Friday Mailbag: Lazy summertime takes
Vikings fans have some unique questions while we all wait for camp
By Matthew Coller
Happy Friday everyone! It’s a good time for random questions and we’ve got a few good ones this week so off we go…..
Ben… Been seeing a lot of “lazy” takes on Kyler Murray. What’s the “laziest” football take you have ever seen??
The all-time laziest take of my lifetime was that Lamar Jackson should play wide receiver. He averaged 281 yards passing per game in his final year in college, led the nation in yards per completion and threw 57 TDs to 19 INTs as a sophomore and junior and rushed for over 3,200 yards (when you remove sacks because college tracks QB rushing in the dumbest way possible). In what world would a guy with those numbers play freaking receiver?
I remember looking at the PFF stats that adjusted completion percentage for drops and it turned out that Lamar was a victim of 35 drops in 2017. His adjusted completion percentage for drops was 72%. Nobody who had that opinion ever watched Lamar, not for one freaking second. I think the NFL got scared off because they knew that he couldn’t be plugged into any system and would take some work.
Next on the list was that Sam Darnold “sees ghosts” and can’t win in the playoffs. All sorts of QBs have had bad playoff debuts and then won.
As far as the Kyler Murray takes, the thing that I’d like to point out to everyone is that people grow. Is it possible that Murray had some issues with his transition into the NFL under Kliff Kingsbury? Certainly. But he’s also been through a lot of things since then and yet that same stigma has stuck with him. It reminds me of the “seeing ghosts” thing.
I think Murray, kinda like Kirk Cousins, doesn’t have a personality that matches up with your perfect vision of a rah-rah quarterback. Usually we think of QBs as being the loudest guy in the room and because Kyler is understated and never fights back against the narratives, people just say whatever they want to say.
Like Stefon Diggs said, there is truth to all rumors. But I saw Ryan Fitzpatrick implying that Murray will get complacent if the Vikings keep him for more than one year. That’s kind of a BS thing to say when you don’t know the guy and you’re just making assumptions based on reputation.
Here’s what I know for sure: Until someone wins, people will take pot shots at them. See: Darnold, Sam. If Kyler went to the Vikings in the 2019 draft and played with Diggs/Thielen and then Jefferson and was coached by Kevin Stefanski and Gary Kubiak and had Mike Zimmer’s defense, I promise you the narratives would be different about him right now. Instead he went to the sweaty armpit of the league. That’s how it goes. It’s on him to change all these narratives.
This is why I like the data so much. Intangibles are super important but the data blocks out all the noise and perceptions.
Roger N… Assuming the NFC North teams end the season in a statistical draw at QB (say 12th) what order would you rank the teams in that scenario?
Funny you ask that because the 12th best QB in the NFL in 2025 by PFF was Jared Goff and the Lions had the 4th best scoring offense in the NFL and somehow missed the playoffs. I’m guessing that going 2-5 in one-score games had something to do with that along with their defense melting down because of injuries and their pass blocking ranking 23rd.
I think if Goff has the exact same season that Detroit wins the division. They had the best point differential in the NFC North last year. Usually when that happens, that team ends up on top. It’s weird that it didn’t for them.
Jordan Love has to be better than 12th for the Packers to get there. Their team is middling outside of Micah Parsons. With great QB play, they can be a serious threat but not average.
The thing about Caleb Williams is that 12th would be improvement for him. He was PFF’s 16th best QB last year and he was the worst in the NFL in Completion Percentage Over Expected. If he improves his passing prowess, Chicago is going to be pretty dangerous, even if I think their defense won’t be good.
If Kyler is the 12th best, the Vikings offense can rank in the top 10 pretty easily. The thing about him is that the seasons where he’s been 12th but he was really up and down. If he has a season with six or seven crazy good games and the rest is bleh, he could end up 12th and still miss the playoffs. He needs to have a much less rocky season than in past years.
Though we have to factor in the Vikings defense should be expected to be above average at worst and elite at best.
If every team had 12th best QB play, I’d go for the NFC North order: Lions, Vikings, Bears, Packers.
Arin J… CBs have not been the shining stars of Vikings teams over the years, we do have Bobby Bryant, Antoine Winfield, and Xavier Rhoades. What do you think over the current group and what are some of the Vikings CBs from the past I missed?
Don’t forget Ed Sharockman, Nate Wright or Carl Lee.
Sharockman was overshadowed by Bryant but had 40 career INTs as a Viking during the Purple People Eaters days. Wright led the team in INTs when they went to the Super Bowl in ‘76 and Lee had eight INTs in ‘88 when the Vikings had the No. 2 defense in the NFL.
Others have come in spurts. Audray McMillian was an All-Pro in 1992 and otherwise was alright. Jimmy Hitchcock had an insane 1998 season with seven INTs, three of which were pick-sixes.
Corey Fuller had a good couple years. Byron Murphy Jr.’s 2024 was outstanding (led CBs in INTs).
It’s probably just the nature of the position that there aren’t many cornerbacks who play at a consistently high level for 10 years like defensive or offensive linemen.
Chris C… Re last night’s prediction on Jordan Addison. Talk me into Addison and Jefferson both surpassing 1k yards and what that means for the offense and the team as a whole.
Jefferson going for 1,000 yards is a lock. If he could make it last year, he can make it any year.
For Addison to hit 1,000-plus, he would probably need to get to about 115 targets. He had 104 targets for 911 yards as a rookie.
The only way that it happens is if the Vikings are playing in a lot of shootouts. If Murray has to throw the ball 600 times, then it’s not crazy to think that Jefferson could get 160+ and Addison 110+.
It would either mean that the Vikings’ defense was nowhere near what we are expecting it to be or Murray’s up-and-down nature got them behind in games and then they had to frantically pass to come back.
It’s counter intuitive to say that Addison going for 1,000-plus would be bad but I think if they are playing a lot of shootout games that it’s not going to really be ideal for this team to win the division.
Matt D… Top 5 all-time neck roll guys?
Brian Cox, Sam Gash, Mike Alstott, Jack Lambert and Eric Dickerson.
Cox had a massive board behind his helmet, which I think counts.
The other guys’ neck rolls were both preposterously large and also embodied who they were as players. Gash was an all-time great blocker, Alstott ran through your face, Lambert was nasty and Dickerson somehow did neck roll with style.
Also shoutout to Steve Grogan, the only QB I’ve ever seen wear a neck roll.
Jason… I am currently on a month-long road trip. Pick two Vikings players you have covered and one other beat reporter to do a trip like with that with. Explain your choice.
I’ll go with Latavius Murray and Andrew DePaola for the road trip because they are probably the two players that have felt the most “normal” to me covering the league over the years. I mean it with admiration when I say that a lot of NFL players have a screw loose. Since I’m not a very intense person, I would want two guys who were pretty laid back and relatable.
I’d have to go with Dane Mizutani for the same reason in terms of beat reporters. I’ve never met anyone that didn’t get along with Dane and if things did go sideways he would have a pretty good attitude about it.
Ryan S… I understand why no reporter has asked Teasley this question but I’m curious how you’d think he would answer. If Teasley was the GM in 2024, would he have drafted JJ McCarthy with the 10th overall pick?
Yeah, there’s no purpose in answering that question because it’s too obviously a trap. He’s not going to answer that and put himself in a position where it looks like he’s leaning one way or the other.
One thing I know about McCarthy is that there were two camps during that 2024 draft season. There were people in the NFL who totally bought into him and believed he deserved to be a top-10 draft pick and there were those who viewed him as vastly overrated and thought he was more of a back end of the first round or second-round player. Where the Seahawks stood on that, who knows.
I could see an old school scout like John Schneider really liking the raw tools. I talked to a former scout in 2024 who thought McCarthy made a lot of “NFL throws” on his tape. But if they were “anchored in data,” I’m not sure there’s anything about McCarthy that the data would have supported. He had good third down numbers but it was all tiny sample sizes. And history has been pretty clear about QBs who have less than 800 college passes unless they are top-five picks.
We do have to remember that the Vikings absolutely needed to pick a QB in the 2024 draft and they ended up with two choices. Bo Nix has been good enough for the Broncos to win but he’s playing in the antithesis of KOC’s offense, so who knows how that would have played out.
Bradley P… Matthew, at what point do world class organizations say goodbye to players? In other words, isn’t it time for the team to move on from Smith? They already should’ve moved on from Aaron Jones, IMO. These types of decisions was why i was in favor of Kwesi being let go.
Well, Kwesi was the one who moved on from Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen and Eric Kendricks at the right time. I’m not sure which aging players outside of Smith and Jones that Kwesi held onto too long and Smith played great last year. Acquiring Thielen via trade, I suppose, though that wasn’t supposed to be a big role in the offense.
Being ruthless about the age thing has always been important in football, even going back to Bill Walsh talking openly about moving on from key guys. Belichick was pretty famous for it. Those guys also had Joe Montana and Tom Brady.
I do think the Vikings generally have been overly sentimental in the last decade. They made sure that everyone got a contract extension from 2017 and they rarely let guys walk before it was an obvious thing to do.
I also don’t think it’s been a problem overall. Every situation is different and you have to pick the right times to get rid of guys but just because it’s the heartless approach doesn’t mean it’s the right one.
Jan…How much preparation do you put into your podcasts? Do you pick a daily topic and then just see where your mind or the comments wander off to? Do you prepare certain facts and numbers that you want to mention? Really appreciate your work
It’s kind of a never ending thing. I put a lot of research into articles and I’m at every press conference, practice, game etc., so that makes it easy to talk about any subject that I want to get into. Usually I’ll have an idea of the direction that I want to go based on the conversation that’s happening around the team, whether that’s on TV or on social media or it’s obvious from press conferences and locker room where I should be taking the show.
I’ll usually Google “Minnesota Vikings” to see what type of SEO is driving clicks out there. If people are reading about a certain subject, that probably means I should be talking about it.
But the knowledge is really 10 years of covering the team and the NFL. Everything that I talk about is based on that foundation of putting in the work to understand everything that I possibly can about how the team and the league works so I can bring the best info possible.
Bradley P… You’re the GM on March 1, 2027. What would Kyler’s stats have to be for you to consider signing him and at what price?
I think if he played 15 games, threw for 3,600 yards, ran for 500, totaled 30 touchdowns and the Vikings went 11-5 and ranked 12-14th by PFF, I would be looking at signing him to a two-year, $90 million contract.
That’s certainly enough to be impressed and good enough to build a winner around but you would be left wondering about whether you were going to get stuck in the middle with him as your QB. It would be a reasonable “prove it” deal that doesn’t preclude them from drafting another quarterback in the near future.
Florian K… With all three Vikings QBs have an injury history I was wondering how has the rate of QB injury changed through the years? How often does a QB play every game a season? Is it too random to find any pattern?
The best way that I can think to do this is just to see how many different quarterbacks have played every season.
So let’s see how many started games recently…
2025: 62
2024: 59
2023: 66
2022: 68
2021: 62
2020: 58
2019: 57
2018: 54
2017: 56
2016: 54
Let’s look back a little farther…
I went back to 2005 and it was 58. In 1998, it was 62.
So it doesn’t seem like things haven’t changed a lot in terms of injuries.
Michael H…. Your Top 5 all-time favorite football nicknames team or individual.
Did some research on this… I can’t stick to five. Here’s a bunch of them:
Kordell Stewart: “Slash”
Kenny Stabler: “The Snake”
Joe Greene: “Mean Joe Greene”
Calvin Johnson: “Megatron”
Joe Namath: “Broadway Joe”
Jerome Bettis: “The Bus”
Deion Sanders: “Primetime”
Reggie White: “The Minister of Defense”
Walter Payton: “Sweetness”
Ed “Too Tall” Jones
Christian Okoye: “The Nigerian Nightmare”
Mike Ditka: “Iron Mike”
Tyrann Mathieu: “Honey Badger”
“Night Train” Lane.
William Perry: “Refrigerator”
Adam B… Interested to know if you’ve heard anything from the player or coaches about what Blake Brandel has been doing to improve at center now that’s he (likely) the starter full time? Could he significantly improve with an offseason of work dedicated to his new position?
The last time it came up with Brandel was the owner’s meetings with KOC. I got the sense that he felt that Brandel’s leadership as someone who was thrown into the fire last year and has been in a bunch of different positions in this offense was going to be a pretty big deal. Rather than going outside the building and trying to teach a center the offense along with a new quarterback, they have someone who knows all the ins and outs.
The other thing he mentioned was something about Brandel’s movement that they like in the run game. He didn’t grade great in run blocking in either 2024 or 2025 but his unusual size for the position and footwork that it takes to be a tackle does give him an edge that’s worth watching.
I think that he could improve quite a bit. That doesn’t mean that I believe he’s going to be a top-10 center in his first year doing it but I do see the IQ part of it being really important. And he isn’t the guy that’s going to get bowled over or forklifted at his height/weight.
If he’s the weakest link of the O-line — at least based on what we saw last year — then you’re probably talking about a very good offensive line.
Rzuppelli… I am I crazy for getting some Zimmer vibes from Ben Johnson? He is unquestionably a great offensive kind, but I’m wondering (hoping?) if his act grates on people and tenses the team up the way Zim did, eventually.
I can see the similarity in the way that… when Zimmer arrived, the Vikings needed him. They needed a new sheriff in town. They needed someone to bring an edge and set a standard for an overhaul of the franchise. Ben Johnson definitely brought that to Chicago as well and it’s what Caleb Williams needed.
The guys who are epic hard asses do eventually tend to wear on people. Even Tom Brady got tired of Bill Belichick.
The question for Johnson is, if Williams gets to a point where he feels like he totally understands how to play QB and Johnson is still trying to push him harder, are they going to have some uncomfortable moments? Or if Williams doesn’t take the next step, does Johnson just get frustrated with him?
With the team winning last year, it might be a little harder to bring the screaming craziness to training camp. Then again, it’s a young team and they probably need to be pushed.
Jimmy B….
Okay jumping back to my question last week. I am not thinking of a fire sale when I was referring to moving on from Jones, Hock. I prognosticate the strategic moves of those players at the right time. I.e a needed contender. I agree that Mason will be RB 1. I believe Mr. Claiborne will be a guy you must on the field by mid season. That thought leaves Jones expendable. Mr. Jennings will be schemed to be a hybrid replacement to Hock. That’s my reasoning.
Right Tackle being the non Quarterback top priority. I feel it’s imperative to sign Brian O’Neill asap in season if necessary to a 3 year extension.
I predict the new GM will make 7 moves by the trade deadline. Including the ones I just mentioned. Now in no order the other 4 moves.
I think a superstar edge just to add the pressure to what will be a top 3 Defense Line. The Vikings will make “Will The Thrill” the highest paid kicker in history by a large margin! I think a CB will arrive in Minnesota and finally a premium rotational Offense Lineman. Some money going off the books, some money going on the books, and some money being rearranged to make it work. This is why I said on one of your platforms the NFC championship game is obtainable. Past that I can’t intellectually call. I have narrowed down my sources of Vikings media to only very credible sources. I heard on one of them what I have been thinking for 40 years. The Vikings will “WIN” a Super-bowl when we least expect it. Like this year. This is not a prediction, just a thought. What do you think of what I thought in the box?
Addressing parts of this at random…
— I’ve definitely said that the Vikings will win the Super Bowl when it’s least expected. Every one of their great seasons has been either by a totally shocking method or when people thought they weren’t going to be good.
— I don’t think they’ll be looking to move on from Jones/Hockenson at the trade deadline even if we see Claiborne thrive and Jennings become a big weapon underneath. Depth of weapons is so important to having a top-notch offense and wee see ebbs and flows all the time when it comes to which weapons are being utilized during a given part of the season. If you’re good, you always want more, not less.
— Agree with you on O’Neill.
— Agree with you on Reichard.
— They have done a really good job of getting backup tackles this offseason. It’ll probably matter at some point.
— I can only see cornerback being a position they go after if someone gets hurt. I think they should be pretty happy with Rodgers/Murphy Jr. and Pierre. What happens after this year, I don’t know. It’ll probably be a priority in the draft if they aren’t looking at QB.