Latest / The Skol Hop / Who’s Who in the NFL Playoffs? Best Moments for the 2023 Vikings? How did the Vikings do in Free Agency in 2023? | TSH Ep. 23

Transcript

Who’s Who in the NFL Playoffs? Best Moments for the 2023 Vikings? How did the Vikings do in Free Agency in 2023? | TSH Ep. 23 · The Skol Hop

0:29
All right, Hey, Vikings fans, welcome into another episode of the School
0:32
Hot We're just a couple of dudes from Iowa. We love Vikings drinking good
0:37
beer. I'm Evan and I'm Austin, and we only drink Iowa beer.
0:43
We do in our episodes. And you brought the beer today, so tell
0:46
us about it. So we do drink other beer. I feel like I
0:49
always have to let people know that there is that disclaimer. We love beer.
0:52
We do drink all kinds of beers, but on our show, we're
0:56
Iowa boys. You're one of them. You're a Minnesota born Twin Cities.
1:00
I lived here more than I lived there, so sure, but I was
1:04
born here. We're Iowa boys. Yep. Maybe we should do a TikTok
1:08
about that. I don't know, maybe that trend is already dying. But
1:12
today we have a wonderful beer that I've never tried before from Big Grove Brewery.
1:21
Who I believe is it Coralville? Is it Iowa City? We should
1:26
confirm Iowa City, Iowa City. I think we said Coralville in the past.
1:30
Sorry Big Grove, but yeah, what I'm not sorry about is this
1:33
delicious beer. We already filmed our TikTok, which will be out soon,
1:38
where we do our first taste of this beer. Evan, We've been calling
1:42
this beer by the wrong name a few times. So this one is a
1:45
Big Grove brewery. It's an American brown ale, and it is the Birch,
1:49
the bear birch, the bear birch, the bear. We were calling
1:53
it birch, the brown bear. But you can clearly see it on the
1:57
cairn. It's a blue bear. He should be brown, Evan said,
2:01
he is brown. It's just an infrared picture. Big Grove. Maybe you
2:05
can maybe you can confirm or deny for that. He looks like he's having
2:09
fun. He is. And Evan, are you having fun drinking this beer?
2:13
I'm enjoying it. I am too, so yeah, and we'll just
2:16
give the listeners slash viewers out there a little bit of an insight into what
2:22
we're drinking. The description says it has big flavors of hazelnut and bittersweet chocolate
2:30
with a sweet but crisp body. Yeah. Also, and I can taste
2:34
all of that. Yeah, that's a very accurate and good description. I
2:38
like this beer. Also, one more description on the can. It's not
2:43
just a regular five point two percenter. Oh yeah, it's a solid,
2:47
solid, solid fall Caps solid five point two. And whoever at Big Grove
2:53
made that decision to write solid you just spoke to our hearts because we say
2:59
solid beer all the time. So yeah, this is a solid one.
3:01
We're not very far into them, but towards the end of the episode,
3:06
hopefully we will have finished our allotment for today and be able to give a
3:09
true experienced review on it. So so far, good job, Big Grow.
3:15
Yeah, well, let's pay the bills really quick and then we'll jump
3:19
in here. So today's episode is brought to you by a Big Top Ventures.
3:22
To get the best rates on all inclusive resorts in Mexico and Jamaica,
3:25
send an email to Big Top Ventures LLC at gmail dot com. Once again,
3:30
that's Big Top Ventures LLC at gmail dot com. Shout out to Big
3:36
Top for sponsoring today. Yeah, thanks, Big Top. I actually just
3:39
last night picked up front of the show Brian from the Airport, who,
3:45
through Big Top Ventures, was in Jamaica for a few days and when he
3:50
left there was no snow on the ground. I think it had snowed one
3:53
day a few days earlier, but like most of it had already started melting,
3:58
so when he left there was no snow on the ground. When he
3:59
came back, there was a ton of snow on the ground, like two
4:02
feet. It's like Elsa, like blue her magical fairy dust or whatever.
4:08
And we live in wherever Elsea lives. Oh no, I'm the worst.
4:15
I don't know where it is either. We're girl dads. We should know
4:16
this. We are anyways, Yep, there's a lot of snow on the
4:19
ground in Iowa. He also did not bring a coat with him, which
4:24
makes sense. He was only outside in the bitter zero deery cold, if
4:28
not colder, for like twenty seconds. But yeah, he was not happy
4:31
to be back in the bitter cold and snowy Iowa after spending some time in
4:36
Jamaica. And I wouldn't be either. That's rough. That's rough. You
4:44
know what else is rough? The Vikings not being in the playoffs. Yep,
4:48
that was rough. That was tough. I still watched a lot.
4:51
I didn't watch every game, and I didn't watch all of the games.
4:57
Most of the games I watch, I'm trying to think if I watched a
4:59
full one from kickoff to double Zeros, but I mean, I watched quite
5:02
a bit of playoff football. My wife will tell you that it was on
5:05
quite a bit. So it was sad not to see our beloved Vikings in
5:12
the playoffs. There's some surprising games, though, Yeah, And I think
5:17
what's worse than the Vikings not being in the playoffs is two NFC North foes
5:24
getting victories in the wild card round, one by a very narrow margin,
5:30
the narrowest you can get, and another by just a frustratingly huge margin.
5:38
And you wouldn't expect, no, the Packers to have won by such a
5:42
large margin. I guess the margin's not crazy, what sixteen points? But
5:48
they just manhandled the Cowboys from beginning to end. I didn't watch any of
5:53
the games in their entirety, but I caught snippets of them as I was
5:57
doing other things, and then watched highlights and listened to some various pundits and
6:02
things afterwards. But so, just to give a quick recap, the Packers
6:10
beat the Cowboys pretty good, forty eight to thirty two. They the Packers
6:14
will go to It's not technically San Francisco, but wherever they play, is
6:19
it Santa Clair? I think? Yeah, So the forty nine Ers will
6:23
host the Packers this coming divisional round the thing. Sorry, interesting side note
6:30
on the Cowboys because I just read this a few hours ago. Jerry Jones
6:34
announced today that they would not be moving on from Mike McCarthy. Yeah.
6:39
I saw it coming back because there was some question marks like is he gonna
6:43
especially with some of the names that are out there for a head coaching positions.
6:46
I mean, Belichick is one huge name, Yeah, Belichick, Vrabel
6:54
Flora, Carrol Flores. Yeah, I mean there's there's a lot of big
6:57
time names out there. And another interesting fact just about the Cowboys. I
7:01
guess we're turning this into a Cowboys podcast now, not over my dead body.
7:09
Since what was it nineteen ninety five when they won the Super Bowl last,
7:14
they've lost in the playoffs a lot. They've made it to the playoffs
7:19
a lot, but they have not made it back to the super Bowl since
7:23
that ninety five super Bowl. I thought you were going to say the stat
7:26
about how the Cowboys have less playoff victories than the Texans since the Texans became
7:36
a team, and the Texans they also won they beat who they beat the
7:43
Browns and a Lee Yeah, so yeah, since the Texans formed as a
7:47
team in like what two thousand and one, two and two somewhere in there,
7:50
they have more playoff victories than the Cowboys do in that same stretch of
7:55
time. Obviously, the Cowboys in their history have more, but still they're
8:00
they're not the top Texas dog in NFL teams. I guess that is an
8:03
interesting stat. I didn't know that. Yeah, But anyways, I thought
8:07
those two things were pretty interesting. That the Cowboys still can't find success in
8:13
the playoffs, and Jerry Jones is going to continue to put his trust in
8:16
Mike McCarthy at least for the time being. To and maybe more surprising is
8:22
the stubbornness by Jerry Jones. The GM, the owner will not fire the
8:26
GM the same person, and he has said before if another person were the
8:33
GM and had the same track record that he does as the GM, Jerry
8:37
Jones, he would have fired that person. But he's not gonna fire himself.
8:43
So yeah, But overall, Yeah, the Packers beat the Cowboys thirty
8:48
two or forty eight to thirty two. The Lions edged out the Rams twenty
8:54
four to twenty three. The Lions will host the Buccaneers in the Divisional round
9:01
that that was kind of a a heartfelt game for a lot of Lions fans,
9:05
a lot of booing of their greatest quarterback in franchise history. And I
9:09
don't quite understand that. I mean, And he didn't reciprocate in his press
9:15
conference either. No, Matthew Stafford, somebody asked him about it, and
9:18
he's like, yeah, I still love the players, the guys on the
9:22
team. But that was but he was he was kind of passive aggressively saying
9:28
like, no, I don't like the fans well, and you could you
9:31
could look at that and say, like, I mean, coaches, fans,
9:35
everybody involved, Like, I mean, he's good with the players because
9:39
he still probably has some former teammates on that team. Oh for sure,
9:43
there's a lot of turnover every year on NFL teams. What I would imagine
9:46
there's still more than a couple. But yeah, for the fans to just
9:50
outright boo him, it's not like he pulled a stuff on digs and like
9:54
pouted his way out of Detroit. I think he's still at least when he
9:58
was first did like charitable things in Detroit, and he was traded. When
10:03
you're traded, you don't really have unless you request a trade and go to
10:07
ownership and say I want out. It's really their discretion. I mean,
10:13
you could walk into the facility on any random day and get the news that
10:16
you're traded and have no no sole over that. Like that's just how it
10:20
goes. And I don't remember hearing any stories that he was trying to force
10:24
his way out or trying to make sure he got traded. I just think
10:28
the Lions had a valuable asset and they, you know, got some good
10:33
value out of that asset. And I mean, how can Lions fans and
10:37
they got a super Bowl winning quarterback in return? I mean, yet the
10:43
the Lions did no Goff attended near He brought his team to the Super Bowl.
10:50
Sure, okay, but he lost. Who was out against the Rams
10:54
and the Patriots? It was in our building? Okay, No, it
10:58
wasn't the Patriots, was it? Pretty sure? Man? It was a
11:03
few years before. It was twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen. It would have
11:09
been before Tom Brady left to go to Tampa. It was the Minneapolis miracle
11:13
year. Yeah, no, no it was not. Sean McVay has won
11:18
a Super Bowl and Jared Goff was his quarterback. No, Sean McVay has
11:22
won a Super Bowl and Matthew Stafford was his quarterback. Sean McVay went to
11:26
the Super Bowl with Jared Goff. And I'm wrong it was not the Minneapolis
11:31
Miracle year because obviously the Eagles won it that year. I think it was
11:33
the year before or maybe the year after. But yeah, I'm pretty sure,
11:41
pretty sure it was against the Patriots. Their super Bowl histories kind of
11:43
shaky. It's sorry, everybody, all right, TikTok, tell us how
11:48
wrong we are. We'll get straight on all that. Well educated. Let's
11:52
just kind of whistle past the Grave Vikings podcast. We know nothing about Super
11:56
Bowl? Ayah, right, what's a fran Tarkinson. The Buccaneers beat the
12:03
Eagles, which I very much enjoyed watching. And I know there's only so
12:07
much crap you can talk when your team didn't make the playoffs and looked terrible,
12:13
But I mean, did you see the video of the fan throwing a
12:18
whole bucket of popcorn on Nick Sirianni as he walked out, like you're done,
12:22
Nick, You're done. That just shows you how classless that fan base
12:26
is. Yeah, it's a game that you have no control over, like
12:30
it's a mess out there in Philly. Yeah, we're fans. We want
12:33
our team to win. We get actually upset if they don't, we get
12:37
actually happy if they do. But like I mean, we're just fans.
12:41
Like I don't know, maybe at home watching on my TV, I'll say
12:46
something like fire that guy, but like that's actually a person, like right,
12:52
I don't know, but yeah, I did see that, and that
12:54
fan is not a real fan. And Jason Kelsey has kind of I thought.
13:00
I saw he like announced his retirement and then on his podcast today or
13:05
yesterday kind of said like hold up, like nothing's for sure yet, I'll
13:09
let everybody know and do time. He even said something like it wouldn't be
13:13
fair or appropriate or maybe even accurate if I announced a decision right now,
13:18
Like I can respect that. Yeah, for sure. It was just interesting,
13:22
like all the rumors came out that he was going to retire and then
13:26
he did come out today and say, oh, well maybe and we'll give
13:31
it some more time and blah blah blah. I saw that the TikTok of
13:35
the New Heights podcast where he's he's kind of saying that and he kind of
13:39
that TikTok video kind of ended with him saying like, you know, if
13:43
other if he was retiring, other teammates coming to him and saying like,
13:46
oh that sucks, like it sucks for you to go out this way.
13:50
And he was pretty emotional, like don't don't feel bad for me, like
13:54
I've had a great run. It was phenomenal. And then he yeah,
13:58
you got understand to be emotional. Yeah. But yeah, he's a good
14:01
player. I think he's a good dude. I hate his team and his
14:05
team's fans, but like, I don't know, I can't think of any
14:09
reason to not be okay with him. Yeah, he's had a good career.
14:15
Yeah, and they got just destroyed by the Buccaneers. Yeah, and
14:20
a team that think back all the way back to before week one, episode
14:24
what like four of this podcast, we were talking about ramping up against the
14:28
Buccaneers. I talked a lot of trash. Yeah. I said something like,
14:31
yeah, the Buccaneers don't even know who their quarterback's gonna be. Well,
14:35
and I laughing. Last you know, I picked the Vikings to him
14:39
in week one. It was a surprise. I think most most everyone picked
14:43
the Vikings, but Baker is playing really well. He is playing himself into
14:52
a more secure, higher dollar contract than the what four million dollar contract he
14:56
got this season. I think the Buccaneers should re sign him. If not,
15:03
he'll get I mean, he's not gonna get fifty million dollars a year
15:07
from any team next year, But I don't know. Between twenty and thirty
15:11
is my guess. He's playing his way into some decent money agreed, agreed,
15:16
and maybe maybe an option for the Vikings if Kirk is overpriced or out
15:24
of range, or if he wants to move on. But that's that's a
15:26
talker for another time. Yeah, I can tell you right now, I
15:30
don't want all the drama that comes with Baker. I wouldn't mind it initially
15:33
because I don't think he's been too dramatic. It's been pretty quiet. He's
15:37
been pretty quiet lately. Yeah, but he has a history, oh yeah,
15:41
yeah, and that that would worry me, And that would be quite
15:46
the whiplash from from you know, Kirk Cousins, Yeah, to Baker Mayfield.
15:56
Very different. But yeah, again, talk for another time. But
16:00
I think he's a good option for any team that would be looking for a
16:03
quarterback. All Right, onto the AFC. The Texans, Now, this
16:10
was a beatdown. They beat the Browns forty five to fourteen. And I
16:15
unfortunately I didn't watch a minute of this game. I haven't even really seen
16:18
highlights, so I don't know how horrible it was for the Browns. But
16:22
man, that score tells you enough. This was the first. It was
16:26
the first of all of the playoff games. I think so was the early
16:29
game on Saturday. I didn't really watch much of this one either, but
16:33
yeah, just a beatdown and a rookie quarterback, rookie head coach. Yeah,
16:38
you gotta think the Texans are gonna be good even if they if this
16:42
is it, if this is the end of their season, they lose next
16:45
week, I mean because they go to Baltimore and that that's gonna be a
16:51
good game, honestly, So I hope Stroud continues looking good, the defense
16:57
continues looking good, because I want it to be a good game. I
17:00
still think the Ravens are They're in my mind, they're the one that are
17:03
gonna win the whole tournament. I don't know who can beat them, including
17:07
the Texans, but I hope for a good game. Yeah, And then
17:14
got the Chiefs owning the Dolphins more or less. I mean it was frigid.
17:19
I think they said it was the fourth coldest game in league history.
17:22
That's probably behind the twenty ten was it or No. Twenty fifteen TCF Bank
17:30
Oh yeah, where the field was literally frozen and yeah, yeah, I
17:34
mean, I guess I don't know where that game ranks. I think that
17:38
was third. I think there were two other games, the Ice Bowl Packers
17:44
and Cowboys in like the sixties or seventies. I was thinking of a different
17:48
TCF Bank Stadium game. You're talking of the playoff game wide left oh ten
17:52
to nine. I think I blocked that one out of my mind over the
17:56
Vikings. I think this Chiefs game was still slightly warmer than that from what
18:02
I understand. But anyways, Taylor Swift was in the press box, so
18:06
it doesn't really matter. She warmed the whole place up, sure, and
18:11
that she's cut the dub slightly. I don't know if it's a funny story,
18:18
but I remember we're from Iowa. I had a work training one time
18:23
in Texas, and at that work training, you know, sometime in the
18:26
week, everybody in the training kind of went out to dinner, and I
18:30
think it was in It was in like February time in Texas. It wasn't
18:34
one of their cold years. Somebody who was running the training we were in
18:37
a conversation about like differences and weather between Texas and Iowa and cold and what
18:42
cold really is to us, and they said something like when when does it
18:48
not even matter anymore? Like how cold does it have to be before?
18:51
Like you know, zero and negative one hundred aren't that different. I was
18:56
like, well, really, anytime past negative fifteen, and I really thought
19:00
about it, like that's when your eyes start kind of freezing. So yep,
19:04
if those players were experiencing that, Mahomes's helmet cracked as it was cold,
19:11
the manufacturer kind of came out with a long statement. I didn't read
19:14
it, but they were probably defending themselves. He didn't get a concussion so
19:18
that we know of. But yeah, it was cold. I would not
19:21
want to be even a spectator at that game. I jokingly texted you a
19:25
picture of ticket prices. Yeah, thirty three bucks. Ye you immediately,
19:30
I think it's the fastest you've ever texted me back. You said, yeah,
19:33
no, I'm out, Well, I'm out for the temperature, But
19:40
then the Vikings aren't playing either, so does it really matter at that point.
19:45
But speaking of another bad weather game, the Bills Steelers had to get
19:49
moved. Yeah, they were supposed to play on Saturday, they got moved
19:52
to Monday, and even playing on Monday, they still had snow everywhere.
20:00
I don't I think in most of the stadium you couldn't sit down in a
20:03
seat. Well, they just open it up. They said sit wherever you
20:06
want. You know, it's seats. Can you imagine that though, Like
20:08
what if you're like ten years old and your dad's like all right, let's
20:11
go, Like sure. I think all the tickets were pretty much general admission,
20:17
so it had to be cheap to get in, which is weird because
20:19
people probably already paid a lot of money for different tickets. I don't know
20:22
how that all worked out. Hopefully people got their money back. But yeah,
20:27
like you just you get to sit anywhere. Just go be there early
20:30
and set up shop and bring a stove or something if it's not out of
20:34
the rules. I saw a picture earlier today in some Vikings fan group on
20:41
Facebook of a referee on the field and another referee was like tending to him,
20:48
and the caption was it was like some playoff game in the sixties or
20:52
seventies maybe, and allegedly a fan at Met Stadium in Minneapolis through an empty
21:02
whiskey bottle glass whiskey bottle and hit the ref smack in the face from I
21:10
don't know how far away I mean. And at Matt Stadium you could be
21:14
pretty far away from the field because it was not great. It was a
21:17
multipurpose stadium in the stadium was long gone before we were born. But yeah,
21:19
but I've seen pictures and stuff and like, depending on where you're sitting,
21:22
your distance to the field is pretty far away. Yeah, because it
21:26
was, like you said, a baseball stadium too. The Twins played there
21:30
too, So anyways, just reminded me of the Bills Steelers, and like,
21:36
man, they just let anybody sit wherever they wanted to. Then anytime
21:41
a good play happened for the Bills, you just saw clouds of snow being
21:44
thrown up in the air. Yeah, that's cool, So the Bills will
21:48
host the Chiefs. I saw another funny meme that was it said, like
21:56
Taylor Swift walking into the nicest hotel room in Buffalo, and it was this
22:00
old lady like opening the door to a dingy, gross room, and the
22:03
old lady had this like grossed outlook on her face like that. I've never
22:07
been to Buffalo, but you hear the jokes. She'll make the trip the
22:11
day of. She'll stay in New York in her flat somewhere. She'll be
22:17
fine. Anyways, hold on, can we just take a time out.
22:21
I think we've talked enough about Taylor Swift on this podcast, cause we just
22:25
be done with that. Yeah, I mean, I don't have any problem
22:27
with her, but like I don't understand the hype. I don't either.
22:33
You can move on, all right, Let's talk about our favorite moments from
22:37
the season. I mean back to the Vikings. We Yeah, we've spent
22:41
far too much time talking about fourteen other teams that aren't the Vikings. Let's
22:47
talk about our favorite team and even though they're not playing anymore, Yeah,
22:52
let's talk about them. So you came up with the idea to identify our
22:56
favorite moments from the season. So favorite moment on offense, favorite moment on
23:00
defense, favorite moment on special teams. And to be clear, I stole
23:04
this idea. I was surfing YouTube and excuse me the Vikings official YouTube page.
23:14
Basically, they had a fifteen minute segment with Pa and Gabe Henderson and
23:19
Tatum Everett I think is her name where they did just this. So still
23:26
the idea, but I'd made note of some of their thoughts and how that
23:29
while they had great, great moments to choose from, I don't think we're
23:32
double dipping on anything here. So and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
23:37
So school, it's cool, all right? So first things, First,
23:41
favorite moments on defense? You start us off, all right. I
23:45
think my favorite moment on defense was the Jordan Love interception to Josh Mattelus in
23:53
the third quarter of the first Packer game. I was already very much trending
24:00
towards the Vikings direction in that game. Things were looking great. It's probably
24:03
the highest of high you know, that third quarter, fourth halfway through the
24:08
fourth quarter free snap yep, not football snap, but Achilles snap. But
24:15
we were we the Vikings were just giving it to the Packers at Lambeau.
24:22
Everything was coming up roses. That was definitely, for me, the highest
24:27
of the season, even after beating the Niners, I believe the week before
24:32
maybe not, but yeah, that that interception for Josh Mattellus, who was
24:37
a backup and this year he just flourished and blossomed into a starter and really
24:42
did well and he's like a second alternate for the Pro Bowl. Yeah,
24:48
that was my favorite favorite defensive moment. Was that just yanked give it to
24:52
me interception? Yeah, well it wasn't like he just leapt out of the
24:56
air and plucked the ball out of the air. Were he either caught it,
25:00
Yeah, nearly, and Mattelis took it away from him. Yeah,
25:04
if not for Metellus being there, like that would have been a completion,
25:07
Like it was probably good. Yeah, a good decision, could have been
25:11
a touchdown or you know, a tackle, depending on where Mettelis was if
25:15
not right there. But yeah, he just he'd give it to me.
25:19
He yanked it away. So yeah, what about you favorite defensive moment.
25:25
So mine's also an interception, but a different interception one that we were sitting
25:30
in these very chairs watching the game, and I moved my microphone out of
25:37
the way, I stood up and I gave you one of the best high
25:41
fives I think that we've ever given each other. Yeah, I still kind
25:45
of in our twenty plus year friendship. But that was the Ivan Pace junior
25:51
game ceiling interception against the Raiders. Yeah, that was such a good moment.
25:56
School school, cool school. You've admitted to blacking out in that moment.
26:02
Yeah, it was, And it was probably one of the only good
26:04
moments of that game other than the benching of Josh Dobbs. That's a good
26:08
moment, good defensive moment, but probably the last good moment the Vikings had.
26:12
It could be. But if you think about defense as a whole,
26:18
that was the best defensive game arguably the Yankings played all season long. Like
26:23
yep, the Vikings had been through the ringer. In terms of offense,
26:27
Kirk got hurt, Dobbs had two amazing games and then laid a couple of
26:32
eggs and got benched in that game, and Mullins came in in that game
26:38
like offensive side that game. The defense won that game. Oh yeah,
26:42
there was a three nothing victory for the Vikings and to pitch a shutout in
26:49
the NFL is phenomenal. So that interception is the cherry on top. But
26:56
I think that whole game, the defensive performance was incredib not to mention the
27:00
fact that the Raiders went on to score like what sixty something points the next
27:04
week crazy against the Chargers, like unreal. So yeah, and I believe
27:11
the idea of that defensive performance in that game as a whole was Gabe Henderson's
27:17
favorite defensive moment for the Vikings in that video I was talking about. So
27:22
definitely a good choice. Good choice. You went a step further to name
27:26
the whittled it down to a specific play. But yeah, to echo Gabe,
27:30
I guess I haven't watched that. It's a good one. You should
27:33
check it out. Yeah, I'll have to, But yeah, that play
27:37
just kind of is the cherry on top from that whole game, I think.
27:42
So all right, moving on offense, what's your favorite offensive moment from
27:48
the twenty three season? So I had to dig a little bit on this
27:52
one. Like, man, there were some good moments. There were some
27:56
bad moments. I didn't want to go with, like the the easy pick
28:03
of like Dobbs doing his thing in those two games or whatever, Like I
28:10
didn't want to, you know, worry about that or anything. We're getting
28:15
some action over there on TikTok that what you're looking at? Something popped up.
28:18
I didn't know what it was. Anyways, Yeah, so I was
28:26
I was trying not to like go with the those like fleeting moments. Yeah,
28:33
but for me, the Jordan Powell game winner touchdown and for me it's
28:40
not about winning the game. That was awesome, Yeah, but the reaction
28:45
from Kevin O'Connell afterwards, and like KOC telling him like, this is why
28:52
I brought you here and us being able to hear that as fans in the
28:56
sideline audio and stuff like I don't know, like the fourth wall was shattered
29:03
almost and it just kind of brought me into being on the sideline and like,
29:07
yeah, I mean I didn't really know Brandon Powell. I know he
29:10
played for the Falcons and he's kind of bounced around the league a little bit.
29:15
But yeah, that game winner was awesome. That was fun, and
29:19
it was the culmination too, if you really look back on everything, that
29:22
Falcons game was the first game after Kirk went down. Yep, So Vikings
29:29
fans weren't a whirl wind, the Vikings organization, everybody in Purple was an
29:33
a whirlwind overall. Because you go into that game with Jaren Hall as a
29:37
starter and he looked bad for one possession and then pretty darn good for another
29:44
one, and that ended with Jaren Hall going down and then you got to
29:48
put in a guy that's been on the team for four days or something like
29:52
that or like three minutes. Yeah, which wouldn't have happened if Nick Mullins
29:55
wasn't on. Ir Mullens only started that game, right, but yeah,
30:00
and then he just lights it up and just that was the pasture, not
30:04
game. That game was the most fun we had with Josh Dopps, and
30:11
that touchdown was the culmination of that. That is a good that's a good
30:15
moment, and it's not necessarily like credit to Josh Doapps, like, yep,
30:19
great great throw, and yeah, you had a great four quarters spread
30:23
across two games. But for me, it's more about Brandon Powell. Yeah,
30:30
kind of the undersized underdog kick returner, punt returner making something of himself.
30:37
Absolutely, and I think you know, we saw enough out of Jordan
30:41
Powell to consider bringing him back. Oh yeah, I was just about to
30:45
say that. I think, barring any big moves in the draft or free
30:49
agency, I think, yeah, he how many times this year would would
30:53
he go most of a game and be quiet and then the Vikings would need
30:57
like a third and four and out of no Brandon pal gets seven yards.
31:02
Like he for the most part, did really good. I think his low
31:04
point of the season was fumbling the punt return I think against the Eagles after
31:11
a big return. But after that, like, he did what you needed
31:17
him to do, no more, no less things that kJ Osborne has done
31:22
in the past. You know, he was just out of nowhere, just
31:23
kind of there when you needed something. And yeah, I agree, I'd
31:27
be on board with bringing him back unless they upgraded somehow through free agency,
31:33
or if Jalen Naylor really looks good coming into next season or something. I
31:38
don't know, but yeah, what about you your favorite moment on offense?
31:44
So I could be labeled unoriginal here because my favorite offensive moment is just moments
31:52
after my favorite defensive moment. This is also in the Packer game, third
31:56
quarter. The Vikings just got a huge game altering interception, and I should
32:05
remember this better. I think it was the very next offensive play, the
32:09
very next play, pretty sure you're right, Kirk throws a dart to Jordan
32:14
Addison for a touchdown, and I was that Jordan Addison's last touchdown this season.
32:22
I think he went he had a drought at least for a while.
32:24
No, because he had at least one in the Bengals game later on,
32:29
but he did Lambeau leap. He Lambeau leaped and then I think the next
32:34
drive or within the next few drives, Kirk, Yeah, got demolished.
32:39
But take nothing away from that that dart straight to Jordan Addison, to a
32:45
rookie who had been looking really good already that year this season. The decision
32:52
to just after a big play, take a big shot, that's a huge
32:57
That's what you want out of your coach to make that decision. Quarterback played
33:00
it perfectly, Random Powell or not, Brandon Pwell, Jordan Madison played it
33:05
perfectly. It was just it was awesome, and the cherry on top was
33:07
that it was against the Packers. Well, if you rewind the season back
33:12
to that moment and Kirk's injury doesn't happen, and JJ comes back fully healthy
33:19
before the bye, and you don't lose cam Akers and you never even have
33:24
to worry about picking up Josh Dobbs before the trade deadline, and your offensive
33:31
line stays immaculately healthy. Like you wonder where the Vikings would be right now
33:38
after wild card weekend. Yeah, I mean the Vikings almost assuredly would have
33:45
played wild Card weekend, and depending on how well they played down the stretch
33:51
in the season, they may they may have been boasting a game. Yeah,
33:55
they could have won the division. I mean, would have nothing actually
33:59
happen, and so it's all fairy tales. But yeah, you're right,
34:02
you rewind it to that moment him Jordan Addison catching that ball is probably the
34:07
happiest we were. That was our high. That's the peak of the season.
34:12
It's the high water mark for sure, and then everything went down.
34:15
We had a couple other lower peaks, but that that touchdown was the highest
34:22
of the season. After starting one and four, doom and gloom. Kirk
34:29
looks great, but we're gonna ruin the season, this awesome MVP like season
34:32
because the defense isn't working and then everything starts clicking. You play decent against
34:37
the Chiefs, you beat the Niners, You're kicking the crap out of the
34:42
Packers. Yeah, it's a good moment. Like if we could just live
34:47
in that moment forever, that'd be great. Thus is the existence of Vikings
34:52
fans, because I think I think it was you that tweeted like a reaction
34:58
to maybe I don't know if it was you, something about a few days
35:00
ago when we were all reacting to the anniversary of the Minneapolis Miracle and would
35:07
it have been the universary I don't know that came up and uh, you
35:13
said something like, it's pretty sad that that's the peak of my Vikings fan
35:19
hood. That wasn't me, It wasn't you, Okay, No, I
35:22
don't remember who it was. Yeah, I mean it's true, that's the
35:24
peak of most Vikings fanhood and when you were a freaking divisional round unless you
35:30
were old enough to live for those Purple people either days back in the late
35:37
sixties, early seventies when we were in the Super Bowl how many times.
35:40
But also those guys are long gone. Yeah, so I mean, yeah,
35:45
it's just that that's my my happy place. Of the twenty twenty three
35:50
season, we could just go back and I think it was Madden O nine.
35:55
They had this feature called Madden Moments or Madden Rewinds or something. Anyways,
36:01
it was a feature every game you got like two or three opportunities where
36:09
if you like through a big interception, you can like hit pause and go
36:13
I want to use my Madden rewind and it would go back to right before
36:16
that play, and then you could keep playing the game as if that play
36:20
never happened. Can we just have a Madden rewind for earlier in the season
36:27
against the Packers? If only it worked like that? Man, if only
36:31
it works like that. I'm realizing maybe we should have started with special teams
36:36
because I feel like offense and defense were good. Yeah, and honestly,
36:40
to me, special teams were kind of a dud this year, kind of.
36:45
I mean we had a couple of few splashes. I mean, as
36:49
we're gonna outline here a few splashes. Well, I'll let you go first.
36:54
Well, maybe I should go first because mine's a little more of a
36:59
like yours is better than mine. Okay, I'll go first. I mean,
37:04
it's your favorite special teams moment? Yeah, Well I put a question
37:07
mark next to it because I was just kind of like, I don't know,
37:12
like, what is a good special teams moment this year? You can't
37:15
really point to one season. It's fair to say is this a good moment?
37:20
You stole the only good one that I could think of. I could
37:22
think of a couple more, but this is not a bad one. Well,
37:27
I just I picked Greg Joseph's game winning field goal against the Raiders.
37:31
Okay, like they only score of the game, only score the game.
37:35
It came down to defense and special teams. Special teams got the points.
37:40
Yeah, good job. I don't even know how long the field goal was.
37:44
It probably wasn't that long. It was I think in the twenties.
37:47
But and I that that comes, you know, a week after kind of
37:52
dragging Greg Joseph through the mud last week when we were talking about free agents
37:57
and just saying like, yeah, he needs to go. He's one of
37:59
my gone I think he's not a guy worth keeping. Statistically he's not a
38:06
great kicker. But it was a good moment. Shoot, he put us
38:12
over the edge to beat the Raiders. School It's cool, all right.
38:17
Mine is a little more exciting. And you're right, I probably stole one
38:22
of the only great ones. But it was early on in the season against
38:25
the Chiefs. Vikings were set to punt and they ran a fake. It
38:30
was a direct snap, I believe to ty Chandler, who got I want
38:35
to say, like fifteen yards obviously the first down. Man, it was
38:39
so exciting, it was awesome. It was a great fake punt. They
38:44
went on to lose the game against the Chiefs, but that that was a
38:47
gutsy call and a good call. And obviously it's a good call because it
38:52
worked. If it didn't work, then it would have been a terrible call
38:53
and we'd be trashing Kosi right now. But they were in a similar play
38:58
against the Broncos. I think I think it was a direct snap to Chandler
39:01
again Monday night against the Broncos, and it worked. They thought there was
39:07
a penalty, right, Maybe I can't remember, but they also there was
39:13
one I think later on. I don't remember too much, but we were
39:16
a little distracted during the Broncos game. It's our first live stream. Oh
39:21
yeah, that's true. Shout out Tom Grassie. Yeah. But anyways,
39:28
I don't think special teams were that amazing this year. I hoped for more.
39:35
Greg Joseph proved that he's not a great kicker. Ryan Wright kind of
39:43
took a step backwards, not a step forward like we had hoped for.
39:47
And I really liked what Paul Allen had dubbed Ryan right with the plus sized
39:57
punter, size punter. So I'll be really sad if he leaves yeah,
40:02
because that was fun. But if he's not good, he's got to go.
40:07
I mean, the fact of the matter is punters and kickers, outside
40:10
of like long snappers, are the most easily replaced players on any team,
40:17
Not that you're gonna find an elite one all the time, but I mean,
40:22
if one's not working, it's not much to just kick him with the
40:27
curb and kick him to the curb and then try to find somebody else.
40:32
So I'm not going to kick him very far. The way they were kicking
40:35
this year, we very well could have a new punter and a new kicker
40:38
for next season, which may not be the worst thing in the world.
40:43
Yep. But well, let's keep hitting the rewind button and let's go all
40:49
the way back to the off season. And there were some pretty some pretty
40:58
big free agent pickups and some pretty big free agent departures before this twenty twenty
41:04
three seas before this season. Yes, so we spent a lot of time
41:07
last week talking about the lengthy laundry list of Vikings free agents going into the
41:13
twenty four off season. Guys that are about to be off the team.
41:16
Correct, how about contracts expire? We would like to spend some time talking
41:21
about how did the twenty twenty three season pan out for these free agents either
41:29
that were signed by the Vikings or that left the Vikings or maybe signed new
41:36
contracts with the Vikings. Yep. So just to kind of start off the
41:40
sionees, the guys that the Vikings brought in before the season. And this
41:47
may not be a comprehensive list. There's one name I'm not seeing that I
41:51
didn't write down, but off the bat, we had Marcus Davenport, Byron
41:54
Murphy junior, Garrett Bradberry pre agent signing because his contract had expired. Sure,
42:04
Dean Lowry, not deal Lowry like I've written down here, Alex Madison,
42:08
Josh Oliver, Brandon Powell. And then one that we signed during the
42:13
season, Dalton Reisner. You have that on this other sheet. Yeah,
42:16
on the other sheet. But so yeah, do we want to go through
42:22
those before we talk about anything else. Yeah, I mean maybe we could
42:28
just identify, well, we kind of did this last week, but I
42:32
can tell you right now the one that was the worst signing was Marcus Davenport.
42:37
Absolutely. Yeah. That's thirteen millions, thirteen million dollars the Vikings will
42:43
never get back one year thirteen million dollar contract, played in four games.
42:47
I guess he had three starts. I would have guessed less. He only
42:51
had two sacks and three solo tackles. For assisted tackles, yep. So
42:58
I get I got these stats from Pro Football Reference and stat that I did
43:02
not know existed before today. I guess it's not really a stat, but
43:07
Pro Football Reference attaches what they call the approximate value to players after a given
43:14
season, and I took that to mean they give a one digit rating.
43:22
Essentially, you know what it is. It's Moneyball, boiling things down to
43:27
one number. I'm just going to try to bring up Moneyball and as many
43:30
episodes as possible. I looked up that scene that I butchered a few episodes
43:34
ago, and I had the gist of it right, but man, I
43:37
yeah, I was way off. But anyways, the approximate value that Pro
43:42
Football Reference had for Marcus Davenport was a two, and I believe the lowest
43:45
you can get is a zero. And I think the only reason he got
43:49
a two is because he had a couple of sacks. But other than that,
43:54
injuries and maybe motivation his vikings career. Hopefully he has taken all the
44:04
money he will take from the Vikings. Let him be somebody else's problem.
44:09
But yeah, I guess to quickly go over him and stop me if you
44:13
have a good talker. Brandon Powell, he came in as a free agent.
44:17
He signed a one year deal for one point two three two five million
44:22
dollars one and a quarter million dollars. Yeah, we'll call it. I
44:25
mean the point two five million is still quite a bit of money. I
44:30
mean, what isn't that twenty five thousand dollars? Yeah, but he played
44:37
in all the games started two of them, had three hundred and twenty four
44:43
receiving yards and a touchdown. Did have a fumble. I think that's the
44:47
punt return fumble. Yep, an approximate value of three. Another big money
44:53
guy was Byron Murphy Junior. He signed a two year deal. I thought
44:59
it was three, but I guess it was two. The Vikings also like
45:01
to do void years which off to pull up. I think it's spot rack
45:07
where I was getting the contract numbers from, and they kind of do a
45:10
good visual representation of those void years off to pull that up and show you.
45:16
But yeah, he Byron Murphy. He was injured injured a little bit.
45:21
Fourteen games. He started all fourteen of those three picks. He's kind
45:25
of meh ish against the past quarterbacks had a ninety seven point eight passer rating
45:31
against him. His approximate value, according to profile Fall Pro Football Reference,
45:38
was five, and just seeing the numbers, I think anything five or above
45:44
is kind of like once you hit five, you're like, all right,
45:47
you're decent, Like maybe that's like a Madden seventy four or something like,
45:52
you know, like, sure, you're okay, Wow, Alex Madison,
45:55
that's a five. Yeah, which I don't know. Well, I mean,
46:00
yeah, he signed a two year, seven million dollar which, in
46:02
the grand scheme of things for a starter, you know, three and a
46:07
half million dollars for years, pretty decent. I think gertt Eric I think
46:10
Dalton Reisner got around that much money. Madison sixteen games, thirteen starts,
46:19
seven hundred yards off one hundred and eighty attempts. He did have thirty catches
46:24
for one hundred ninety two yards, and his only touchdown of the year was
46:28
a reception touchdown. But he had three fumbles, and I would have guessed
46:30
like four hundred fumbles, Like yeah, that well, he will historically go
46:37
down as the only Vikings leading rusher to not score a rushing touchdown. He
46:45
has you, as you mentioned, a receiving touchdown, but he did not
46:50
score a touchdown on the ground, and he will as of right now and
46:54
until someone else does it, he will be the only Vikings running back to
46:59
never score a touch down on the ground yet lead the team in rushing yards.
47:04
Yeah, that's crazy. I think he's got a lot of value as
47:07
an RB two And him specifically convinced me of the idea that like a running
47:15
back is a position, but like running back number one is a defined position,
47:21
and running back number two is also a defined position. You could have
47:25
the NFL's history's best running back number two, and maybe he wouldn't be a
47:32
great running back number one. And I think Alex Madison is a good case
47:37
of a good running back number two. And I think when you start to
47:42
delineate that position into those two different categories as a team, you have to
47:47
figure out is our RB one a first and second down back or are they
47:51
a third down back? Yeah? Where is their value found? And I
47:55
don't know that, I don't know. I think Alex Madison struggled to figure
48:04
out where he fit if that makes sense. Like well, and that goes
48:08
a little bit to coaching too, I mean, yeah, did they just
48:12
try to plug Alex into the same role Dalvin Cook was playing. I mean
48:16
they're two different guys. That's a mistake, yep, agreed, agreed,
48:22
And we saw some of those things resolved themselves when cam Akers was signed and
48:29
healthy. Yeah, and then he got hurt. Yeah, but even when
48:34
cam Akers was playing like he was the running back too, m Like it
48:39
should have been flip flopped, and it was pretty evident that that was the
48:43
case pretty early on, and they never made the switch, and they probably
48:45
should have just put Ty Chandler in from the get go maybe and who knows,
48:52
you know, maybe he's maybe he's the leading rusher if they would have
48:54
given him the job, yeah, or at least elevated him him to an
49:00
RB two type of situation right away. Yeah, So yeah, I guess
49:05
kind of going down the list as far as if a signing was good or
49:08
bad, I think we can say the Brandon Powell signing was overall good.
49:13
Yes, that tips the skills to the good. Marcus Davenport overall bad.
49:17
Byron Murphy, I'd say overall good. Like you had to say yes or
49:22
no, I'd say overall good. Garrett Bradbury. I was concerned for a
49:28
little bit after what the first drive, when he had that back issue flare
49:31
up again. He signed a three year, fifteen point seventy five million dollar
49:37
contract. He played in fourteen games, but missed three because of injury.
49:44
He started all fourteen of those, and his approximate value was six. I
49:47
thought there could be a point where he was done playing football. Thank goodness,
49:52
I was wrong, and thank goodness he kept He came back and was
49:57
not an issue. I think he's a high IQ guy. I still think
50:00
he's a little undersized at the position, and I still think there are plays
50:07
where he's out muscled just because he is smaller. But you gotta wonder if
50:15
there's some Jason Kelsey in him a little bit. I don't know that there's
50:22
I don't know that that's a phenomenal comparison. No. I mean, I
50:28
still think even now Kelsey is better. But I think I know what you're
50:31
getting at. I just I just think from a like, from a i
50:36
Q standpoint, from a like I'm gonna do whatever it takes. I'm gonna
50:40
gut it out. I like Bradbury a lot. I also think if Kirk
50:49
isn't the quarterback, that raises some question marks at the center position as well.
50:55
I think Kirk and Garrett have developed a lot of chem and that's why
51:00
Garrett has been so successful. There's a lot of trust there. But even
51:05
when Kirk went down, it's not like we saw a different Garrett Bradbury.
51:07
I think Garrett Garrett had a solid season, agreed, and we saw a
51:12
lot fewer of those obvious plays where he was just man handled this year than
51:16
we ever have before. I think this was his best year as a pro,
51:20
which is great because even with missing a couple of games for that scary
51:24
back injury, he came back. But yeah, I think he's good.
51:28
I'm gonna say for me, that's a good signing. And he's He's got
51:32
the highest approximate value according to PFR on this list of free agency acquisitions for
51:39
the Vikings. So they must, i mean, with their algorithm see something
51:45
in him. Yeah, I'd be interested to know how they come up with
51:46
that number. It's got to be a combination of like money and stats,
51:51
and yeah, there's there's some sort of mathematical equation going on behind the scenes
51:57
there. But other guys dean lower defensive lineman, two years, eight point
52:02
five million, he didn't play enough, No, he he got I think
52:07
he had two pretty significant injuries. I think he had like a quad injury
52:13
and also like a peck injury at a different point in the season. I
52:15
might be wrong on specifics of that, but I think twice he got knocked
52:21
down pretty hard. But even going back to our earlier episodes, I'm so
52:27
restless right now, I can't figure it out. You're good. I said,
52:31
you said that you weren't super impressed by that signing soon after they signed
52:36
him, and I'm I remind you, like, he's not a starter signing,
52:38
he's a he's a depth guy, which yeah, I mean for four
52:43
point twenty five million dollars a year, like that's that's a little bit more
52:45
than depth signing money. That's pricey, especially for what an interior defensive lineman
52:52
that played in nine games and only started four, Like that's a million dollars
52:58
to start right there. Yeah, but when you sign him, you don't
53:00
know he's gonna only two years, so half a million dollars to start.
53:05
But still, but yeah, four solo tackles ten assisted a value of two.
53:13
Yeah, just not. I think mostly injuries, but also maybe they
53:16
were thinking they were buying low on him and looking to see some good return.
53:22
But yeah, they didn't get it. So I'm going to say overall,
53:25
a bad signing so far. He's still got one more year in his
53:29
contract. Two more guys we haven't said yet, Josh Oliver tight end.
53:36
He got some big money, some surprising money for someone who wasn't a starter
53:40
previously. Three years, twenty one million dollars and I think at the time
53:46
ten of it was guaranteed. I think he earned that money, not his
53:52
receiving stats don't say that. But the hard part about the tight end position
53:57
is there aren't many stats beyond stats that indicate if you've done a good job
54:02
or not. I mean, you can kind of look at the overall rushing
54:05
numbers to try to see if they made an impact, but that is hard
54:08
to quantify. And I know there are some advanced stats, like you know,
54:13
if he's in on a run blocking or a pass blocking play and he's
54:16
the one of the blockers, like, there are some advanced stats. I
54:21
don't think with our limited budget, I don't think we have access to those,
54:24
but I think he proved that he's a good tight end. Is he
54:30
worth seven million a year? Maybe? Maybe. I think he's got a
54:37
lot to prove next year, but we may be relying on him quite a
54:43
bit, especially early on in the season. Yeah, if TJ Is still
54:45
out for a game or two rehabbing from his aco, it'll it'll be interesting,
54:52
But he could be You're right, he could be tight end number one
54:55
going into the twenty twenty four season. Absolutely, but yeah. And then
55:04
Dalton Reisner an in season signing, probably the biggest. He wasn't the only
55:07
guy they signed during the season, but probably the biggest name. My stomach
55:15
is going crazy. So he got a one year, three million dollar contract,
55:19
which I think was pro rated, so a little bit less than three
55:21
million, played in fifteen games, eleven starts. Took him really the Ezra
55:27
Cleveland injury to break into the not even the starting lineup on the field,
55:31
because before then it was like a couple of special team snaps here and there.
55:37
But once he got in, he looked great. A value approximate value
55:43
of five, which was pretty good. I mean, one of the higher
55:46
numbers on this list. And I think again, one of those more advanced
55:51
stats that he finished the season with was he didn't allow a sack or a
55:57
tackle for a loss. Yeah, at his position, so to me,
56:01
his approximate value of five is actually a lot higher than that. Yeah,
56:07
I'd put him up at a six or seven or an eight, and maybe
56:10
the same kind of play throughout seventeen starts and not eleven would bump him higher.
56:17
I don't know if that plays into the number. One of my honorable
56:22
mentions for best offensive play was his kick that he did. I think it
56:31
was I think Josh Dobbs had run the ball himself down the field. I
56:37
think this was against the Saints US Bank. Dobbs rushed to the ball and
56:44
Reisner just followed him down the field and just like there's the scrum that developed
56:50
around Dobbs and Reisner just pushed him like within the five yard line. I
56:54
mean they were it was first in goal. After that, Reisner gets up
56:59
and gives the little like rock and roll kick afterwards, the Chad Greenway kick.
57:04
Yeah, yeah, that was one of my honorable mentions for defensive Best
57:08
offensive moment would have been a good one. And then on the sideline he's
57:12
like, almost I need to be more careful. We made a little we
57:15
made a little TikTok. Yeah, so that was fun. But yeah,
57:21
I think Riisner is a guy that you got to bring back. For sure,
57:23
I'd love it. But I think he may be deservedly so pretty expensive.
57:30
Yeah, but we were kind of thinking that last season when because I
57:34
think the Broncos cut him before the final year is rookie deal and it was
57:38
kind of surprising. He was one of the higher named free agents on the
57:44
board at the time. And yeah, I'd be interested to know if the
57:49
Vikings ultimately gave him excuse me, ultimately gave him more money than he had
57:54
been offered elsewhere, and if he just waited it out thinking to get more
58:00
and maybe it didn't work out for him. But I want him. I
58:02
want him on on our team. He's a good player and he did well
58:08
well. Let's talk about free agents that left the Vikings. Some pretty big
58:15
names. I mean, yeah, and I kind of grouped these in with
58:19
some of the cuts the team made early on in the offseason or even throughout
58:23
the summer, because I added in like Adam Theelen and Dalvin Cook. Right,
58:29
But yeah, either way. I think all of these guys that are
58:34
departures, their contracts exceeded ten million dollars except for one that they got from
58:39
other teams. So yeah, do you want you wanna say the first name
58:45
we got on that list? It's bittersweet. You did give me gift me
58:51
his jersey? I did, yeah, several episodes back. But yeah,
58:54
Adam Thelen, longtime Viking, signed a three year, twenty five million dollar
59:01
contract with Carolina. Played in seventeen all seventeen games for the worst team in
59:07
the league that had rough with a rookie quarterback. He netted just over a
59:15
thousand yards, which says something when JJ played in ten games ten games and
59:22
netted more than Adam Thielen. Well, I mean, you're talking about two
59:27
different calibers of play. I know, I know, and Adam's getting old
59:31
and he's even said as much like he knows the clock is ticking, and
59:37
I would be surprised if he's I would not be surprised if he leaves Carolina
59:45
interesting in the offseason, would not be surprised. Four touchdowns approximate value of
59:53
eight though, So yeah, which is higher than I think most Vikings.
1:00:00
Again, I don't know what that means. I think, compared to most
1:00:02
Panthers, probably one of the more talented guys on their roster. So yeah,
1:00:08
anyways, tough to see that guy playing in a different jersey, especially
1:00:13
being the hometown guy that he is, being the Minnesota product, I mean
1:00:20
from beginning to last year. Yeah, Minnesota boy all the way through.
1:00:27
But at the time, I mean, it made sense for the Vikings to
1:00:30
move on. I'm sure they didn't offer him three years twenty five million.
1:00:34
I think he was slated to make something like twenty just this year from the
1:00:37
Vikings before he was cut, and he had had I think two full seasons
1:00:42
where he his numbers were pretty mediocre. The writing seemed to be on the
1:00:46
wall for the Vikings that it just wasn't there anymore. And for him to
1:00:52
go to another team and net a thousand yards one hundred receptions, I mean
1:00:59
those are good numbers. Four touchdowns is okay, but nothing great but the
1:01:04
yardage and there's the receptions for sure. He was probably like a good cornerstone,
1:01:10
mainstay for their Rockie quarterback Bryce Young. Yeah, I mean, I
1:01:15
guess I wouldn't be surprised if he moved on, but I don't know if
1:01:19
he's never been, at least publicly a guy that complains too much on the
1:01:24
field. He'll get emotional and try to, you know, yell at the
1:01:30
refs a little bit and before the other coach. Yeah. Yeah, But
1:01:34
I mean he seems to always be, you know, the pr guy.
1:01:37
The he's not in the news for complaining like I'm not getting the ball enough
1:01:43
or I need more money or anything. But so i'd be surprised if he
1:01:46
publicly like talked his way out of Carolina. But I mean, when you're
1:01:51
the best guy on the worst team, it's hard to hard to stick with
1:01:55
it. Yeah, And I think he's said as much in his kind of
1:02:00
postseason pressers too. I didn't I didn't see any of them. He just
1:02:04
kind of like it was definitely under the surface, like we'll see what happens
1:02:09
from here, you know, like who what stinks is. I don't think
1:02:15
there's even if he were, which he shouldn't. But even if he were
1:02:17
to say, like I'll take the veteran minimum, I don't think there's a
1:02:22
an obvious role for him back with the Vikings. I think their their receiver
1:02:25
room looks pretty good at least they're one and two, and then after that
1:02:30
you can fill in from there. But that does kind of stink that he
1:02:34
wouldn't immediately walk in as the one or two. So I don't think he
1:02:38
at the end of his career. He's probably still looking to win that Super
1:02:44
Bowl, which good for him. I hope he gets one. But yeah,
1:02:46
it does stink that he probably won't ever play for the Vikings again.
1:02:50
Yeah, he might bounce around and never get one. We'll see a couple
1:02:54
at Dalvins on the list. Here got Dalvin Cook who he was on the
1:03:00
team when we first started this podcast. He was It was like episode two
1:03:04
or three that he finally had been released and then he was a free agent
1:03:07
for a while. I think he was dealing. He had just had solder
1:03:12
shoulder surgery. There it is, and I think that kept him off the
1:03:17
field. But he seemed to luck into a beautiful situation with the Jets and
1:03:22
Aaron Rodgers and a great looking defense before the season, like it looked like
1:03:29
he was going to walk into a ring. And yeah, he signed with
1:03:32
the Jets one year, seven million dollars, which after the big story this
1:03:39
offseason, this previous offseason about running backs wanting to get paid seven million was
1:03:45
one of the higher ones. I think Saquon Barkley got something like ten million.
1:03:52
But other than that, I don't know who else made more than him,
1:03:53
more than Dalvin. What about Derrick Henry, I think he was was
1:03:58
he is on the end of his contract. Yeah, I don't think he
1:04:00
had to re sign or do anything. He may have been making more than
1:04:02
seven mitt Yeah, Dalvin just never never did anything with the Jets. I
1:04:10
think when he started one game, one game, or at fifteen games in
1:04:13
one start, sixty seven attempts, two hundred and fourteen yards. I mean
1:04:17
that's I think kay Akers had more yards for the Vikings than Dalvin had.
1:04:24
He caught fifteen balls for seventy eight yards, and he had or two fumbles.
1:04:29
I don't think he scored a touchdown this season and approximate value of one.
1:04:36
And I think Breise Hall was playing well for the Jets. The opportunities
1:04:41
just weren't there. I think the offense looked different than they thought it would
1:04:45
once the Rogers went down. It just never worked. But he did get
1:04:50
cut or released. I think he asked for his release, and I think
1:04:54
he's on the Baltimore practice squad right now. He could be making his way
1:04:59
towards Super Bowl. He still could, yeah, which is kind of crazy,
1:05:01
But yeah, I don't know. I think overall that was a good
1:05:05
release by the Vikings, and I think as much as it hurts the feeling
1:05:11
release, I think overall was a good release too, especially when you think
1:05:15
about Jordan Addison. Yeah. Yeah, well in the Vikings just needed to
1:05:20
clear cap space. That was the big thing going into the offseason in twenty
1:05:26
twenty three was there's just very limited money to do anything and running backs.
1:05:32
I mean, I should get it tattooed on my body. Don't pay running
1:05:35
backs. The other Dalvin Dalvin Tomlinson made by far the most amount of money
1:05:44
from any previous Viking. He got a four year deal for fifty seven million
1:05:48
dollars with Cleveland. Sixteen starts in sixteen games, what thirty twenty eight tackles,
1:05:58
twelve solo, sixteen assisted, four tackles for loss, three sacks.
1:06:02
He had an assessed or approximate value of nine, which I think is the
1:06:06
highest on all of this list. Yes, yeah, so he must have
1:06:13
had a lot of unsung non stat sheet stats. I mean, he's an
1:06:17
interior defensive lineman, so he's not gonna get a lot of sacks. So
1:06:20
three is pretty good. Yeah. I don't think he made a ton with
1:06:27
the Vikings before he left, so I was surprised when he initially signed that
1:06:30
big contract with the Browns. But seems like he's pretty good and the Browns
1:06:35
were a playoff team this year. I mean, yeah, so good for
1:06:41
him and hopefully continues to work out for him in Cleveland. Then we got
1:06:46
Patrick Peterson, cornerback who left the Vikings for the Steelers, where he got
1:06:53
a two year, fourteen million dollar contract. Another guy at the end of
1:06:57
his career. Probably, Yeah, I feel like he's gonna just kind of
1:07:00
stick around and watch. He's gonna announce his retirement tomorrow probably now that I
1:07:03
said that, But I feel like he's just gonna be like, Holy cow,
1:07:06
Patrick Peterson's been playing since I was in kindergarten. Yeah, he had
1:07:11
sixteen starts in seventeen games. Two picks. Did pretty good. I think
1:07:16
he had a better overall season than Byron Murphy. Definitely played more and was
1:07:23
better against the pass approximate value of six. But yeah, I don't I
1:07:30
don't know. Maybe the Vikings you got to think they had offered him a
1:07:32
contract, but maybe it wasn't seven million a year, or maybe they didn't
1:07:40
offer him because, like you said, they were kind of hurting for money
1:07:43
a little bit. Yeah, and he's he's one of those guys that he's
1:07:47
kind of in the same category as Adam Feeling like older, plays plays well,
1:07:53
still plays well, still can add value to a team. But I
1:07:59
don't know. It just push has to come to shove at some point,
1:08:02
and maybe he got shoved out. I don't know. Yeah, for sure,
1:08:09
a couple more Eric Kendricks he got cut. I think in March he
1:08:15
signed with the Chargers. He got a two year, thirteen point twenty five
1:08:20
million dollar contract, fourteen starts in fifteen games. He I think was out
1:08:27
during the game the Vikings played the Chargers in what week three. Yeah,
1:08:32
he had three and a half sacks, seventy nine tackles solo tackles, thirty
1:08:38
eight assisted, an approximate value of six. So he had an okay season,
1:08:43
pretty good season. Starter level was probably a bright spot on that Chargers
1:08:47
team. It did kind of stink when they cut him. I was a
1:08:53
little surprised when they cut him, but I think he was a cap casualty
1:08:56
for the Vikings. Seems like he can keep going with the Chargers. And
1:09:02
the last one we've got here is IRV Smith. Yeah, it's hand a
1:09:06
one year, almost two million dollar contract with Cincinnati. Played in twelve,
1:09:14
started six games, only, twenty six targets, eighteen catches, one hundred
1:09:18
and fifteen yards and a touchdown. I feel like there were several games that
1:09:24
TJ. Hokinson had, oh yeah, twice more than the so yeah,
1:09:30
an have approximate value of one. So not a big contributor in Cincinnati was
1:09:35
IRV Smith. I feel like he's just always been like I feel like he's
1:09:40
good. He just he's either been hurt or did opportunities haven't been there,
1:09:46
I guess. I admittedly don't know if he was injured this season. You
1:09:50
gotta think anytime your starting quarterback goes down that probably hinders your numbers. But
1:09:56
exhibit a. T J. Hockinson, he had almost one thousand yards even
1:10:00
after I mean not only after, but even with Kirk going down, so
1:10:04
in dealing with injury himself. Yeah, yeah, I just that's a good,
1:10:10
no sign a good I don't know was he cut or was he just
1:10:14
not. Did his contract run out for that, I don't remember, but
1:10:17
yeah, I hope the best for him, but man, it just doesn't
1:10:20
seem like he's ever going to get it started. We've got a few more
1:10:25
talkers here if we want to keep going. Yeah, the Vikings added some
1:10:29
players. Yep, let's go with the guys that they gave new contracts too
1:10:34
before the season. Yeah. So TJ, Yeah, probably the biggest,
1:10:42
oh, absolutely the biggest four years, sixty six million dollars and that paid
1:10:46
off, as you just mentioned, almost a thousand yards. He had five
1:10:49
touchdowns, started, eleven games played in fifteen dealt with injury, like I
1:10:58
mentioned a minute ago, but man, if he's healthy next year's he's tied
1:11:05
end number one. Absolutely. And I had made a point more than a
1:11:09
handful of episodes ago that maybe even in our first episode, maybe even in
1:11:14
the episode that we have yet to release utter a different name, that TJ
1:11:19
really fills that that Adam Thelen role, and I think his numbers this year
1:11:26
absolutely proved it. He had very similar numbers this year that Adam Thelen had
1:11:31
with Carolina this year as their wide receiver one, And if not for the
1:11:36
injury, TJ would have broken a thousand yards. He had nine hundred and
1:11:41
sixty. He had more touchdowns than theeling with Carolina, So yeah, he
1:11:46
definitely filled that thel in for the Vikings role. And overall, I think
1:11:51
it's a good signing and if he's healthy, it'll keep being a good signing.
1:11:57
He had one more touchdown, yeah than feeling another guy. C J.
1:12:01
Ham. You're the guy that you wanted the Vikings to cut. You're
1:12:06
not gonna let me forget that. I you did not want the Vikings to
1:12:11
cut him. He just said he could be a surprise one. He before
1:12:15
the season got a two year deal for eight point six five million dollars.
1:12:18
I thought it was a one year deal until I saw this today. I
1:12:21
thought they were kind of hyping this up as like his farewell tour. But
1:12:26
I think he's going to be back. He played in seventeen games. He
1:12:30
had five starts, He had one rushing attempt for seven yards, caught seven
1:12:36
balls for twenty five yards. His approximate value is zero, which is obviously
1:12:42
the worst you can get. I just think the Vikings don't utilize a fullback
1:12:48
in their offense. Yeah, and I think that's a product of Kevin O'Connell's
1:12:53
offense because I think prior to KOC, CJ. Ham was pretty active and
1:12:58
he would get quite a few carries, and he would be active out of
1:13:03
the backfield as a receiver. And I think the primary value of full back
1:13:10
brings you intoday's NFL is as a pass and rush blocker. Yeah, oh
1:13:15
yeah, And he may have been the best backfield pass blocker the Vikings had
1:13:20
this year, which only is probably more of a hindrance on Alex Madison than
1:13:25
anything else. He may not be back next year. Just what four million
1:13:31
dollars for a guy that won't produce, at least statwise a lot, especially
1:13:38
when when I mentioned what last week, if you have a good tight end
1:13:41
room, that kind of reduces your need for a good fullback. CJ is
1:13:45
a good fullback and if he's not on the team next year, he will
1:13:49
be in the NFL. He's just good enough to be there. He's probably
1:13:54
one of the better ones in the league. He's kind of a hometown hero
1:13:57
Tooly's from Minnesota, I think from Duluth, or at least at one point
1:14:02
was from Duluth. So yeah, he's definitely a guy that has a lot
1:14:09
of those hometown ties and a lot of people, including me, will be
1:14:13
sad to see him go. Absolutely. Yeah. So yeah, another contract
1:14:19
that was given out before the season, Josh Mittelis got an extension two years
1:14:25
for eight million dollars, which I think when he signed it they tacked it
1:14:29
on, so he had like three years left for like thirteen million dollars before
1:14:33
this season started. He started all seventeen games. He had one pick for
1:14:40
forty three yards, but he played every position pretty much. Five passes deflected,
1:14:47
four forced fumbles, which is a huge number, with one recovery,
1:14:51
two and a half sacks, seventy eight solo tackles, and thirty eight assisted,
1:14:57
which is a lot for a safety, but he played a lot of
1:15:00
non safety positions. His approximate value was six, but I really think he
1:15:06
felt like more than it should be a lot higher. Yeah, he was
1:15:11
a good player. He really blossomed this year, and I think that was
1:15:15
another scenario where Quac was giving out a contract thinking he was buying low,
1:15:21
and he did. He definitely, if Mittelis was an upcoming free agent,
1:15:26
he'd be ginning a lot more than four million dollars a year right now.
1:15:30
So good signing and The last one is none other than the hitman himself,
1:15:36
Harrison Smith. And he's one that we talked to even last week, like,
1:15:43
man, Yeah, we don't know what's going to happen with him.
1:15:45
Could be he could be gone, we'll see. But started all seventeen games
1:15:54
in a little bit of a downturn, I think in terms of on the
1:15:58
field production from the hit but I think what he gives to the team is
1:16:01
so much more valuable than just the numbers on the field. He's a leader
1:16:05
for sure. I mean just the play where Byron Murphy got an interception,
1:16:09
and it's because Harry was saying you you take it, you, this is
1:16:13
yours, when Harry could have easily picked it off himself. But we mentioned
1:16:16
him here because before the season, I think they may have approached him.
1:16:20
He's getting up there, a high salary player. He actually took a salary
1:16:26
reduction for this season by six point seven million dollars, So that's crazy.
1:16:31
Yeah, I think I looked it up. He's made almost ninety million dollars
1:16:35
in his career, which for safety, that's pretty good. That's really good.
1:16:40
I'm not gonna I wouldn't say no to that. So I think his
1:16:45
main concern isn't solely based on every dime you can get, even though I
1:16:49
always say NFL players should fight for every dime they can. But I think
1:16:54
he just loves being a Viking, and hopefully he can continue being a Liking.
1:17:00
Let's hope so. But we'll have to We'll definitely have to talk about
1:17:06
kind of like we did going into this season, like who stays, who
1:17:10
goes? Who could be a surprise cut? Yep, there are so many
1:17:15
variables, especially with twenty four plus. I think it actually changed. I
1:17:19
think we said there were twenty four free agents last week. I think it's
1:17:25
actually twenty five. Oh, I think we missed one. I don't know
1:17:28
who we missed, but I think our numbers were slightly off. Anyways,
1:17:32
we're not statisticians. No, we don't claim to be perfect. But gosh,
1:17:41
there's a lot that's gonna happen this offseason, and it'll be kind of
1:17:45
chaotic at times to track all that. But oh yeah, what do you
1:17:50
think should we talk about how the draft picks went now? Or should we
1:17:55
kind of save that for a closer to the draft episode? Thinking we should
1:18:00
that closer to the drafts and can kind of double up and talk about last
1:18:03
year's draft picks and how they impacted the team this year or didn't for some
1:18:11
of them, and then look ahead to what positions the Vikings need to draft,
1:18:19
that sort of thing, because that's definitely a big talker right now too
1:18:24
in the Vikings. Oh absolutely, sphere is what are we going to do
1:18:28
with the draft? And we're only where I think as of today, we're
1:18:30
ninety nine days away Oh yeah from the draft. So one hundred days yesterday,
1:18:35
ninety nine days away today. So just a handful of episodes before we
1:18:42
get to the actual draft. Yeah, and we're going to keep going at
1:18:45
least weekly through the Super Bowl up until the Super Bowl. Yep. Yeah,
1:18:53
We've got plenty to talk about, I guess is the point I'm trying
1:18:56
to make. So what did you think of the dang it? What's the
1:19:00
what's the name? The birch, the bear, the notch, the bear
1:19:04
from Big Grove Beer, the American Brown? Ale I liked it to hazel
1:19:13
nut chocolate, really good. Oh yeah, I would definitely try it again.
1:19:17
Yep. I don't think I've said I wouldn't try it again for any
1:19:21
of these beers that we've had but this one, for sure, I'll seek
1:19:24
it out. Definitely a solid Oh my gosh, I have point too.
1:19:28
Oh yeah, definitely so yeah, I would recommend five out of five,
1:19:33
ten out of ten, whatever your scale is, I would rank it up
1:19:36
there. Yeah, it's a good one. I like it. So all
1:19:41
right. Well we'll put the kabash on this one for today. Yeah,
1:19:46
and everybody reach out to us on our socials. We're everywhere at the School
1:19:51
Hop. Send us, send us an email. We still have some stickers
1:19:55
we want to give out. We still have a T shirt we're trying to
1:19:58
give away. Yep. Email is the School Hop at gmail dot com.
1:20:03
And yeah, just google us, you'll find us. We're out there.
1:20:06
We are, so all right. Well, good beer, good episode.
1:20:12
Yeah, thanks for joining us. Yep, till next time. School School
1:20:32
Hey vikings fans. Evan here from the School Hop and we just wanted to
1:20:35
say thank you again so much for listening to the School Hop. And we
1:20:39
also wanted to take one more opportunity to let you know that this episode of
1:20:43
the School Hop has been brought to you by Big Top Ventures. If you're
1:20:46
considering taking an all inclusive trip to either Mexico or Jamaica. Reach out to
1:20:50
our friends at Bigtop Ventures at Big Top Ventures LC at gmail dot com.
1:20:57
Once again, that's Big Top Ventures LC at gmail dot com. You can
1:21:01
get the lowest rate possible on several all inclusive resorts throughout the region. Big
1:21:05
Top Ventures step right up to your next big adventure and thanks again for listening
1:21:11
to the skull Hot Scull