Latest / The Skol Hop / The Skol Hop Interviews Dustin Baker!

Transcript

The Skol Hop Interviews Dustin Baker! · The Skol Hop

0:28
Speaker 1: All right, Hey, school hoppers, welcome back and thanks for
0:31
Speaker 1: joining us. We've got the distinct privilege of chatting with
0:34
Speaker 1: Dustin Baker tonight. Dustin writes over at Viking's Territory as
0:38
Speaker 1: well as creates content over at vikes Now, and we're
0:41
Speaker 1: fortunate to be able to do this about once a
0:43
Speaker 1: month with him, and we're glad that he keeps coming back.
0:46
Speaker 1: So Dustin, thanks for hanging out with us.
0:48
Speaker 2: Oh hell yeah. The last time we talked, it was
0:51
Speaker 2: like we're talking about a whole different activity. Because reasonable
0:55
Speaker 2: people like all three of us, I think pretty reasonable thought, Hey,
0:58
Speaker 2: this team will be pretty decent. Seven ten, eight nine.
1:01
Speaker 2: We're getting ready for the big year, which is twenty
1:03
Speaker 2: twenty five, and we can table all those chats. The
1:06
Speaker 2: big year is right now, my goodness. But yeah, I'm
1:09
Speaker 2: really excited to talk with you gents. Let's do it.
1:12
Speaker 3: Yeah. So I don't want to I don't want to
1:14
Speaker 3: pump my chest too much. But I did walk into
1:17
Speaker 3: the season predicting. When I predict eleven wins.
1:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, I thought you were nuts and I can see it.
1:23
Speaker 3: Everybody's they had that look in there. I like, okay, man, good,
1:27
Speaker 3: good for you. Eleven. I hope you're okay. I hope
1:30
Speaker 3: you're happy with that. But I mean, now I saw
1:33
Speaker 3: that you you put something out today that you revise
1:36
Speaker 3: the win total of it. It's more than eleven wins.
1:39
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, well that's one thing on my YouTube show,
1:42
Speaker 2: I very vividly for almost every episode there in August
1:45
Speaker 2: said seven and ten is my expectation. And in the comments,
1:48
Speaker 2: and I get it. It's the internet. They're like, hey, well
1:50
Speaker 2: you thought this team seven and ten. It's like, what
1:53
Speaker 2: am I gonna do? Just stick to my guns now
1:54
Speaker 2: and claim they're only seven and ten. Of course not,
1:56
Speaker 2: they're there are four games up on this. Of course
1:59
Speaker 2: I'm gonna revived. I'd be a dip shit that too. Absolutely,
2:03
Speaker 2: even stephn A Smith, you know, changes his mind from
2:06
Speaker 2: time to time. All right, well, I guess we can
2:09
Speaker 2: dive in a little bit. We came in with some
2:12
Speaker 2: topics here today.
2:14
Speaker 3: The Vikings, or at least koc kind of said that
2:17
Speaker 3: they're going to be opening opening up TJ. Hockinson's window
2:20
Speaker 3: of his practice window. I think it's like a three
2:23
Speaker 3: week window they get. So with TJ. Hockinson, when should
2:28
Speaker 3: we expect him back and what kind of a difference
2:32
Speaker 3: will you make on this, you know, star studded team.
2:34
Speaker 2: All of a sudden, about nine days ago, one of
2:37
Speaker 2: my guys messaged me, I should say one of my
2:40
Speaker 2: like the facto sources said Hawk back against the Rams,
2:45
Speaker 2: and I was like, I was like, oh, okay, we
2:48
Speaker 2: knew that he would the window would open. I think
2:50
Speaker 2: it's going to open Friday. But I think there was
2:53
Speaker 2: some momentum from some various vikings like outlets websites that said, hey,
2:58
Speaker 2: he'll be eligible come off week four, and I think
3:00
Speaker 2: some of us thought like, oh sweet week, fine, baby,
3:04
Speaker 2: fuck the game. But I think that was way too optimistic.
3:07
Speaker 2: So I think they strategically open the window or will
3:10
Speaker 2: open the window this Friday, which makes like the deadline
3:13
Speaker 2: so to speak, the day after the Rams game. So
3:17
Speaker 2: my source that the primary source is usually pretty right
3:21
Speaker 2: on these things, especially medical issues. He was the one
3:23
Speaker 2: that told me the night of the Hockinson had torn
3:25
Speaker 2: his ACL and MCL so yes, I would I would
3:29
Speaker 2: expect him for the Rams game. I guess there's maybe
3:31
Speaker 2: a puncher's chance that he could be back against the Lions.
3:34
Speaker 2: But I think that them opening up this window on
3:37
Speaker 2: this Friday is a little telling and then Hawkins daydreaming
3:42
Speaker 2: about Hockinson back. Is one of the many delights of
3:44
Speaker 2: the four and no Vikings because even when Jordan Addison
3:48
Speaker 2: was out, you know, we'd get on shows like this,
3:50
Speaker 2: but like who cares, you know, like after they beat
3:53
Speaker 2: the Texans and stuff like that, it's like, it'll be
3:56
Speaker 2: cool when Addison comes back. Look a much better we
3:58
Speaker 2: can be. And so that's where I'm at right now,
4:00
Speaker 2: where I'm like, Johnny Munt and Josh Oliver are doing
4:04
Speaker 2: a decent job. They're nowhere near the target hog that
4:07
Speaker 2: Hawkinson is. So I am flabbergasted that the Vikings are
4:13
Speaker 2: four to Oh they haven't had it based on the field.
4:15
Speaker 2: Dallas Turner was a non factor because he was injured
4:18
Speaker 2: two weeks ago, only paid fifteen eleven to fifteen snaps,
4:21
Speaker 2: And it just doesn't matter who's on the field. They're
4:23
Speaker 2: so well coached and things are going so right that
4:26
Speaker 2: it's a non issue for the personnel on the field.
4:30
Speaker 2: But when Hockinson comes back, I think that is really
4:33
Speaker 2: fabulous because then you'll have your big three and Jefferson,
4:36
Speaker 2: Addison and Howkinson and we've already proven that Hey, if
4:40
Speaker 2: Jefferson trains his ankle or Addison gets suspended or something like,
4:46
Speaker 2: you've got the depth to compensate for it. So it's
4:50
Speaker 2: going to take the offense to new heights. And I
4:53
Speaker 2: don't know how much higher the offense could even go
4:55
Speaker 2: because it's been so fantastic.
4:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, especially this year when we finally have Jalen Naylor,
5:02
Speaker 3: who I'm gonna knock on. Wood hasn't been, you know,
5:06
Speaker 3: habitually injured all season so far, and it's a short
5:09
Speaker 3: season so far, four games, but I mean he's just
5:12
Speaker 3: gonna pop open randomly because the big three year are
5:16
Speaker 3: gonna get all the targets and everything. So eventually we'll
5:18
Speaker 3: see a Jalen Naylor come in, and even if one
5:21
Speaker 3: of the other big three gets injured, he's he's gonna
5:23
Speaker 3: pop in there too, So that'll be nice.
5:26
Speaker 1: So with that kind of expectation that Hockinson's gonna come back, obviously,
5:31
Speaker 1: that's exciting. There's been a lot of news floating around
5:36
Speaker 1: the last couple of days. Devonte Adams wants out of Vegas,
5:41
Speaker 1: and the Vikings are a team that has been identified
5:45
Speaker 1: as one that he could potentially land at. I don't
5:47
Speaker 1: know how likely that is, but it seems like the
5:52
Speaker 1: Vikings have already hit a pretty high ceiling on the
5:55
Speaker 1: early season. Do they need to make any signings, any
5:59
Speaker 1: trades and so, Dustin, who would you recommend they pursue?
6:03
Speaker 2: Okay, well, on DeVante Adams the only way that they
6:08
Speaker 2: I don't know if they can be in the sweepstakes
6:09
Speaker 2: because they wouldn't be able to offer draft picks until
6:12
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six, when all these other teams can offer
6:14
Speaker 2: picks from twenty twenty five. He's spent a lot to
6:16
Speaker 2: get Dallas Turner, bless his heart, we think it'll be
6:19
Speaker 2: worth it. So Dante Adams would just be an obscenely
6:23
Speaker 2: embarrassing slew of riches. And or maybe they know that
6:26
Speaker 2: Addison's going to be suspended for sure for three games
6:29
Speaker 2: or whatever. But I just don't see that happening because
6:32
Speaker 2: we can be outbid. There is the Aaron Jones connection.
6:34
Speaker 2: I think he and DeVante Adams are buddy. So I
6:37
Speaker 2: would certainly love it the way this season is going, like, yeah,
6:40
Speaker 2: go ahead, why not? But in terms of guys they
6:43
Speaker 2: should sign, I keep coming back to Mason Cole. He's
6:46
Speaker 2: kind of a boring name. He played on the Vikings
6:48
Speaker 2: for was a year in twenty twenty one. Last year
6:51
Speaker 2: he had a sixty something PFF with the Steelers. He's
6:54
Speaker 2: a free agent and a knock on Garrett Bradbury among many.
6:59
Speaker 2: Depending on the is that his health hasn't been pristine
7:02
Speaker 2: in the last two seasons. And I would like them
7:05
Speaker 2: to have Mason Cole, who was a starter for the Steelers,
7:07
Speaker 2: on the roster. He should know the Vikings landscape and ownership.
7:11
Speaker 2: But you know that's just kind of ornamental. I'm sure
7:14
Speaker 2: Dan Feeney or whoever they Michael Jurgens, whoever they trotted
7:17
Speaker 2: out there, would do serviceable. Let's see, we're at an
7:20
Speaker 2: odd spot, one of the only times in my Vikings
7:23
Speaker 2: fandom of three decades where I can be like, we
7:25
Speaker 2: don't really need anybody. Screw the trades. Keep all the
7:29
Speaker 2: draft picks, free agents, we don't need them. But the
7:32
Speaker 2: roster depth really suggests that the team, the team is cooking.
7:37
Speaker 2: I would say, gun to my head a acquisition that
7:41
Speaker 2: would be sweet. I've heard the rumors about Dexter Lawrence
7:44
Speaker 2: being on the trade rumor mill. I think it's just
7:46
Speaker 2: a Vikings fan thing to say, why not come here.
7:49
Speaker 2: A few things that have to go right there. Why
7:51
Speaker 2: would the Giants want to get rid of like they're
7:54
Speaker 2: they have, like what two really good players right now?
7:56
Speaker 2: Why would they want to get rid of him? The
7:58
Speaker 2: Vikings would have to be willing to don't probably a
8:00
Speaker 2: first rounder, because Dexter Lawrence is only twenty six. He
8:03
Speaker 2: still has youth on his side. Now, the Vikings draft
8:06
Speaker 2: pick could be, you know, twenty five between twenty five
8:08
Speaker 2: and thirty two, so who really cares if you sell
8:10
Speaker 2: that off. So you'd have to have the Giants wanting
8:13
Speaker 2: to play ball trading him, the Vikings willing to donate
8:15
Speaker 2: a first rounder, and then the money would have to
8:18
Speaker 2: make sense. You'd probably either have to renegotiate his deal
8:20
Speaker 2: the moment he got here, or you get the clear
8:22
Speaker 2: cap space. But if there was a way to do this,
8:26
Speaker 2: I would trade the first rounder from next year for
8:28
Speaker 2: Dexter Lawrence because in all likelihood the Vikings are going
8:32
Speaker 2: to be shopping for an interior defensive lineman, and why
8:34
Speaker 2: not get a twenty six year old who's like the
8:36
Speaker 2: best nose tackle in football, a sure thing, rather than
8:40
Speaker 2: some dude from Michigan that you hope is good in
8:42
Speaker 2: twenty twenty seven, so I would endorse that. Otherwise, I
8:45
Speaker 2: would look for if you want to get deep into
8:47
Speaker 2: your trade bag, looking for any player, probably a corner
8:51
Speaker 2: a CB that played for Brian Flores. Josh Bryan and
8:54
Speaker 2: I talked about Jonathan Jones on the Patriots. He's been
8:57
Speaker 2: there since twenty sixteen, He's won two super bowl. The
9:00
Speaker 2: Patriots season is swirling down the tubes. They'll probably get
9:03
Speaker 2: Drake Mayon there before too long. But cornerback would be
9:06
Speaker 2: the only one where I would say, Okay, Quacy traded
9:11
Speaker 2: for so and so that kind of makes sense right now.
9:13
Speaker 2: The hodgepodge of Byron Young, Chack Griffin, and Steven Gilmore Gilmour,
9:17
Speaker 2: I love, they're doing fine, but those guys, one of
9:21
Speaker 2: those guys is gonna get hurt. And I don't think
9:23
Speaker 2: it'll be season ending, but we know from Mike Zimmer's
9:25
Speaker 2: old adage, cornerbacks always get hurt. So one of those
9:28
Speaker 2: guys is gonna get hurt before too long, and a
9:31
Speaker 2: Caleb Evans can probably fill in into Pinch. I think
9:33
Speaker 2: it would be cool to get a little extra depth
9:36
Speaker 2: and that insistence, and then I don't think they need
9:39
Speaker 2: any offensive line help, because whenever Dalton Reisner comes back
9:42
Speaker 2: to me, that is your trade or your free agent acquisition,
9:46
Speaker 2: as Dalton Reisner is in the house. So that's what
9:48
Speaker 2: I got for some potential names. And that's really just
9:52
Speaker 2: trying to have something to say, because right now, if
9:56
Speaker 2: they don't have any free agent moves or trades, I'll
9:59
Speaker 2: be like, well, yeah, the four and oh by the
10:01
Speaker 2: time the trade deadlines here, they could be what seven
10:04
Speaker 2: and one? Who knows.
10:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's really tough to identify weak spots on the
10:10
Speaker 1: roster right now. I think if I had to pick one,
10:13
Speaker 1: you might say the interior offensive line. And I like
10:19
Speaker 1: the idea of bringing in another center who's familiar with
10:22
Speaker 1: the organization. I think that's a smart move, especially considering
10:26
Speaker 1: Garrett Bradbury's health problems and he gets he gets bullied too,
10:31
Speaker 1: He kind of gets pushed around. So to see somebody
10:34
Speaker 1: that could maybe hold their own a little better would
10:37
Speaker 1: be encouraging for sure. But yeah, it's tough to kind
10:41
Speaker 1: of look around at this roster and go, yeah, we
10:44
Speaker 1: could get better.
10:47
Speaker 2: Yeah.
10:47
Speaker 3: And I think as far as cornerback, there's a couple
10:49
Speaker 3: of guys in the practice squad two that could you know,
10:52
Speaker 3: if somebody got injured, would automatically they'd be the first
10:55
Speaker 3: man up to kind of fill the roster out a
10:57
Speaker 3: little bit like Fabian Moreau. I guess he's on that squad,
11:01
Speaker 3: and he's famous for, you know, running with the ones
11:04
Speaker 3: like twelve hours after he signed with the team, So
11:06
Speaker 3: you never know what. They might just be comfortable with
11:09
Speaker 3: where they're at roster wise.
11:10
Speaker 2: And I would love to see Dwight Mclothin get some
11:14
Speaker 2: snaps before too long he's on the active roster. But yeah,
11:16
Speaker 2: that's a really good point on Babi and Moreau. I
11:18
Speaker 2: haven't thought about him since the Vikings just started winning games.
11:20
Speaker 2: It's like, you know, usually you'll ee the practice squad
11:23
Speaker 2: and kind of look at it, and now it's like,
11:25
Speaker 2: I'm focused on the four and oh in the regular
11:27
Speaker 2: season roster. But Fabian Moreau would be kind of like
11:30
Speaker 2: a makeshift acquisition as is, because a person like me,
11:34
Speaker 2: he has already forgot about him.
11:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. Well, and then you got guys on the
11:38
Speaker 3: street like I'm sure Duke Shelley wouldn't be.
11:41
Speaker 2: For the Giants.
11:42
Speaker 3: Oh did he did he sign with the Giants?
11:44
Speaker 2: I had another Yeah, he played. He played fifteen snaps
11:46
Speaker 2: on special teams on Thursday Night Football.
11:48
Speaker 3: Oh wow, I guess I should have knowne that. Well,
11:50
Speaker 3: that's what we got destined for, all right, Well, this team,
11:55
Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, we're talking about it. We're kind of
11:57
Speaker 3: surprised they're they're so good. Maybe we were too close
12:00
Speaker 3: to it. We've talked about how nobody really put too
12:03
Speaker 3: much into it. We thought six seven, eight, I thought eleven.
12:06
Speaker 3: But you know, however many wins, but at this moment,
12:10
Speaker 3: I'm surprised. I'm sure you guys are both surprised. What's
12:14
Speaker 3: the most surprising part about this this Vikings team, outside
12:19
Speaker 3: of obviously the wins.
12:21
Speaker 2: My most surprised emotion. And this will feel a little
12:26
Speaker 2: bit redundant, so bear with me. When we were when
12:28
Speaker 2: we were leaving the Houston Texans game, you know, twenty
12:31
Speaker 2: seven point beat down, the place was electric from like
12:35
Speaker 2: cover to cover. I remember walking out telling my wife
12:38
Speaker 2: and her friend who comes to all the games with us,
12:41
Speaker 2: we've got to a point like what we should have
12:44
Speaker 2: been doing that Monday morning is saying, damn it, we
12:46
Speaker 2: lost to the Texans. We didn't have Ivan Pace, we
12:49
Speaker 2: didn't have Dallas Turner, we didn't have TJ. Hawkinson, we
12:53
Speaker 2: didn't have Jordan Addison. I should have been bemoaning injuries
12:57
Speaker 2: instead I was they were a footnote. They were afterthought, like,
13:00
Speaker 2: oh cool, when Jordan Adison comes back, that'll be pretty spiffy.
13:04
Speaker 2: So I was higher on the roster depth this spring
13:09
Speaker 2: and summer than most, but I didn't think it was
13:12
Speaker 2: elite depth. You know. I didn't think Camu grugar Hill
13:18
Speaker 2: when if he comes in, there's no drop off whatsoever,
13:21
Speaker 2: Like he's making more plays than I have in pain,
13:23
Speaker 2: Like I can't. I can't believe we've hit a spot
13:26
Speaker 2: where it doesn't matter who comes in. And so it's
13:30
Speaker 2: a testament to Quasi Daffamenza's careful construction of the roster
13:34
Speaker 2: over the last three seasons. I went back and read
13:36
Speaker 2: his quote. I think it was right at the start
13:39
Speaker 2: of the off season where he said that we have
13:42
Speaker 2: to thread the needle this offseason, but this, if we
13:45
Speaker 2: do it right, this is when the competitive rebuild will
13:47
Speaker 2: be finished. And I remember thinking, this is a bold
13:50
Speaker 2: son of a bitch to say this. We haven't even
13:52
Speaker 2: drafted a quarterback yet. We know Cousins is leaving, but
13:56
Speaker 2: what he has done has made this Super Bowl contender
13:59
Speaker 2: in year three, which is what exactly you want to
14:02
Speaker 2: happen when you have a new general manager rebuild a
14:05
Speaker 2: team so from head to toe the vikings are deep
14:09
Speaker 2: and it might just be the coaches know how to
14:11
Speaker 2: use these like you know, average players. That's the only
14:14
Speaker 2: thing I can think of. That's the most surprising part.
14:18
Speaker 2: I think. The other surprising part is that they have
14:20
Speaker 2: been able to fix the run game like that after
14:23
Speaker 2: it was so pitiful and back to back seasons, especially
14:27
Speaker 2: last year when Madison could get nothing going. Having Aaron
14:31
Speaker 2: Jones get six yards per touch takes us back to
14:35
Speaker 2: the Dalvin Cook days of his prime twenty twenty and
14:37
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two. And that is the reason this offense
14:41
Speaker 2: is cooking is because Aaron Jones keeps everybody else honest.
14:45
Speaker 2: If we had some moron who was getting three yards
14:48
Speaker 2: per carry, Sam Darnold would have to wind back and
14:50
Speaker 2: throw it forty five times and he wouldn't be this good.
14:53
Speaker 2: This is the reason we're not talking about justin Jefferson's yards.
14:57
Speaker 2: We're not talking about him breaking the passing yard receive
15:00
Speaker 2: our record anymore. We don't care if you have a
15:02
Speaker 2: receiver who's going to potentially break that record. You're probably
15:05
Speaker 2: relying on him too much in the first place. So
15:08
Speaker 2: right now, Aaron Jones is like this complimentary part to
15:12
Speaker 2: how Kevin O'Connell likes to play. We know in his
15:15
Speaker 2: heart of hearts he likes to throw the football. But
15:17
Speaker 2: when you have Aaron Jones softening everything up, and then
15:20
Speaker 2: when ty Chandler comes in he's almost as effective. It
15:23
Speaker 2: makes everything so much more efficient. Where Donald has time
15:27
Speaker 2: in the pocket, he can feed his wide receivers. So
15:30
Speaker 2: I really commend them in year number three finally fixing
15:33
Speaker 2: this ground game because I was paranoid. I told you
15:36
Speaker 2: guys a couple months ago O'Connell would go on my
15:39
Speaker 2: personal hot seat if he couldn't fix this rushing thing,
15:42
Speaker 2: because no coach is ever going to do anything if
15:44
Speaker 2: you can't be at least average running the football.
15:47
Speaker 3: Yeah. Absolutely, well, and that's one reason I was kind
15:51
Speaker 3: of deflated a little bit when Cam Akers didn't actually
15:55
Speaker 3: sign with the Vikings. It's like, oh man, this running
15:58
Speaker 3: back room. I think I even said it too, you Dustin,
16:00
Speaker 3: there's a lot of bodies in the room. They're not
16:03
Speaker 3: lacking running backs. It's just outside of Jones and Chandler, like,
16:08
Speaker 3: there's not really anybody. And I'll be the first one
16:11
Speaker 3: to admit that I was wrong, at least so far
16:13
Speaker 3: that I didn't expect anything from Chandler Jones this year.
16:16
Speaker 3: I figured, you know, older running back. Yeah, he had
16:18
Speaker 3: his day, but he's gonna get injured. Maybe we'll get
16:22
Speaker 3: a couple. I think at one point I said, we'll
16:24
Speaker 3: get one one hundred yard rushing game out of him,
16:26
Speaker 3: and it'll look good once or twice, but then it'll
16:29
Speaker 3: quickly be done. Granted we're four weeks in. That could
16:32
Speaker 3: still be true, but so far he's proving me wrong
16:36
Speaker 3: like crazy, and I'm okay with that.
16:37
Speaker 2: You know what, we kind of forgot when we made
16:40
Speaker 2: that theory, which is totally fine. For years, Packers fans
16:44
Speaker 2: bitched about not using Aaron Jones enough. They really had
16:48
Speaker 2: him on a pitch count for his whole career there,
16:51
Speaker 2: they always had a number two, whether it was AJ
16:53
Speaker 2: Dillon or who was the dude before I can't remember
16:56
Speaker 2: his name now, but they always had somebody like for
16:59
Speaker 2: his career, Aaron Jones averages twelve rushing attempts per game.
17:02
Speaker 2: I think when you see somebody as productive of him
17:06
Speaker 2: as him, You think, oh, okay, well he's gonna be
17:08
Speaker 2: thirty in December. The tires are the tread on tires
17:11
Speaker 2: is totally cooked. But he was used sparingly in Green
17:15
Speaker 2: Bay compared to like, you know, a bell cow running back,
17:18
Speaker 2: and I think we're seeing the fruits of that. Like
17:20
Speaker 2: Dalvin Cook averages seventeen carries per game in his career,
17:23
Speaker 2: Aaron Jones is twelve. You might say, oh, that's five.
17:25
Speaker 2: That is an massive amount over seven seasons. So I
17:29
Speaker 2: think we are the benefactors. This is really sweet of
17:33
Speaker 2: the Packers not using Aaron Jones to his fullest and
17:37
Speaker 2: then just a byproduct later in his career is like
17:39
Speaker 2: go play for the purple team and then have him
17:41
Speaker 2: come beat you at lambeau Field. It's just so wonderful
17:44
Speaker 2: and it makes things all the better that he is
17:46
Speaker 2: like like this ultimate fan favorite, like that engages everybody.
17:51
Speaker 2: It's always happy. There's always some awesome story revolving around him.
17:56
Speaker 2: You know, whether he's got something in the player's tribune,
17:58
Speaker 2: or he's doing the bank, he's got the sombrero on,
18:01
Speaker 2: or he's given a press conference. It's like like the
18:04
Speaker 2: type of thing you want to have in your culture,
18:06
Speaker 2: in your locker room, like bees to honey.
18:08
Speaker 1: Yeah that letter, that letter that he wrote kind of
18:12
Speaker 1: an open letter to Packers fans. That was pretty cool too.
18:15
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed reading that.
18:17
Speaker 2: That was the first time in my life I'm gonna
18:19
Speaker 2: be forty one next week that I've I've opened up
18:22
Speaker 2: a thing of Packers content and not be like why
18:26
Speaker 2: I don't need to read this shit? And so I
18:28
Speaker 2: read it. I was like, God, this is really cool now.
18:30
Speaker 2: I read it because it was Aaron Jones who wrote it.
18:32
Speaker 2: But usually I'd see like, if what's his name, if
18:35
Speaker 2: Jordy Nelson or whatever would have written that, I would
18:39
Speaker 2: be like, yeah, I don't care about this, but so yeah,
18:42
Speaker 2: kudos to Aaron Jones for just being this ultimate stand
18:45
Speaker 2: up guy.
18:46
Speaker 1: I think another really surprising part about this Vikings team
18:50
Speaker 1: is that it hasn't really been like a one man
18:53
Speaker 1: or a two man show. It's been a team effort
18:56
Speaker 1: all the way around. Like every week on the defensive
18:59
Speaker 1: side of the ball, it seems like a different guy
19:02
Speaker 1: is leading the team in tackles or getting a handful
19:05
Speaker 1: of sacks, Like there's I think it was the Texans
19:08
Speaker 1: game that it was Blake Cashman and gosh, I'm blanking
19:13
Speaker 1: on all these names now, but it's just Grougier Hill.
19:17
Speaker 1: He had that interception last week against the Packers. It
19:23
Speaker 1: just seems like there's all these different dudes stepping up,
19:27
Speaker 1: even on the offensive side of the ball. We've already mentioned,
19:30
Speaker 1: you know, justin Jefferson's not breaking any receiving yards records.
19:35
Speaker 1: Sam Darnold, I think he found like what eight different
19:38
Speaker 1: receivers in the first half against the Packers. So I
19:42
Speaker 1: think that's another surprising aspect and also a really awesome
19:47
Speaker 1: aspect of this team, is that the love is being
19:50
Speaker 1: spread and everybody's contributing, and they seem to have just
19:55
Speaker 1: infinite amounts of depth on.
19:57
Speaker 2: Both It kind of feels like the twenty seventeen roster
20:02
Speaker 2: in that regard, like that roster because the defense was
20:05
Speaker 2: so good, like all the way through the season, like
20:08
Speaker 2: you'd be like, oh, hell yeah, Ben Gideon, he's a beast,
20:10
Speaker 2: like every guy on there, sindeo oh, he's a monster,
20:14
Speaker 2: you know, top tens, Like every guy was uplifted by
20:18
Speaker 2: everything around them. So I completely agree with you that
20:20
Speaker 2: it's always somebody new like Shack Griffin getting the pick
20:23
Speaker 2: six and almost scoring a touchdown, like every guy is
20:26
Speaker 2: stepping up. And the other part that made me Evan
20:29
Speaker 2: think of this, or what you said made me think
20:31
Speaker 2: of this is nothing is fluky or accidental or oh
20:36
Speaker 2: my god, we have to have the weirdest fumble on
20:39
Speaker 2: the goal lying by Josh Allen, NFL history, Like nothing
20:42
Speaker 2: feels like it's it doesn't. It doesn't feel like it
20:46
Speaker 2: has to come down to the wire and then maybe
20:47
Speaker 2: the other guy will miss the field goal and then
20:49
Speaker 2: the Vikings are gonna get luy because they're gonna have
20:51
Speaker 2: this perfect pass. They'll only get be caught fifteen percent. No,
20:54
Speaker 2: most of the wins are dominant, and they were cruising
20:56
Speaker 2: in that direction against the Packers until the damn punt return.
21:01
Speaker 2: But we lived through a season not long ago where
21:04
Speaker 2: almost every win was like, Oh, no way, I'm glad
21:08
Speaker 2: you went to that game, man, because that's the best
21:10
Speaker 2: game we've seen this season. Like every week was like that,
21:13
Speaker 2: and this week or this year it's the opposite. It's like, oh,
21:17
Speaker 2: we're going to see the Texans. They were gonna crush
21:19
Speaker 2: them by twenty seven. Oh, you're going to Green Bay,
21:21
Speaker 2: You'll be up twenty eight zero in the second quarter.
21:23
Speaker 2: So all of these wins seem convincing and we don't
21:27
Speaker 2: have to have I mean, this is why the Vikings
21:28
Speaker 2: are the best team in football per DVA right now.
21:31
Speaker 2: And in that season when they were thirteen and four,
21:34
Speaker 2: I'd pull up DVA. I think they finished like twenty
21:37
Speaker 2: sixth at the twenty sixth best team in football per
21:40
Speaker 2: DVA in twenty twenty two, and they had a thirteen
21:42
Speaker 2: and four record. That's how wonky that season was. It's
21:46
Speaker 2: cool to finally find a club that is dominant, and
21:51
Speaker 2: it's just so strange that outside of Austin's eleven and six,
21:54
Speaker 2: nobody could really see it coming. Like there wasn't. I
21:57
Speaker 2: can't think of anybody, high school friends, pundits that are like,
22:01
Speaker 2: oh these guys are they're going to NFC Championship. No,
22:04
Speaker 2: it was it was the fringe of society like Austin
22:08
Speaker 2: who thought they could get they could hit eleven and six.
22:13
Speaker 3: I would.
22:15
Speaker 1: I was just gonna add one more thing, like I
22:17
Speaker 1: would agree with you on like ninety eight percent of
22:19
Speaker 1: that Dustin. However, I think there are a few fluky
22:23
Speaker 1: things that have happened, like the field goal that doinked
22:28
Speaker 1: in for Will to thrill, and then against the Packers
22:33
Speaker 1: there's the field goal that doinked out, Like yeah, there
22:37
Speaker 1: does seem to be this element of things just are
22:41
Speaker 1: bouncing the right way for the Vikings as well, not everything,
22:45
Speaker 1: but in those key moments.
22:48
Speaker 2: My favorite thing about my favorite thing about the dwink
22:50
Speaker 2: from Will record is when you're kicking fifty nine yarders,
22:53
Speaker 2: you're supposed to dwink the crossbar. You're not supposed to
22:56
Speaker 2: just for like to show off like this this upper
23:00
Speaker 2: crust of the goal both. So, yeah, that was so awesome.
23:05
Speaker 2: I could believe it, Like it's like, oh, so we
23:07
Speaker 2: got a dog like that that can just yeah, I'll
23:09
Speaker 2: bag it through, shitty it through from fifty nine To
23:12
Speaker 2: have it hit the upper part of the goal post,
23:14
Speaker 2: my goodness. Yeah.
23:15
Speaker 3: And I wonder if he if he was slightly inaccurate
23:19
Speaker 3: on that because he really tried to give it all
23:21
Speaker 3: the leggie could. Yeah, because man, that had the distance
23:25
Speaker 3: for like, I wonder does ESPN or do NBC still
23:28
Speaker 3: do that? Like it would have been good from this
23:31
Speaker 3: far out? Like I wonder what that kick really would
23:34
Speaker 3: have been good for but it seemed like it could
23:36
Speaker 3: have been a seventy yarder. Yeah, just fin it barely.
23:39
Speaker 3: It almost didn't, like it almost went above the crossbar,
23:42
Speaker 3: Like that's insane? So is I keep going back? Because
23:47
Speaker 3: the last time the Vikings started off this good was
23:51
Speaker 3: Sam Bradford's you know, one full starting year twenty sixteen
23:57
Speaker 3: when they started off was it five?
23:58
Speaker 2: And oh yep?
23:59
Speaker 3: And the week six we done famously ended eight to eight,
24:04
Speaker 3: missed the playoffs. But is it that lack of consistent flukiness? Yeah?
24:09
Speaker 3: And then you are right, there have been a couple
24:11
Speaker 3: of like weird things that have gone the Biking's way,
24:13
Speaker 3: but it hasn't been a consistent flukiness like twenty twenty two.
24:16
Speaker 3: Isn't that lack of consistent flukiness that is making this
24:20
Speaker 3: year different than twenty sixteen? Like? Do we have more hope?
24:24
Speaker 3: I guess is what I'm trying to ask.
24:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have the hope for certain now. No, there
24:30
Speaker 2: aren't many Vikings fans that I know that will be
24:32
Speaker 2: absolutely shocked if they just face plant, like starting the
24:36
Speaker 2: Sunday or something. We'll just be like, oh, yeah, of
24:38
Speaker 2: course that's gonna happen. But I don't necessarily endorse a
24:45
Speaker 2: fear that's close to twenty sixteen because that team could
24:49
Speaker 2: not run the football whatsoever. Adrian Peterson torres meniscus sound familiar,
24:55
Speaker 2: and he missed most of that season. They leaned on
24:58
Speaker 2: Jack McKinnon to Matt Asciata, both of their hearts. It
25:01
Speaker 2: didn't really work. That was like the worst rushing season
25:03
Speaker 2: in Viking's history per efficiency. So they were getting away
25:08
Speaker 2: with stuff on defense and the special teams in that
25:10
Speaker 2: during that five min oh start kick return touchdowns. I
25:13
Speaker 2: think Marcos Cheryl's had a punt return. I think that
25:16
Speaker 2: very first game against the Titans in twenty sixteen, they
25:18
Speaker 2: had two defensive touchdowns. So we were riding a lot
25:22
Speaker 2: of momentum. Like that team was really good for five weeks,
25:25
Speaker 2: but it didn't have all facets Like you didn't You
25:29
Speaker 2: didn't know that once Bradford was coming into the huddle,
25:32
Speaker 2: like all right, we're gonna go down and score. He's
25:33
Speaker 2: gonna hit at us and he's gonna hit Jefferis. You
25:35
Speaker 2: didn't have that guarantee in your in your bones. This
25:38
Speaker 2: team so long as Darnold doesn't turn into a pumpkin,
25:42
Speaker 2: which I don't think he will. They're just more complete,
25:46
Speaker 2: and yeah, they'll have some of those breaks like Ryker
25:49
Speaker 2: getting the goalpost on a fifty nine yarder. But the
25:54
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen team, I think collapsed because the borrowed time
25:59
Speaker 2: of good luck on defense the special teams was coming
26:02
Speaker 2: to an end. And I think all three phases of
26:05
Speaker 2: the Vikings enterprise would had to have been lucky up
26:08
Speaker 2: until now. And I don't feel that at all. When
26:10
Speaker 2: I'm watching these games. I'm like, man, we're good. Man.
26:13
Speaker 2: I just can't believe we'll get a real test whenever
26:17
Speaker 2: it is. Some team is going to slap the Vikings
26:20
Speaker 2: in the mouth in the first quarter and get up
26:21
Speaker 2: fourteen to nothing and we're gonna be like, oh, we
26:24
Speaker 2: have to play from behind. That is when we'll know
26:27
Speaker 2: if this team can compete with the Chiefs in the
26:29
Speaker 2: super Bowl or probably what the forty nine ers deep
26:32
Speaker 2: in the NFC playoffs. They had a little brush of
26:34
Speaker 2: adversity when the Packers started getting on their bullshit on Sunday.
26:38
Speaker 2: But what I want to see, and it's weird to
26:41
Speaker 2: endorse this, it's kind of like I want to I
26:42
Speaker 2: want to see will record miss a field goal?
26:44
Speaker 3: Soon.
26:44
Speaker 2: I don't want to know. I don't want it to
26:45
Speaker 2: be impeccable into the playoffs, and I want him to
26:48
Speaker 2: be human. It was cool to see the Packers come
26:52
Speaker 2: back to an extent because the Viking has got a
26:54
Speaker 2: chin check. They got busted in their chops and got
26:57
Speaker 2: a bloody lip and said, all right, now we gotta
26:58
Speaker 2: go finish this thing. Sooner or later, some team, maybe
27:01
Speaker 2: the Lions, after the bye, is going to jump out
27:04
Speaker 2: and then we're going to figure out if Darnold can
27:05
Speaker 2: play from behind, because he's certainly and we know we
27:08
Speaker 2: can play with a lead.
27:11
Speaker 3: Well, I hope it's not against the Lions because that's
27:13
Speaker 3: the one game I'm going to get to go to
27:15
Speaker 3: this year. So yeah, hopefully that's just another another blowout
27:18
Speaker 3: win for the Vikings. And school Hopper is really quick.
27:23
Speaker 3: Dustin basically just rehashed one of his entire recent articles
27:28
Speaker 3: on Vikings Territory dot com where I asked the one
27:32
Speaker 3: question that all the Vikings nation is asking right now,
27:36
Speaker 3: not twenty sixteen. So Schoolhopper's friendly reminder, go check out
27:40
Speaker 3: Vikings Territory, checkout Vikes now. Obviously Dustin does really good work,
27:44
Speaker 3: and you did write that one. Okay, I was really
27:47
Speaker 3: concerned for half a second that you weren't the one
27:49
Speaker 3: to write that, But either way, it's still Vikings territory.
27:51
Speaker 3: So I think we have a few more questions if
27:54
Speaker 3: that's our right.
27:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've got one here, and we could maybe kind
27:59
Speaker 1: of go around the horn here and kind of give
28:02
Speaker 1: our thoughts on this, but we've already kind of alluded
28:07
Speaker 1: to all of this. Dustin, you did a great job
28:10
Speaker 1: of kind of summarizing the last several years of quasi
28:15
Speaker 1: a dopa mensa as GM. He's done a really good job,
28:20
Speaker 1: I think of building this roster and getting the Vikings
28:23
Speaker 1: to a point where they can be really competitive. Kevin
28:27
Speaker 1: O'Connell has looked to me like a Coach of the
28:30
Speaker 1: Year candidate. He's called really really good games. He's put
28:34
Speaker 1: Sam Donald in a lot of really good positions to
28:37
Speaker 1: make good plays. And Sam Donald himself has looked really good.
28:43
Speaker 1: And Sam Donald has started to garner some attention when
28:49
Speaker 1: it comes to JJ McCarthy. What do the Vikings do
28:52
Speaker 1: moving forward? They keep Sam Donald and let JJ sit.
28:56
Speaker 1: Do they just move on from Sam Donald and hope
28:59
Speaker 1: that Jay is just as good? Do they do some
29:02
Speaker 1: sort of in between. So maybe what we could do
29:07
Speaker 1: is go around the horn and make a prediction who
29:11
Speaker 1: gets extended first, Quac koc or Sam Donald? And why?
29:21
Speaker 2: All right, I can start. I told you guys this
29:23
Speaker 2: was going to happen, that Sam Donald was going to
29:25
Speaker 2: play too well, that we were going to have debates
29:27
Speaker 2: about are you going to be Pearl McCarthy or pro Donald.
29:30
Speaker 2: I didn't think he played this good, but I swore,
29:33
Speaker 2: I said on every show that I was on that
29:35
Speaker 2: was my bull. Prediction was going to line up on
29:37
Speaker 2: fault lines because Donald is too good to bench. And
29:40
Speaker 2: here we are prediction so this isn't what I want.
29:45
Speaker 2: Prediction would be that Kevin O'Connell is first. But if
29:48
Speaker 2: they wait until the offseason, it would be a package
29:51
Speaker 2: deal with Quacy a doalfamensa. If they can get into
29:54
Speaker 2: the postseason. That's I think that is the the low
29:58
Speaker 2: like the thing, the bar that they would clear to
30:01
Speaker 2: get an extension as getting into the postseason because they
30:03
Speaker 2: weren't supposed to. Oddsmaker said, you guys are gonna win
30:06
Speaker 2: six point five games Donald, My goodness, that one is.
30:10
Speaker 2: That's gonna be a debate. It depends on how far
30:12
Speaker 2: they get in the playoffs. Knowing how the Vikings do things,
30:18
Speaker 2: I think they will find a way to hedge the
30:21
Speaker 2: bet and have both guys. It'll get on my nerves
30:25
Speaker 2: because unless he gets to the super Bowl, I'm ready
30:28
Speaker 2: to go to JJ McCarthy, Sam Donald. If he gets
30:32
Speaker 2: the Vikings to the NFC Championship and plays like a
30:35
Speaker 2: baller in that game, he's gonna get like forty million
30:39
Speaker 2: dollars from the Titans or the Raiders or somebody's And
30:42
Speaker 2: if the Vikings take the plunge on that, we are
30:45
Speaker 2: right back to where we were talking about his Kirk
30:47
Speaker 2: cousin's worth this money. And I have the utmost faith
30:52
Speaker 2: in JJ McCarthy that I don't think there would be
30:55
Speaker 2: a huge, huge dip between Donald and the upside of McCarthy.
31:00
Speaker 2: McCarthy will take years to get into his prime, but
31:04
Speaker 2: knowing how O'Connell is so loyal to his players, I
31:09
Speaker 2: guess that I would. I bet you they figure out
31:12
Speaker 2: a way to do both, which is have them both
31:14
Speaker 2: back and then you basically, you know, having your cake
31:17
Speaker 2: and eat it too. I'm not excited for an off
31:20
Speaker 2: season of Donald and McCarthy, and I would rather McCarthy
31:24
Speaker 2: just get the nod, But I totally understand it, especially
31:27
Speaker 2: if Donald tunnels deep into the postseason. I don't know
31:30
Speaker 2: if they would if they lose in the wild card
31:34
Speaker 2: again of something. I don't know if he would have
31:35
Speaker 2: that much sizzle around him. What do you guys think?
31:38
Speaker 3: Well, Dustin, I was going to ask, and we can
31:41
Speaker 3: come back to this question, the original question, but I
31:44
Speaker 3: was going to ask, like, because I'm I'll say it,
31:47
Speaker 3: I'm in the camp of at this moment, I'm definitely intrigued,
31:50
Speaker 3: but it's resigning Sam Donald and you kind of answered
31:53
Speaker 3: it a little bit. But what is the the can't
31:57
Speaker 3: turn back from here moment where it's like, well, now
32:00
Speaker 3: we have to sign Sam Donald. Is it that Super
32:04
Speaker 3: Bowl win or anything less than that, then we just
32:07
Speaker 3: let Sam Donald, you know, get his forty fifty somewhere
32:10
Speaker 3: else or if it is it the NFC Championship game,
32:14
Speaker 3: where where does he need to go for Testin Baker
32:16
Speaker 3: to say I need him to come back.
32:19
Speaker 2: So again I will pound this on. This is all
32:21
Speaker 2: about money, Like, yeah, if Donald wants to come back
32:25
Speaker 2: next year for fifteen to twenty million, great, yeah, let's
32:28
Speaker 2: do it. But he's going to be able to parlay this.
32:31
Speaker 2: This was the plan I think from him all along.
32:34
Speaker 2: Why he told San Francisco, No, I can probably go
32:36
Speaker 2: start for a year in Minnesota with a quarterback whisperer.
32:39
Speaker 2: So for me to say, all of that cap space
32:43
Speaker 2: that you all of us have talked about, that would
32:46
Speaker 2: all go to Sam Donald and there would only you
32:49
Speaker 2: have to clear all kinds of other caps, like contracts
32:52
Speaker 2: the boy years to get money for free agency in
32:55
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five. If they get there, win the Super Bowl,
32:59
Speaker 2: I mean I I I will give him my house
33:02
Speaker 2: and I don't really care what he what the Vikings
33:04
Speaker 2: do after that. I will just be happy. I still
33:07
Speaker 2: can't get like friends like who are Broncos fans who
33:10
Speaker 2: are just bemoaning? All yeah, they're talking like you had
33:13
Speaker 2: it fine, stop bitching for forty million probably getting to
33:21
Speaker 2: the super Bowl. I might be different than your viewers.
33:25
Speaker 2: I trust Kevin O'Connell to groom JJ McCarthy, and I
33:30
Speaker 2: think McCarthy can get us back to that standard within
33:33
Speaker 2: a year or three. I would love Sam Donold to
33:37
Speaker 2: be a part of this team indefinitely, but he's not
33:39
Speaker 2: going to be the first guy that just becomes a
33:41
Speaker 2: humanitarian and you know, throws what forty touchdowns he might
33:45
Speaker 2: be on his way to. Now, what would you do
33:48
Speaker 2: with Austin if he faced plants and round one of
33:50
Speaker 2: the playoffs.
33:52
Speaker 3: So I just said that, I'm definitely, as of this moment,
33:55
Speaker 3: very intrigued by the idea of keeping him. Yeah, I'm
33:59
Speaker 3: usually go for the sure thing, then go for the
34:02
Speaker 3: first round draft pick. Oh okay, but if if he
34:07
Speaker 3: were to, if it was solely based off his performance
34:10
Speaker 3: and he came out and did what Kirk Cousins did
34:13
Speaker 3: in twenty twenty two against the Giants, then you know
34:16
Speaker 3: that's okay. We let him walk here in his paycheck
34:19
Speaker 3: thank you for a really fun season. Because then it's like,
34:22
Speaker 3: all right, now we got this JJ McCarthy, who is
34:26
Speaker 3: a bona fide championship winner. And again, like you just said,
34:30
Speaker 3: koc is the quarterback whisper for me though, if if
34:34
Speaker 3: Donald is the reason that on the field, reason that
34:38
Speaker 3: the Vikings make a deep playoff run, and who knows,
34:41
Speaker 3: I mean Joe Flacco did it and he you know,
34:44
Speaker 3: was elite for the Ravens and they won a Super Bowl.
34:47
Speaker 3: If if Sam Darnold does something like that, and if
34:50
Speaker 3: they win the Super Bowl, I'd be really hard pressed
34:54
Speaker 3: to say, Okay, thanks goodbye. I would want them to
34:58
Speaker 3: absolutely re sign him because, yeah, you say J McCarthy
35:02
Speaker 3: could get to that same level in one to three years,
35:05
Speaker 3: which you probably absolutely right. JJ McCarthy is an awesome
35:08
Speaker 3: quarterback from what we've seen in college. But this team,
35:12
Speaker 3: if it has a Super Bowl window, maybe that window
35:16
Speaker 3: closes because of the defense and not the quarterback play.
35:20
Speaker 3: But if you can keep it together for a couple
35:22
Speaker 3: more years, I'm not saying give Sam Donald a ten
35:25
Speaker 3: year contract. I'm saying eventually we do still go to
35:29
Speaker 3: JJ McCarthy. But if they were to go to or
35:31
Speaker 3: win the Super Bowl, I would be I'd want to
35:34
Speaker 3: run it back for at least one to two more
35:37
Speaker 3: seasons with Sam Donald if.
35:39
Speaker 2: Possible, and then we would do the Packer thing that
35:42
Speaker 2: some have endorsed is like, just tell McCarthy like, you
35:44
Speaker 2: will be the guy. It's is not going to be.
35:46
Speaker 2: Go read Jordan Love's book, Go read Aaron Rodgers' book,
35:50
Speaker 2: like there's president. I think that's probably what we'd have
35:52
Speaker 2: to do. It would just be so weird. Vikings never
35:54
Speaker 2: Bikings never do that, But yeah, I could get behind that.
35:57
Speaker 2: It's just that free agency will be a big splat
36:00
Speaker 2: because Donald will have taken that. I mean, I guess
36:04
Speaker 2: they can take that note out.
36:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, they've they've kind of got the core signed right now,
36:10
Speaker 3: like you talk about, yeah, we free agency would be
36:12
Speaker 3: done like we wouldn't. You're not signing some other guys
36:16
Speaker 3: that you signed this past offseason. But as of right now,
36:18
Speaker 3: you got Van Ginkle for at least one more season
36:21
Speaker 3: after this year, right You got Grenard for I think
36:23
Speaker 3: he signed a four year contract. You locked up JJ
36:27
Speaker 3: or Justin Jefferson, You locked up Darrisaw, which we were
36:30
Speaker 3: all kind of surprised by how quickly that deal got done.
36:33
Speaker 3: That could be a huge blessing in disguise that we're
36:35
Speaker 3: not talking about, oh crap, we got to save money
36:38
Speaker 3: for Darrisaw. Now, like those guys are already locked up.
36:40
Speaker 3: That corp is already locked up. So I mean, if
36:44
Speaker 3: Donald is the guy that gets us there, then yeah,
36:47
Speaker 3: you can. You can get there with the core. You
36:49
Speaker 3: can keep that window open for as long as possible,
36:52
Speaker 3: especially when you think about guys like Grugier Hill, who
36:56
Speaker 3: is like a one million a year guy who all
36:58
Speaker 3: of a sudden his first play got a interception, Like
37:01
Speaker 3: seems like the coaching staff can get stuff out of,
37:05
Speaker 3: you know, these regular dudes. Like you just said, one
37:08
Speaker 3: caveat would be if Flora's left and then we don't
37:11
Speaker 3: know what the defense is doing. If the team pelt
37:13
Speaker 3: part this year, then you know, sell it's the farm
37:15
Speaker 3: for a flashy quarterback.
37:18
Speaker 1: That's actually a really good point. And I think he
37:21
Speaker 1: might be a guy that we left off of this
37:23
Speaker 1: list of you know who do we extend. Obviously, if
37:27
Speaker 1: he gets a head coaching nod, I think all of
37:31
Speaker 1: us would expect him to pack his bags and go
37:34
Speaker 1: wherever he gets that opportunity. But yeah, Brian Flores is
37:39
Speaker 1: a very big part of this four and oh success
37:42
Speaker 1: that we've experienced so far. On the Sam Darnold thing,
37:47
Speaker 1: I would say, I'm definitely a have your cake and
37:50
Speaker 1: eat it too kind of guy as well, Like I
37:52
Speaker 1: would love to see him stick around if he continues
37:56
Speaker 1: to be as successful as he's been through four games
38:00
Speaker 1: and let JJ continue to develop behind him, And you know,
38:04
Speaker 1: I think if that's the if those are the two
38:07
Speaker 1: guys going into the twenty five season, I think you
38:11
Speaker 1: let I'm blinking on his name, Nick Mullins. You let
38:17
Speaker 1: Nick Mullens, or maybe he's your emergency practice squad QB
38:23
Speaker 1: three kind of guy, but JJ's healthy, you elevate him
38:29
Speaker 1: to that QB two And yeah, that's kind of where
38:33
Speaker 1: I sit on this. But I think if I were
38:37
Speaker 1: to extend one of those three, the initial three that
38:40
Speaker 1: I started this topic on, I think Kevin O'Connell is
38:46
Speaker 1: already deserving of that extension. I don't know how coaches
38:53
Speaker 1: contracts are dealt out necessarily, and honestly, I don't know
38:57
Speaker 1: the full details of his current contract, but if we
39:01
Speaker 1: look back on what he's done in just a few seasons,
39:05
Speaker 1: he made the playoffs his first year and last year,
39:09
Speaker 1: he was a really good coach through some really difficult circumstances,
39:14
Speaker 1: losing his starting quarterback, losing arguably the best wide receiver
39:19
Speaker 1: in football, and making do with you know, some kind
39:26
Speaker 1: of hodgepodge players that we picked up from different places.
39:32
Speaker 1: Those past Grenade games were really fun to watch. So
39:36
Speaker 1: I think now that he's got his quarterback, he's got
39:41
Speaker 1: the offensive weapons back, Kevin O'Connell, like I said earlier,
39:46
Speaker 1: is really deserving. I think of the Coach of the
39:49
Speaker 1: Year already four games in, and if the Vikings keep
39:51
Speaker 1: pace with what they've done. To me, he's kind of
39:55
Speaker 1: a shoe in for that award, and I think that
39:57
Speaker 1: elevates him to the top of my list for an extension.
40:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess so, Dustin. I have one one last
40:09
Speaker 3: question for you. We don't have to belabor it, but
40:11
Speaker 3: I just kind of came up with it after one
40:13
Speaker 3: of the questions earlier. We're all surprised, you know, fans
40:17
Speaker 3: and media and everybody the whole world surprised by the
40:21
Speaker 3: Vikings and their performance so far. And again, there are
40:24
Speaker 3: four games in. This whole thing could go south and
40:27
Speaker 3: they could lose every other game continuing on. I don't
40:30
Speaker 3: see it, but they look really good. So everybody's surprised.
40:33
Speaker 3: Do you think on some level, Quac Koc, the whole
40:38
Speaker 3: coaching staff, do you think they're surprised or are they
40:41
Speaker 3: just datus quote like you gotta think like at some point,
40:44
Speaker 3: like you gotta think, holy cowl, I didn't expect Sam
40:47
Speaker 3: Donald to play this good, or dang, the defense is
40:50
Speaker 3: really great. Like do they just know that they were
40:53
Speaker 3: going to be this good? Or are they just as
40:56
Speaker 3: surprised as we are.
40:57
Speaker 2: All right, so they I don't know if quarterback or
41:02
Speaker 2: excuse me, if head coaches look at the schedule and think,
41:05
Speaker 2: all right, we'll be three and one by week four,
41:07
Speaker 2: and then they know like we do. Brian McKinney says
41:09
Speaker 2: that players do. I don't know what coaches do. I
41:12
Speaker 2: think that they would certainly tell you that they expected
41:16
Speaker 2: some semblance of this success. But the only undercover advantage
41:22
Speaker 2: they have is they would have been able to see
41:25
Speaker 2: Sam Darnold a lot sooner than we did. So as
41:28
Speaker 2: soon as they got him into mini camp or you know,
41:31
Speaker 2: O'Connell will infinitely be better at being a head coach
41:35
Speaker 2: than we ever will be. And so if he was
41:37
Speaker 2: able to see in the tape, like god, this guy
41:40
Speaker 2: is so good, I know he could win in my system.
41:44
Speaker 2: Perhaps they knew that Donald would make this team this good,
41:47
Speaker 2: and then when they got to the spring and summer,
41:50
Speaker 2: we're like, holy crap, this guy is the real deal.
41:53
Speaker 2: You remember you look at look back now, Cameron buying
41:55
Speaker 2: him and June was talking about winning the Super Bowl.
41:57
Speaker 2: I remember like laughing while I was writing the article.
41:59
Speaker 2: I was like, Oh, this guy's a rich Man, and
42:02
Speaker 2: so the players were chirping about it all summer, like, yeah,
42:06
Speaker 2: we think this is a Super Bowl contender, and it's like, no,
42:08
Speaker 2: you don't. You don't have to lie to us, fellas.
42:11
Speaker 2: So I bet they knew that they were going to
42:14
Speaker 2: contend for the NFC North. I don't know if they
42:18
Speaker 2: would have said, oh, yeah, we're gonna be four and
42:20
Speaker 2: oh through this Murderer's role of opponents. The Vikings have
42:24
Speaker 2: like the third hardest schedule in the NFL, and they
42:28
Speaker 2: are making it look like they have the third easiest schedule.
42:31
Speaker 2: On a couple of our episodes, we talked about that
42:34
Speaker 2: if the Vikings can just get to the Indianapolis Colts game,
42:39
Speaker 2: maybe three and five, if they're feeling frisky four and four,
42:44
Speaker 2: because then the schedule gets easy. And it looks even
42:47
Speaker 2: easier now that we have a month of the football
42:49
Speaker 2: in the books. You have the Colts who look mid
42:52
Speaker 2: the Titans who look like shit, the Jaguars who look
42:54
Speaker 2: like shittier. The Cardinals look right in the middle of Oh,
42:57
Speaker 2: they could be fun. The Falcons to me beatable, the
43:01
Speaker 2: Bears look like shit. Like so the schedule is going
43:04
Speaker 2: to get super navigable. And so I'm excited that all
43:10
Speaker 2: of these things have happened, Like, Hey, the roster is deep,
43:12
Speaker 2: all the run game is fixed, all of the fun
43:16
Speaker 2: stuff has happened against a gauntlet of Murderer's Row opponents.
43:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, that very very true. Points. Haven't you got anything else?
43:27
Speaker 1: No, that just makes me really excited to watch their
43:29
Speaker 1: of the season's go.
43:30
Speaker 3: Yeah.
43:31
Speaker 2: I want to say one more thing, talking about if
43:34
Speaker 2: I'm forced to warm up to Donald for forty five
43:38
Speaker 2: to fifty million and then McCarthy because he was so
43:42
Speaker 2: damn young. But let's say we're gonna do this Donald
43:45
Speaker 2: thing for let's see twenty another season. By the time
43:50
Speaker 2: we'd ask for McCarthy in twenty twenty six, he would
43:55
Speaker 2: be younger right now than Michael Pennix is in Atlanta.
43:58
Speaker 2: That's how young McCarthy is. Like, he turned twenty one
44:01
Speaker 2: last January. So by the like, let's say the Vikings
44:06
Speaker 2: wrap their arms around that plan and they convinced McCarthy like,
44:09
Speaker 2: don't get disgruntled, and you're gonna be our guy no
44:11
Speaker 2: matter what. You're gonna sit for another year. On top
44:14
Speaker 2: of this, he would take the football in the huddle
44:16
Speaker 2: at age twenty three, and that's not like some big
44:19
Speaker 2: sin like, oh my god, I had to wait till
44:21
Speaker 2: I was twenty three. Most quarterbacks that come out are
44:23
Speaker 2: either twenty two or twenty three. So it's just another
44:26
Speaker 2: thing that works out beautifully is McCarthy was like the
44:29
Speaker 2: youngest quarterback in this draft, and if we're forced to
44:32
Speaker 2: have this this situation, I was like, well, damn Sam,
44:35
Speaker 2: Darnald's an MVP, so we have to keep his ass.
44:38
Speaker 2: We can convince McCarthy because he's so young to wait
44:41
Speaker 2: around like he's until he's twenty three.
44:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess the only thing I hate about that
44:46
Speaker 3: hypothetical situation is in theory, if it's one or even
44:50
Speaker 3: two more seasons with Darnald, then by the time you're
44:55
Speaker 3: going to jj McCarthy, he's already pretty pricey at that point.
44:58
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, and then you gotta make it this decision
45:00
Speaker 3: real quick. If like the Packers had to do with Love,
45:03
Speaker 3: it wouldn't be one season, I don't think, but it'd
45:05
Speaker 3: be real quick that if you're going to resign the guy,
45:08
Speaker 3: and you don't resign franchise quarterbacks for cheap anymore, not
45:11
Speaker 3: that you ever could, but the expensive looks way more
45:14
Speaker 3: expensive than it ever has, and it we'll just keep
45:16
Speaker 3: getting higher. So that's the only thing I don't love
45:18
Speaker 3: about that hypothetical situation.
45:20
Speaker 2: That's that's the reason I was ready for McCarthy if
45:23
Speaker 2: his meniscus was intact, I was ready for him to
45:25
Speaker 2: play this year is because you got five years to
45:28
Speaker 2: get this right, when that quarterback is guaranteed to be cheap.
45:31
Speaker 2: And then when you start chipping these years off, like, oh,
45:34
Speaker 2: meniscus is bad. Oh, we're going with Donald for a
45:36
Speaker 2: year or two, then you got to hurry up and
45:38
Speaker 2: win in three years because McCarthy will probably be what
45:40
Speaker 2: the first seventy seventy five million dollars quarterback by the
45:43
Speaker 2: time that comes around could be.
45:45
Speaker 3: That's that's the way the timeline sticking out.
45:49
Speaker 1: Sorry, Evan, what I would just add one more thing
45:52
Speaker 1: on that. I think that's what makes the Sam Donald
45:55
Speaker 1: situation so sneaky interesting is because he's also pretty young. Yeah,
46:00
Speaker 1: we're not talking about a thirty something year old Kirk Cousins.
46:03
Speaker 1: We're not talking about Joe Flacco coming off of the
46:06
Speaker 1: bench for the Colts this last weekend when Anthony Richardson
46:10
Speaker 1: went down. We're talking about a relatively young. What is
46:13
Speaker 1: he twenty seven years old and still has a lot
46:15
Speaker 1: of life in him? Quarterback? And so I think that's
46:18
Speaker 1: why the debate is so hit or miss, like there's
46:22
Speaker 1: not a clear answer which one is better at this point.
46:25
Speaker 1: And Sam Darnold is playing really really well.
46:27
Speaker 3: So yeah, all right, Dusin. We really really appreciate every
46:33
Speaker 3: time you come on. We love having you on. I
46:35
Speaker 3: really love this groove of you know, every few weeks
46:38
Speaker 3: or a month that you come on, it's great. Is
46:41
Speaker 3: there anything you want to plug before we wrap anything up?
46:44
Speaker 2: Nope, Mom, sounds great.
46:46
Speaker 3: Yeah, Skullhoggers, don't forget King's Territory dot com kes now
46:50
Speaker 3: go check out Dustin and all this stuff.
47:00
Speaker 1: I think at a at aint at.
47:11
Speaker 3: At at
47:16
Speaker 2: At a