Can Minnesota Vikings STILL make playoffs? Can JJ McCarthy STILL be a franchise QB?

Can Minnesota Vikings STILL make playoffs? Can JJ McCarthy STILL be a franchise QB?

Purple Daily is daily Vikings entertainment. I just want the Vikings to win a Super Bowl before we die. I will ride with this group. Seriously, man. Please. And away we go. Hello and a happy Thor’s Day to all who celebrate Thor Nestrom from Matthew Barry’s fantasylife.com making his weekly appearance. And we have a lot to talk about going into this week five game. the, by the way, we did an injury report episode with Doogie, which you can find on the Purple Daily feeds, and it’s like if it’s like if the NFL, if the Vikings had like just thrown a phone book sized injury report down for everyone to dissect. So, you can get into that on the Dookie episode before we get in with our Thursday shenanigans. Jud, MSP Plumbing, Heating, and Air Conditioning can’t fix your rickety offensive line, but they can fix your rickety HVAC system. It definitely can. And guess what, folks? I know it’s been warm outside, but it is going to get cooler and it’s going to get downright cold. 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So, business owners, especially if you are a next generation or younger business owner, Federated uh works with you, small to medium-siz businesses, but they help you protect your company’s reputation, workplace, employees, and financial assets with customized insurance plans. They can help you uh in industries like retailers, wholesalers, manufacturing companies, auto services, dealerships. If those things sound like you and your business, go to federated insurance.com where it’s our business to protect yours. Thor, first question for you, and we can kick this around the room here, but the first month of the season is is gone in a flash. It leaves just a trail of broken offensive linemen. Uh McCarthy is out with the high ankle sprain. They’re sitting here two and two. They’re trying to get that. We don’t even know who the starting center is going to be this week. Michael Jurgens hasn’t practiced either. So Blake Brle is taking snaps. Joe Huber, undrafted rookie, is likely to start at left guard. So they’re just trying to get the win anyway possible and get to the buy at 3 and two. But what should the We all had our takes on what the goal and expectation was before the season. Right now, what should the goal be for the 2025 Vikings? To field an offensive line with five healthy players on Sunday. That’s a hang that we’re going to hang that banner when they get back to US Bank Stadium. We’ll hang that banner. It’s I I can’t believe we’re we’re heading into the fifth game and and like a real legitimate news story is like Josh Oliver is the emergency offensive lineman that they might have to toss in on the offensive line if there’s any other injuries. Like this is this is absolutely wild. It’s you you talk about like biblical plagues and having cluster injuries at a position and the worst one for the Vikings to get it at. That’s that’s where they got it at. Um hope I I can’t believe I’m saying this. Hopefully Michael Jurgens plays on on Sunday. Um and then you’re not throwing Blake Brandle at center, a position he’s never played in a game, not even one snap, and then forcing another, you know, an undrafted rookie into into the lineup as well. It’s it’s really bad. Uh, as far as the the season, um, you know, of course the hope is is to win that game. You’re three and two going into the buy and then cross your fingers that reinforcements are coming after the buy. That there’s a there’s a whole small handful of guys that could return if we’re that Eagles game. But you have injury status up in the air for a lot of these guys. Will we see Ryan Kelly again? When are we going to see uh Brian O’Neal? Uh, J.J. McCarthy. They they said Jud, is he back at practice today? Was that the McCarthy was not? No. Yeah. And just for you the so the Yeah. The new injury report came because it it’s the London Times kind of throw off the So right before we hit record like 20 minutes with you here. JJ McCarthy was a DNP for the Thursday practice. Michael Jurgens was a DNP. Ryan Kelly has is a DNP who I think is in like long-term discussions right now. Yeah. Yeah. Ryan Kelly, are we going to see him again? Yeah. I, you know, yeah, when when when that when that concussion thing came out, you’re wondering like, is Ryan Kelly going to play football again, right? And and we don’t know, you know, uh, but the five documented concussions since 2023 and then the second one coming so quick after the first one and, uh, documented concussions are only the ones they have to put on paper. Like, so we’re not in the doctor’s room, you know? I mean, like, what whatever he hears and however that goes. But yeah, it’s it it’s it’s rough right now. But yeah, uh grinding out a win uh on Sunday, that would be the start of business. It’s going to be a wonky one. This is not going to be a fun football game to watch. You have one of the lowest totals for any football game, any NFL game I’ve ever seen. This total is so low. It’s comparing with the You guys remember the Minnesota Iowa college football games in the back years? 30. It’s like a 31 or something. Exactly. One of them was 30.5. One of them was 31.5. Those then became the second and third lowest college football totals of all time because then uh uh uh uh was it Minnesota against Ruckers or it was Iowa against Ruckers? One or the other. But that one was like 29 and a half. It was the first time we had a college football uh total under 30. This one here, you got a total 35 and a half. Vikings favor by three and a half. Think that half a point might be a little bit generous there. Uh especially in a game with the the total that low, but you win a rock fight. Hopefully you get reinforcements back after the buy. Um and and I think we can still something can still come from this season. If you lose this game and then some of these injuries linger, season’s already over. It just is what it is. So that’s what’s weird about this whole thing because I agree completely like like the season’s not defined yet. There are teams and by the way the the injury thing is not exclusive to the Vikings. Like if you look around this league and this is the case every year and because of recency bias I think we all say, “Oh my god, so many guys are hurt.” But it feels like this happens every year to different teams. And so when you look at this though, I’m with you Thor. If they can win this game, it’s not done because you don’t know. I mean, they could get guys back. Things could change completely in two months. That’s how the league works. That’s why teams and just because it hasn’t been your team necessarily that turns things around at times. There are a few teams every year that right now, like, perfect example right now, Baltimore. Baltimore’s dead. Baltimore’s dead. Baltimore’s going nowhere. in two months. John Harbaugh is really good at what he does. Lamar Jackson, the defense, which by the way, I believe, if I’m not mistaken, the Ravens defense got off to a terrible start last year and the same exact thing took place, but they turned it around. So, yeah, if you could just tread water and you can just come home with a win and and then start to get guys back. This doesn’t have to be a lost cause. If you lose this game though, it makes it incredibly tough because this loss, like the Pittsburgh loss a little bit too, will bite you in the ass in November if it’s on the books. That’s it. Yeah, you you can’t lose. I mean, we we talked about it in advance of this trip where we all hope that they would go two and 0, but it’s like you have to go one and one. uh you don’t want to come out of this thing two and three and then you head into the buy and you’re you’re staring up ahead at this crazy gauntlet ahead, especially if you have to to run through that gauntlet with a severely depreciated roster. And that’s the one thing that’s up in the air right now, right? Like there’s several of these guys we do not have their injury status or full clarification of whether they’re going to be returning uh for that Eagles game coming off of the buy. So, that’s some of the stuff up in the air, but then as a season outlook, it’s almost up in the air as well with the coin flip of the Browns game. And I I I mean, I think that game is a true coin flip. I I I do think it’s a little bit generous making the Vikings three and a half point favorites in that game just with how good the Browns defense is and then how injury depleted the the Vikings are, particularly on the offensive line, which is the superpower of the Browns team is their defensive front. Of course, the you know, a lot of the other positions on that team absolutely stink. They have a terrible offense as well, but that defensive front is unreal. And that’s not it. It It’s weird because you don’t want to say like the Browns are a bad matchup for, but for the situation the Vikings are in, this is not a great matchup. Yeah. Well, and there’s another layer is Miles Garrett. I as we record this, I believe we’re still waiting for the Browns Thursday injury report, but he did not practice with an ankle on Wednesday. And I mean I I I would bet that he finds a way to play, but I don’t think Miles Garrett’s going to be the full Miles Garrett. So that may be a little bit of a reprieve. I did just for fun. I pulled up because se September in the NFL you you think a lot of things are true and then like Jud said it’s a long season and if you are well coached and generally wellrun and the Vikings it’s funny like a month ago almost everybody universally would have said with Kevin Oonnell and Brian Flores and the offensive coaching staff as well underneath Kevin Oonnell it is one of the best most highly regarded coaching staffs in the NFL. Uh, has that changed in one month? Maybe they haven’t been perfect in some ways and they’ve gotten gashed in the running game on defense a little bit and you know there’s some offensive stuff we’ve talked about, but they but they still big picture remain one of the best coaching staffs in the league that had 14 wins last year with Sam Darnold and also a suspect interior offensive line. So, as you take a deep breath and let this thing play out, uh, and and I pulled up I pulled up, uh, power rankings from week going to week five of last year on NFL.com. And it’s funny, man, like you forget the Eagles at that point that won the Super Bowl were 2-2 and 13th in the NFL.com power rankings. I’m not saying this Vikings team is ready to go on a Super Bowl run right now, but there were some teams that were really dragging to start. I mean, the Chargers started 2-2 last year and then went on a tear and made a playoff run. So, uh, the Broncos started, I think, 0 and2, wound up making the playoffs. So, like September is not the beall endall. I still think there are nine or 10 wins available, but Thor, to circle back, I think the prerequisite to getting to 9 or 10 wins is finding a way to beat the Browns 17 to 13 or something in London this weekend. I I think so. Yeah. And if if you get by that and you’re three and two and then again you get the reinforcements back this team when they’re full strength I still love the starting lineup but the the you know the thing that um uh was problematic and and I probably should have baked this more in in the preseason was was the the depth situation. You’re never going to assume that some team is going to have cluster injuries like this, but the the depth of this team, you’re seeing it come to the four right now. And Jud, you’re not wrong. Like, uh, injuries happen for every team, of course. But there were some positions, we talked about this all summer, right? There were some positions where the depth of it wasn’t quite as good and and you just could not afford to have a cluster injury there and and the Vikings obviously got got hit at offensive line. Yeah, for me th this Browns game because you lost the Steelers game, this becomes essentially a de facto must win and then you’re going to need to get some of those guys back uh in, you know, during that by week. Um and then when you’re when you’re facing that gauntlet, hope that you have the the stronger roster at that time. But yeah, some of that stuff being up in the air. But the one thing that’s not is the importance of the game on Sunday. And Thorski, this is where we put your personnel man hat on. And I ask you questions because I want to know what you think about this. Number one, bro, are you holding a Jud’s Camp Notesotes notebook right now? Yeah, I’ve got notes on. It’s a great I’ve got like 12 of them now. They’re they’re fantast they’re fantastic. They’re well worth the price. Um so here here are my questions. Uh Joe Huber if he has to play left guard because he’s a guy at Wisconsin that you scouted. And then my other question for you is given your choice uh since Darasaw is going to play or is expected to play Justin School or Walter Rouse who would you start at right tackle? Rouse if you would have said any name you could have picked up a phone book and literally pointed to any name in that thing or or a school. I’m picking I’m picking the other name. Uh you know Joan from accounting I put in there right with some chip help with some chip help. going to get some chip help, you know. Indeed. Yeah. Hawkins have been doing a better job of that. Uh but yeah, no, we’re uh Rouse. Uh and then uh uh Huber. Yeah. I mean, you know, you don’t want to see him thrown in this quick, but Huber was a good college player, you know. I mean, like as far as UDFA that made the roster, you’re on board with that. You would have hoped you would had a had a little bit more developmental time before you had to sort of toss him to the Wolves in this game. It’s like, hey, kid, you remember uh uh Mason Graham from last year at Michigan? Yeah. you you got him on Sunday. Um but yeah, we we’ll see. But yeah, like you know, you guys know like the the offense some of the the backup offensive lineman and some of the draft decisions there. I wasn’t on board with when they happened. You know, I I wasn’t the you know, sorry, but I wasn’t the biggest Jurgens fan. I was okay with where I was, you know, where they got him. I I think I I ranked him right around. I’m okay with him. Um but there’s other decisions that I would have made. And I think like one crux point that, you know, I think about this one a lot with the Vikings in the draft cuz the first round pick, you know, we had talked about this with Donovan Jackson. The way that the board fell in April, if you wanted a guy who was going to contribute immediately, you had to stick and pick Jackson or else you could have punted it where you could have gotten the first round pick for next year. But now you’re not getting, you know, from the Falcons offensively who traded up right after you with the Rams uh to trade up and get James Pierce. But you could have, you know, ostensibly that was available to you. But then you’re not getting an immediate contributor for this team. And we see how much they need immediate contributors right now in this moment that we’re in, you know, month months and months later. But in the third round when their next pick came up, you had guys falling down the board that we did not think were going to be available there. And the Vikings were at this sort of interesting point. They end up trading down to get Ty Felton. But in the slot they were sitting in, the guys that went right in front of them, Jared Wilson, who I thought was the best center in the draft, went to the Patriots. And then the Patriots end up because interesting how the world turns, they end up signing Garrett Bradberry. They shifted uh Jared Wilson to guard this year. So Jared Wilson is is their starting guard. Ostensibly will will shift down to center whenever Bradberry leaves town there. And then Xavier Watts as well, uh a guy that I had as an early uh second round guy, my board safety from from Notre Dame. this incredible ball hawk that just flips the field all the time. Those guys were available right in front of you. So, you uh sensibly had the decision at that point, do we trade a very very small amount of draft equity to to move up a few spots if we liked either of those guys, you know, for instance, as much as I did. If you viewed them as second round guys that were available late third round, the Vikings obviously didn’t because they didn’t make that decision. Instead, they let those guys go right in front of them. Then they trade back and they end up taking Ty Felton who, you know, we didn’t think was ready to play this season. There’s different decisions you could have done, I think, to to bolster that a little bit. And I think it’s fair to look back at at some of those, but yeah, it puts you in a bad uh spot if you get cluster injuries like this. Well, they since since we’re going down this this sort of offensive line uh wormhole, what does it mean to you guys that and I get that Donovan Jackson was was drafted to be a left guard. Ed Ingram was a right guard second round pick that you bailed on. But what does it mean to you guys that after the first month of the season according to Pro Football Focus of the 118 qualified interior offensive linemen that Ed Ingram has the number one PFF grade by a mile. It’s it’s it’s just the one like it’s what what do they say? Salt in the wound. This is a whole salt mind in the wound. I I don’t I got a Let me say this. I got to watch Ed Ingrams cut offs. I haven’t had time yet. I need to confirm, right? Like PFF, I I love PFF. I, you know, use it for work every single day, you know, getting in there in the data, so I I ain’t going to beg on PFF. Sometimes they they got some wonky grades in there. Um, and Ed Ingram, we seen him last week, uh, he forgot to block Jeffrey Simmons on the fastest sack that you’ll ever see. How good they love his run blocking. They don’t love his pass protection, which is still the that was the big problem I think that the Vikings decided finally like we can’t have this pressure coming up the middle. That’s still been an issue for him according to BFF. I heard CJ Stroud’s wearing steel towed boots so when Ed and Ingram steps on his feet, it don’t hurt so bad. But it’s also kind of weird how they how they weighed that the offensive lineman their pass blocking against their run blocking. You know, PFF that always, you know, they were sort of the forefront of the analytics of the passing game is so much more important than the running game. But it seems like Ed Ingram his entire grade is being pushed forward by by the run blocking. But yeah, I I am curious to watch Ed Ingram’s tape. But if he if Ed Ingram develops into a quality starter, devastating. Devastating. After we saw him, he Ed Ingram was unplayable, right? and and and now if he went to Houston, if if you know if at least he’s playable, that that hurts. If that’s the case, which is a possibility, I’m not buying it, but it is a possibility. Um how much do we also need to then look at position coaches? Yeah. Like like if Ed Ingram gets to Houston Cooper, right, Chris? Uh but like at some point in time, you know, if Ed Ingram is good somewhere else, like okay, that’s great. He’s developed and matured a bit, but yeah, you I I think you you at least have to have a conversation then about why don’t you know I mean we have this conversation all the time about the Twins right now. Why aren’t you developing your players and at some point in time, how much does that just prove to be a reflection on you? That’s right. Yeah. Um it’s a good point. Uh I I know that that he’s come under fire from the fan base a little bit. I’m sure that he would say, you know, if if we had all the guys healthy, then the offensive line would be really good. you guys wouldn’t be be looking at me. But I think it’s also fair to say, you know, some of these guys, whether you agreed with the decision at the time in the draft or or, you know, undrafted, however you want to look at it, Rouse, Jurgens, you know, some of these different guys that uh the front office handpicked, I guess, you know, I don’t know, you know, Quazy takes in more input from the folks around him, both scouting and and the coaches, than other analogous GMs. So to, you know, and you know, for instance, we just talked about the Felton decision. We know that Kina Mardo was pounding the table for Felton, right? Was Cooper pounding the table for any of these other guys? You know, it’s like pie chart of blame on it of of the lack of offensive line depth. Like, why weren’t they going after some of the other guys that might have been rated higher on, you know, the consensus board, we’ll say, or maybe some other teams at board? Why did you zero in on these particular guys that you did? And then why haven’t they developed to the degree that you want? Um, you had a couple years with those guys, so you would like to think that they would be playable now, but they’ve gone out of their way to make sure that Walter Rouse doesn’t see the field as best they could. Um, which is a little bit disappointing based on the the cluster injuries right now and based on the fact that you have Justin School ahead of him. Might be the worst offensive lineman any of us have ever seen play NFL football before. So, you know, it’s it’s a little bit disappointing, but yeah, I I think you have a shared blame here between uh offensive line coach and then whatever went into acquiring some of those guys that that he’s then developing. You can’t blame him for the injuries, though. But you can blame him for we should have had more usable second team guys cuz you’re the dude who was who was building those guys up the last couple years. Yeah. And in in in Ed Ingram’s case, I think the fact that he goes elsewhere and is possibly successful is a problem. I do think that just to be clear too, I think the only fair real solid second guess of with all of these guys out now, the only really really fair one is you could have gotten a backup veteran long in the tooth center. I’m not saying a surefire starter, but you know, Ryan Kelly didn’t come here like with a pristine uh um record of playing in consecutive games. He battled I think a neck problem. Uh the concussion problem is not unknown. So, like cuz I have a hard time saying right tackle, you got to be more prepared. And you know, at the guard position, uh, you tried very hard to address these areas of need. I would say the only fair second guess is did you really trust if Kelly got hurt, which can’t be a surprise to you, that that Jurgens was going to step in and play? And I think that was a lot to ask of Jurgens in the first place. That Yeah, I I agree with that. you know, and the organization um you know, I hope they’re vindicated on this, but they they believed in Jurgens more than me during this election. They they believed in Jurgens more during the developmental time than me. You know, I you know, I’m sorry to Jurgens if if he’s listening, but you know, I tried to get him out of town a couple times. Like, you know what what what Jud was was saying. I I was I was hitting the table in April. Like, this isn’t a hindsight thing. It’s like, guys, recognize the moment you’re in. Jared Wilson has fallen down. You he shouldn’t be here. Xavier Watts shouldn’t be here. These are guys that could help the roster. Uh, you know, for instance, you take Jared Wilson, you now feel really good, not only about your backup center, but also your your your plan going forward, your succession plan at center, but also it turns out, and I didn’t know this, uh, Jared Wilson, he he didn’t have as as many snaps in college and and you know, a lot of them had come at at center uh the season, you know, that he started at at Georgia, whatever, but uh that he could also handle guard. um that that would have been nice to have as well, a guy that could cover all three spots and we feel good about him uh taking over for Kelly whenever that happened. But yeah, they they made different uh decisions obviously and you knew you were taking a risk with Kelly, right? And so what what’s happened with Kelly like it’s it just is what it is. you you you bought the ticket and you knew that this could be a possibility on that ride, but the the the thing that you had to do, Jud, to your point, is come up with a better contingency plan there at center and they just didn’t have it. And and and it seems like that’s the issue at a couple other offensive line positions as well. And that’s where it goes back to is this a drafting thing? Is this a a Chris Cooper development thing? You know, what what’s going on here? Yeah. Let’s let’s switch topics and and discuss some JJ McCarthy. I have a just a question for you guys and Thor here in a second, but uh Jud over on mybookie.ag the line is Vikings 3 and a half and uh if you are interested in that or other things, My Bookie can be a place to make some money on football Sunday. Uh oh, I think we lost. Did we lose Jud? Well, I can I I can jump in for Jud here. My Bucky, they don’t want any part of Thor. They they see me coming down the streets. Um but yeah, they uh you got some interesting lines on that game to to look at on on my bookie with the the 36 is their number. 36 is their total number on that. It’s also an an interesting game because I’m I’m pretty sure my bookie offers player props as well. Yeah, this could be an interesting one to take a gander through some of those player props in a game where moving the ball forward is going to be a slo. This is going to be like a service academy game. So, it’s it’s going to be interesting. Uh, I haven’t combed through the player prop lines yet, but but that’ll be interesting, too. Uh, so if you’re interested in uh in such things here, uh, for the sports dad, I can tell you that that promo code is purple daily on mybookie.ag. Uh, purple daily. Jed, you can test your mic again. Why don’t you Why don’t you jump out? Am I back now? Oh, there we go. You’re back now. Yeah. Yeah. I would I started to cycle and I can’t ever tell if that’s you, Thor, or me. Now I’m in the studio, so of course it couldn’t be me cuz I’m at headquarters. It could be the the early ’90s AM radio studio that we have tricked out to be It’s like when you have like one of those uh Honda Civics from the late ‘9s and you put a spoiler and some rims on it. That’s pretty much what we’re doing here. It’s like Michael Jurgens is on an exercise bike now powering me and he got tired and and he’s like I I can’t go on. I can’t I’m like Jurgy, you got to go on. You got to go on. Also, also a shout out to uh to Roku. So Roku is the official sports viewing uh TV of the Mackey’s for sure. We love our Roku TV in the the 65 in the living room and uh it’s just uh it’s Roku TVs are a familiar companion when so many things are new. Streaming channels, what channel is the sporting event on here? And Roku makes it so easy to find whatever it is you’re looking for. sports, entertainment, and TV. Uh, just makes it easy to search for things. These aren’t just any smart TVs. These are smart TVs that make sense. Easy to use, uncomplicated sizes for every room, including maybe your college apartment, too, for the younger Purple Daily listeners and viewers. Better TV for everyone with Roku, America’s number one streaming platform. Go to roku.com to learn more or shop at a retailer near you. And Jud, before we talk JJ McCarthy here, let’s talk about Padres’s. We had an awesome time even though the game was kind of a dud for the uh the vent line and the watch party at Padres’s over the weekend. Absolutely did. And guess what folks? Why does Sports Dad love Padres’s uh brewing so much? Because Padres’s makes beer that tastes like beer. I know that sounds simple, but in this day and age of all of these specialty beers, Padres’s does not mess around. They make fantastic beers. What they do is they recreate Irish and UK classics. Um and for instance, the red the red chimney is fantastic. I’m going to tell you right now, incredibly popular. Why? Because until now, for years and years, nobody had made a good red, but Padres’s does. Their beer is available in more than 200 liquor stores in the metro area, uh, Rochester and Mano. Find them on Facebook or Instagram or check out their website, padres.com. padres.com. So, Thor, we we brought this to light early in the week here. I think it was on the Monday episode, the the hottest takes episode, and I had unearthed I went back into the football statistical archives going back to 1990, which is I would say the modern passing era is more like Brady Manning, but I kind of took I just took it back to 1990 to include the the Elways, the Marinos. The NFL really started ramping up passing, I think, like early 90s. So anyways, kind of an arbitrary line, but since 1990, here are the three highest sack percentages, sacks given up by offenses in the NFL. The 2002 Houston Texans, famous for essentially wrecking David Carr’s career before it started. Wow. The expansion Texans, he took 76 sacks that year. The 2023 New York Giants, 14% sack rate. Uh 14.1. Houston was a 14 and a half% sack rate and through four games the third highest sack rate given up by any offense since 1990 this year’s Minnesota Vikings 14% of dropbacks resulting in a sack. When you dig into that a little bit more and we’ve done this on the trenches episodes with Alex Boon he’s done an amazing job. We kind of keep a bin of like was that offensive line fault or was that more like Carson Wentz you missed your two outlets there or JJ McCarthy the first couple weeks. uh it’s largely offensive line driven and there’s a little bit of hey quarterbacks you gota you got to find your answer to the test here a little bit quicker but um how do this is my question for you how do the injuries in the first year and a half to McCarthy and the current rickety offensive line that’s unlikely to be 100% at any point this year impact his future in your opinion like like like beyond this year? Yeah, I don’t I don’t think you’re not going to break JJ McCarthy. So, I don’t think I don’t think it will have a delletterious effect on the future. Um, however ugly it gets that you know, even if they have to spend a game starting Josh Oliver. Um, bar barring health. I mean, like that’s that’s the thing with McCarthy now, you know, is that the injury thing, right? I mean, that that’s a it’s a fair criticism. you played eight quarters now and uh in in in a year plus of of football, can you stay healthy? But, you know, as far as like um just continuing uh to develop as far as like not uh picking up bad habits um as as far as not letting it compound, for instance, like you bring up uh uh David Carr there on the Texans and I remember that season and that offensive line was they spent all season kind of looking like the Vikings having a couple of these games. uh and and Carr it it it reinforced a lot of bad habits that he had that then he was sort of never able to get out of and it’s not just quarterbacks uh you know guys in bad positions at a young age that developed bad habits a great example on the Vikings roster right now at a different position Cam Acres Cam Acres was was this vaunted recruit uh coming out of high school and went to Florida State was one of the top running back recruits of like several years and he went there and he played behind these horrid offensive lines um and he he developed some bad habits where he started getting bounce happy or getting tentative right after he had the ball of like okay who’s about to hit me now even sometimes where the blocking was clean for him you would see him getting a little dancy or getting a little bounce heavy and it sort of went away from the strengths of Kim Akres’s game and it was tough for him to ever sort of get back uh to that fully even though you know good on him for carving out the career he has despite the injuries but you see this at other positions as well um but I I don’t think it’s gonna do anything to like devolve that kid’s uh mindset or anything like that. But the the concern and Okonnell has has has hit on this is we need him to be fully healthy. And Okonnell doesn’t say this, you know, he doesn’t impugn the offensive line, but like if if the offensive line going to look like the mash unit it is now, then he especially needs to be fully healthy cuz not only do we want him to have all of, you know, his his artillery when he’s out there, we also don’t want to exacerbate the the odds of what would then become truly cataclysmic injury. If if you lost a second year of development for McCarthy, you can’t put him uh down there. You can’t lower him into the shark tank behind that offensive line if he’s not 100%. But but yeah, Phil, to answer your question, I it’s not going to hurt his long-term development barring suffering another physical injury in my opinion. So Thor, that’s a great point of and I am with you 100%. He has to be healthy to play. So that like that’s the one thing. Um especially with where things stand because he’s going to, as much as we might not like it, going to have to take off and run probably more than we would like to see. That being said, can I throw this at you guys? Is there a chance that in the assuming this all works, okay? assuming McCarthy is successful eventually. Is there a chance that in some ways because of the challenges that this is going to long-term help the Okonnell McCarthy relationship because Kevin’s going to have to adjust some things like he cannot do it’s just not not possible. He cannot run this offense like he saw fit necessarily especially if the offensive line problems continue. uh it’s adversity and you know Kevin has I will say this Kevin has a plan for adversity but there have been two years in which he has not faced much and in one year he definitely did and the quarterback thing was a mess but with his handpicked quarterback is there an opportunity that the 2025 season could actually be a beneficial thing in building the trust because first of all Okonnell’s going to have to adjust things when JJ comes back to make the team and uh McCarthy as successful as possible and McCarthy is going to have to run And then eventually hopefully 2026 training camp starts and guys don’t get hurt left and right. But I I I actually think in the relationship between those two, if anything, you’ve got the potential to build trust here because both of them are going to rely on on each other more than ever if they are going to have success this season. I I love that point, Jud. Yeah. And I think it works on kind of multiple angles. we’ve seen, you know, in the first couple games, uh, where we saw JJ and then, uh, you know, Okonnell sort of what he’s impressing in the media is like the trust that he’s getting from JJ, like, you know, we have to get the the footwork timed to the timing of of of the concept and we have to prepare like like I say, we have to prepare like whatever the thing was with the misbirth uh, practice or whatever and and all these sorts of things. And of course, right? And then you see the first couple games where uh I know from having watched all McCarthy’s film at Michigan how special he is uh improvising, making guys miss, getting outside the pocket, buying time for his receivers and stuff. A skill set that boy would that be valuable behind an injury ravaged offensive line that’s allowing the quickest pressure in the NFL. But it seemed like those first two games, it’s like Okonnell’s like, “Run my concepts for me.” like we’re gonna get you comfortable running my concepts in this scenario where you you weren’t really being given access to deep drops because once you got to that fifth step, Justin School’s guy was in your chin strap, right? Um like and and so I I think coming back Jud and to your point like I I think this might be an opportunity for Okonnell to trust JJ a little bit going the other way of like yeah when you see that pressure I am going to allow you off the leash to to to buy time to scramble to do what you do like if if you see that the left tackle has been beaten like a drum immediately bail get out of there right like you don’t need to get to your the fifth step of your drop at that point. And we don’t know, you know, it uh Steve uh what was his name? Steve Spagnolo from uh the Chiefs, the DC. Uh he made a comment, you know, he was talking this week with the media, something that got a lot of attention on Twitter of like him being like, I you know, I like PFF. I I I respect PFF, but they don’t know the responsibilities that any of these player, they don’t know what they were told to do on a specific play. So, how can you really judge? And and we don’t know exactly the that dichotomy with McCarthy in the first couple games of like was you know how how uh dogmatic was Okonnell being with hit that you know on your drop and and we’re looking downfield and all this stuff amid those circumstances but I think those two guys could sort of come closer to meet in the middle in this weird circumstance that you’re in where you essentially have David Carr rookie Texans worst NFL offensive line of all time uh play so far through four games and you’re you’re hoping for better, right, as as starters start to come back, but in this circumstance that you’re in, particularly if the offensive line is still less than 100% when McCarthy does come back, can can we can we find more trust the other way as well? Can we modulate the game plan any? And of course, McCarthy, he he got to keep improving improving improving, right? Um but but yeah, I think it goes a little bit both ways. And I love that point you made, Jud. Yeah, I just to put a bow on on on this portion of the McCarthy discussion and there will be more every week here with Thor, but uh I I think even just going back to the first question of the show is what what is the goal in 2025? I I think the fullest version of this team is no longer possible because I think the fullest version of this team was predicated on those five offensive linemen mostly playing together and mostly being they’re not all going to be healthy for 17 games, but it looks like we’re not going to get any games with those five guys playing together. And so with that and the other injuries and uh and kind of stumbling to a two and two start, I do think nine or 10 wins, like I said, is possible. I still think like maybe pulling an upset in the first round of the playoffs, like there are team goals you can aspire to, but that bar is lowered for me compared to a month ago. But the number one thing that I would put on this list is more of a JJ McCarthy thing that if by the end of the season be nice if you could still win nine or 10 games. It’d be nice if you could get Kevin Oonnell’s first playoff win. But what would be nicer for the long term of this franchise is if you felt great about the the seven games or eight games that McCarthy played after he gets back from this injury that okay, he overcame some rickety offensive line stuff, some inexperience and and you’ve now got like some actual substance here with McCarthy going forward because Thor, we’re sitting here and I’m not like listen like he’s banged up and things happen and it is what it is. I’m not questioning his toughness, but other guys in that draft have have played 21 games as a starting quarterback, 17 games, 19 games, and uh we are about 72 hours away from Jackson Dart tying JJ McCarthy in career starts. Like I want to see it in the second half of the season and just feel good about McCarthy going into 2026. you you have to um and this is, you know, one of the very, you know, as as the Vikings fan base sort of, you know, implodes and starts, you know, fighting with each other. The one thing that the the JJ believers and the JJ haters, I think, can agree on is J.J. McCarthy should play the rest of the season, right? Uh for for the haters, if if you want uh you know, your viewpoint backed up, if you think he’s going to fail, great. Then you see it. And also, yeah, get it all. You have to see what you at least have. if nothing any any top 10 quarterback right and Phil mentioned you know this being his his second season or whatever but whether you know what what your offseason plan they they are going to have some flexibility to to do different stuff how aggressive are you going to get with the QB2 or JJ her would probably suggest that you know outright competition whatever you have to see it either way uh to know you know heading in and then for you know the the you know the camp of the JJ believers of course which I I find myself in you want to see him uh devel developed, right? I mean, he has to be given the developmental time and and football in football and in life circumstances are not always ideal, right? Dylan Gabriel, the rookie quarterback that that the Vikings are about to face, he said the thing like of like if you wait for the perfect time, it’ll never happen. You have to get McCarthy back in when he is 100%. When he is 100% and he has the full game prep week to prep for a, you have to get him back in. You have to see what you have there. you have to keep working on his development. And by the way, what one other thing I’m kind of curious about going forward here the next couple weeks is uh the Vikings in past seasons, they’ve been a little bit more aggressive in um uh making some transactions to try to fill some of the holes that they had lingering over from the preseason. Uh last season, uh Christian Darasaw goes down. Quy was pretty quick to trade. Uh I I believe it was a fourth round pick for Cam Robinson in a seventh I I think is how that that trade ended up working out. Funny enough, Cam Robinson was just traded and we’re about to see him in London, right? Um and I’m not saying, you know, reunite with Cam Robinson. It was about as cheap a price point as you can get. The Browns acquired Cam Robinson for the Cam Acres poo poo platter. It was the the the we’ll take a sixth round pick, we’ll give you Cam and we’ll give you a seventh rounder kind of a thing. But with the offensive line in the state it is and with Quesy now having acquired a veritable Rick Spielmanesque collection codery of six and seventh round picks for the next class. My man, what are you doing? Get on the phone. Get on the phone. What are we really going to play Josh Oliver at offensive line? How many undrafted free agents we got to toss in there? How bad does this need to get before you’ll make a transaction like we’ve seen in past seasons? There are teams that are listening to trade offers and you certainly got the sixth and seventh round picks to do it. Or are we just saying in advance this season’s a wash and they’ll figure it out? I’m very curious to see that Cam Robinson trade was consummated last October. Could have gotten it cheaper this time. There’s there’s plenty of other guys available as well. We’ll be curious to see what the front office does here in the next couple weeks. I bet you they acquire a center next week. eventually they acquire one that that they get back and and do it during the by-week. So, here’s but here’s my my McCarthy question off of this discussion, which is one, yes, he has to play. We all agree that. But what quantifies failure at this point, too, like if you continue to throw him out there and he’s healthy, like I I think that there would be some who say, well, if he does not play well, if he is not a winning quarterback, that’s it, right? But that then goes back to the Okonnell uh statement from last year, which is teams fail young quarterbacks more than young QBs fail teams. And there’s a very good case to be made that you cannot make a determination unless he falls down on the field and starts crying. That you can’t make a determination on McCarthy because they the Vikings might say, “Hold on a second. We’re seeing growth. Just because you don’t doesn’t mean we’re not.” So like that’s the other thing. The patience level when when the young quarterback is yours, the patience level is so low. that, you know, to to punt on him after this year, again, he’s a top 10 pick, I think, would be ridiculous. Now, do I want to see him play as we just talked about? Absolutely. Do I want to see what we perceive to be growth? Absolutely. But if he can play and he’s in there, and let’s say, let’s say for the rest of the season, 40% of the starting offensive line, the presumed one, is is out, okay? It’s going to make his life more difficult. I want to see how he handles that, but I sure as bleep don’t want to get to the last day of the season and say, “Okay, I’ve seen enough. That’s it.” So, like, that’s the dangerous conversation here. Like, to me, quantify what failure is short of he just can’t play. That’s the interesting discussion. I I think the failure is is that you you punt a second year of his development, number one, on that side of it. And then number two, you go into the off season without really knowing what you have. And it’s another sort of like, oh, what do we do here? Should we offer 15 million to this guy? Yeah. Should we, you know, that that kind of a thing like you have to know if if this is a lot if if if this team isn’t going to be in the playoffs and and doing stuff there. If if that’s how we’re already looking at this, you have to come out of this who are the guys that we can rely on next year. You have to start looking at this from the the, you know, zoom out and the roster perspective going forward. Um, cuz they’re going to have some maneuverability. So you’re you’re going to have the ability to change the roster quite a bit heading into next season. You need to know the guys that we can rely on uh in advance of that. So yeah, you you got to play him even if the circumstances are bad. Not not his circumstance. Do not play him injured behind a bad offensive line again like he did in the fourth quarter against the Falcons game. The we’re all on the same page with that. But once he is healthy, even if the circumstances are bad, get him in there. He is the best quarterback on the roster very clearly. And for this team with the bad offensive line, his ability to escape, you have to let him do it, but his ability to escape is going to help out the offensive line. Get the timing with the receivers better. Of course, the first couple games, Jefferson had missed most of August. Naylor had missed most August. You had just acquired Adam Thielen. You’re going to get better timing with that as it goes. But yeah, the offensive line thing you just have to work around. McCarthy is your best option this year to do it while you develop them. It is funny the things that we that we ring our hands about and worry about. And I’m I’m looking inward here at myself and the show and that one of the conversations we had was what happens if the team is so good and gelled and ready to pop and McCarthy’s development is lagging behind a little bit then would that create an awkward situation where you would then feel obligated to play a more experienced quarterback? It’s like, well, as Thor just kind of illustrated, any thought of this team being a 14- win juggernaut again, fully healthy, and the only missing piece is that their young quarterback just isn’t quite ready to take on that type of responsibility. It’s like, well, uh, yeah, that that ship sailed in September. Not that they can’t get back and play at a much higher level throughout the season, but the the team and the injuries and the record have come much back toward the the the mean and are sort of meeting JJ McCarthy on his development path up the mountain. So you you shouldn’t feel like weird or guilty about a quarterback taking his lumps with a loaded roster that is that ship has sailed. Get him out. Get him out. My point Thorski was this too. Okay, if WZ had played well, the Vikings swept the two trips to or the two games in Europe, okay, and WZ is playing well and everyone else is playing well, including that core group of veterans that you just signed, would it be difficult to pull the plug on Wentz, but the reality is, and this goes way outside of JJ or Carson Wentz, that core group’s not playing. They’re either hurt or not playing well. So like like my question was can you go to Jonathan Allen and and Hargrave and say ah sorry guys we are going to go back to the kid. Well you sure as hell can now they can’t stop the run right or or Ryan Kelly hey guy we know that you’re aging and Wentz is playing great but we’re going to go back to my well unfortunately we for all we know with the concussions his career might be done. So like there’s no to me it was can Oonnell look himself in the mirror by making this decision if it goes against what the veteran core is doing. But the veteran corps unfortunately is doing nothing. And and and at the end of the day, at the end of the day, if you want to criticize the Vikings, and look, this is becoming apparent now, too. The criticism would be this. You drafted so poorly that you had to sign a bunch of vets. And by the way, it was exciting. I liked it. But those vets are either aging out now or they’re hurt. And so, because you didn’t draft well, you had to go sign them. But I I mean that’s a that’s a separate episode probably to be done at the end of the season. But like that would be the main gripe or the main complaint. Um but I would have no problem looking at as much as I like him the hit man Harrison Smith and saying we’re going to do what’s best for the team because you are a part-time player now. Yeah. Yeah. For for sure. Yeah. and you know and and we could you know we go back and and you know some of these different moves what not. Obviously in the moment it was they’re they’re attempting to to uh start building up their compex right and so the the the decision was made to go after some of these guys that have been released as opposed to the unrestricted free agents and then you can sort of dance around the comp pick formula. It’s the reason the Vikings are going to generate three comps I I think in in the spring is is because of that strategy. But obviously you had to take chances on some higher risk guys and and you mentioned like the changes in in the two seasons in context like the Vikings last year had a tremendous amount of injury luck. you know, when when you’re looking at like what what’s the average amount of injuries to contributors that NFL teams have, like the Vikings were very fortunate last year they they they remained healthy and then also the strength of schedule thing, you know, has has toggled back. Like last year it turned out their their their walk through that the schedule the strength of schedule wasn’t as good and this year it looks like it’s it’s going to be quite a bit tougher. But yeah, there’s there’s different things with the roster construction. You know, we talk about for this coming off season, different decisions you could have made last year, but but but that’s that’s to the side right now. You you have to go forward with the best thing that you can in this moment. Get through the rest of the season and and and and getting the developmental time for your young guys and getting the evaluation time on them as well. It’s not optional. Mhm. Hey, can we do one ask Thor any just a I these people are sending ask Thor anything questions that are like totally random like college football players to me anyways. Yeah. that I’m sure you’ve probably like already done a deep dive on some of these guys. Steve Steve Asenre says, “Hey, can you guys ask Thor what he thinks of of I believe it’s Florida center Jake Slaughter and what round he could go in? I know it’s too early to he goes, I know it’s too early to think about the draft, but the Vikings need a center.” I can tell you for Thor, it’s not too early to be already like well into his 2026 draft process. It’s it’s it’s definitely not too early. And funny enough, Jake Slaughter, uh, he moved ahead of Logan Jones for center two on my list. Um, yeah, and and my, uh, my first, it was supposed to be a top 50 big board. I turned it into a top 60 big board cuz I there was, you know, some guys that I I just could not stomach leaving out. But anyway, my top 60 big board, inaugural one in season here, 2025, will be out uh, on Friday on Fantasy Live. But Jake Slaughter barely barely missed my top 60. He is my center, too. he was just outside the cut and then Logan Jones would be just a little bit behind him. But Jake Slaughter, his his frame is better than Logan Jones is is is a is a big thing of it. He’s a bigger kid. Um the the uh some of the length limitations not quite as bad there. And Jake Slaughter has been an above average starter now for multiple years just like Logan Jones has. But it’s a it’s a frame that fits a little bit better. And Jake Slaughter is a good athlete, too. Uh whoever asked that question, I I agree that Jake Slaughter that would be a guy that you would potentially look at in the draft. I think Connor Lou from Auburn will be the first center off the board. Uh probably late first round, early second round. And then will the NFL draft centers like they did last year? I I think the NFL will like uh Connor Lou more than it turned out that they like Jared Wilson, but then you know, for instance, Slaughter, Logan Jones, a couple of these other guys, Bryce Foster from Kansas, Tison from Missouri. Are they going to be more grouped down? Like they start sort of where we had Jared Wilson like a late third round thing. you can sort of gauge that heading in, but the Vikings have more picks this year. They have more ammunition. Um, and and so, yeah, those would be the names that I’d be monitoring. We don’t know what’s going to happen with Ryan Kelly. Is Ryan Kelly going to be on the roster next year? We don’t know. Like, are they going to, if he’s not, are they going to go out and sign someone else? Do they have to prioritize taking an immediate starter with their first pick at that position? or can we, you know, get by with um, you know, a one-year thing on a on someone other team’s discard center like a a Garrett Bradberry, but in reverse, not Garrett Bradberry, but someone else, some other team, Garrett Bradberry, and then take a guy uh in the middle rounds like a Slaughter, like a like a Logan Jones. I I I think that’s interesting stuff to look at. But yeah, Jake Slaughter is a good prospect. Jared Wilson went to Georgia, right? Yep. Yep. See, there it is. That’s that’s my contribution right there. to the draft to the dra and and confirmed confirmed ballnower. Look at the NFC North standing. That’s right. After I just told you that September football doesn’t matter in Yeah, a month in. Look at those standings. He’s Thor Nestrom on this Thor’s day here on Purple Daily from Matthew Barry’s fantasylife.com for the sports dad. You can also find the Dookie episode of Purple Daily where we went through the the litany of injuries the Vikings are dealing with here this week. Uh, one more week in Europe. And then what? So, it’s Thursday. So, tomorrow we’re do Oh, yeah. We should mention this that uh the Friday live feedback Friday streams that we do on on Purple Daily YouTube channel, those have been 10:00 a.m. Central time for like 2 or 3 years. Starting tomorrow, those will be 9:00 a.m. Central time. So, we’re just moving that up an hour. And obviously it’ll be available on demand right after. So if you if you didn’t catch us live then uh you’ll be able to watch on demand or listen on demand. So Thor, good stuff, dude. We’ll see if the Vikings can just just go win this game. I saw a clip. There was an old school it was like a Rams versus someone game back in 1984 on this date back in ‘ 84. the only time ever that a team uh racked up three safeties in a game and it all happened in a quarter. I want some weird ass Vike. I want like two safeties. I want it to be like an 11 to6 win over the Cleveland Browns in London. Just weird it up. Get to the buy at 3 and two. Yeah, it it might be like that three to nothing Raiders game. And I don’t care. I I don’t care how ugly it is to watch. As long as they they get a W uh and come out three and two, we’ll be fine. Yeah. You know what? You know what? How How about this? 3-2 final. Oh, I love that. Let’s go. Let’s get a 3-2. Carson Wentz takes a takes a sack in the end zone for a safety. It’s late in the game and the Vikings are down two rip and Big Leg Bill comes in. Big leg Bill 70 from 70 in London. Let’s make it happen. All right, Phil. Phil, one one last thing out the door for for Minnesota football fans, for for golfer fans. Agent Zero, Anthony Smith, the stud edge rusher. Nobody in my industry has had that I have seen has had Anthony Smith on the top 50 of a big board to this point. That changes when my list uh publishes uh this week on Fantasy Life. Anthony Smith will be in my top 50 by the way. He in my top 40 that kid now I believe it’s nine or 10 straight games with the TFL. He was all over Cali Mannis on Saturday. Anthony Smith is a player. So uh check that out. I I think Anthony Smith is bound for the second round in April. Love it. Love it, dude. That must have Thor. Noted Hawkeye Thor right there. Yeah. All right, guys. Rock, baby. Rock. Roll the go. Feedback Friday tomorrow and then uh soon it will be Thor’s day again. We’ll see you guys uh tomorrow here on Purple Daily. We just want the Vikings to win one Super Bowl before we die. Come on. Just one.

Thor Nystrom from FantasyLife.com joins Mackey & Judd to set new expectations for the 2025 Minnesota Vikings! Can they still make the playoffs? Can JJ McCarthy still be a franchise QB? Deep dives on the short- long-term future of the Minnesota Vikings.

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