Why Minnesota Vikings are uncomfortable developing a young quarterback

Why Minnesota Vikings are uncomfortable developing a young quarterback

A dog in the street. Purple Daily is daily Vikings entertainment. I just want the Vikings to win a Super Bowl before we die. I will ride with this group. Seriously, man. Please. And away we go. All right, it’s Purple Daily. You’ll notice no sports dad today. Sports Dad Jud is taking care of some sports dad things. He’ll be back for tomorrow’s Write That Down episode and we’ll be slinging some takes. So, we’re making Thor’s Day a Tuesday here. Our guy Thor Nestrom now of Score North and soon we will announce a couple new podcast projects that involve you, Thor Nestrom. But we’ll get to our State of the Vikings uh discussion topics here. A lot of people have been waiting to hear from you on this podcast over the last 48 hours and they will hear from you shortly. Before we get into any of it, a shout out to Standard Heating and Air Conditioning, Dex. Yeah, Standard Heating uh helped me out a ton here when I bought my house. Number one, they they took took a look at the furnace because we had no idea what shape the furnace was in. They gave me the peace of mind in the past of, okay, this is a good furnace, good to go. So, that was super helpful. And then ever since then, they they’ve helped just service my HVAC systems as a whole, which is great because I’m an idiot when it comes to this type of stuff. And uh DIY, I you know, there’s some little things I can DIY, but but not the HVAC system. Okay. I I don’t mind going on TikTok and seeing what can I do around the house. Maybe I can lube the garage door. Okay, I can do that. The HVAC system, I let the experts handle it. Uh, contact Standard Heating. Tell them that Purple Daily sent you and uh and and they can take care of that for you. Max Bromer calling right there. Yeah, his destiny calling. So, I’m going to give a quick overview. It’s bad. And then we’ll get into our uh the meat of this and throw it to Thor. So, as we do every Tuesday, we give you the playoff odds from ESPN’s football power index. It’s bleak. The Vikings have a.3% chance to make the playoffs. They have effectively a 0% chance to win the division according to ESPN’s FBI and a 0% chance to win the Super Bowl. Uh, offensive ranks, scoring offense, so points per game, Vikings 25th. Yards per play 25th. Offensive expected points added 28th. Not good. Not great, Bob. Uh, defensive ranks a little better. Scoring defense 18th. Yards per play defense seventh. Defensive expected points added. Analytically, they are 12th. And then the four kind of all-encompassing categories, where does JJ McCarthy rank among qualified quarterbacks? Traditional passer rating 34th, which is last. QBR 33rd, which is last. Uh expected points added and completion percentage over expected as one analytical measurement, he’s 34th, which is last. And PFF grade, he’s 38th, which isn’t last. It’s like third from the bottom. So, we got that going for us. Uh, so his average rank in those categories is 35th, which gets us into our biggest storyline. He’s probably not playing this weekend. He’s in concussion protocol with about 5 minutes to go. Everyone kind of thinks who studied the film, he uh ran for a first down, got tackled, landed on his head. When I saw that play live, I was like, I don’t think he’s getting up. And then his teammates kind of came over and basically like walked him over to the huddle. I think he ripped a smelling salt as he was walking over to the huddle stealthily. He had one like in his pouch and Max Bromer appears in line to start. And through six games, as we just outlined, McCarthy does have some of the worst production of any quarterback in the league right now. And also of any young quarterback in recent NFL history, um Thor has been probably the most bullish public-f facing media member on JJ McCarthy for a year and a half. And people are mad at you right now. People are lashing out at you, uh, wanting you to be held accountable for your opinions on JJ McCarthy. And so, Thor, the floor is yours. Take this conversation wherever you want. Well, look, I I thought McCarthy would be better through his first six starts, for sure. I I thought the 2025 Minnesota Vikings would be better as well. the the story and I think the expectation that we all had was that a Super Bowl contending or quasi Super Bowl contending quality roster was going to elevate a young quarterback who would get his sea legs and get better and better as as the season went along and be put in good situations. And um it’s it’s kind of turned into the inverse of that, right? where instead of everyone sort of supporting the young quarterback and his development, the young quarterback is is being pointed to as the reason that these things are going wrong as as the sole reason for it. Has JJ again, has he played as well as as we hoped he would? Absolutely not. Is he the offense’s only source of problems? No, he’s not. Um JJ has the the NFL’s highest drop rate by 3%. Still, the uh the pass protection issues have have been bad. um in some of these games and against the Packers, you had almost a 50% pressure rate despite the fact that the Packers, I believe, blitzed on only four or five of JJ’s drop backs. In other words, they were getting immediate pressure with fourman uh rushes. So, they were dropping seven. I I watched the all 22 um against the Packers. The broadcast was a tough watch. Um and so, you know, it was one of those, you know, had to wade sort of into the all 22 slowly. Uh you watch that. I don’t know if it’s good news or bad news, but there just weren’t opportunities there. Um there’s you can point to one or two isolated ones where you can be like, why didn’t you try to fit it into a tight window, right? I mean, because that’s that’s sort of what you’re talking about there with with all those pressures coming in less than 3 seconds and then them coming on fourman rushes with the ability to drop seven back when you’re watching the L22. It’s neat. what the well not needs, it’s annoying like how sound the Packers are on the back end. And basically what that opens up is is this thing where you have three seconds and you’re going to get perhaps one fleeting opportunity. Um, and you have to be both precise, but you also have to be quick to have any chance to move the ball against the Packers uh through the air. There’s teams that obviously there’s other teams that have not been able to do it. And um JJ, that’s the thing he needs to work on is timing. Um, we we believe that it’s an experiential thing and he will get better as the game slows down, but the the the precision and the care and the the reading the field immediately, it’s not he’s just not there yet. But he’s being asked in that situation to elevate the team as opposed to vice versa and he’s not there in his development yet. And then he’s being pointed at as not only the cause of this, but if we get rid of him, all the problems go away. I I think people are going to be sorely mistaken on that. I think uh so I also I watched the all 22 through the eyes of Curt Warner. Curt Warner did a 49 minute. He’s one of many people that have done uh just really in-depth breakdowns. JT O Sullivan did one again on the QB school. And so Curt Warner settled in for like a 50minute breakdown going through uh his thoughts on on the game. And it was it was just JJ McCarthy’s passing plays. And I would put his commentary not you you should watch it if if if you’ve got some time here holiday weekend uh if you’re feeling masochistic out there Vikings fans if you want to relive it through the eyes of Curt Warner all 22 I would summarize his commentary with three main points starting with McCarthy. He was critical what you just said. You got to get through some of these quicker whether you’re starting in your sixth game or your first game or your 20th game or your 100th game. like, all right, at some point you got you got to just like move a little quicker through your progressions, even on the some of the throws that he did complete. It was a little later than Curt Warner. The the nice initial completion to Jefferson, which was great. Right over the middle, it’s it’s his breadandut throw. Boom, right up the seam. And even Warner said he hits the back foot and kind of hitches and hesitates just he’s he’s got to clean some of that stuff up. So, he was very fairly and properly critical of McCarthy uh when it was warranted on the All 22. But the other two things he was critical of, which again, if if you are coming to this show or you’re just mad as a fan and all you want to hear is it’s 100% JJ McCarthy’s fault that this is not working through six games, that the offense is terrible, and you don’t want to look beyond just the quarterback, then this is might be a good time to pause the episode and and move somewhere else. Curt Warner in his own way savaged Kevin O’Connell’s passing scheme. uh the the pure progression. Hey, we go one, we go through the reads in a pure progression manner and said, I hate pure progression passing schemes. They’re essentially too rigid and difficult, especially for a young quarterback to get to those quicker answers in the face of pressure. And then the other thing he criticized some of the pointless chipping that you see from, and I’m using the word pointless. I don’t think he used the word pointless, but you got Hawinson, you got running backs in some cases that are that are being asked to chip. Well, you’ve got two of the best tackles in the NFL in theory. Like, shouldn’t you not have to chip with Darasaw and Brian O’Neal? And Darasaw had one of the worst games of his career against Micah Parsons. But what he showed was you’ve got these long developing downfield routes. Maybe there’s two, maybe three receivers going out, seven defenders because the Packers are only rushing four. Those are situations where there’s not much open down the field. What’s the checkown outlet? What’s the answer down low? And there’s not any answers down low schematically in a lot of these situations because TJ Hawinson is being asked to chip with Brian O’Neal and he’s not flashing open until maybe 3 seconds after the ball is snapped and bro it’s too late at that point. So I I mean there is a to me Thor there is a big JJ McCarthy conversation to be had because we’re almost two years into this thing. You’re eating into that rookie scale contra uh uh rookie scale contract. It’s another injury. It’s a concussion on top of an ankle, on top of a meniscus, on top of a hand. And it’s like the clock is ticking one way or another on this, but the infrastructure is absolutely worth poking at for all the reasons that you’ve talked about and Curt Warner. I think this is a it’s a McCarthy conversation and a broader discussion about the things around him in my opinion. Yeah. And and both need to improve, right? I mean, the the circumstances and the infrastructure need to improve and obviously JJ needs to improve. JJ hasn’t been good enough. I you know, I mean, I you know, I don’t know what else to say on that. That that’s a fact, but the infrastructure needs to improve as well. And I I think it’s fair, you know, we’ve we’ve talked about this u this season so far that Okonnell and McCarthy, they need to eventually find a better meld between Okonnell’s system and then McCarthy’s game. And I was confident and bullish that that this would naturally happen. Um, and I’m I’m a little bit disheartened that it hasn’t to this point. But the data point that I could point to um that that allowed me to believe that was when McCarthy went to Michigan out of high school, he was the five-star dual threat quarterback who was so good out of structure and he chose to play uh for Jim Harbaugh and play in that pro style offensive system. And it took him a little bit uh to to learn to play within structure as well. Um people still have their qualms about his instructure play, but he learned to do it well enough to win a national title for Jim Harbaugh. And by the way, his last season in college as a 20-year-old true junior, he was the best quarterback, for instance, in the nation in throwing intermediate between the hashes. And some of these things in Okonnell’s system so far, they have gone the other way, right? the the intermediate throwing between the hashes efficiency has totally fallen off a shelf. The third down stuff has totally fallen off the shelf. McCarthy was the best third and fourth down quarterback in college football his last year as well. You have to figure out a way to marry that. Um where where where both McCarthy can go through initial concepts um of of a read like Okonnell’s system asked for but where Okonnell’s system accommodates McCarthy’s special ability to improvise. And I think to this point, you know, you look on the field, you know, whether it’s the broadcast, whether it’s watching the game back, it it feels like McCarthy is thinking too much, right? And and the thing that I talked a lot about in the pre-draft process with McCarthy, the thing I was arguing against was all all these bad narratives about he has a noodle arm and he’s a mediocre athlete. All these things that have been soundly disproven to this point. It is so clear that McCarthy has the physical ability to be an NFL star. that obviously he’s not an NFL star now and that is up we’ll see if if he ends up getting there but the things that um that he needs to improve upon to get there it’s the stuff of instructure play reading the defense when the bullets are flying and now the narrative you know the same people that I was arguing about in the spring of 2024 no he does not have a noodle arm no he’s not a mediocre athlete now those people are explaining away his JJ’s league leading drop rate by saying he throws the ball too hard for NFL receivers to catch. So, the the narrative on this thing has been rotten from the start, but I think the thing that we can all agree on is the infrastructure has to get better. JJ needs to improve, but he’s the youngest NFL starting quarterback and he has all the physical ability. I still believe staunchly and firmly this is the guy to build around and to try to develop. If other people disagree through six games acknowledging he’s the NFL’s youngest starter, that’s fine. But the the thing I wouldn’t do if I was a fan out there is try to conflate the situation of this year to last year. And and JJ through through six games, he has not put up the record that Sam Darnold in his seventh NFL season did. So we need to pull the plug on him. Sam Darnold himself is uh the cautionary tale for why you don’t do that. And the circumstances are quite a bit different. The strength of schedule, for instance, was much easier last season than it is uh this year. So, I I think fans need to give a little bit of uh uh grace and patience to this situation. You know, it reminds me, Dax, of uh I was scrolling Instagram yesterday and the algorithm served me uh an inspirational message from some account that said, “Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.” And I feel like that’s kind of what the Vikings set themselves up for and and set and set JJ McCarthy up for. and Sam Darnold’s going to be staring you in the face this weekend as he puts up crazy numbers that um you know that Sam Darnold like you said seven years in had not had a really fully productive season until he joined the Vikings but had been around enough to that’s the thing about Okonnell is I feel like quarterback whisperer has to be maybe converted to he’s a veteran quarterback whisperer more that we don’t know if he can develop a young quarterback and there hasn’t been a lot of evidence this year that it’s meshed uh Dax jump in here to this discussion well on that KOC point and I went back yesterday uh sitting in the lobby at my son’s two-month checkup uh you know killing time waiting waiting for the doctor to to to see him and I was thinking about this. So Kevin O’Connell like has shown zero interest as a head coach or even as like an offensive coordinator in terms of developing or wanting young quarterback, young rookie quarterback, right? So he kept Kirk for two more years when he got here, right? All right. He kept Kirk Cousins around. Everyone thought, “Oh, they’re going to blow it up.” Nope. Keeps Kirk. Kirk has the Achilles injury. Okay. Then they opt for Sam Darnold, a far from finished product, but also a guy that was pretty broken and and looked like, oh, okay, he’s been a backup now for a year. Is this okay, but he’s been in the league for six years. He’s had experience. Great. He flirts with Aaron Rodgers this off season. Herbert, Justin Herbert. They opted to bring in Wentz after Sam Howell stunk in training camp and he was still the offensive coordinator the last year of Jared Goff with the Rams before they traded for Matthew Stafford. Now like Goff had been in the league for four years, had been to a Super Bowl, had orchestrated a nice offense, but still even if McVey was 95% of the reason they said I’m done with Jared Goff, it still doesn’t like help the case that Kevin Oonnell wants to like develop a rookie young quarterback. So to answer Phil’s point, I don’t I don’t think he does. When we said the st do who has the stomach for this? Is it the wils? Is it quy? Is it KO Thor? I don’t think Kevin O’Connell has any interest in wanting to do this. And if Drake May was his number one pick, which by the way, I think it’s safe to say uh about 28 teams right now have probably had Drake May as their number one pick or a top option as a quarterback that aren’t the four horsemen in the NFL at starting QBs. Uh, I don’t think he has the interest for this man. Like maybe things change and I I I want JJ to succeed, but man, Thor, I think that’s been the biggest maybe the biggest surprise that I don’t think he has any stomach or interest in wanting to develop a rookie or a first year starting quarterback. I I to this point, I don’t know what you could point to disagree with that. Um, and and you know, the point I was making on Twitter last night is the Vikings franchise, which we’ve all followed since birth, um, and been fans of since birth, they’ve won four playoff games in the last 25 years, and obviously zero Super Bowls, uh, in their history, and they haven’t made a Super Bowl in any of our uh, lifetimes. The fan base, it seems that it wants so badly to go back to the way that things were, right? Like it’s it’s like, you know, it’s it’s like when your your grandpa would talk to you about like, oh, when the Twins were great, right? And it’s like that’s that’s sort of like this fake nostalgia that we have from Viking fans right now. Pointing back to a utopia that does not exist. You won four freaking playoff games in 25 years. You’ve never had success in the way of of of competing for the the a championship. My only thing is I’m I’m tired of that. I’m tired of the roller coaster of, okay, maybe they’re going to make the playoffs, but they finish a game out of it this year. Man, this is one of the one of the three years where we get to qualify for the playoffs and then get decked by Daniel Jones in the playoffs and the New York Brian Dable, right? Like I I I’m sick of picking in the middle of the first round going into every single year going into every single regular season believing that there’s 0% ch literally, you know, analytics right now say 0% chance of Super Bowl. That’s how I felt every offseason going into the the season with with Kurt Cousins and and and and some of the different veteran quarterback every year. I don’t want to be in the NFL’s middle class anymore. if other fans out there, it seems like vast majority of this fan base says we don’t we’re not cool with the uncertainty. So, we would like to to sign up to be in that the NFL’s middle class for two decades going forward. Sign me up because then at least we’ll be competitive every single week. You and I disagree on that. I I I I don’t know another way to say it. I want to win a Super Bowl and if I can’t I’m I’m willing to bottom out at least under the opaces of that idea. If I’m playing the game, I have one of the 32 seats at the table. I’m trying to win that poker game, right? I’m going allin. We are going for it. Um I’m I’m not interested in the playing it safe thing. I know why Kevin O’Connell is a way that coaches and GMs and front office folks can hang around for a long time in the NFL is by barely qualifying for the playoffs or barely not qualifying for the playoffs every single year. I understand why personally that would be attractive for them. as a long-suffering Viking fan of 41 years, it is not interesting to me anymore. I I I love that you brought this up, this sort of uh like false sense of competitiveness that the Vikings have fostered better than almost any other team without ever having that long-term quarterback going back decades and decades. Uh but you brought up something else there about the way people operate in their jobs in the NFL in front offices and coaching staffs. And I think you’re going to start to see this dynamic play out this off season for the Vikings. I had a conversation with someone a couple years ago who uh was was fairly new to an NFL front office and said, “My biggest revelation and just being in this world for the first time is people don’t make on the outside. you think you’re making decisions like in your head as a fan or an analyst or whatever it may be based on the long-term arc and what might be good for a franchise, but people on the inside are often times making decisions to stay employed for like another year or 6 months. And so for for for this the bailing on McCarthy thing for example, on one hand he’s 22 years old and it’s definitely fair to criticize the first six games because they’ve been atrocious. I don’t know how many more times we can say that here, but there are way too many examples of late bloomer quarterbacks floating around the NFL. One of them passed through your building last year and got MVP votes to just like write off someone’s career at age 22, six games in, as bad as it’s looked. Now, on the other hand, a lot of quarterbacks come into the league with worse coaching than JJ has, worse infrastructure, worse weapons, etc., and they find a way to have a better uh set of numbers than McCarthy has to this point. But as it pertains to the Vikings timeline, you have key stakeholders that are probably thinking about their job security now going in, maybe even might lose jobs in like January or February. And I think Kevin Oonnell and if Quay is still around, I think you’re going to have people looking for quarterback insurance policies. And I don’t necessarily blame them because they want to keep their jobs. If you do the let’s say the right thing is to let McCarthy play another season and maybe to your point though maybe the right thing there is you find out for sure that he can’t play and you win three games and that might be for for all of us on the outside looking in. Great. Now you get to take a swing higher up in the draft, try again in a more uh uh fruitful quarterback draft. Well, the problem is the people that are operating that three- win team are all going to get fired. So, they’re think they’re thinking to themselves, how do I preserve my job in 2026? And that leads me to the other point you brought up about this false sense of competition that the Vikings, the Vikings have had a lot of really good teams. They’re very rarely a bottom feeding team in our lifetimes, any of us. Dex in his 30s, Thor and I are closer to that 40-year-old age. And I think the most important thing to consider regarding this neverending revolving door of quarterbacks year after year after year with the Vikings is the amount of times they have fooled you into thinking that they’re Super Bowl contenders with random quarterbacks. Now I could pick out maybe three two or three times where they actually were Super Bowl contenders and then something terrible happened. 09 98 maybe 2017. in all the other years that they are like a playoff team or or competing for the playoffs with Sam Bradford or I mean even at the end of the day Sam Darnold last year they weren’t actual contenders. They were just a competitive team with a random quarterback. They avoided being a dumpster fire in 2009. If you find the Hall of Famer and catch lightning in a bottle, okay, like I’ll take one year of a Hall of Fame random quarterback. Rand Cunningham in ’98 in his heyday was a top five quarterback. uh in 2017 you had the number one defense if you get the right random quarterback or the number one defense. You actually can be a Super Bowl contender for that one year, but it’s like a it’s like a smelling salt of contention. It’s not you’re not like sustainably contending over an 8 or 10 year period with those formulas. And so the best path to sustainable contention is to nail that rookie quarterback draft pick and then live with the early growing pains if needed. If you nail the pick and the development, now you’re contending for years potentially. Now you’re now you’re the Chiefs, Ravens, Bills, the Patriots are about to do this again for 10 years. The Packers are in contention with Jordan Love on a regular basis. The problem is it’s risky to draft those quarterbacks because they might not work out. It might be a train wreck. And I think we’re having a hard time, the collective we processing all of this right now that hey, you could go back and go get M. Jones. You could try the Aaron Rogers thing. Are you really winning a Super Bowl with M. Jones or are you just going to be okay, thank God we’re a 10- win team again? That’s when I talk about the stomach for this, the variance at the bottom end is what you’re seeing now, which is he’s terrible through six games and you’re going to get drugbubbed in Seattle and Vikings fans and ownership are uncomfortable with that. 100%. Yeah. Like and people are like, “Oh, you know, I I don’t want to watch this and I don’t want to watch this into perpetuity and we we can’t just be give to JJ’s development.” I I’ll give you what my worst case scenario with this is and I’ll give you what I would do. You’re going to do that. You’re going to do that in just a moment. Okay. We’re going to we’re going to tease that for the other side of this because we do want to shout out if you’re sick to your stomach watching the Minnesota Vikings play football right now. Uh Miy Digestive Health is is here to help you. Listen, I have had a lot of issues as documented on this show throughout my life. uh digestive issues and the like. Mi has been super helpful to me even going back like 20 plus years. Miy digestive health uh has helped me with acid reflux with gird. It can be embarrassing if you have stomach problems monitoring where bathrooms are uh exit strategies. It’s kind of always on the the you know the back of your mind. Well, Miy and their specialists give have given me the help over the years and the guidance that uh that helps me manage my symptoms and uh and maybe just get out in front a little bit more. So, don’t let digestive issues sideline you. Get expert coaching from Midi Digestive Health. Schedule a visit at mi.com. That’s mgi.com. mgi.com. Dex, Two Men a Truck also powering this Thursday on a Tuesday. Yeah, shout out to Two Men a Truck. They made my move happen. Uh they’re awesome. I don’t have to worry about, you know, figuring out which friend has the truck or does it even have enough room to get all the stuff in it. It’s super stressful moving. Moving is one of the most stressful things you can do, whether it’s just, you know, down the street, whether it’s across the country. Uh, two men in a truck, though, they have the differentiz trucks. They have the differentiz crews. They can make all that move happen. They safely package everything to get it in and out of your house appropriately. They’ll just send you a spreadsheet. What needs to get out of your house? What do we need to help you with? What they quote is what you pay to. No hidden fees, no service charges. Go contact Two Men in a Truck, tell them that Purple Daily sent you. Uh, and then Roku TV. We actually had a fun little Roku meeting yesterday talking about uh the gloriousness of these TVs for sports viewing. And this time of year, I love the recommendations that the Roku menu uh gives the Mackeis. Here’s the sporting event and the team that you want to watch. Boom. What platform is it on? Oh, yes, Mr. Mackey. We will take you there with one click of a button. Oh, you want some ambient music? Maybe a little uh holiday music with a U- log in the background. Here uh here’s the Roku channel. Yes, Mr. Mackie. Here is your cocktail jazz for your uh your winter listening. It’s great. Whether it’s sports, whether it’s even music or ambience or entertainment, Roku makes it really easy to find uh and immerse yourself in whatever it is that you want. Kicking back after a long day at work or a long week with friends, with family, whatever it may be. Roku is better TV for everyone. America’s number one streaming platform. Go to roku.com to learn more or shop at a retailer near you. All right, Thor, continue this conversation. For me, the worst worst case scenario that like sort of the the nuclear winner scenario that we’re looking at here, it would entail the thing of the Wolves are super ticked off after the season, but it’s not a full measure. And so they, let’s say they fired the whole front office starting with Quesy and then all of his lieutenants on down and then you do an aggressive calling of the coaching staff, but of course not Kevin Okonnell. So like Matt Daniels, maybe Wes Phillips, maybe some of the maybe Josh McConn, some of these position coaches, they get fired. they’re sort of your sacrificial lambs and that they act as sort of human shields on Okonnell uh absolving the the the culpability for the disappointment of this season and and I think in the moment that would satiate the anger of the fans that that you had people to point at and say it’s their fault. The issue with that scenario, I think, is exactly what you were setting up, Phil, where for Kevin O’Connell, what that would be telling him is you have a one-year uh uh try out again in order to save your job, right? All the people around you are now gone. We’re going to give you one more shot to turn this around. Well, in a one-off situation, what are the odds that Okonnell would push to have McCarthy be the quarterback for that? If you’re if your entire whether you’re going to keep your job is going to be dependent on how many wins you have next season. Assuredly Kevin Oonnell is going to be I think you mentioned on the show yesterday the Aaron Rodgers and you know then he’d be 42 this off season. You could you could you could try to sign him you can convince him roll him out weekend at Bernie style for another season. Uh you could do um uh Russell Wilson. You could do there ain’t a lot of options out there. There’s there I’m I’m even going to draw the line at that apocalyptic scenario of Russell Wilson. I’m gonna I’m gonna That’s where I’m drawing my line. So, as as far as free agents, we we’re already basically done there. If we assume that Daniel Jones is resigning with the Colts, and I I think we all assume that they’ll franchise them if nothing else, but it seems like a long-term deal is going to work out there. It’s Rogers, Wilson, Mariota, and those are free agents. What if what if I throw Let’s say they decide, hey, we’re durability, everything. We just Yeah, we just uh we aren’t feeling it with McCarthy, but we are feeling it with Anthony Richardson, and we’re going to float a fifth or sixth round pick. Like, what if it was that type of thing where you move into a different younger quarterback, like a another reclamation project, but he’s not 35, you know, 40 years old like Aaron Rogers. If if Vikings fans don’t like the accuracy and the the pocket presence of JJ McCarthy, hold my beer for the Anthony Richardson. He’ll probably hit it. He’ll probably hit it if you’re holding it in the fifth row. That’s the problem. Yeah. You know, I I don’t see that one, but you know, people have tossed out the M. Jones one a bunch. They’re they’re connecting dots and tea leaves and stuff. Oh, let’s play that one out, right? So, Okonnell trying to save his job there at this off season. It’s like, okay, so we’re going to have to trade for M. Jones, right? He has one more year left on his contract. What do you suppose the 49ers are going to ask a desperate team in exchange for that second round pick? Second round pick. Yeah. And if you now you have you have done a great job of cratering the value of your own asset JJ McCarthy that you could have traded last spring for a high first round pick at to start a package. You now would have tanked his value to the point where what do we think they could get for him this off seasonason? Yeah. Bar bar barring a super hot finish. But of course, in a super hot finish, we’re not in this uh scenario where we’re talking about this a second, maybe a second and change if if if you complete out this tanking. I mean, you know, that was sort of the Josh Rosen package after his year. So, basically, at that point, you’re you you’ve decided we’re going to trade the next three years of JJ McCarthy’s rookie contract for one year of M. Jones, and we’re going to get back into the NFL middle class purgatory. Sure. Might that save Okonnell’s job next year? And are they gonna finish with a better record than whatever they’re going to finish with it? Sure. You know, you’re gonna win eight, nine, maybe 10 games or whatever. You think you’re gonna win the Super Bowl with M. Jones and then the the vestigages of this roster. I mean, get out of here. So to me, that is the worst case scenario where you willingly move back into the NFL’s middle class and you give all the decision-making power to a guy where the the the his decision-m is going to be 100% influenced by the 2026 team and nothing beyond that. I I think that puts the the team in a bad spot. As for me with McCarthy, you know, people, you know, again, it’s it’s like, oh, you know, we don’t want to do this forever. you know, you you see the like sort of these two polarities with it. I don’t think it should be forever either. I think it should be through the end of next season. You you have the rest of this season to evaluate him. Obviously, missed his first season and that seems like a lost developmental year. That stinks. Can’t do anything to get it back. You have the rest of this year and then again next year. Mention uh this offseason free agent quarterbacks. It’s a barren wasteland. You could try to do the trade thing with talked about the M. Jones thing. I don’t think the value of that makes sense from a draft pick perspective. You could you could try your cap situation is going to get mucked up if you trade for a guy like Kyler Murray plus you’re going to have to give draft pick compensation. And then if you think well you know okay let’s just go back to the draft and draft another one because Thor just said we’re we’re probably going to have a decent shot at a top 10 pick. This is not the spring you want to take a quarterback. There might only be two first round quarterbacks. At best we’ll have three. Um, but you know, between uh Fernando Mendoza, we’re hoping that Tai Simpson closes out this season and proves that he’s a first round pick. The other guy who’s kind of up in the air is Dante Moore from Oregon merely because we don’t know if he’ll go back to school or not. But there’s going to be multiple teams ahead of the Vikings that are quarterback desperate. You’re not even going to get access to those guys. The sick draft class is not in 2026. It is in 2027. That is where you have the potentially historic wide receiver class and the quarterback class is going to be way way way better. Uh Arch Manning, Sam Levit, we Lenora Sers who we all believe is going back to school if Dante Moore returns to school. Plus all the true sophomores in college football right now. What I would advocate the Vikings do roll it forward and and people out there that are like McCarthy’s a boss. McCarthy stinks. Great. You want to recoup the value from the draft pick that you put into JJ McCarthy and you think he’s horrible, great. Start him for 17 games next year and try to to work your way up to the first pick. If that’s what you think, if if you think he is so bad, if he’s a train wreck, I would advocate for playing him. You can’t go back out if you’re the Vikings and in my opinion and move back into that middle class by paying out cap 30 plus million dollars for veteran mediocrity. you need to go back if if indeed we are me and the Vikings are proven wrong about McCarthy, you need to use another first round pick on a quarterback. That is your path. The shest path that we have, you look back the last 25 years of the NFL, the shest path that you have to go into a Super Bowl is hitting on that rookie scale quarterback. Um but again, next year you not only do you give McCarthy that final shot to show he is the guy to build around and it’s that’s an adequate amount of time you’re heading into the fourth year. you’re going to have to make a decision on your fifth year option. That’s a lot of times when when teams make uh decisions certainly on quarterbacks, but also rookies at other positions the third year. I I think that’s you you’re doing right by McCarthy with that, but you’re also doing right by the organization. And if all else fails and that the the thing goes bust next year, well, you you have now your top five, your top six pick to take a quarterback in the stacked uh draft class as opposed to this one this spring, which is mediocre. That sounds perfectly reasonable to me regardless of what side of the scale or fence you are uh when it comes to McCarthy. If you are bullish on McCarthy, like you remain bullish, um I remain curious. I don’t know if I’m bullish as much as curious still, but I I would I would like to see more than six games still as bad as the six games have been. Uh so if you’re bullish, yeah, you want to see more. Obviously, you want to see more. If you’re not bullish, you just laid out the case. This is the problem. If you’re out, if you’re a fan or a media member or a stakeholder in the Vikings and you’re out, okay, the quick the quick fix back to feeling a little better. You’re a little like binky, right, would be go get a more competent veteran quarterback that gets you back to like 8 to 10, maybe 11 wins. And now we feel the problem is I think a lot of people feel that way. I think a lot of people would rather like just watch a competitive season that gets you to nine or 10 wins, 65 years of competing but not actually winning a Super Bowl, unless you hit the lottery in the playoffs or something and M. Jones goes lights out for four games. I mean, I guess it has happened before. Um, but you’re but you’re laying out a case because I I’ve brought this up before, which is what is the opportunity cost if you’re done if you’re out after six games with McCarthy and you want to move on to something else. Uh, what’s the opportunity cost of continuing on with McCarthy? That you might miss out on a second round pick for M. Jones. You might miss out on 42-y old Aaron Rodgers. You might miss out on a bad first round quarterback draft class in 2026. There really isn’t much to lose. I mean, you’ve, if there’s something to criticize, I guess it would be that you think Sam Darnold, for half the price of the top of the quarterback market, is capable of being a guy that can win a Super Bowl. And I and I and I will leave my mind open to that possibility because he was a third overall pick, super tools, athletic, big arm, everything, right? But now that that decision’s been made and it’s a sunk cost at this point, you might as well see this through for as long as possible uh moving forward. What throws a little bit of a wrench into it though, Thor, what if Max Bromer clicks a little bit? What if Max Bromer plays really well for a couple weeks and they like win an unexpected game against Seattle? What does that what does that do for this equation for you? Well, the the cheat code is is getting the good starter on the rookie scale contract. Max Brosmer was was a UDFA, you know, I mean, you know, people have have tossed out the if that happened, it would be, you know, reminiscent of the Brock Purdy and the Trey Lans if if that happens and Max Bromer is a revelation and it’s like, oh, this guy clearly uh, you know, has has a skill set that that could be developed as an NFL starter. Yeah, I I I I would like to look into that. Do I think that that’s going to happen? I mean, I hope I I hope, you know, if indeed Max Bromer is starting against the Seahawks, I hope he goes and lights it up just like I hope every Viking quarterback goes out there and lights it up. And if that ended up changing the equation based on what he shows in an NFL game, um, you know, and and you start to think about Brosmer and and and McCarthy the long term a little bit different. Okay. You know, let we can cross that when it comes. that that to me that’s a different scenario than you know do Thor do you want to figure out a way for a team that’s already projected $30 million over the cap next season to not only clear that but you’re going to have to clear another $35 million to sign you know like that’s to Kyler Murray or whatever like that’s what I don’t want to get into you’re blowing up the roster to the point where you’re guaranteeing yourself you won’t win a Super Bowl well in advance of the season starting um but but Brosmer I I’m interested I mean the the training camp was very impressive. Um he had the couple drives was against the um the Titans ones in that one, right? He played the starters of the Titans. Yeah. And the decision- making was impressive there. His ability to go through the progressions was impressive. It was the thing that people always talked about in co, you know, when he was in college. I’ll never forget Eric Gulo, the shrine game Zar going nuts to me about Max Bromer for a year plus. um you know up through the time when the Gophers got him and then through his draft process, Gulo was just banging the table of this guy is criminally underrated and he he’s so dang sharp and he’s going to hang around the NFL for a long time. Max Brosmer had a lot and there’s a bunch of Gopher fans out there that that were like that’s what I was saying from the and and I know I I seen you guys on Twitter like Brosmer has a contingent of fans and it looks like he’s going to get his opportunity this week. I I hope he goes and and runs with it. you know, there is a skill set there and some of Max Bromer’s better skills. They are fits with Kevin Oonnell’s offense. So, I I’ll be very curious to see what happens there. I I do want to give just the contextual benefit of the doubt that people won’t give to McCarthy that some of these systemic offensive issues have been seasonl long things. They they were issues with Carson Wentz under center the same way that they were JJ McCarthy. The only thing I would quasi caution people, you know, getting that are super and and get excited, you know, for folks out there that want to see Brosmer, but just this again, the circumstances have not been as good this season. So, I I’m not getting out over my skis uh with expectations, but I I hope that he ends up going out there and playing really well. Yeah. Thor, draft question for you. So, right now, uh if the draft were to take place this week, the Vikings will be picking shockingly 12th. Yeah. I feel like they’ve been perpetually picking somewhere between 12th and 21 for like the majority of my lifetime. Uh but um so right now if they want to get in to the top six, so there’s one win uh or one game separating like Cleveland’s three and eight. Uh so it’s Washington and Cincinnati and Arizona and then Miami, Atlanta, which goes to the Rams and Minnesota’s all uh they have four wins. Do you think that there is a likely path for them to still pick in the top 10? Obviously, obviously if they lose out like right like that this math becomes very very easy, but you know there’s a lot of kind of jumbled mess here between you know the three and eight and four and seven teams right now from you know just the sixth pick all the way up to the 13th pick. Uh, do you feel that the Vikings could still get a top 10 pick or maybe with some of the SK like Washington for example in a couple week in in next week like that might be a win for the Vikings which again complicates maybe the draft order. Is a top 10 pick in play for the Vikings still or are they probably going to be in their perpetual land between like 12 and 15? I I think a top 10 pick would be the favorite outcome right now. you look at the rest of the schedule, you know, and and you know, coming out of the buy, you know, you looked at the schedule, it’s like, man, this thing’s getting grizzly. And then they they upset the Lions and it’s like, oh well, maybe we we had our moment of hope, but now, you know, reality’s set back in. We always knew with this schedule that where where it was easy was at the beginning or, you know, NFL easy and where it got really difficult was the end. And you look ahead and starting this weekend in Seattle and even before the circumstances of the roster, obviously Seattle’s a really good team and and you’re going into one of the more difficult environments to play in the NFL, still have a game left with the Lions and the Packers. Um you do have the the ones the Giants and the Commanders games are the ones that be projected to win. And for for the draft order, um you know, I you hate to put it this way, but the Washington game from afar kind of looks like a must- lose. Um, I mean that that’s a team that is, you know, to your point, Declan, right now the projections, Washington is is seventh. The Vikings are 12th, but Washington’s only one game behind or whatever, right? Like one game worse in in in the win total, which you could erase with that one. But yeah, for the Vikings to get a potential top 10, but certainly top eight or top six uh asset potentially would be absolutely enormous. um that it introduces the possibility of of getting a prospect like for instance Caleb DS from Ohio State that’s going to be a top three consensus prospect on everyone’s board. He’s a safety but he is one of those those queen on the the chess board, move them everywhere and he just erases uh mismatches on the other side kind of a guy. You just put him over another guy and just knock them off the board like a queen before the play. Um there’s other guys out there too certainly that the Vikings be very interested in but but you know Caleb DS in particular, you know, if you get up into that range. Yeah. Uh let’s Okay, boys, let’s get into the next phase of State of the Vikings Tuesday here. Our favorite and least favorite things. Uh shout out to Park Dentl. One of my favorite things, Park Dentl. It’s an enjoyable experience going to the dentist. Yeah. Friendly people, state-of-the-art facilities. For over 50 years, Park Dentl has been caring for and cleaning teeth in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Uh they’ve even treated the teeth of some prominent professional athletes in town. I don’t know if I can say which which athletes without getting in trouble, but uh if anybody who’s anybody goes to Park Dental, uh so you can find likely a convenient location within just minutes wherever you live or work, parkdental.com to schedule your appointment. That’s parkd dental.com. Uh, also it’s holiday season and there’s no better gift than the gift of steaks for that loved one in your life. Omaha steaks, football, football season cooking is the best tailgate cooking, winter cooking. The Mackis also enjoy convenient weekn night meals that uh that you don’t have to think too much about. And uh over at omahaststakes.com, our listeners get an extra $35 off with the promo code purple at checkout. Omaha Stakes, America’s original butcher since 1917. A family-owned company with a hundred years of expertise in the meat industry. Every steak perfectly aged to maximize tenderness and hand cut by master butchers in America’s heartland. Again, that’s omahastakess.com. Use the code purple at checkout for an extra $35 off your stake order. And uh well, it’s been a minute since this guy’s had a 100 yards in a game. Justin Jefferson, he’s going to he’s snarling here in like a competitive way. These these Pepsi cups, he might have a different look on his face if he can’t get a hundo sometime soon. But these Justin Jefferson souvenir cups have a QR code on the side. Uh, you can get these inside US Bank Stadium at H High Fashion Fresh locations and at Buffalo Wild Wings when you order 10 Wings Any Style and a Pepsi. When you scan the QR code, you can enter to win Victor’s Ride, a Polaris Ranger 1,000. So, check them out at those aforementioned locations. Pepsi, the official beverage of the Minnesota Vikings. All right, Thor, give us uh your favorite current Vikings thing that we haven’t already exhausted in the first 45 minutes of this episode. So, I guess it’ll be a non nonJJ topic. Um well, I my next one would be uh one of two other 2024 picks. My other f my favorite thing with Vikings right now is the the way that Dallas Turner has played the last three games and then just Will Riker period. big leg Bill or as I called him this past weekend, third leg Bill when he hit another 60 yard or whatever. Um Riker’s been absolutely amazing. Uh the the one quasy draft pick that was just right down the fairway just bomb that one. Um Riker Riker has been great, but Dallas Turner probably the one like to focus on. We we talked about what was it like a month ago, four weeks ago. uh when we that episode when we you know I I watched all Turner’s all 22 and um you know my whole thing with that uh Dallas Turner was getting a lot of criticism was on the tape he was he was getting there he there was a lot of times where he was beating his blocker and getting into the backfield and he was really close to converting uh some of these plays and he just wasn’t getting there and then you know later on you had like the the sack that they called the roughing the passer and you had some different stuff like this but Dallas Turner is really come on uh the last 3 weeks and he’s starting to look you know it’s like the forward attacking thing is the thing that we’ve talked a lot about. He is I mean don’t look now and maybe I’ll going to knock on some wood before I say this but he has looked better in space as well. I I’m not you know saying I’m going to put him on you know the the elite tight ends of the league and and trust them one-on-one down the field and everything like that but at least to the point where it’s like oh maybe he can develop into something more than someone you have to hide in a zone. So, um, Dallas Turner playing much better. Um, and and and a time when he was needed, uh, Granard and and the hell stuff with Van Ginko before that. So, hats off to Dallas Turner. Yeah. Dak’s favorite current Vikings thing. Well, I’m going to So, well, here’s what I’m going to do here. I’m going to jutify the question, but I’m still going to answer the question, okay? Just making that very, very clear. Wow. My my least favorite thing is the fact that you’re in the NFC North and the Bears and the Lions and the Packers are all better than you and you’re in the basement and it stinks. It really stings seeing the Bears, you know, 8 and three, even if there’s some fraudulentness there. But the Vikings are on track to have a locked in fourth place schedule, which means in 2026, they’ll be playing the fourth place teams. So, some of those teams, bring on those bad competition. Let’s go. Yeah. some of those teams like the Giants, the Saints, uh the Cardinals, uh already, you know, so like there’s actually Vikings.com laid this out uh last week even. So the home opponents for the Vikings that include their three divisional teams will be the Falcons again. They’ll play the Panthers at home. They will get the Bills, which will be interesting. Josh Allen come to US Bank Stadium for the second time. Hopefully he doesn’t hurt anyone this time around. Uh they’ll play the Dolphins at home and then they’ll play the NFC East AFC South teams that finish in the same place as their division. So the fourth place teams there. So the Giants and then what was the other one? The so the Saints uh the NFC South which would yes be the Saints like likely like likely the Saints likely the Saints. Although the Giants getting like if they get like Scataboo and Neighbors and Jackson Dart back and they hire the right coach could actually be Yeah. And if they can stop I mean they’re giving up like 12 points a game in the fourth quarter which is a historically bad mark. So, there’s some things to pretty quickly get better with the Giants and uh and they’ll have a top three pick and so like actually that Giants team might be might be a little bit better. And then on the road, uh the Vikings currently scheduled uh to play the Bucks. They will play the Patriots and Jets and then they’ll play the NFC West team that finishes in the same place as their division as well. So, look, it stings being in the basement of the NFC North. I’m in my basement right now talking on a podcast with you. Uh but it’s setting things up in 2026 to very likely like even if the Vikings rattle off some wins here, they need some help to get out of the fourth place spot being three games back with what six games to go. So it’s tracking to be at least some silver lining here a fourth place schedule for the Vikings in 2026. Uh yeah, I there’s always things uh we can look for uh in the optimism bin. I love that too. I’m already picking next year’s schedule right now mentally. It’s great. Uh my you know what my favorite thing is Kevin Oonnell committing to the run on third and fourth and short except for that Hawinson fail. I hated that. Uh but if you if you take that away three other times the Vikings ran the ball on third or fourth and short two or less and they converted two first downs out of three. And even if you include the Hawinson fail, they were uh 50% conversion rate. Whereas when they have called a pass play in those situations with McCarthy, they are still 0 for 16 trying to convert first down. So run the ball in those short yard spots, keep the chains moving. All right. Uh least favorite thing. I’ll start here and just uh throw it down the line to you guys, but I I hate that Ryan Kelly is playing. I it it makes me uncomfortable. And there was a play where he got Michael Parsons absolutely dumped him on his back on a play. He um he told the Star Tribune that he did a lot of soulsearching, getting as many answers as he could following his second concussion this season. And uh and after that soularching and getting answers, he decided to go with a different helmet and play again. But I I hate it for two reasons. one, I just I I don’t want him to get another concussion on a human level. Dude, the season’s pretty much over anyways. And number two, I think Blake Brandell is the starting center in 2026. I think he’s pretty good. And and they’re going to they’re going to need some economically efficient ways to plug some holes because they’re so far over the cap. So, I’d rather just like keep the party going with Blake Brandell and get him as many reps as possible because I’d think there’s a very, very small chance that Ryan Kelly is on this team in 2026. So, that’s my least favorite thing. Thor, um, you’re talking about a washed up veteran that that shouldn’t be playing anymore that maybe maybe ought to be doing some some soularching. So, that’s a a natural uh segue to Adam Thielen. My least favorite thing. Oh god, I cannot watch Adam Thelen on the field for another snap again. I I loved, you know, over the this summer we we all got a kick out of the story and it was feel good and everything of Thielen coming home and he had played really good for Carolina last year. Uh sort of had the career resurgence. I think we were all hoping obviously for better and and Addison with the suspension at the beginning of the season and Jefferson had been out with the hamstring in August and Naylor had been out with the hand and you were in a a situation that did feel desperate um you know at the at the end of August heading into your the NFL debut of your 21-year-old quarterback and that the it made sense why they did it but Carolina man taking advantage of an opportunity there you extract what what’s either going to be late fourth round or early fifth round overall value out of Adam Thielen, a guy who has the world’s largest fork sticking out of his back right now. The guy obviously he’s not creating separation anymore. He has lost the speed and everything like that. Can’t get downfield. I cannot believe that he can’t catch the ball anymore. Um he is a major contributing factor to why McCarthy easily leads the NFL in drop rate. Him and his buddy Jordan Addison. Jordan Addison we need around for a little bit so hopefully he can figure his stuff out. Um, Adam Thielen, I I don’t I don’t believe he should be getting any in my opinion. He should dang near be released. That they’re not going to do that to him to show him up before the the end there. But that that is a guy that has been a value suck on this year’s team. Yeah, it’s bad. It’s a tough watch. It’s a tough watch without Adam every time. And then he’s like looking at his hands like it’s like you know it’s every single time it’s like Adam you know what you it seems like what you actually want to do is go on the radio and give your opinions on various topics. It seems like that’s the prerogative of you and your family. Maybe that’s that that’s what’s next here for you. Um because the the football field ain’t doing it. Yeah. It’s been an underwhelming acquisition. Uh Dex, you already kind of threw your yours. You any other things you want to gripe about before we say goodbye? Uh, I’ll add the Thor’s Adam Thielen note. So, uh, when and part of this is the quarterback, too. But JJ McCarthy has targeted Adam Thelen 18 times this season. And when targeting him, he has a passer rating of 55.1. How many How many drops in there for old Thelen? Pro Football Reference says three. Feels feels more than that. feels like more than that. But um but yeah, three drops and and for but for context though, last year uh he only had two drops all season long with the Panthers. His Adam Thelen’s drop rate this year is 27.3% on ontarget uh you know ontarget balls. Good lord. That that is insane. Uh 10% is where with the NFL draft it’s red flag territory. If you have a 10% drop rate in a season when you’re coming out, that’s where I’m like, this guy has a red flag uh drop percentage. Adam Thelins is nearly three times that and he can’t get downfield no more or create separation, get him off the field. Yeah, I think it would help if the quarterback took a little juice off some of those throws. I’m just saying. Yeah, man. Yeah. That the guy with the noodle arm, whose arm now is so freaking strong that the best receivers on earth can’t catch his passes. It’s funny how that changed. Uh so well excited to watch more Vikings football this weekend. Max Bromer at least puts a little jolt into a season that is going the wrong way here. But Thor Nestrom and if you have any gripes about Thor, drop him in the comments section here on the Purple Daily YouTube channel. Uh to me, send him send them to the sports dad for Dex. Uh we will see you guys for we got O line committee coming at you and then write that down predictions as well on the purple daily feed tomorrow. We just want the Vikings win a Super Bowl before we die. See not losing the first round. Win a Super Bowl.

Thor Nystrom joins to discuss JJ McCarthy’s season so far; Assessing the tap from the Minnesota Vikings QB so far; Is Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell putting McCarthy in tough situations; Why the Vikings fanbase has never been more impatient; What’s the best and worst case for the Vikings at the end of the season; Plus our favorite and least Vikings takes with Thor on Purple Daily!

Subscribe to our channel for more Vikings content every day of the week!

https://skornorth.com/DONATE — Support the Bond Between on Give It To the Max Week!

Support our sponsors:

https://play.underdogfantasy.com/p-skor-north — Use promocode SKOR at Underdog Fantasy for a deposit match

Rugiet.com/PURPLE — Get your game plan from a licensed ED doctor. Use our promo code PURPLE for a special offer.

https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/PURPLEDAILY — Use promo code PURPLEDAILY to get $50 when you play $5 in lineups

https://huel.com/purple — Try Huel with 15% OFF for New Customers today using my code purple. Fuel your best performance with Huel today!

https://cozyearth.com/PURPLE — for up to 40% off!

https://crybabycraigs.com/shop/ — Get 10% off Cry Baby Craig’s Hot sauce with promo code PD10

https://pendletonwhisky.com/?&utm_source=skor_north&utm_medium=sponsorship&utm_campaign=podcast_2025&utm_content=directory — Grab a bottle of Pendleton Whisky!

https://vectorwindows.com/dealer/ –Upgrade your windows now with Vector

https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PURPLE10 — Use our code to get 10% off tickets! (Max $20) Restrictions Apply

https://www.standardheating.com/ — Contact Standard Heating & Air for HVAC services

https://gamedaymenshealth.com/minnetonka-mn/purpledaily/ — Find your maximal self!

https://www.parkdental.com/ — Schedule your next cleaning at Park Dental

https://www.roku.com/ — Elevate your television viewing with a Roku TV

https://FederatedInsurance.com — Where it’s Our Business to Protect Yours!

https://www.blackstackbrewing.com/ — Check out BlackStack Brewing in St. Paul.

https://OmahaSteaks.com — to get 50% off sitewide during their Red-Hot Sale Event. And use Promo Code PURPLE at checkout for an extra $35 off. Minimum purchase may apply. See site for details. A big thanks to our partner, Omaha Steaks!

WHERE TO FIND US:

Purple Daily on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/purple-daily-a-minnesota-vikings-podcast/id923544550

Purple Daily on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3gP5J0KGDpXRDMoUeGistO

The SKOR North app on Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/skor-north-mn-sports/id529143109

The SKOR North app on Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.espn.tc&hl=en_US&gl=US

Follow Judd on Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/jzulgad
Follow Mackey on Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/philmackey
Follow Mackey on Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/philmackey
Follow SKOR North on Instagram: http://www.Instagram.com/SKORNorth

#MinnesotaVikings #NFL