Minnesota Vikings players stock: Who is rising and falling at training camp?

Minnesota Vikings players stock: Who is rising and falling at training camp?

Purple Daily is daily Vikings entertainment. We 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. Jud Camp. Come on. Football. How we holding up? Two two weeks of training camp. How’s Jud’s camp notes holding up? Uh, pretty good. Pretty good. Little bit of soreness between the shoulder blades, I think, from standing so much at practice or something. I don’t know exactly. Work on that posture, the posture. Yeah, that’s what Don said. I My posture is hopeless, though. It’s how I stand. You’re kind of you’re kind of hunched during practice. Yep. Yep. And I think that’s what Dawn said. Uh, so I mean, I don’t know what I can do at this point. I mean, I’m 55. I’ve never been able to change my posture. I don’t write correctly and I don’t stand correctly. And I don’t think they’re fixable. Yeah. I hold my penalty. How do you Wait, what’s wrong with Cuz I don’t like You’re supposed to hold it. Oh, but you’re instead of holding it between the index and the middle, you’re more of a middle. Yeah. And I allow the whole hand to guide the pen versus you’re supposed to have your index guide the pen, right? Or the pencil. Oh, I got you. But anyway, they’re unfixable things. Like if the coaching staff wants to work with me, trade me. So you’re you’re uncoachable. I am uncoachable when it comes to certain habits that I have fallen into. I mean, I hit a bunch of homers, I guess, but my approach is not correct at the point. But you know what? There was once a time where you would just go to any old gas station, any old convenience store, but you were coachable on that front cuz Quick Trip is the place to go. Are you kidding me? Of course it is. And I mean, as Phil talked about last week, we’ve both been making stops at the Quick Trip near the Vikings facility. Why? Because it’s fast, efficient, it’s simple as possible. It also gives you a chance to win by gearing up for the Quick Trips Mountain Dew Quick Climb, which goes through now through August 17th. Play each day for free in the Quick Rewards app and score bonus plays with every eligible item that you grab. We’re talking Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Propel, Sparkling, Bubbler, Starbucks, Rockstar, Pure Leaf. Yep, all of them. Grab one of those with hot food and earn two bonus plays. Every week, someone is cashing in and each week the prize is going to climb and is climbing by $5,000. The one player who reaches the top, $250,000 cash that you can win. Open your Quick Rewards app and get climbing for a chance to win with Quick Trip and Mountain Dew. No purchase necessary. See full rules at quicktrip.com/swepstakes. All right, so we have So yesterday was uh it was they scaled it back to like a walkthrough. There was really nothing to to glean from the Sunday session. No access. They cut off access entirely. I I don’t know what happened there. They weren’t they didn’t even allow Jud into the facility to the practice field to watch the walkthrough. Uh but there’s plenty there’s bigger picture themes sort of left over and we’re going to start with stock rising and falling at Vikings training camp through the first couple weeks. Later on I have a hottest Vikings take I want to run by you guys too. Let’s do this. Okay. So just as uh first off to set the uh parameters I chose four stocks rising and three stocks falling. Okay. So, like be because, you know, I’ll go back to what we always talk about. Breaking down like the interior of the offensive line is damn near impossible. So, I’m not going to try to pretend I can. So, I’m not going to say, you know, Donovan Jackson, I think his stock is rising or his stock is falling. We could certainly talk about him, but I am not uh I am not able to watch the practice in those means. So, of course, as usual, we’re talking about skill position guys or guys that cover skill position guys. Okay. And I would say just to add to that, uh I think unless you have access to the all 22 practice footage, which only the Vikings have access to that, it is hard to tell exactly how the offensive line like generally you can see, okay, this is a pass play and Flores sent an extra man and nobody got through and as a unit they they held up as you can kind of tell as a unit are they doing well? Are they not in terms of they’re running a twist on the left side of the offensive line? Did Donovan Jackson do a great job passing off his defender, picking up the twi? Like that’s all 22 stuff that until the games are played. Uh it’s just it’s harder to have access and that’s where we lean on the Jeremiah Surles, the Alex Boons anyways. Yep. So, but there’s some like there’s some depth chart stuff to talk about. There’s some more broader I think talkers among the trenches that we could get into at some point. So, stock rising one, Jeff Okuda. Jeff Okuda has looked very good. He has been a fixture with the first team playing a boundary corner position along with Isaiah Rogers. Byron Murphy Jr. in the nickel. Okay. So, when if they go to base personnel, which this team rarely does, uh it is Byron Murphy Jr. and Isaiah Rogers as the two starting corners, but Jeff Okuda basically since the beginning of OTAAS, as far as I can tell, has been the primary choice to be the number one in the nickel. So, he’s the guy that comes on the field. We all know he is a third overall pick bust by the Lions in 2020. He has bounced around since then. I think he won the Falcons. He had to stop the Texans last year. He’s battled injuries. He has certainly struggled. He is he is on a one-year make. You know, it’s a one-year contract and to us this would be a lot, but he is only g only guaranteed $2.5 million. Now, let me tell you what’s made him interesting and let me tell you what might be the problem here, but his stock is definitely rising as far as what we have seen. He is very physical. Yeah, he is a physical corner. And so, like at the line of scrimmage on press coverage, you’re going to get pressed and within five yards, that’s awesome. He can do that. Now, I will say this, in training camp, when he’s breaking up some plays, is he getting away with things that will draw flags in the regular season? That’s my question. But nonetheless, for a guy who I was like, Jeff Okuda, I mean, he’s just sort of a become a jag. Why? You know, Brian Flores has mysterious ways of thinking he can fix guys or at least trying to. And I would say that Jeff Okudo from the day I saw him first and said, “Oh my god, he’s with the first team to now stock is definitely on the uptick. He’s also basically the same age as Justin Jefferson.” And I don’t think any of us would classify Jefferson as like an old he’s they’re 26. That’s kind of shocking. Like Jeff Auda was drafted this is his sixth season in the NFL. He was drafted in 2020. Same I think same class as Jefferson, right? Yep. Yep. and and he’s just three different spots, like you said, has not at all come close to living up to third overall pick status, but he’s not that old. He’s he’s technically still moldable in the right situation, the right system. I don’t know that his upside is perennial pro bowler. I don’t know that there’s like that much juice to squeeze out of it. But it is interesting how much stock they are putting into him working out or if he doesn’t Mai Blackman coming off an injury. It’s like one of those two guys has to pan out for the Vikings defense to unless you really think Dwight Mcloth is going to jump in cuz he’s kind of knocking on the door in that conversation too. But they love Jeff Akuda’s profile and they believe they can do what they did with Sam Darnold on the offensive side with Jeff Akuda on the defensive side. No, I think it’s a fair question once the bullets start to fly. The the PFF grades have been pretty consistent in being very down on Okuda in the pass game and being excited about him in the run game, which when you see him play makes perfect sense. Like he looks like a guy who wants to stick his nose in. He not afraid to get involved, right? But, you know, those passing game grades again reflect to me on there are there’s a lot that you can do in training camp practices when it’s some slappy officials who probably do high school and college games. Like like the the National Football League guys have not been here yet from a refereeing standpoint. My guess is that they’re going to probably come in for the joint practices, but I would that’s like the one question mark. Like when the season starts and you’re, you know, really in man coverage and you’re going against uh top quarterback and a really good receiver and now the officials are predisposed to throw flags, can you get away with the amount of physicality that you are right now? But nonetheless, if you can, to a certain degree, this might not be nearly as um uh uh out there of call to go to Okuda as I thought it might be when I first got to OTAAS and saw him with the first team. By the way, he has been called for only 13 penalties in almost 2,000 career defensive snaps. So, not not an egregious amount of of penalties. And I feel like you know the Lion on was it the Netflix uh trying to remember where I saw this with Dan Campbell. It might have been on the Netflix quarterback thing where they were talking about the defense a little bit with the Lions and uh and he came from like the early Dan Campbell as they were building that culture and they were preaching to that Lions defense they’re not going to call it every play. So let’s let’s ride that line. Let’s be super physical. You could argue that Mike Zimmer’s defenses were the same way. 2016, 17, 18 Xavier Rhodess. Um, so yeah, it’s I thought they were bringing him in as just like a depth flyer, run him with the twos at training camp and kind of see what he looks like and maybe he’s a fringe roster guy by the end of training camp. Is it fair to say that right now he is a lock to make the 53man roster and and if the season started right now, Jeff Akuda would get a ton of snaps? Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. He’s playing the role that I thought Mai Blackman would get and Mai Blackman is pretty much playing the role I thought Jeff Okuda would get. Super interesting. So, yeah. All right, next one. Okay, stock rising. Let’s keep rising. We are going to uh stick in the defensive back field. In fact, we’re going to stick at quarterback with the man they call nudy, Dwight McGloth. There he is. Uh, this kid has had again, you know, he signed as a UDFA in 2024, makes the 53. So, he doesn’t just like stick around and make the practice squad, he makes the 53. That’s impressive. Uh, he played then in 2024 as a rookie played in five games, only played 19 snaps on defense. But, Phil, you’ve seen this, too. Uh if there is a guy on the second team like if you take Mai Blackman and Dwight Mclothin and I ask you hey training camp practices you know team drills or seven on seven so far who’s made more splash plays it’s he had three picks on he had three picks in three consecutive practices last week he has a if I may say this in a footbally way he has a nose for the ball like he anticipates plays really Well, he to me is a guy that I could easily see. I don’t know if Okuda struggles or what or somebody goes down, but dare I say, I think he might be ahead of Blackman now as far as who might get the next if there are if there are more reps with the ones to get for a quarterback. Dwight Mcloth to me has shown enough to get those reps. That was going to be my next question was at this point then Blackman’s third behind at least behind the three guys that we’re that we’re talking about in terms of opportunity and getting some big time reps and and playing time in week one or to start the season. That’s my own personal assessment. Yes. I mean, they they would probably disagree because Blackman is a third round pick and I don’t think this team wants a bag on draft picks, but it feels like it. And flat out McGloth’s just made more splash plays. He’s been around the ball more. You know, I’m hardressed to think in Blackman in in Mai’s defense, he’s coming back from a torn ACL, suffered in training camp last year. So, but if you think about how often have you seen number five around the football compared to 29, 29’s been around football a lot more, Dean? Yeah. And it’s it’s been like that for a couple camps. He was also one of the highest graded, if not he might have been the highest graded cover corner at Arkansas across all of FBS in 2023. McGloth, but Thor kind of nailed it last week. The measurables, the Raz score, some of these guy, I mean, Ivan Pace was one of the best linebackers in all of college football. And then the measurables come in, you’re like, “Ah, he’s he’s short. He’s, you know,” but you know what? To some extent, if you can play football, you can play football. And Dwight Mcloth seems like a guy that can play some football. The Raz drives me crazy. No, I like it. And the Raz drives crazy. But Raz matters to some extent. It’s relative athletic score. Yeah. You You can’t just like run a five 5.5 40 yard dash and like expect to keep up with NFL football players. Like some of that stuff is really important and it and it also projects like in the case of Tyran Ingram Dawkins, the fifth round pick defensive lineman who’s getting run with the twos. The productivity in college did not match the relative athletic score. So you draft a guy like that saying, “Well, once we get our NFL coaches on him, we’re going to get him from here to here productivity wise.” So like there it is a good barometer, but you can’t take it too far. Well, it’s the perfect it’s the perfect example of the marriage of of the metrics, the advanced metrics with actual scouting cuz like you saw if you watched a kid like Dawkins or heck to go back to Denil Hunter in college, right? He didn’t produce a ton. You watched him though, I’m sure as as a coach and said, “Oh my god, there’s so much more here. There’s so much more.” Mclathan. I think the thing that you see there is no matter what the Raz was, it’s his anticip anticipatory skills. Like he’s jumping routes. He’s doing he’s doing things that are mental that you can’t gauge. So like this is where it’s the perfect marriage of does this guy have any athletic ability with okay, it might not be great, but he’s actually a football player. This goes back to why the 40 to me it’s fine, but it’s straight ahead. Who runs straight ahead in football unless you catch the ball and take off, you know, on a bomb, which you can do once in a while, but it’s cutting ability. It’s knowing where to cut. Like football smarts plays such a huge role here. And I think this kid’s got it. I I feel like on the scouting reports for any type of sport, Jud, do you not like when it’s just athletic, like athlete? You You know what? I actually don’t I I actually don’t prefer that for college for kids going from high school to college cuz I think that that’s where you can just unleash them. Like by the time you get to the pros, if you don’t it’s a rare player where if he’s dumb, unless he’s just really really good, it’s a like there’s a lot of things that you have to sort of adopt adapt to and know. But but like when PJ Fleck gets a kid and the roster just says A for athlete, I like that cuz it’s a college kid. It’s like yeah, try it. Yeah, you can sometimes you can just put athletes out there at different positions in college and like because the the the precision of the passing games aren’t as honed and tackling and schemes and all those things. So, okay. Okay, let’s move on. Couple guys from the offensive side of the football. Lucky Jackson, stock rising. Now, if this name sounds familiar, it should. He has been in training camp now. I think this is his third training camp. He’s been on the practice squad for 2 years. So, there are certain guys who have benefited and there are certain guys who have sort of been exposed a little bit by Justin Jefferson’s absence. He came out of practice in the second practice and has not been practicing since. He’s on the field. He actually looks fine. So, I think they’re being cautious, but nonetheless, it’s given opportunities to some guys, certainly first team reps, that would not have gotten them if 18 was healthy. And Lucky Jackson has one. Now, some people have said Jan Deshawn Jones is playing well, and he’s been fine, but it feels to me like the most chemistry I’ve seen between a newcomer and quarterback JJ McCarthy, Lucky Jackson. He’s had some nice catches. He’s 28. So, again, I think he’s old. Yeah, he’s old, but I think that also gives him the opportunity to sort of know he he’s old and he’s been around here now for a couple of years. So, he clearly knows what Okonnell wants. He’s sort of a wide receiver. Johnny Munt. Mhm. I think he’s a, you know, I think he’s adjusted and like he makes plays. They’re not necessarily super flashy, but he knows what he’s supposed he knows where he’s supposed to be. He knows what Okonnell wants. He knows he’s a depth chart guy. In the preseason a year ago, five catches for 57 yards. Uh played in, and I forgot this, he actually played in three games in 2023. He got into three regular season games. was in for three plays on offense, 32 on special teams, but Lucky Jackson to me is definitely vying for a spot now because I joke, but I don’t. Much like with Munt, keep in mind, Okonnell’s predisposed to really like guys that know what he wants, especially those depth guys. Because what he doesn’t want is is, if I’m correct on this, it was 2022. The Vikings pick up Project former first round pick Jaylen Regger. And what does he do? Runs the wrong route. Right. What was that one play where wasn’t there a play where he or he there was a broken play where he was wide open. He had a couple just like major bloopers. Ran the wrong route there. Yes. Yeah. Okay. A couple things on Lucky Jackson here. Is there a world where he’s So he’s been absorbing the system for what you said three years or is this this is year three in camp, right? You said yes. I believe I found that he’s on the I look back two years on the practice squad thus far. Yep. Um he’s a football veteran. He has played I believe so he’s definitely played XFL. He I think he played a year in the CFL and he played like all four years in college too. And it’s not like some of the depth receivers have been lighting it up here according to Jud’s camp notes. I’ve been out there. I see some of these drops too. I mean is there a world where Lucky Jackson gets actual run as like the fourth receiver on the depth chart? That’s a great question. Based on this, I he hasn’t impressed yet, but like Ty Felton’s going to make the team, right? Third round pick. I think he’s going to return kicks for sure. I don’t know, but I but I when Cam started, I said he’s got no chance. And now I think he could be one of the last guys kept. And in Okonnado’s world, I guess the fourth guy is sort of like, hey, you’re playing well or you’re not screwing up. The one guy I can’t get my my head around is Rond Del Moore. He’s very much a gimmick guy and as big a star as he was in Purdue. I’m not sure he’s a regular in this league. Now he can return punts so he might make the team. But Lucky Jackson, I just watch him and I see the same intangibles that Okonnell loves, which is I don’t think I’ve seen him screw up. I don’t I don’t know if you can glean this from training camp, but they lost Trent Sherfield, who was like their primary blocking wide receiver. Can he can Lucky block? Have Have we been able to see that or is that too hard too hard to tell? That’s pretty hard to tell. And they signed Tim Jones from Jacksonville to for that role. That’s the thing that’s going to work against Jackson when Jefferson comes back. Like you’re going to have x amount of guys that they keep and and Jackson very well could be the last guy or last guy or the first guy off the list. But I think Jones is going to make the team based on the fact that he can flat out be what Sherfield was, which they value a lot and they should. But I just uh Rondale Moore I’m not sure about you yet, you guys. Like I think we assumed he’d probably make it and I’ve been I’ve been on the fence of he could get cut and the more I watch him just don’t know I’m that impressed. And the size is an issue. It’s a fun concept but obviously it just hasn’t worked in the NFL. Uh, for what it’s worth, Lucky Jackson, according to Pro Football Focus at Western Kentucky between 2016 and 2019, the vaunted Western Kentucky Hill Toppers football team. He was a very highly regarded runblocking wide receiver. They graded him very, very well as a runblocking wide receiver. He also has one of the craziest football resumes. Uh, so a couple highlights from Lucky Jackson’s football life. In the I believe it was the 2019 First Responder Bowl against Western Michigan, he was the MVP of the First Responder Bowl, catching 17 passes. He caught 17 passes in a bowl game. What a day. And then a few years later in 2023, he was named to the All AFL team, one of the the bright young stars of the Extreme Football League with stops with the Edmonton Elks in the CFL. Um, he was also part of the Spring League, the TSL, an American Football Developmental League that played from 2017 through 2021. So, this dude has played at literally every possible level of football you can imagine. Yeah. But, I mean, his I I think that speaks to his love of the game of football. He’s a football lifer. He is. Yeah. And so, I’m a Lucky Jackson guy. And so he spends a ton of time in the playbook. As a uh as an aside, I don’t know that this is stock up, but I am curious. Silus Balden’s made some plays and he’s a small guy like Moore and he’s a return guy as well. So just when the preseason starts on Saturday afternoon against the hated Houston Texans, keep your eye on 83 as well. I think this kid can make some plays and quite frankly I think that the fact that he’s a draft or he’s a young guy, he’s a rookie might give him an edge on more in some ways. Yeah. Okay. Love it. And then you said you have one more stock riser here. Okay. I do. I do. I do. Let’s um let’s cue the rouser. Let’s cue the rouser if this is possible. Which one is it for? Oh, Max. Is it Max? Max. Yes. Let’s go. Let’s go. Max Bromer, dude. One of the days I was out there at practice, he was the first player from the 90man roster to step foot on the practice field. Early bird getting those reps in. This kid, you can tell, and I’ve read the stories, but I don’t cover go for football that closely. But you could tell what you just said is true. He loves the game. That the the the PJ Fleck influence is alive and well, I feel like. And it must be how he’s wired, too. like he and Fleck must have been just like in sync constantly. Uh but Max Brosmer is not only out there first, he is you could tell this kid has been a sponge with the playbook. Um has he made some bad plays and thrown some picks? Absolutely. But I will say this, as far as decisiveness goes, as far as you can tell he knows he’s got the football acumen goes, there have been days where I think it’s safe to say, and I might I might give him this for camp where he’s been the best. He might be the best backup that they’ve got. Brett Ripen is more of a coach on the field. I mean, he’s not young. Yeah. Sam Howell we’ll get to. you won’t be surprised where we get to him. Um, and look, I do not think Brosmer in any way, shape, or form can go into the season as the number two. Could he be the three? I’ll give him this. If he plays well in the preseason and you like him, you might not want to try to sneak him through to the practice squad because he’s a quarterback and quarterbacks do get signed. Like there’s a lot of guys the day cuts are made there’s a ton of positions where it’s like hook just cut him we’ll because you know the Seattle Seahawks are not going to say did you see that left guard on the Vikings we got to get him they’re trying to sign their own guys you know but I could I can see the infatuation now from a year ago in the Big 10 Max Bromer to me I’m far more impressed in watching him practice than I was actually necessarily playing in games. He was good in games but you can see where it comes from. Do you think there’s a chance in 10 years that we could be updating the Mount Rushmore of undrafted quarterbacks? Curt Warner as the George Washington, Tony Romo, Romo, uh Je Garcia was once un that he might slot in there somewhere between Tony Romo and Jeff Garcia, Mount Rushmore of great undrafted quarterbacks. I don’t know about that, but I will say this, he’s going to go down swinging. He’s He brings a He brings a quarterback in energy to the practice field. It is very noticeable. He’s got the good, speaking of posture, he’s got the good posture going. He’s got uh like there’s quarterback energy, man. It’s quarterback energy. You go out to camp, see some guys with those red jerseys on. I won’t name names, but you got some slump shoulders and some I’m grinding through this practice. and Bromer like you could but but you can see why the success his success that happened with the golfers was not like just pure athletic ability. He he knows what they would but but it’s impressive like he’s making plays here. Yeah, it’s I mean his skills in college cross reference perfectly with what Kevin Oonnell wants for the bulk of his and it’s it’s those over the middle crossing routes up the seam like dominating between the the numbers. I feel like we we need uh this like quarterback energy quotient. We need like a if you could run like JJ McCarthy in terms of QBE quotient very high on that scale. Yep. Sam Howell, body language, inaccuracies, indecisiveness, all of those things play into your your QBE quotient. Yep. I think Brosmer ranks pretty high on that. Yeah. So, keep an eye on him. And I do think if you know, I think he’s going to play a bunch in the second half of preseason games. If he plays well, I’m not going to be totally shocked if he’s the third guy. Yeah. Don’t think you can do two, but okay. So, we’re going to get to some stocks falling here and a hottest Vikings take. Uh, Two Men in a Truck. In fact, I’ll have an update on that probably by the end of the month here. Uh, I’m also I’ll be the next member of the show to And I’ve used Two Men in a Truck a few times in my life. They’re always awesome. Definitely. Yeah, they’re they do a great job. They help make my move happen. What they quote is what you pay. There’s none of those weird hidden service fees. In fact, I’m I’m guessing Phil did the same thing. They just sent you a checklist. They sent you a spreadsheet. what do we need to move out of your house? And then they can build a help you build a quote from there to get the right truck out there to you. They’re going to safely also pack up all your stuff, get it into the truck, and then safely get it out of the truck. They take care of all your things. So go to twomeninatr.com to book and get your quote and also tell them that Purple Daily sent you. Go to two menr.com. The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is sponsoring Jud’s Camp Notes throughout the month here. And in less than two weeks, Renfest is back. Open weekends 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. August 16th through the end of September and Labor Day. And it’s a great familyfriendly place. Take your family on the weekends. Over 50 games, rides, and attractions. You can throw axes, shoot a crossbow. You can interact with fearsome Vikings like Jud. You could like Jud. We’re gonna take Jud out there and he’s going to do some camp notes from the Renaissance. It’s gonna be Javvon Hargra and Jonathan Allen. And good luck getting home. One roster spot left. Who gets it? Uh Tasty Turkey Legs, Nordic Meatballs. You can find out more about the schedule and all the events at renaissancefest.com. That’s renaissancefest.com. All right, Juds Camp notes. Also saw Declan flash this on the screen here. Well, we’re getting close to 60,000 subscribers on the Purple Daily YouTube channel. So, thank you to everyone who’s been a part of building this, I guess, podcast community, but also community of Vikings fans all blended together as one. Uh, we love and appreciate you guys. If you haven’t already, maybe you’re new, you’re just starred for Vikings content and you’re stumbling into us for the first time, click that like button and the subscribe button on the Purple Daily YouTube channel. And then on the audio side, a fivestar rating and a positive review help us on Apple and Spotify continue to grow this thing. So, thank you. And Jud, let’s talk about some falling stocks. Juds, Campnotes. All right, stock down. The affforementioned Sam Howell. Now, I didn’t expect really a thing going into camp, but he is the backup. He’s the primary guy, a guy that the Vikings obtained in a trade with the Seahawks on the third day of the draft. And keep in mind, they didn’t give up really a damn thing to get him. So, he doesn’t, it’s not like he has to stick here, but it’s funny when you watch the practices. I feel like Howell gets some grace and he probably deserves it. started 17 games in 2023 for a commander team that went four and 13. Uh he led the league that year with 21 picks and he took 65 sacks. And the grace is that team was terrible. Like don’t just blame Sam Howell for that. But the more you watch the practices, the more you see what the problem was. Uh, and this doesn’t this doesn’t absolve the rest of the commanders, but it does say Sam Howell’s decision making is often very too methodical and slow, which it’s funny where we watch practice from. The perch, it’s a really good idea of how fast things move. Like if you’re up in the press box, it looks pretty simple, but we’re down low enough so when the ball is, you know, when the quarterback drops back to pass, like you can see the pressure and how quick it gets on you. you don’t have time to like your progressions are one two three not one two three and he he also I mean makes some bad passes practice ended I think it was on Wednesday in and this is the practice every quarterback threw a pick but it ended in a two-minute drill with Howell throwing over the middle and it’s picked off and that can’t happen and I know he’s the backup but if You go back a couple of years ago, what 2022, Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond were vying for the backup job behind Kirk Cousins and it was it was a train wreck. It was it was a train wreck and Kevin Oonnell was like we can’t do this. And so at in late August they traded for Nick Mullins just when do you think they knew that trade was happening? Like I think these conver like that conversation probably starts Oh yeah. in like late July or back in June and May, right? Okonnell’s never seemed thrilled about this move. I don’t think I think of all of the ideas that they went through, they settled and it’s like, well, McCarthy is going to get the vast or he’s going to get all of the top reps. So, you know, we can’t find a backup. Daniel Jones didn’t come back. I don’t know if they if Tanah Hill said buzz off. If I don’t start, I’m I’m not playing. Yeah. whatever it was, they clearly weren’t thrilled with any of the options at the end of the day. And so I don’t sense like this marriage to Sam of well, this is the guy that we got. But I but I also don’t think if Howell’s not the guy, I don’t think a backup a true number two quarterback is on this team. So there’s there’s two former highlevel starting quarterbacks, first round picks that are still free agents and uh Ryan Tanahill is one of them. And there were some reports that the Vikings had some conversations with him. I think he sat out last year basically like in protest of I feel like I’m a starting quarterback still and then and so but he didn’t close the door on coming back to the NFL. Yeah. So, like whether it’s Carson Wentz or Ryan Tanahill, and I’m not I know people are going to scoff at both those names for different. We’re not looking for a top 12 starting like you’re looking for a capable backup that has some experience that if he had to play for 6 weeks or something or for like half the year, you wouldn’t be entirely screwed because like Sam Sam Howell right now based on what we saw that first year full starter in Washington and based on training camp, you would probably be screwed. Like you’re not it’s not Case Keenum 2017 where he’s going to pull the trigger. Damn it. And like the ball’s going to get out of his hand at the very least. The ball doesn’t come out of Sam Howell’s hand often enough to to run the offense. So I just wonder if you’re Wentz and or Tanahill and you’re still interested in playing in the NFL, are you waiting another few weeks to see if a starter goes down? Oh my gosh, you know, Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles again and the Steelers are desperate. Okay, that’s a chance to start. Do those guys become available on like August 25th or is there a potential trade too? You know, I mean there there are teams there are teams that have backups that are probably if not superior an upgrade on Howell. So I definitely think you’re right though. I definitely think that this is an ongoing discussion and I think that they probably look at Bromer and say, you know what, pretty impressive, but he can’t be our backup. They look at Ripen and it was interesting last week and I don’t know if this was the script or this was audibles from the script but there were times where like Ripon got the number two snaps not for huge portions and how it didn’t look like a straight demotion by any means but Ripen are you giving them chances are you giving Brosmer chances because that’s what the script calls for or are you giving them more chances because you’re underwhelmed by Sam Howell but a trade would not shocked me too. Not at all. Yep. Something else to monitor over the next few weeks. Okay. Uh more stocks falling. Who else you got? Lot of lot of moving parts in Egan right now. All right. The next one is an interesting one. So, hear me out. It’s Jaylen Naylor. And his stock is not falling because he stinks. His stock is falling. And this is actually something that I’m doing a public service for. And I’d like to apologize to Jaylen. I’m doing a public service for the rest of the league that monitors this show to see if they can glean formations and tactical advantages. So, Matt Laflur, you’re welcome. Dan Campbell, same thing. My guy Pen Johnson, what up? So, Jaylen Naylor has been thrust into the number two role with Jefferson out. Obviously, with Justin out for a week plus now, it becomes Jordan Addison’s the top receiver. Jaylen Naylor is the two. And Jaylen Naylor as a three is good. I mean, hell, KJ Osborne was a pretty good three, but we’re always, including me, guilty of, well, if you’re a good number three, I I wonder if you could be the number two. Like, I wonder if you could be that guy. Yeah. And in watching Naylor in practice get chances. McCarthy has made a couple of great deep throws, and they’re hard catches to make. They’re contested balls, but at the end of the day, when it’s nutcutting time in the fourth quarter of an NFL game, they’re catches that have to be made and he he doesn’t catch them. So, can he can he catch the ball over the middle if he’s open? Probably. He dropped a few of those last year. But the bigger question is if I am take your pick a team that needs a number two next year and you go on the you know you see Jaylen and and you’re like okay he was pretty good not too bad with the Vikings. Can we make him can we elevate him to the two? My response from what I’ve seen is no. I think he is a very good serviceable three but it’s also why the Vikings will almost certainly wave bye-bye at the end of the season. Correct. I’m sorry. Yes. at the end of the season, they’re not going to try to keep him. You’re not going to pay the three more than the average three makes receiver. What was uh there was a play earlier in camp, like maybe one of the first two or three practices where McCarthy throws this beautiful deep ball down the field a couple days ago. Same play and he goes up and it was a great play by Byron Murphy Jr. So Naylor goes up, makes the catch on the doorstep of the end zone. So his he’s catching it like at the peak at the I guess the top of your uh your catch point. Yep. Catch point or your top of your uh radius, whatever you call it. No, you got And you know, it’s like a a quarterback comes over the top, knocks the ball out. It’s a great play, but yeah, those are the types of plays that swing a football game in week eight. Yes. And he has to be relied upon to somehow hang on to that ball. And it sounds like that same play, like you said, has happened a couple different times. Yes. And and when you combine that with what we saw a few times, the one that stands out to me is the Thursday night game against the Rams where he dropped a ball that could have lost them. I mean, that might have been a turning point or it was a turning point. Can’t have that. So, all right, we got one more. We talked about this briefly yesterday and Dex was not on the show. He’s not going to like what he hears. Oh my gosh. Know what this is. I got to go. I got to go there. I got to go there cuz it’s real. And Judge Camp notes keeps it real at all times. We might have a kicking problem. Oh man, man. All right. Yeah. Will Riker has had three periods of end of practice kicking since practice started. Okay. So, three, that’s not a lot. Like I I just saw I think Brandon Mcmanis the Packers kicker is like 25 of 26 or 30 of 30. Like he’s kicking all the time. The Vikings try and not do that. Coming off the quad. Is that strategic? Okay. I think he’s coming off the quad. And and look, I mean teams have very different ideas of how much you want that golf club to swing. is part of it to try and protect him from injury, which seems weird as a kicker. Like, but you also don’t want to but you also certain teams have my guess is this comes from the medical staff like the training staff has probably said here is the here is the desired amount of kicks in a training camp practice through the whole thing. That’s my guess. The Vikings are very meticulous about this stuff. So, they probably say it doesn’t do him any good to take that golf club out of the bag on a daily basis. We don’t want to have and and they definitely I think Okonnell brought this up before camp. They definitely want to keep that leg as fresh as possible because of the quad problem last year. There was a perception that that was from overuse. Is there also, this is just me speculating, is there an element of like like a strategic element of, well, you’re only lining up for NFL pressure kicks on a weekly basis, so we should limit the amount of times like we should almost simulate how much downtime there is between quote unquote pressure kicks. or could be. I mean, what what whatever they’re doing though, not to step all over Jud’s camp notes because you’re about to give the statistics again here, I think. All right. So, on the last time he kicked then would have been on Saturday, he made kicks of 38 42 and by my count 42 yards, but he missed wide left from 33 and 36. Cool. and everything. A bunch of the kick or at least two of the kicks that he made made it inside the post, but we’re all going to the left in training camp so far. Again, Jud’s camp notes counts. I’m keeping track, but I’m not going to say these are official. Much like my JJ McCarthy tracking, Will Records 13 of 18. He has missed five kicks so far. Yeah. And the It’s the ones under 40. Yeah. like those should be automatic especially in controlled conditions. He doked a 53 yard. He did do a 53 yard off again I believe it was the left post earlier in the week. Um now here’s the interesting thing if you do want to tie in last year. So in the first seven games last year he was 14 of 14 on field goal attempts and 20 to 20 on extra point attempts. week eight against the Colts where it turned out that that his right quadriceps was bothering him. He missed his only two field goal attempts. He then misses I think it was four games. Comes back and the rest of the season on field goals he’s 11 of 15 in the final six games and that includes the Rams game. So in some ways this is picking up a little bit where he left off last year when he missed four field goal attempts in the final six games. We can. Yeah. It’s What will it take for us to feel comfortable about a Vikings kicking situation? Like the I would say the most com there’s in the last like 25 years. Yeah. Since Gary Anderson did what he did in ’98 and then it was just like a couple years of shell shock and uh Ryan Longwell came in and made you feel pretty comfortable for at least a few years, right? range was a little bit of a question. He wasn’t going to be bombing 57 yarders. And then there was the one crazy year of Blair Walsh and you thought like, oh my god, he just went 10 for 10 from 50 plus as a what a rookie. He was an allp pro, right? Yeah. He was probably the best kicker in the league that year and then completely short circuits. So, I don’t know, man. Like it’s it would take several years of building up trust before I would personally feel comfortable with a Vikings kicker walking up in a clutch situation like, “Oh yeah, this is probably going in.” I’m a little bit concerned though because pre-injury he was great. After it he was a little bit questionable and now we’re sort of seeing some of the same things. And you’re you’re right. It’s if he was missing from 56 all the time, I’d be like, “Well, that’s sort of weird because he’s got a big leg, but okay, it’s from 56.” But we’re talking about, you know, GWG field goals here. Like, you trot on the field for a 42 yard kick. I expect you to make that 42 yard kick. Yeah. Interesting. Well, okay. Well, that’s not going to send uh waves through the Vikings fan base at all that we have a kicking problem two weeks into training. We want more camp notes football. I’m curious in the night practice tonight at uh in the stadium if we get another kicking or would they would they protect him from that because it’s probably going to be the biggest turnout for f I mean fans are watching some of these other sessions too but this is like the under the lights I feel like that’s where the most fans show up right on Monday night probably. But I mean I sort of want to see if it’s getting straightened out too literally and figuratively. Yes. Touche. Um, any other uh little morsels? This is good. I This is This helps put things into context here with those seven players stock rising and stock falling. Any other little nuggets that we got plenty more real estate the rest of the week here practice tonight. So, no. If you didn’t uh catch the show on Sunday, I would say that the one thing was the feistiness of Saturday’s practice. Very welcome by Sports Dad. I loved it. and JJ McCarthy get getting in the defensive or the uh the linebacker’s face after he Tyler Baddy after he laid out veteran Aaron Jones was absolutely fantastic. Okonnell does not like the skirmishes and he actually after the second one called the team together to I think say knock it off. But nonetheless skirmishes to me JJ McCarthy I love it. That’s your quarterback. That’s your quarterback right there. uh that QBE. He’s got that QBE. Not going to back down. Forback energy. Exactly. Right. He’s going to defend his teammates. Uh I have a hottest Vikings take for you guys here presented by Standard Heating and Air Conditioning Decks. Yeah. So, they’re coming out to my place tomorrow to check on that AC, make sure everything’s working. Uh and also right now it’s their sooner the smarter early bird deal. Book your AC or furnace tuneup by August 21st and save 45 bucks or save 90 bucks when you book both. Standard makes the best deal of the season easy. So head to standard heating.com to schedule. You can contact them however you’d like. Whether that’s via text message, email, or over the phone. standard heating.com. Tell them that Purple Daily sent you and they do power these hot takes. Also a shout out to Federated Insurance. Federated Mutual Insurance Company is a great place to partner with if you are a small or medium-sized business, the the backbone of America, those small and medium-sized businesses, and you’re looking for just a more comprehensive customized plan to protect your company’s reputation, workplace, employees, and financial assets. that frontline great offensive line like protection that Federated’s been known for for over a hundred years working with industries like retailers and wholesalers. So if you run a grocery store, a clothing retailer, furniture, lawn and garden, if you uh operate in auto services, so mechanics, tire dealers, retailer shop, uh repair shops, I should say, you can find a full list of industries Federated works with at federated insurance.com, where it’s our business to protect yours. All right, hottest Vikings take here via standard heating and air conditioning. You guys tell me what you think of this. And I think I’m going to make this a write that down prediction on Wednesday, too, just to to put my money where my hot take is. I am 100% sure that the Vikings will be leading the NFC North coming out of their buy. That’ll be a week six buy. So, going into week seven, I I’m not 90%, not 95%. I am 100% sure the Vikings will be leading the NFC North going into week seven. and it’s because of the defense. So, McCarthy has to do enough and he h, you know, hand the ball off, make the completions that need to be made, but what we’ve seen the first two weeks of training camp practice, the full padded sessions, and we’ll we’ll see more the next few weeks, this Vikings defense was already a problem for most quarterbacks last year. They held opposing quarterbacks to the second worst collective passer rating of any team in the NFL. And then they added Jonathan Allen and Jayvon Hargrave. They also are just getting a year deeper into the system, the nuances, the communication, the chemistry. So Jud’s been documenting it at practice. By the way, last year only Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff really cracked the code on that defense and they both did it twice essentially. But here is the Vikings defense through the first six weeks of the season or the first five games plus the buy. Second year Caleb Williams first year in a new system. Second year Michael Penn and he get Joe Burrow in week three. Well, that’s a tough one. Aaron Rogers at 41 years old in a new system and we saw what he looked like against that defense last year. and then 40-year-old Joe Flacco likely in week five. So, by the way, meanwhile, the Lions to start the season in the first six weeks play at Green Bay, at Baltimore, at Cincinnati, at Kansas City, and the Packers on the flip side, they play Detroit in week one. So, one, someone’s losing that game. Uh, then they play Washington in week two, followed by four road games in their next five games. Green Bay. So, schedule check Vikings. Opposing quarterbacks versus the Vikings vaunted defense check Vikings. And I am 100% sure because of these things, the Vikings will be leading the NFC North coming out of their week six buy. And those last two games are both neutral sight games now, too. Correct. Against 41y old, especially the Browns game might have more or should have more Vikings fans than Browns fans. So yeah, they and if they don’t, if they actually don’t, it’s a problem because the schedule then becomes far more of a gauntlet. So not only should they be, they almost need to be because to your point, when you look at the strength of schedule there, it’s vastly vastly different. So if you stumble there in, you know, I don’t know, the games in Europe or you stumble to start, that’s a a problem. But everything that we’ve seen so far defensively certainly is encouraging. Yeah. And just like back to those quarterbacks. Okay. Uh right now today based on what we’ve seen with this Vikings defense last year, top five scoring, top five, a bunch of different categories. How would you feel with Caleb Williams and some of the stuff you’ve seen like the clips out of Bears training camp? It’s not been all like the bad stuff does get highlighted and I think passed around more. Sure. Sure, there’s been some like really scatterbrained clunker things. Or Michael Pennix, who might wind up being awesome, but you know, just kind of thrown into the fire in a weird situation last year and and now he’s trying to figure out life in the NFL. And then a couple of 40 immobile 40-year-olds, one with a brand new system and new teammates and everything, right? And Joe Flacco, I guess, technically kind of new, too, going back to Cleveland after a year away from and he might not he might not be starting by that point. Okay, let’s say it’s Shadur Sanders or Kenny Picket against this Vikings defense. Yeah, exactly. Roll them all out there. Like it doesn’t really matter. Four four quarterbacks. I mean, they’re all just like one of them’s under the left guard, one of them. I mean, that’s happened before. Um, it was the right guard. Yes. Yeah, that’s true. Yeah, I I agree with you and I and I think it’s very important. I think it’s very important because when you come back, it gets way tougher. Now, what you hope to is that that schedule and if the Vikings defense can be dominant, it allows McCarthy some some time to sort of develop, manage the game a lot, which is fine. And then coming out of the buy, he gets more confidence and and his play begins to tick up as well. So, yeah, it is. Well, one thing I love is this whole thing about Ben Johnson. You got to watch out for Ben Johnson, this team. Like, and I think there’s this perception, well, he’s going to be like Kevin Oonnell was. Meanwhile, he’s like running them ragged in Chicago. He’s kicking guys out of practice off the first team. He He’s going full Brad Childress hard ass 2006. Going to tell you right now, Okonnell’s done a great job. I thought did a great job of communicating and getting the locker room in. And that can be bad if they push you around. But if they don’t, if you can if you can stave that part of it off, I think you become an incredibly valuable, trusted source. Ben Johnson sounds like he’s going in with a you guys were treated so soft before. That can work, but you better make sure that that’s you. If if he’s trying the hard ass personality and that’s not him, it’s going to get dicey because we’ve seen that before. I’m going in and I’m going to be Bellichic. Well, you’re not going to be Bellichic in Bellich’s prime unless you’re really like that. And if you aren’t, you best develop and be yourself. Some members of the show were mocked and ridiculed for suggesting such things about Ben Johnson a few weeks ago, few months ago. That’s fine. I think I said wait and see, right? Sounds like you’re beyond wait and see after the first two weeks. Well, no. I’m just saying if if this is him, if he’s going to go if he’s not really like this, if he’s going to go Dan Campbell, he better really be like Dan Campbell. Well, or just be Ben Johnson, I think. But that’s my point. Yeah, that’s my point. If that’s not your personality, then you’re a coordinator, buddy. Yeah. Uh well, I think maybe this will spill over into our weekly Purple Daily NFL Takes show that we’ll also drop today on the Purple Daily podcast feed YouTube channel. Uh, and mark your calendars. We’ll talk more about this in the coming days, but in three weeks, or I guess uh, a little less than three weeks, we will be at the Minnesota State Fair. There will be a Score North podcast booth at the Minnesota State Fair with some seating, and you can come hang out with us the Thursday, Friday, and then uh, Monday through Friday starting August 21st at the Minnesota State Fair, Purple Daily, and a bunch of other Score North podcasts, Oline Committee on Monday, August 25th. So mark your calendars. We will be at the Minnesota State Fair uh doing our shows, having fun with you guys, and we’ll talk more about that in the coming days here. Purple Daily, Juds Camp notes. We just want the Vikings to win a Super Bowl before we die. See you guys.

Minnesota Vikings stock rising and falling at training camp, starting with CB Jeff Okudah, Dwight McGlothern, and more; Which players at Vikings training camp are struggling to get going; Plus a hottest Vikings take and more on Purple Daily.

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