Friday Mailbag: Let's play some football
The Vikings finally hit the field and fans are getting in their last questions before kickoff
By Matthew Coller
Happy Friday, everyone! We made it together. Whew. This felt like the longest offseason and I couldn’t be more thrilled that we’re getting some actual football games to talk about. Let’s get right into it…
Griffin… Who wins?
We all do because football is back. I’ll go 27-17 Vikings.
Bradley P…. Matthew, let’s be careless in our projections. You’ve seen JJ in practice. You’ve seen him in the one preseason game. Fast forward a year or two. Which quarterbacks would you compare him to? What tier?
I see Dak Prescott as a ceiling. He will improve accuracy, has a strong arm, works incredibly hard, leads the offense and can make plays out of structure. He has every chance to be a second-tier QB. (The first tier is Mahomes, Allen, Jackson only).
Kip N…Does Purple Insider pay for travel ? How does travel work for best reporters ? What’s the best perks about going to the different stadiums ? Favorite football spreads at each stadium ?
If someone else wants to pay for my travel, I’d be happy to accept! Otherwise, yes, I pay for my own travel. All the reporters book hotels and flights and then go to the game just like anyone else was doing a road trip.
The biggest perks is just seeing the different stadiums. The cathedrals of sports are awesome to visit. Walking through the 49ers stadium and seeing all the pictures of the old players and coaches or winding my way down into the bottom of Lambeau Field. Going on the field at the Superdome and Coliseum. I like sports, so that’s cool.
There are many arguments about the best spread. To me it’s San Fran, Los Angeles and Lambeau. I’ve heard great things about Dallas but I haven’t been there.
Rob… With the new rules what’s the over/under for kickoff returns for a TD this weekend?
Unfortunately it seems like the over/under might be 0.5 if teams handle it like the Ravens and Chiefs. Hopefully we see more action but only bumping the touchback up to the 30 seems to have left coaches feeling OK with that option. I’m not giving up on the idea that this eventually moves the needle — maybe it just needs some rule tweaking.
Steve D… Fantasy football question! Say I had too many diet dr peppers on draft night and only drafted Vikings players. Which Vikings TE do you think has the best fantasy outlook for week 1?
Mundt should be a regular option. KOC isn’t changing the offense because Hockenson is out. Darnold needs to look for Johnny Football. He actually had a great camp so I’m expecting he does make some plays.
Christopher K… What does Ed Ingram have to do in the next few weeks to keep his job when Dalton Risner comes off IR?
Not get toasted on stunts/twists/blitzes and avoid quick losses. Plus, prove himself as a run blocking asset. If he struggles with the same stuff as the past and isn’t a plus on the run side, Risner will be in there.
Timothy G… Were there any players cut from other rosters, that you were surprised the Vikings didn't (or haven't) kicked the tires on such as Caleb Farley, Jackson Carman or Dont'a Foreman?
A little bit, yeah. The running backs in particular. That’s a position that should be able to come in and adapt pretty quickly. I wonder if they feel like they can push that button and sign someone off another practice squad whenever they want so they didn’t need to do it now. Most of the time these guys are getting cut for a reason so teams stick with who they brought to the dance.
Jordan D… “Hell no. They [the players] got me fired.” is the worst thing I’ve ever heard a coach say. You have spent a lot of time listening to coaches talk to the press. Have you ever heard anything worse?
That’s nothing compared to Zimmer insulting Sharrif Floyd after he had a botched surgery ruin his career. That was the one time I thought he went way too far. Or when he defended Bashaud Breeland for telling [the world?] to bleep his bleep on Twitter.
A lot of the other stuff Mike said through the years, I appreciated the honesty. Every coach knows now that they are being live streamed and anything that gets said will be shared across the globe so they can’t be blunt the way Mike was. The world has changed and Mike hasn’t.
When I first came onto the beat, it was really helpful that Mike was so straight forward when it came to learning the game. He would tell you exactly how things worked, who was good, who wasn’t good and why. I think all the time about how much my understanding of the NFL came from him.
He’s one of the most competitive people I’ve ever been around and with insanely competitive people sometimes there is no rationality to it.
Jason… What is the positional match up you are most excited about in this game? I am talking about cb vs wr rather than qb vs qb.
Stephon Gilmore, ex-defensive MVP, vs. Malik Nabers is good sports. Jefferson vs. Banks too.
The one to really watch is Darrisaw vs. Burns. Heavyweight battle there.
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