Friday Mailbag: Breakout camp candidates
Vikings fans want to know who's going to surprise us in training camp this year
By Matthew Coller
Hey everyone, hope you all had a happy July 4th. How about this: Training camp previews here on Purple Insider start next week. Two more weeks and we’re back in action. Until then, here’s what’s on your football-y minds….
Ben…. There is always a point in a coaching tenure when you know it’s over for that coach. When did you know it was over for Zimmer?? Because I feel like it was before the Green Bay game.
There were a couple different moments with Zimmer. The first time I thought that it might be over was when they gave up 52 points to the Saints on Christmas and Zimmer admitted that he had a bad defense. Before that I had felt like Mike had mostly kept them in the hunt and was squeezing as much out of the defense as he could considering what happened to the roster. But 52 on national TV, woof.
Then I was pretty sure it was over when they lost to winless Detroit in 2021. Giving up the game-winning drive after coming back to take the lead was a huge embarrassment and it seemed that they had run out of answers.
There were a ton of other moments in 2021 where you got the sense that everyone had enough. Klint Kubiak seeming terrified to speak at the podium, Zimmer defending an inappropriate Bashaud Breeland tweet, when they almost gave up a huge lead to the Steelers and Zim said he assumed they were going to blow it etc.
The game in Green Bay was the straw that broke the camel’s back. There was absolutely no reason to insult Kellen Mond the way he did, even if he was right to start Sean Mannion. It was a complete mess.
One thing I know for sure is that no team that was once very good and then falls into disrepair does so without a lot of drama. Look at the Patriots at the end of Brady/Belichick’s tenures. Nobody gets out easy.
Kyle S… What’s your fantasy, Matthew? Not in a dirty sense; like a Roger Goodell-mandates-every-team-has-to-have-a-fullback-on-its-roster sense.
I have this recurring dream where I’m kicking a field goal and my wife offers me a diet Dr. Pepper and it gives me super powers to boot it through the uprights and somehow win the Super Bowl for the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions all at once.
Oh you said not in a weird sense. Never mind.
My real dream is that the NFL creates a replay system that isn’t complete trash. Take everything that Dean Blandino helped create at the UFL where they send it upstairs and show on TV everything the replay official is looking at and then resolve the play quickly. They even review pass interference without any problem. It’s so easy, yet the NFL wants to do it their way, which leaves us in the dark and confused about how they came to their conclusions. Half the time viewers at home come away expecting a totally different result and the reviews regularly take forever. Just change it, Rog. It’s not that hard.
Arin J… Most training camps there is a player that surprises, think Josh Metellus last year or KJ Osborn in years past. Who are your top 3 candidates this year for the Vikings? Do not choose Nailor or McCarthy.
If I tell you then it won’t be a surprise, right?
Three that come to mind first are Gabriel Murphy, Jaquelin Roy and Jeshaun Jones. Murphy was the top UDFA signing, Roy showed some promise and upside last year and Jones had several good grabs that stood out to me in minicamp.
There’s candidates all over the roster. Instead of those guys if you told me that it was Owen Porter, Levi Drake Rodriguez and Malik Knowles instead, I wouldn’t be shocked.
Some guy we didn’t expect emerging during camp is one of the best parts. I’m interested to see who it is.
Evan…. Tim Connelly brought in Kwesi ahead of the NBA draft to “pick his brain.” What can Kewsi learn from Tim or Kevin learn from Chris Finch? Is there anything the Vikings can learn that’s transferable from the NBA to the NFL in terms of the Wolves and Lynx both having the #1 defenses this year?
Speaking of the NBA… Why do NBA teams draft players and then trade them? Would there be any advantage to NFL teams starting to do this?
If I’m trying to stretch to find some transferrable things, I’d say that being a little different in playing style always helps. Most teams don’t have two big men like the Wolves do. Most teams don’t blitz 50% of the time like the Vikings do. The Lynx are flexible with their matchups. They have different skillsets they can bring off the bench if something isn’t working. It’s always good to have rotational players who can get into the mix more or less on a given week. Usually it just comes down to having a complete group and limiting the number of serious weaknesses.
By the way, that’s quite the compliment to Adofo-Mensah. I think we can see an NBA-style philosophy on the Vikings’ roster where they are built with major stars and development projects. They need some projects to click and then to spend the money when the time is right.
I don’t know why NBA teams do that. I’m assuming they pick guys that they know other teams want and then try to squeeze a little draft capital out of them. NFL teams seem to trade the picks beforehand even if they know how it’s going to be used. Why draft Trey Lance and then trade him for three firsts and you can just trade your pick for three firsts and let them pick Trey Lance? It’s odd.
Jason…. Who is your most exciting team to watch in the NFL this year that isn’t the Vikings? Also who will be terrible to watch?
My not-so-hot take is the Texans. The way Stroud played last year was extremely entertaining and now he has more weapons. That’s good sport. I’m most intrigued by what Anthony Richardson will do and I want to watch a lot of Caleb Williams out of sheer intrigue.
On the other side of the coin, I don’t have much interest in watching the Browns, Steelers, Giants or Raiders. There’s just nothing there to be fascinated with.
Jim… lately there has been some talk about the league switching to an 18 game season. You probably answered this when it went to a 17 game season but how does this work for players salaries. Game checks would be easy but what about signing bonuses? Would each player automatically get a prorated amount added onto their money? It seems to me that if a player signs a contract worth $10 million/season for 17 games, they should get an extra half million or so for an 18 game season.
When they went to a 17th game they got an additional game check. That was a sticking point for the players in the last CBA negotiation when they agreed to add another game and I imagine it will be this time too.
TheDude… Which (up to 5) guys are you intrigued by (they have to be rookies or 2nd 3rd year guys that have not broken out yet and JJM and Dallas Turner can not be on the list (1st rounders).
Since I already mentioned a few earlier, I’ll mention a few more here. Andre Carter needs to take a step to pass Pat Jones on the depth chart in order for the Vikings to have some depth at pass rusher. Cornerback Dwight McGlothern caught my eye a little in minicamp. It’s possible Jay Ward could become a more valuable piece in his second year.
I’m going to have camp previews next week that will include potential breakout guys for each position so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Alex… am I crazy for thinking the fate of the franchises doesn’t rest on the shoulders of J.J. McCarthy? I have some serious doubts about his potential long-term upside, but I’m surprisingly calm about it. I think Kwesi has done a tremendous job building this roster, navigating the cap, and didn’t have to give up his 2025 first round pick. Sure, taking a QB at 10 is high, but he didn’t mortgage the future, and he’s continued to build a great foundation with a potentially great head coach. Even if JJ doesn’t pan out, the regime can survive it and still be good, and could even draft another QB down the road.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Purple Insider to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.