Latest / The Skol Hop / Dustin Baker Joins To Talk About Vikings Training Camp | TSH Ep. 148

Transcript

Dustin Baker Joins To Talk About Vikings Training Camp | TSH Ep. 148 · The Skol Hop

0:00
Speaker 1: All right, welcome back to school, Hoppers. I am Austin.
0:03
Speaker 1: Evan is out this week, but we are graced with
0:07
Speaker 1: friend of the show, Dustin Baker. We talk about him
0:10
Speaker 1: all the time. Dustin. I think one of your articles
0:12
Speaker 1: ends up being like an entire segment of each Skullhop
0:17
Speaker 1: episode every week, just because you do a really good
0:20
Speaker 1: job of having a good idea or a thought or
0:22
Speaker 1: opinion and then writing an article, posting it out there,
0:25
Speaker 1: and then kind of leaving it open for at least
0:28
Speaker 1: me and Evan to talk about and give our opinions.
0:31
Speaker 1: So thank you for doing that, and thanks for coming
0:33
Speaker 1: on again. It's been too long.
0:35
Speaker 2: Absolutely, That's what the whole reason I write this stuff
0:38
Speaker 2: is for that to happen, like, because if people aren't
0:41
Speaker 2: reading it, talking about it, debating it, putting on their shows,
0:44
Speaker 2: there's no use for me in this job AnyWho. So yeah,
0:47
Speaker 2: I'm glad to be back. I feel like I've been
0:49
Speaker 2: on now about a dozen times. I feel like a
0:50
Speaker 2: seasoned veteran. And I was just telling you off air,
0:53
Speaker 2: my friend that because training camp officially starts tomorrow with
0:57
Speaker 2: veterans and everything, it feels like we are back, like
1:00
Speaker 2: the long quiet part of the summer for football content
1:03
Speaker 2: is over. We got lucky. The World Cup kept as
1:06
Speaker 2: interested in that. The NBA free agency was pretty fantastic.
1:09
Speaker 2: But we're back to normalcy with the NFL calendar hitting
1:13
Speaker 2: training camp.
1:14
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I will say the World Cup kept some of
1:17
Speaker 1: us interested. I'm never gonna be a soccer guy. I
1:20
Speaker 1: don't know. It's just it's me. It's my fault. I
1:23
Speaker 1: guess I can't make myself be interested in it. But
1:26
Speaker 1: I'm glad that was there for the people that enjoyed it.
1:29
Speaker 1: But yes, we're back the Vikings. I think as we're
1:33
Speaker 1: recording now, the rookies and quarterbacks and maybe some specialists
1:36
Speaker 1: have reported to camp, and then by the time everybody
1:40
Speaker 1: ends up listening to this episode, I think most of
1:44
Speaker 1: the players will be reporting to camp. We have a
1:48
Speaker 1: surprise signing just tonight that we'll talk about a little bit.
1:53
Speaker 1: But before we get into all that, Dustin I mentioned
1:55
Speaker 1: that we talk about your articles really quick so it
1:59
Speaker 1: doesn't get lost. Where people find all of your stuff
2:02
Speaker 1: and where do you where do you post what do
2:04
Speaker 1: you post articles? Videos, anything like that? Where where can
2:07
Speaker 1: they find you?
2:08
Speaker 2: Well? Hopefully you got about a half hour. Yeah, I'm
2:12
Speaker 2: in a lot of spots now. I left Vikings Territory
2:14
Speaker 2: actually a few days ago. I gave him a two
2:16
Speaker 2: week notice and I'm branching off on my own vikes
2:18
Speaker 2: now same name as the podcast. It's now a standalone
2:23
Speaker 2: website where you myself and yon at kart right getting
2:26
Speaker 2: that off the ground, and then dust Baker on Twitter
2:28
Speaker 2: is where to find my daily thoughts usually on the
2:31
Speaker 2: Vikings or pictures of my bass and hounds. And then
2:34
Speaker 2: in the backdrop, I've started a different adventure called trade
2:37
Speaker 2: verdict dot com. It's a website that is a database
2:40
Speaker 2: for every sports trade in history. I started with the NFL.
2:43
Speaker 2: I'm about halfway through the NBA Baseball and hockey year
2:46
Speaker 2: after that. What that is? I got sick of whenever
2:50
Speaker 2: I would think about, hey, you remember when that guy
2:52
Speaker 2: was traded back in like nineteen ninety nine. I got
2:55
Speaker 2: sick of having to figure out who was traded, what happened,
2:59
Speaker 2: like you have to find offbeat article from the Star
3:01
Speaker 2: Tribute and hopefully that you could you know, read it,
3:03
Speaker 2: not behind a paywall. So I decided, with the help
3:05
Speaker 2: of AI, that I'm going to try to build an
3:07
Speaker 2: engine that produces the results of every trade, who, what, where,
3:11
Speaker 2: and why? And I think the NFL side is going
3:13
Speaker 2: pretty well, So those are the main spots to find
3:15
Speaker 2: my work.
3:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I played around with Trade Verdict a little
3:18
Speaker 1: bit and it's it's a lot of fun. It's only
3:21
Speaker 1: NFL right now, correct.
3:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like the public facing right now is NFL only,
3:27
Speaker 2: but NBA is about half done on my end, which
3:30
Speaker 2: means it's probably about two or three two or three
3:32
Speaker 2: weeks away from the rest OF's.
3:34
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, and you mentioned it's kind of an AI
3:37
Speaker 1: driven type deal, but having played around with it quite
3:41
Speaker 1: a bit now I can personally say it's not just
3:44
Speaker 1: like an AI slop like copy paste garbage site. Like
3:49
Speaker 1: it's really cool to like to see, oh yeah, it
3:52
Speaker 1: wasn't this guy traded. You can search by name and
3:54
Speaker 1: team and then kind of get some background to it.
3:57
Speaker 1: Some of the trades have a little bit more info.
3:59
Speaker 1: Are you're gonna you're gonna learn more about herschel Walker
4:02
Speaker 1: than probably Stephen Weatherley. I don't know was he ever traded?
4:06
Speaker 1: But yeah, it's really fun And I also have been
4:09
Speaker 1: having a lot of fun seeing what you're doing at
4:11
Speaker 1: fikesnow dot com and the articles and especially the tools
4:14
Speaker 1: over there. Our last episode we used Yani's fifty three
4:18
Speaker 1: man roster tool, which was kind of fun. I really
4:21
Speaker 1: liked how it even gave us some like feedback on it.
4:24
Speaker 1: It wasn't just hey, here's your roster and it's the
4:27
Speaker 1: average age of twenty six. It's like, hey, yeah, yeah,
4:30
Speaker 1: this is the name of the style of roster you made.
4:32
Speaker 1: I think we got something like, you know, the chalk roster.
4:35
Speaker 1: Like oh cool, because it was the one that most
4:37
Speaker 1: people expect. But yeah, a lot of good stuff. Enjoy
4:40
Speaker 1: all your stuff. So listeners, if you haven't already, be
4:43
Speaker 1: sure go check out everything Dustin's doing on the interwebs.
4:47
Speaker 1: So Dustin, we talk about the Vikings. It's our favorite
4:51
Speaker 1: football team. Sometimes we wish it's not our favorite football team,
4:54
Speaker 1: but we can't get away from it today. So yesterday,
4:58
Speaker 1: by the time people are listening, the Vikings made a signing.
5:02
Speaker 1: They signed Jamal Adams, who has made a name for
5:06
Speaker 1: himself in the NFL as a safety and had a
5:10
Speaker 1: really you know, hot start to his career, like three
5:14
Speaker 1: or four All pros, a few Pro Bowl seasons, got
5:19
Speaker 1: traded and landed a big contract. He was really good
5:23
Speaker 1: for the Jets and the Seahawks for a year. But
5:25
Speaker 1: then kind of kind of mid what are your quick thoughts.
5:30
Speaker 1: I know you haven't had enough time for you to
5:33
Speaker 1: kind of dive in and analyze how Jamal Adams will
5:37
Speaker 1: will work with the Vikings right now, but what are
5:39
Speaker 1: your quick thoughts? And maybe you have analyzed it laid
5:42
Speaker 1: on us.
5:43
Speaker 2: All right, well let's look at this first. This appears
5:46
Speaker 2: to be a Nolan Teasley special because Nolan Teasley came
5:49
Speaker 2: from the Seahawks and Jamal Adams has that connection. My
5:54
Speaker 2: first reaction was selfish. It was why didn't I think that, Like,
5:58
Speaker 2: you know, I write about the Vikings all day, every day,
6:00
Speaker 2: and especially when I've had these you know, six seven
6:03
Speaker 2: weeks of quiet time on the NFL calendar, you think
6:07
Speaker 2: about every single thing about the roster, ponttering it and
6:09
Speaker 2: then writing about it. And I never really had Jamal
6:12
Speaker 2: Adams on my radar, mainly because I thought, or think
6:15
Speaker 2: that Harrison Smith is coming back. I didn't think there
6:18
Speaker 2: was room for another safety because they have Josh Mattelis,
6:21
Speaker 2: Jacoby Thomas, a rookie, Jay Ward's going into contract here,
6:24
Speaker 2: Theo Jackson, Tavier Thomas, it's a crowded room at safety
6:29
Speaker 2: without Harrison Smith and without Jamal Adams. Now that said,
6:33
Speaker 2: Jamal Adams is like built in a lab for what
6:36
Speaker 2: Brian Flores likes to do. Of course, we'd like to
6:39
Speaker 2: have like the twenty three year old version who was
6:41
Speaker 2: the All Pro, but you know, we get the thirty
6:43
Speaker 2: year old version. So you'll have that versatility, you have
6:46
Speaker 2: that dependability on the back end of the defense, especially
6:48
Speaker 2: if Harrison Smith does not come back. So I like
6:51
Speaker 2: the signing, but I guess I cautioned folks that you're
6:54
Speaker 2: getting a decent safety, a guy who's been around the block.
6:57
Speaker 2: It's not gonna be the guy that we remember from
7:00
Speaker 2: what twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, like back then he was.
7:05
Speaker 2: How we look at Kyle Hamilton now we're like, oh, yeah,
7:07
Speaker 2: this guy's a study by any means necessary, get him.
7:10
Speaker 2: But just imagine if Kyle Hamilton like fell off or
7:14
Speaker 2: was traded for a god awful sum and then everybody
7:17
Speaker 2: just deemed him irrelevant. So yeah, you're correct that at
7:20
Speaker 2: this juncture in his career, Jamal Adams could be just
7:23
Speaker 2: an average mid performer. But as sports fans, we always
7:27
Speaker 2: we always have this dream that that guy is going
7:29
Speaker 2: to bring out his best with the new team and
7:31
Speaker 2: turn back, turn back the clock to when he was
7:34
Speaker 2: really good. So until we're proven otherwise, that's what we're
7:36
Speaker 2: going with.
7:37
Speaker 1: I feel like, I feel like there's probably a time
7:40
Speaker 1: in history where if you told Vikings fans like, hey, uh,
7:43
Speaker 1: the Vikings are gonna enter training camp rostering both Carson
7:47
Speaker 1: Wentz and Jamal Adams, and that would blow our minds,
7:52
Speaker 1: Like in what what'd you say, like twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen. Yeah,
7:55
Speaker 1: I mean at the time, there was a time where
7:57
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz was like an MVP candidate and Jamal Adams
8:01
Speaker 1: obviously was one of the best defensive players in the league.
8:03
Speaker 1: So like, can you imagine going back in time and saying, hey,
8:07
Speaker 1: past Austin passed Dustin. These two guys are on the
8:10
Speaker 1: roster and they might not even they'll probably make the team,
8:13
Speaker 1: or at least Carson will make the team, but might
8:15
Speaker 1: not even make the team. You know, they definitely won't
8:17
Speaker 1: be huge contributors.
8:18
Speaker 2: Probably, And ironically that question applies to like the exact
8:22
Speaker 2: same era, Like it's not separately, Like, hey, can we
8:25
Speaker 2: get with Like I think they were good, really good
8:27
Speaker 2: at the exact same time, and the Vikings were pretty
8:30
Speaker 2: good at that time as well. But no, I am
8:33
Speaker 2: really excited to see how this pans out, because it's intriguing.
8:36
Speaker 2: You have a top two, top three defensive mind in Flores,
8:40
Speaker 2: a guy who was a top three safety seven eight
8:42
Speaker 2: years ago, and then the new general manager Nolan Teasley,
8:45
Speaker 2: who evidently thinks this guy is still worth the squeeze.
8:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, I wonder too. Didn't So I'm pretty sure Jamal
8:52
Speaker 1: Adams was with the Raiders last year in twenty five,
8:55
Speaker 1: and I think I saw something that said he spent
8:58
Speaker 1: most of his time at lineback.
9:01
Speaker 2: Yeah.
9:01
Speaker 1: I forget who tweeted it, but somebody tweeted out like
9:04
Speaker 1: the breakdown of stat snaps that he played at different positions,
9:07
Speaker 1: and he it was kind of a mini version of
9:10
Speaker 1: that famous Fox Josh Mittelis graphic that we got a
9:14
Speaker 1: few years ago where he had played like every position.
9:17
Speaker 1: But that graphic I saw earlier today on Twitter, he
9:21
Speaker 1: played like left defensive end, right defensive end. I don't
9:24
Speaker 1: know if defensive tackle was on there, but definitely a
9:28
Speaker 1: little bit of safety at like just a couple snaps.
9:30
Speaker 1: But then linebacker was the biggest bulk of where he
9:33
Speaker 1: spent his time. Do you think that's probably where he's at?
9:36
Speaker 1: And does that kind of make you feel a little
9:39
Speaker 1: bit different? Thinking he might be in the linebacker room
9:41
Speaker 1: less than the safety room.
9:44
Speaker 2: Makes me feel different in that we can verify the versatility.
9:49
Speaker 2: But in my opinion, the linebacker room is safer the
9:53
Speaker 2: safety room, Like, we don't need any linebackers either. Man,
9:56
Speaker 2: Like you just drafted Jake Golladay, and unless he's a
9:58
Speaker 2: pure edge rusher in the making, you have plenty of
10:01
Speaker 2: linebackers because you have Eric Wilson, Blake Cashman. I haven't
10:03
Speaker 2: paid Jake Golladay, and usually you don't need to go
10:06
Speaker 2: five players deep with really good dudes for an off
10:09
Speaker 2: ball linebacking group. The more that I get to know
10:13
Speaker 2: Flores over these three seasons, going on number four, it's
10:16
Speaker 2: kind of like the position doesn't really matter. Who cares
10:18
Speaker 2: what his title is going to be. When the dust
10:21
Speaker 2: settles and you look at PFF after the game, you
10:24
Speaker 2: might see him more at safety one game, he might
10:26
Speaker 2: be more at linebacker. But you are correct. Last year
10:29
Speaker 2: as a Raider he played about like four hundred something snaps,
10:32
Speaker 2: so about forty percent of the time, most were at
10:34
Speaker 2: technically at linebacker, and I think he ended up with
10:37
Speaker 2: a PFF in the sixties. So that's a continuation of
10:40
Speaker 2: what we said about being decent to good, not the
10:44
Speaker 2: sweet ass stud that was like Hall of Fame bound
10:46
Speaker 2: when he first started.
10:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well, it'll be interesting to see how
10:51
Speaker 1: he progresses through training camp. I feel like every year
10:55
Speaker 1: there's always some kind of signing like this. Maybe not
10:57
Speaker 1: a splashy name like this, but always some signing where
10:59
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, this guy could be something, and then
11:02
Speaker 1: maybe they don't even make the team. So we'll see
11:04
Speaker 1: how that works.
11:04
Speaker 2: We gotta wait for the money when we see the contract.
11:08
Speaker 2: If that's something that's three, four or five million, then
11:10
Speaker 2: that means he's sticking around. If it's a completely negligible
11:13
Speaker 2: veteran minimum, then he, in theory, could be cut, you know,
11:16
Speaker 2: next month.
11:17
Speaker 1: And to me, some of these moves sometimes if it's
11:19
Speaker 1: super weird, it's followed up a few days later by oh, hey,
11:23
Speaker 1: this guy's on the pup list now, or this other
11:26
Speaker 1: guy's dealing with an injury. I feel like, didn't we
11:29
Speaker 1: hear something within the last week or two that Blake
11:32
Speaker 1: Cashman has been dealing with like a finger injury or
11:34
Speaker 1: something like that. So I wonder if this is like
11:37
Speaker 1: in response to something we just don't really know about yet.
11:40
Speaker 1: So we'll see. I don't want it to be doom
11:44
Speaker 1: and gloom before we even see the announcement yet, So
11:48
Speaker 1: I hope it'll be good and I hope it's just
11:49
Speaker 1: adding another good player to the team.
11:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it will be Blake Cashman. It was
11:55
Speaker 2: a lingering finger issue. I think we hear something about
11:58
Speaker 2: that damn finger every year, so I think the conspira commiracy.
12:04
Speaker 2: Theorist quickly wondered if it's like Hawkinson's ear three summers ago,
12:08
Speaker 2: where you know, Cashman's doue for an extension. Is it
12:11
Speaker 2: a situation whereas Pinky will magically heal once he gets
12:14
Speaker 2: his extension? We shall see.
12:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, moving on a little bit. So outside
12:21
Speaker 1: of the quarterback battle, if you believe it's a true
12:24
Speaker 1: battle or not, what is the biggest thing that you
12:28
Speaker 1: Dustin are paying attention to during training camp at least
12:31
Speaker 1: as it starts up.
12:33
Speaker 2: There are two things as it starts up that I
12:36
Speaker 2: am dying to see, and I'll be there with my
12:38
Speaker 2: son for the night practice a week from Sunday, and
12:41
Speaker 2: we'll probably know about my two things before the night practice.
12:45
Speaker 2: I want to see if Caleb Banks is boots on
12:48
Speaker 2: the ground playing practice snaps because the Vikings will look
12:52
Speaker 2: like the smartest kids in the class if he plays
12:56
Speaker 2: at training camp. He was a first rounder until February
13:00
Speaker 2: when he hurt his foot again. That dropped him back
13:02
Speaker 2: into the second round the Vikings draft, and everyone said,
13:04
Speaker 2: what are you doing. Here's a D or an F
13:06
Speaker 2: grade because you could have got him later. But if
13:08
Speaker 2: Caleb Banks his medicals were good to go, you know,
13:11
Speaker 2: that was an honest assessment ever since the draft, that
13:14
Speaker 2: draft pick, at least for right now, his sake will
13:17
Speaker 2: be worth it because he's every bit of a first
13:19
Speaker 2: rounder when he doesn't have a foot injury. I was
13:21
Speaker 2: paranoid because of recent Vikings draft history. They're like, oh
13:25
Speaker 2: my god, this son of a bitch is gonna red
13:27
Speaker 2: shirt this year, isn't he? We're gonna have to just
13:28
Speaker 2: wait a whole year, Like I really didn't want that
13:30
Speaker 2: to happen for a team that needs to connect on
13:33
Speaker 2: a first rounder and a draft pick on the whole.
13:36
Speaker 2: So that's the first thing, I want to assess Caleb
13:39
Speaker 2: Banks's readiness. I don't need him to start every game
13:41
Speaker 2: or pace play seven hundred snaps, but I need him
13:44
Speaker 2: to show us as a rookie that, hey, this guy
13:47
Speaker 2: has potential. He's going to be good. So you know
13:49
Speaker 2: more than oh, he's healthy by week seventeen, so we're
13:52
Speaker 2: going to play him now. I want to see him
13:53
Speaker 2: play a lot of the time and have him project,
13:56
Speaker 2: project in the right direction. And then my other one,
13:59
Speaker 2: maybe even more fascinated by this, is Demon Claiborne. I
14:02
Speaker 2: want to know. I can't. I've watched the tape over
14:05
Speaker 2: and over and I still can't decide. Is he just
14:08
Speaker 2: a RB three that you know will bounce around in
14:11
Speaker 2: the league once he's done here, get two hundred yards
14:13
Speaker 2: per season and call it good. Or does he have
14:16
Speaker 2: that Devona Chain like juice where he's got the speed
14:20
Speaker 2: and he's got Devona Chain's offensive coordinator from the last
14:22
Speaker 2: three years now working for the Vikings. Because I swear
14:25
Speaker 2: to God, Austin, we don't even know what a Vikings
14:28
Speaker 2: offense can look like under O'Connell. If you have a
14:32
Speaker 2: good running back, we don't like we have decent ones.
14:35
Speaker 2: Dalvin Cook in twenty twenty two was clearly starting to
14:38
Speaker 2: hit a wall and then had hit a cliff. I
14:40
Speaker 2: have never seen before where the guy just vanished. Get
14:43
Speaker 2: Dalvin Cook was decent in twenty twenty two. Alexander Madison
14:46
Speaker 2: was not in twenty twenty three. And since then we've
14:49
Speaker 2: been doing this Aaron Jones experiment, which is fun, but
14:52
Speaker 2: it's not dynamic. We need to go back to the
14:54
Speaker 2: days of when Dalvin Cook and Adrian Peterson, where we
14:58
Speaker 2: hand the ball to him, you know, and you don't
14:59
Speaker 2: have to wor wry about anything, and I'm like, oh
15:01
Speaker 2: my god, is he gonna get two yards? You know,
15:03
Speaker 2: you knew he was going to change the game. I
15:05
Speaker 2: don't know if Demon Claiborne can be that, but I
15:08
Speaker 2: want to get back to that, you know, era of
15:10
Speaker 2: Vikings football. And the one young running back that the
15:12
Speaker 2: Vikings have auditioned at all is Demon Claiborne. Like think
15:16
Speaker 2: about it, The last young running back that they would
15:19
Speaker 2: have brought into the mix would have been Alexander Madison.
15:21
Speaker 2: And we're talking six seven years ago now. So this
15:24
Speaker 2: is the one. This is the one big chance that
15:27
Speaker 2: if we if Kevin O'Connell will get a chance to
15:32
Speaker 2: I don't know if he has to change his offense
15:34
Speaker 2: but make it even better, Like we already know what
15:37
Speaker 2: it's gonna be like with Jordan Mason Aaron Jones, who
15:40
Speaker 2: are good but they're not crazy electric. There is this
15:43
Speaker 2: small spark where Demon Claiborne could be that. Otherwise, you know,
15:48
Speaker 2: if he's just the mundane RB two, RB three that'll
15:51
Speaker 2: play until he's twenty seven and nobody will ever remember
15:54
Speaker 2: his name. Yeah, I want to see if Demon Claiborne
15:57
Speaker 2: has the juice for an RB one job down the line,
16:01
Speaker 2: because next offseason is when you look in the mirror
16:04
Speaker 2: and say, we need a running back In theory that
16:07
Speaker 2: could be Claiborne.
16:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it was Ben Leeber within the last
16:12
Speaker 1: month or so on his own YouTube channel, he was
16:15
Speaker 1: talking about Claiborne, and really I think he was just
16:17
Speaker 1: talking about the running back position as a whole, but
16:20
Speaker 1: the way he was just kind of talking about the
16:23
Speaker 1: hierarchy of that position, he made it sound like he
16:26
Speaker 1: thought it was a foregone conclusion that, yeah, Claiborne, he's
16:29
Speaker 1: almost like written in RB two and then like RB
16:33
Speaker 1: one is just going to be a mix between Jordan
16:35
Speaker 1: Mason and Aaron Jones and whoever's healthy or playing well,
16:38
Speaker 1: and then Claiborne. He's gonna be in there and he's
16:40
Speaker 1: going to be doing some good things. So I'm talk
16:44
Speaker 1: about it all the time. I'm not this college football genius.
16:47
Speaker 1: I like the Iowha guys, but I don't follow the
16:49
Speaker 1: entire rest of everything, and I definitely don't dive deep
16:52
Speaker 1: into the draft. So I probably heard Demon Claiborne's name
16:56
Speaker 1: for the first time when the Vikings drafted him, So
16:58
Speaker 1: I don't really have much opinion on him other than
17:01
Speaker 1: I know Twitter kind of blew up a little bit,
17:03
Speaker 1: at least Vikings Twitter blew up a little bit, like,
17:05
Speaker 1: oh man, this guy's really good, so that's exciting. But
17:08
Speaker 1: I also remember Vikings Twitter kind of blew up when
17:12
Speaker 1: what was his name, Dwayne McBride a few years ago
17:14
Speaker 1: when he got drafted, and that just never turned into anything.
17:18
Speaker 1: So I was gonna ask you about demand Claiborne, but
17:22
Speaker 1: also about Dylan Bell. Should we actually be excited about
17:26
Speaker 1: those guys? Sounds like you're cautiously optimistic about Claiborne, but
17:30
Speaker 1: what about Bell too, or did they just kind of
17:32
Speaker 1: flash in mini camp.
17:34
Speaker 2: No, with Claiborne, you have grounds to be excited, But
17:39
Speaker 2: I'm guarding myself because I have this tendency and I
17:44
Speaker 2: think a lot of sports fans do. I want him
17:46
Speaker 2: to be good so badly that I keep watching the
17:48
Speaker 2: tape saying, oh, yeah, yeah, we're good. He's going to
17:50
Speaker 2: be the next big thing. But we also did that
17:52
Speaker 2: with IRV Smith, you know, for a long time. And
17:55
Speaker 2: I don't want to force a prediction just because the
17:58
Speaker 2: Vikings are due for running back might suck. Duanne McBride
18:01
Speaker 2: ended up being pretty awful, like he didn't even make
18:03
Speaker 2: it to a regular season game. I certainly think Clayborn
18:06
Speaker 2: will be good as that. I don't think I agree
18:08
Speaker 2: with Lieber that he's gonna be RB two. I don't
18:10
Speaker 2: know who you bench.
18:12
Speaker 1: Didn't say that. He was just making it sound like
18:14
Speaker 1: he just I assumed that Lieber thought that he'd be
18:18
Speaker 1: higher on the depth chart.
18:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, let's face it, either Aaron Joe to Jordan
18:22
Speaker 2: Mason at some points gonna get hurt, like it happens
18:24
Speaker 2: every year, and then they will need an RB two
18:26
Speaker 2: for however many games, and then that will probably be Claiborne.
18:30
Speaker 2: The speed is there, the production is there at Wake Forest.
18:33
Speaker 2: I think we have to watch to see does he
18:35
Speaker 2: any break tackles and does he have the vision, you know,
18:38
Speaker 2: to see the running lanes and whatnot. We'll find that out.
18:40
Speaker 2: Dylan Bella is intriguing. The only thing I'm worried about
18:43
Speaker 2: with him would be all right, it's great that we're
18:46
Speaker 2: finding another unsung UDFA, but where is he gonna go
18:50
Speaker 2: on the roster? Does he take Miles Price's spot? Is
18:52
Speaker 2: Miles Price a one hit? Wonder? Is ty Felton already gone?
18:55
Speaker 2: Or we given up on him because you have the
18:58
Speaker 2: big three and just Jefferson, Jordadis and Juan Jennings, And
19:02
Speaker 2: then after that you can maybe pencil in ty Felton,
19:05
Speaker 2: maybe pencil in Miles Price. Would they really keep six
19:09
Speaker 2: wide receivers? I suppose if if Dylan bell is so good,
19:12
Speaker 2: too good, they will have no choice. But I always
19:16
Speaker 2: wait until we see training camp and maybe the joint
19:20
Speaker 2: practices to figure out if these udfas are going to
19:23
Speaker 2: be the real deal. I've completely given up on preseason games.
19:25
Speaker 2: Those things are they're such liars like Dylan Gate or not.
19:28
Speaker 2: Dylan Gabriel Gabriel Davis. Was that his name? The edge rusher?
19:33
Speaker 2: There's a Gabriel Damn. Yeah. He was an edge rusher
19:38
Speaker 2: that had like two or three snacks sacks in the
19:40
Speaker 2: game a first preseason game last year, and then we
19:43
Speaker 2: just complete Yeah, we just completely cut him. He looked
19:46
Speaker 2: like he was going to be the third or fourth
19:48
Speaker 2: pass rusher. For sure, it's Gabriel something. I think it's
19:50
Speaker 2: Gabriel Davis. But anyhow, Yes, I'm excited about both. More
19:55
Speaker 2: so Claiborne. I got to see it to believe it
19:57
Speaker 2: with Bell. With Bell, if he is the real deal,
20:00
Speaker 2: he brings that versatility like Percy Harvin or Deebo Samuel.
20:05
Speaker 2: So if he makes the active roster, he can be
20:08
Speaker 2: used kind of like a gadget within the offense.
20:11
Speaker 1: Interesting, Okay, all right? Another one? Is there an underrated
20:17
Speaker 1: position battle in training camp? So I know, again we're
20:20
Speaker 1: gonna all focus on quarterback. We're gonna be kind of
20:23
Speaker 1: looking at Claiborne and Dylan Bell a little bit. But
20:26
Speaker 1: is there like a position battle where we don't exactly
20:30
Speaker 1: know who the starter is gonna be, but we just
20:33
Speaker 1: need to let the practices play out. I've got a position,
20:37
Speaker 1: but it's not super sexy. But I want to know
20:38
Speaker 1: about you. Do you have a position that you think
20:40
Speaker 1: is kind of underrated?
20:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, Gabriel Murphy was the guy that I was talking about.
20:45
Speaker 2: Excuse me, yeah, yeah, and he's just like, he was
20:48
Speaker 2: so good in one or two preseason games and then
20:50
Speaker 2: they cut him and nobody else picked him up. So
20:53
Speaker 2: and then Max Rosmer looked like a stud in the preseason.
20:55
Speaker 2: So I am done watching. I'm gonna watch preseason, but
20:58
Speaker 2: I am done being convinced that those transactions mean something.
21:02
Speaker 2: All right, So the roster battle that's really undercover that
21:09
Speaker 2: I'm most interested in would be I have two. The
21:11
Speaker 2: first one is guard, backup guard, because we already know
21:15
Speaker 2: that Will Fryes and Donovan Jackson are gonna start. But
21:18
Speaker 2: what happens if one of those guys gets hurt? Is
21:20
Speaker 2: it Joe Huber? Is it Walter Rouse converting? Can Ryan
21:24
Speaker 2: Vandermark switch over? Like, there's a lot of questions about
21:28
Speaker 2: the backup guard. I know that's pretty boring because the
21:31
Speaker 2: backup guards really don't play a whole lot. So I
21:34
Speaker 2: want to know for my personal curiosity who's the primary
21:38
Speaker 2: backup guard. And then the other one is punter, because
21:41
Speaker 2: the Vikings signed Johnny Hecker and he was the best
21:44
Speaker 2: punter in the world ten years ago, and then they
21:49
Speaker 2: signed Brett Thorson, who was the best punter in college
21:53
Speaker 2: football last year, and now these two were battling it out.
21:56
Speaker 2: Like to me, if you have the the guy that
21:59
Speaker 2: won the Race Guy Award from college is on your
22:03
Speaker 2: roster after you just lost Ryan, right, why wouldn't you
22:06
Speaker 2: just go ahead and start that guy that's your punter,
22:08
Speaker 2: Like why do you need to put him through a
22:10
Speaker 2: battle with a guy who was averaged to mediocre last
22:13
Speaker 2: year in Johnny Hecker. Now I learned that Thorson does
22:17
Speaker 2: not hold punts or kicks excuse me, kicks or field
22:20
Speaker 2: goals or field goals are extra points. He didn't do
22:23
Speaker 2: that at Georgia, but I think he started to cut
22:25
Speaker 2: his teeth on it this this OTAs and at mini camp.
22:31
Speaker 2: So if they don't keep Thorson as the primary punter,
22:34
Speaker 2: he's part of the international program, So I think he
22:37
Speaker 2: can just be retained in this bubble until next year.
22:41
Speaker 2: But I'm wondering why we would dink around with Johnny
22:44
Speaker 2: Hecker when Brett Thorson in terms of getting an audition
22:50
Speaker 2: to be a punch in the NFL. I don't think
22:51
Speaker 2: he needs to do a whole lot more. He's got
22:53
Speaker 2: a big leg he got he kicked at Georgia. That's
22:56
Speaker 2: not like a tiny thing. So it's fascinating to me
22:59
Speaker 2: to understand and why Johnny Hecker is here.
23:02
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, punter was the position that I had in
23:05
Speaker 1: mind as like an underrated position battle and I agree.
23:10
Speaker 1: But if I remember the process of this offseason correctly,
23:15
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure they signed Hecker pretty early in free agency, yeah,
23:19
Speaker 1: which was obviously before the draft or before undrafted free agency.
23:23
Speaker 1: So maybe it's just one of those things that Hecker
23:27
Speaker 1: was plan A or someone that they're okay with going
23:30
Speaker 1: into the season for because you're right, he was really
23:33
Speaker 1: good like ten years ago, about that time that we
23:36
Speaker 1: would have all been Jamal Adams when Carson wentz and
23:40
Speaker 1: Jamal Adams. Yeah, so the Vikings are really just getting
23:44
Speaker 1: all of the all pros from twenty seventeen. But I
23:48
Speaker 1: mean at the time, I don't remember any of us
23:50
Speaker 1: complaining when they signed Hecker. It was one of those
23:53
Speaker 1: I just kind of bummed out that they didn't re
23:56
Speaker 1: sign Ryan, right, but for the love, I would have
23:58
Speaker 1: been super pissed if they ryan right fifteen fourteen million
24:02
Speaker 1: dollars for the punter position. He's he's good, but he's
24:05
Speaker 1: had his ups and downs, and I would not have
24:07
Speaker 1: been happy about that. So Hecker fine, a name I've
24:11
Speaker 1: heard of, played really well. I think he's a pro bowler.
24:15
Speaker 1: But yeah, then you then you get the opportunity to
24:17
Speaker 1: sign probably the best college punter in the in college
24:22
Speaker 1: last year. You can't go wrong with that. To me,
24:25
Speaker 1: it's kind of like, you can't not sign Kyler Murray
24:28
Speaker 1: because he's one point three million dollars. You can't not
24:31
Speaker 1: sign Johnny Hecker because he was really good. And if
24:33
Speaker 1: you get another option, let the camp play.
24:37
Speaker 2: Out what I was hoping that they would draft Thorson,
24:40
Speaker 2: That's how much I wanted him. I was hoping they
24:42
Speaker 2: used their seventh rounder to make sure they got him.
24:44
Speaker 2: And then they didn't. I'm like, oh, there goes that dream.
24:46
Speaker 2: And then I'm about to go into a restaurant right
24:49
Speaker 2: after draft with my family and I got a message
24:51
Speaker 2: saying they got Brett Thorson. I was like, well, even better.
24:54
Speaker 1: Yes, Yeah, it's it's free money right there. So for me,
24:58
Speaker 1: when I've talked about the punt position, and good grief,
25:01
Speaker 1: we're going to spend five ten minutes talking about punter.
25:05
Speaker 1: But when I've talked about the punter position, I think
25:07
Speaker 1: it probably matters more who the better holder ends up
25:12
Speaker 1: being through camp and then so if the punting ends
25:15
Speaker 1: up being similar or the same, but one guy's better
25:19
Speaker 1: at holding, well there's who your punter is. I would think.
25:24
Speaker 1: Even if Thorson is a little worse at punting for
25:28
Speaker 1: some reason but figures out this holding thing, then there
25:31
Speaker 1: you go to me, based off no real information, just
25:35
Speaker 1: what I think makes sense. I would think, right now,
25:38
Speaker 1: punter number one is Thorson, right, and then if that
25:42
Speaker 1: doesn't work out, then oh no, you have a guy
25:44
Speaker 1: that has done you know, has punted in the league
25:46
Speaker 1: for at a high level for a number of years.
25:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, the timeline that you outlined makes sense that there
25:53
Speaker 2: was no guarantee between thirty two teams that they would
25:56
Speaker 2: get Thorson, so they got the best brand of insurance
25:59
Speaker 2: they could get in a you know, former all pro.
26:02
Speaker 2: But I've thought about this one a lot because it's like,
26:05
Speaker 2: why do we have both of these guys? So maybe
26:07
Speaker 2: it is just out of respect to Hecker, like, hey,
26:10
Speaker 2: you were you were the solution in March. But now
26:13
Speaker 2: we got the best punter that there is from college.
26:15
Speaker 2: Now you guys can duke it out and Thorston should
26:17
Speaker 2: win this thing. But I think the only reason that
26:20
Speaker 2: there's that safety valve in my mind is that they
26:22
Speaker 2: don't necessarily have to cut him because he's part of
26:24
Speaker 2: the international the IPP.
26:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's interesting. It would be really weird. I guess
26:28
Speaker 1: it makes sense if it's you know, a free roster
26:31
Speaker 1: spot to keep the guy, but it would be weird
26:34
Speaker 1: to be like, man, my team has two punters, Like
26:38
Speaker 1: didn't we do that one time, like twenty years ago
26:40
Speaker 1: with with Riss Lloyd or rees Lloyd or something like that,
26:45
Speaker 1: right about the Ryan Longwell time there was rees Lloyd
26:48
Speaker 1: if that's even what his name was. I was really
26:50
Speaker 1: good at kickoffs. I think that was a situation. Yeah, yeah,
26:53
Speaker 1: not the whole season, I don't think, but for a
26:55
Speaker 1: little bit or maybe just going into training camp, they
26:58
Speaker 1: they were gonna have two kickers. They had two kickers.
27:00
Speaker 2: Well it's back. It's back before we had like the
27:03
Speaker 2: abbreviated field when you used to have to kick off
27:06
Speaker 2: that meant something like you had to drive it eighty nine.
27:08
Speaker 2: It was eighty eighty five yards ninety if you're counting
27:11
Speaker 2: the end zone, and now you know it's it's it's
27:14
Speaker 2: moved up. And then teams are mostly going to start
27:17
Speaker 2: at the twenty five or thirty, so it's kind of
27:18
Speaker 2: a sham. You don't need a guy with a booming
27:21
Speaker 2: leg for kickoffs.
27:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then I forgot until right now. There was
27:24
Speaker 1: that year that the Vikings traded a fourth round pick,
27:28
Speaker 1: I believe for Corey vedvik Yep. They had multiple kicker
27:34
Speaker 1: slash punters on the roster at that point too, So
27:36
Speaker 1: I guess we've seen it, but it still would be
27:39
Speaker 1: really weird to have more than one punter.
27:41
Speaker 2: On the roster. Yeah, no, there will be only one.
27:44
Speaker 2: And then, like I said, the ace in the hole
27:46
Speaker 2: is you don't have to get Thorston out of your life.
27:49
Speaker 2: You'd just put him on the ipp wire and then he,
27:52
Speaker 2: I guess, would hang out for a year and be
27:54
Speaker 2: your punter next year.
27:56
Speaker 1: So is that does that ring truth? If they keep him?
27:58
Speaker 1: He is a fifty four man pretty much no matter what.
28:02
Speaker 1: Let's say he wins the punting job and they only
28:04
Speaker 1: keep him and they get rid of Hecker. Does he
28:07
Speaker 1: still take up? Now?
28:10
Speaker 2: I think I have to either dig deep on it
28:15
Speaker 2: or toss it into one of the AI's for a
28:17
Speaker 2: clear answer. I think that Hecker, excuse me, I think
28:20
Speaker 2: Thorson would come onto the active roster and then they'd
28:23
Speaker 2: have a chance to put a dude from a different
28:26
Speaker 2: country on the ipp But don't quote me on that.
28:28
Speaker 2: I gotta check on it, all right.
28:30
Speaker 1: Maybe I'll figure that out and we'll put it down
28:32
Speaker 1: on the show. So if I'm worth my salt here,
28:35
Speaker 1: you can click down in the show notes and I'll
28:37
Speaker 1: have a little exclamation explanation there. There we go, all right, Dustin,
28:44
Speaker 1: we have done it. We have talked for darn near
28:48
Speaker 1: a half hour, and I've mentioned the word quarterback a
28:51
Speaker 1: couple of times, but we haven't let it derail our
28:54
Speaker 1: entire show yet. But I do have a question for you.
28:58
Speaker 1: I'm a JJ guy. I think that they're still meat
29:01
Speaker 1: on the bone. I think it's not all is lost
29:03
Speaker 1: right now. However, if Kyler comes out and wins a job,
29:06
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna be mad. You know. I want my
29:08
Speaker 1: team to have the best quarterback possible, but to you, Dustin,
29:13
Speaker 1: do you think JJ even really has a chance to
29:17
Speaker 1: win this job? And if he does, is that like,
29:20
Speaker 1: oh crap, Kyler was really bad and this team's gonna
29:23
Speaker 1: be awful, or could we have hope that like, if
29:26
Speaker 1: he does win the job, he actually is okay? What
29:29
Speaker 1: are your thoughts? Is this a real competition or is
29:31
Speaker 1: it kind of a sham?
29:33
Speaker 2: It is a real competition, but I do not believe
29:36
Speaker 2: JJ McCarthy will win it. If I had my preference,
29:41
Speaker 2: JJ McCarthy will play so damn well that you cannot
29:44
Speaker 2: keep his ass off the field. If I was writing
29:47
Speaker 2: this in one of my novels, JJ McCarthy would play
29:50
Speaker 2: so well, blow everybody away. Thanks, Kyler, we don't even
29:53
Speaker 2: need you. We're back on track. But I just don't
29:56
Speaker 2: think that's gonna happen. I think he will show improved
29:59
Speaker 2: mechanics and he'll be a viable you know, QB two
30:02
Speaker 2: if the Vikings need him. But here is my where
30:05
Speaker 2: I'm at on Kyler Murray. The world has reached this
30:09
Speaker 2: low point on Kyler Murray where we've put him in
30:12
Speaker 2: the category of Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold from five
30:15
Speaker 2: years ago, where we're like maybe you can go reclaim
30:17
Speaker 2: his career somewhere. The guy was good in twenty twenty four.
30:21
Speaker 2: He was like a top ten quarterback by every single
30:23
Speaker 2: metric theorist pff DVA EPA per play. His team sucked,
30:28
Speaker 2: but he was really good last year, really played five games.
30:31
Speaker 2: He was mid, his team was also mid. So it's
30:35
Speaker 2: I don't look at Kyler Murray the rest of the way.
30:37
Speaker 2: The rest of the planet does like, oh well, maybe
30:39
Speaker 2: he'll turn it around. He already is good, so you
30:42
Speaker 2: drop his ass into the Vikings offense, which is very
30:44
Speaker 2: kind to quarterbacks as is. And I just don't think
30:49
Speaker 2: this is much of a competition because Kyler Murray is
30:51
Speaker 2: really good. He's one of the fastest quarterbacks to ever plays.
30:55
Speaker 2: He can throw the ball out of the stadium if
30:57
Speaker 2: you need him to. A per completion percentage's the fifth
31:00
Speaker 2: most accurate quarterback in NFL history. And he's not gonna
31:04
Speaker 2: lose some quarterback battle like a bitch. He always wins
31:06
Speaker 2: quarterback battles. He's done it his whole life. So I
31:10
Speaker 2: don't think Kyler Murray is elite. But I don't think
31:13
Speaker 2: it's this big mystery as to oh my God, is
31:15
Speaker 2: he gonna turn his career around, or could he beat
31:17
Speaker 2: Dad mccorny. No, he's gonna win it handily because he's
31:20
Speaker 2: Kyler Murray. So I mean, I hope there's a lot
31:24
Speaker 2: more suspense because that will mean that McCarthy's good. But
31:29
Speaker 2: the other thing I want to mention in case we
31:31
Speaker 2: forget is if if the worst case happens, where Murray
31:36
Speaker 2: and McCarthy don't work out, or we're eight to nine
31:39
Speaker 2: or nine and eight something completing mediocre like next offseason,
31:43
Speaker 2: we already have these like exit strategies. You already have
31:46
Speaker 2: a new general manager. Like so let's say the season
31:48
Speaker 2: goes six on them, six and eleven. Now we're gonna
31:51
Speaker 2: do We already got your new general manager. He can
31:53
Speaker 2: clean house. Kevin O'Connell. I think he's already been given
31:57
Speaker 2: a fair trial. He's going into year five. We think
31:59
Speaker 2: he a good coach. We think he'll be around for
32:01
Speaker 2: a long time. But in theory, if they had a
32:03
Speaker 2: rotten year, it wouldn't be that like mind blowing for
32:06
Speaker 2: Teasley to say I'm getting my head coach Zipal. The
32:10
Speaker 2: quarterback draft class for twenty twenty seven is already promising
32:13
Speaker 2: and fantastic if the Vikings need one. And then all
32:16
Speaker 2: of the free agents that are on tap for next year.
32:19
Speaker 2: There's tons, my friend Ryan O'Neil, Blake, Cashman, Aaron Jones,
32:24
Speaker 2: Blake Brandle, Jordan Addison, they have to exercise the fifth
32:27
Speaker 2: year option they want him. There's like something like seven
32:30
Speaker 2: or eight starters that are scheduled to hit free agency.
32:33
Speaker 2: So I do think that the Kyler Murray experimental will work,
32:36
Speaker 2: and if he gets hurt, I think JJ McCarthy will
32:39
Speaker 2: show improvement. But in the worst case scenario where they
32:42
Speaker 2: needed to pivot and start fresh, everything is already like
32:46
Speaker 2: ready to go if they need to do that because
32:49
Speaker 2: you have Teasley in the house.
32:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is interesting. It's like there's already that perforation
32:55
Speaker 1: in the paper, like they can just pull up and
32:58
Speaker 1: get going. And then Teaslee just with the timing of
33:01
Speaker 1: when he was hired and when Kucy Daffamensa was fired
33:05
Speaker 1: and you know, the timing of the league year, it
33:08
Speaker 1: kind of gives a free roll of the dice for
33:11
Speaker 1: Nolan Teasley this year.
33:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, house money.
33:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, because if the team does really well and you know,
33:19
Speaker 1: deep run the playoffs, awesome, Now you know what you
33:23
Speaker 1: need to keep, what you have to get rid of.
33:26
Speaker 1: As far as all of those upcoming free agents, you
33:30
Speaker 1: know what you have to do to keep the engine going.
33:32
Speaker 1: If the team, like you said, goes six and eleven
33:34
Speaker 1: or worse or something like that, sweet burn it all down,
33:38
Speaker 1: then this GM gets to restart from wherever he wants,
33:42
Speaker 1: and then you already have all those free agents you
33:45
Speaker 1: don't need to sign if you really want to truly
33:47
Speaker 1: rebuild the team the way you want it. So it
33:49
Speaker 1: is an interesting state of mind that the Vikings team
33:54
Speaker 1: are in right now and it would not be fun
33:57
Speaker 1: to go six and eleven and have to totally blow
34:00
Speaker 1: everything up and restart.
34:01
Speaker 2: And they won't. They won't, But I just wanted to
34:03
Speaker 2: point that out just in case.
34:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I mean, I guess that would bring back
34:07
Speaker 1: a nature of like, well, now it's Nolan Teasley's baby,
34:11
Speaker 1: and he didn't inherit Rick Spielman's team anymore. He didn't
34:15
Speaker 1: inherit the awful drafted team anymore. It's just it could
34:19
Speaker 1: be the start of a good foundation. So I'm hopeful
34:24
Speaker 1: for JJ McCarthy because the couple of flashes we have
34:27
Speaker 1: seen are exciting. I think even in that final game
34:31
Speaker 1: of the year against the Packers, against their you know,
34:34
Speaker 1: third stringers and guys that they signed for one week
34:37
Speaker 1: to play. Anyways, he did still with a broken hand
34:42
Speaker 1: or a very injured hand, made a couple of like
34:45
Speaker 1: okay throws, like throws that made me sit there and
34:48
Speaker 1: be like, man, how did he fit that in there?
34:50
Speaker 1: I liked the whole the personal foul that he got
34:56
Speaker 1: when he ran for a first down and then got
34:58
Speaker 1: in somebody's face, like I think it negated the first
35:01
Speaker 1: down or it definitely caused a penalty, But I kind
35:04
Speaker 1: of liked that fire in there. I'm a fan of nine,
35:07
Speaker 1: and I know it's cringey and I know it's you
35:09
Speaker 1: know whatever, but it's fun for me. So I'm hoping
35:14
Speaker 1: that this is not the end of the road for
35:16
Speaker 1: JJ McCarthy. I want what you first said is that
35:20
Speaker 1: JJ plays so well you can't keep him off the
35:23
Speaker 1: field because I have no ties to Kyler. But again,
35:26
Speaker 1: if Kyler comes in and plays well, awesome, he's my quarterback,
35:30
Speaker 1: you know. But I don't have the same feelings about
35:34
Speaker 1: Kyler right now as I did when the Vikings signed
35:36
Speaker 1: Sam Donald because we've talked about a handful of times.
35:39
Speaker 1: A few years ago, you were thinking I was crazy
35:41
Speaker 1: because I was like, yeah, hey, this was even before
35:44
Speaker 1: JJ McCarthy got hurt. I was like, yeah, Sam Donald,
35:46
Speaker 1: he's gonna be good here. The Vikings are gonna be okay.
35:49
Speaker 1: And I think I predicted a twelve win season that
35:51
Speaker 1: year and everybody laughed at me. And not that I'm
35:53
Speaker 1: an expert, but I just don't get those vibes from
35:57
Speaker 1: this version of Kyler Murray whose former team is paying
36:01
Speaker 1: him thirty million dollars to not play for them.
36:04
Speaker 2: Thirty six point eight.
36:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, my goodness, that point eight. That's eight hundred thousand dollars.
36:10
Speaker 1: That's crazy. All right, Well, is there any last minute
36:18
Speaker 1: thing that we should be looking at for the Vikings
36:21
Speaker 1: heading into training camp? Anything that we should be super
36:26
Speaker 1: excited about, even if it is like the little fluff
36:29
Speaker 1: piece at the end of the news article. What should
36:32
Speaker 1: we be super excited about for training camp? And there's
36:34
Speaker 1: almost no way.
36:35
Speaker 2: To go wrong, I think, compared to recent seasons, there's
36:41
Speaker 2: finally some corner back CB depth with Byron Murphy Junior,
36:45
Speaker 2: Isaiah Rodgers, Charles Demings and James Pierre. And then if
36:48
Speaker 2: they keep a guy like Dwight mclothin last year, you'd
36:51
Speaker 2: probably go back to podcasts hyping up Jeff Okuda at
36:55
Speaker 2: this time last year, and I kept thinking that's not
36:57
Speaker 2: gonna work, Like that guy has a PFF. Last year.
37:00
Speaker 2: You think he's gonna be different here in year number seven,
37:03
Speaker 2: I don't think so fell and he sucked and then
37:05
Speaker 2: he got hurt, and then we never saw him again.
37:07
Speaker 2: He didn't sign anywhere. But this year, we already know
37:11
Speaker 2: that Murphy solid, not fantastic, but solid. We know Isaiah
37:14
Speaker 2: Rodgers is playmaker, fastest guy on the team, probably gonna
37:18
Speaker 2: be decent again. James Pierre was fantastic last year for
37:21
Speaker 2: the Steelers in about three hundred four hundred snaps. And
37:24
Speaker 2: then Charles Demmings already looks really scrappy, comes from a
37:28
Speaker 2: small school and has something to prove. I don't know
37:30
Speaker 2: if I've said it on your show, so stop me
37:33
Speaker 2: if I have. The Vikings had this really long ass
37:36
Speaker 2: cornerback drought where nobody has steck like stood longer on
37:41
Speaker 2: than a rookie contracts and Xavier Rhodes, so I swear
37:45
Speaker 2: to God we are due for a cornerback. By probability
37:49
Speaker 2: and mathematical sake for one to be good, Like it's
37:52
Speaker 2: just time. Like they've had like nine guys they've drafted
37:55
Speaker 2: since Trey Wains and McKenzie Alexander, one of them stuck
38:00
Speaker 2: around at all, Like a couple of them died. So
38:03
Speaker 2: like we are due for wherever he's drafted round one
38:07
Speaker 2: or round five, around seven, we're due for a cornerback
38:11
Speaker 2: to be good. And last year we got really lucky
38:13
Speaker 2: that between Isaiah Rodgers and Byron Murphy they played all
38:16
Speaker 2: thirty four games. Now they didn't miss a single start,
38:18
Speaker 2: and that's really rare for cornerbacks. So I'm a, you know,
38:22
Speaker 2: cynical enough to think that there's probably gonna be some
38:25
Speaker 2: cornerback injuries. Well, last year we'd have to go like,
38:27
Speaker 2: oh god, it's gonna be Jeff Okuda on Sunday, isn't it.
38:30
Speaker 2: We don't have to do that anymore. We can say, hey,
38:32
Speaker 2: it's James Pierre. We know he's good, and then let's
38:35
Speaker 2: just let's the chips fall with Charles Demmings. Let's see
38:37
Speaker 2: if he's the real deal. We haven't had that type
38:39
Speaker 2: of optimism probably since twenty twenty two, when we thought
38:42
Speaker 2: of Caleb Evans was still going to be pretty good,
38:44
Speaker 2: so I would say cornerback. Not that it's this huge
38:48
Speaker 2: strong suit, but we don't have to be on pins
38:50
Speaker 2: and needles. And then my last tiny little speech is
38:55
Speaker 2: Vikings football under Kevin O'Connell is just this referendum on turnovers.
39:01
Speaker 2: Like it's so bizarre when his team does not turn
39:04
Speaker 2: the football over. They win football games playing and simple
39:07
Speaker 2: automatic stick a fork on the other team. When they
39:10
Speaker 2: lose a turnover battle, they're not very good. Like in
39:13
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four we had the turnover split, we ranked
39:17
Speaker 2: third best and last year we ranked third worst. Like
39:21
Speaker 2: it's this pendulum that when O'Connell wins that takeaway battle man,
39:26
Speaker 2: the Vikings win like ninety percent of the time, which
39:29
Speaker 2: is absolutely elite. So I'm here to say again for
39:33
Speaker 2: the upteef time, when you're watching Vikings football and you
39:36
Speaker 2: start to see them, you know, extract interceptions and fumbles,
39:40
Speaker 2: Vikings are gonna win that game, my friend. If it's
39:43
Speaker 2: the opposite, when they get on their bullshit and they
39:44
Speaker 2: start fumbling right away, you could just say, oh god, yeah, not,
39:48
Speaker 2: Today's not the day. Because usually those patterns.
39:51
Speaker 1: Hold yeah yeah, and That's that's nice to hear because
39:55
Speaker 1: you're not even saying when the Vikings have, you know,
39:58
Speaker 1: when they lean on turn let's just win the battle,
40:01
Speaker 1: make it even or win the battle. So I think
40:04
Speaker 1: the Bears last year were pretty good at getting turnovers.
40:07
Speaker 1: So that's always one thing I hear people talk about
40:10
Speaker 1: all the time, like, oh, this team was really good
40:12
Speaker 1: last year, but they got a lot of turnovers and
40:13
Speaker 1: you can't bank them. You can get lucky.
40:17
Speaker 2: No, we were, We were really shitty in the turnover
40:21
Speaker 2: differential and the Vikings went nine to eight. Yeah, like that.
40:25
Speaker 2: That is how it's like a cake topper. When they
40:28
Speaker 2: win the turnover battle, they are going to win. When
40:31
Speaker 2: they lose it, it's like, yeah, I don't know, probably not maybe,
40:35
Speaker 2: but it's it's not like the twenty twenty two season
40:38
Speaker 2: felt like it was overly reliant for the Vikings on turnovers.
40:42
Speaker 2: But if they were third worst last year in that
40:45
Speaker 2: variance and then they still finished nine and eight when
40:47
Speaker 2: it was all said and done, think of it this way.
40:50
Speaker 2: You had horrendous quarterback performance by the numbers last year,
40:54
Speaker 2: and somehow those sons of bitches still finished nine and eight.
40:57
Speaker 2: Now you're getting Kyler Murray in the mix who it
41:00
Speaker 2: was much more steady than anybody they had last year.
41:03
Speaker 2: You already have a fantastic defense with no arguments from everybody,
41:06
Speaker 2: and then I think at worst we'd get back to
41:09
Speaker 2: average at turnovers. That's why I think the Vikings are
41:12
Speaker 2: going to finish eleven and six. That's my prediction.
41:15
Speaker 1: I like it. I didn't even ask for a prediction
41:16
Speaker 1: and we got one. It's school hop exclusives. So far,
41:20
Speaker 1: it's not true, but I'm gonna say it is all right. Dustin.
41:24
Speaker 1: It has been probably two or so months since you've
41:28
Speaker 1: been on, and I don't like that. I like when
41:30
Speaker 1: we've had our times where it's every month you're on and.
41:32
Speaker 2: It's great because I'm always here.
41:35
Speaker 1: Our episodes are always better when we have more people,
41:38
Speaker 1: and especially you, who knows exactly what you're talking about. Dustin.
41:42
Speaker 1: We kind of ran through it a little bit earlier
41:43
Speaker 1: on where people could find you, but real quick, where
41:46
Speaker 1: can everybody find all of your stuff that you're up
41:49
Speaker 1: to Vikings or not?
41:51
Speaker 2: Daily musings that are off the cuff on Twitter at
41:54
Speaker 2: dust Baker about five five to six articles per day
41:58
Speaker 2: on bikes. Now, that's the analysis opinion, breaking news. Once
42:03
Speaker 2: we start to get into that cycle, and then if
42:05
Speaker 2: you like databases and sports facts, trade verdict dot com
42:10
Speaker 2: is my latest endeavor, then I'm going to continue to grow.
42:14
Speaker 1: Yeah awesome. Uh so, I I'd be remiss if I
42:17
Speaker 1: didn't talk about Oh I got one too, So I'm
42:22
Speaker 1: doing both both of your books.
42:24
Speaker 2: Oh you got it both? Yeah, my man and I
42:27
Speaker 2: have read.
42:29
Speaker 1: The Motor Route and loved it and immediately once it
42:32
Speaker 1: was available, Uh, you sent me. You sent me, you
42:34
Speaker 1: were nice enough, you sent me a link so that
42:36
Speaker 1: I would review it. But then I also I like
42:39
Speaker 1: having a paper hard copy of The Invaders here. But
42:43
Speaker 1: I'm embarrassed to say I haven't jumped into this one yet.
42:47
Speaker 2: That's okay, I haven't.
42:49
Speaker 1: Been able to, as of life read read many books lately,
42:52
Speaker 1: but I'm really excited to jump into it. If it's
42:55
Speaker 1: even half as good as The Motor Route, then it's
42:57
Speaker 1: definitely going to be worth the time. Thank you, And
43:00
Speaker 1: make sure to find those books. I think you've got
43:03
Speaker 1: them digitally and obviously you can get them on paperback
43:07
Speaker 1: in Instagram, Amazon, so go check those out too. They're
43:10
Speaker 1: they're awesome and I can't wait for you to. Are
43:13
Speaker 1: you gonna plan on keeping ripping some of those out
43:15
Speaker 1: every year or so?
43:16
Speaker 2: Yeah, The next book is about three weeks out. It's
43:20
Speaker 2: called Residuals of a Residuals of a Disappearance, and I
43:24
Speaker 2: I've got about two chapters left to finish it, and
43:26
Speaker 2: then I start the editing process and then my wife
43:29
Speaker 2: reads it to make sure, and so yeah, i'll be
43:32
Speaker 2: I'll be hitting your line probably about three or four weeks.
43:35
Speaker 2: I'll give you another copy of that one too.
43:37
Speaker 1: Awesome. Well, there is my mental deadline to get this
43:41
Speaker 1: second book read. I'll make sure to do that and
43:44
Speaker 1: let everybody know what I think. But yeah, I enjoyed
43:47
Speaker 1: the first one a lot, and I've only ever heard
43:49
Speaker 1: good things about each of them. So yep, listeners, go
43:52
Speaker 1: check out Dustin wherever he is Dustin any last minute
43:55
Speaker 1: alibis before we sign off here.
43:58
Speaker 2: No, I think we should have Yanik Kart on next month,
44:01
Speaker 2: right before maybe Roster Cuts or something like that, because
44:05
Speaker 2: he's really good at this, and I don't think he's
44:08
Speaker 2: been on your show in a while.
44:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, he's been on just the one time, I believe,
44:12
Speaker 1: and it was you and him both. So that was
44:14
Speaker 1: a lot of fun. I think we looked it up
44:16
Speaker 1: recently and I can't remember off the top of my
44:18
Speaker 1: head which episode number he was on. But yeah, Yanick
44:21
Speaker 1: is welcome anytime. Honestly, if you say somebody would be good,
44:25
Speaker 1: they have the inctant come on the show and give
44:28
Speaker 1: us the time and the expertise. So Dustin, thank you
44:31
Speaker 1: so much for coming on again. We will have you
44:33
Speaker 1: on hopefully soon, hopefully with Yanick that'd be great. And listeners,
44:39
Speaker 1: this was it. It's a little bit of a shorter
44:40
Speaker 1: episode this week, but that's okay because training camps right
44:44
Speaker 1: around the corner and we're going to be right back
44:48
Speaker 1: at the not having enough time in the world to
44:50
Speaker 1: tackle all of our takes and all of our fascinating
44:54
Speaker 1: objections for the training camp. So can't wait for the
44:57
Speaker 1: season to start. Dustin, thank you for coming on. Uh
45:00
Speaker 1: here's too a great season
45:02
Speaker 2: Yes, Gold Babyl