Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Iowa & Iowa State NCAA Tournament teams? The voice of the Vikings Paul Allen, Jeff Hughes talks Bears Draft

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Iowa & Iowa State NCAA Tournament teams? The voice of the Vikings Paul Allen, Jeff Hughes talks Bears Draft · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:04
All right, good afternoon and welcome Miller and Condon On a
0:07
Tuesday, the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
0:09
We're going to talk sports with you for the next couple of
0:12
hours. Thank you for joining us.
0:14
Trent Condon, Kendaller, we take you until 2:00 that time the
0:18
drive comes up and they're with us until 5.
0:21
Heather and Lucas taking you home.
0:23
Here's what's coming up on our program.
0:24
We got a lot going on. We're going to recap the draft
0:27
with all of our regional teams in less than 15 minutes.
0:31
Our friend, the voice of the Minnesota Vikings, Paul Allen
0:33
will kick things off. PA will join us at 12:15.
0:37
We'll do the latest on the Vikings.
0:38
I'm guessing we'll sprinkle a little of Wolves and Wild in is
0:42
both of the winter sports continue on playoff wise.
0:45
So PA on how the Vikings did and what lies ahead for them.
0:49
Coming up here in 15 minutes 1235.
0:52
Jeff Hughes covered the Bears for a long time.
0:55
The Bears blog.com will pick his brain on what the Bears got
0:59
right, I think, but personally, they got a lot right.
1:01
We'll get the Jeff Hughes coming up at 12:35 and recap their
1:05
draft and what it might mean for their 2025 season.
1:09
Likewise, into the second hour of the show, Nick Athan on the
1:12
Chiefs, Dave Syndicate on the Packers.
1:14
So the four regional teams will be covered.
1:17
And then Sloane Paiva who covers the NBA and sports wagering at
1:21
sportingnews.com. He will join us.
1:23
He wants to put out his Derby pick as well.
1:25
It is Derby week after all, and we'll talk to Sloane about his
1:29
choice on that and what he sees in the playoffs, etcetera,
1:33
etcetera. How are you, Trent Condon?
1:35
Doing well Derby week, you already got things circled,
1:38
solidified. Feel like you know where you're
1:40
going. I'm ready, you're ready, Yes.
1:42
So we will talk about it times throughout the week
1:45
periodically. Dick Girardi's going to join us
1:47
on Thursday because he has now what, the last four years or so?
1:50
I like Dick Girardi covered the race for decades and he has
1:54
pretty good pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the most
1:58
exciting 2 minutes in sports. And then at the end of Friday,
2:01
show normally my picks of the day.
2:03
However, this is about the only day that you kind of take over.
2:07
So we'll let everybody kind of get deep into your picks on
2:10
Friday and we'll get those before we go off the air for the
2:12
week around 1:50 on Friday afternoon.
2:15
But always look forward to it. Now, got a little wrinkle this
2:18
week. The schedule was released for a
2:21
softball tournament. We play 3:30 on Saturday, That's
2:27
going to be a tight turn around now if there's no delays, 70
2:31
minute games, oh, you're home free, we should be OK.
2:34
Race will be just before 6. However, no delays, right?
2:38
That is the ultimate. Guessing you're not the first
2:40
game of the day, no. I think we're the eighth game of
2:43
the day, so things get off a little off schedule and over the
2:46
third base box. What is Coach Condon doing down
2:48
there? I won't watch the race.
2:51
I won't be that into it. But that was one that said, all
2:54
right, let's keep things on schedule on Saturday.
2:56
Yeah, that'd be nice if indeed happens.
2:58
Well, we'll do that here because we're going to talk to Polly
3:00
coming up in 10 minutes. Look forward to catching up with
3:03
him. I think the Vikings did what
3:05
they had to do in this offseason and that's provide an offensive
3:08
line and protection for JJ McCarthy, who's I I guess
3:11
there's the Vikings have some kind of OTAs going on today at
3:16
the what do they call it? The Performance Center who
3:18
sponsors it? Some medical, medical place.
3:21
Yeah. Sponsors the Vikings training
3:23
facility. So we'll talk to PA coming up
3:25
here in 10 minutes or so, the TCO Performance Center, TCO
3:30
performance. Center Twin Cities Orthopedics.
3:32
The Heat did not perform very well last night, to say the very
3:36
least. He.
3:38
So people were talking about this on social media last night.
3:43
Is this the worst playoff series we've ever seen in history?
3:46
I'm like, wow, that seems a little hyperbolic.
3:48
Latest is always the greatest and then you dig into the
3:50
numbers by points. It is the largest in basketball
3:55
history that we've seen. A four-game aggregate has never
3:59
been bigger than that. Same team Quit.
4:02
I flipped it on, mentioned my first quarter bet, but obviously
4:05
got drilled in that one and watched, I don't know, 90
4:09
seconds of it before finding something else.
4:12
How do you quit like that? I I don't know how look, if
4:14
they're they're a team in the regular season, they were 37 up
4:17
and 45 down. You know, the NB as letting in
4:20
too much too many mediocre teams.
4:22
I don't think you'll find that in the NHLI.
4:23
Haven't checked, but I don't think that whoever the 8th
4:27
place, well, it was the Saint Louis Blues and they're kicking
4:30
the crap out of the number one seed.
4:32
So they clearly belong out West. I don't know.
4:37
It just seems like, I mean, it's just so much mediocrity at the
4:42
bottom of the NBA that they just don't belong.
4:46
I'll give the I'll give the West, you know, their due
4:48
because that wasn't the case out there.
4:51
You know, Golden State was at the play in the playing game,
4:53
for crying out loud. They're 14 games above 500 and
4:57
and had to get through that just to get a spot in the playoffs.
5:00
And not only going to get a spot in the playoffs, they're going
5:02
to spot in the next round in the playoffs by all likelihood as
5:06
they're on the precipice of knocking out the Houston
5:10
Rockets. And here's the thing, you know,
5:12
you see a lot of movement coming trade deadline wise.
5:16
Jimmy Butler, what a pick up. And This is why I was willing.
5:19
I'm excited on seeing because I had no idea about the Phoenix
5:21
roster. I got a little I read a little
5:23
nugget that he's going to Phoenix and knowing what his
5:26
playoff prowess is. I don't think flyer there look
5:29
at Golden State. They're different basketball
5:31
team since he's been part of this team by in a big way.
5:35
He can get to the rim, he can do things.
5:38
He's a leader, too. He absolutely is.
5:40
When things are right, he's good.
5:42
When things are bad, he's bad. Well, true.
5:44
But when things are good, he has those kind of qualities that you
5:47
go on it, he can. And when you look at this aging
5:51
roster and we see Steph and he's still incredible.
5:53
Yeah, he's really. And he's just.
5:54
Some of the shots come on. And it's absolutely not fair.
5:57
But last night you didn't have a great game. 17, three and three.
6:00
No, I know, I agree. But in the past, that means
6:04
Golden State gets beat. Well, until two months ago.
6:07
Golden State gets beat in this game, and it's 22.
6:09
And they'll be making their way back to Houston instead.
6:12
Jimmy Butler had other ideas. You got this guy out there and
6:15
you win that basketball. He carried him.
6:16
He absolutely did. He also did something last night
6:19
that I thought it was impossible.
6:22
What made him made you like? Him no, no, because I I can't, I
6:25
can't handle it. I really can't, right?
6:27
It is so bothersome to me. And then my wife starts
6:30
defending him and I. Enough, Tara, shut your mouth.
6:34
I did actually say that, no. I know you didn't, and we know
6:37
who. Wears the pants at our family.
6:39
Quit while you're behind. Absolutely.
6:41
But I'm like, how can he is he really does ruin which is a
6:46
beautiful basketball team. Steph Curry, he is so fun to
6:51
watch. He makes it difficult to watch
6:53
at times. It just, it never stops.
6:57
Just stop, instigate after instant.
7:00
Every little thing, guy trying to help you up.
7:03
No, he shoves his arm away. It just it never ends and I
7:06
can't. That's part of him though.
7:08
That's part of him. I, I know I'm with you.
7:10
If he was on your team, maybe then there's guys like that in
7:13
every league that you can find. You just hate them until they
7:17
both join your team and then you know what?
7:19
He's not so bad after. All.
7:21
But I mean, that's that's a sports wide right, seemingly NHL
7:26
from last night, the Colorado Avalanche.
7:28
I thought we're going to just sleepwalk through the Stanley
7:30
Cup Final. Boy, oh boy.
7:33
How about the Stars last night? I mean, the first goal was to
7:36
complete. The first two goals were
7:37
complete flukes, one from behind the net 9 seconds into the game.
7:41
The other one, a guy dumps it in the goalie, puts his blocker up
7:44
in the air, can't find it, goes over his head, hits him in the
7:47
back and trickles into the net. 2 nothing.
7:50
And they could never recover from that.
7:51
But give the Stars credit and maybe, maybe, maybe these
7:55
Avalanche who looked like they won the trade deadline might not
7:58
be around very long. Well and written and I saw some
8:02
stat about him last night and basically when he has I think it
8:05
was a point just how basically impossible it is to be Dallas
8:08
basically if he does anything in the game.
8:10
He just got there late in the. Year, yeah, and I double trade.
8:13
What would it have been like? They haven't lost when he scored
8:16
something like that. Yeah, because he was, he was a
8:18
late acquisition because Carolina traded for him.
8:21
Then he said I'm not staying here.
8:23
So. So he played a couple of games
8:24
and they traded him. Coming into the playoffs, you
8:26
love Tampa. I love Tampa and I loved the
8:29
Alps. And they're both down now,
8:30
racing elimination 3/2 for the stars, up in that 131 for that
8:36
you left your jets. Yeah, ain't it bad you love
8:39
Vegas? No, didn't love Vegas.
8:42
You just didn't like Minnesota. Didn't like Minnesota?
8:44
Yeah, and here we are. Yeah, and here we are and here
8:47
we go. Go, Florida go.
8:48
I got a Rory McIlroy Florida Panthers ticket, so I'm and I
8:52
bought that right around the Super Bowl.
8:54
So that's the Panthers go. That's a nice one, no doubt.
8:57
That's that's a huge. McIlroy Masters, Yeah.
9:01
So your Jets back in action tonight, tomorrow, tomorrow,
9:04
another day off. Another day off getting a guy
9:07
back on the getting what their first line right winger back.
9:11
He'll play tomorrow. Hasn't played all series so
9:13
we'll see if it makes a difference but they've been
9:15
getting pushed around and as you said yesterday I hope.
9:17
Totally agree with you. Just better score first.
9:20
Yeah? Blue score 1st and that white
9:22
out be awful quiet. We know those buildings, and
9:25
when that I go back, I think the stadium that I think of first
9:30
when that negative energy starts to seep in, it was Fenway Park
9:34
in the late 90s, early 2000s, before the curse.
9:37
I don't think there was another building when things started to
9:40
go bad, and they inevitably always did.
9:43
There was not a sound that can be replicated like Fenway was in
9:48
those moments. And we know the reason for it.
9:51
We know how it built up. Here we go again, here we go
9:54
again. But it's not just Fenway.
9:57
It happens. A lot of buildings veer jets.
9:59
They're on that watch tonight. Tomorrow, yeah.
10:01
Tomorrow. Yeah, without a doubt.
10:03
While tonight, what's it gonna take go to Vegas do?
10:06
What you're doing, They're playing very well.
10:08
Yeah. I think they can win tonight.
10:09
OK, I do. There's been a great series.
10:11
Hmm. Minnesota has been terrific.
10:13
Presoft makes such a huge difference to that roster and.
10:16
And he's back and no, just keep doing it.
10:19
I thought, I thought Vegas would have their way with them, and
10:22
that hasn't been the case. I think they just sort of might
10:24
be the best team in the series through four games.
10:26
I think that's fair, right? I mean, outside of the first big
10:28
gap, first game was not that was all nights.
10:32
Game 2 got off to the big league.
10:34
Yep. And then the other series going
10:38
back to the Kings was that Sunday night.
10:39
Yep, Sunday night down up three, one late in the third period.
10:43
Against any other team, how do you just how do you pull back I.
10:47
Don't know. You're up, yes, you're up three
10:48
one, but you know you can't do that against Edmonton, No, if
10:51
there's a team in the league, at least that I think of, right
10:54
with the top two guys on the top line.
10:55
Right dry sidle and McDavid. You can't slow down and try to,
11:00
I don't know what you guys call it in hockey.
11:01
Go 4. Quarters.
11:03
Go 4 quarters a pre fed. You can't.
11:05
No they did. I mean keep.
11:07
Doing what you're doing. And they didn't and they didn't
11:09
and, and, and it cost them. All right, we're going to get
11:11
the PA. We're going to go to the keyword
11:13
a little early. Do you have the keywords in
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front of you? I do.
11:17
Sean gave me new ones because they were off yesterday.
11:19
Is it green? Today is Tuesday.
11:22
Tuesday it's the noon hour and it is green, so I've.
11:25
Got the right keywords? So let's go head to kxando.com.
11:28
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at Suntan City. Suntan City sponsors this
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promotion. More opportunities coming up.
11:53
Another one with Trent and I, and then throughout the
11:56
afternoon with Heather and Lucas.
11:59
Before we get PA on the real local front, quick Iowa and Iowa
12:03
State thing for you First, the double plays were announced in
12:06
the Big 10. So what?
12:07
Do we make of that? Is Purdue, Nebraska and Maryland
12:09
for Iowa? The Maryland ones?
12:10
Weird. It is.
12:11
That's the odd 1. Purdue, some people's preseason
12:14
number one team in the country. All right, that's going to
12:16
definitely help out the resume. Nebraska is quote the rival.
12:19
That's the one that's kind of stuck on there seemingly every
12:21
year now. I think kind of going forward,
12:23
pretty good draw again, the Maryland was.
12:26
Great last year. Yeah, and they got a complete
12:28
retooling of their. They don't have one player
12:30
coming back. Is that a fact?
12:32
Don't have one? Lost everybody, all their
12:33
starters, every everybody, both graduation and.
12:37
Portal but he going on new coach went.
12:39
On right, right, right, right, right.
12:40
But yet nobody went with Willard, which is also.
12:43
That is weird. Yeah, on that front.
12:45
The road trip West this year to the Pacific Northwest, as I'll
12:49
be going to Washington and Oregon, that jumped out.
12:51
But I saw Joe Lenardy came out with his bracket.
12:55
With his it's already. His brackets, yes, his version
12:59
one point O for next season is out.
13:02
The Iowa State Cyclones are in the NCAA tournament.
13:05
He has them a number three seed in Oklahoma City opening round
13:10
against South Dakota State go. Ahead and buy a plane tickets
13:12
now. Absolutely.
13:13
Missouri waiting for them or San Diego State in the round of 32.
13:16
OK. Also in the bracket, the Iowa
13:20
Hawkeyes also in Oklahoma City #1 seed there is Houston, Iowa,
13:26
the number 9 seed. They get Vandy in the opening
13:29
round to a man Hawkeye Cyclone. You tell them that scenario
13:34
plays out. Right now 95% of the fan base on
13:40
each side takes that I. Would think so.
13:42
Reseed for Iowa State in the tournament for Iowa Columns
13:46
first solidly in the tournament. Not to Dayton.
13:47
Nope. I think everybody signs for that
13:50
right now though. Yeah, we call it in.
13:51
We got it right. I'm all for it.
13:53
Good stuff. Yeah, a little early, but you
13:57
know what? I was clicking on mock dress for
13:59
next year already. Just a tad early, Force.
14:01
We don't have any idea what the one through 32 is going to be.
14:05
I've seen Rocco Bect in the first round.
14:09
Look, I hope he is. I hope he's I hope he gets
14:11
drafted because I'm just not sure A, he's got another year of
14:14
eligibility should he want the elect to use that.
14:18
But we'll see where it goes. It is way too early.
14:21
But you click on him just for the heck of it, right, to see
14:23
where your team is going to be shopping.
14:26
All right, let's head to the Twin Cities.
14:28
He's our friend Paul Allen, the voice of the Minnesota Vikings,
14:31
and he joins us to recap the draft.
14:33
Good to talk to you, Pai know you're busy.
14:35
Thanks for finding some time. How are you?
14:37
Kenny, Trent, Trent Kenny, what's going on?
14:40
I noticed you have super special Senny.
14:43
Yes, we do at TC at Cheese coming up on your presentation a
14:47
little later and he's going to be in a good mood because
14:50
there's a report that Green Bay and cornerback Jair Alexander
14:55
continue to work towards, you know, getting him back on the
14:58
team. Which means if they, you know,
15:01
if they have everybody planned for a coin toss, Jair will have
15:05
the opportunity to walk out and stab it in the 2025 seasons.
15:10
So I think that's really cool. Absolutely.
15:12
Been there, done that. Right.
15:13
Let's let's talk about this Vikings draft, which I loved.
15:16
I'm not sure how it went over in the Twin Cities.
15:19
You know, you take an offensive lineman, it's not the sexy spot,
15:22
right? But it's a need spot and a big
15:24
need spot. I love what they're doing
15:26
protecting the franchise and JJ McCarthy.
15:30
They spent some money and free agency and drafted very wisely
15:34
with Donovan Jackson. Your thoughts on the old line
15:36
that will protect the rookie? Q.
15:39
Dig in the Minnesota moving company, we expected them to
15:42
draft an offensive lineman with the 24th overall pick.
15:46
You know, whether they traded up or traded back, it was pretty
15:49
secure they would take an offensive lineman.
15:51
I I thought it would be either Tyler Booker or Gray's Abel
15:55
Donovan Jackson was at least for for you know, as as as I go the
15:59
third name on the list. I was a little surprised that
16:02
that Booker went 12th overall, but Dallas loves him.
16:05
So good luck with them and Gray's North Dakota State
16:09
University, he yeah, he went kind of where I thought he
16:11
would. So with Jackson, you know, if
16:14
you if you look at those games that he played against Michigan,
16:17
against Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant, both guys who went ahead
16:21
of him in the first round, he he held up pretty well there.
16:25
And when he had to play left tackle, he stood up Abdul Carter
16:29
for Penn State, him up pretty well and represent nicely.
16:33
So, you know, just assuming, assuming that he's favored to to
16:37
start when Darrisaw comes back from injury, Darrisaw Jackson,
16:42
Ryan Kelly, he's new. Will Fry's right guard, he's new
16:46
and Ryan O'Neal, that should be one of the better offensive
16:49
lines we've we've had around here in quite some time now.
16:52
The totality of the draft, when you only have 4 picks, you know,
16:55
and you and you pick at the end of Friday and and then there are
16:59
a bunch of trades on Saturday with rounds 4 through 7.
17:01
Quite honestly, with all due respect, this was one of the
17:04
more boring drafts that I either ever follow, talked about or
17:09
watched from a Viking standpoint because of their lack of draft
17:13
currency. But you know that that's going
17:16
to be part of it when you make a deal like you did last year to
17:18
get Dallas Turner. And then secondly, when when you
17:22
splash in free agency, the way they have the last couple of
17:25
years and last year was that they were the best of any team
17:29
in free agency and they plan to be that way with who they
17:31
brought in this year. It was just kind of a boring
17:34
draft. I don't know man.
17:35
So the Vikings we're in what, year three of Casey and what
17:40
he's been doing, does he have a certain type?
17:42
Because kind of looking at these draft picks, every one of them
17:45
seem to have some versatility to him.
17:47
Donovan Jackson, guard or tackle in a pinch, a tie.
17:50
Felton, maybe he can play a little bit of slot where he can
17:52
play on the outside. Tyron Ingram, Dawkins, he's a
17:55
guy inside or outside on defensive line.
17:57
Is is that kind of his type, the the versatility that he's
18:00
looking for in draft picks? A couple of things there one the
18:04
helmet schools rule in Round 1. So we got we got there.
18:09
You know, the first the first one that they selected Lewis
18:12
seen it didn't work out, but helmet school Georgia.
18:15
Then they go to Jordan Addison, USC, then they go McCarthy,
18:18
Michigan, Dallas Turner, Alabama and then now Ohio State would
18:23
not have been Jackson. So so Quasi likes the helmet
18:26
schools in the first round. You know, the given, you know,
18:29
Quasi was one of the one of one of the the general managers
18:33
hired that was really antithetical to how general
18:37
managers jobs in the NFL by like moving up the ranks of scouts
18:41
and personnel people and stuff like that.
18:44
You know, he it's clear that that with the draft and free
18:47
agency, you know what Quasi is navigating his way at times
18:52
through some moderate chop of learning the tricks of the trade
18:57
when it comes to the draft. And the way I like to look at it
18:59
when I talk to Quasi is he comes from a stock trading background.
19:03
So it's clear we've settled into free agency being the New York
19:07
Stock Exchange where he can analyze these players.
19:10
They play against NFL players. So he has a better probability
19:15
level of what he's going to get. And and they're pushing a lot of
19:18
assets in on that. And, and it seems to be working.
19:22
The NASDAQ would be the draft where he and the Vikings have to
19:27
be better in the draft than they have been their first 3.
19:30
And this year they only, you know, they only had a handful of
19:33
picks from Jackson to Bartholomew, the pit Panther
19:36
tight end. That has to be better.
19:39
But but free agency, they've gotten all squared away when it
19:42
comes to the individual players and stuff.
19:45
The the speed of the Maryland receiver, you know, is something
19:48
they definitely like with the Georgia defensive lineman.
19:51
Trent nailed it. Position flexibility for Flores
19:54
is huge. The guy can play defensive end
19:57
or both defensive tackle spots and they can stand him up in the
20:00
A gap, which I know they like. And then you get to so so now we
20:04
get to Kobe King, linebacker from Penn State.
20:07
You know, I it's it's I had and, and I have place here on my
20:10
radio show tomorrow AFAN from 10:00 to 10:30 in the morning.
20:13
So I'm going to ask him a lot of these questions.
20:15
But Kobe King, it seems like, you know, we're going to start
20:19
as a special teams tackling demon.
20:22
And then you get back to the tight end.
20:24
This was a deep tight end draft, you know, and, and I know
20:28
O'Connell outside of the obvious tight ends, Loveland and and
20:31
Warren, that he liked a lot of Ty Dems in this draft and
20:35
including the guy they took. So I'm curious to see what they
20:37
do with him. I'm curious to see where Ty
20:39
Felton is once we get to the middle of the season.
20:42
Does he take Naylor's job? I would think that that would
20:44
be, you know, there'd be some competition there.
20:47
Obviously Jefferson and Addison are set, but watching Felton in
20:51
the Big 10, as I did periodically this last
20:53
offseason, I think it's a real good pick up in the third round.
20:56
Paul. Well, it's I like, I like the
20:59
way you're going on this because of the four 3 speed that that
21:03
Belton displays and Quasi's right hand man Ryan Brigson when
21:07
he did a post draft press conference, you know, he was
21:09
quick to point out that, yeah, the guy's fast, but he but he
21:12
runs really crisp routes. I guess his depth of route is
21:15
really good. I don't want people to forget
21:18
wide receiver Rondale Moore and and people are forgetting him
21:22
because he was hurt and he's going to be hurt all offseason.
21:25
And quite honestly, I don't know when he'll emerge, but, you
21:28
know, I don't think they picked him up for him to not be on the
21:31
team. And when Rondale's healthy, he's
21:33
incredibly fast. So you got more.
21:36
Yeah, Felton Naylor is maybe the fastest guy on the team.
21:41
So you got Jefferson and Addison who are fast, but not, you know,
21:44
the straight line speed of these guys.
21:47
And and Hawkinson's fast for tight ends.
21:50
So that there's a speed element that Kevin is creating here with
21:54
these ancillary receivers that I think people are going to like.
21:57
Undrafted free agents, a lot of wide receivers coming in,
22:00
offensive lineman, Anybody catch your eye and and don't say Max
22:03
prosmer. No Gopher talk.
22:05
No, Yeah, with, with, with the, the Gophers quarterback.
22:09
He's okay. He, he, he, he had, you could
22:12
see that, that, that he has armed talent.
22:15
And let's not forget what O'Connell and his crew can do
22:20
with quarterbacks. I mean, they won games with Josh
22:22
Dobbs. So we, we pretty much can just
22:25
end it right there. But with that said, I like them.
22:29
I like this Wisconsin offensive lineman, Joe Huber.
22:32
And, and I know some people who follow Badgers football very
22:36
closely who are in college football and, and they're,
22:39
they're kind of raving about him with the way the Vikings run
22:42
offense and, and, and Huber being one of the college free
22:47
agents. So he's really one that sticks
22:49
out to me right now. But, but this team has been good
22:52
with a college free agents the last X amount of years, whether
22:55
it's Ivan Pace junior there, Gabriel Murphy.
22:59
I was an undrafted outside linebacker guy from UCLA who I
23:02
know they like a lot. He's he's probably going to take
23:05
Patrick Jones spot this year, given Patrick went to Carolina.
23:09
But this this often Simon Huber. I'm curious to see how good he
23:12
is. Curious to see how good JJ
23:14
McCarthy is because I'm all in on him.
23:16
Paul, I am following you on Twitter as I do and listening to
23:20
you. I didn't think there was much of
23:22
a chance that Aaron Rodgers was going to be a Minnesota Viking.
23:25
This is JJ's job. What are the expectations as he
23:29
will finally be healthy to take your spot on the on the field?
23:33
Well, from my standpoint, the expectations are don't wreck
23:38
games. OK, let's just start there.
23:41
And and to think without, you know, having not played for a
23:45
year, that McCarthy's just going to roll in and we're going to be
23:48
looking at 410, four touchdowns and 0 picks with about 50
23:52
rushing yards a game. I think that's too grandiose.
23:55
One thing that that definitely is being shortchanged in this
23:58
entire equation with JJ McCarthy is the Vikings offensive
24:02
coaching staff and how they're going to know, you know, where
24:07
his deficiencies are before they start to play games.
24:10
So they will construct game plans that are conducive to what
24:14
he does. Well, JJ has a very nice arm and
24:18
JJ sees it clearly, comes from under center, turns his back on
24:22
defenses with play action, which a lot of kids coming out of
24:25
college can't do because it's all shotgun playing with the
24:28
weird hash marks with how they orchestrate offense.
24:32
And McCarthy comes out truly from a prostyle offense.
24:36
So I think it's going to look normal.
24:38
They're going to be mistakes and they're going to be metaphorical
24:41
moguls that they have to get their skis over.
24:44
But once it all starts settling in, you're going to find an
24:49
engaged guy who cares about these wins and losses as much as
24:54
anybody you've ever seen. I mean, he's just, he's a
24:57
really, really engaging guy. Free agency wrapped up, draft
25:01
wrapped up. What's the biggest concern now
25:04
outside of the health and McCarthy and him figuring things
25:06
out besides that going into 2025?
25:10
Well, you know, I think it's fair to wonder how how the
25:14
secondary is going to work now. They're they're really, really
25:18
high on cornerback Isaiah Rogers and and the tell on that was
25:24
that first Monday, a free agency, the legal tampering bit.
25:27
You know, you got players going left and right getting $100
25:30
million deals and we signed the size Rogers to a two year like
25:33
$16,000,000 deal on the very first first day, which is an
25:37
indicator Flores, Puece, Adopa Mensa and O'Connell did not want
25:42
to Jack around with losing this guy.
25:44
So they like him a lot. Now.
25:46
Isaiah started games before but you know he hasn't really jumped
25:50
out or he wouldn't have been a free agent.
25:52
So with that and Byron Murphy junior and Jeff Okuda who's very
25:57
physical and they're going to play a lot of man defense this
26:00
year. But Jeffrey's had his problems
26:02
ever since he was ballyhooed out of Ohio State and got hurt like
26:06
every 5 minutes. I'm sad for the kid, but
26:08
nevertheless, that's the reality.
26:10
Makai Blackman coming back off an ACL.
26:12
He's another guy. Dwight Mclothern into his second
26:15
year. They like him more than people
26:16
know too. Cam Bynum goes to Indianapolis,
26:19
Theo Jackson gets a deal, you know Metallus is a roving safety
26:23
and you got Harry the Hitman in his 14th year.
26:26
So they didn't drop the corner of safety.
26:28
I'm completely convinced because they know their pass rush is
26:33
going to be even better than last year.
26:35
Renard Van Ginkel, Gabriel Murphy, Dallas Turner needs to
26:40
jump up this year. Then they got Jayvon Hargrave
26:42
and Jonathan Allen in the middle.
26:44
They they're really, really confident in their pass rush
26:46
being better than it was last year.
26:48
And that would take heat off the secondary in it.
26:51
The premise I did, but now we got to see it.
26:54
Our friend Dame Rosatani says keep an eye on Theo Jackson.
26:57
We'll get you out of here on this PA with the winter sports.
27:00
The Wild and the Wolves were both underdogs going into their
27:03
respective rounds of the first round of their playoffs.
27:06
Yet here they both are, Wolves on the precipice and knocking
27:09
off LeBron and company. And the Wild go back to Vegas
27:12
tonight. 22. Your thoughts on those two
27:14
series and the fact that they're both Minnesota teams performing
27:18
as they are? Yeah, I'm not going to be blown
27:20
away if each team wins its Rd. games because the the Wild have
27:24
outplayed Las Vegas the majority of the series.
27:27
Gus stepson has been the better of the goaltenders between he
27:30
and Nail. So that's going to all of that
27:33
is going to have to completely turn around for them to lose
27:35
this series. Capri Soft and Baldy have
27:37
outplayed Eichel and Stone and it hasn't even been close.
27:41
So you know, it's the Wilder like plus 190 tonight.
27:44
I think that I think that's a little too high on the fat side.
27:48
I do think tonight will be of the overwhelming variety.
27:52
And then I was at Sunday's game, game four, Wolves and LeBron and
27:56
I, the Lakers can't play better. I mean, they gave their very
28:01
best shot. They ran their best race getting
28:04
on Sunday and they still got beat at the wire.
28:07
So I the Wolves are going to have to regress in certain areas
28:11
to lose the series and lose tomorrow night.
28:15
So it's been great. This is a wonderful, wonderful
28:18
sports town, and when the winter teams are good, it's really,
28:21
really cool. Thanks for doing this, PA.
28:23
Appreciate the relationship. We'll talk to you down the road,
28:26
Paul. Anytime.
28:27
God bless you guys. Bye.
28:29
Good to talk to PA, voice of the Minnesota Vikings as we check in
28:32
on one of our regional teams. Let's do another one.
28:35
Bears are coming up next. Again, we gave you the keyword.
28:38
It is green@kxno.com. Jeff Hughes joins us next.
28:41
It's the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
28:44
Hillary Condon, welcome back, Iowa Sports Radio Network,
28:47
wherever you are listening in the state of Iowa, we are
28:49
grateful that you are. We take you until two.
28:52
Well, we talked to Paul Allen, the voice of the Vikings.
28:54
Jeff Hughes, 20 years to bearsblog.com.
28:57
But things are changing. We'll get into the draft in a
29:00
second to bearsblog.com. Very popular stop for Bears fans
29:05
over the last couple of decades. Where are you going?
29:08
Jeff Hughes, good to talk to you.
29:09
First of all, what's up with the Bears blog?
29:12
Good to talk to you guys. You know you.
29:13
You've been the only show where I have discussed my academic
29:17
exploits over the last year or so.
29:19
I'm entering year 2 of my PhD studies.
29:22
I began teaching courses in the fall.
29:24
I have a five day schedule. I just decided that to run a
29:28
site every day was very hard. So what I've decided to do is
29:32
partner up with an upstart company called Sports Mockery
29:35
here there in Chicago. Great guys.
29:38
They were looking for a columnist.
29:39
They were looking for some more writing.
29:41
It's exactly what I want to be doing.
29:43
It won't be every day, but it'll be, you know, 8 to 10 * a month.
29:46
And the Twitter feed will remain mine, still be there and present
29:50
daily, but just the running of a site day-to-day getting to be a
29:55
bit unfeasible with my schedule. So just I the way I afraid with
30:00
the people is I'm just changing homes.
30:02
It's just a little move, but it's still the Bears Blog.
30:05
Same content, new home. Love that and love what you do,
30:09
Jeff and. Understand it?
30:10
Yep. We have the opportunity to talk
30:12
with you. Let's get into this draft.
30:14
And Speaking of love, plenty of love out there nationally about
30:17
what the Bears did. But maybe there's the back and
30:19
forth, starting at the tight end position.
30:21
He had Warren on the board, decided to go with Colston,
30:25
Loveland at tight end, the Michigan picket #10 let's start
30:28
right there. Your thoughts on what they did.
30:30
Tight end at 10. So tight end at 10 didn't
30:34
surprise me. Maybe the player surprised me,
30:36
but as you guys know, I'm not the most in tune draft analyst
30:41
there is. I've certainly seen Warren
30:43
Moore, Loveland's a bit more athletic, great route runner,
30:46
but certainly fits the kind of dynamic offense Ben Johnson
30:50
wants to run. And I think not to get ahead of
30:52
us here, but the Burden pick as well tell us very clearly that
30:57
there is a new organizational structure in place at Hallis
31:02
Hall in Chicago. That we, this is a team now that
31:06
has a tight end and drafted a tight end.
31:08
This is a team with two good receivers and drafted a wide
31:11
receiver. This is now a team that belongs
31:14
to Ben Johnson. And Ben Johnson's mantra is to
31:17
go out there and outscore the opponent.
31:20
And we have not seen a Chicago Bears team built that way or
31:24
structured that way, certainly in my lifetime, where the team
31:27
will not beat defense in running the ball.
31:29
Ben Johnson wants to score points and he wants to score
31:32
points in bunches. And that's what this draft
31:34
showed me, especially early on. Yeah, the burden pick and Trent,
31:38
I'm surprised you didn't go there.
31:39
Was doing our mark. What did you say?
31:40
You've got an unhealthy infatuation.
31:43
This is well before the Bears were involved.
31:45
I love Luther Burden. It's hard not to.
31:48
I'm so excited about this one, Jeff.
31:51
Yeah. Listen, I've heard a lot of
31:53
people, you know, criticize the pick, but they seem to be
31:56
criticizing the pick based on the idea they have two
31:58
receivers. Luther Bird is 21 years old.
32:02
Colston Loveland is 21 years old.
32:06
These are not picks for the 2025 Chicago Bears.
32:09
I'll get into the 2025 Bears, but these are picks for Ben
32:14
Johnson's future as a head coach.
32:16
He found two dynamic pass catchers and I think you should
32:20
be thinking about what their roles are going to be in his
32:22
offense in three and four years as opposed to what they are in
32:25
the current roster construction. I love the offense.
32:29
They've now got protection for Caleb Williams.
32:31
I guess the one question or not, well, we'll go to you is at left
32:36
tackle with Jones, but bringing in Foodie, who's the leader
32:38
amongst men. I mean, when you're going to be
32:40
missed in the Chiefs locker room, that tells me that you
32:43
meant something through that locker room.
32:46
They win the bidding war for Dolman.
32:48
This offensive line is going to be so much better.
32:51
Braxton Jones, what are the expectations?
32:54
Obviously, you need a left tackle.
32:56
Is he up to it? I think that's going to be the
32:59
question mark on the offense. But I would also add this this
33:02
new coaching staff really likes Braxton Jones and they did not
33:06
see a need or a desire to take a left tackle early in this draft.
33:11
They do not see a player in Braxton Jones that needs to be
33:14
replaced. They want an offseason with him.
33:17
They want a season with him. They want to coach him and I
33:20
think their best case scenario is that he's their left tackle
33:23
moving forward. But I could very well see a
33:26
scenario where Braxton Jones is replaced next offseason if he
33:30
doesn't pan out this season. But everything I'm hearing from
33:32
the building is that they're optimistic about what his role
33:35
can be on this offense. And and can you hit the nail on
33:39
the head there? This is going to be a forget
33:41
about improved offensive line. This is going to be a top
33:44
offensive line. If they stay healthy, they now
33:47
have upper end talent at four of the five spots on the offensive
33:52
line and a slight question mark at left tackle.
33:54
But let's also add this When you only have one question mark on
33:59
your offensive line, it becomes very easy to cover that up.
34:03
That's where you have tight ends lined up to that side.
34:06
You can bring on another offensive lineman, you can chip
34:09
to one side. It's easy to solve a protection
34:11
issue if the protection issue is 1 player.
34:14
You saw the Chiefs last year, they couldn't solve it because
34:17
it was both tackles. They couldn't block either side.
34:21
There's no way to save that. You can't run an offense if you
34:24
can't block either edge. So I think this offensive line
34:27
is going to be the story of this season for the Bears.
34:30
Let's take a look at the bottom of the draft.
34:32
You talk to a lot of people, Jeff, of the dart board throws
34:35
that they had there and that's kind of what rounds, what 5
34:38
through 7 are anything jump off the page to you.
34:42
Well, I'm very happy to see by Rutgers compared to yeah.
34:45
I. Don't know I'm I'm currently
34:47
getting my PhD in American Studies at Rutgers University.
34:51
Happy to see him listen. I always try to encourage people
34:55
to look at the back end of the draft very simply and say if one
34:59
of the guys in those five, six, seventh round, if one of them
35:03
turns into a player long term, you've had a great back end to
35:07
your draft, especially a draft like this one.
35:10
The draft gurus don't want to hear it.
35:12
The people who depend on views and clicks don't want to hear
35:16
it. But around the league, this was
35:17
considered one of the worst drafts in modern history.
35:21
I had I had a friend who is very high authored organization tell
35:25
me he had nine first round grades in the whole draft.
35:29
This was a draft where if you can find 3 players out of this
35:34
group, out of this talent pool, you've, you've done a heck of a
35:37
job. And I think we're going to look
35:40
back at this draft and, and, and especially the first round even
35:43
and say who were those guys? And there are they.
35:47
They're rare, but this feels like one of them.
35:49
It does. It also feels like the teams
35:51
finally got an adult in the room at the in the head coaching
35:55
office. What are expectations?
35:57
What are reasonable expectations knowing that I think it's the
36:00
toughest division in football, top to bottom.
36:03
The Vikings won a pile of games, finished second to the Lions, of
36:06
course, and the Green Bay Packers also coming off a
36:10
Goodyear. What are expectations in Year 1
36:12
for Ben Johnson? So I'm my My debut column on the
36:16
Sports Mockery platform on Thursday is going to be a column
36:19
entitled No More Room for Patients.
36:22
For too many years I have written and others have written,
36:25
hey, it's not about this year, it's about developing this year
36:29
for next year. Hey, we're in year 1 of a
36:32
three-year process. Be patient.
36:34
I'm not there anymore. We are seeing every year in this
36:38
league A-Team make a leap with a new coach, with a young
36:42
quarterback. If this is the quarterback, if
36:44
he's the guy, year 2 is the time to show it.
36:47
If this is the coach, if he's the talent that we all believe
36:50
he is, we don't have to wait multiple years for him to show
36:53
it. This team is talented up and
36:55
down their roster. They have probably one major
36:59
flaw, which is that second edge rusher.
37:01
They're going to be a bit deficient in the pass rush.
37:04
They're not a championship team, but they should absolutely be
37:07
playing in the tournament in January, and Bears fans
37:11
shouldn't accept anything less. The time for incremental growth
37:15
from this organization is over. B.
37:18
The commanders of last year go out there, win games, get into
37:22
the playoffs and send a message to this fan base that you
37:25
finally have answers at the big two spots.
37:28
Coaching quarterback. Sportsmockery.com for Jeff
37:31
Hughes, that's where you can read them.
37:32
You can follow him on Twitter at the Bears blog.com.
37:35
And you can hear him here periodically throughout the year
37:38
if your schedule allows. And I know it's busy, but Jeff,
37:40
thanks for finding time for us today.
37:42
Good luck, luck at the new destination and we'll talk to
37:45
you down the road. Jeff Hughes, thank you.
37:47
Guys, I will. I will always make time for this
37:49
show. It's my favorite radio show in
37:51
the country. Mine too.
37:53
Thanks, pal. Good luck, Jeff.
37:55
Take care. Yeah, yes, Yes, you will.
37:57
Jeff Hughes to bearsblog.com. Time out, come back, finish up
38:00
our #1 Miller and Condon, Iowa Sports Radio Network.
38:03
I'm Miller and Condon. Welcome back.
38:05
Iowa Sports Radio Network. For the first time in the last
38:09
10 years, the NBA early entrance into the draft is at a low.
38:15
Lowest numbers in 10 years 106 college basketball players have
38:20
made themselves eligible for the NBA draft.
38:23
The NIL is working. Trent Compton, That is good for
38:26
the game of college basketball and I know that means a lot to
38:29
you. No doubt about it.
38:30
I absolutely love to see stories like that guy sticking around
38:33
and. Yeah, they're making the game
38:34
better. I would.
38:35
There's no doubt this is something that is going to be
38:38
the betterment of the sport. As we look at the national
38:41
championship game this year, Florida against Houston, yeah,
38:44
they had guys that were there. They also brought guys in Ultra,
38:48
Clayton started Iona. But old dudes.
38:51
But old? Yeah, Veteran.
38:52
I mean experience right in relationship to college
38:54
basketball? Absolutely 2223 years old.
38:58
That was a This is what we. Should be looking for when
39:00
you're betting futures right on the roster and how many guys
39:04
experience. I think next place goes a long
39:08
way. And there's no doubt St.
39:09
John's is doing that right now as they're building up that
39:12
roster, as they are getting experienced depth to go along
39:15
with it. And they got a pile of money
39:18
behind them that helps. Vitamin Water.
39:20
Heard of it? Yes, Micropoli and somebody that
39:23
is willing to spend and they're doing just that.
39:26
The peak number was 363 in 2021. They're down to 106 in just the
39:34
last four years. That's a significant drop.
39:36
And you just look at what happened here in our state where
39:39
you had guys that had opportunities, starts, and he's
39:43
not even going to go through the process.
39:44
He is just going to concentrate on coming back for his only
39:48
season at Iowa and trying to do everything to make it a great
39:51
season. Indeed, we will get to our
39:54
number 2 and we come back and we'll talk NFL.
39:57
We get done two of the regional teams, Vikings and Bears behind
40:01
us, Chiefs and Packers ahead, and then Sloane Paiva, who
40:05
covers the NBA and. Sports Wagering for The Sporting
40:07
News. Our 2 is next.
40:09
Miller and Condon are on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.