Minnesota Vikings News Dump (10.31.2025) | Greenard’s Playing, O’Neill In, Happy Halloween

Minnesota Vikings News Dump (10.31.2025) | Greenard’s Playing, O’Neill In, Happy Halloween

[Music] What’s going on Jeromes? Beautiful Friday. Birds are chirping and stuff and it’s time for another Vikings news dump. So, uh, of course Halloween I was not really big into Halloween. I don’t know why maybe it’s something that should be psychoanalyzed. Uh, but love that the kids love Halloween. Uh, none of my kids want to be Vikings for Halloween. Shocker. Uh, but the Vikings players were out doing some good work. Vikings comps. Earlier this week, the Vikings and Children’s Minnesota hosted reverse trick-or-treating at their St. Paul Hospital. Vikings fullback CJ Ham, Remax’s Ty Chandler, Cory Ker, uh, and Xavier Scott visit visited patients and delivered treats to celebrate Halloween. So, that’s something that you love to see. Plus, uh, yeah, CJ Ham’s hand. Um, it’s already been ruled out. Looking pretty gnarly. Yeah. Uh, you got Super Mario, you got Ty Chandler as Superman. Woo. They got Wolverine. It’s looking good. Looking good, man. Yeah. And also, you know, the the Vikings uh creative team have been dropping these these graphic novels. Mom, they’re not comic books. They’re graphic novels uh of various Vikings players. I’m not on board with this one. Will the Thriller? I I I understand. Thriller. Thriller. But Will the Thrill is already the perfect name. So, I I I don’t know. You can’t you can’t work with that. Plus, when were comics 10 cents? Like comics weren’t even 10 cents when I was a kid. But I digress. Yeah. Also, uh, Vikings Lions second injury report came out. Now, for the Lions, the thing that stands out is that dirty Kirby Joseph missed for the second day in a row. Probably not going to play. TJ Hawinson’s ACL’s prayed for times like these. Yeah. Also, it’s it is kind of ironic that he’s out with a knee injury. uh then for the Vikings. So the thing that really popped up is Christian Darasaw went from full to DNP. Now there was a little brewhaha uh amongst the lo local media jackals about um was this a procedural thing? Was this a maintenance thing because they’re pretty adamant it wasn’t a scheduled day off. But who knows? Uh well watch out for Friday. That’s what it comes down to. If he’s a full go, no sweat. Even if he’s limited, probably going to be fine. But we’ll see there. And you Darasaw watching JJ McCarthy’s ass, especially against Aiden Hutchinson, who just got paid. Yeah, it’s going to be a big time deal. Uh rest of it, uh Ham already ruled out. Uh Jeff Akuda missed for a second in a row with a concussion. He He’s probably not going to be going likely. Nudan is going to be your third corner. Uh Oliver’s already been ruled out as well. Uh but O’Neal limited good to go as well as Jonathan Gernard was a full participant. So Jonathan Gernard Sean Borman Grard and if he’s playing on Sunday via K fan it’s Detroit. Come on I’m not missing that. Which is fair like because you know the whole line about well if it’s a playoff game he’d be out there. Th this is basically a playoff game. The the Vikings are three and four. The margin for error is razor thin right now and all hands on deck and Gard has been the Vikings best defensive player going to be out there. Love to see that. Also going to be out there in all likelihood. Vikes fan page uh Vikings tackle Brian O’Neal. MCL is good to go for Sunday’s game against the Lions. Dar Doogie Wolf mentioned scorecore north. Minnesota should have four of the five offensive line starters back in action on Sunday. Sunday. So, the Vikings, Darasaw, Jackson, Brle probably still at center, Will Fry, and Brian O’Neal. So, 80% and Ryan Kelly is eligible to return uh next week against Baltimore. So, finally, this offensive line that was promised to us all damn off season, get together at the right time as JJ McCarthy is. Now, I’m starting to I’m starting to believe the conspiracy theory. I I know, shocker me, but maybe Carson Wentz really was cannonifer just to get JJ McCarthy to the point where most of the offensive line returns. Could be it. Could not be. Who knows? Uh, but also Kevin Oonnell versus Diamond Dan Campbell. So, I I I know the lines of Dan Campbell trending upwards. Kevin McConnell hasn’t won a playoff game yet. only won the division once in three years. Coach of the year, we know that I still believe in his method. It’s been very rocky o over these last seven games. Now, I I was asked, would a different coach do better under the circumstance where would McVey what would his record be with the decimation along the offensive line, the quarterback injuries, the defensive inefficiencies, all that stuff? or McVey, Shanahan, uh, Andy Reid, how would they do? It’s probably about the same, right? You know, maybe squeeze out an extra win in there. Maybe they actually show up against the Chargers. Who knows? But I honestly feel like the the Vikings were dealt a bad hand and it sort of is what it is. They move on to the next one, right? Uh, and the Vikings, everyone’s against them. Nine and a half point dogs. Everyone’s picking the Lions and Survivor pools. Them coming off the buy. Vikings coming off that no call no show against the Chargers. But backs against the wall. Return of JJ McCarthy. Everyone’s getting healthy. It’s all it’s all set up, man. It’s all set up. It’s uh the greatest script of all time. Speaking of the roster, that’s sort of underachieved. Uh Vikes manage. The belief is is that there have been interesting conversations between uh behind the scenes between Vikings ownership and quickests this offseason. Dar do wolfins mention on score north. Minnesota spent $174 million in guarantees this past offseason which has which was the second most in the NFL. That has not resulted in wins as they have just three wins through seven games. The return on investment just hasn’t been there so far and most notably it’s been along the defensive line. Right. So 51 million for Allen, 30 million for Hargrave, about just over 42 million total guaranteed between the two of them. Haven’t gotten much, but at least we found Jaylen Redmond. We’ll go with that. Uh but still some some really good value contracts in there. Isaiah Rogers notably, but it, you know, I I know the pieces fit and it’s just we we haven’t seen it. We haven’t seen it all together, right? And now it’s an it’s a weird spot. I mean, seven games in the season, you almost get a hard reset. You know, you get a chance to test your medal on the road uh against a premium opponent in the Lions. So, bring it bring it on. But I I doubt Quasy’s on the hot seat because he just signed the extension. But also, maybe this is why the Vikings sort of drag their feet with the Quaz extension where he didn’t sign his his deal until later in the offseason. and Kevin McConnell was taken care of right away. Maybe, who knows? Uh, also something we do know, uh, jumping John Walford was signed as a third quarterback on the practice squad. Aliss the Athletic uh, Vikings OC West Phillips telling a story about quarterback John Wolford because Wolford uh, played with the Rams for a couple of seasons when Kevin McConnell, West Phillips were on staff uh, in LA and how committed he was in LA. Story was about Wolford going in the backyard with a helmet doing a mock game. He’s kind of a psycho. Wes said football psycho in the absolute best sense of the word. The Ravens just did the tushbush with Mark Andrews as a quarterback. Good times. Uh but the you know the whole thing of comms also doesn’t John Wolford just look like I I know he looks like Ed Sheeran, but does he look like the Gerber baby? Like grown up? You know what I mean? Yeah. Uh but either way, uh like I said, if John Walford sees the field, then the season is put it cease to be, right? Uh but I’m sure a high football IQ guy, future coach, good guy to have in the quarterback room. There you go. Also, good guy to have in the defensive room. Diamond Dur. So, I I understand the the black and white stats as well as the splash plays. Haven’t quite been there, but you’re seeing the incremental progression, right? Uh, and Flora Flor has had praise for Diamond’s term Vikings. He’s a younger player and he’s doing a lot of really good things and I I think he’ll continue to grow in that area for sure. Now, you know, TBD, what happens when Andrew Van Ginkle comes back ideally this Sunday? Are the Vikings going to roll with three edge rushers again? which you kind of saw that at the beginning of the year when Venkl was playing, but it it does seem like they’re trying it does seem like they’re trying to do multiple things with Turner, right? And you know, he’s not the he’s a little bit light to be a power rusher. He’s got that speed rush, but you know, he’s got he’s got a fast ball for now, but you know, every tackle in SL can hit a damn fast ball, right? And he has to build up his bag for rushing the passer. has to get better at setting the edge and also they’re they’re teaching him how to drop in coverage which has been a work in progress over the last couple years. So yeah, at the end of the day, like I’ve said this before, I I think that they’re trying to make him more Andrew Van Ginkle uh than Jonathan Grard, which is fine, but it’s going to take time, right? And I I I understand fan consternation, but Turner, JJ McCarthy, they’re both 22, right? They’re in the second year of the rookie deal. I got time. All right. So, hopefully things will work out. Yeah, also working out. The Vikings defense against the run has not been very good. So, they’re 24th in rushing yards allowed, which is saying a lot since they’ve they’ve had the buy. That’s bad. Uh, and 16th in yards per carry, which is also not good. Also, I’d like Vikings DC, Brian Flores. Certainly, teams want to establish a run game, establish a physicality, and establish the bigger personnel packages. Uh, and we got to do a better job defending it. I say this plainly, it’s something that we’re that we’re spending time on now. I I don’t think it’s as simple as a thing of they shouldn’t have gotten rid of Harrison Phillips cuz I I feel like that the Vikings still would struggle against a run even with horrible Harry still here, right? But Hargra and Allen have been disappointments. You’ve been missing Cashman for a long time. Uh Andrew Van Ginkle has been out for a long time. That’s been major part of him sending the edge and doing the damn thing. So it it just feels like the Vikings have just been off defending the run and you know guys not playing their gaps, guys not maintaining pursuit, uh guys arm tackling, not rally tackling. It’s just something that’s been an ongoing problem and Florence has addressed it multiple times throughout the season. Uh but hopefully this time it’ll stick and hopefully the return Andrew Vanle will be good to go. Yeah. Uh next. So, Chris Sims, son of Boomer Syson. It’s probably my favorite random joke. Yeah. Uh, but 2024 quarterback draft uh quarterback reddraft. Jane Daniels one, Caleb 2, Drake May 3, Bon Knicks four, Pennix five, JJ McCarthy six. Now, I would actually say even take JJ McCarthy off the board because you don’t know yet. And by the end of by the end of the season, JJ McCarthy is going to be numero uno, not Sandra Sand. But Daniels has been hurt and he struggled. Caleb has not looked good uh through throughout most of this season. Drake May is, you know, top five, top seven MVP candid right now. So, I I don’t know how he’s behind Jaden Daniels and Caleb. And even Bo Knicks, who I still am not buying his brand, but stupid Ashon Peyton is putting him in the training wheels offense and he’s taking advantage, right? So, I I would still have So, here’s what I would do. JJ McCarthy’s incomplete off the board. Incomplete, pun intended. Uh, see, he’s off the board. He’s going to be number one at the end of the season. I would do May one, Daniel’s two. Bon’s like 75 years old, but I’ll take Bonix at three, Caleb at four, and PennX at five. Pennix has been really disappointing. All right, so that’s where I would go. But yeah, I’m not I’m not buying this order right now. Yeah. Also speaking of the quarterback position and disappointments in Atlanta, uh Vikes manage a Falcons quarterback Kurt Cousins will be very open to returning to Minnesota even as the number two. Who does Demet work for? But the Vikings don’t seem to share that same level of interest at the moment. Tom Pelisero mentioned to Tatum Everett. I don’t believe that they’re going to go out and get Kurt Cousins and try to have him ride back in even though I believe he’d be very open to uh to coming back even if it was number two. I don’t get that sense. Well, first off, the Falcons aren’t going to eat his contract. Also, he has 10 million guarantee in 2026. Plus, it it just felt like the Vikings were just going to add depth, right? Because, you know, Wolford makes sense. He was on the couch. Cost you nothing to add to the practice squad. The the trade for Kurt, it would cost you some draft capital and also picking up a balance of that contract. Ain’t going to do that. Nah. Uh, and also maybe it’s a spot where they do believe in Max Bromer as the backup, but also they didn’t want to ruin him behind the bad offensive line, so they just rolled out one arm Carson. It was not me, it was the one-armed man. Yeah. Lastly, so it almost seems like sort of a background story this week, but you know, JJ McCarthy, Jonath Jonathan James McCarthy reser resuming his role as quarterback one of the Minnesota Fighting Vikings. Like I said, it’s almost like in the background, but it shouldn’t be. I I know there’s a lot of other things going on right now, like with with Daras, with O’Neal, with Gernard, with whatever, but this this and you know, him missing the last five games has to really piss him off. And I I I know that he has a healthy perspective on life, very stoic, amorphatties, but you know, you know, he’s gotten the gist of the headlines. Oh, softbenching. He’s not on social media much. Well, he’s on Instagram, but you you know that he he knows what people are talking about. Oh, he’s a bust. Oh, Christian Ponder. Oh, here we go. So, he’s got to be ready. He’s got to be ready to light up these mfers because what what a better statement than just going in Detroit and lighting things up. Why is McCarthy still red? That’s right. But got Darasaw back, got O’Neal back, got Addison for the first time this season for for McCarthy. I just feel like this is all adding up for the ultim ultimato revenge game. That’s not a word. But MacArthur returns to Michigan. Hawinson against his old team. Jefferson always lights up the Lions. The offensive line is ready to thrive. And then all of a sudden, the offense putting up numbers. The defense can play with the lead or at least a neutral game script. Get after things. Kind of like it. Kind of like how things are adding up. just like us woosa. I know nobody le believes in the Vikings. I know that the haters and the losers have their knives sharpened, but I know this. This kid has hat. This kid has all the hat in the world and it’s going to be on full displayum or something like that. Anyways, that’s it. Vikings news for this beautiful Friday. You guys are the best. You know what to do. Skull production value.

Minnesota Vikings News Dump for Friday, October 31st.

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