VIKINGS SQUAD SHOW: We Rank The TOP 15 Minnesota Vikings!

It’s training camp report week, so our guys finish their top 91 rankings by ranking the top 15 Minnesota Vikings on the roster. Also, they make their Mr. Mankato official pick and react to the Jordan Addison trial update. Get the latest Vikings analysis with Arif Hasan, Luke Inman, Luke Braun, and Sam Ekstrom.

#minnesotavikings

What’s up? Welcome in and a happy Monday here at Locked On Sports Minnesota Locked on Vikings YouTube channel. This is the allnew Vikings Squad Show. Yes, a rebrand. No change to the show. We’re the Vikings Squad Show now. Game time. We’re and we’re brought to you by Game Time. That’s the best part. Game time not going anywhere. It’s your same hooligans doing this show Mondays and Thursdays. Football Party had an unbelievable run and in fact was the inspiration to build these shows around the country. Unfortunately or fortunately the name will change but the show will stay the same. Now all roundt NFL shows for each team or the squad shows and we’re the Vikings squad show here at Lockown Sports Minnesota and the lockown over. Let’s go. overp corporate. We’re going corporate. Hey, change can be scary. It’s all good. We’re brought to you by Game Time. That’s right. You know what else we’re brought to you by? We’re brought to you by uh FanDuel. New customers. Bet five and get uh 150. Trying to get that comment down. Bet five. Yeah. Sam, is it good to have the comment over the logo of the spot? We’re doing fine. Game time. We uh because this is the pilot. We for this. We’re not recording, are we? Oh, we are. Yeah, we’re live, Sam. We uh we forwent the the usual whipound introduction bit because I wanted to explain the rebrand. Let’s do it now. Luke Inman, what do you got? Hey, Luke Inman at Luke Spinman. Luke Bronzeback, which means one thing. A reef must have one hell of a lawyer. I think it’s you, Luke. I would do a clockwise. Okay, I get it. With uh with wide left, I would like to announce my resignation from the NFLPA and withdraw my consideration to be the executive director. And JC Treader is going to be our new center, right, Brun? Yeah. Right. No, it’s Jake Collins. I’m Lupron of Locked on Vikings. It’s Jake Collins. And I’m Sam Extro. Today we talk about wet recklesses amongst other things. Uh we rank our top 15 Minnesota Vikings. The top 91 series will conclude today start of training camp week. We make our official Mr. Mano selection. I feel weird calling it Mr. Egan. I always did but especially now like in the severance era. I know you know in Minuash Severance maybe Braun maybe Mr. Egan just takes on a whole totally different Oh no. I’ve I’ve only watched like six or seven episodes and then I realized I probably shouldn’t have it up while I’m working. So that has stalled my ability to continue watching severance. Hard to multitask with that one. We also have the Jordan Addison wet reckless update plus more camp storylines. All on today’s Viking squad show. Let’s jump right in. Um how about we tackle the uh the Addison update first. We’ll do the newsy item, then we’ll get to our rankings. Jordan Addison accepts a plea deal. I think this was last Thursday after we recorded. It was like 10 minutes after we finished recording. Really? We just missed one of these. So, and Oh, the sound’s not going anywhere, by the way. The sound is here forever. Uh, just because we’re the squad show doesn’t mean cockroaches. Um, is there a chance that this gets reduced from three because there was a ple? He’s still confessing to, you know, a crime with a vehicle involving alcohol. The uh I think there’s some probation. There’s uh some classes involved. Still feels like a two or three game suspension. Anybody uh have any precedent or any knowledge that this could get worked down from three? I mean, he functionally with the with the guilty plea again to a lesser degree. No contest plea, but yeah. Oh, okay. Well, that’s interesting because that more closely matches the legal language I was about to use, which is functionally agrees to the facts of the case, right? Like that’s that’s what a no contest is. Like you don’t have a guilty plea. You agree that the facts are as they’ve been laid out and I don’t it’s legal ease. But functionally, this means that Jordan Addison has submitted as his testimony that the things that the police alleged to have happened are the things that happened or I guess this the state has alleged to have happened are the things that have happened. Uh and so the NFL’s investigation is over. He did the things, right? So, um I think that that would mean a three-game suspension. I don’t see why that would be reduced down. Yeah. I think all we’re waiting on is for them to have the PR meeting, which is really how these things are decided. These are PR decisions. Uh, and yeah, he he did the thing. So, I I I would very much doubt it. Uh, but I guess it is no longer accurate to say Jordan Madison has a DUI on his record, which I guess is nice for him. Yeah, nice to have some closure finally and just put this stage of it behind us now for Addison, especially obviously in the team and every everybody else. But I agree with you guys. Like the bar is three games. I mean, Sam, your question was, is there a chance? There’s always a chance. could get slimmed down to two, but I think uh I think I’ll be going to bed at night expecting three games unless I hear otherwise because that’s just the precedent and uh nothing in the verbiage. What do you think about the length of Jordan Addison suspension before you go to bed? Is that every night? Every night. Okay. Oh, fair enough. I get it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I I don’t know if there’s enough ambiguity in the charge that because it’s not a DUI. I don’t know if there’s enough ambiguity that they could appeal. I don’t know if you can appeal when it’s so kind of ironclad right in the rules or in in the the It doesn’t sound like he’s going to he’s very much like I accept the consequences of my action. The way he talked about it I feel like he again this is just my recollection. I’m not looking it up right now but it almost sounded like he basically said he wasn’t going to appeal like with those words. Yeah. Um, which is interesting because a lot of players will choose to appeal even if you know they they like pled guilty to whatever or they know that they did the thing just because it’s like a way to make sure that the the suspension is refined specifically to to what they did. It’s it’s kind of like when um when your lawyer tells you to to to do x y or z thing even if you did do whatever, right? just so that you can make sure that the punishment you receive more closely matches the crime that you may have committed. There’s just not a lot of downside to it, right? Yeah. Sometimes it allows you to play another game. You might be if it’s mid-season, the appeal could buy you one more game to play until the So you have an important game coming up, you appeal. So you put an injunction on the suspension, you can play the important game and now you’ve got these three nothing games cuz you know, we always talk about how easy some NFL games are. Well, I I think it’s about like what year? Uh I think you could if he wanted to, he could probably do a whole bunch of appeals and submit every stupid little thing and delay it if this were like a contract year, but it’s not. He’s got his fifth year option coming up. So, it’s actually probably the best time Addison’s going to get to serve this. Uh it’s also the game checks that he’s going to be forfeiting are going to be a lot lower than game checks will be in the future. So, it probably makes sense for him to just eat it now rather than try to delay, delay, delay. But if you were say, you know, Pat Williams and you’re going to retire in two years, yeah, appeal that crap. Make a whole stink about it. All the go all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Um, percent chance that we hear chirping from Addison’s camp or reports that probably come from Addison’s camp about him wanting a new contract this off season. Is there what what’s the percentage chance? Uh, so close off of a no contest play. Probably not. That’s feels like a Justin Jefferson only move to me. Yeah, let’s say let’s say he didn’t have this happen. What’s your percentage? Uh, a little higher. Um, Addison has always been, I think, a little bit more confident than the statistics would suggest is reasonable, which I think is where you want your wide receiver to be, right? So, like that’s not a criticism, but um so I I think that the chances higher, but I just I don’t know like his agent is probably like you uh wait until you get like a foul, right? Well, yeah, the the fifth year option will be part of the negotiation kind of always. So, it’s probably like that’s the next thing that happens with with Jordan Addison is like next May we hear that they picked up his fifth year option, which they almost certainly will%. Uh, and and then we can get into conversations based off of that number. Usually that number factors into the negotiation as, you know, we want it to be this plus whatever percentage is our signing bonus or whatever. Um, but I I think the like immediate extension thing, I don’t know, correct me if I’m wrong here, but it feels like it only happens with like the the craziest superstars and like Jefferson didn’t get that extension. Neither did Jamar Chase get it that at that point. He got it. Well, we we shouldn’t use the Bengals as any kind of but um I would Yeah, I I don’t recall any non- elite player getting the extension in their third year. I think unless it’s I think right Su did yeah but I would elite player right yeah correct correct correct yeah yeah not not disputing that and also we’re we’re count like I think he only has a leg to stand on if he stays perfectly healthy in the 14 games where he’s available and comes close to 1,000 yards if there’s an injury at all we’re talking 11 or 12 games I mean the the production is not going to be there for him to even have like a argument to say that his value like he would want to wait in that case, right? Then he’d want to play his way into a more wealthy contract. So, I don’t think there’s there’s probably So, you want to do this later if you’re if you if you anticipate that you’re going to be with the team long term, you kind of want to sign that thing as late as possible so that you’re in as robust a cap environment as possible. Wait for some of the sports book money to come in, you know? Yeah. Also, my my feeling is, and this is not based off of any like reporting, right? My feeling is Addison, though a very talented receiver, is probably one of the players that the Vikings are willing to kind of let test the market given like if they have a cap crunch issue where they have to kind of localize in on some players. I think Addison would be on the outside looking in despite how important it is to have someone compliment Jefferson. Like I think you take a look at who the Vikings core players are in terms of who they’re willing to kind of extend, man. Cap consideration too and I don’t think Addison is in that circle. If they did, they’d kind of immediately have a problem they have to solve. That would suck. Inman and and then we’ll go around the horn with this. Who has more yardage this year, Jordan Addison or TJ Hawinson? I’m gonna go Addison. I I like that question. Addison in his two years. Really? Even with the three three games? He had he had n 875 last year in 15 games. So, one more than his potential this year. Um, and I think also dealt with probably some ramp up like as he as he built up the the ankle last year, probably wasn’t at 100%. So, uh, Inman, what do you or sorry, Arie, what do you think? Uh, I’m going to go with Hawinson, but I I I really do think that that’s a very good question because I think we’re pretty close just in terms of what we think Hawinson’s ability to make. Like last year, obviously Hawinson didn’t have that, but you know, Hawinson has like been close to a thousand I think twice in his career. 914 yards the last time he played all 17. Close-ish. Okay. Yeah, close-ish. Um, but he only started 14 games that season. So, but uh, no, I I think that uh I I think that the Vikings understand Hawinson to be a vital component to the way that they design their passing game. Uh, and because of that, I think that they’re more likely to kind of lean on him in particular situations than they will with Addison, who I think is more of a counter punch kind of guy, which is a great counter punch to have. But like I think Addison is is probably going to lag behind. That’s just my feeling. But either way, yeah. Yeah. Looking at just kind of game to game, uh, these guys are both good for the occasional 100redyard game, but mostly will hover around 50 or 60 a game. So, I just think by virtue of having three games, Hawinson’s the bet here. Plus, in those three games, you’re gonna get a lot of attention on Justin Jefferson. Like, a lot of attention on Justin Jefferson. I would not be shocked to see Jefferson get off to a slow start statistically. And then that’s going to open up stuff underneath for TJ Hawinson like it did at the end of 2022. It’s going to look like those games against like the Giants or Lions. I would love to see the maybe one of you guys already looked it up, the Vegas line, because that is a a pretty good question right there. Sam, we did Addison not not too long ago on on FanDuel. I don’t know if Hawinson’s number is available. I’ll double check Addison, but it’s pretty low. Like I think we agree that FanDuel’s underrating the Vikings, and Addison certainly reflected in that. I think it was like 800, but I’ll look. Doesn’t look like we have. Um, so we do have a comment from High Times KG Blaze. It uh asking if Noah Fanton coming. Yeah, I love that. Well, because the Seahawks just uh just released him like outright. Yeah. Uh and so he’s got it for sure, man. Hey, former teammates, baby. Iowa. Yeah. Yeah. So that’d be fun to have a Fan Hawk uh reunion, right? Um but also like Noah Fant is a decent blocker, pretty decent receiver. There’s only so much I can say about how good he is because the team just released about right instead of trading him. So I don’t want to like get out over my skis on how good this player is. But I do think um when you compare him to tight end threes around the league, the Vikings could once again have the best tight end three in the NFL. There we go. Would be would be nice to bring Fant in. There’s a bunch of teams that could use him. I know that uh you know Luke and I both have a friend that that covers the Miami Dolphins. It’s like pretty convinced that Fant would be a really great Oh yeah, they need that, don’t they? Yeah, because they could replace Johnny Smith and perfectly uninspiring very similar role. No, I agree. very similar role to Johnny Smith. Perfect for the inevitable seven- win Dolphin season. And where I know a Fant and my goal was to maximize my production, I think I would go to Miami, but I’m not Noah Fant and I value the power of friendship. So, of course, I would go to Minnesota. As you all know, friendship is a very high priority for me. There are definitely other teams that are going to want Noah Fant more. Not that it’s like, yeah, he’s probably better than like Gavin Bartholomew if he’s healthier or like an undrafted rookie of course, but yeah, other teams are probably gonna want like a starting tight end. Although Noah Fit did like straight up lose a job to AJ Barner, so I don’t know how hot a commodity he’s going to be. Like there were like buy. I I’m I’m going to love hearing Braun’s takes on just random Michigan alums from this era of the draft for like years. Oh yeah, the Colston Loves the Coloulston Lovelin hate train started in in 2024 for sure. That guy was a disaster. When Donovan Edwards wins a UFFL championship as the second string running back, I am going to love hearing more from Braun about cover video game cover art athlete. Yeah. Yeah, I don’t understand the hype around him at all. Okay. Like you could see you could see that was a Blake Cororum decent. Yeah. When I was that he’s an NFL player when I was making the and you were pushing back on me when I was making the argument that the JJ McCarthy had a really wonderful u you know supporting cast, right? We were going through them and I went to I got to Donovan Edwards and I was like I can’t do it. And that was that was before the year he declared for the draft. I was like this guy’s just like not good. I don’t why are people talking about this guy? Has anybody from that offense made any I What was it? Roman Wilson. He’s nothing. Yeah. And he’s hurt again, I think. Well, I mean, we’ll see how the offensive line because there like seven offensive linemen that declared that year for that draft. So, we’ll see how the offensive line Yeah, I think like two of them got drafted in day three and that was it. We’ll see. Well, I mean, Zack Zro was hurt. Who’s to say? Who’s to say? Um, here you go. underdogs. TJ Hawinson overunder receiving yards 724 and a half. Jordan Addison over under 749 and a half. So they got Addison by about 25 yards. Addison off off the board on on FanDuel probably because of the Oh, probably because Oh yeah, cuz you don’t know the Yeah. Yeah, correct. I would I would have thought most betterers would have priced in a threeame suspension. I find that curious. H um it feels like they did that with uh with Justin Jefferson’s line a little bit. I’ll tell you about that when I tell you about FanDuel. And we rank the top 15 Vikings next. Yeah, you can’t bet Jordan Addison yards, but you can bet Justin Jefferson at FanDuel right now. Over under 1250 and a half. Oo, that feels like value on JJ. And you’re getting a great price. minus 114 basically even odds. I would hammer that over as well as a lot of Vikings overs. Very bullish on this football team. But you can also get more more fun wagering options at FanDuel as the summer sports roll on. Open championship just got done. Hopefully you got that that early wager in on Sheffller like Wednesday or Thursday before he blew away the field. Uh you’ve got US Open tennis coming up in not too long. You got more golf 3 uh 3M open here in Blaine this weekend. I’ll be checking that out as well. There’s great daily promotions at FanDuel. You can do same game parlays, live wagering, and a ton of NFL future options right now. Rushing props, passing props, receiving props, win totals. It’s all there. Check it out at FanDuel if you’re new to it. Bet five, get 150. That’s the deal right now. Bet five. If you win that bet, you get $150 in bonus bets. The FanDuel sports uh book app or FanDuel.com. Head there today to get started. All right, we’ve ranked 76 Vikings to this point. We have 15 to go. Let’s start by getting caught up with Luke Braun’s last 30. He was gone last week. I’m showing you Braun’s most recent 30 rankings that we haven’t discussed yet. I’m going to scroll slowly down. We got King Rouse, Jurgens, Ward, Felton. And I’m surprised you didn’t have felt in like 75 because you you haven’t been exactly on on the hype train there. Legit top 40 guy for you. Okay. Sam How? I mean, he’s making the team. Uh Luke Braun, most surprising thing. You just love the specialists. You got Will Riker at 26. You’ve got Andrew Depala at 18, CJ Ham at uh at 22. So you you’ve definitely given some weight to some niche players on your list. You want to respond to that? I I see uh Riker about the same place everybody else has him. Actually, I’ve got him higher than you, so I can’t talk about that. Or has I didn’t do a lot of positional value in this. Like this is this is like best players at their at what they are asked to do. That’s probably what I did. Yeah. Um but yeah, man. Uh three-time Pro Bowler number 18. If anything, I I might be too low. I might want to Yeah, I I should still I should still DM or three time AllP Pro, excuse me. the PFF longstepper guy to get the read on Depala from a guy who is sick in the head about this in a way that Luke Braun is not. Luke Braun, you concluded with Ivan Pace 20, Harrison Phillips 19, Depala 18, Donovan Jackson 17, Will Fry 16. Braun, why don’t you give us 15 through 11? Uh yeah, number 15. I’m starting out spicy. I got J.J. McCarthy. I this like 15 16 17 range to me is like guys that are going to start. They are going to be part of the team. There’s just some uncertainty around them. Whether that’s around, you know, Will Fry’s leg or just a couple young players we haven’t seen much from. We don’t really This is kind of a question mark zone, but they’re going to be starters. So, you know, you’re not going to put them in the 40s with special teamers. Um, then after that, I have I have Harrison Smith. I I don’t feel great about it, but I surely time comes for us all eventually, right? Uh but I could very much have Egg on my face there. I have Aaron Jones next for kind of similar reasons and uh Ryan Kelly. All of these guys have either, you know, age or kind of in descending order of how concerned I am. Uh qu questions. Actually, I should probably switch Harrison Smith and Ryan Kelly. Let me just broom my mulligan right away. There we go. immediate mulligan burn. Not that there are many opportunities to use a mulligan in the top 15. So yeah. So JJ McCarthy, Ryan Kelly, Aaron Jones, Harrison Smith, and then uh Brian O’Neal. We’re getting into the world of like really good players that could be Pro Bowlers. I think the Vikings could legit send like nine players to the Pro Bowl this year. Uh only three Vikings in the top locked on top 100 last Thursday, by the way. Ron, I was Yeah, we we blamed you for that, actually. Yeah, we we figured that was your fault. It could be my fault. Uh yeah. Uh the the way that that worked was um each locked on host was asked to submit 10 players to be like part of the pool and you could you could write in anyone you wanted if anybody but that’s the pool that people were like looking at. Uh oh, it’s that’s actually pretty similar to the actual NFL top 100 process, which is by the way a very flawed process. Uh yeah, and then uh people voted on it, but I guess people didn’t vote for Vikings, so didn’t didn’t campaign hard enough. Yeah, there might be a sample size issue there, too. I know that not everybody. I’m gonna get there. Don’t worry, I I’m doing an episode about it. All right, Spinman, give me five. Harrison Phillips at 15. I got Will Fry at 14. JJ 13. I’m curious where Arie and Sam, you got JJ as well. kind of agree with Braun right in that kind of middle range here. Just need to see it with our own eyes. Uh Harrison Smith 12, Aaron Jones 11. Any hot takes in there for anybody? Uh I don’t think so. These all make sense. I think you’ve got Harrison Phillips a little high, but I’d rather be high on Harrison Phillips than low. I think that’s fair. Yeah. Um so that that all makes sense. Uh, no. I think our lists are going to be pretty similar. Like, uh, Braun 16 through 12 encompasses, I believe, all the players in my 15 through 11. So, not a ton of disagreement here. Um, yeah. So, uh, 15, I’ve got Aaron Jones. Uh, I just think that the the time share is going to be a little bit more than than, uh, we might expect. Uh, and then after that, I’ve got JJ McCarthy at 14. Pretty similar to all of you, in between the two of you, actually. It’s an uncertainty question. I think we all can agree with that. Uh, then at 13, I’ve got Harrison Smith like Inman predicted last show twice. Uh, Ronnie, you missed it. He said, Harrison Smith’s not in my top 12. Not a top because you because we were talking about top 12 and so, you know, bringing it up and I was like, by the way, Harrison Smith’s not my top 12. And Luke was like, “Oh, so he’s 13.” And I was like, that’s not okay. But yeah, actually uh and then Ryan Kelly at uh 12 and then Will Fry at 11. Uh which like Ryan Kelly in age issue just like with Harrison Smith, Will Fry is an injury issue. Um but you know, at the at the height of their their talent, two extraordinarily talented players. I’m going to go Phillips at 15. Harrison Phillips number 14. Uh Jonathan Allen with his nose in front of Phillips um in the DT ranks. So let’s see. Six. Arie, you had him 16. Inman had him 16. Braun. I don’t have him yet. He’s a top 10 player. All right. Luke Braun 13. Did you not know that Luke Braun? Oh, okay. All right. I I can’t wait for the inevitable like error. Someone forgets just to I’ll I’ll figure it out when you make me do the consensus rankings on this. Yeah. Thursday. I want the consensus analysis on these lists. Uh number number 12, Brian O’Neal and number 11, Harrison Smith. Really not too dissimilar. Uh we’ve got the aging. Is Brian O’Neal considered aging? Would you say I don’t think so? The second he tips over the wrong side of 30, people are like, should we trade him? Is he? I he he had like the best year in a while last year. And he and that that’s really meaningful because he’s always been a top 10 right tackle. The question is, is he top three, top five, top eight, or top 10? And he just had like an outstanding year last year. So he’s aging gracefully. He isn’t Braun. He’s not 30 until week three. So the first two games he will still be talking about Trey deadline O’Neal. The second they lose their second game and everyone wants to quit on the season. Ooh, cool. I know exactly how I’m going to get annoyed this year. Trey Hendrickson beats him a couple times and pre-record. You know how we pre-write breaking news stories sometimes? You could pre-record a podcast about this exact thing. Just I could. I might. I’m already mad about something that hasn’t happened. That’s great. you you’ve logged off of Twitter and yet you still carry some of that spirit. You can take the man out of Twitter. You can’t take Twitter out of a man. We’re into our top 10. Let’s go back to Luke Braun. Uh yeah, 10th I have uh Blake Cashman. Very good player. Uh also just kind of banged up, which is why I have Jonathan Allen right there. I have him ninth. Uh very good player. Just again, you know, there’s there’s everybody here has some kind of injury or age concern still, but is like otherwise a good player. This is all the people that Quy like has made these bets on for this year. So, this is where I think the season’s going to make or break on this sort of 9 through 16 range. How many of these guys are healthy? Mhm. Uh next up, I it hurts to put him even this low, but I have Joshua Matelis number eight. Uh it’s it’s I just couldn’t put him above any of the guys I I have here. Uh dude, I had him like 17, man. I Oh, really? Yeah. No, I think he’s just like a pillar of the defense at this point and is probably going to get paid like it I don’t know today. Like it’s going to happen soon. If I if I recall, I used basically the same words. Like I hate putting him this a guy this low, but fair enough. Yeah. Uh then I have Jordan Addison and TJ Hawinson next to each other. Uh, and the only reason I have Addison below is because of the three game suspension. Part of me, these two guys are kind of part and parcel. We just had Yeah. Yeah. These guys are part and parcel to me. They’re just the two guys that sort of take attention away from Jefferson. They’re the the the trio is very important. It has been for the entire history of the league and now it’s just the third guy as a tight end instead of when it would used to be a running back in like the 90s. But it’s like this incredibly important thing that has to be in your top 10. Spinny. Uh Brian O’Neal at 10, Blake Cashman at nine, Jordan Addison. So I got Mattelis sandwich in between Hawinson and Addison. I got Hawinson at six, then Matelis at seven, and then Addison at eight. So Brian O’Neal, Cashman, Addison at eight, Matelis seven, Hawinson six. I think we’re all kind of in the same ballpark there. You and Braun both have Hawinson six. You both have Mattelis seven or eight. Addison, you basically flipped with Addison. very very similar. Arie Assan 10th through six. Okay, so I said that Luke was high on Harrison Phillips and I realized I ranked him 10th. So never mind. I super did his job like Yeah, that’s my bad. Um you got him well this year though and Hardgrave. Well, yeah, because he’s going to play more snaps. I don’t know if that’s necessarily true. That’s probably not true. They’re all gonna play less. Just they like him a lot. I don’t know what to say. He rules. Uh, and I don’t need I don’t need more than that. Um, and then actually, so I guess I’m lowest on him. Byron Murphy is my number nine. Um, I think he’s very good. I think that we’ve gotten to the point where we’re kind of overrating him, which is a weird spot uh to be in. I I think he he was a borderline Pro Bowl guy and he was a Pro Bowl guy, right? Like it’s not like a huge dis. I get it. I get it. Uh, plus I also think this team is super talented, so it’s pretty tough to make some of these decisions. Blake Cashman, eight. Um, outstanding player. I don’t know what else to say. Uh, I don’t really have an issue with the people ranking him 10 and nine. Um, Jordan Addison, seven. Uh, I just think Hawinson’s like significantly more important. Uh, being the seventh most important player on your team is no problem though. Uh, and then number six is Gink. Got the gangster. Andrew Van Ginkle. Um, very good player, really hard to rank these top five. I’m higher on Brian O’Neal than uh the rest of you. And I think that’s, you know, that’s how this gets produced. Wow. Yeah. I had I had cash at 18. You guys You’re super wrong. That’s unquestionably wrong. Blake Hman is a very good player, but it’s just an injury concern. Otherwise, I probably would have had him in the top. Yeah. It the only the only thing is that that Blake Hashman didn’t come to Minnesota with accolades. If if he had been playing at this level before he hit free agency, first of all, the Vikings wouldn’t have been able to get him. But um I think we would all be thinking about him as a borderline potential allp pro guy. He is so good. Was last year a career year for him cuz like I remember thinking, oh that’s a pretty good player. I like the signing and and then he was like way better. Was I just wrong? No, no. I I I I think he was fine. I think that he was a pretty decent signing. The Vikings needed an all-around guy. I remember talking to people at the combine about him versus Frankie Luvu, who is a pass rush specialist, and how more difficult it was for Frankie Louvu, who had a better career up to that point to get a good deal than Blake Cashman because Cashman could fit into any defense. And it was like an interesting conversation with somebody who’s like pretty familiar with the way these negotiations go down. Uh I’m convinced uh Spielman got sniped by the Jets and he was going to take Cashman because the next pick the Vikings were on the clock and they took that USC linebacker Cam Smith. Cam Smith line enjoyer. Yeah, Cam Smith. Um Braun, just looking at the the Cashman resume quickly. I mean, he really did nothing for four years. Like the his fifth year, he was hurt a lot with Houston. Yeah, he he played 400 snaps as a rookie. Wasn’t very good. probably in over his head. And then Houston 2023 arguably played as well as he did last year. That’s why he got a big contract. But Le Bloomer to like I think he’s he’s now it was not a flash in the pan last year. I would say it was the continuation of what he did with Houston. He might have Lynball Joseph this where you just got somebody the second they become way better than they should be than they’re than they’re valued at. Correct. Um, my number 10, JJ McCarthy, which I mean, if we’re using the criteria of somebody starting for the first time ever, like in any other position, they probably aren’t number 10. They’re probably way down the list. But for whatever, like the fact that there’s so much faith in this guy from the coaching staff is really the only thing keeping him in the top 10. Um, I think he’s going to be good. And a lot of that is just a testament to um a what I saw in last preseason, b what we’ve seen this staff do with quarterbacks. And then the great article by Kevin Seaffort like four days ago about how Okonnell spent like a solid hour with McCarthy, just the two of them every single week um to help him develop. You love human interest stories swaying your opinion on the talent level of these players, which if that’s the case, you should read Alec Lewis’s piece on J.J. McCarthy that published like 20 minutes ago. It’s great from last year. So, uh, 45 minutes ago, but yeah, it’s it’s a great piece. Love it. I did that. That is also a good piece. Everybody’s publishing their little JJ McCarthy puff pieces on the week before camp. It’s very fun. Yeah, I’ll I’ll repromote the piece that you wrote. Sure, why not? We just need some Zamaya Von puff pieces now. You’ll find out why later. Uh, number nine, Aaron Jones. Aaron Jones at number nine. Number eight. And and honestly, where did I have Mason? 26. I hate that. I might I might retroactively before you do the consensus, Arie, I might mulligan that and move Mason up the board cuz I hate You’re using your top 15 mulligan on a top 30 player. That’s so fascinating. I think there is not a 17 player gap between them. But okay, we’ll we’ll keep cruising along for now. Number eight, Josh Matelis. So, we all have Mattelis really high like eight except Arif has him 17. Most of you do. Yeah, I have him 17. Okay. You’re you’re devaluing Mattelis. Like I’m devaluing Cashman and I and then do we tell you that you’re wrong? Like he’s actually like a really good player. Like do we point the finger? No. Mostly we just tell you that you’re wrong. That’s how Okay. I mean this is the first episode of it. Feels like that’s been You read the script. The vibe feels like to me that we mostly just tell you that you’re wrong. If you’re new to the show, if you just saw Viking Squad Show and shed said, “What what is this all about?” This is the show right here. It’s it’s Sam trying to accomplish things in the rest of his Sam being the emotional punching bag for as the owner of a website called Wide Left, it was really important for me to be on a show called The Squad of Some Kind. So, I thought Wow. No chance Sam understands that joke. Number seven, Jordan. Number six, TJ Hawinson. I think I I see it exactly as Braun sees it, exactly as Edmond sees it. And Reef hasn’t even ranked TJ Hawinson yet. So, that’s a top five guy for him. So, we’ve gotten to the top five. We will step aside briefly and then uh when we come back Number one, our top five Minnesota Vikings. Coming up next, we are brought to you today by Better Help. Workplace stress is at an all-time high. 61% of the global workforce is reporting higher than normal stress levels. Summer’s a perfect time to take small steps to focus on your wellness and manage the challenges that come with your workday. Most of us can’t just quit our jobs, take endless vacations. You got to be realistic. So, you start small. Might be getting outside for a few minutes, adding some movement into your day, talking with somebody about life’s challenges. That’s where Better Help comes in. Do you feel like your schedule is still super busy? You can’t get away. You can’t find find time to help yourself, work on yourself. Well, the flexibility of online therapy does make it easy to fit sessions into that busy schedule, whether it’s work, family, or otherwise. It’s flexible no matter where you are because the meetings can be virtual. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Unwind from work with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/lockdon. And that’s betterhelph.com/lockedon. Before the show is done, we’ll also have our Mr. Mano prediction after we rank our top five Vikings. Here we go. The big finale. Luke Braun, take us home. Uh, yeah. I number five. I’ve got Andrew Van Genko. Why? You know, I want a little little justification for all five of a little justification. I I mean, look, the the the dude is I I forget how many sacks the two pick sixes, but like nine sacks or something like that. 11. No, it was like 11. Yeah, 11. Yeah. So, like I’ve got both the edges here in the top five, obviously. And And this is if if you want like I was trying to think of like what’s the engine of the defense, right? Like what is the thing? What what’s at the tip of the spear here? It’s the edge rushers. It’s these two guys and everything else is made to try to get them the best opportunities possible. I have Van Ginkle slightly behind Renard because I think Renard does a little bit more of that role. Um, but obviously the Swiss the Swiss Army knife thing is uh goes a long way for me with both him and Matelis and I think it also rose Dallas Turner up my ranks. I know I wasn’t here for that, but that also kind of mattered to me. Um, next I have Byron Murphy. I I you know I might be overreacting to like having a big high interception. He just got paid and all that stuff. I I might be sort of rosecolored glassesing it. He because he wasn’t like a perfect corner but he is uh boy the only thing holding that secondary together. Hey, is it Byron Murphy senior or Byron Murphy junior? It’s junior which should not be confused with Byron Murphy II. A different player. A different player. Yes. Uh yeah. Oh yeah. Rookie of the year, Byron Murphy Jr. Yeah, exactly. But I I think again that like the idea of if you removed this player, what’s the impact, right? Kind of starts creeping into my mind when you get to the top five in terms of, you know, these the like the the the the best players, the core Vikings. I feel like Byron Murphy is a core Viking. And the contract he just signed kind of uh justifies that. Then third, I have Grenard for many of the same reasons about Van Gen, but just more intensely. And then I’m going to guess our number two and number ones are about the same. Christian Darasan number two and Justin Jefferson number one. Who’s number one? I’ve never heard that name in my life. What’s that? Yeah, some skinny. I I think he’s got potential but he’s slot only. Yeah. Oh, okay. Justice Jefferson. Yep. There you go. Justice. Is that what Oh, the guy who cough for Joe Burrow. Yeah. Yeah. Jefferson. There you go. All right. Luke Inman, what do you got? Um I had a tough time with Murphy. Um, I think Arie, you pointed out a great fact like, okay, kind of had a Pro Bull type season, but do we view this guy, uh, Byron Murphy as like a pure shutdown, leave him on an island corner, but Luke, you raised a lot of good points, too. Without him in this secondary, it it I don’t even want to know what it would look like. So, Byron Murphy at five. I thought about using a mulligan and maybe dropping him just a couple spots. I’m going to keep him at five. Andrew Vankel four. Just the epitome of like a coach putting a guy in a position to do what he does best. and just absolutely thrived last year. Uh the versatility to drop back, get his hands on the ball, rush the passer. Um just absolutely fantastic addition. Jonathan Grard three, stats don’t lie. Just one of the best pure pass rushers, pass rush win rate, quarterback hits, quarterback pressure, all that stuff in the league. Um maybe still a little undervalued actually, just maybe doesn’t have that name brand value like the Max Crosby’s and Nick Bosas, etc. But Christian Deros 2, JJ1, um no surprise there at the top. I don’t know why I expected our number TWS to be different. Like I made jokes about how obviously our number ones would all be the same, but I should have realized our number TWS would also all be the same. Um, my number five is right next to Andrew Van Giggle, Jonathan Bernard. Um, I guess I’m lowest on him, which feels bad, but also he’s a top five player, so whatever. Outstanding player. uh tough for me because I think that the next couple of players are all like the best at their position or nearly there. Obviously, Brown and Neil isn’t, but we just have an insane amount of talent this year uh in the league at right tackle. So, that’s tough. Uh then I’ve got TJ Hawinson. uh phenomenal tight end. Difficult to I think he’s uh you know fans of teams will always talk about like hey our our very good guy is actually one of the best in the league and he’s underrated and if I’m if I’m going to indulge that I would indulge it for TJ Hawinson who is to me unquestionably a top three tight end in the league and closer to one than he is to five. Um pause for a rabbit rabbit trail uh question. TJ Hawinson, how many years does he have to produce to usurp Kyle Rudolph in Vikings lore? Uh, I have no idea. I’m gonna say one and a half. One and a half more years. Am I Am I way off on this? This seems like kind of a short I say three if if he stays healthy. If he stays healthy. I have no idea. I have no idea what the career numbers are for the Vikings, Sam. I can’t. Obviously, my an answer is going to be bad. I think he needs to have I think it’s it needs to be more about a peak cuz Kyle Rudolph’s whole thing was longevity like to to overtake Kyle Rudolph in yardage. I’m going to guess one 800 yard season a bunch of 400 500 yard. Yeah. But it was like a lot of seasons. So to catch him in yardage you’re either going to have to play for as long which means the answer to this is a lot of years or like have a 1200 yard crazy blow up. I I got it. I got it. Kyle Kyle Rudolph 10 Viking seasons 4,488 yards 10 in 10 seasons. Uh TJ Hawinson in two and a half has 1934. So two and a half more years at that rate that would put him like 600 behind in half the time. Okay. Yeah. So three seasons seems pretty actually pretty normal. cross some yardage. Probably see that headline. Four good seasons and he’s a top 10 receiver in Vikings history probably. Oh, that’s crazy. Wow. Rudolph I love the idea that he could pass Kyle Rudolph conceivably in two. That’s funny to me. Yeah. I also want to mention after missing so much time the last year. Every time uh TJ Hawinson’s like career production comes up. I do want to mention that all of his Vikings years were more productive than I think all but one of his Lions years. Like it was absolutely great for him and I think it’s insane that uh people act like the Lions got better with Sam Leaporta. No, they didn’t. Sam Leafrada. Yeah. No, T.J. Hawinson’s a better tight end. My number three uh no surprise is Brian O’Neal. Outstanding right tackle. Just getting washed away in a sea of outstanding right tackles in the league. But he is quite good. Um, I might be overreacting to the fact that he finally bounced back after slowly decliningish uh since signing the contract. Then yeah, Christian Dar%. Yeah. Yeah. Uh I Yeah, I think you’re way too high on Brian O’Neal. I don’t think he’s nearly the sort of flawless that I would um or or the sort of like weapon in the trenches that I would say that someone like Jonathan Grard or even Christian Darasaw is. High floor. High floor. Safe. Uh, I mean, yeah, there’s like there’s a couple at reps against like Aiden Hutchinson where he gets cooked. Like he will get smoked by the good guys in in uh some pretty ugly way. Like he’s good for like one a game. That’s just enough for me to say, okay, maybe not. He’s, you know, a top three player. I think I think when you take a look at right tackles, it’s only Lane Johnson who that isn’t true for Penny Soul also like Yeah. in pass protection. Penny Soul is an outstanding run blocker obviously. Thrista worst moves to the left side so you don’t got to worry about it. My top five Byron Murphy number five. Number four, Andrew Van Ginkle. I’m I was hoping somebody would put Gink above Gernard because he is a very different player. He does certainly does things better than Gard. Gernard’s just so Yeah, but Gernard is just so obviously good. It’s just you could make like a versatility argument, which I almost did, but I I didn’t go that far with it. Yeah, I’ve actually got Darasaw 3. Uh Sam lowest on Christian Darasaw. Wow. Hate Daras can’t stand him. Yeah. I If we’re judging Jordan for missing three games, I mean, I feel like we can uh we can knock Daras. You’re judging Jordan Addison for definitely missing future three games and not in the past having missed games. I think that I can I can just be a little nervous about Darasaw, right? Just how’s he going to bounce back? We don’t know for sure. You can’t be nervous about that. Not allowed. Jonathan Gernard number two. Jonathan Gernard number two. And number one, Noah Fanter. Jeff Okuda at the end of the day. Yeah. Where where did you rank Auda relative to the rest of us? I think it was pretty close. Let’s see where Braun had him. Braun I had him 30th. Sam had him lowest. I had Okuda 38th. I had him 35. Edman had him 33. I’m the highest on him. I had him 31. Yeah. I I put him around like guys that I think will rotate in and like actually play a little bit. Taran Dawkins, Jordan Mason. So what is I mean every time I feel like one of these players gets brought up it’s like we we cherrypick a little bit but it’s like oh we all have them relatively pretty much within like four or five spots is who who’s like the craziest who we need to somebody way at the bottom who like 20 spots apart. Tim Jones. Oh, we have a 40. We have a 40 spread on Tim Jones. We’ve got um Oh, because I think he’s gonna make the team. Yeah. And I have him 80th. So, that would be a big one. I’ll I’ll put together a whole little presentation. Who are farthest apart on anyone’s favorite player? Shut the lights off. Poweroint least favorite player. Yeah. I mean, like I mentioned like two weeks ago, I won a PowerPoint competition. I mean, I’m building for this. Oh my god. Are you going to do the thing that you do for the consensus big board where like it it compresses as we go down the list degrading? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Because I think the difference between one and three is more significant than the difference between like 78 and 70 or Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We had another super big spread. I can’t find it. I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry. I feel like anybody who you have under like 65, you’re just saying like this guy’s not a factor at all in camp, right? Like Yeah. Yeah. and ranking like 90 to 65 is just like purely vibes because everybody’s all I think that’s where the most disagreement has happened between us where where like like a guy like Tim Jones like Sam thinks okay he’s not a factor in camp he’s going to be cut you know next time we need a to pick up a guy for injury we’re just going to like lose him real quick where I think he’s got like a legit shot and I even have him on my 53man roster. Oh you had Gavin Bartholomew higher than Tyler Baddy though. Oh no. Exactly. Yeah. I don’t know, man. Like, whatever. This just the side of the bed I woke up today. I don’t know. Right. I This is the first time I’ve heard of in my life, you know. Yeah. Who Who was I’m just curious who was Gavin Bartholomew. Who had him the highest? We’ve got If that’s impossible to look up right now, don’t worry. Braun’s got him 51. Uh Inman’s got him 56. Arif’s got him 48. And I have him 54. Very similar. Very similar. on the same. Yep. Yep. Not a big spread there. Um that’s a that was fun. Top 91 Vikings. We will have the consensus analysis on Thursday and when we come back we select our Mr. Mano. First we are brought to you by Rouette. Guys, you probably heard of Viagra or Seialis, maybe tried them. But if you want something beyond the usual pill, it’s time to meet Rouette Ready, a nextgen prescription treatment designed to amplify arousal and boost blood flow. It’s not like the usual pills. Rouette’s 3in-1 formula dissolves under your tongue, kicks in fast in like 15 minutes. The effects can last up to 36 hours, so you can stay confident and in control when the moment strikes. Uh, it’s totally online, it’s totally discreet. Rouette connects you with a board-certified doctor and ships your treatment directly to your door. And you can read real customer reviews on their site, which makes people feel even more confident and present in the moment. So head to rouette.com/lockedonfl. Use code locked on NFL to get 15% off today. That’s rouette ru.com/lockedonflon NFL for 15% off. Individual results may vary with prescription treatment. Compounded drugs are permitted to be prescribed under federal law, but are not FDA approved and do not undergo FDA safety, effectiveness, or manufacturing review. Please visit the Rouette website for full safety information. All right, big moment on the Viking squad show, rebranded as of today, uh formerly the Minnesota Football Party. Welcome in. Thanks for being here. Thanks for commenting, subscribing. Check us out. Locked on Vikings YouTube channel. Locked on Sports Minnesota YouTube channel. Locked on Vikings audio podcast feed. Tradition unlike any other. Mr. Mano predictions. The first practice is Wednesday. First press conferences are tomorrow. First practice open to the public is Saturday. So all the big stuff happening this week. Uh who wants to go first? Inman, you want to give us give a stab at Mr. Mano for this? Can I get the criteria again? the prerec is is a guy like Jay Ward is he still eligible? Um that’s a good qu. So it have to be day three pick day three pick can’t be above that. Um can’t have any third rounder right because it’s that was that was the original Yeah. The the original rules included third rounders and I’ve strongly objected to that every time. I hate the idea that it’s a third rounder. Yeah, it sucks. Oh god. Kai Blackman or something. How about fourth round? It feels like there’s there’s less and less committee discussion on Mr. Mano every year. I feel like this award has been fading into the background in in Minnesota beat lore. Uh and so just vibing it now. Yeah. And so I think I think we can just assert our own rules here and just ban just day three pick or should we do Mr. Squad? Let’s let’s take it. Let’s make an aggressive, you know, hostile takeover. Mr. squad can do that. Do we all have game consensus guy? But but but it does feel like that would suggest that we’re talking about a guy making the practice squad when you have to make the roster. Wait, that’s perfect. Mr. Practice squad. You have to make the roster. No, the different thing. That sounds awesome. Let’s do that. We’re zigging. They’re zagging. We’re zigging. You You just changed Sam’s whole approach to this section of the show. Um Jay, no. We have to have a vote on Jay Ward’s eligibility. So, he has played 63 defensive snaps in his career. Mostly a special teams guy. Can anybody remember one of those? No, I would say eligible. I would say eligible. Borderline really bad tackling actually. I can I can remember one. This one is borderline for me because it’s been what two years, right? So, it’s last year of eligibility. The spirit of Mr. Mano to me has always been the guy that we are very excited about and now that the season has started we’ll never think about again and I feel like you have to be a little new for that. Like I don’t feel like you can give it to a four-year vet but has that happened in like has it happened to to go to a guy in the past that’s been around for a while? Well, let’s just say that so KJ Osborne was like the the ultimate Mr. Man Ko in 21 or 22 whatever he broke. So Jay Ward’s one year different from that. Like does that just one year is huge. We don’t include fe isn’t he going into year four? Wasn’t he in 202? What’s next? Tim Jones is ineligible. Jeez. He would not be. But T. Jones. Yeah. Tim Jones being new here. Like I get it. Um No, I was that was he’s been in the league for longer. So like Okay. So, so though I don’t think the Jay Ward should qualify, I do want to say that there is an argument in his favor, which is that when you Google him, he is not the Jay Ward that appears as the Google result. So, he’s got that composure. Who is he? It’s all right. You Google People still ask if you met Luke Bryan. Luke Brian. So, because we I think we need just a two a threeman vote here on Jay Ward. I’m going to say yes. I’m saying no. I’m saying break the tie. Okay. All right. No. Jay Ward. All right. Um I really So my backup plan was Tyrion Ingram Dawkins, but the more I think about it, the more I think about I think that rotation is just so deep back there. There’s so many bodies that they’re going to want to get snaps to that I don’t think he’s going to have enough opportunities. I’m going to go with Dwight McGloin at cornerback. I like that. I see that. That’s slaps. That’s a good one. Um, all right. Alexander just stole mine because I had like a whole bid prepared for Ben Urase, but it’s Ben Urus. Um, I think I thought about that, too. Yeah, I think he gets past uh Gab Bartholomew. Um, Pete Bersich like just yesterday released a video about why he’s super high in Benurk. Um, and it kind of mirrors a lot of uh what I think, which is that I think he’s a very capable blocker. I think that you can split him out wide. I think that you can uh and and have him play receiver. He can be kind of an outlet receiving tight end from an inline position. I think that he’s got a lot of experience playing a bunch of different tight end roles at Georgia. And I think that that’s really difficult to find at a tight end. And so that’s going to help. Also 266 on the consensus board. That’s relatively high for an undrafted free actually quite high for an undrafted free agent. Uh, and uh, when the Vikings signed him, his name actually uh, popped out to me because I remember uh, he was kind of one of the people that everyone thought was a combine snub. And while the history of quote unquote combine snubs isn’t extraordinary, it is fun. So, I’m going to go with Ben Urosk. It feels like we are all very lukewarm on Gavin Bartholomew’s chances. like we basically got him on the same plane as the UDFAs or getting replaced by Noan. Nobody is slobbering over the the prospects of Gavin Bartholomew. I I’d like to learn that he is healthy. The fact that he’s hurt coming into OTAAS and that they signed a guy about it tells me that there’s going to be a lot of missed camp. So, it might be kind of an an NA situation. Is Rei the Italian Stallion, is that who they signed? Yeah. like they brought in a guy that’s probably meant to be a camp body more than make the team is my take on that. So that tells me, you know, they’re not worried about him missing like the whole season or anything, but that that is going to like that’s going to hurt his camp and therefore his chances. They did announce that he reported yesterday, one of the fours every injured player reported early. That’s like Christian Dar’s there too and Wolf R and stuff. Um I’m going with Tyrion Ingram Dawkins. uh you guys flirted with the idea, but I think there’s already some momentum for this. He was taking a lot of reps with the ones, like more than just, you know, you’re kind of, oh, let’s put the rookie in against uh the pro and and see what it is. Plus, in OTAAS, when it’s like a walkthrough, it’s not really that much of a competition period anyways. You’re just getting to look for like I think they’re genuinely considering like a lot of rotation for this guy. And the way Mr. Mano goes down is very much dictated by preseason, I think. And this guy’s going to be playing a lot of preseason, I think. I think he could play with the twos and the threes. Kind of have that um the the way they like to do it with rookies, right? You like to kind of put him in a little bit extra. So, that’ll give him a lot of opportunities. Get a couple of sacks against someone’s guard they’re about to cut. You know, someone’s Henry Bird. Go cook that guy. Get a sack. I could see uh some hype coming out pretty quick. If Dwight McGloin is 15 to one. Oh, I should have asked you guys what your odds are. What are the odds on on Nudy McGloin in what do you think? I would say like 10 to one. You think it’s 15 to1? I would have said 15. 10 to one. Maybe 12. Meet you in the middle. Somewhere like that. Yeah. Arie, what would you say on your sec? The odds of making the roster odds of being Mr. Mano. Oh, uh, probably eight to one. That mean offensive players have an advantage. Yeah. Yeah, they do. Ingram Dawkins, have we had a defensive lineman win in recent memory? Did Taan Bower win back in the day? Wow. He really should have. That That’s like a perfect one. Oh, no. Ty McIll, right? Ty Migill. Ty McIll would have been a guy at least who ended up making a couple of plays for uh the 49ers after that and also the Colts before that if I remember. He’s available, isn’t he? Bring him home. T Y. So Ingram Ingram Dawkins feels um more in the Dwight McGloin territory for odds. But I think you can there’s a more of a chance as a defensive lineman to make plays than in the secondary. A secondary like it’s hard to get a pick. It is tough, right? It Cole won it, right? Whole. Yeah. obviously not a secondary guy, but like we were talking about making plays in the secondary, pick sixes, Audi Cole, you know, if uh if Dwight McGloin’s 12 to1, I think that Zomaya von, my guy, is like 20 to1. I’ll take the value. Um, he is going to to pop off the screen. He’s 6’2 and a half and can fly. Those traits are going to make him very visually appealing if indeed he can play at a an above average level against like the threes. I don’t think he’s going to be tested too much against great competition which gives him a chance to really shine and pop. Um, and if he can do some damage in one-on- ones, you know, like if he can get some reps against, I don’t know, Ty Felton, Rond Del Moore, do some stuff in camp because that’s, you know, that’s where I’m counting on the Will Raggites’s, the Alec Lewis’ to give us the playbyplay. I want the one-on- ons to find out how Zomayon’s doing. Build that hype train. Um, I want to see him pick off Max Bromer a few times. Let’s go. Zamay Vaughn out of Utah. Seriously, I mean, no, he got a little bit of hype out of OTAAS. I’m a little worried that it’s like Alec Lewis said he had one good practice and we’re taking it too far. But like we didn’t hear anything about any of the other undrafted rookies, so why not? Definitely could be. Um what are his odds? You think Sam? I think he’s like a I think he’s the longest shot for sure. Yeah. Um because he’d be behind probably behind like Ambry Thomas. Yeah. Probably behind McGloin for sure. Javier probably behind Tavier Thomas. He’s probably like CB8. Um, but it’s not like there’s a lot of entrenched competition above him. I mean, no, it’s very fluid back there past the third. You’re right. So, not not out of the realm to say that he could get some reps with the twos on a certain day where someone’s banged up like that’s that’s in play here because it’s so fluid. If he’s good in practice, if he’s making plays, if he’s uh, you know, where he’s supposed to be on any given assignment or play, he’s going to get more reps. He should he should start probably getting um some snaps and reps in preseason games with the twos to your point. Um so if he’s good, I mean should all work out because that situation back there to your point is is so fluid like four through eight. I just feel like the coaches are just waiting to get these guys out there and and kind of build their own little power rankings or departure. I feel like it’s wide open. Inman Arief uh meet at TCO Saturday with some some binoculars. Just sit in the corner and chill, watch some practice. What do you say? I’m going to sneak out. Nobody recognizes. I’m going to pull out one of my old credentials. See if I can sneak. I I don’t know. Short of a Luke Braun mask. I don’t know what I could do to sufficiently disguise myself. Unrecognizable. So, a reef. So, let’s find what your doppelganger coach in the NFL. Let’s figure out what staff he’s on. Let’s wear the jacket of that team so we look like opposing staff. Bring a legal pad and some binoculars. Or you go Chris Thomasson. Or you go Chris Thomasson. Right. I forgot to buy Chris Thomasson. Yeah. I’ll put on my like Mongolia hat. I was going to say, yeah, the Sydney Olympics wrestling Olympics wrestling for some reason. My Spam shirt. Yeah. Spam Museum shirt. I um I’m thinking back I I would be so curious. I think back to like a guy like John Randall, undrafted when they had like what 12 12 rounds undrafted. How did he look his first year at training camp? Was he like a Mr. Mano? Like was there some hype back then for him? Talk about John Randall. No, he was he was very much like uh well so he was he he barely made the team. Uh he was crazy dude. He was good. He played well, but he was legit like DTackle and he was probably 245 smoking uh soaking wet under super unders sized right when he So there’s this famous story about the chains. Are you familiar with this? No. Yeah. He at weigh in he wrapped chains around his and he he like tucked them under his sweatshirt and he was like trying not to move too much so they wouldn’t jingle so that he weigh they Jerry Burns told him you have to be 250 by the end of camp or you’re not making the team and he wasn’t. So he put on the chain. So he weighed in and then he played good enough to make the team. But like that was he was stuck still behind Henry Thomas. Yeah. That that’s incredible. I’m looking at pro ref. Uh so bear with me if I start to freeze. But zero game started, right? That’s or what was it? Yeah. Um year two though, year two big leap. It’s not called the same thing anymore. Year one to year two big leap goes from zero games started to eight and he had nine and a half sacks in eight games. So, I feel like that was kind of what put him right there. Levi Drake Rodriguez had nine sacks this year. That’s the equivalent like of being and started and started like more than Yeah. Or it’s like Jaylen Redmond just showing up and getting but getting like nine sacks but like oh my god this guy might be a pro bowler kind of thing. Yeah. I think it’s not dissimilar from the Ivan Pace deal except Ivan Pace like there was Yeah. But but if like Brian Osmo was an entrenched starter that needed a little more convincing for you to set aside. Yeah. Very interesting path. Very very fun story for sure. The fact that he almost didn’t make the team. I mean are you kidding me? That that’s that’s also how do you not put on five pounds in like three weeks? I think he started at like 230. Like he was it was he was he is small. Yeah. Alexander says Taki Tymani. I think if he was going to win it, it would have been last year. He kind of had his moment. I think he’s just like a rotational player now. He’s just like here. I I do I do want to add like that’s not too dissimilar from Adam Thielen. Like he didn’t have to wear chains or anything like that to make weight, but like he was a practice squad guy his first year and um a lot of people were were weren’t confident that he would even make the practice squad because he kept dropping passes in camp. Yeah. Which like you you understand who Adam Theland is now. You’re like what in the world are you talking? Yeah. He kept dropping passes in camp. Yeah. And then his bread and butter the next year or two years was just special teams. You got special teams. Can I just be a special team blocking that punt in 2015 in the divisional deciding game in Lambo? Mhm. Uh second backup punt returner, right? It was like Marcus Cheryl someone else and then him. Yeah. Or no, he he got he did a jet sweep on a fake punt. That’s what it was in that Lambo game. Yeah. It was like a 61. Who’s this guy? Crazy. I I remember the 2014 camp battle very strongly. This was like right when I was getting really really locked in on like who wins wide receiver 6 between Adam Thielen and what was the guy’s name? It was a Florida State guy. Uh there’s like eight different It was his initials were R.J. but I can’t remember what it was. Rodney Jones. Rodney Johnson. Yeah. Rob Johnson. Rodney Smith. Smith. Rodney Smith. Yes. No. Yes. And it was it was because Yeah, it was Rodney Smith because there have been like eight players in the NFL with the same or a similar name. It was Rodney Smith, 65 Florida State wide receiver. I don’t know if he ever got more than 300 yards in college. Um but yeah, I Yeah. Yeah. I remember like that being like a really tough camp battle for him to make like wide receiver six. Yeah. It’s like Christian Jackson, Lucky Jackson today, but it it turned out Christian Jackson was like a Pro Bowler. Rodney Smith walk-off touchdown preseason against the Cardinals. Cardinal. Yeah. Teddy Bridgewater. Watch that in a in a Champs I believe in Brainer, Minnesota. And then Blair Walsh Pat failed. People were so That’s great. of things to come, right? People were so excited that Teddy Bridgewwater led a fourth quarter comeback in the preseason that and Rodney Smith was the one who got that touchdown for that. Yeah, I thought that was it. I thought that ended the battle. I was I was arguing with people all the time. I was like, “No, Adam Thielen should get this spot over Rodney Smith.” And people were like, “Well, Rodney Smith is more talented.” And I was like, “What do you mean talented? Adam like Adam’s better at playing wide receiver.” And I I I could have been throwing a dart here. This is like This is like I’m I’m living off of this high 11 years later on the resume. One of your dubs on the resume, right? Yeah. We could have been thinking anything. Yeah. Nobody is to be held to account for their sports 10 years ago. First year that was the wild wild west, dude. Like we were all Everybody was all over the map. There’s still a piece of me caping for Christian Ponder. Okay. Like we could just forgive and forget. Yeah. Got one on Reddit. I was I was banging the table for Derek Cox and Justin Coleman to start. Uh if you want optimistic training camp takes, follow Daniel House. If you want pessimistic training camp takes, follow Reefan. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. And this is about Christian Ponder, so I guess I feel good about that. I certainly didn’t think he was a bust, though. House will be in those bleachers. House will be in those bleachers. Follow Daniel the bucket hat and the Yeah, the sunscreen. Uh and full sleeved everything, too. Yep. The UV protection. Yeah. The allnew Vikings squad show back on Thursday with consensus analysis of our top 91. more bubble battles. We’ll get the reports from the first practice and plenty more. I think next Monday we’ll do our pre-season fantasy team picks just to account for any injuries, you know, that happen in the first week. We’ll get that out there though uh next week. So, gear up. It’s that time of year, camp week. You’re on the Viking Squad Show on Lockdown Sports Minnesota. Thanks for watching.