PodcastFrom Bootleg Football
The Vikings are a threat to everyone...especially themselves.
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr 27 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Aug 12, 2026
Published
Wed, August 12, 2026
16
Player insights
9
Players mentioned
Topics
J.J. McCarthyJustin JeffersonAaron JonesKyler MurrayDemond ClaiborneJalen NailorKejon OwensMax BredesonT.J. Hockenson
Player analysis
Player insights
Aaron Jones
NegativeRole52:30
Aaron Jones re-signed with the Vikings at a reasonable $5.5 million deal given that he is 32 years old and his workload is declining. The contract reflects his diminished role in the offense.
Insight pageNegativeProjection75:25
Aaron Jones is 32 years old, and the source notes that wheels often fall off for running backs at this age. He is mentioned as a potential floor risk if key injuries occur, though the source does not express strong concern about his immediate impact.
Insight pageDemond Claiborne
PositiveSleeper73:58
The source is a massive fan of Claiborne, calling him one of his favorite down-the-board running back selections in the entire draft. Despite being undersized at 188 lbs (22 lbs lighter than the next lightest Vikings RB and 42 lbs lighter than Jordan Mason), Claiborne has excellent nuance and skill: he presses the hole, makes late cuts, makes people miss, and explodes. While his analytics profile is not exceptional, watching him execute the little things needed to be a successful NFL running back shows he has both physical skills and nuance. The source compares him to Jalen Warren as a potential second or third down back who is very consistent and savvy, though notes his contributions this year may be more as a returner given his size difference from the rest of the roster. The source is "pretty geeked" about him being a Viking.
Insight pageJ.J. McCarthy
PositiveProjection8:00
McCarthy's development timeline has proven significantly longer than the Vikings organization anticipated; the source notes he was expected to be ready for a Super Bowl window immediately, but instead remains years away from NFL-ready quarterback play. His 2025 season showed 29th-ranked passer rating, 22nd in yards per attempt, and the highest interception percentage in the league among starters he played in. The core issue is conceptual: he throws to receivers rather than to space, producing 36 off-target incompletions in just 8 weeks of play (8th most in NFL despite 27th-28th most pass attempts), indicating he hasn't internalized the progression-read and space-creation principles central to the Vikings' West Coast offense.
Insight pageNegativeRole12:48
McCarthy has lost the confidence of veteran teammates in the locker room; the source states that when a young quarterback loses the faith of veteran players to lead and be a difference maker at the position that touches the ball every down, 'it goes downhill very, very quickly. And it did last year for the Vikings.' The veterans—Darnold, Jones, and now Kyler—are signaling through their presence that McCarthy is not ready to lead the franchise. The Vikings' acquisition of Kyler Murray is explicitly framed as an organizational admission that McCarthy is not on their timeline.
Insight pageNegativeProjection20:00
The source projects McCarthy will not learn to play quarterback in the Vikings' system within the next two years and likely not in Minnesota at all. The fundamental issue is that he is playing reactionary quarterback—a step behind—rather than anticipatory quarterback. He lacks even 'little a' anticipation (the ability to anticipate receiver breaks and window closure), instead playing at the level of 'I see a guy and I'm trying to throw it to him.' This is a multi-year rewiring process that the Vikings cannot afford to wait for given their roster's championship window.
Insight pagePositiveProjection21:50
McCarthy is not on the same timing as his receivers and defense; he had eight off-target incompletions in a single game against the Ravens last November, going 20 of 42 (47.6% completion), 5.9 YPA, one touchdown and two interceptions. The source emphasizes his targeting computer is not aligned to NFL offenses and defenses, and he must accelerate his development or his physical gifts will be for naught. While he has all the NFL tools, the list of college quarterbacks who have failed to make that conversion is long, and not everybody can make that jump.
Insight pageJalen Nailor
NegativeRole51:23
Naylor played good football for Minnesota and looked ready to ascend to a wider receiver role with increased opportunity, but the Vikings chose not to pay for that production; he left in free agency to make his money elsewhere. The source notes he was a very good wide receiver three but the team prioritized other signings.
Insight pageJustin Jefferson
PositiveRole4:00
Justin Jefferson is identified as a 'super weapon' in the Vikings offense and a key reason the team remains competitive despite quarterback struggles. The source emphasizes that the Vikings have the weapons, coaching staff, run game, defense, and offensive line to contend for a division title—Jefferson is explicitly called out as a foundational piece of that roster construction.
Insight pagePositiveRole24:00
Jefferson is a key piece of the Vikings offense that should elevate the team's performance. The source notes that with a healthy offensive line, a solid run game, and Jefferson in the lineup, the Vikings should not be struggling as much as they did last year (19-13 going into the fourth quarter against the Ravens). His presence is cited as a reason why the Vikings could be a 10- or 11-win team if quarterback play improves even slightly.
Insight pagePositiveProjection68:59
For the Vikings' ceiling scenario, Kyler Murray must create a relationship with Justin Jefferson early, as this is critical to the team's success. The source identifies Jefferson as one of the best receivers in football and notes that his connection with Kyler is essential for the Vikings to reach their 12-win ceiling.
Insight pageKejon Owens
PositiveSleeper77:48
Owens is a smaller, explosive running back from Florida International who the source describes as having tremendous tape. The Vikings doubled down on the smaller RB profile by drafting DeMond Claiborne and then getting Owens in the UDFA market. The source encourages viewers to look at his highlights, calling it a good time, and notes his profile is similar to Claiborne's.
Insight pageKyler Murray
NegativeRole9:00
The Vikings brought in Kyler Murray as their starting quarterback, signaling a shift away from waiting for JJ McCarthy's development. The source notes that Kyler himself had to undergo a similar rewiring process, moving from pure air raid schemes in high school and college to learning to work in the middle of the field on time with space-creation principles. Like McCarthy, Kyler took a long time to learn how to throw to space instead of people, but he has made that transition. The Vikings are betting that Kyler's experience and proven ability to operate in a West Coast system will provide immediate quarterback competence.
Insight pagePositiveProjection65:12
The source states that Kyler is significantly better than what the Vikings had at quarterback last year, though does not believe he is a top 10 quarterback. For the Vikings' ceiling of 12 wins, Kyler must mesh with Kevin O'Connell early and create a relationship with Justin Jefferson. The source notes that if Kyler comes out unable to pick up the system faster than last year's options, the Vikings would be back to having nothing at quarterback. The floor scenario involves Kyler going "late stage Russell Wilson" with nothing left, which would be catastrophic for the team.
Insight pageMax Bredeson
NegativeRole69:03
Bredesen is a more versatile, mobile fullback/H-back type than his C.J. Hamm predecessor, which the source believes Kevin O'Connell will prefer because he can do more with him. However, the source questions how often Minnesota will actually throw to him given the talent at receiver (Justin Jefferson, Addison, Juwan, Hawkinson), noting that if he's not as good a run blocker as past fullbacks, the one or two catches per game may not justify the pick. The source expects him to bring alignment versatility rather than receiving production, with likely fewer than 17-18 receptions for the season.
Insight pageT.J. Hockenson
PositiveRole52:50
Hockenson re-signed for $10.2 million and is described as a player KOC loves in the offense; his role is as a passing threat. The source notes that even in the golden age of pass-catching tight ends, Hockenson can threaten defenses in multiple ways, and the Vikings are willing to pay for that versatility.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
0:04That basically describes every single Vikings Sunday. Not even just from week to week, almost from quarter to quarter if you watch
0:11this team every single week like we do. We're not even Vikings fans, but we watch every Vikings game.
0:17Because as a neutral, it's incredible television. Not always great for the health of Vikings fans, but my God, the drama.
0:24Always one of my favorite episodes every single summer to talk about this team.
0:29Because even when they're bad, they're fun. And even when they're great, there's like just enough catastrophe thrown in around the greatness where it's still, again, very dramatic.
0:38So I've been looking forward to this one all summer.
0:42EJ, my friend, how are you? Bootleg Football. Norway just got eliminated from the World Cup as of recording this, but it's
0:49still a good day to talk about Vikings, and we're going to.
0:53And I'm excited about that because, look, Vikings fans are not pleased with what went on last year.
0:59And there's a lot of uncertainty about this team, but that doesn't mean there's a hopelessness.
1:04There is a path that we will shine a light on today where this team could be right back to double-digit wins
1:11and contending in what is the most difficult division in the NFL.
1:15It is possible. We'll talk about the probability of that, not just the possibility of that.
1:20But Vikings are a fascinating team. I think KOC is one of the great leaders in the NFL.
1:26A couple of things that we can back that up with today.
1:30And if he has just a few more players at his disposal and not on IR in 2026, this could be a very, very different outcome.
1:39Reminder, by the way, before we jump into this, as always, I do have Woodinville with me today, but it's disguised inside
1:46of a delicious, spicy, sweet black tea. And I put some rye into it because California weather is weird right now.
1:53It's the middle of summer. It's like 68 degrees and overcast.
1:57It's like, I'm going to make a fall kind of drink.
2:00So I have spiked tea with me today with Woodinville rye in it.
2:05EJ, what do you have? I have one of the Woodinville Whiskey barrel selects.
2:09I just put it on the rocks because we have sunny blue sky weather today.
2:14So we must've stolen yours because we can't possibly.
2:17The whole rest of the country, by the way, is like, fuck you guys.
2:22It's 105, 90% humidity. It's terrible. Whole West Coast, beautiful, gorgeous, great.
2:26I've been very quiet about the weather, whether it's been not great because we had some weather like yours where it was
2:33overcast and kind of dreary, rained a little bit.
2:36And then we got some sunshine and it's been mid seventies, which is delightful.
2:40I know everybody else is baking right now. So I have been quite quiet about the Northwest weather and happy to be so.
2:48England and Norway, you brought it up, by the way.
2:51They played Miami yesterday. Yes. Again, in July. And Jude Bellingham, England won the game.
2:56And I guess the English manager basically made some comments about like mistakes were made and they played sloppy.
3:03And Jude's like, yeah, man, the conditions really sucked.
3:05I'd like to see some of you guys play in that.
3:09Yeah, we talk about it. Fair point, Jude. We talk about it with the Dolphins every fall, like going in and playing
3:16the Dolphins in September is a huge advantage for the Dolphins because you are going to be on the sunny sideline and
3:24you are going to get your domes cooked. And England, notably not a very hot country, ended up in Miami.
3:30They did win the game, but yeah, they walked through the fire.
3:34I'm actually kind of surprised that Minneapolis didn't host any games.
3:38Maybe it's because they couldn't put grass in maybe off the top of my head and fever required that.
3:44But like as far as like a city that could host a high end sports event, we've seen Minneapolis do it quite a bit.
3:52So I don't know if they could figure out how to put grass in the field, maybe in the future.
3:59Speaking of Minneapolis, again, I want to preface the 2025 section of the show by saying the team wasn't bad.
4:05They certainly weren't as good as they could have been if they had even remotely acceptable quarterback play.
4:11But the team, the whole team other than quarterback was actually pretty good.
4:15Run game was solid. Defense was exceptional. You know, I do believe in KOC as a coach.
4:21You know, you have a super weapon in Justin Jefferson.
4:24Like there were so many things that were still really good with this team, which is why they won nine games.
4:31But if you put even average quarterback play on this team, I really do think they could have won the North.
4:38They weren't that far off from doing it as is.
4:41They finished really strong on the season. Like you just give them a couple extra early wins here.
4:47They might have been able to push for the division, even with terrible quarterback play.
4:52So that's my overall thesis. And we'll kind of pick it apart as we go.
4:57Really good team that just happened to have one colossally horrifyingly bad anchor tied to it.
5:02Yeah. Yeah. And when is key here? Recency bias and basically fan opinion on an NFL team was formed in the first half of the season.
5:11And in the first half of the season, the Vikings fell apart for multiple reasons.
5:16Yes, injuries were a big part of it. Yes, quarterback play was a huge part of it.
5:22But still, they won nine games. How did they manage to do that?
5:26Overall record of nine and eight. That put them third in the toughest division in football.
5:31Home record, they split four and four. Road record, they were five and four.
5:36But the really interesting stat in this part of the recap for 2025 is when they won those nine games.
5:42In their last five games, they were five and oh.
5:46This team did not quit on KFC. Very easily could have.
5:49Could have said, look, the offensive line is in the dumpster out back.
5:53Our quarterback can't find his butt with both hands.
5:56We're just going to mail it in and, you know, sail off to Puerto Vallarta for our offseason.
6:02They did not. You do not win five games in a row down the stretch when teams are trying to qualify for the playoffs accidentally.
6:11It does not happen. So how did they do it?
6:14How did they win the nine games? The way that we summarize that here on the summer series is using a measurement we call bootleg power score.
6:23And we take six measurements we think are important to a team playing well.
6:27Passing EPA per play. Rushing EPA per play. Defense against pass and rush.
6:32Again, figured by EPA per play. Total points scored and points allowed.
6:36We assign their league ranks. Were they 20th best?
6:39Were they first best? Whatever. Whatever. Add up those six ranks.
6:42Divide by six. That gives us a raw score.
6:45And then we stack them all. And we see where they come out.
6:49Spoiler alert. Vikings were dead even in the total.
6:52But their ranks were all over the board. So let's start with passing EPA per play.
6:58Again, the aforementioned quarterback issues sunk this team. That was the anchor that you were referring to.
7:03They were 30th in the league. And boy, did they look it.
7:07Rushing EPA per play. They were 19th. And while that's mid-pack in the NFL and not great, honestly, for rushing EPA, it's fine.
7:15The defense, whole other story. You talked about best of times, worst of times, tale of two cities.
7:21Defense against the pass in terms of EPA per play allowed second best.
7:25Flores' coverage schemes and especially pressure schemes sort of substituting for coverage schemes, as we'll talk about later, propelled them to, again,
7:32a top two pass defense in the NFL. Against the run, they were tied for seventh.
7:38They were top ten as well. So second and seventh in terms of their defensive rankings.
7:43That is far better than you need to win.
7:46But really what pulled this team's scores up because the offense was languishing.
7:50Points scored, they were 26th. That tracks very, very closely with their passing EPA number.
7:55And points allowed, they were seventh. That tracks very closely with their defensive EPA numbers.
8:00You add them all up, you get a raw score of 15.17.
8:04That put them 16th overall, dead down the middle.
8:07But the reason they're down the middle is because the defense was up here and the offense was out back in the dumpster because of the quarterback play.
8:16So overall, you could say, oh yeah, they're a really average team.
8:20They weren't. They were an exceptional defense and a lousy offense last year.
8:24Let's just start with the quarterback discussion, which really is a JJ McCarthy discussion.
8:29We're not here to talk about Carson Wentz for 20 minutes.
8:33It's not that I'm surprised at what it looked like because again, young player, still developing, been fighting through injuries basically since he stepped on an NFL field.
8:42It's been a struggle. It's more so it's become increasingly clear that the team thought that his development coming out of college
8:49was further along than it was because their timeline is we're winning a Super Bowl right now.
8:55Right. Right. And they wouldn't have brought in Darnold if they didn't believe that because they saw Darnold as a starting caliber
9:02player who even if Darnold exceeded expectations and became what he is now, like they brought him in to compete for that
9:09that starting role in his first year or his only year in Minnesota.
9:13And whether due to injury or not, like he ended up as the starter and they were proven correct.
9:20Like he was more than capable of leading them into challenging for the one seed in the NFC.
9:26And then the next year he won a Super Bowl.
9:29Not with them, but he won a Super Bowl.
9:32Right. They they brought in Daniel Jones. Now they brought in Kyler Murray.
9:36Like this team would not have made these moves if they didn't think that their timeline was we're winning it right now.
9:43Like we have the defense. We have the run game.
9:47We have the offensive line. We have the weapons.
9:50We have the coaching staff like we're ready to go.
9:53Let's do this. And to me, it feels like they thought J.J.
9:57McCarthy coming out of Michigan was was good to go for that timeline.
10:01Like they it did. It feels like they didn't think this was going to take four years.
10:07It feels like they thought he could have been a young player like Drake May, where within his first two years, like we're good.
10:15We're going to go on a run. And that's just proven to be incorrect.
10:19And so to me, the competition is the confession.
10:22Them trying so hard to keep Darnold, to keep Daniel Jones last year.
10:27Is the confession that he wasn't on their timeline yet.
10:30Them going out and getting Kyler is the confession that he's not on their timeline yet.
10:35Doesn't mean he can't be good in the future.
10:38Doesn't mean he can't pull a Geno Smith or even a Sam Darnold.
10:42But that is not their timeline. Their timeline is not year six to year nine.
10:47Their timeline is we're doing this right now. And, you know, there's a famous quote from Kevin O'Connell that teams fail quarterbacks more than quarterbacks fail teams.
10:56I don't think the Vikings have failed JJ McCarthy.
10:59But I do think that they're acknowledging that it's going to take longer than they thought it would.
11:05And that's okay. But in the meantime, Vikings fans don't have time to wait.
11:10The roster is ready to go. They cannot wait.
11:13It's time. And that's what Kyler is there for.
11:16This was one of the questions that I had about JJ coming out pre-draft.
11:20And it's what I said in my pre-draft notes.
11:23You can go back to that, that the physical ability is there.
11:27The leadership ability is there. But his game and the number of reps he's taken in an NFL-style passing game were very
11:34limited before he arrived in the NFL. It takes a while.
11:38They calculated that that jump was going to be short and quick.
11:42And it has not been short or quick. In fact, he hasn't made it yet.
11:47And like you said, doesn't mean he won't make it in the future.
11:51But that was the gamble. And as we also often say, that gamble cost the GM his job.
11:57Yes, there were other things that their GM did.
12:00But if you swing and miss on a high-round quarterback who is supposed to be the savior of the future of the
12:07franchise at the face of the franchise position quarterback, and you miss, you swing and a miss.
12:13It's the old adage. You want to throw one, you better hit me.
12:17And if you miss, you can go down. And that's what happened to this.
12:22And now the Vikings have to adjust. They can't just quit and say, well, sorry, we screwed up.
12:28We're done. And blow up the roster. They're going to try and win with the guys they've got.
12:34And that's why they brought in the veterans. And that's okay.
12:37To your point, the admission is not something terrible or not something that other teams in the NFL haven't done.
12:44But they are going to have to adjust because JJ is not ready right now.
12:49He is not going to lead this franchise. And when you are inside an NFL locker room, that becomes readily apparent really quickly.
12:56If you lose the faith of your veteran teammates to lead and be a difference maker at the only position on offense
13:04that has a ball in his hands every single down, it goes downhill very, very quickly.
13:09And it did last year for the Vikings. That's what it looks like when it happens.
13:14People just basically saying, look, we're all out here trying to win.
13:18Let's get the best chance to win. He's not it.
13:22It is a meritocracy. And there are no punches pulled.
13:25It's not like, well, he's developing and he deserves.
13:28It's like, hey, man, I'm trying to get paid.
13:31Tell that to the 32 year old. It's like, I got three years left, man.
13:36Or I'm on my last contract and nobody has time to wait, which is why on the flip side, when people talk
13:43about tanking, it's not a real thing. You can't convince 53 guys to sit on their hands so that you as an
13:50organization might get a better quarterback in the next draft.
13:53They're like, no, I'm here now. I'm putting in the work.
13:57I'm putting my body on the line. Uh-uh. I'm not taking my foot off the gas for you or anybody else.
14:04And the Vikings are in this odd space where we talk about player timeline windows and team timeline windows having to line up.
14:12We talked about it in the Dolphins episode earlier this year.
14:15Hey, is he going to be ready when the Dolphins are?
14:19Vikings are in a different space. They're ready now.
14:22And they thought that window was going to align.
14:25That was a miscalculation. It is not aligning and they need to keep going.
14:29But it does put them back a pace. When you take a quarterback high and he is not a hit, it sets your organization back.
14:38Financially, you've got to make other moves. They've had to make several other moves.
14:42And they're still not assured of success. We're going to talk about how we like Kyler's fit or don't.
14:48And they're going to find out. Everybody's going to find out with us.
14:53It could work. It might not. And if that doesn't, then you're kind of throwing good money at bad.
14:59And that's when you get to the point where you got to blow it up, strip it down to the studs.
15:06They're not there yet, but they're running out of chances.
15:09Now, as far as what the actual issue with J.J.
15:13McCarthy is, like, can it be fixed? I can't remember what part of the year it was set in, but it was reported that, you know, J.J.
15:21was essentially like, I'm completely relearning how to play quarterback.
15:25I'm rewiring myself how to play quarterback because I wasn't taught in college how to play this way.
15:31And I look at it as, you know, college has a lot of snapshot reads versus progression reads.
15:37And in the NFL, there's both, right? A snapshot read is, okay, but we have a concept over here and we have a concept over here.
15:45You know, maybe we throw this side if it's zone versus man or if it's middle field open versus middle field close.
15:52Like, we take a snapshot of the defense and the quote-unquote primary is just what it is based on our snapshot of the defense.
16:00That's why rotation plays with quarterbacks so much. It's because they take their snapshot.
16:05Then shit's changing. Got to hold the ball. Oh, no.
16:08Linebacker on top of me. Kirk Cousins did a great job talking about that last year with talking about snapshot versus progression reads.
16:16And, you know, J.J. in this Vikings offense, which is, they love progression reads, right?
16:21They love going under center, hard play action, top to bottom, left to right.
16:25Like, it's one, it's two, it's three, it's four, it's five.
16:29And the reason why you do that is because the route concepts are synced to the footwork.
16:35And the footwork is synced to the route concepts in terms of not just who's coming open when, but how those concepts open up each other, right?
16:43It's about space creation. It's the entire premise of the offense or really any West Coast style offense going back to Bill Walsh.
16:51Even before that, it was, you know, Sid Gilman with the Chargers in the 60s, right?
16:56Talking about 80-year-old stuff here when it comes to football and space creation.
17:01That's all routes are designed to do is to open up a space for the quarterback to throw.
17:07And if you come out of college, which is very heavy on snapshot reads for a bunch of reasons I'm not even going to get into.
17:15But, you know, if you're a young quarterback that's used to that and then you're playing in a system that has entirely
17:22different verbiage and you're reading things differently than you've been taught, you're going to look like what JJ looked like.
17:29Which, to me, his biggest issue was he's throwing to receivers and he's not throwing to space, right?
17:35And when, you know, he has all these off-target incompletions, which by the way, we have a crazy number for that.
17:4236 off-target incompletions in just the weeks that JJ played, which was 8th most in the NFL over that time period while having the 27th most pass attempts.
17:51Or 28th most pass attempts, excuse me. So if 27 teams are throwing the ball more than you and you're still 8th most in off-target incompletions, something's wrong.
18:00And it's not just, oh, he's not accurate. It's about why is he not accurate?
18:05It's why is he throwing the crossing route behind his receivers?
18:09Why is he throwing the deep out behind his receivers?
18:12It's because he's trying to throw it to the receiver.
18:15He's not throwing it to the space where the receiver is attacking.
18:19Because he still hasn't learned that he's not throwing to a guy.
18:23He's throwing to a void. He's throwing to where the concept is opening.
18:28How the concept is manipulating the defense. And this goes back to, I think, the most important note that I've ever learned about receiver play.
18:36Which came from Michael Irvin. He looked me dead in the eyes.
18:40This was, I don't know, a decade and a half ago.
18:43And he said, my job as a receiver is to get to the right place at the right time.
18:50What happens in the process of doing that, it's going to be different every single time.
18:55But I have to be at my spot at the right time where Troy wants me to.
19:00And Deion's only job is to keep me from getting there on time.
19:05That is football. It's space and time. And if you're trying to throw to a guy, rather than throwing to space on
19:12time, it's going to look like what J.J. McCarthy looked like.
19:16I don't know how long it's going to take to rewire his brain.
19:20I have no idea. But he's trying. And clearly all the veterans that have been playing pro football long enough to have that skill set.
19:28Darnold, Jones. Well, Jones was doing an indie. But, you know, Kyler.
19:32Kyler also had to rewire himself. You know, being in a pure air raid in high school and then air raid in college.
19:40And then, you know, he was with Cliff early in his career.
19:44And Cliff kind of spoon fed him just air raid stuff at the NFL level.
19:49And he wasn't really working in the middle of the field where you have to be on time working space.
19:55And it's taken Kyler a long time to get there, too.
19:59But, again, it takes a while. It takes a long, long time to learn how to throw to space instead of people.
20:06So that's how you end up with, you know, your 29th in passer rating.
20:11Your 22nd in yards per attempt. You have the highest interception percentage in the league in the games that you started.
20:18That's what's going to happen. So it goes back to the same thing.
20:22Yeah, he could learn how to do it. I don't think it's going to be in Minnesota.
20:27And I don't think it's going to be in the next two years.
20:32That is a damning outlook for sure, especially if you spent a first-round pick on that guy.
20:37But I don't disagree with you. What we're seeing from J.J.
20:41is reactionary quarterbacking. It basically is a step behind.
20:44It's the step below. If you're talking about quarterback progression, he's playing a reactionary style of quarterback.
20:50He is not playing an anticipatory style of quarterback.
20:53He doesn't even have little a anticipation. To go back to one of our favorite analysts, big A versus little a anticipation.
21:00Like JT talks about that all the time. And you're not even really seeing little a right now.
21:06You're seeing, I see a guy and I'm trying to throw it to him so that he can catch it.
21:12But I'm underestimating that. And to your point, the picture is shifting around him.
21:17So I'm not anticipating that that guy is going to break on that ball.
21:21I'm not anticipating that that window is going to close.
21:25Or that that window is not the one I need to throw it to.
21:29I need to throw it to the next one.
21:32So that doesn't come on this beat of the progression.
21:36To your point, linking footwork and timing. When you're going through, it's one, two, three, top of the drop.
21:42Pat the ball. Look to two. If that doesn't work, you go into the next one.
21:47Right? Fives are the same way. Five-step drops. Seven-step drops.
21:50They're all linked in timing in this offense. And he is not at that level.
21:55He's a couple of steps behind. The defense is ahead.
21:59His receivers are ahead. And that's what happens when you're on one set of timing.
22:04And the folks you're trying to throw to. And the folks that are trying to pick you off, quite frankly, are on a completely different set of timing.
22:13That's why you get, you know, eight off-target incompletions in a single game.
22:17Like, you're just, we say, not on the same page.
22:20That's what we're talking about. That is the illustration of clearly not on the same page.
22:26Not reading from the same book, even. And he is going to have to accelerate.
22:31It is on his plate. It is not the fault of his receivers or his coach.
22:36He is going to have to get with the program.
22:39How quickly and if he can get with that program?
22:43Because, look, a lot of folks aren't able to make that jump.
22:46The list of college quarterbacks who have failed to make that particular conversion is as long as, you know, both of my arms put together.
22:55It is not short. Not everybody can do this.
22:58It is very, very difficult. Does he have the physical ability to do it?
23:02Absolutely. We've seen it. When it works well for JJ, it is pretty.
23:07And yes, he has all the NFL tools he needs.
23:10Right now, his targeting computer is not aligned to NFL offenses and defenses.
23:14And it's going to have to be. Or all those gifts are going to be for naught.
23:20By the way, the game for folks at home where he had eight off-targeting completions in one game, it was against the Ravens last November.
23:28He was 20 of 42, so 47.6% completion. 5.9 YPA.
23:31He had a touchdown and two picks. And he was sacked only once in that game.
23:37Not a great stat line at all. Here's the thing.
23:40Lost by one possession. Like, it was right there.
23:43It was right there. It was 27 to 19.
23:46It's an eight-point game. Let me see what it was in the fourth quarter.
23:50In the fourth quarter, it was 19 to 13 going into the fourth quarter.
23:55Like, it's right there. You just need three more throws.
23:58You got Justin Jefferson. Their run game was solid.
24:01You know, when Christian Derasaw is healthy, which he, you know, he was banged up last year from start to finish.
24:08But it's not like he blew out his knee like the year before.
24:12But, you know, Brian O'Neal was healthy. The interior's totally fine, in my opinion.
24:17Like, when you have a healthy offensive line, you can run the ball.
24:21You've got Justin Jefferson. Like, you've got Juwan this year.
24:25You got Hawkinson. You got KOC. You got Brian Flores, who's a fucking psychopath.
24:29There's no reason why it should be 19-13 going into the fourth quarter.
24:34But it is what it is. Like, that's why I'm saying, like, they won nine games last year, and that was worst-case scenario.
24:41Absolute worst-case. What happens if they're average at quarterback?
24:44They win the NFC. Yeah, and they could do that with not too many more wins than they had last year.
24:51This could be a 10- or 11-win team, and that could be enough to win this division because it's going to be a tight division.
24:59And again, nine wins, or if they come up one short, eight wins could be fourth in the division.
25:06Again, they had nine. They were in third this year.
25:09It is going to be a challenging division, and that figures into all these projections.
25:14We'll talk about that at the end when we get to ceiling and floor.
25:18But if it works just a little, like, if Kyler Murray vibes with KOC, if he picks up what KOC is putting
25:26down early on in the season, if Juwan fills in as he has for his entire career as one of the best,
25:33it reminds me of, like, sixth man in the NBA, right?
25:36You need a third wide receiver. Juwan Jennings is one of the best third wide receivers in the NFL.
25:43That sounds like damning praise. It's not. It's a specific role, and he is literally one of the very best in the league at it.
25:51Like, if he fills in that gap, the run game is reasonable.
25:55Again, it doesn't have to be great for you to win.
25:59The jump for this team could be staggering because we're assuming the defense is still going to be quite good.
26:05It was elite last year, even if it falls off a little bit or regresses.
26:10Like, so what if they're a top 12 defense?
26:13That's easily well enough to win in the NFL.
26:16So I can see the point, and I know that Vikings fans feel hopeless because they're like, we drafted a guy, and he's not the guy.
26:25End of story. It's not the end of the story.
26:28But, you know, some other things do have to work.
26:31We're going to talk about those things. I do want to touch on the defense, by the way.
26:37Yes. This is the part I've been waiting for.
26:40You said you've been waiting for this all summer.
26:43This particular part of this episode is always one of my favorites because Flores is an outlier.
26:49Let's just say that. But it works. Absolutely. Right?
26:52And everybody knows every year what the defense is going to look like.
26:56It's not like he's surprising anybody. He's going to blitz, and then he's going to blitz again and again.
27:02Oh boy. And again, it doesn't matter if it's a run down, pass down, like whatever.
27:07He's going to be first overall in pressure rate again because that's what his philosophy is.
27:13And it seems like he's just throwing shit at the wall, but he's really not.
27:18And it reminds me a lot of Steve Spagnuolo's approach when he was with the Giants.
27:23And if you go back to that 2007 Super Bowl, or I guess technically 2008, but if you go back to that
27:30Super Bowl against the 07 Pats, right? The giant that couldn't be slayed.
27:34And everybody thinks like, oh yeah, well he just had a Hall of Fame defensive line with an NASCAR package and they
27:42played cover two and that was it. That's not what Spags did.
27:46Spags blitzed his dick off for like the first three quarters of that game because their entire plan was don't let Randy Moss beat us deep.
27:54We don't think we can cover Randy because, I don't know, it's what, three corners in NFL history that probably could stand a shot at covering Randy?
28:03We don't have one of those on the 2007 New York Giants.
28:07And so like we're going to blitz and blitz and blitz so that, you know, Tom doesn't have the time to throw it up there.
28:15Even if they can block our front four, can they block us when we throw five at him?
28:21Can they block us when we throw six guys at him?
28:25Because the natural response to that is, okay, well we're going to feed Wes Welker on stuff that hits quickly.
28:31And that's what they did. They threw it to Wes a lot in that game.
28:36You know, they tried to run their way out of it.
28:40But like you saw Randy running down the field with guys that couldn't run with Randy but the ball had to be out.
28:48It was pressure, pressure, pressure. And then once you got to the fourth quarter, then it was, okay, now we're going to,
28:55you know, unleash the Hounds, roll in the NASCAR package.
28:58We'll play cover too. But like the foundation was set through pressure and people don't realize that.
29:04Yeah. When we talk about defensive coaches, there's an adage in defensive coaching that the pressure is the coverage.
29:10If you have a pressure package and your coverage might be lacking, you're literally using pressure as your coverage to force throws
29:17before plays can develop for the offense the way they want it to.
29:21And Flores is a master of that. We've talked about several teams this series.
29:26We say, look, if you don't have the guys to play man, don't play man.
29:31But some coordinators still will. They're just stubborn. Flores said, I don't think I have the guys to play man.
29:38And he didn't play a lot of man. So what did he do instead?
29:4220, 25 blitz rates on pass plays. And when I said Flores is an outlier, this is the illustration of that.
29:49Minnesota, first with a bullet, 46.98%. 47% blitz rate on pass plays.
29:53The next highest blitz rate on pass plays was 34.98%.
29:56So it drops all the way from 46 to 34.
30:00That's a 12-point difference percentage-wise between 1 and 2.
30:03You know what the difference between 2 and 3 is?
30:06One point. Kansas City goes 33.64%. So Minnesota. Who's coordinated by who, EJ?
30:10Yeah, the guy. By the way. The guy you were just talking about that did it more than anybody else.
30:17Yeah, well, Flores is blowing that out of the water.
30:20Again, 46, almost 47% at number one. Spot two is 34%.
30:24Spot three is 33%. So 12-point difference, one-point difference between basically each of the next six or seven stops down the line.
30:31When I say outlier, I mean buy a bunch more than anybody else.
30:35And like you said, everybody knows it's coming. This is not a surprise, and it's still effective.
30:41Flores is one of those guys. I talked about this a few episodes ago that, you know, if a guy ascends to
30:48prominence, either as an offensive coordinator or a defensive coordinator, and everybody says, oh, he's next.
30:53He's, you know, he's state-of-the-art. He's going to be a head coach.
30:57It's the next year. It's not that first year.
31:00It's when everybody has all the film, knows what they're doing, and tries to adjust.
31:05Do they stay ahead of the curve? Flores, at this point, has been ahead of this curve for five, six years now.
31:12And he keeps doing it. And that is the mark of a truly exemplary coach.
31:17He got a lot of stuff from Pat Narduzzi at Pitt, you know, when he took his little, no pun intended, Pitt stop in Pittsburgh.
31:26You know, Narduzzi is somebody who's always really believed in two high fire zones, right?
31:31Because the most common fire zone, and we've talked about this in every single Vikings episode the last few years, is going to be 3-3, right?
31:39Three deep, three under, sending five in pressure. Narduzzi is somebody who believes in playing quarters, or really oftentimes just like palms
31:46coverage, with two deep, or sometimes four deep, technically, depending on how it plays out, and sending the five rushers.
31:53So it's just different coverage structures on the back end.
31:56Flores does that more than anybody in the NFL, as far as playing quarters and or palms coverage with a fire zone.
32:04The guy who does it the second most is Steve Spagnuolo, right?
32:08They have very similar philosophies in that regard. And I would say Flores has even more talent to do it than Steve has at this point.
32:16Even though they're very unheralded on that team, the guys that he has in those roles are all perfect fits.
32:23And this ties in really well with our patron note of the day.
32:27Normally, we do the patron question slash notes at the end of the episode, but I really wanted to fit in KO3s
32:34here right now, because it makes perfect sense. So KO3 said on our Patreon, when we asked for all of your notes
32:41and questions for this show, said Vikings defense last year was third in DVOA, second in touchdowns allowed, third in yards per
32:49play allowed, second in yards allowed, second in passing touchdowns and touchdowns allowed, tied for fourth in sacks, yet had no all pros, no pro bowlers or alternates.
32:58What do you guys take away from that? That Flores is a menace or were defense players overlooked for accolades due to an inept offense?
33:06A little bit of both, right? Some players do get overlooked for this team because it's very much a defense that's more than the sum of its parts.
33:15And I've praised a lot of their individual pieces as much as I could on this show, like Van Ginkle.
33:22Like, this has been a pro Van Ginkle podcast for as long as I can remember.
33:27But at the same time, it's Flores putting these guys into the roles that fit their skill sets that I'm not sure
33:34they would be maximized on other teams, right? It's like, hey, Van Ginkle's really good at picking off screens.
33:41What if we line him up to the passing strength against teams that like to throw screens from three by one?
33:48What if we just put him on the passing strength all day and just see if he gets one?
33:54Because every three to four games, he probably will.
33:57He'll at least knock it in the air and give us a shot, right?
34:01Right? It's like, oh, we don't have good man corners.
34:05Let's just not play man. They played man 13.7% of the time.
34:09So that's what? 86? 87% zone? Can't get beaten man if you don't play man.
34:14Right? Jets? Learning from that. Lions? And they're not the only ones.
34:18They're not the only ones. You know, they forced early throws through pressure at an alarmingly high rate.
34:24They had the second lowest deep pass percentage against them at just 8.1% for reference.
34:29Detroit, a man-heavy defense, was almost double that in terms of deep pass percentage against them.
34:34That was like 15.6, 15.7%. I got to look up the exact number.
34:38But they were number one in the league, or I guess number 32, depending on how you want to interpret it.
34:45Because again, they exposed themselves to that. We're going to line up on islands, and we're going to see if you can
34:52make the throw, which spoiler, a lot of teams made the throw against Detroit.
34:57So, you know, these zones were used to trap offenses and quarterbacks into bad throws because they were always under pressure.
35:04There was always the umbrella over the top. They weren't going to expose themselves to one-on-one matchups they couldn't win.
35:10And that's Flores. Like, that is Flores. But unfortunately, a byproduct of a defense being so, or rather not relying on winning
35:18one-on-ones is the fact that you don't get anybody who gets positive press for winning one-on-ones.
35:23Right? Like, you're not going to get the viral tweet that goes out that shows, you know, Pat Sertan and his coverage numbers in single coverage.
35:31You're not going to get the individual, you know, sack artist that's going to blow people away.
35:37Like, nobody's going to get individual accolades because it's a unit.
35:41The defense is going to get the numbers as a whole, but it's not designed for anybody to be the star.
35:48And that's why it works. Right? And they brought in some guys, and we'll get to that in the second half of
35:55the show this year, that are perfect fits for that style.
35:58And it's going to keep being like that. But unfortunately, a byproduct of that, Vikings fans, nobody's going to talk about your
36:06individual players like they probably deserve to be talked about.
36:09It just kind of is what it is. And, you know, Flores is going to get far more attention than any individual
36:16player will be because he's the one thing that links all these guys together.
36:21Yeah, it's a perfect illustration of the team concept in pro football.
36:25And I love that because so often, even on this podcast, we end up talking about individuals, typically quarterbacks, but defensive players
36:32as well as the reason why an overall scheme works or the linchpin or anything else.
36:37The sort of measure of how good a coach is on either side of the ball to me is how many guys
36:45do they have that are kind of no names that people just don't recognize that are integral to their success.
36:51And if you have one of those guys, I think you're doing a good job in the NFL.
36:57It's tough to do. If you have two of those guys, you're doing great.
37:02I would say there's a guy on every level of the Vikings defense that fits that description.
37:07And sometimes two. If you're looking at the front level, Jalen Redmond, a name that a lot of people aren't aware of,
37:15was integral to the success of this defense. And, you know, we'll talk about him in retentions.
37:20At the linebacker level, Eric Wilson. Eric Wilson isn't turning anybody's page.
37:24Every time I turned on Vikings film last year, I was like, man, Eric Wilson is playing out of his mind.
37:31Like in this defense, he is playing way above his reputation, which is nobody knows who Eric Wilson is.
37:37If you watch Vikings film, you will know who Eric Wilson is.
37:41And the Vikings paid him accordingly. If you get to the secondary, we talked about James Pierre, like he's a newcomer, but
37:48I bet he's going to be in that role.
37:51And if you want somebody existing, Byron Murphy Jr.
37:54had a tremendous season playing nickel in this defense.
37:57Now, Byron Murphy, again, high pick early in his career has been up and down, has had success at other places, but
38:05played as well as he has in the NFL within this defense.
38:09So if you have that many guys that are unheralded, but are also absolutely key and perfect fits to your defense doing
38:16what it needs to do, you're doing a hell of a job as a defensive coordinator.
38:21And that's, I think, one of the highest forms of praise that I can give Flores.
38:26Didn't even mention like Cashman again, Van Ginkle. Like it's just, it's an island of misfit monsters, right?
38:32That's what this defense is. And it works. Absolutely.
38:35Absolutely. It works. Hi, alternate timeline. Brett here before we get to all the 2026 stuff.
38:41If you've liked a lot of the data that we brought up so far, we have companion infographics for every single team,
38:48including the one we're talking about today with over 15,000 total data points that we have collected throughout this summer.
38:54Each team gets its own companion infographic, which is roughly about 20 pages long.
38:59It has all the data on this team you can think of, whether it's alignment data, personnel data, cap allocation, coverage data
39:06broken out by down and distance, blitz data. I mean, basically anything you can think of, we've got it.
39:12So if you want access to that, you can find that down at the link in the description below, or at the QR code on the screen.
39:21Reminder, we also have bonus episodes that go live every single Friday over on Patreon, recapping every single division.
39:28We're going to pick division winners, MVPs, rookies of the year, all that stuff.
39:32So if you want bonus episodes, plus more data that you could probably handle, that is over on the Patreon.
39:39Thank you once again to all of our patrons that have made, honestly, this series possible to make in the first place.
39:46We could not have paid the people who help us make it without your guys' financial support.
39:52So thank you to our patrons. Thank you to all of our executive producers on Patreon.
39:57Their names are on screen right now. They have been OG supporters of us and made so much in our lives possible
40:04while we try to chase this dream. So thank you.
40:07Thank you. Thank you. And with that, let's get back to the show.
40:12All right. Enough talk about 2025. Let's talk about 2026 and how all the good things that we talked about might get
40:19better and how all the bad things that we talked about might hopefully get better.
40:24It is a new GM at the top. It's largely the same group of names that we've talked about the last couple
40:31of years, but as far as the shot caller at the very, very top, brand new.
40:36Yeah. Not a ton of turnover in this roster.
40:39We talk about the power structure in two distinct levels, really the coaches and the GMs at the top, well, the GM
40:47solo and the coaches at the top and then the assistant coaches when we get farther on down.
40:53But the GM, the guy running this team is new.
40:56And we alluded to that in the first half of this podcast.
41:00If you swing and miss on a high round quarterback, it's quite possible.
41:04Sometimes you get a second swing, but it's quite possible you'll be shown the door.
41:09And there were other issues for the former GM.
41:12The new GM is Nolan Teasley. Now who's Nolan Teasley?
41:15He's a John Schneider lieutenant from Seattle. He was with the Hawks from 2013 to 2025.
41:21And I love this began as an intern, literally interned on the first Superbowl team.
41:26Let's go. Former NFL intern. That's right. There are dozens of us.
41:30He's a little bit more successful than me, but it's okay.
41:33It's okay. And he gets his shot at the top spot.
41:37He is well-regarded around the league. When you talk to people about Nolan Teasley and why he got this job, he's a very smart evaluator.
41:45And I think generally people in consideration for this role have that in common.
41:50I don't think anybody's picking somebody as a GM going, oh, he's a terrible evaluator, but he's good at this.
41:56Like you have to have that as a baseline.
41:59But what else? What separated Nolan and sort of primed him for this role and made him an ideal candidate?
42:06It's really, it is a great communicator. And when you talk to folks around the Hawks, it's that he had communication with all levels.
42:14He could relate to everybody, whether it was assistant position coaches, whether it was pro scouts, college scouts, the GM, like he
42:21was as connected in that building and had rapport with all of them.
42:25That was equal and easy. And everybody said, man, this guy's easy to talk to.
42:30He understands things very, very quickly. And you add that to him being a very smart evaluator and seeing how one of
42:37the best GMs in football, John Schneider has run his operation.
42:41He gets his chance to make this his own shop and he is not starting at the bottom rung.
42:47Again, this is not a roster that is bereft of talent.
42:51This is not a roster that needs to be burned down to the studs.
42:56There are quality players. I know we just talked about a lack of pro bowls and all pros, but those awards don't necessarily indicate your roster quality.
43:04If you look at the quality of the players and the fit to the scheme, both on offensive defense, the Vikings are fairly well stocked.
43:13So Nolan gets to put, hopefully finishing touches on this roster to get them where they want to go.
43:19But I'm excited to see what he's going to do because listening to people talk about him got me excited about him
43:26having this opportunity in terms of how good he was in one of the best buildings in the NFL.
43:32I'm really fascinated to see who has the 51 and who has the 49 as far as roster control, right?
43:39Because they're about to go through their first cut days together, right?
43:43As of right now, we're recording this training camp hasn't opened, but when it goes live, we're going to be, what, three or four weeks into camp.
43:52So hard decisions are going to have to be made.
43:55I'm not 100% sure who is in charge. Ideally, they're working together on this.
44:00But, you know, this is the second GM that Kevin O'Connell's had there.
44:04Is it going to be more like a Mike Vrabel thing where, like, we know at the end of the day what Mike Watts might get?
44:13Or is it going to be like a situation where, okay, now Kevin is thinking I have to win or I won't
44:20be here for more than a couple more years.
44:23I would love Vikings fans to kind of give me some insight on who actually has the real power here because I'm not sure.
44:31Well, if we're looking at Nolan and the model that he is building at least some of his operation off of, John
44:38Schneider is not a wilting flower in terms of his needs for the organization.
44:43He doesn't put them first necessarily. But if he has a strong belief, he's going to push that through.
44:49And I'd be hard pressed to believe that Nolan wouldn't follow suit there.
44:53Head coach Kevin O'Connell, we've talked about KOC quite a bit.
44:57We are KOC fans. We believe he too is a great communicator, reaches players where they need to be and on their level as a former player himself.
45:06He understands that. And he also is able to push people and push the buttons in the right way.
45:12He does need guys that can play the positions that he is trying to coach.
45:17And he has some great ones. But until his quarterback works, I think it's a very similar situation to Sean McVay, right?
45:24Sean's offense went to a point with certain quarterbacks and he was like, if we're going to ascend to the next level,
45:32I need a signal caller that can basically match me on the field.
45:36I think if Kevin O'Connell gets that, whether it's Kyler or whomever they draft, we will see that kind of acceleration.
45:43I do believe he is that kind of coach, but you cannot do it without a player who can execute your vision on the field.
45:51Assistant head coach is Frank Smith. Offensive coordinator is Wes Phillips.
45:55We've talked extensively about the defensive coordinator in Brian Flores.
45:58And the special teams coordinator is Matt Daniels. As far as assistants, you know, we've seen this a lot around the end.
46:05I mean, even the Detroit episode, like tons of former players in their assistant coach lineup.
46:11Same thing in Minnesota, like Keenan McArdle, Josh McCown, like a lot of, I mean, Kevin O'Connell himself, obviously former player.
46:17A lot of former players coaching in Minnesota here.
46:20Yeah, for sure. And it's, we'll focus a little bit on the new ones, but also like you said, on the veterans,
46:28like Keenan McArdle is the wide receivers coach here.
46:31Very successful wide receiver himself for many years in the NFL.
46:34Talk about that connection, that ability to relate. And I think players do resonate to that around the NFL.
46:41Hey, this guy has done it at this level.
46:43He understands. He is going to communicate to me the things that work on the field.
46:49That's a very valuable perspective in terms of new faces.
46:52The offensive line coach is Keith Carter, new in that role, spent the last two seasons with the Jets as both the
46:59offensive line coach and the run game coordinator takes over solely as the offensive line coach in Minnesota.
47:05Keenan McArdle, we talked about with wide receivers, the offensive pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach is Josh McCown.
47:11Very heralded in terms of a ton of stops around the NFL.
47:15Talk about been there, done that. Not played for feels like half the teams, at least in the NFL.
47:22But as soon as he graduated to the sideline, we'll call it that.
47:26It's been a sought after commodity, I think was sort of artificially pushed up to, oh, he's going to be head coach.
47:33And I was like, oh, let's not put the cart before the horse.
47:38Let's let's get him some experience as a QB coach.
47:41Obviously a QB coach now and a coordinator so much so as the pass game coordinator, but one of the most important positions on offense in the NFL.
47:50And if you're talking about a sort of on ramp to greater opportunities, one of the sort of most high profile opportunities
47:57in the NFL, the offensive coordinator for the run game and the running backs coaches, Curtis Modkins on the defensive side of
48:05the ball, defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach, Gerald Alexander.
48:08Again, to your point, former player and the defensive run game coordinator is Ryan Nielsen, a very experienced staff.
48:15A lot of continuity here again, didn't need to blow up the coaching staff.
48:19It wasn't a coaching problem for the most part.
48:22Defense was already very effective. Offense was not effective, but we know why.
48:27It's lack of quarterback play injuries along the offensive line.
48:30Some would say age, maybe some lack of, you know, key roles like third wide receiver, but getting in a free agency.
48:37I think this team might have solved that particular one.
48:40Nielsen himself, also a former player, by the way, right?
48:44Was at USC, had a cup of coffee in the NFL.
48:47Then I think he played Los Angeles Avengers. Was that UFL?
48:51I thought it was a different pro league and then got into coaching after he's been coaching for two decades since then.
48:58But his claim to fame was he was, you know, defensive line coach and run game coordinator with all those Saints defenses
49:05that were like impossible to run on a few years back.
49:09And then went to Atlanta after that. And I think Jacksonville after that.
49:13But always been a very good defensive line coach.
49:16And specifically, like his defenses have typically been very good at stopping the run.
49:21So him being a defensive run game coordinator makes sense from that standpoint.
49:25Now, as far as free agency goes, was some messes to clean up from Quezzi.
49:30In particular, like some signings that didn't go his way.
49:33Let's put it nicely. As well as a couple draft classes that just straight up got lit on fire.
49:40So there were a lot of departures this year.
49:43But as far as retentions and additions, the overall quality of the roster, I would argue, is at minimum as good as
49:50it was last year, if not better. But there were a bunch of names that are no longer there.
49:56So CJ Hamm, actually fan favorite fullback. Currently unsigned as of recording this, but actually played a lot of good football for the Vikings.
50:04Ryan Kelly, gone. Justin School. Again, up and down.
50:07Being nice about it. Wasn't great. But he's gone as well.
50:11Jonathan Grenard did play some good football for Minnesota.
50:14But they did not want to pay him the $30 million a year that he was asking.
50:19Especially because this defense is really, as we said, more about the sum of its parts than like individual stardom.
50:26Individual stardom is expensive. So they traded him to Philadelphia.
50:29Philadelphia paid him. Get a pick back from that.
50:32Javon Hargrave, that was one of the signings that Kwezi made that just didn't go well, quite honestly.
50:38So he is now with the Packers playing for Jonathan Gannon, who he played for under Philly off the top of my head.
50:46Or when he was in Philly. And then Jalen Naylor also played a bunch of good football for Minnesota.
50:52He's now with the Raiders. You know, Ty Chandler's gone.
50:55Ryan Wright's gone. And again, you know, some of these guys, like they did have their moments in Minnesota.
51:01But by no means were any of these like franchise staples absolutely crushing that they're no longer there.
51:07You know, like, oh my God, what's Minnesota going to do to replace them?
51:12Like there's nobody on this list that I don't think they can replace.
51:16If not already replaced. Yeah. Jalen Naylor is the one that hurts a little bit for me because he did play some
51:23pretty good football and look like he might be ready to, again, with an increased opportunity, ascend to the wide receiver to roll possibly even.
51:32But he was a very good wide receiver three.
51:35But they're not going to pay for that, right?
51:38He's going to go make his money and he did.
51:41But in terms of, hey, the folks we're going to keep, who did they spend their money on when they resign?
51:48And it's names that Vikings fans will recognize. Guys that have been productive in this defense, like Ivan Pace Jr.
51:54is back. Jalen Redman, the aforementioned, I would say phenom on the defensive line that a lot of people didn't pay attention to.
52:02He played 74% of the snaps as a defensive lineman.
52:05Absolutely a steal for them. Carson Wentz is back to be a backup quarterback again.
52:10Tavier Thomas is back to be a backup defensive back for them.
52:14Eric Wilson, again, gets $7.5 million. They realize his value in his defense and what he does.
52:20He's a 32-year-old inside linebacker. He gets $7.5 million.
52:23That's not an accident. Aaron Jones is back at the reasonable 5.5-some, given that he's 32 and his workload is declining.
52:30And TJ Hawkinson, KOC loves him in this offense.
52:33He gets $10.2 million to be the passing threat that everybody knows he is.
52:37And that's really his role in this offense. But it is rare to have somebody like Hawkinson, even in a sort of
52:45golden age of pass-catching tight ends, that can threaten defenses in as many ways.
52:49And the Vikings are willing to pay for that.
52:52E.J., you'll have to indulge me. I'm going to talk about punters a little bit.
52:57Okay, I'll indulge you. It's your least favorite football topic, but we're going to do it.
53:02Johnny Hecker, they brought in as far as third-party acquisitions from outside the building.
53:07He's going to be competing with not one, but two rookie punters at camp, including somebody named Brett Thorson.
53:13Fellow Brett's out there. An all-American Aussie punter out of Georgia who might be the next big thing among Aussie punters.
53:20He's competing with Johnny Hecker, who was one of the best punters of his generation.
53:25You know, he's been around for a long time at this point.
53:29He's, you know, mid to late 30s. So that's an interesting camp battle I'm watching.
53:34It might be the only punter battle I'm watching, but I am indeed watching it.
53:39James Pierre, if you listened to the Steelers episode, we praised the hell out of James Pierre.
53:44He had a great year getting him at about $4.25 million.
53:48It's because he's a 30-year-old corner, let's be honest.
53:51But perfect fit for this system as an off corner, really good in zone.
53:56But if you want to play off man for the 13% of the time they're going to do that, he can do that as well.
54:04But he's great at just playing on top of receivers and just driving on the ball with vision on it.
54:11Can't imagine a better fit for them for a cheap starting outside corner.
54:15Ryan Vandermark, they brought in from Buffalo. And Juwan Jennings, who you talked about, that's an upgrade at wide receiver three over Naylor, in my opinion.
54:23Like, I love, love, love this fit. It's 3rd and 7.
54:27Justin's getting doubled. TJ's probably getting extra attention as well.
54:30Ball's going to Juwan Jennings on 3rd and 7.
54:33Like, it just gives him something else to be their get-out-of-jail-free card, like he was for so many years with the Niners.
54:40And for $8 million? Like, in this receiver market?
54:43In this economy? In this economy? Like, it's a great, great number for him.
54:48The fit for me is really exciting, not only because of the offense and where he fits in the roster on that role.
54:56You talk about wide receiver three, but also who the quarterback is most likely going to be.
55:01We're talking about Kyler Murray, and we talk about where Kyler Murray had success.
55:06You talked about the early air raid sort of variant or replication that he had earlier on.
55:11And even later, some of the routes that he threw really well, little outbreakers to the boundary, little inbreakers on 3rd and medium, right?
55:19He can get to the outside and throw that.
55:22Like, those are Juwan Jennings' bread and butter. Like, Juwan Jennings runs a lot of routes that Kyler has been able to hit fairly well.
55:31And Juwan Jennings is an absolutely, like, known and promised commodity.
55:34You know what you're getting from a size perspective, from a veteran savvy perspective, from a route running perspective, from a hands
55:41and toughness perspective, which is key in that role.
55:44Like, hey, you're wide receiver three. And on third down, we literally have termed it third in Juwan.
55:50Like, this is going to be a signing that fits very nicely at the nexus of how do we keep drives going in Minnesota?
55:58I think Juwan Jennings is going to be responsible for a large number of those.
56:03He has been previously in his career. This is, I think, an underrated signing that could pay more dividends.
56:09It's not, we're talking, I'm not talking about volume stats right here.
56:13We're not talking about, oh, a crazy number of catches or a super high yardage total.
56:19We're talking about when it counts, how often does he come through?
56:23And that number is going to be somewhere in the high 70s to 80% range.
56:28That is critical for keeping an offense on the field.
56:31And if the Vikings can do that a little bit more, it's going to go a long ways towards pushing this offense
56:38back towards the prominence that it's had in earlier years under KOC.
56:42Brings us to the draft where they did kind of put a cherry on top of a strong March with an even stronger April.
56:50I will say it does hinge on the health of Caleb Banks.
56:54My outlook for this class, I should say, hinges on the health of Caleb Banks.
56:59If he is healthy and we get what Caleb Banks was when he was healthy, before the issues popped up with his
57:06foot, feet, or might be feet plural, honestly. But if we get that version of Caleb Banks, this is one of the best classes, like out of anybody.
57:15Because he's a monster. And then you got, you know, Big Citrus, Tiernan, Golde, Jacoby Thomas, Demings, Clay, like banger after banger after banger.
57:23Right? Kwezi wasn't there to make the picks. And maybe that honestly helped them produce such a banger of a class.
57:30But I have almost no complaints with this group, assuming Banks stays healthy.
57:34Yeah. You get all the way down to the sixth round before I'm really talking about, oh, what are you doing there?
57:42And if you're doing that, you're doing tremendous in the NFL draft.
57:46Again, Caleb Banks, first round, 18th overall. One of the most dominant defensive tackles when he was healthy in this entire class.
57:53He is massive, powerful, quick in short areas. Can be a absolutely dominating force on the inside.
57:58Health is the reason he was still available at 18.
58:02If he had a, you know, absolutely rubber stamp, bona fide health package coming out of the combine and he was med issue free.
58:10Top 10? Top 10? Top 12? Maybe he would not have been available at 18.
58:15Again, dominating presence. And if you take that package of, a lot of times we say 10, but in this case, easily
58:2215 highlights from when he just destroyed offenses single-handedly.
58:25Can be an incredible force on the inside of the defensive line.
58:29Has to stay on the field to do it.
58:32That's the key. A lot hinges on it because 18 is still a risk with the med flags he has.
58:38Again, guys over 300 pounds, foot problems, not a great combination.
58:42Not saying it's not going to work, but it kind of has to work.
58:47Because if you just erase his name from this draft, it's still very solid, but a lot of the star power drops out of it.
58:55So second round of pick 51, Jake Golday, the linebacker out of Cincinnati.
58:59One of my favorites. This is very good size for a modern linebacker, but can also motor.
59:05Has wheels. Good instincts. One of the first inside linebackers I watched in this draft.
59:10And I really felt bad about that later on because I was like, man, if you start at the top, you always
59:17kind of want to start in the middle. So you can see better and worse players from there on out.
59:23But like I went through four or five more linebackers before I was like, okay, that guy is maybe as good as Golday is.
59:31He was easily my top inside linebacker for a while before I got to Rodriguez, who I think just has a slight edge on him.
59:40But anybody that followed our draft coverage knows how much I like Jacob Rodriguez.
59:44Golday is just a smidge below that. He is excellent at pass coverage.
59:49He can motor sideline to sideline. Great range. Good going forward.
59:52Hard, aggressive, hostile, all the things you need. And really, really like Jake Golday.
59:57The fact that he ends up in sort of linebacker heaven playing for Flores, you know, in the role that guys like Ivan Pace Jr.
60:05have played. Perfect landing spot in my mind. And the fact that he's so big, right?
60:10He's 6'4", 240. There's been some speculation of like, could he back up Van Ginkle?
60:15He could physically. Absolutely. It's a tremendous point. Yeah, I could see.
60:19And Van Ginkle has also played off ball and on ball throughout his career.
60:24Are they envisioning him being that kind of piece where like sometimes he's off ball, sometimes he's on a scrimmage.
60:30You know, because at this point, I don't think they want to take Cashman or Eric Wilson off the field.
60:37But they invested a higher pick in Golday because Golday is a 6'4", 240 pound freak of nature who can cover.
60:44Like there's some reps. There was a seam route on tape where a receiver got behind him and the turn that he
60:51made as somebody who's as big as he is, the turn to plant, open his hips, go, get in position, turn his
60:58head, find the ball, knock it away. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
61:01I was like, who the fuck are you? This was like the fifth play that I saw from him, by the way.
61:09And then you get, you know, you're doing your full rapport.
61:12You're three games in minimum. You know, and I found myself at the end of the third game like, can I watch it for it?
61:20Can I watch it for it? Do I have time to?
61:24Because he was just fun. Yeah. Like he just does stuff physically that very few linebackers can do.
61:30And the fact that I think he could be an edge or he could be off ball, he's probably going to be a nightmare on special teams.
61:39Like there's just so many things that I think this specific team can and will do with him because they have a
61:46coaching staff that's willing to do it. Hell, he might end up being a better pick than Banks.
61:52And I love Banks, but it's a great, great destination for him.
61:56I'm fascinated to see what it looks like in camp.
61:59Because if I start seeing reports that he's getting edge snaps, it's fucking on at that point.
62:05I was like, yes. And it's not just that.
62:08In terms of the versatility that you're talking about, he could take reps from Turner, right?
62:13If you need a little bit more coverage and Turner's not bad in coverage.
62:18Turner's incredibly athletic and good in his own right.
62:21But if he's been in for a couple of series and you need to keep Van Ginkle and Golday on, and those
62:28are your edges, you can do anything with either of them in the same way that you can with Van Ginkle.
62:35So love the pick, love the destination. Get into the third round.
62:39Pick 82, Dominique Orange, Big Citrus, interior defensive tackle from Iowa State.
62:43This is a mountain of a man. Big Citrus is a perfect nickname for him.
62:48He is incredibly tough to move, but he is not just a sentient tree stump.
62:53He can move himself. It is within a defined sort of tackle box area, but he is very difficult to displace.
63:00Now, that doesn't mean that he is heavy-footed. He's not, but he's not going to be making plays out on the edge.
63:07That's not the kind of defensive tackle he is.
63:10But if you pair him as one of the sort of twin towers on the inside, which the Vikings have done throughout
63:17their history, just get two massive defensive tackles and say, look, this six-yard area, you can't have it.
63:23We'll do everything around the edges we need to.
63:26He could be a sort of signal to getting back to that style of defense where Flores can say, look, you two
63:33just do what you do, which is occupy blockers.
63:36Don't give any ground. If anybody comes by, make the tackle because, again, you've got very long arms.
63:42Like, this is a fun player who has a limited role, but I have no problem with that at pick 82 because he is dominant at it.
63:51It could be one of those early down, you know, if we're in nickel and early downs, it's Orange and Banks, you know, two rookies even.
64:00Yeah. As are two defensive tackles. We save Redman for passing situations, so we just get all gas, no breaks from him.
64:07Roll him in over Orange if it's like second and long, right?
64:11Third medium, roll him in there like they're rotating with each other.
64:15And then ideally Banks, he's going to be rotating with like Levi Drake Rodriguez, right?
64:20And that's your three, really four, but they're all playing in the situations that suit them the best.
64:26This could be a really, really good interior rotation.
64:29And then you still have Dallas and Van Ginkle and whatever Jake Golday is.
64:33And you still have Wilson and like front seven, overall front seven, Minnesota.
64:37Kind of nasty. Not going to lie. Yeah, if Banks stays healthy, really nasty.
64:42And I think that's the vision for this team going forward.
64:46Just a few picks later at 97, again in the third round, Caleb Tiernan, the offensive tackle from Northwestern.
64:52I thought this was a good pick. Talked to a couple of players that played with Tiernan in college.
64:58Had nothing but great things to say about his approach to the game.
65:02We saw him gut through it at the combine.
65:05We knew that he was running with an injury.
65:08Chose to run anyway. So his numbers from the combine weren't fantastic.
65:12But he was out there competing. And in a lot of drills, you couldn't tell.
65:17And I thought that was a huge credit to Caleb.
65:21Very cerebral player. Very meticulous player in the way that he approaches his preparation, both physically and mentally.
65:27And very, very solid player. Again, in this draft, when you were getting down towards 100, I thought he was a value pick.
65:34Like I was surprised he was still there a little bit at 100.
65:38I figured he would have gone 15, maybe 20 picks earlier than that.
65:43I was pleased for Minnesota, given what we saw last year with injuries along the offensive line, that they get this kind
65:50of depth that Caleb doesn't necessarily have to slide right into the starting role.
65:55And if he does, I think he may play well early because he should be fully healed from that injury.
66:01And even with an injured combine, 937 RAS. Yep.
66:04Right. He's almost 6'8", he's 323, vertical of 35 and a half, broad of 9'3".
66:09Like that's absurd. Yeah. That's absurd. And he did the full workout injured and then did agilities, which weren't great.
66:16But I was like, whatever, I don't care. It's agilities after a full workout and you're hurt.
66:21But I loved his workout considering the injury. And then you watch him on tape, you're like, shit, this guy can move.
66:28And he's massive. And he's tough. And yeah, there's some things you got to clean up because he's tall and he plays
66:36like he's tall and he gets beat by the same stuff that beats tall guys.
66:41But I don't know. Brian O'Neill figured it out.
66:44I feel like you could probably mold him too.
66:47There's a lot to work with here, both mentally and physical.
66:50Person is great as well from, again, the folks that I talked to.
66:54So I thought this was a tremendous pick by Minneapolis.
66:58Again, we're, you know, four picks in. Like Banks, health dependent.
67:01Love Golday. Okay, Dominique Orange for what he is, is one of the best in this draft.
67:07Caleb Tiernan, great value, you know, inside the top hundred, but near the end of that.
67:12And then their third pick in the third round, just one pick later.
67:17So they had both 97 and 98. At 98, they get Jacoby Thomas, the safety for Miami, who I know you're a massive fan of.
67:25Big player at safety. Hitter. Like Jacoby Thomas is a hammer.
67:28Let me put it this way. The Texans really wanted Jacoby Thomas.
67:32Because Jacoby Thomas plays like a Texan. I.e. He doesn't care if he lives or dies.
67:38That's the kind of football player you're getting. He is a hitter.
67:42He is aggressive. He'll play safety. He'll play nickel.
67:45He will do it at 105 miles an hour.
67:48Every single play. I adore Jacoby Thomas. I really do.
67:51I think he's a great, great fit for this team.
67:54It's going to be really hard to take him off the field just because of the effort.
68:00The sheer impact that he's going to have on guys over the middle.
68:04He's going to make quarterbacks think twice about throwing it there for the safety of their own receivers.
68:10Not that he's dirty, but he just, he fucking hits people, man.
68:14Like, finding a safety like that that truly makes receivers hear footsteps.
68:18There's value to that. That's why the Texans have, like, four of them.
68:22Because teams don't like going over the middle against Houston.
68:25Because they know they're going to get destroyed. Like, having that kind of physical presence as a safety, even if it causes
68:33just one extra drop a game, there's value to it.
68:36Yeah. As a Bears fan, I don't like Jacoby Thomas in the division.
68:40I just don't love the player. The fact that he landed with the Vikings, I'm like, oh, good, good fit.
68:47Good for you. Please don't kill Colston Lovelace. Please don't kill anybody.
68:51Like, Jacoby Thomas, great player. Great fit in Minnesota.
68:54I think he's going to be a fan favorite as well.
68:57Down in the fifth round at 159, they get Max Bredesen, the fullback out of Michigan.
69:03This is partially a C.J. Hamm replacement because he is a fullback.
69:07But he's more in the more versatile, more mobile, sort of fullback, H-back, hybrid type player that I think KOC is really
69:14going to like using because he can do a little bit more with him than he could do with C.J.
69:20Hamm. C.J. Hamm was a tremendous, dedicated fullback. I know he is a Vikings fan favorite for plenty of good reasons.
69:27Bredesen, a slightly different type of player, but brings a little bit more versatility to the role.
69:33I am curious to see how much they actually want to throw to him because when it comes down to it, if
69:40you have Justin Jefferson and Addison and Juwan and Hawkinson, how many times a game are you going to be like, yeah,
69:47let's press the fullback button right here? You know, when you could just get a dedicated fullback that really is like a 97 out of 100 block.
69:56Not saying that's what C.J. Hamm was. But like at C.J.
70:00Hamm's best, if somebody needed to be blocked, he was going to block them.
70:05Yeah. I wonder if Bredesen is going to bring that same value in like the most important part of the job when
70:12the second most important part of the job is, you know, getting us a first down or two in the receiving game
70:19every single week when it's like, well, we have five other guys that can do that.
70:24If he's not as good as a run blocker as fullbacks we've had in the past, is that worth the one or
70:32two catches we get out of it? I guess we'll find out.
70:36It's hard to find Kyle Uschak. I'll say that.
70:38For sure. And more than reception versatility, I think it's alignment versatility.
70:42You can put him as a run blocker in multiple spaces.
70:46You can put him just off the line, in line, in the backfield, offset.
70:51It's not really about his receiving chops. In fact, if he ends up on the season having more than, to your point,
70:58one reception a game, 17, 18 receptions for the year, I would be surprised, largely because of the talent assembled around him
71:05and what you can get out of efficiency throwing to them.
71:09But I think from an alignment perspective, he's going to bring a little bit of extra sauce to what KOC can draw up.
71:16Their second pick in the fifth round, one of our favorites at 163, Charles Demings, cornerback from Stephen F.
71:23Austin. People might look at Stephen F. Austin and say, oh, small school, can't be that good.
71:28He had SEC offers, folks. We know this because we know a guy that coached him in high school when he was
71:35new to the game and had just a year as a football player.
71:40The coach we know had him and said, holy crap.
71:43Anyways, his recruitment was right during COVID. There was some family stuff that went on.
71:48He could have gone to the SEC. He only had one year of high school tape.
71:53That doesn't typically get you four or five star offers.
71:57In terms of his athletic and physical profile, it's right there with all those SEC corners.
72:02He is a tremendous kid. He's got great size.
72:05His physical measurables are awesome. And I would say he's nowhere near his ceiling.
72:09He is still ascending. So if he gets in with Flores, they might have a guy that they can say, again, on
72:17a lower percentage of their downs than the rest of the NFL, you're going to line up in man.
72:23Not that often, right? So he will be protected from that as a rookie.
72:28But if they have to play man, specifically if there is a big receiver that has to be dealt with, he has the physical tools.
72:36Whereas, hey, there's a giant X out there. Can you just go be in the way, please?
72:41I think he could do that. Well, he's learning all of the other stuff.
72:46It's a complicated defense. I will say that. It's a complicated defense.
72:50I don't know how many stats he's going to get immediately, but physical profile wise, this might not be a 2026 pick,
72:57more of a 2027, 2028 pick, but physical profile wise, yeah, he could eventually be that, you know, either X receiver eraser,
73:04maybe even tight end eraser, big slot eraser, just because, you know, he's the guy that's really more built for that physically
73:12out of everybody else on the roster. Yeah. In terms of physical upside available at 163, this is a home run pick.
73:19This is when you make those picks. He can be a force on special teams right now and could grow into a
73:26prominent role on the primary defense, which is if you're getting that in the fifth round, more power to you.
73:33All right. This is where I jump up on my mini soapbox for the day.
73:38Put the name up on the marquee Vikings fans, DeMond Claiborne, the running back from Wake Forest undersized.
73:44They get him in the sixth round at 198.
73:47I'm just going to put my stamp in the ground right now and say, I am a massive DeMond Claiborne fan.
73:54He is small in stature. He is not small in skill watching this guy, press the hole, make late cuts, make people miss explode.
74:01Like if you look at all the metrics, his analytics profile will not blow you away.
74:07It's not bad, but it's not one of those.
74:10Oh, every time he, you know, every 10 times he touches the ball, he scores.
74:15It's not that it's watching him do the little things that he needs to do to be a successful running back in the league.
74:23As he makes that next jump in competition, has the physical skills.
74:26Not everybody has the nuance that Claiborne has. He has both.
74:30I think he has a role in the NFL as a second or third down back who is very consistent and is
74:37one of those guys kind of like, and I'm going to invoke the name Jalen Warren.
74:43Jalen Warren came into the league. He was a lower round pick.
74:47He was a little bit smaller. He's quite stout.
74:50DeMond Claiborne is not his physical build necessarily, but explosive and just very savvy.
74:54And we see what Jalen Warren has become in Pittsburgh.
74:57I think DeMond Claiborne eventually could become that in the NFL.
75:01I hope it's for the Vikings, but Vikings fans just put a bookmark next to this one, a check mark.
75:08Know that DeMond Claiborne, even though he was picked in the sixth round, and this was a quote unquote down year for running backs in the draft.
75:17DeMond Claiborne, one of my favorite down the board running back selections in this entire draft, excited to see what he can do in KOC's offense.
75:25I don't think excited actually covers it. I'm actually pretty geeked about DeMond Claiborne being a Vikings.
75:31I feel like his contributions this year might be more as a returner because he is 22 pounds lighter than the next lightest running back on the team.
75:40Yep. And he is 42 pounds lighter than Jordan Mason.
75:43Yep. Like that's, that's a lot. That's a lot.
75:46He's 188. Yeah. Next smallest running back is 210.
75:49There's no other running back on the team that's less than 210.
75:53So he's small. He's a different profile compared to what they normally like.
75:57Like they normally like size, the running back position.
76:00Even Aaron Jones, he plays at 210, 212. So I, I could see him being returner as a rookie.
76:07Maybe if he can be our can opener, you know, give him five to eight touches with the actual offense in a
76:14game and, and see what he does with it.
76:17Cause he's explosive. But yeah, it was a significant departure from their typical running back archetype, which is like size and bullying
76:24people and, you know, establishing the run and, and being able to accumulate four yards at a time.
76:30And we'll wear on them to the fourth court.
76:33Like that's, that's what Kevin really likes is that's why I like Jordan Mason so much because Jordan Mason, like he can,
76:40he can tolerate punishment until the fourth quarter when it really racks up.
76:44I'm not sure Clayborne could. No, he's not sure every down back.
76:48And maybe Jalen Warren's a bad comparison there because Jalen Warren is quite stout physically.
76:53Maybe it's more Tariq Cohen as a departure. Sure.
76:56Okay. And, and Tariq was like, you know, give Tariq five to 10 touches in the game.
77:02He was going to do some with it right before his injury, but band before Tariq's injury, he was awesome.
77:09Yeah. He was awesome for, and he was also a returner too, if memory serves.
77:13So I could see that. Yeah. Good stuff in the seventh round at two 35, their last draft pick Gavin Gerhart, the
77:21center from Cincinnati, again, teammate of Jake Golday. You know, you're rounding out your offensive line depth.
77:26I'm fine with it. But again, if you get to the seventh round before that's all we have to say, if we
77:34have something to say from round one, two, three picks in the third, two picks in the fifth, and a pick in
77:41the sixth that we really like as an outlier, you had a tremendous draft.
77:45I have no complaints. I have no complaints. Assuming bank stays healthy.
77:49Again, I'm going to say that 50 times this show.
77:53They got everything they needed and even some stuff they didn't really need, but it was just there.
77:59So they took it while they could. Addressing quarterback with Kyler gave them the freedom to do that.
78:05Cause outside of quarterback, they really didn't have that many needs.
78:08But as far as addressing the holes in the roster that were there and then strengthening a couple of strengths, like with the gold, they pick no complaints.
78:17Absolutely love it. As far as UDFAs, as you guys could probably tell, this is a tough 53 to crack.
78:24I don't think any of their UDFAs will be on the 53, but could be some fun practice squatters.
78:30For sure. In terms of Kijon Owens, the running back from Florida international, more of a profile like Claiborne.
78:36So they basically doubled down. They drafted one and they got a good one in the UDFA market as well.
78:43Smaller, explosive, super fun tape is tremendous. Look at the highlights for Kijon Owens.
78:48You'll have a good time. Thomas Remack is the one that if somebody cracks the 53, I think it might be him
78:55because of his versatility, not necessarily because of his overall skill level, very skilled player.
79:00He's listed as a guard out of Virginia tech, but he has guard center flexibility.
79:05Impressed on the all-star game circuit. I really thought he was a draftable prospect.
79:09He ends up going in UDFA to Minnesota and I think it's a good get for them.
79:15And then you have even more punter talk. Yes.
79:18Brett Thorson with two T's, not one. So we know he's trustworthy.
79:22You know, the next product out of a pro kick Australia, which is a facility based out there in Melbourne, right near
79:29where the first NFL game of the year is going to be played.
79:33And you know, maybe we'll be there. I don't know.
79:37Maybe, maybe, but he is in a long line of, you know, Aussie rules players that convert to American football.
79:43And they've really, you know, pioneered that Aussie style of punting that emphasizes more like control over distance because that's again, an Aussie rules.
79:51You have to be able to control the ball and pass through kicks and place it exactly where you want to.
79:58And that's really the, when we talk about the Aussie style of punting, it's really just about being able to put the
80:05ball exactly where you want it to be put, not necessarily booming it, but winning through putting returners in compromised positions.
80:12And boy, he's excellent at that. There was a big reason why he was an old American punter because he's really damn good at it.
80:21So I think he also maybe has a shot to be this team's week one punter, but Johnny Hecker has been doing it for a long time.
80:29He's been a great punter for a long time.
80:32We'll see. We'll see. But I do think Brett Thorson is going to be punting in the league somewhere this year.
80:39All right, before we get to our ceiling and floor, I do want to thank homage once again, for partnering with us throughout this entire series.
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81:19And that's how this whole content ecosystem works. So once again, thank you to anybody who's already done that throughout the summer
81:26series, or if this is the first time you've watched a summer series episode this year, thank you.
81:32If you do that and support the show brings us to our last segment, each ceiling and floor, as you might've guessed,
81:39I think this team could be a first seed contender in the NFC.
81:43I do think they're that good. I don't think Kyler's a top 10 quarterback.
81:48He's sure as shit better than what they had last year.
81:52Yeah. Significantly better than what they had last year.
81:54So my ceiling is 12. I think they could win 12 games this year.
81:59I think they could win the NFC North. Not saying they're going to, but I think they could if everything works out.
82:06And my floor is nine because last year was the floor and they won nine.
82:11I don't think it could be worse. I'd be stunned if it's worse.
82:16I don't know how it could be worse. Like I genuinely don't know what the mechanism for it being worse is because
82:23that would imply like, I don't know, Kyler spontaneously combust in week one.
82:27I don't know how they could go deeper into the basement and they still won nine games.
82:33So it's kind of a tight ceiling and floor only like a gap of three games here.
82:38And maybe I'm even underselling it. Like I wouldn't even besmirch Vikings fans for saying like, yeah, we could win 13, 14.
82:46Like I would understand it, but I'm going to be conservative and say 12.
82:50Yeah. I've got the same gap between my ceiling and floor.
82:54It's three games, but I'm also taking into account the same thing we talked about last week with the other North division, the AFC North.
83:02This is a tough division. It was the toughest division in football last year, and they are all going to rip games off of each other.
83:11There are no easy outs. You are not going to roll into division games in the NFC North and get any freebies.
83:18So even if everything works better, that is I'm going to rephrase ceiling and floor into what needs to work.
83:24And what if the wheels fall off? My ceiling is 10 wins, which might seem kind of pedestrian.
83:30Only one more win than last year when everything fell off.
83:34Like, yeah, I understand that it's a tough division and they could be a much better football team as a 10 win football team.
83:42They could still be in contention to win this division.
83:45I don't think anybody's running away with the NFC North.
83:48So we'll see. I think they're a playoff contender regardless.
83:52That's what needs to happen for the ceiling. Kyler has to mesh with KOC early, has to create a relationship with one
83:59of the best receivers in football, Justin Jefferson. That has to happen early.
84:03Again, if you look at the Vikings last season and kind of take away what they need to avoid, they only had
84:11four wins going into the final five weeks. They can't do that again and be in a competitive position in this division.
84:18So that's what has to go right. We know the defense is going to be good.
84:23We've already talked about all the sort of holes they've filled offensive line health, third wide receiver, et cetera, et cetera.
84:30On the floor, what has to fail to have them have less wins than last season?
84:35Kyler Murray basically has to go late stage. Russell Wilson.
84:39He, he basically has to have nothing left. I don't think that's true, but if he comes out, can't pick up the
84:46system any faster than JJ or anything else. We're right back to what do you have at quarterback?
84:52And the options behind Kyler are not great. JJ, who we don't know if he's ready yet, probably a little bit more
84:59ready than last year, but that's not saying a lot, given all the stats we gave in the top half of the show.
85:07And other than that, their backup quarterback options are not appealing.
85:10Aaron Jones. He's 32. The wheels could fall off formers and running back.
85:14That's often when it happens. Offensive line. And I have to think is going to be healthier than last year.
85:21So still pretty good. And the defense, it's going to be about the same or better, but basically if they had some
85:28key injuries and Kayla banks, health doesn't happen. That's what would have to happen to get them to the floor of seven.
85:36Again, tight window between 10 and seven, but even at 10, I think this could be a playoff team.
85:42I will say. If they win seven games. Does Kevin O'Connell survive?
85:46I don't think, I don't think they, that he does.
85:49Well, I think if with this team and they gave him a quarterback, I don't think he survives that.
85:55I'm again, I'm just, I'm not saying that that's what's going to happen.
86:00Right. But if it does happen, like Vikings fans are going to be pissed.
86:04It's a worst case scenario. And the sort of some total of two years in a row of not measuring up could
86:11get him ejected from the top spot. I will say this.
86:15If KOC hits the market, he will have suitors and a job the next day.
86:20He will not be unemployed for long in the sleep.
86:23All right, EJ, what do you say we get out of here?
86:27Uh, I want to thank all of you for watching and listening wherever you happen to be watching and listening.
86:34Uh, I want to thank all of our patrons, executive producers who have funded and supported the show for so long.
86:41Our sponsors, homage, Woodinville, buzzer for helping us produce this entire series.
86:45Tomorrow's episode is the Packers off the top of my head.
86:48Um, a lot of new things going on in green Bay with Jeff Halfley moving on and losing John Eric Sullivan, bringing
86:56in Jonathan Gannon, new talent all over the place.
86:59Uh, very, very interesting team. So we'll talk about them tomorrow slash today, depending on where you're watching.
87:04And, uh, then we got the bears later this week and then the Patreon show picking the winner of the NFC North.
87:12So lots to come. Thank you once again, and we will see you tomorrow slash today.
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