Minnesota Vikings’ first (unofficial) depth chart is out

Minnesota Vikings’ first (unofficial) depth chart is out

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. There he is. Darren Doogie Wolson from the five Eyewitness News sports department here on Purple Daily drinking some sort of iced coffee situation. A little Duncan. All you guys have some got Duncan McDonald’s. McDonald’s. Nice and simple. 99 cents on the app. Works just fine. Coke. Declan, what do you got? No, it’s ice coffee. Cold brew. Cold brew. Beautiful cold brew. Love cold brew. And you’re upstairs right now in the studio, Declan. Uh, I’m in the only occupied studio that works. Yes. Uh, my talk now is is is in score studio. Okay, fine. Fair. Okay, so you have cold brew upstairs like when I’m done. No, this dungeon, this Zoom room, this TV Zoom room. I can come upstairs and get some cold brew. No, I get it. I get it in the calf, man. Brian and Tom, they got they make cold brew in there. Yeah. Which is actually right outside my door. So, okay. Yeah, Brian. Yeah. Send Brian over. You can talk about fantasy football with us and then you can get your cold brew, right? Kicked our behinds last year. That man is a machine. So, uh, breaking news at least from late yesterday. We have a Vikings unofficial depth chart cuz they have they have to put out starters and backups. They don’t do like second team, third team really, right? It’s starters and backups for the first preseason game on Saturday here. So, uh I don’t know if you guys have fully combed through all of this yet or if there’s any big surprises that jump out. It seems pretty in line with what we’ve seen during training camp practices. Uh, and some of this doesn’t account for like who may or may not be available for Saturday. But cornerbacks right now, Byron Murphy Jr. and Isaiah Rodgers are your two starting outside cornerbacks with the the first listed backups as Jeff Okuda and Mai Blackman. We’ve seen that Okuda is higher up than Blackman cuz he’s jumping in in the subsets. And then uh your starting safeties are Harrison Smith and Josh Matelis with Theo Jackson and Jay Ward as the listed backups. even though the Vikings have for two years played three safeties on the field for almost every single snap. And then yeah, defensive line, Jonathan Allen, Harrison Phillips, Javvon Hargrave with your backups being Levi Drake Rodriguez, Jaylen Redmond, Tyrina Ingram Dawkins, and then two starting edge rushers, Grard and Van Ginkle with Dallas Turner and Gabe Murphy as the pairing behind them. Semicolon, Bo Richtor and Tyler Batty. So I Anything jump out to you guys on the unofficial depth chart here? I’m not sure anything like absolutely jumps out, but just solidifying that when you draft Jackson in the first round, Donovan Jackson, that okay, the idea is he is your new starting left guard. Well, this first unofficial depth chart solidifies that. Not that there’s been any doubt. In fact, I think he’s looked pretty darn good when I’ve keyed in on him the last couple weeks. But all things moving forward with the Vikings having a new starting left guard. Otherwise, Jud, I’m not sure anything overly jumps out at me. There are no real surprises to me. Yeah, I found the defensive tackle. So, the starters like were zero surprises. I thought some of the backups and how they’re listed is intriguing. Defensive tackle, the top backup, Levi Drake Rodriguez. Jaylen Redmond two and and then Ingram Dawkins three. So like and to me Levi Drake Rodriguez and Redmond in training camp have both looked really good. It helps that they are now sort of rotational guys as well. Like there’s not the you’ve got to be with first team and it was interesting though. I will say this two of the last three practices the first one was a veteran rest day. The second one was yesterday and we don’t know why exactly. Jayvon Hargrave sitting out. Now, he had what, the torn bicep early last season. He missed the rest of the year. It very well could be just a rest thing. But again, you know, with with Ryan Kelly, the center out, for instance, out with an elbow. To use your term, it’s all a reminder of, you know, you’ve got a bunch of veteran guys here who have been banged up before. So, your depth guys become incredibly important, Dukes. Oh, absolutely. Now, Ryan Kelly did participate in the walkthrough on Wednesday. elbow issue. I have nothing, at least what I’ve gathered, that leads me to believe that’s some sort of long-term issue. So, all should be fine on the Ryan Kelly front. But yeah, when you sign all these guys, even a Jeff Akuda who was hurt last year, you’re putting a lot of faith in the Vikings training staff, medical staff to ensure that these guys can play. Maybe it’s not 17 games, but doubledigit games that there’s not going to be something that sets these guys back sometime in September. that is some sort of long-term issue. Now, those backup defensive tackles, Jed, like to me, they’re all making the 53 man. Like, those names, Drake Rodriguez, Redmond, Ingram Dawkins, like they’re making the 53 man. So, like I’m still trying to figure out like legitimately what are the position battles? Like I brought this up on Tuesday, but at this point I would not have and hey, I like him personally. locker room DJ, good dude. But Brian Oimoa, yeah, I don’t think he’s making it. So, is that a trade or is that a release? His name did come up briefly in trade talks in the middle of last year. So, like that’s what I’m keying in on right now. Some of these position battles. Who makes the 53? Who doesn’t? clearly the number two quarterback with Brett Ripen getting maybe a little bit more opportunity with those second team snaps, but is the number two quarterback currently on the roster? Wouldn’t be shocked if the answer is no. But that’s what intrigues me the most. I mean, good for them. There really isn’t any sort of oh my god injury situation. Like Justin Jefferson, I’ve noted like to me one month from tomorrow, the opening game in Chicago. Like Jefferson is going to be out there. Whether he’s out there next week against the Patriots joint practices, okay, maybe that’s a long shot, but September 8th, there’s no concern. I just think that’s one of those tricky injuries that can come back and haunt you. But like September 8th, no real concern. concern. I mean, outside of Gavin Bartholomew, backup backup backup offensive lineman Matt Nelson, I was told, uh, pretty significant biceps injury suffered during the Monday night practice scrimmage, but he was a long shot to make the 53 man. So, you know, outside of Bartholomew, somebody that’ll be here when the regular season starts, there really isn’t any sort of long-term injury concern. Let’s talk about Jefferson for a second because I I have um I’ve come to a new sort of theory about what is transpiring here. And by the way, I agree with it. But so he gets he tweaks his hamstring a little bit on the second day of camp and he gets pulled out which was smart and he hasn’t practiced since. And look, I agree with you. You do not want to screw around with a hamstring. At the time I said I would shut him down. Who cares? Like it’s not worth it. But Kevin Seafford, our friend from ESPN, asked Okonnell yesterday if we might see Justin next week in the joint practices. And Kevin gave a very roundabout, you know, I’m not going to tell you, maybe, we hope so, but your conclusion was no, we’re not going to see him. To which then I said to uh Okonnell, I said, how much of this is because you’ve known a Jordan Addison suspension is coming down the pike for a long time now. like what happened was zero surprise to everybody including the Vikings. And my question was how much of what you’re doing with Justin is predicated on that because if you put him out there and he gets hurt in practice and you go into Chicago with whomever as your top receiver Jaylen Naylor I guess and he said yeah he said that’s part of it. He said we are definitely So I have full confidence that if they absolutely thought it was necessary for Justin Jefferson to get practice dukes that he would be practicing right now. uh he’s out on the field every day. He looks good. He’s not running patterns, but he’s running pretty well. I think what’s happened here is they said, “You showed up at OTAAS, which you don’t ordinarily do, Justin. You showed up at mini camp. You went in July and worked with McCarthy and Okonnell brought this up, too. He said 2020 Jefferson is drafted. There is no preseason. There is no joint practices. He doesn’t take part in any of those things because he can’t. He’s never played in a preseason game in his career. And Okonnell’s point is he doesn’t need to. So I really think what we are seeing is the the practice equivalent of what basketball uh does with with resting veteran guys. I think they are like he could practice but why? And I completely agree with that. Yeah, I have no problem with that. I mean, I guess the one blowback would be how important are reps, the timing. McCarthy to Jefferson, but yeah, I mean, they were at Woodberry High School a few weeks ago getting some work in the spring. Plenty of work was gotten in, right? So, sure. Yeah. I mean, heck, I’ve watched Justin run off to the side. Yeah. You see him run across the practice field. Yeah. Okay. He’s not running routes, but you watch him run, he looks just fine. We are still four weeks away from anything mattering, right? So, there is no doubt that Justin Jefferson is going to be okay on September 8th. I do think at some point, maybe it’s that last week of August, or maybe it’s just when things ramp up, Bears preparation week that Jefferson gets some good reps in. But yeah, I’m fine with that. And hey, like they still need to figure out, do they need to go and get a wide receiver? Now, I’m with KC. When you dismantle the 49ers and Texans last year without Addison, that means something. Oh, by the way, TJ Hawinson was out for those games last September as well. And like I checked on Keenan Allen, like the Vikings didn’t there wasn’t anything there, right? And he comes off the board earlier this week going back to the Chargers, but it’s not like the Vikings inquired nothing. I mean, there just there wasn’t anything there. And that’s just one example. I’m not saying, hey, you know, no chance on Amari Cooper or you name the free agent wide receiver, Gabe Davis, right? But I just don’t have any steam right now. So, I think they’re going to give a lot of these guys a bit more runway, certainly through the joint practices next week. Then, if they need to react, so be it. But yeah, you can sell me on on your theory that hey, especially with a soft tissue issue, like there’s no reason like if you’re ever going to be overly conservative considering the player everything like yes, be overly conservative. So yeah, that makes sense. But I’m just telling you and the audience like to me there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to that Bears opener. You kind of mentioned, you know, like you asked the question, Duke, what are the current position battles? And you know, this is it’s a good problem to have if you’re the Vikings when as as I sort of think through this exercise and list out I think these are the biggest battles. I think there’s four battles quote unquote of note. Uh but they’re all like second, third, or fourth on the depth chart. And then there’s a couple backup situations that aren’t battles right now, but they but you might need to go outside the organization. So number three running back is is a battle. Ty Chandler and Xavier Scott are probably unless there’s an external guy that you can claim. Number three cornerback I still think is kind of a battle. Okuda’s pretty solidly in there right now. Uh but Mai Blackman they like. And then Dwight Mcloth’s been real noisy in a good way at camp. So I’m just kind of putting those guys in a stew. And then the yeah the number three number four wide receiver spots that elevates to number two number three for the first three games. Naylor, Rond Del Moore, Lucky Jackson, Ty Felton, Adam Thielen. Um, number three tight end. So, there’s But there’s a few, but they’re all like number three on the depth chart, these battles right now, which will will play out in in part during these preseason games. All right. Well, can I chime in on Adam Thailand? Oh, did I say his name? Oh, okay. Here’s here’s what I would like tell fans to key in on. Do the Panthers get off to a slow start? Are they one and three, 0 and4 into October? My understanding is, I don’t know if it’s been implied or not, but the two sides, the theme camp, the Panthers, that if it goes sideways that they will do the favor and give him an opportunity to chase a championship at the trade deadline. But the Panthers think the world of Adam. They’re loving things right now. You know, there’s no drama right now. But, you know, you start reading some things and hearing some things and, you know, second year in that system. Bryce Young took off the end of last year. Like, the Panthers seem to be pretty darn excited right now. So, like I just I haven’t heard that the Panthers right now are interested in trading Adam Thelen. To me, it’s something to keep an eye on as we inch closer to the trade deadline. But do I foresee the Vikings trading for Adam Felen anytime soon? No. You know, I can just tell you that in the moment here of of August 7th. Now, hey, you want to circle back to me on August 20th or August 25th? Fine. Like, to me, it’s going to be a talker because I’m not quite sure Adam Felen will finish the season in Carolina, but right in this moment, there just isn’t any Adam Thielen steam. What about kick returner, punt returner, Silus Balden? Speaking of Ty Chandler, I thought Chandler had a good practice on Wednesday when thinking about that RB3, but I think there’s a legit battle there. Who is kick returner one, who is punt returner one. Yeah. And what’s interesting about that, you guys, is the fact that right now Rond Del Moore is punt returner one on the initial depth chart. And Ty Felton, who’s a third round pick who’s going to make the team, but I don’t think he is prepared to play as a wide receiver in games in any primary role yet, is the starter or at kick returner and he’s clearly the guy that they want to handle the football and kick return. So, I think that’s a interesting tell more so on Rond Del Moore because I’ve tried to decide is he going to make it? What does he he have to show coming off that uh bad injury we talked about a couple days ago? But Rond Del Moore looks right now like he will probably make the team as things are currently constructed. And that is that’s interesting. I will say this, Sam Howell might have thrown his best pass of camp on Wednesday. Wow. Uh a red zone drill from the 20, put it in there, beat Dwight Mcloth to Rond Del Moore on a gorgeous sideline touchdown pass. And Mo made a nice play, too. So, it’s telling now. I see Moore as more as sort of a gimmick guy. I don’t know that he’s a guy that you can play consistently, but um it’s going to be the preseason game. If you’re going to key in on a few things on Saturday, I would say this. And Jaylen Naylor didn’t practice in teamer or seven on seven yesterday. So, I don’t know if something’s wrong or if there is, how bad that might be, but if you’re going to key in on something, key in on the wide receivers who do play cuz this is a battle royale right now in my opinion. Like with the first team yesterday, we saw Theer Thomas, Lucky Jackson, Rond Del Moore. Like they were mixing in everybody. So like this is like open mic night for the receivers. So it’s going to be I think Saturday is going to be very telling with McCarthy and without him about I think you’re going to have a chance to move up the depth chart in the game itself. Hey everybody, you hear the one about the rabbi and the priest? It’s their Thomas. I’ll be here all night. Hey guys, my name is Lucky. I don’t want to get lucky tonight. Am I right? Get no respect. See, also big Dangerfield. I get no respect to you. I get no respect. I’m a 28-y old receiver. I get no respect. I play in the CFL. I play in the XFL. My quarterback doesn’t like so bad the quarterback comes home and says, “You’re no catch at all.” Speaking of the XFL, I was bonding with one of their scouts making the rounds at practice a couple days ago. The Michigan, is it the Stallions? Is that their team name? I don’t even remember. Panthers. Panthers. Whatever. They’ve changed these names now. It used to be the Panthers. Oh, is that the UFFL? I can’t even keep them straight that USFL was the Maybe it was the UFFL. The Michigan team. Anyway, scouts making the rounds at all the NFL training camps. Yeah, I mean, Sam, it’s a big game for him on on Saturday, right? I mean, the narrative right now is, okay, we think the Vikings need to go out and get a number two quarterback. That number two quarterback isn’t currently on the roster. Well, Sam H can shut us up a little bit if he plays well on on Saturday. They do love Thomas. You know, whatever jokes we want to make. I mean 89 is somebody they think highly of. Lucky Jackson has gotten a number of first team opportunities. Number 81. So yeah, 89 81 more. Keep an eye on those guys. Yeah. Uh speaking of speaking of receivers and and sort of looking into the future, I do have a speculative question for you here in just a moment, dudes. But reckless speculation. Uh for all the men of Purple Daily, a really important message here for a moment. There is a massive need for organ donors in both in Minnesota and nationwide right now. Men specifically, uh only 50 uh only 57% of people in the Minnesota region are registered on their driver’s license or state ID and 2,000 people in Minnesota are waiting for a life-saving transplant. There’s not enough organs to meet the need. I mean, any of us could wind up being one of those 2,000 people waiting for a transplant. The majority of those 2,000 are men. That number is a 100,000 people across the country waiting for a transplant. There’s four ways to register as a donor. Number one, your driver’s license. Just check the donor box the next time you renew or apply for a driver’s license. Uh online at life-source.org in your iPhone app. You can register as a donor or when purchasing a hunting or fishing license online. So, let’s help save some lives. Let’s get that 57% number up. Uh, the Men of Purple Daily, we appreciate your help in this regard. Uh, also a reminder, we are going to be at the Minnesota State Fair starting August 21st. That’s a Thursday, every weekday at the state fair, the 21st, the 22nd, and then the Monday through Friday following. Score North podcasts from noon to 3 or 4:00 every day. Purple daily live at one o’clock every day at the Score North podcast stage which is just like on the left edge of the grandstand as you’re looking at it on the outside of it obviously across from the Sweet Martha’s Cookies Barn, one of the three of them. Uh we’ll have a website up soon with some more information, but yeah, we’d love to see as many of you as possible. I know Dukes is going to be out there a couple times with us uh that full week on the Tuesday and the Thursday. So yeah, the Minnesota State Fair, come on out, hang out with us. There’s seating. You’ll get to uh maybe touch the sports dad’s camp notes for the first time. That’s right. You can just walk by. Really creepy. That sounds really creepy, but they are right here. So, it’s like that Notre Dame play like a champion sign. Everyone can walk by. You can walk by the camp right there. We need to get Jud to the 21st. Closed circuit to Jud. Heat index. Jonathan Uash, Channel 5 meteorologist right to my left. Yeah, here in the dungeon, the Zoom room at Channel 5. He tells me the heat index today 91. aggressive. So when we’re out there today, sunscreen, bucket hat, water, please protect yourself, sports dad. Thank you. Thank you. No, I have done a really good job this camp. I I’ve not got all burnt up. The bucket hat is huge. Our new tent that we get to stand in is fantastic. That’s the key. It’s a credit to the Vikings PR staff. They looked at me and they said, “This man’s going to die. What can we do to avoid What can we do to avoid that?” So, I do appreciate what the Vikings PR has done. Great job. Yep. And I will see you guys. Yeah. Certainly the week of the 25th. Probably Tuesday the 26th, Thursday the 28th, unfortunately. Tied up on Thursday the 21st. But definitely we’ll bond with you guys at the fair. Hey, I know we have just a couple more minutes here with you, but just and we can talk more about this throughout the year, but uh when Jordan Addison comes back, he’s probably going to be productive just as he’s been he’s 19 touchdowns over two years. And next off season would be the first checkpoint for a potential new contract. And right now the going rate for really good number two wide receivers or number ons that aren’t quite Jefferson and Jamar Chase is like $30 million a year. So how would you if you’re just kind of, you know, sitting in your office at TCO Performance Center looking ahead at the roster, how would you regard the Jordan contract extension discussion right now? Well, I mean, I think you try to get in front of it, right? Like you don’t want this thing to linger. So yeah, to me the first opportunity you can to extend his representation and offer if I’m Rob Brzinski, I’m interested in doing that. To me, I want Jordan Addison here for his second contract. The question is what exactly does that look like? Declan, can you Google quickly the Garrett Wilson contract with the Jets? Because to me, that is the starting point. We’re thinking about a year from now. Like I can’t foresee Jordan putting pen to paper for less than what Garrett Wilson got. Now, hey, we can argue Garrett Wilson, clear-cut number one receiver with the Jets. Okay, Jordan Addison clear-cut number two receiver here, but if you put the numbers side by side, and a lot goes into those numbers. I get that. But you can make that comparison. It’s a fair comparison. Garrett Wilson to Jordan Addison. So, what exactly did Garrett Wilson get from the Jets? Four years, 130 million. What’s also interesting about that contract, there is no guaranteed money after 26 on that deal for Garrett Wilson. Interesting. Two years of guarantees pretty much. Yeah, a four-year extension of 130 million. 90 million is guaranteed of which 38.3 is was guaranteed uh at signing. Yeah, that that sounds right. It’s like three years. Well, that means the baseline, Phil. I mean, like I don’t think Jordan is taking less than that. Yeah. What are you paying though? Like if you’re if you’re at the Vikings, you’re locked in to Jefferson. He deserved and got a huge contract. Are you really going to expend that much on another wide receiver or are you going to try to draft one again? That’s my question. Well, you certainly should always be looking to draft one. Yeah, but I’m saying like a first round receiver. Sure. Well, that but yeah, I mean, you know, it’s the copout, but how exactly does this year go? But thinking about the next handful of years, okay, TJ Hawinson’s contract is off the books. Yeah, that’s true. Like to me, I’m investing heavily in two receiving targets. Well, okay, that’s Jefferson. That’s Addison. And so I’m inclined, you know, you hit on a first round pick. Yeah. Okay. Off the field, he’s got to stay, you know, the way he’s been for the last year. No more hiccups off the field. I think he fully grasps that. But yeah, I’m inclined to say that guy I’m keeping. That guy I’m paying. I hit on that first round pick. I’m keeping him for his second contract. But I’m just saying like I can’t envision him signing for less than that Garrett Wilson contract. Yeah. And if the next couple years or the next year goes absolutely fantastic, which would be awesome, he might just price himself out too because the the thing is like being behind Jefferson is huge, but you don’t find a lot of really good players who who say I’m really successful because the guy in front of me is so good. So I wonder too if he would not just get the money, but also the number one role with another team. I mean, that’s got to be a possibility. Sure. Now, did Aayuk also sign an extension with the Ners? Is that another one? Yeah, he’s at Well, he’s at like 30 million a year. Okay. So, I mean, that is the baseline. Yeah, that’s it, right? And I get it. I maybe now is number one. Debo, I don’t even know how to view Debo now with the Commanders, but whatever Debo was. The Bengals are probably Jennings is pretty good, too, with the Niners, right? And so now the ners are maybe sort of in a comparable situation trying to figure out Jawan Jennings like okay how much do we pay him? Not that Jennings is to me quite Addison but he’s pretty darn good. And so I bet John Lynch is is you know some of these some of these conversations we’re having I’m sure they’re having in the Niners front office. But yeah I at 30 million a year. Yeah. I mean that’s the number Phil right? That’s absolutely the number. Now what’s the what’s the franchise tag number? I get it. the Vikings aren’t inclined to to use the franchise tag, but if it came down to it, now it’s a big number for the receiver position, but do you hold on to him for one additional year? So, you have him for multiple more years, you know, then, you know, worry about 2028, you know, much later on, but you lock him up for the 2027 season, right? Because the rookie deal, is it up after the 26 season, Phil? Do I have that right? It Well, the Let’s see here. So this year 27 27 is the more expensive fifth year option but not but not like super it is fairly expensive though because that hits your books in 2000. You’d like to get a deal done to smooth that number out ideally. Yes. But if need be you feel pretty good about securing him through the 28 season if you had to use the franchise tag one time. And I get it the wide receiver franchise tag that’s not slowing down. So imagine what that’ll be in 2028. But I feel pretty good about Addison being here for for a handful of more years. Yeah. Uh we know you got to run here. Darren Doogie Wolson from the five Eyewitness News sports department on Purple Daily. Dudes, we’ll see you next week, man. All right, boys. Enjoy the game on Saturday, Jet. I’ll see you in a few hours. Awesome. See, Dukes. There he is. Purple Daily. A little bonus episode here today. Uh also, don’t forget to check out the Thor’s Day episode where JJ McCarthy discussion took place. Yeah. Shocking purple daily. We just want the Vikings to win a Super Bowl before we die.

Minnesota Vikings (unofficial) depth chart is out! What are the remaining position battles for the Vikings in training camp; Vikings WR Justin Jefferson’s hamstring status; Plus, Jordan Addison’s future with the Vikings and more Vikings information with Doogie on Purple Daily!

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