what the homework assignment was. I was busy today at TCO performance center, covering a couple of press conferences, writing, doing a podcast with Dane Mizutani. I didn't have time to do what I wanted to do, which was to gather a bunch of mock drafts and see what the world says in draft week, the expert world. Who do they think the Vikings are going to take? So Clay, tell me about your journey of deciding whose mocks to look at and how many mocks you have that you're going to tell me. And I haven't, you haven't told me the

list. I have not read the mocks. I don't know who they're going to have the Vikings take. So I assume you've done your homework and you're ready to go. Yes, I have. I've gathered a interesting group. A lot of the top experts I wanted to get their kind of point of view, but I also got some kind of random more obscure ones just to see if anyone's gone to something or spewing out some madness. So the first one I got was Mel Kiper. You got to start with big Kiper and he has the Viking sticking at 24 and taking guard at Donovan Jackson from Ohio State. Hmm. So that's interesting because I haven't seen too many people that have Donovan Jackson that high.

And when Mel Kiper, he still brings this type of cache, I think, to the draft analysis world. Now look, those people who go through Mel's mocks and are like, he only got eight out of 20. So they come on, man. I mean, they don't tell him directly, here's who we're going to pick. And he also doesn't know how the board's going to fall and how a team could be dead set on somebody on draft night. And then they get taken. and then all of a sudden, uh, what do we do? Right.

And we got to take somebody else. So I've always been like, okay, you know, I get frustrated with the draft analysis world too, but that's unfair. Mel does have a lot of good information still and sources in the league and people he talks to. So what I thought about Donovan Jackson was maybe I just did not give Jackson enough attention as a potential option. And here's why I think he would be a fit is Jackson is the one that most says

NFL ready and outside zone mid zone type of running. Booker is more of a power guy and Gray's able is more of a project. And if you look at the way Jackson and moves just as a guard He is a borderline tackle which you know that movement skill is different usually than most guards you draft So he might have a little more upside to him because of that movement skill if they were to draft about this You tell me who they're who they have in these mocks. But I also want to know what grade you would give it for the Vikings if they did it. And then we'll talk about that as well.

For me, if that's who they think is going to be the right guy to help them solidify the offensive line and he's the best fit for what they're doing. By all means, pick Donovan Jackson. I won't be too concerned that a consensus board or something else says, well, they reached on Donovan Jackson. They're like, well, if he's the best fit, then he's the best fit. So what grade would you give that pick? This is interesting because I think this one depends on the rest of the board

because I'm not too familiar with Jackson's game. Like you said, I haven't seen him at the top of a lot of mock drafts. So it kind of makes me question this pick. But again, Kiper is much more fit for this job than I am. So I guess I'll kind of trust his sources and what he's seeing. And yeah, if the Vikings need a guard and if he's the one that they believe in, then go ahead and take him. My question was, say the Vikings are locked in going guard at 24, but Zabel's off the board, who I think is, has the potential to be the best one. I think he has the

most upside. So Zabel's off the board and they're sticking with a guard. Is Donovan Jackson the next best up or Tyler Booker? I'm not sure. What do you think about that? Rob says zero line and Bucky Brooks and Charles Davis have Donovan Jackson from between 24 and 27. So it seems like Jackson is somebody where there's a lot of differing opinions on where he stands and I'll have to look at the different consensus boards,

but I just haven't seen him from a ton of analysts as high. So he might be a guy that some people who are really dialed in to the analysis world, like Charles Davis and Lance Zierlein and Bucky Brooks, who are seeing something that is different from a lot of the other analysts. And that's what makes this so hard because you want to have like, like, let's give ourselves forgiveness for having hot takes on stuff for, for this show and reacting to mocks, because every single player will probably be like, yeah, yeah, I could see that. I think for Jackson, I'm going to say that I like it a lot.

And I would give it a high grade because that would make me assume that they saw him as the perfect fit guard and anything that helps JJ McCarthy is going to go high for me. But if you give more confidence to a consensus board, which is fine and has been proven through history that usually if you go against the consensus, you have a lesser chance of hitting. That's okay. You can do that if you want. If you hate it, you can hate it. Go ahead and hate it, Clay. Go ahead and hate it. Guys, if you watch the show all the time, you know that I'm a hat guy.

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HIMS.com slash Purple Insider. insider 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. Now he kind of reminds me of a Kelvin banks. Kelvin banks started off, um, kind of the off season and a lot of people had him top 10, uh,

a top two lineman in the class. And as time kind of went on, he kind of got lost in the fog and fell on a lot of people's boards. But now we see him coming back again, emerging towards the top. So it could be similar to Donovan Jackson. People just paying him attention at different times. So I think it would be a B pick, at least B minus pick, at least if they like him. They need a guard. So might as well go beef it up.

And it'll be good to have some more nastiness next to Ryan Kelly. Yeah. I was thinking that there is probably a back and forth there about, you know, what is on the board and from Kipers Mock. I don't remember like who else they could have drafted and whether guard makes sense from a scarcity, positional value type of situation. Are they just drafting a guard because it feels like that's the last thing they need or is he really the best player?

And you mentioned Kelvin Banks. That's another part of the absurdity of the draft process in general. Like, oh yeah, Kelvin Banks, he played all those football games recently that roses stock, right? Or drop no zero football games, one NFL combine. Like if it was, if it was banks, he could be a starter at tackle, but also maybe an above average guard. And that interests me.

So we do base a lot of our opinions on what the outside world, the analysis world thinks if it was banks and he dropped all the way to 24 because no one thinks he's a tackle, then I think we'd have to give them probably a higher grade because there is not really a lot of debate about him. Let's get to our next mock. So we got Kuiper covered, who's next? Yep. So next I looked at Todd Macha and his mock draft

and he has the giants trading up to pick a Jalen Milrow at 24 and the Vikings would receive pick 34 and 65 in exchange. I love this. I love this idea because you're not moving so far back that it hurts you too much. You're giving up a handful of players, but I don't think you're leaving the general range of, like if they were going all the way back to like 40

something, you're probably sacrificing your opportunity to get someone really good. But I don't think the sacrifice in this draft is enormous and it might depend on what position. Now, if I recall, he has them taking Benjamin Morrison, is that right with the 34th pick? Yes. OK, so Benjamin Morrison is a health concern for a lot of people, but before there was the discussion

about his hip and is he gonna actually be healthy, there were a lot of people who had him as one of the top corners in this draft class. And if they come away with a cornerback and pick up additional draft capital without moving too far away, Blowfish wants to give it an A. I mean, I think so also you get 65.

That's pretty good. All of these things are going to come along with who's on the board will make a big difference to how we would grade them. But if they were to get the 65th pick, that's still a starter. I think in this type of draft, if it was a really top heavy draft, then maybe I'd say I don't know if that's really worth moving back that far, but that to me is, I think that's a really,

really good scenario for the Vikings to be able to land somebody who can start a corner eventually, if not make an impact right away as a rotational player depth and then get extra draft capital. So I like this one. Yeah. I still just don't believe Jalen Millrow will go in the first round. as a rotational player depth and then get extra draft capital. So I like this one. Yeah. I still just don't believe Jalen Millrow will go in the first round. So I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this, but for the Vikings,

I don't really love this. I'm not sure it it's going to heavily depend on the board, but if you have a chance at one of the top four D tackles or if Baron or starts is there. I feel like there's just so many options where if they're there, I feel like you've got to stick and take them. But if they're top few guys go and they're not all for the guy that they want to pick at 24, then yeah, this would be great to drop back just 10 spots and then pick up the 65 pit because it's been the talk of the off season, but that 50 range pick,

they're, they're so similar in this draft. So, so I think it would be good for the Vikings. And the one thing that I have on my mind going into this night is the surprises that we've had in recent years, Like, what was the guy's name? Cleland Feral, who was taken and all of us were looking around going, does anyone know who that is? Like, does anyone? I mean, it wasn't completely off the board, but mostly he was thought of as a late

first round, early second round prospect. He goes in the top, I think five, and it was just crazy. And then even you look at a couple of years ago with Will Levis drops totally off the board and I was live streaming them and I, I was like, are the Vikings going to about to take Will Levis? And then they didn't. And he gets to the second round and it's like, wait, wasn't he projected as top 10. So who's that guy this year?

Who's the guy that drops and shocks everyone? Is it Jaday Baron? Is it Kenneth Grant? Is it like, who's that guy this year? Who's the guy that drops and shocks everyone? Is it Jaday Baron? Is it Kenneth Grant? Is it like, who's the one? And I guess grant is more in their ballpark, but who's the one that is projected super high and there's even a little talk cause we have to talk about everything, even a little talk about buzz with the Jaguars that they might just pick Ash and Gentie and they might not pick Mason Graham.

And then if Mason Graham starts to slide, you know, what becomes interesting at that point and to talk about Milro. He is the only quarterback in this draft that I actually feel a desire to discuss. Like I, I really don't care to talk that much about Chaudhier Sanders. He's not that interesting to me in every other draft. And if his dad wasn't who he was, he's probably a second round pick. I think everybody realizes that. But I also think he's I guess he's a fine quarterback prospect for that range.

Okay. I haven't seen a lot of controversy of people yelling at each other about him Jalen Milro is the one where if somehow it goes right for him the guy could be something But I don't really know what that something is because he's so far away as a straight passer He could be compared to Lamar. He could be compared to Jalen Hurts, but he's really not. I mean, those guys were passing the ball much better in college than he was, and they were seeing the field much better. But I can't remember a quarterback not named Lamar Jackson that was as fun to watch run

the football in college. So could he be something? Could he be a slash player? Could he be something? Could he be a slash player? Could he be intriguing? I would much rather take him. And then if he doesn't work out, I'm like, hey, line up at, you know, running back in the red zone and we'll pitch you the ball and then maybe you throw it in or something

like trick plays. I don't know. I'm sort of interested in Milro, but I would be very surprised if he ends up going in the first round. I like that vision for Milro, but I can't see someone taking him in the first round with that kind of thought process behind. Right. If he slips to the mid to late rounds and shirt, why not? If you could, if he catches the ball, he could be taste some hill on crack.

So it could be scary and it would be, uh, something opposing teams that wouldn't want to face at all. Cause once he has the ball in his hands and he's running downfield, it is. Hard to stop. So I think that's why there's entry. He does something really well, which I think a lot of the other core guys don't have, they're kind of just like solid or good. But he has that one special trait that brings your eyes on him. You know, he did grade really well throwing the ball deep down the field.

But I tend to think that that's a wide receiver stat. I just don't know what to make of him. Because I think if you drafted him in the third round or something, that there might be enough there to make him into the slash player that you have something everybody else doesn't have. And as much as taste some Hill has basically become a meme because of how obsessed Sean Payton is that guy was useful. I mean, he threw a 50 yard pass against the Vikings in a playoff game to, to,

you know, give their offense a chance at a downfield passing game after Drew Breeze arm didn't work anymore. So Milro whoever drafts him, if they've got a vision for him, it could be a fun player. I have a really tough time thinking he's ever going to be really something. So that speaks to your point, because what we need to talk about for all these mocks that we're going through and if you're just joining, that's what we're doing here.

Taking a look, we're grading these mocks and we're also talking about how realistic it is. That's really the other part is not only what would you grade it if they did this and I would probably go a B on this. I would say, I understand where you're coming from is there's probably going to be some really good players there. If you move back 10 spots, then you're probably passing up on some of those Derek Harmon or Kenneth Grant or whoever it might be. Uh, how, you know, who drops would be what determines it for me, if that's a good trade back or not, but realistically, I just doesn't seem like that.

And maybe McShea is hearing that the NFL is higher on Millrow than the rest of us. But I just have a tough time thinking that someone's not only going to do that, but also when you look at the back end of the first round, who's picking after the Vikings? You could make somewhat of an argument that the Rams would take a quarterback. There's not a lot of other teams that you could argue is going to take a quarterback between the line and 34. Would it? The lions do it, the Lions, their lions are trying to win right now. Yeah, the people have been trying to get rid of Jared Goff and all he does is has like the best offense of the league every year.

OK, what do we got? Who's next? Yep. So next I have Bruce Feldman. He has Nick Emmanwary going 24th to the Vikings. This is one that would make me nervous. Like, I get it. I totally get why that's one for the Vikings. Although I was blown away today by the way that Harrison Smith talked about Theo Jackson.

He straight up called out the Tennessee Titans for letting him go. He was like, I don't know why the Tennessee Titans let him go. Well, because they're one of the better organizations. Oh, wait, no, they're not. So but just, you know, when it comes to the safety position, if they like Theo Jackson as much as it seems, then this is something that they might not do. And Harrison Smith, hard to say if he's going to have a 15th year

after this, and they might want to draft someone that they can use a little bit in a role this year and then move back into his spot. He just, to me, really screams boomer bust, and I know that's everyone, but the boom potential is high. The bust potential, there's just a lot of red flags when somebody rises after the combine. This is something that's been looked at where it's like if a guy suddenly shoots up in all the mocks and has this crazy exciting NFL combine, but the actual tape, and this is like a Matthew golden point of like, maybe he's more of a second round type of talent

or third round type of talent, but he ran this four to nine that people can't get out of their heads. I always think buyer beware with that. Matt wants to give a D minus for Emin Warray. I would not love it. I would not love it. And if there's a guy, here's the irony

that Lewis Seen is kind of looked at as like all Melchi Starks. He goes to Georgia and you know, there's that synergy there, but I think Emin war a being the athletic freak. That's a little bit more of what Lewis seen was for the Georgia Bulldogs before he got drafted. So, you know, I I don't know about that. I think I think it's risky if they do that.

But the other part is they also have Brian Flores. So maybe he might be able to get the most out of him. I just think it's risky. That one's risky. Yeah, I think this is like a baseline C pick with the potential to be B plus A range or D minus F range. He's that, there's so much unknown around him. Like, yes, it's a range or D minus F range. He's he's that uh there's so much unknown

around him like yes, he's a physical freak but we we still don't know and II wouldn't mind this if a lot of their other targets are off the board. Imagine starts Zable Harmon and Baron are all not there and yeah I can see them thinking about

Emma but in that situation, why not trade back and get the extra pick and see if you could get them 10 pitch later? So I'm not too sure. I wouldn't just a lot of fish in the sea at the safety position. And if you take in the third round, you know, Rob mentions Xavier Watts, Kevin Winston, there's the guy from Texas. I mean, there's options there that could be in the third round where maybe the gap isn't that much and the risk is not as much for Iman Wari. So I think both of us are a little bit more down on that realistically though realistic chance. I think it is. I think it's realistic. It really all

depends on does Brian Flores see this guy as someone who could fit within this defense and the fact that he played a lot of different positions to me says that is plausible and not crazy that he could end up being the pick onto the next mock. Yeah, I think before I just want to if I think the only safety they should stick and pick at 24 is Malachi starts. If he slides that far, I think go ahead and pick him. But if not, I think it would be prime for them to to look for a trade back. And there we go.

You made it 20. I thought, you know, maybe we should get you in earlier. But if not, I think it would be prime for them to to look for a trade back. And there we go. You made it 20. I thought, you know, maybe we should get you in earlier. So the cops are now. And I guess it's just nonstop in Philadelphia all the time. So I'm just just kidding. Eagles fans don't come to my house. But OK, next mock. Yeah. So next up, I have Dane Bruegler or Bruegler.

I don't want to. Yeah. And he has the Vikings taking Jada Baron at 24. OK. Yeah. Mute yourself real quick there until the cops arrest you. I'm going to go fast. Yeah. Jada Baron. This is I've mentioned this mock because I thought that this was my very clever idea for the Vikings.

I just think it's possible that even though the draft analysis world is really high on Baron that other people look at him as more of a nickel guy, but that was kind of how the world viewed Byron Murphy Jr. As kind of a nickel guy. Yeah, that's right. The even worry pick was so concerning that the cops were called. That's what happened. But Baron is one of those run the pickup type of guys for me who would be a really good fit in zone coverage. He makes plays on the ball. He's got a high IQ. I just really, really like the idea of, and this is how, if we look at how the Vikings got their star players

in the draft in this same range, it's always the same thing. Christian Derrissau is a top 10 to 12 type of prospect going into that draft. He falls down the board, the Vikings grab him and, oh my gosh, you got a franchise left tackle. The same thing for Justin Jefferson. I just rewatched that draft and it's like,

when is Jefferson going? When is this guy who caught 10,000 passes from Joe Burrow going to be picked? And he just kept dropping and dropping and landed right in their lap. So Baron is somebody that I could see the same thing happening. And, uh, Dane Bruegler jumped in and took that hot take away from me. But for me, this is one of the the if I'm making my list of best possible outcomes for the Vikings in the draft, Jadé Baron dropping to them is on my list. Yeah, I think this would be a home run.

I think this would be my favorite outcome for the Vikings in the first round. And I still think corner is the most, if not second most needed position for this team. And I think he's the best in his class. I know he's not the traditional outside go on an island type guy, but he's so versatile. He could play almost anywhere and give that guy to Brian Flores and things are going to get scary. So I don't think he thought that far, which is why it's kind of man. But if he does, I think it would be great. Right. How realistic is the other part of evaluating these mocks?

And I would go 50 50 like I could definitely see it, but he is very highly talented and maybe saw it after. So we'll see on that. But as far as, you know, his being the traditional type of player, I think if he had run like a four six, then we would have said, ah, you know, that's really not quite the speed that you need to play on the outside. But when he ran a four three nine, okay. Well, I think he really can't play anywhere in the same way that Byron Murphy was pigeonholed as a certain type of player

And he could actually play just about anywhere. So I am a big fan of Joddy Baron Nick likes Will Johnson. I've seen kind of Will Johnson be all over the map He's another one the Vikings could be very interested in because he's also not one of those crazy speed guys, but is a great instinctual player. The thing about Johnson that concerns me is that he didn't want to tackle anybody. And I don't know if that's a Brian Flores thing. Look up even his full season is broken tackle percentage where they're breaking his tackles is bad.

It's quite bad. And that's something where you got a you got a rally to the football. If you are playing for Brian Flores, so you know, and Rob, you say that, you know, the Barons a seat for you because he's not a game changer, but that's the thing about how floor is defense works a lot of times where it's like they just paid Byron Murphy is one of the highest paid corners in the League

is he I mean, last year he had six picks. I don't know if I would say, oh my gosh, he's a game changer. He's just this Patrick Sir, tan total freak, but he's very valuable to them in the way this thing operates. So it's for me. It's an opinion and also you are picking 24th. It's not like you get Travis Hunter here. Like there's going to be imperfections.

I'm looking for could he be someone that you put in there and he's good for a long time and he's a great fit. That's what, that's what I'm tending to look for. So, all right, next mock, next mock. So next PFF assigned 32 of their analysts to each team and had them do a full draft for them. And Gordon McGinnis was in charge of the Vikings. And he ended up trading back with the Saints and the Saints ended up trading or getting Luther Burden. I'm not sure who the Vikings picked,

but they got picked 40 and 71. Okay. So trading completely out all the way to 40 and 71. Do I need to run a draft sim right now to figure out who might be there at 71? I think I do. I that to me feels like a long way to go back all the way to 40. Let's let's figure out. I'm just going to run this real quick and see who could potentially be there at number

40. And what did you say? 71? Yep. 40 and 71. All right. So here's who's on the board at 40. Donovan Jackson still there. Now, that'd be interesting. Also, Trey Amos, corner from Ole Miss, Siobhan Revelle, Maxwell, Hairston, Xavier Watts,

Azaria, Thomas, a lot of good talent is still on the board at 40. So I don't dislike that. And then I didn't go back far enough. Third, it's early in the third round. That's the thing about trading backs. Every time we look at it, we're like, yeah, there's five guys that I think would be pretty good. Now, who could be available at 71?

I accidentally didn't click a three round mock, so everyone sit patiently and wait. Let me look at 71 here. All right. 71. We've got, um, seeing a lot less names that I think Marcus Embo is a guard. Kevin Winston, the safety Josh Farmer defensive tackle. It's a lot less guys. Couple of wide receivers though. Jalen Noel, Trey Harris,

the offensive lineman from Arizona, Sevinaya. Yeah, there's some good linemen, good receivers that would be available there. Not a lot of huge difference from where we've looked at third round prospects. It just feels like that is a long way to go back all the way from 24 to 40 that you might be dropping off pretty significantly. You're letting a lot of players go. Let me look at in this draft sim,

who went from 24 to 40. I mean, you're talking about Kelvin Banks was still on the board in this one. Tyler Booker, Luther, oh, you said Luther Burton was taking, Gray Zabel is still there. Yeah, there's a Derek Harman. Yeah, there's a lot of talent that they would have to pass over to go from 24 to 40. That's the point. So I don't know if I love them going back that far.

Yeah, I wouldn't like this for them at all. I think 40 is so far back. And when you drop that far? Yeah, I wouldn't. I wouldn't like this for them at all. I think 40 is so far back and when you drop that far, it's just so hard to find like a dude or like a stud. And especially if they're trading back and the saints took Luther Burden at 24, why not just stick and take Luther Burden? I know we're receivers, not your biggest need, but he could end up being the best receiver in the class. And I don't think you should just pass on that, uh, to drop.

What 16 pitch back for, and then pick up 70. I don't think it's worth it. Yeah, I don't think so either, but you know, what's better, uh, than talking about trade backs and errors is mocks that have players for the Vikings. So let's go to the next one and maybe they'll have a player. So the next one is Eric at home from NFL dot com. And he also has the Giants trading up for Jalen Melrow. But he thinks the Vikings will get pitched thirty four ninety nine and one oh five.

OK, OK. I mean, let's see, ninety nine and one oh five. That means they would pick 97 99 105. That's a good amount of talent because I'm looking at the board right now for that. There's a couple of safeties, Andrew McCuba from Texas, also Lathan Ransom who I like. There's some offensive linemen there.

RJ Harvey is an interesting guy. Sevian Williams is a wide receiver from TCU who nobody seems to be talking about but I think is pretty interesting in that Debo Samuel type role. Jacob Parrish, a corner from Kansas state who I've kind of had my eyes on a little undersized Torrey Horton, good wide receiver, Noel Williams, a nice corner. Like there's a lot of guys that are projected to be available in that range.

And you get three of them instead of one that That could be pretty that could be pretty good. So they who is the first? I'm sorry, who was the first person that they took for this trade down? I didn't get who they took. They just presented. Oh, OK. So there's so many mocks that don't even have the Vikings. I did say let's let's move on to a mic that a mock that has a player. But for this one, it's probably similar value.

I would like this one a little bit more than just 71, though, because I think there's still good players on the board around pick 100 for the Vikings to be able to pick and develop. OK, now onto a mock with a player. Yeah, got you this time. So Adam Rank did a mock draft, but he didn't do what he think teams will do. He he did on what they should do. And OK, OK.

So so he thinks the Vikings should stick at 24 and pick Graze Able if he's available. Graze Able is a guy that I've liked for this. I do think that they would need time to develop Graze Abel. He is projected by most people to be a first round caliber prospect. And I'm not so concerned about the NDSU thing. It's really about what your actual skills are. And if you can, if you think about this, think about it through the lens of Will Fries. Like Will Fries is a good guard.

He has proven to be a good guard in the NFL. Will Fries is not Alan Fannica or Steve Hutchinson or any of the greatest offensive guards that have ever played. Randall McDaniel, he's not one of those guys. But he's pretty darn good and he can have an impact on your offense. What's that worth? Well, we know it's worth almost $18 million. So if you can grab a guy like Gray's able who you could develop into a potentially

good player who has a nastiness to him that is going to grow with some veterans around him and potentially can move over to be your center, which is going to be an important position with JJ McCarthy. Eventually after Ryan Kelly retires, I've liked that option for the Vikings. I think it also keeps the door open for running more zone stuff because he is a great athlete. Uh, so I like that. And I think that Adam rank is thinking along the right lines of this is really

the only position we could point to on the field other than safety, where you'd say you kind of really need that on this roster and whether he develops slowly or he just wins the job outright. You need that on this roster. Yeah, I think this would be another really good pick for the Vikings. I think if you get him, yes, he's a project, but get him in a room with the rest of the Vikings offensive lineman. And that's a pretty good group to learn from. And his versatility is super intriguing to me.

And I think he would just be a great fit for the Vikings and for that culture. Rob points out that if they were to get that package that you mentioned with Eric Edholms mock, that they could potentially even move up, move back up and take those three picks and move back up for one possible impact player, which, you know, I don't mind that idea either. So, you know, I just, I think with someone like Grey's able, you have to take a little bit of a leap of faith, but Matt points out that guys

who have done that well at the senior bowl against that competition. It's another small sample size, but it gives it evens the playing field to be able to say, well, this is what he would have looked like if he played against those players. It just so happens he went there. And if you're an offensive lineman, you have to keep this in mind, too. And if you're a lineman and you have NFL potential, you might go to NDSU because they've had this

pipeline of guys who have gone into the NFL and some of them have had success. There's not a big enough sample to say, oh, there's 50 linemen who have been picked from NDSU. And here's what they do. But you know, I just feel like that's a university that stands on its own when we discuss the FCS and he annihilated that competition. So it might require a little more development,

but also he's developing in a world where he has Darasaw on his left, Kelly on his right. It just makes so much sense. And what I would like, whether it's Donovan Jackson or Gray Zable, is the idea of five. Like five dudes where you have, two were massive free agents

and three were high draft picks. Like you were not messing around with this offensive line in front of JJ McCarthy. Yeah, he would be well protected to say the least. Absolutely. So I liked that one. How do you grade that one? You like that one? Yeah, I do. I think that would be.

Probably be plus for me. I really like Sable. I'm a believer in him, so I think that would be a good pick. As for realistic, I think it's very realistic that they just stick in and pick the best guard on the field. How many more we got? I have one more one more mom. OK. And just for just for everybody watching tonight's not going to be an epic.

I've already recorded two podcasts. I'm really trying to keep the voice in check because I'm going to be doing all of draft night and potentially two draft nights. So this is going to be a little bit of a shorter live show than it usually is. So just to throw that out there. So after we look at this one, we'll call it a night. And you got a great article that you're working on for tomorrow.

So more homework for you. So anyway, final mock. If I, Clay, if this is a mock where they trade out and don't pick a player. We got a player. Okay, I was gonna say, if you have most of the mocks where they have no players, then you have failed this assignment. Well, number eight, we got Camarino from NFL draft buzz,

and he has the Vikings taking at 24 to take Malachi starts. OK, all right. You know what's interesting here? So if they take Malachi starts, I think we'll all get it. The high IQ player, very instinctual, comes downhill and makes tackles and could play in the nickel and all that. So I think we all get it. Everybody who seems to talk about him raves about him. But here's the interesting part about all these mocks.

And it's a sample of eight out of 50,000 is that nobody has them taking a defensive tackle. And I think locally there's going to be a lot of people who say defensive tackle because we've, and we could be wrong and they could be like, there's so many options here, who knows? But I think a lot of us are seeing defensive tackle as maybe a point of potential intrigue because the guys that they brought in free agency are on the older side and you can rotate that in.

I think what happens a lot with and I'm not blaming anybody from the outside is you look at the depth chart and you go, okay, well, Alan Hargrave, Phillips, like they're all set there, but they have this guard who struggled last year. So that's a need for them. Or they have Harrison Smith might retire. So that's a need for them. And maybe they don't factor in that if you draft Derek Harmon or Walter Nolan this year, that guy could play 450 snaps for you

and he could be on the field all the time, rotating in and then build on that role as he goes forward. And also it takes a little while to develop. And the same thing with Kenneth Grant, like these guys don't just come in at defensive tackle and set the world on fire. They could be contributors and then develop into something. So there's going to be, that's the one position I have seen almost nobody mocked to the Vikings

that is much more realistic than the outside world suggests. Yeah, I think another thing I found was in like seven out of eight of these marks were all different outcomes. So it just shows the versatility that the Vikings have during this year's draft and they set themselves up for it. It's like what Quacey said, you have to build yourself up to get into the position that they are and it's a good spot to be in.

So Rob points out that they have had meetings with a lot of the the office of Lyman who are projected to be in the late first, early second. And that's a very real possibility for them too, that I think we would grade very highly if they move back and then took one of those guys. Also, we don't know which one of those guys is going to drop like is seven Naya or, you know, Donovan Jackson or someone not going to be taken as high as some of the world thinks and they might want to be bringing in.

Also, it seems like they've brought in tackles potentially to ask them if they want to play guard if that if that's something that's realistic for them, even though some of those guys are not projected to play guard at all, it is a, now a world where interior pass rush is so nasty and so good around the league that moving a tackle into guard just makes sense. Even if there's going to be some sort of transition there, they might be challenging. That's the level of athlete that you need.

So out of all of those mocks clay, which one was your favorite for the Minnesota Vikings? I would have to go with who who did it. It was Dan Brugler. I love Jaday Baron. And I know the fit is a little funky with the Vikings since Byron Murphy is kind of a similar player. But I just think Baron is such a good player and so versatile

and he'll fit the defense to a tee. And I think it would just be great for the Vikings. That would be my highest pick. How about you? I think that that is right. And, you know, I do wish that the mocks that they traded down, like in the in the McShay one, he told us who they drafted. If we had gotten a sense for who they actually picked,

it would be a little easier to compare. So there there is the the at home one where they don't move down that far, but they also get all those picks around pick 100, which I think are pretty valuable. And as as I as much as I don't want to say my favorite one other than the Jadai Baron one was the one where they didn't pick a player because I gave you crap about it. That might actually be it. Sticking in picking Starks is OK to me, but it's not, it doesn't blow my mind. It's like, well, okay. A safety in the backend of the first, that's all right. And I did see a Steve

Palazzolo tweeting out a bunch of recent safeties taken in that area. And it's not a great list, in that late first round type of place in the draft as first rounders. Plus, I think that somebody that you can just get in free agency to replace Harrison Smith or move Josh Mattel is back there or whatever looking forward and might not be the biggest impact for this year. So it's probably the ones where they took guards. If they love Donovan Jackson more than Zable, like I'm not going to fight you on it.

Like I don't have some of you guys have really strong opinions on who you like more with stylistically. And I tend to think if you guys like Jackson more than Zable, that's fine with me. I think there's a little more. Both of them have some question marks there. And so does Tyler Booker and pretty much anybody that you're taking at 24th. They're always going to have a reason to say that's not the guy you should take.

Aaron wants to know if they're gonna be, if there's a third round running back. I think that's a little too early after they just traded and got Jordan Mason to take. I think fifth round is possible, but third I don't. Matt, I agree with Matt. It's bad mocksmanship to trade out and not give a fan base a pick. Eric Eddall is a friend of this show, but maybe not anymore after doing that.

Or maybe you just didn't scroll down far enough. That's also possible. Hey, in turn to make mistakes. That happens sometimes. Uh, so anyway, like I said, I, not going to go deep into the night tonight, trying to save the voice a little bit for the future. Also, there's a podcast we did myself and Dane Mizutani reacting to KOC Harrison Smith and Aaron Jones and Byron Murphy in their press conferences earlier today.

So Clay, I'm going to say good night to you. Great job gathering the mocks. I did give you a hard time, but you nailed the homework assignment. This was really fun to talk about. So good work there and make sure you check out the draft guide that we just put out over purple insider dot football. There's going to be Clay's article, my recap of the press conferences, the draft guide, and my breakdown of whether it's a good idea to trade down We've been busy over here doing a lot. So go check out purple insider dot football

Good evening to you clay. Thank you very much for your work tonight. Yep. Thank you. You want to say football one more time? Yeah, I do football. All right. There you go That was better that was better than his attempt the other night. Clay is going to be part of the draft coverage on Thursday night. Make sure that this is the place you go. I'm not going to tip picks. I'm trying not to do that. I'll watch TV along with you.

It'll be a watch along and we can have a lot of fun. Murph's going to be in. Manny's going to be in all of your favorite people going to have my friends, the reporters out there, TCO checking in, so I can't wait for draft night. I'm just as excited as you guys, so I will see you then as the next time will be live, but there's also more podcasts to come. I got two more that I'm recording tomorrow and just recorded one before this show with Chris Trapaso. Everything draft guys, we're having a lot of fun here. So thank you so much for watching tonight and we'll catch y'all later.

Football. That's how you do it.