Carson Wentz returns to Vikings; what does it mean for JJ McCarthy?

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Hey, everybody.

Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider,

presented by FanDuel Matthew Collar here,

along with Manny Hill on this Thursday evening,

where the weather has finally turned towards spring.

And it's going to stay that way.

We've got March Madness going on

and the women's tournament is getting going.

And it's a great time of year.

Normally, though, Manny,

we're getting into this time of year and going,

wow, what a crazy free agency it was for the Minnesota Vikings.

And get a little bit of a break.

We could all sit back and watch some college basketball.

But there really wasn't.

It really wasn't at all.

The Vikings got a new quarterback

and they picked up an RFA tackle and they needed that.

And they have a new punter who's kind of an old punter.

And I don't know who's going to be as good as Ryan Wright.

So, you know, you can hold well, I think.

And there you have it.

Oh, and they got Carson Wentz back,

which was something that was thrown out there

by Adam Schaefter a couple of weeks ago.

And I think all of us when Schaefter reported it went like,

oh, like, okay, I mean, I guess so.

And today, I saw a lot of attempts

to make this interesting.

I saw a lot of reaches to make this controversial.

I saw a lot of, well, I guess they have to trade JG McCarthy now

and I'm here to make a declaration, Mr. Hill.

It's not interesting.

It's not controversial.

It's not shocking.

And it will have no ripple effects whatsoever.

Carson Wentz is back because in two out of the four seasons

that KOC has been the head coach,

they have ended up with QB3.

And you know who QB3 was?

It was Jaren Hall and then it was Max Brosmer.

And you know who does not want it to be Jaren Hall

or Max Brosmer again, Kevin O'Connell.

It works on a lot of different levels

where Carson Wentz knows the offense.

Kyler Murray does not.

It's great to have a veteran around who knows what he's doing

who can help you through that.

Also, Josh McCown is here, a very good friend

of Carson Wentz's.

They played together the connection between KOC and Wentz

was really good last year.

I mean, there was that whole thing against the Chargers,

but apparently Wentz didn't hold it against him.

As he said, he did not.

And he's probably the 10th best backup quarterback in the NFL.

And if you are saying like, what?

Oh, he's no good.

Oh, you're right.

Of course, he's not.

But are there other great backup quarterbacks

that are running around?

I don't think that there are.

If Philip Rivers came back to play in the NFL last year,

then there is not an abundance of useful backup quarterbacks.

And that's the whole thing.

Although, man, I do think we might be able to conclude,

again, not shocking that the battle, the real battle,

the true competition is for QB2 and not for QB1.

So there are all of my thoughts about Carson Wentz

and I would like yours.

So you mean we're not going to break down

the advanced punting stats of Johnny Hacker for the next hour?

You know, you bet, you bet I don't know them.

I know, I know them.

I know where Johnny Hacker ranked by PFF last year.

And it wasn't ideal.

So let me just say that, but don't mess with me

because I might get to your, get to your Wentz take.

Yeah, I'm with you.

I when I saw the news break of Wentz returning to the Vikings,

I was like, oh, okay, all right, bring them back.

Why not, you know, just add another quarterback to the quarterback room?

Why not?

I mean, K.O.C. said he wanted it to be a competitive quarterback room

in 2026, at least going into camp.

And you bring in Carson Wentz and you just kind of, again, see what happens.

I know listeners and viewers might get tired of hearing me say,

just see what happens, but this is kind of where we're at now.

With this position, you're brought in Kyler Murray because it made sense to bring him in.

And I think it makes some sense to bring Carson Wentz in because you just, you,

you never know, things happen.

I mean, like you said, we've seen this team get down to playing

its third quarterback in two of the four seasons that K.O.C. has been here.

And if that third quarterback is Carson Wentz in like week seven or 2026,

then it's better than my Max Brozer or Jaren Hall.

So I think you just kind of take it for what it is.

And you know, if things, a lot of different things can play out over the course of training camp,

you know, someone could get injured in training camp.

And then that makes the competition a lot easier to figure out.

You know, so I, you know, I don't want to call it a nothing burger,

but I mean, it is just kind of like, I think you just kind of shrug your shoulders and just say,

okay, it makes some sense.

And here we go into camp and here we go.

This is, it just is what it is.

And we are well aware that Kevin O'Connell does not mind juggling a very crowded quarterback

room because at one point they had five quarterbacks in the room in 2025.

I find not mistaken, right?

Because Brett Ripon was there and also Sam Darnold.

And then you had Daniel Jones coming in.

So there's been a lot of quarterbacks in that room before.

And I remember when they picked up Daniel Jones, my initial thought was,

now, why would you do that?

Like, why would you bring in somebody dedicate any sort of time or resource to working with this

quarterback that maybe we'll sign with you or maybe he won and whatever, whatever.

And ultimately, Sam Darnold just continued to play really, really well.

It made no difference at all that, you know, Daniel Jones was in there.

He worked with some of the coaches after practice and stuff.

He worked on the preparation.

I think he was ultimately useful to Sam Darnold down the stretch as another set of

eyes who had been in the NFL.

And with Carson Wentz, I also think that it's good for JJ McCarthy to have Carson Wentz

around because those guys did click from my understanding last year.

And he has also been through everything you can be through go through in the NFL.

Wentz has been the king of the mountain.

He has had the injury.

He has been the guy who grinded out a nine and seven season on a really bad team.

He has been traded.

He's gone to the bottom.

He's been a backup for a championship caliber team that went to the Super Bowl.

He's literally done everything.

And he also knows this inside and out.

I have no doubt about it.

That Carson Wentz mastered that playbook very quickly as someone who's been around

to a lot of different places.

And he understands what Kevin O'Connell is looking for in this offense.

To me, that is a good resource for JJ McCarthy.

Not someone that you trade JJ McCarthy because of.

I did see a lot of that.

Well, you know, now they're going to trade JJ McCarthy.

Now that Wentz is here.

I don't see any real use in doing that unless somebody came by and said,

we're going to give you the, I don't know who's drafting tent overall,

the tent overall draft pick.

Or we're going to give you some really high return in draft capital for JJ McCarthy.

And if you feel like, ah, this is probably run its course to the end,

then maybe you would consider doing that.

I think that if there was any consideration whatsoever of trading JJ McCarthy,

that it comes at the end of training camp.

It would not come now because you'd have no idea if you're the Vikings,

what JJ McCarthy has been doing, how much better he can improve himself.

And that answer might be none or it might be a lot.

I mean, this is his first healthy off season now in a while.

So he has the opportunity to go back home and put in all the effort and all the work

into truly mastering everything O'Connor wants.

JJ or Justin Jefferson has said that he's going to work with JJ McCarthy.

Now, I think we're all wise enough to say that you don't go get someone

who's been a top 12 quarterback in the NFL three times.

And is in his prime unless you want that person to be the starter.

So you can have, oh, there's going to be a competition.

Not no, not really.

But what you want to see from JJ McCarthy is you should be able to beat out Carson Wentz

for that number two spot pretty handily if you are on the right trajectory.

And how about it, JJ, force the Vikings to feel uncomfortable about the quarterback spot

because you've performed so well behind the scenes.

And they just got Kyler Murray like it's the onus is really on him.

But I would want to see it in OTAs and in mini camp and all the way through training.

I want to get as big of a sample size as possible because this is something

many people talk about a lot is we've only started 10 games.

He's only started 10 games, which I get.

But it's also that's actually a negative because he's been injured so much.

And in those 10 games, it hasn't been anywhere close.

So you're really not working with a great sample size.

And the sample size that you have is quite bad.

So like show show us show the world that there's more there in this entire off season.

Before you decide something like, yeah, we're just going to do the Tray Lance thing and send him out of here.

Yeah, I mean, listen, JJ McCarthy needs to be pushed.

That's just the reality of it.

He needs to be pushed.

I mean, if we're being honest,

after 2024 and the way that season played out with San Donald struggling the last two games

and everybody kind of pushing them out the door and, you know, basically anointing JJ McCarthy

as the guy without having him see and without seeing him play a legitimate down, a single legitimate

down in the NFL.

In a lot of ways, he was kind of handed that starting job and there was just this assumption

that he was just going to pick up where San Donald left off and it was going to be all systems go.

And we saw that that wasn't the case that he wasn't ready.

And so he needs to be pushed.

He needs to be, you know, I don't want to say he needs to be motivated.

I think he's a motivated young player.

I mean, I think he wants to be great.

He wants to be a very good quarterback in the NFL.

But I think a message needs to be sent that like, hey, kid, you got to really,

you got to really work at this.

You know, we maybe have made a mistake a year ago of just kind of handing this to you

and anointing you without you having really earned it at that point.

Now you got to really earn it.

If you're going to be the guy, you got to put in some serious work.

You got to get in the lab and get this thing going.

And if you do that and then you perform well, it translates to the field

and practice and preseason and everything,

then you're going to have a chance and it's an opportunity for some success.

It's going to take a lot.

I think to certainly surpass Kyler Murray, but I think you have to let him know like,

hey, dude, we're not, you're not, nothing is guaranteed in this week.

And just because you were in the 10th pick of the draft,

just because you won an national championship at Michigan,

and just because we handed you the job last year without really having to put in

to work to really earn it, it's going to be different now.

You got it, you got to go up, you got to go out there and you got to perform.

And I think, you know, bringing Carson Wentz in there is going to,

is going to push him a little bit.

The other part of this, if things play out a certain way in camp,

and JJ McCarthy does sort of beat out Carson Wentz for that number two spot,

guess what you can probably do.

You can probably trade Carson Wentz to somebody else that, you know,

not going to get a high draft pick form or anything like that,

but you can get, you can probably ship him off somewhere at the end of camp

and get something in return for him.

So to me, it, it makes a lot of sense.

And I don't really understand why so many people are up in arms about it.

Well, people might laugh at you saying that and then forget that they got a

5th round pick for Sam Howell after one of the worst training camps.

Wasn't the worst.

There's some few nominees for that at quarterback, but it was one of the worst.

And they still got a 5th round pick for him.

That's how quarterback desperate teams are.

Though, I think the QB three thing is very real.

I mean, Kyler Murray has had some injuries.

And we know that JJ McCarthy has had some injuries.

So you would want your quarterback three to stick around.

And also, I think just be there for Kyler Murray throughout the season of,

it's great to have someone in that room who knows just as much as you

or more about how the system works.

And just the NFL in general defense is how to read certain things.

I'm not sure how often Kyler Murray even ever had that

in Arizona when we go through the setup and the things that he had.

There's not a lot to write home about outside of when he had Deandre Hopkins in terms of coaching

in the scenario and situation.

So I don't even remember who their backup quarterbacks were.

But I don't know if there was ever someone in there who was kind of his equal at one point,

a former high draft pick somebody who had one stuff in the NFL.

Not necessarily super bowl.

That was one by Nick Foles, but who has kind of been to the top and been back down.

I think that helps for Kyler Murray as well.

And if Wentz wins the job and JJ McCarthy is in the press box,

then it will be unbelievably clear where things stand and what they think about JJ McCarthy.

But if they end up either keeping three active on game day, maybe unlikely,

but you have the emergency guy who's going to put his pads on over there.

But if that ends up being Carson Wentz, that would show an immense amount of trust for

JJ McCarthy to be the backup quarterback to come in and potentially win them a game.

And that's what he has an opportunity here to earn.

And so now it's kind of baby steps.

But to your point, I do think last year that and I entitlement is just such a word that

is like a heavy word and it feels like it's sort of the same thing with immaturity.

Like when you say entitlement or immaturity, they're just they're just hitting someone with

the sledgehammer and I don't mean to do that.

I mean, this is sort of what happens with people who have never failed ever before.

There was some entitlement probably with Kyler Murray.

And I know this offense and I don't have to do this or that.

And I just see it out there and I'll just scramble early in his career that eventually in 2024,

he had to go back to the drawing board completely and really learn from top to bottom an offense.

So everybody gets humbled at some point in the NFL.

Patrick Mahomes missed the playoffs last year.

Like nobody gets out alive in the NFL.

So when I say the entitlement part at the end of the season after the last game,

in McCarthy's last press conference, he was asked like, do you think you've done enough

to be the QB1 for next year?

And he said, well, I think I did.

And it was like, can you point to it with your hands for me?

I mean, obviously, obviously not since we're asking this question and your head coach is not

committing to you.

And I know it's right after a game and it's not an answer to the

what what is he supposed to say is fair, right?

But also it was sort of like, well, I'll dance into the end zone.

If I want to dance into the end zone and I think I've earned the QB1 and you go,

hey, man, this is a production based league.

This isn't a promise in the future based league.

And they have certainly showed that to him now.

So he's going to have to come in with a lot of humility.

But I think that that's a hard lesson.

Most NFL players at some point have to learn.

They all have their welcome to the NFL type moments.

And it's welcome to the NFL.

If you play like that, someone else will be the starting quarterback.

And that's going to happen.

But this, I think, Manning right here is going to be the most important

how many months?

When do they show up at OTAs like April, maybe whatever.

Call it like four four four five months of JJ McCarthy's entire career.

Because you can really take two different paths.

And we have no idea which one he's going to take.

You can have that same sort of, I've done enough to be the QB1.

And, you know, okay, they're haters or they fall in out of love with me.

And that's not my fault or whatever.

I've seen a handful of free agents who signed with other teams who said,

yeah, well, my new team's going to use me the right way.

Like, oh, okay, all right.

Your other team was just a bunch of morons, I'm sure.

So anyway, like, I think Quay Walker said that.

Like, I don't know if the Packers were a really dumb franchise.

But anyway, are you going to have that attitude?

Or are you going to have the attitude?

And we've seen this from some backup quarterbacks before.

That's for sure.

Or are you going to have the attitude, like, I better wake up.

I, whatever work I thought I was putting in.

Oh, it's got to be a lot more net in order to perform at a level

that has KOC saying, I want you as QB2 on game day.

I just don't see a world where you can perform well enough in these practices.

To not have the guy who's been a multiple time probler as the starting quarterback

that KOC reportedly said, you might be our multi year quarterback.

I don't see that world.

But I do also see a world, man,

that if he's ready to go and Kyler Murray gets banged up,

which he has been known to do, that JJ McCarthy comes in there and shows what he is.

So the way he approaches this, I think we'll tell us a lot about what he's going to be in the future.

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I think the biggest thing for him is I think he has to embrace this challenge.

He's being challenged now.

He's being tested.

His very livelihood as a viable quarterback in the National Football League

is being put to the test now over the next four or five months, as you said.

This is an opportunity.

This is the first real sort of adversity.

You could say the injury in 2024 that wiped out his rookie season.

You could point to that as a point of adversity,

but this is on the field adversity where you walked in,

you were handed this job in year two despite missing all of the year before,

and it didn't go well.

I'm sure you thought it was going to go really well.

And it didn't.

And this was after two years in college where I think you might have lost three games total

in college and won a national championship.

So everything was pie in the sky, playing at Michigan,

and getting drafted in the top half of the first round.

And then everything got real for him.

For J.J. McArthur in 2025, where it's like, hey, dude, no, this is,

you got to really bring it and you got to get in the lab and you got to get to work.

And how he handles this is really going to decide

whatever direction his career is going to go, like you said.

So I think he needs to embrace this challenge and use it as fuel, use it as motivation.

We always hear about these professional athletes that they,

something happens in their career typically early on that really kind of changes their

their outlook on everything.

And it kind of opens their eyes like, hey, this could go away pretty quickly rather.

It's an injury or if I just don't put in the necessary work to really get to a high level,

it can go, it can all go away just like that.

So I think he should embrace this, let it feed his, his,

you know, his competitive spirit that he has.

And, you know, if everything goes well and he really puts in the work,

he's got an opportunity to really kind of turn things around.

But it's not going to be handed to him this time.

Obviously with the bringing in of Kyler Murray and with Carson Wentz kind of sitting there saying,

like, hey, dude, this is serious, you better get to work.

So for the record, would you trade JJ McCarthy?

No, not right now.

No, I mean, depending on what happens in training camp, you know, maybe explore it,

but I think as of right now, I'm not thinking about that because a lot of things could happen

in training camps, somebody could get hurt and then you're really screwed.

So I, I wouldn't even think about doing it right now.

For the Vikings, a quarterback getting hurt.

We've never seen that before training camp.

I don't, I don't know about that, man.

But here's the only scenario that I would trade JJ McCarthy.

If he was around the team and was just not putting in the work that you want,

and I don't expect this from McCarthy.

I mean, like we know that one of the main reasons he was drafted was the personality,

the energy, the enthusiasm, the work ethic.

And I think that one thing is we saw this from really Caleb Williams his first year,

even just knowing how to do the right work can take time for a young quarterback.

I think I was probably snarky about it and maybe Caleb Williams deserves a little bit of that

for I didn't know how to watch film and like, hey, well, you have free will.

You could go maybe figure that out.

But then you realize, and you and I have both had interns in the past,

you realize sometimes that young people, they don't know the way.

And they don't know how to do these things themselves.

And sometimes you don't even think of stuff that like, oh, that's right.

You might not really realize that.

But if he did come into training camp into OTAs with a completely different attitude

than we've seen from him before.

Because I've never at least my standpoint felt like it was an attitude issue for JJ McCarthy,

which is why I've continued to say that I think he could be a successful quarterback at some point.

It's really a throwing issue and a timing issue and a touch issue and a knowing how to run

an NFL offense issue.

And I'm watching Kyler Murray tape and they run a motion where the snap has to happen as the

guy is starting to kind of curl up field, which you're not really supposed to do,

but you could get away with it a few time at right and Murray's doing it like every play right on.

And that's a veteran.

And that's something that McCarthy couldn't really get down and they kept having full starts and

stuff. And you're like, these are the things that you're going to have to pick up on and learn.

I think those are the issues, which are mostly due to experience and not due to attitude.

But that can change when your franchise goes out and gets Kyler Murray and brings in Carson

and everybody's meaming you and everything else.

And you know, where does he really mentally stand with this?

And if he were saying to the organization, like get me out of here or whatever else,

then I think you do have to consider it because the rookie contract has made everything so

complicated, man. It's like you have this short window to take advantage of it.

And then if you don't, it gets very complex after that of how you're going to deal with it.

Now, it doesn't make it impossible. But if Murray started most of the year, but you saw some

stuff you liked from JJ McCarthy. And let's say you missed the playoffs, but you know,

you're sticking with KOC or whatever you could maybe consider going back to McCarthy.

But then you have to have a quarterback competition. And then if he wins it and then plays okay.

And he's average because one of the ways people have talked about this who want McCarthy to start

is, well, shouldn't we just find out? And I mean, one, we did find out quite a bit last year.

But also, well, there are sort of assuming that there's like a high end and a low end.

And those are the only two results. But what if you are eight nine? And he throws for

3,300 yards and 18 touchdowns and 12 picks or something like, then what? Like what is even that?

What are you supposed to do with that? But the rookie contract ending is looming. So even if you

wanted to go back to him and then he did play really well, then you have to pay him, which makes

your life more complicated. So this is a situation that is sort of ripe for a quarterback being

traded. And that's what we did see with trade lands. And we may eventually see with Anthony Richardson,

heard the Packers or I didn't hear this. I saw this that the Packers are sniffing around Richardson.

No, bad Packers back off. We don't need them doing it again.

Here's Anthony Richardson in the year 2031 becoming an elite quarterback for the Packers.

But I see this as as a little bit dicey from that standpoint to how McCarthy could go from

where he is now to being a starting quarterback. So the point to draw it all back in was if they

were to trade him, I would not at this moment. But if they were, I would understand because it's

a bigger decision than just do you like him or could you see him ever becoming good? It's almost if he

does become good someday, that's hard on you. And you will have missed the entire thing that was

supposed to help you, which was the rookie quarterback contract advantage. That is the point

that there is a case for that based on team building, not really having much to do with the actual

player. Yeah. And the other thing to think about too is because I've seen a lot of people say,

well, now you got to trade him, you know, if you're taking away this opportunity for him to really,

you know, compete with Kyler Murray for this starting job, then, you know, trade him to somebody who,

you know, will give him that opportunity and call you. Look around the league. If the Vikings were

to trade Kyler, or JJ McCarthy right now, the only team I could think of where he would have like

a legitimate shot to when the starting job is ironically the Arizona Cardinals. No team I could

think of because everybody else, even the teams that kind of need a quarterback, you know, I mean,

the Raiders are going to take Fernando Mendoza with the first pick. So that's not happening.

The dolphins, even though they pretty much gutted their roster, just gave Malik Willis a lot of money.

So that's out of the picture. The Falcons went and got Tua to compete with penics and they don't

know what penics' future is going to look like. Like every way, no matter where you're, you know,

Geno just went to the jets. I mean, you trade him somewhere. He's going to be kind of walking into

the same, you know, or at least a similar situation that he's in right now. So I mean, I think you just

have to kind of let this thing play out. A lot of things can happen between now and camp and

this is still, I view this as still an opportunity for him to turn things around and, and, you know,

get his career, you know, sort of back on track before you get to that point where you're like a

Josh Rosen and you're just out of the league after three years because nobody thinks you're any good.

He still has an opportunity to really kind of get this thing turned around.

The Browns, do you want to be the Browns quarterback? It would be, it would be much better for

JJ McCarthy. That's why I'm saying that this is a really pivotal part of his career. It would be

much better for JJ McCarthy if he puts in every ounce of work and makes it hard on the team

to make a decision at the end of 2026 because if he wants to force his way out and he doesn't put

in the effort and they trade him to the Browns. Good luck, man. Good. You imagine freaking luck.

Could you imagine all of the JJ McCarthy fans going at it online with all of the Shedor Sanders fans?

That would be, get your popcorn out. And at the end of the day, they'll win five games and be the

same freaking Cleveland Browns, but they'll have had fun on the internet, which they did last year

complaining about Kevin's the fan ski or whatever. But yeah, I mean, that is that the environment you

want to go to. And there aren't many other teams. I guess you could say Pittsburgh. I don't

know what they're doing. I'm assuming that Aaron's coming back to Pittsburgh. And that's why they've

been inactive. I saw there was a report today from Andrew Filipone who's a radio host there

that they did not inquire about Murray. But I also think that no one inquired about Murray because

he was going to be a Viking. Like it was sort of out there already. Everyone knew every NFL

insider when he was officially released was like, yeah, Viking. It was, it was a formality that

that was happening. So I don't know how many other teams really checked in. There were apparently

teams checking in about him in 2027, which I think maybe shows that there are teams that think he's

a quarterback that you can win with. But speaking of, of which, Manny, got two other things that I want

to get to on the show today. One is we made a promise the other night that you would pick a schedule.

And for those, we have a lot of new viewers to the show recently. And which is really cool. And

I'm very, very happy about. So if you're not familiar with Manny picks the schedule every week during

the NFL season, we will react to the week's games essentially by having Manny pick wins and losses

for the Viking schedule. And over the last couple of years, it has been quite a journey from week

one into week 17 of watching you either be super high or super low or whatever and come back to

I think last year when they were four and eight, I think you picked up to win five and they end up

winning nine. And you know, it's just bounced all over the place. The 14 win season. I think at one

point, you had him winning 10 and then 15 and all over the place. So we use it as a way to keep track

of how we feel about where the team is going. So why not do it after the Vikings have signed

their new quarterback in Kyler Murray? Of course, the schedule is not out yet, but that didn't stop me

because we know the opponents. So here is the disclaimer, which I will give multiple times for people

who are just popping in. This is a fake schedule. The Vikings didn't secretly release the schedule

and you missed it. This is a fake schedule. But Manny is going to pick the schedule with Kyler Murray

as the quarterback. And here's the assumption, Manny, that Kyler plays at least 15 games. That's the

assumption. We don't even have to try to decide. I was going to miss this one. 15 games is what

Kyler Murray is playing in this schedule that I have made up. So the overrunner on Fandall is eight

and a half. And I am very curious to see if you get there. So let us begin with game one of my fake

schedule for you to pick for the Vikings. But with the proper opponents, the Vikings will open

up against the Chicago Bears at US Bank Stadium. Well Kyler Murray in his US Bank Stadium debut

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Kyler Murray versus Kayla Williams. We call on you. I know. That's what I was going for.

Up to the repeat of last year. You know, the put it on Sunday night football or something.

Like, let's go. Yeah, I could see this being a Monday night last year. That's older.

Yeah, why not? Here's a Monday night game. This could be interesting. I'll take the Vikings

to win here in week one. I think it'll be a little sloppy, but I'll give the Vikings the win

here week one against the Bears. Okay. Week two and the Bears. Real quick. We're just going

through the schedule. Let's do this with every team. Just give a little like take about their

offseason. That kind of thing because these are the opponents. So they're all relevant to the

Vikings. My take on the Bears is huh. Yeah. That's it. I just I thought there would be more.

I did too. I thought they were going to get in on on Max Crosby or, you know,

Tray Hendricks and then they get in on neither. So I think there is going to be a little bit

of a regression from the Bears just because I think Caleb will be better. I think just because

naturally he's going to just be better with more more experience and I think them getting to the

playoffs and winning a game in the playoffs last year. I think is is is big for him and his growth.

But they still kind of skated by with some games last year that I think, you know, really help

them get to the playoffs and win the division. And I think there's a little room for a for a regression

here. So I think they'll be good and competitive and wouldn't shock me if they want the division

again. But I think they're going to take a little bit of a step back. Drew Dalman last year,

all offseason. We said Frank right now like that this is not a household name by any means.

I know that our listeners know who that is because they are dialed into the NFC North. And

Drew Dalman was a great center for them last year. Them losing him to retirement makes their life

much more difficult and they have Garrett Bradbury. This is why I want the Vikings to get a six foot

four three hundred and thirty eight pound defensive tackle is because they're facing Garrett Bradbury

and they might for a couple of years like get get somebody that's just going to shove him back

into Caleb Williams. It really what their regression is really comes down to because they're not

going to intercept every pass that comes their way again. It really comes down to how much better

Caleb Williams is in terms of being an Acura passer. If he's just okay, they will not be as good.

And if he takes a big step forward, then watch out. Okay, we oh go ahead. I was going to say

what's the key mix up to these days. I know right. Bring a lot of retirement. Have him go after

Garrett Bradbury again. All right. Well, so week two on this fake schedule with real opponents,

the Vikings will face the Buffalo Bills at home. So they start the season with two home

games. This is going to be a noon one with Spiro Dietis. And I don't know who does the games with

Spiro Dietis. Adam Archilato, that'll be the broadcast crew for this Bills and Vikings matchup,

a rematch of 2022's Gem only in Minnesota. Tell you what Josh Allen is a much different quarterback

coming into US bank stadium this time around. Then he was in 2018. And even then he kicked the

Vikings ass still. Leaping over Anthony Bar that play still just burns in my brain like it was

yesterday. It's one of the craziest things I have ever seen on a football field. Unreal. And

Kurt getting strip sack two possessions in a row. Just yeah, that was a rough, that was a rough

afternoon. I'm going to give Buffalo the win here. I think we're just going to see Josh Allen do

super here, you know, super human Josh Allen things. And I'll give Buffalo the win here at US

Bank Stadium. Kyla Murray did beat Josh Allen once in was a 2021 where he had the the Hail Murray.

Yep. That's right. What a game that was. Okay, one in one makes a lot of sense. Buffalo's

off season, they fired their coach. I have no idea what to expect from Joe Brady. They traded for

DJ Moore, who I don't think is good anymore. But I also think he's better than anything that they

have had and that it will prove helpful to Josh Allen. I also think they're finally going to

draft a first round wide receiver despite the fact that their general manager yelled at my old

friends on the radio about that if people didn't see that story. So okay, one in one at the San

Francisco 49ers and the key here is that all the 49ers are injured because of an electrical

substation. Oh, and also they signed every player who has injury problems. Have you seen their

off season? It's like every single guy who's had a lot of injuries, Mike Evans and Christian

Kirk. They're like, well, you're not making it better 49ers. And it reminds me a little bit of

last off season for the Vikings, where yes, it can help you get a deal if someone has injuries

in their past. But also they have more chance of getting hurt again. So out to San Francisco,

which has not been a friendly venue to the Minnesota Vikings in recent seasons,

but won't be any surprise at all to Kyler Murray, who really should have won his game against 49ers

last year. But Marvin Harrison Jr. dropped the footballs. Okay, so how do they do against the 49ers?

It has Levi Stadium has not been friendly to the Vikings, but it has kind of been friendly to

Kyler Murray over the years. I hasn't won every game there, but he's performed well there.

I'm going to give the Vikings a win here because I think, I mean Kyle Shanahan's a great coach.

And John Lynch has done a great job just running that organization, keeping them in contention

for so many years, despite all the injuries. But I just think at some point, all of these injuries

and just the window kind of closing, all these guys are getting older, McCaffrey's getting older,

George Kiddles getting older, Brock Perty is still young. But you know, you kind of wonder like

where his ceiling actually is when guys are getting so banged up. And they went and got old

receivers. Mike Evans is probably a Hall of Famer, but he's just not the same guy that he was

for all those years in Tampa. I think the Niners are going to be going to kind of take a step

back this year. And I'm going to give the Vikings a, might shock some people at first when it

happens. But I think later on in the season, people will be like, oh, yeah, okay. Yeah, that, that,

that wouldn't make sense. And Brian Flores vastly outcoached the 49ers last time they played in

2024 and actually really in 2023 as well. That was one of those. Oh, Brian Flores knows what he's

doing. It games against that 49ers team. They're key signings in the off season. Evans, yes,

that's a big one. Christian Kirk, I mentioned, but what you didn't bring up was the Viderian low

revenge game that's going to happen here, former Vikings, 2022, I think draft pick, who they got

rid of before even playing at all and signed a nice little contract with the 49ers. But I don't see

that as a team that has improved anywhere near as much as I thought they were going to on the

defensive side. So they're really just hoping that Nick Bosa being healthy is going to help them.

So a two and one start to the Kyler Murray era. And now,

two, I mean, you talk about revenge game. It could be two and the Falcons coming to US bank

stadium or Michael Penix. We don't really know. But I'm kind of assuming it's going to be two

of as of this moment because of the recovery for Penix, two V Flores. How does this one play out

in our fake schedule with real opponents for Kyler Murray? I still like Kevin Stofansky as a

head coach. I still think he's pretty good. It ended badly in Cleveland. But I just, I

do not think two should be playing football anymore. I agree. And I just kind of worry about what

this is going to look like. And I think this is going to be kind of a rough year for the Falcons.

They have some talent on offense and a couple of nice players on defense. But I just with the

quarterback situation there and then kind of leaning into Tua here. I think it's going to be a

rough first year for Kevin Stofansky. So I'm going to give the Vikings a win here.

I could see Brian Flores doing disturbing things with his defensive scheme to Tua. That one

is going to be taken personal. When you, when you call somebody a bad person, it's a little

bit different from, you know, we just didn't see eye to eye. And there were some really rocky times

between us. That's the way to normally do that. Not come out and say this is a bad person.

But the Falcons have not done a lot. And I'm reading off of the athletics top 150 free agents to

just see who teams have signed. DeShawn Hand and Austin Hooper on one year three million dollar

contracts are the only moves that they've made other than bringing in to us. So not a ton of

movement there for the Atlanta Falcons. Oh, also, by the way, their top pass rusher is in jail.

So that is a bit of a problem for them. James Pierce, who they traded up for it. We don't even think

about the Falcons in the Pantheon of bad organizations. We think the Cardinals, we think the Jets,

we think the Browns. I'd like to nominate the Atlanta Falcons post Matt Ryan as being a complete

laughing stock. So congratulations to them. Ever since they fired Thomas Demetrov is just gone to

complete hell. They have no first round draft pick. They have not a lot of money. They franchise

tagged Kyle Pits, which takes up a huge amount of cash. They don't know what they're doing at

quarterback yikes. And they traded up for a guy who, by the way, I had heard the last year behind

the scenes that there was a lot of concerns about James Pierce. As you know, from Tennessee,

this is a guy who was projected at one point to be a top five draft pick. And then all the sudden

it was like, no, he's not going to be everybody at once was like, oh, no. And it wasn't because of

production. It was because of what everybody knew about him behind the scenes. And now he's got

this issue with the police and ramming into his ex girlfriend's car and all sorts of crazy

stuff. And they took that risk and it ended up, yep, it whoops, it ended up biting them. So

okay, well, the Vikings are three and one start to the Kyler Murray era. And now Gino Smith,

they will face out in New York. Now the Jets, and that is a team, Manny, who has, well, we know

the Jets, but I mean, they have like got a whole new football team. Let me run through the

signings here. Nishon Wright, Vikings legend, David Anumata, Demario Davis, Joseph Asai, Dylan

Parham, and Kingsley, Anneg Bari, like they signed a lot of dudes to the New York Jets. They have

two first round picks, two right? Yes, yep. And they have first round picks and they have Gino Smith,

who is a vast improvement over a Brady cook. So who was the last quarterback for the Jets?

But do the Vikings go to the metal lands and win this football game?

Well, the Jets have an interception. Oh, yeah. That's a question.

The biggest question. I think the Jets will be a better team, you know, almost kind of by default

because they were so bad last year. But I still think I still like the Vikings in this one. It could

be a little sloppy, but I like the Vikings to get a win here. I don't think it'll be particularly

competitive. The Vikings are healthy going into this game. I like the chances to come out of the

metal lands with a win. So four and one start to the Kylamori era. Let's hope Call of Duty doesn't

come out at this time. Okay. Yeah. It had to be said. This KOC adjusted his offense for Kyler yet.

Can you see over the six seven center? Well, wouldn't it be shocked? Kylamori has had great

starts to his seasons before and often the issue has been over time that has fallen off toward

the end of the season. And some interesting stats kind of being brought up Seth Walder of ESPN

noted last year about just sort of how much was on his plate and how rarely he faced heavy

boxes, you know, meaning an extra safety up in the box to deal with the run game and so forth.

And then when you look back at his dropbacks and just how much weight has been put on him,

he's basically been asked from a dropback perspective to almost be similar to Patrick Mahomes

in the amount of like offense that just runs through him and that and that air raid. You know that

that air raid thing early in his career is like that. And I wonder if Murray did get worn down.

I mean, not just the scrambling and mileage you put on your body, but also the hits that you take

over an entire season, if that wore on him and it's something the Vikings have to consider,

but a four and one start with my fake schedule with real opponents would not be all that shocking.

They go from New York now to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road with Kylamori is their

starter as if you're just joining. We are picking the Viking schedule that I made up with real

opponents with Kylamori at quarterback playing at least 15 games. I'm going to take the Buccaneers

here. I think what's going to be interesting to see with Tampa is how much of an improvement

that we see from Emeka Bucca, you know kind of because he's going to get a lot more targets now that

you know Mike Evans is gone and moved on like he's going to be really he's really going to become

the focal point of the offense for Baker Mayfield. And you know Todd Bowles coaching for his job maybe

in 2026 possibly I think it's going to be a motivated team. I think they're going to play

fairly well. And I'll give the Buccaneers a win here over the Vikings. Okay. I mean Baker and

Kylamori being the same quarterback and the Vikings and Bucks kind of being the same team.

Almost although you know Mike Evans isn't there anymore so that you know Jefferson has the advantage

but a good defensive mind a good defensive team with a quarterback that is I don't think there's

enough comparisons actually between Kyler and Baker Mayfield. I see it as being pretty similar.

They're both undersized. They can both make all the throws. They're both really good scramblers.

Probably Baker doesn't run quite as much as Kylamori but he runs a lot and they also have these

ups and downs these highs and lows when they're at their best people talk about them as MVPs and

when they're worst at like what in the world went on with Baker Mayfield at the end of last year

and injuries have played some role. So an interesting battle here. So you're picking the Bucks that

takes them to four and two just in terms of offseason. Alex Anzaloni definitely mostly a Viking killer.

They signed them to a two-year contract. Cade Otten they brought back their tight end Kenneth

Gainwell who really crushed the Vikings actually last year. Those are the only major additions to

the Tampa Bay roster. Isn't this also a point as we're going through this schedule that

the Vikings are not the only team who have kind of sat on the sidelines here. I mean Tampa Bay

we talked about the 49ers only I mean they added like Evans but it's not like they've added

way way more. It was kind of a lot of the really bad teams soaking up these free agents

and not so much the teams that were competitive last year versus the Packers. I'm going to say

the Packers coming to town here with the Vikings sitting at four and two in the Kylamori era and

now they will face it will be actually Jonathan Ganon who is the defensive coordinator which is his

former coach. So that should be a very interesting matchup somebody who knows where the bones are

buried but also is probably not quite as good at his job as Jeff Halfley was for the Green Bay Packers.

So do the Vikings get a victory at US Bank Stadium against Green Bay? I'm going to say no. I'm

going to give the Packers a win here. I think it'll be a tightly contested game a fun game

entertaining. I think the crowd at US Bank Stadium will be rocking and I'll give the Packers Packers

the edge here. The Packers of offseason kind of. All right. You know, Zaire Franklin getting him in

you know might help that defense a little bit. Obviously I think the biggest key for the Packers

is getting Michael Parsons back and healthy and he's the key to any sort of success that they're

going to have on that side of the ball. And I think this will be you know the time of the season

again hypothetical schedule here that we're dealing with but this will be the time of the year

we're Jordan love. I think it's playing out his best and I think it'll be an opportunity for a

big performance. So I give the Packers a win. I did think about Michael Parsons and putting him

putting the Packers matchup when he would be in because it sounds like the projection is the

first three or four games for Parsons to miss. So I thought well let's get let's get Parsons in.

So they dropped a four and three this sort of tracks with Kyler Murray who's been hovering

around 500 really since his rookie season and a team that I think is good and has its flaws.

They will now go to Detroit and Ford Field and play against the Detroit Lions which has been

I would not call it a house of horrors all the time. They won last year but for Kevin O'Connell

it had been a house of horrors before that not only the week 18 game but remember 2022 where they

had that chance to go to Detroit and they threw the past to Penaisoul at the end of the game to close

that one out. There was the Zimmer's definitely getting fired game that they lost there to the

win list Detroit Lions. So I guess it other than McCarthy's win there last year which we all thought

was going to be the turning point of the season and then they lost for straight after that.

Yeah it's been a little bit of a rough ride but does Kyler Murray walk into Ford Field and come

home with a victory? It feels like Mike Tyson but grander the only Vikings coaches in history that

seemed to not have any trouble with the Detroit Lions for some reason. I guess chilly did okay with

them too. I'm going to give the Vikings a win here. I think it's going to kind of shock us a

little bit kind of like last year's win in Detroit did and it might be crazy to think the Vikings

can go into Ford Field and win two years in a row but I'll give them the win here just because

you know I've already kind of given them two straight losses here and I think they'll pick it back

up and the Lions I think the Lions are going to be good but now how you know there are another one

of those teams that didn't really they haven't really done a lot in the off season and you kind of

wonder you know it feels like they're just going to kind of run it back you know Jamir Gibbs is

kind of the you know they got as they have Pacheco but I don't know how good he really is

anymore. They brought him in as the kind of the replacement for David Montgomery who they

shipped off to Houston. It's going to be the Jamir Gibbs show I think and then with that running

game with Pacheco maybe kind of spelling him a little bit and we know how talented he is but this

is kind of a different role now where it's it's everybody's really going to be focused on him in

the running game. So I'm curious to see what that looks like but I'll give the Vikings a win over

the Lions here. They're top 150 free agent signings Cade Maze so they have a veteran center there who

should be an improvement but also is not exactly Frank Ragnar Roger McCreary who is a journeyman

type of cornerback and Isaiah Pacheco who you mentioned so not a huge huge change and they're

they're losing DJ Reader also the draft will change things like this starting lineups and

who knows what first round picks are going to make big impacts and stuff like that but this is not

been a super active offseason for the Detroit Lions so the Vikings get the win there they go to

eight not eight five and three through eight games something that I realized that I hadn't

thought too much about looking through their schedule is that they have nine home games and only

eight away games and playing the NFC South there are some benefits here for the Vikings not only

that but they play the AFC East which has two very hard teams but also two teams that are not

particularly serious about playing football so okay after they get this this victory over the

Detroit Lions they will face the Carolina Panthers and that is going to be at US Bank Stadium and

many I believe this will be the shortest matchup in history for quarterbacks I think it will be

right Bryce Young against Kyler Murray the shortest matchup in NFL history yeah that'll be

plenty of jokes leading into that week um I you know I think the Panthers won their division

with a losing record in 2025 but that was still really cool and they obviously fell short

against the Rams on the playoffs but that was really cool to see that crowd and that fan base

reignited by them getting into the playoffs and that that was a really really fun atmosphere for them

so they kind of feel like a rejuvenated franchise a bit and you know Bryce Young is not a total

disaster like they maybe thought he was a couple of years ago but I think the Vikings are still

the better team in this matchup and I you know I do like what the Panthers have done in the offseason

where they've kind of you know subtly improved their roster and and I think they're hoping that

some of their young guys continue to grow and develop too but I still think the Vikings are a

better overall team and them being at home well I think we'll be in their favor and I think they'll

get the win. So a six and three start would be phenomenal the Panthers have added a lot of talent

Jalen Phillips Devin Lloyd those are two of the top three ranked by the athletic they get

Rashid Walker at left tackle Luke Fortner at center and they bring back Nick Scott I mean that that's

a that's a lot of work that they have put into this offseason a lot of dollars that they've put

into I mean they're feeling the hey that Bryce Young rookie contract is breathing down your neck so

if you're going to spend it spend it now because if you're not spending it now then you're going to

use your fifth year option and then see where you're at from there the fifth year option isn't really

that bad but you can't move it at all so if it's 22 million dollars that is a chunk that's

staying there that's not something you can restructure or you can void year or whatever which makes

it harder so you might as well go all in ish I mean it was a big big spending offseason for the

Panthers but Bryce Young Flores defense we did see this before in 2023 and it was

gnarly it was one of the grossest games you're ever going to see and Bryce Young was in hell

in that game with Harrison Smith coming off the edge that was the one game where Marcus Davenport

was just awesome you're like where did this come from but a six and three start with this

schedule and I think not unrealistic we have Kyler Murray at this point through halfway through

the season is playing an average version of Kyler Murray they can get to this point with the rest

of the team assuming health and everything else okay the Indianapolis Colts are up next and

Daniel Jones revenge game the Vikings getting revenge at Daniel Jones because they're mad at him for

not coming to the Vikings and saving their tails last year and instead going to the Indianapolis

Colts the Colts are another team that it's funny you know somebody said I think it was Greg

Rosenthal who works for NFL dot com NFL network he he said something last year that every fan base

seems to be very angry with their teams and I feel like this has been mostly the case in free

agency that there's I mean maybe Panthers fans are pretty excited because they have a couple guys

but 25 teams are like what are we doing why haven't we done enough and the Colts they bring back

Daniel Jones at a preposterous contract two years 88 they top the ridiculousness with signing Alex

a Alec Pierce to a four year 114 million and then add art and key who is sort of just a guy

those are their big signings and then they send Michael Pittman out who I thought was actually

really good so he's gone and here they are they had drafted a Donnie Mitchell they sent him to the

jets I really honestly don't really know what their depth situation is at wide receiver and tight end

and but they do have Jonathan Taylor a really good offensive line but can they beat the Vikings at

us bank stadium the last time quite memorable quite memorable in 2022 it was their first win I

believe over the Colts since 1997 I'm not mistaken it had been a really long time since they had

beaten the Colts because they never beat Peyton um yeah the Colts seem I mean they made some moves

and you know kept the couple of their own guys but they shipped out some some pretty impactful

players um there were huge parts of their success over the last couple of years and so you know

is Shane Sykin another guy that maybe coaching for his job you know there was some speculation that

they might pull the plug on that I think it was good that they didn't to give him give him another

opportunity to kind of turn this turn this around um yeah I'm I'm just not sure what they're

going to look like though I it doesn't feel like they're going to be they've been active but it

doesn't it feels like everything is just kind of been sort of a push um in terms of in terms of

what they've done um at best so I'll give the Vikings a win here at home and uh I think that

puts them at seven and three it does seven and three and uh we'll make up a fake buy so seven

and three at the fake body fake fake schedule real opponents uh and now they will have to go to

New England and play the New England Patriots in a joint practices revenge game uh I have I have

vowed Manny that I will never again make too much of joint practices that there will be a disclaimer

when we go into joint practices folks let's all remember that the Vikings dominated their joint

practices and then the Patriots went to the Super Bowl and the Vikings missed the playoffs

so we can't make too much of that that is what you will get for me if they have joint practices

this year but uh variable versus KOC two guys who know each other extremely well Drake may the

quarterback the Kevin O'Connell probably really want and uh Kyler Murray on the road maybe in some

potential weather here going to New England as a seven and three football team how does this one

play out? I kind of like what New England did in the off season um you know I mean they moved on

from Garrett Bradbury but you know they went and got Romeo Dobbs in in free agency I think that will

help Drake may a little bit um I think it was a low key kind of a significant loss for the Green Bay

Packers um they've never the Packers never really had a true number one ride receiver the

over the last couple of years but you know Romeo Dobbs might have been the closest thing to that

and them losing him I think uh is gonna hurt them a bit and so I think New England getting him

obviously this is a team that was just in Super Bowl um and I like what they've done so I think the

Patriots um can't remember the last time the Vikings won in Foxborough uh like 2000 I think it was

the last time they did that pre pre Tom Brady era um so I'm gonna do the Patriots the win here

dropping the Vikings to seven and four the thing I'm most curious about is Stefan Diggs was pretty

darn awesome for the Patriots last year Romeo Dobbs has had some injuries before at times in terms

of who they've added and lost they got Elijah Vera Tucker at a kind of a big contract but

he's been hurt if he's healthy though he is a really really good guard and low key signing was

Dremont Jones who's just been one of those consistent quality pass rushers for a long time that

no one ever really talks about but is always good and Kevin Byard is a safety who clearly no one

was really believing that he's an interception machine because he got a one year nine million dollar

contracts but the Vikings seven and four if they uh lose to the Patriots you said loss right

that they the Patriot okay so seven and four and then they will uh travel from New England this

is going to be a tough run here travel from New England to New Orleans to face Tyler Schuck who if

he was standing in this room right now I might not know who he is but he played well enough for

the Saints to be pretty sold on him they went out and they spent and Travis H and not ETN if you

miss that Travis ETN mentioned that his name has not been pronounced right for his entire career

it's actually Travis H and so there you go the Vikings were interested in him but he's from I

think he's from the New Orleans area that is where the pronunciation is rooted in so he felt like

he could finally tell people this is how you actually say my name uh that's a big ad for them

in the backfield and they have been active in this offseason but can they beat the Vikings at the

Superdome it's kind of like when we found out it was Javon Hargrave and that Javon Hargrave

with the Viking side of last year I know when they introduced it I was on the press conference and

when they introduced and they're like okay questions for Javon I was like everybody hold up hold up

did you just say Javon he's like yeah it's Javon I'm like did you not and and I can't criticize

any player because if you know my name some people call it Collier or whatever and I just don't

you know I'll go on some radio station they'll be like all right Matthew Collier here from

purple inside I'm not going to be like yo you disrespected my mom's name but it's like

you know okay you just let it go whatever it happens but we would vastly prefer to know the correct

pronunciations of everyone's name so appreciate Javon Hargrave telling us that uh and oh Jonathan

Grinard he was not gonna he was like you can call me John you can call me Jonathan but do not

call me greener we're like okay sir we will not be doing that so and I still hear that sometimes

from people uh you know greener but uh anyway none of this is the point in our fake schedule with

real opponents the Vikings are seven and four and they're going to the super dome to play a

quarterback that we're kind of unsure about and showed some things last year and a team that

we're kind of unsure about but has enough talent to be at least interesting do they win against the

Saints Ryan Wright revenge game man it's on loss it's I know you keep going back to it and I feel

like you're a little snarky manny but it's a loss it's a loss for them it's you know will

riker how will riker kicks in 2026 is going to be fascinating to watch because Ryan Wright in

addition to being a really good punter was also a really good holder and that that goes a lot into

how kickers perform Johnny Hacker do some of the same things I don't know we'll see but um yeah the

Saints I I kind of like what the Saints have done this offseason they're another team that's

gonna you know they're kind of getting out of the salary cap hell that they were in you know the

the remains of the jubberies era and all of that um and they spent some money to try and build

around another rookie quarterback contract and Tyler Schuck I like what they did getting Travis

HN um to boost that running game it's it's the old cliche right it's the the young quarterbacks best

friend is a really good running game and so and now something that they haven't really had

Alvin Camaro is really really aged and just not the player he once was you know six seven years

ago um so I I think this will be a tough matchup for the Vikings

last time Carly Murk Tyler Murray was in the Superdome though to start the season in 2025 it played

pretty well and the Cardinals got the win um I think Tyler will show up and play well again and

I think the Vikings will we'll squeak out one of the in the Superdome all right so eight and four

then and uh to update on the offseason for them Travis HN David Edwards guard they paid him a lot

Noah Fanta who is still around and a guy who is one of the most underrated signings of the

offseason Kaden Ellis in Ellis yeah he played really well for Atlanta it's just there are some

franchises and they have absolutely earned this where players get buried and they can be really good

and they would be loved anywhere else and talked about anywhere else but no one cares and that is

the Atlanta Falcons no one cares the Kaden Ellis was really good last year and signed a nice

contract there I think they will be tough but the Vikings actually have not been overly intimidated

in the Superdome recently you know since the Saints stopped like doing the bounty thing it's been

a much more calm and smooth experience uh no wait now well 2020 they lost but they gave up 50 points

in 2020 now and come art that was a six touchdown game from now come on right I guess I

I was with that like Christmas Eve or something that game yeah yeah it was Christmas day I think

was a Christmas day I think I feel like it was Christmas day like Mary Christmas everyone here's

six touchdowns for Alvin Camara I actually don't think that they've played their sense am I am I

wrong on that I don't know that they've played their sense probably not I don't think so I don't

think so I was thinking of 2019 playoffs but then forgot about that uh any who all right so eight

and eight and four and they will play at home in my fake schedule with real opponents the Washington

commanders another late season battle with them should be in a much different spot then they were

last year if Jayden Daniels is healthy but also I mean kind of an odd offseason for them they

spent a ton of money on a doffayle way they bring in Caleb on chase on so they're looking for edge

rushing talent Nick Cross was a guy that I liked they got Rashad white for their backfield they have

been extremely active Leo Chanel another linebacker so they have really stacked up with defensive

players they put a ton of effort into a prove and uh Durante Jones is now their defensive coordinator

so from a defensive perspective very very different look than it was last year they've got to

make Robertson to I think they gave him like a two-year contract something like battered familiar

face uh from the battles with the Lions over the last couple years um yeah the commanders are

are interesting this is a home game right um different team I think we're going to see a different

team than what we saw in 2025 a healthy Jayden Daniels I think we'll we'll make a huge huge

difference and uh I think it'll be a tough matchup but if this game were in Washington I would

probably give the commanders the edge but I think with the Vikings being at home I'll actually give

them the win here okay so the Kyler Murray era in your mind very well right now when I get to the

next opponent you're gonna be like oh man I may have picked too many wins uh because you're for

you're you may forget if you were trying to aim for a number you may have forgot this team existed

and you may forget how like this is a lock-in of the century victory so uh nine and four and I

think that the commanders are one of the harder to predict teams of what they're going to be

who I mean what does the receiver room ultimately look like for them at the end of the day

do they add anybody else do they draft a wide receiver is it possible the Jeremiah love could get

to them I don't really know what their approach is going to be it feels like they need another weapon

their offensive line last year was not great and then they lose Tyler Bionish their center they

decided to move on from him this defense is being stacked up with a bunch of free agents which

works for the Vikings once upon a time will it work for this team with their new ed rushers uh I don't

know their coverage was not that great last year and Brian Flores this is where it really comes

down to Brian Flores really got inside the brain of Cliff Kingsbury and he may have been fired

because of that game they were so lost against Brian Flores I do wonder if they saw that we're just

like okay play this is just not going to work and you also wonder if they hired Toronto Jones and

Park as they saw how good that defense was so the ripple effects of the NFL I feel like jane

Daniels is going to bounce back really really strong and I think they're going to be a good team

I just don't know if they're going to be a great team you know who else I think needs a bounce back

year for them is Terry McLaren oh yeah he complained about the contract and they gave him the new

contract and then he came back and he wasn't healthy and just when he was out there he wasn't very

productive I know that because I had him on my fantasy team and he did me no favors in 2020-25

thanks Terry appreciated um but yeah I think they need a bounce back year from him as well because

we've seen him as one of the best wide receivers one of the better wide receivers in the NFL and

it was not uh 2025 was not not good for him either okay three games left you know who they're

against because it's the divisional games to end the season at the Packers at Lambo in December

I decided to make it the Packers turn to host the Vikings in recent years it's been mostly

decent whether that the Vikings have gotten to play in let's make it gnarly it is a nine and four

Vikings team going to play presumably a playoff hopeful Green Bay Packers team does Kyler Murray come

through in this one at Lambo I don't think so this is figuring to be a December game at Lambo and

Kyler has had his struggles when the temperature is below 40 degrees I would imagine it's going to

be below 40 degrees if the schedule hypothetically plays out this way um so yeah I'm going to give

the Packers a win here and that that would mean I believe I have the Packers sweeping the Vikings

in 2026 which could play to tiebreakers for the division depending on how these next two games play

out so the Vikings currently nine and five after losing at Lambo in our hypothetical schedule with real

opponents and now they have to play the Detroit Lions at us bank stadium let's even put it on netflix

on Christmas day again why not that worked out great for the Vikings and not America the last time

that they played so do Kyler Murray and the Vikings get to double digit wins here with a victory over

Detroit a us bank stadium on Christmas day although they might have been banned from Netflix after

this or after what happened last year I don't know you are never allowed to come to netflix ever

again with that defense and max brozmer so as long as max isn't playing okay it's fine on netflix

uh what do we got I think it's safe to say the Vikings will throw for more than three yards this time

around against the Detroit Lions at home there's been some rough Kyler Murray games but I think he's

usually cleared three net yards yes so I I have a hard time seeing the Vikings sweeping the Lions

two years in a row and I'm going to give the Lions a win here at us bank stadium mainly because I've

already given the Vikings the win at four feet earlier earlier in this fake schedule so I'm

going to give Detroit the win here so now things have gotten very very interesting for the Vikings as

they will play the final game of the season against the Chicago Bears to get to either nine or 10 wins

with Kyler Murray if I edit this up correctly I think I maybe have hopefully uh if I didn't I'm sorry

if I missed I don't think did I miss something did we skip the dolphins oh I'm sorry that that

was a win I actually did skip the dolphins because I was like it's a win we can skip the dolphins we

literally don't need to talk about it like that's a victory there's if you pick anything else

you're trolling so I'm sorry 10 or 11 wins that that was the mistake is I just moved right past them

so 10 or 11 wins for the Vikings it is at soldier field the last game of our fake schedule with

real opponents with Kyler Murray's the starting quarterback for the vast majority of the season do

they get to 11 man I think you're going to be a rough finish to the season I'm going to give the

bears the win here at soldier field again you know Chicago week 18 cold first week of January

presumably was when how the schedule usually plays out for the last week I'm going to give the

bears the win here and kind of a snot nose low scoring kind of nasty game at soldier field to end

the regular season all right and what we always do when man he picks the schedule for again those

new to the program is we talk about what it would mean if things played out this way so the Vikings

will have a decision to make about the quarterback will also be talking about whether I mean is it

crazy that 10 wins could win the division if they all beat up on each other it's not that insane

that the last game could be or the last two games for the division 10 is you know and I think it is

the hardest number to work with with Kyler Murray because if they win 10 and then Kyler goes to

who knows where let's say Philadelphia and it's like oh man gotta go to Philadelphia they're going

to get killed and then plays really well and they win a playoff game Kyler's coming back wait

didn't we just do this didn't we just do this like a couple times with Kirk and didn't we just

judge someone's future on one game in the playoffs I don't know if we want to be in that situation

again and yet that's what it feels like because if Kyler is leading a 10 win Vikings team and you

go to Philadelphia and you lose 32 to 12 then you're going to be like ah it's just not good enough

just let him go draft a quarterback and move on or maybe they will say you know what we did this

last time and that was kind of a mistake so now we're going to sign them to an extension to which

people will say wait a minute isn't this Kirk again the 12th best quarterback who couldn't win

the big game it like right so uh 10 is a very unique circle of hell but probably a very entertaining

season that at least would give them a chance to go into the playoffs and say maybe

rumors swirling of Kevin O'Connell being traded to the Dallas Cowboys

if I might be able to play off game in Philadelphia him being here is already spooky enough like it's

happened so many times this exact same thing and including the JJ had a knee injury at one point

like you come on right if that happens manny I will think that we're living in a simulation I will

think time is a flat circle that the aliens that are making us dance on their puppet strings have

made a mistake and forgot to type something into the Vikings algorithm or whatever I've watched a

lot of twilight zone in my life and I'm going to be very creeped out if that ends up happening but

but in all series this 10 is tough yeah it it's it's it's tricky because and and I think honestly

Matthew I think it's going to depend on if it's 10 wins I think it's just going to depend on how

Kyler Murray looks if he looks okay he looks decent you know solid and they win 10 games and some

of those wins are you know because the defense really had a strong performance and kind of carried

the offense to win I think it makes the decision a little bit easier but if Kyler Murray plays well

and they just lose a couple of games that don't go their way or if they lose a couple games because

he's injured and misses two games and you know McCarthy comes in and doesn't doesn't play really

well if Kyler has a really good season statistically and they make the playoffs and our competitive in

that playoff game I don't know how you you go into 2027 without anticipating him continuing to be

the starter now the money and the contract will always be you know a conversation there if that

scenario plays out but if they win 10 games make the playoffs and Kyler looks really well and look

you know plays really well looks really good I don't know how you you're looking in other direction

because you're going to be in a tough spot in the draft and if this class is probably I keep bump in

my mic if if this draft class is what we think it's going to be with with all the quarterbacks the

Vikings in theory are not going to be in a position to take one of those guys so you're going to be

kind of in in that tough spot of like yeah you're probably going to have to pay Kyler Murray you

know give him like a three year new three year contract and you just you just play it out with him

and you kind of see what happens from there it's very much like the Tampa Bay bucks situation with

Baker Mayfield where they want to play off game against Philadelphia he played really well in I think

of the next week was Detroit and they came up short and played good enough at least to be competitive

and they signed him but what is interesting is that when it comes to quarterback contracts the

reason why it's not exactly like Kirk is that Kirk signed the most guarantee ever when he signed

with the Vikings and then it was extremely short extensions with a lot of the dollars guaranteed

and since then there's been a correction by the NFL to create a middle class where Kyler Murray would

sit in if it was a 10 win team and we've seen teams win with the middle class quarterback that's not

making 50 or 60 million dollars per year so it wouldn't be suddenly all hope is lost if you win 10

games and he's pretty good but not perfect you could still have an opportunity to succeed in the

draft the drafty bad man has gone succeed in the draft maybe actually stack some picks for once and

see what you can do there but it would put them in a spot that I think a lot of Vikings fans are

wondering how do you avoid that how do you avoid ending up as a nine or 10 win type of team that

can truly compete for a Super Bowl one more thing Mr. Hill today I attended a press conference

with Adam Thielin and CJ Ham who both announced their retirements now this is particularly

meaningful to me in this way my first preseason game ever when I arrived here they had just opened

up us bank stadium and I was with our friend Judd Zulgad first time ever in the stadium first

time ever covering a Minnesota Vikings home game and CJ Ham had a huge game against the Rams

as a preseason extra running back from Augustana and that was you know like welcome to covering the

Vikings with Teddy Bridgewater just getting heard and they're trading for San Bradford a couple

days later and it was crazy right and then Adam Thielin in 2016 has his breakout season and it

was one of my first big feature articles that I know has been written many times since but one of my

first big feature articles was going to Man Cato and talking to people about Adam Thielin and

his breakout game against the Houston Texans where we started to realize that there is more there

and then both guys I've been here for their most of their entire careers I know with Thielin has

started a little bit earlier but his breakout happens in 16 so it's essentially both of their

entire careers to see two guys who went from the practice squad fought their way up never stop

fighting for their spots Adam Thielin is one of the most competitive people that I've ever been

and an incredible wide receiver especially in his prime 2017 2018 where it seemed like every

week he's setting some sort of new franchise record for the Vikings not just a great story but

also a great player Adam Thielin was a pleasure to watch and deal with he was our he was our

Cory Stringer award winner in 2017 which is the media good guy award and then CJ Ham you know how

much fullbacks mean to me many and I tried not to take too much advantage of it because CJ is a

guy that does not seek out the limelight doesn't love do an interviews you know things like that

we saw him come out of his shell a little bit more today but he's not somebody that seeks out

attention in any way and I always had a lot of questions for the fullback but what I really love

about CJ Ham is selflessness it goes hand in hand with being a fullback you cannot be a fullback

if you are not selfless if you're not willing to take on every special teams job ram your face

into the face of linebackers coming at you but here's what really tells you about why did the

Vikings love CJ Ham so much why did they always keep him because when Kevin O'Connell asked CJ Ham

to change his role and go from a key lead blocker under Gary Kubiak Kevin's the fanski that they

use a ton of that outside zone system to becoming a past protecting specialist on third downs this

happened really in the 2023 season you could see in the numbers where he starts to become their main

past protector he became awesome at it and was one of the best past protecting backs in the entire

NFL and that was something that he had basically never done before and then became a weapon for them

with other teams blitzing and and past rushers coming through with the 2023 game against San

Francisco he knocked down Nick Bosa a couple of times and helped on him and everything I mean he

he was able to take on a role that he had never done before but this is one of the most intelligent

football players that you are going to find and he was able to do that anything he was ever asked to

do no matter how dirty no matter how grimy he was always there to do it and set an example for every

player inside the locker room as a person as a community both guys Walter Peyton man of the year

award nominees and then from a work ethics standpoint and a willingness to do just about anything

it was a pleasure for me to cover these two players I hope that Vikings fans take a minute you

know whether it's on social media or whatever to celebrate two great great great players and I love

the fact that they did their press conferences together they're close their friends their families

are close and Adam Thielin could have said come on man I want my own day I'm I'm you know I'm like

ring of honor caliber type player put me and no they want to do it together which I think is really

awesome it was really special and I didn't get a chance I did watch the press conference I didn't

get a chance to watch the watching and its entirety but I think you you could see the emotions with

both of them um about just how much it meant for them to to have this this opportunity you know

there are a lot of players in the NFL but there are astronomically more players athletes football

players who are really talented and have the aspirations to get to the NFL and just never get there

and for Adam Thielin and CJ Ham to sort of overcome being overlooked as players going to division

to colleges and grinding their way into long careers um I think is just really incredible and

you mentioned it both just great teammates great leaders great people um it's it's really special

for me as you know a Vikings fan and and somebody who's followed this team for uh for you know

pretty much my entire life these are the guys you remember you remember the big name guys

the superstars and you know for their own reasons but these are the guys two the guys that are

around for a long time that really worked and grinded to become the the players that they were

and the people that they were you you don't forget those guys either you know I think of like

somebody like Chris Walsh back when I was a kid with the Vikings and you know just special

teams the wide receiver but he played primarily special teams and he was one of the best like

special teams players in the NFL uh in the in the mid to late 90s for the Vikings you know

Matthew Slater comes to mind too like with the patriots for a decade and a half of just like

really good teammate did all the little stuff on special teams

beloved in the locker room uh for them for for a long time for that franchise

you just have such a huge appreciation for those types of guys and and Adam Thielin obviously

became you know at his at his peak was one of the best one of the elite wide receivers in the NFL

they mean let's not forget that too but really just I think the people that they both are

Adam and CJ I think just really um it's just been a great story and and I'm happy just like

yeah I'm happy that they got to do this together I think it was really really cool. This is it

strikes to the root of one of the reasons that I love football enough to do it for a profession is

that so many players have gone to Georgia and Alabama and Ohio State and Michigan and had every

opportunity in the world and Augustana and Mancato guys beat them out and you know you had the story

of the Bengals players kind of laughing at Adam Thielin during their joint practices

and stuff like that and then he becomes an excellent pro bowl wide receiver and with CJ Ham you

just like to see great people get rewarded and that's exactly what it is with CJ Ham that the

appreciation he's had his moment here because someone like that could sort of go quietly into the

night and be a little bit forgotten with fans but for Ham to have the moment at us bang stadium

at the end of the season where they showed him on the big board all the players gathered around him

like there is so much respect and that's you know from the outside look you know we're all playing

armchair GM and armchair coach and all that sort of stuff but you do you really do you really know ball

or not is do you really appreciate that player in the locker room that sets a standard for everyone

that will do whatever it takes that fought like crazy and led to be here on this field for 10

seasons just an amazing career for both guys two of my absolute favorite players to cover and I

said to CJ so I wrote an article about CJ being a past protector and you know he's always every time

I ever went up to him which was way too many times he would always be like oh it's you again asking

me questions you know and I was like okay because I because he actually retweeted it and I don't see

him do a whole lot of social media stuff and I was like okay you got you got to give it to me CJ

you you like that you like that one didn't you you like that a little bit he's like oh you did

an okay job as always always a super super humble person a quiet guy but you know both of them

to the Minnesota community and to the Vikings organization gave every single ounce that they

possibly could so great great respect for both of them in their retirement all right manny I don't

know when you'll be back but it'll be some time we'll have some stuff happen I'm sure we'll have

a draft and maybe we can do a pre draft draft sim or if there's some big moves whenever they may

come in the Vikings offseason yeah I guess you just never really know but we will connect again

very soon at some point and then next week ish into the week after that is owners meetings we've

got something there and then lead up to the draft so a lot still going on here on the show so

I appreciate your time sir and we'll talk to you all very soon football football you want your

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