Friday Mailbag: Parsons shakes up the North

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Saturday everybody! Apologies for the delay on the Friday mailbag. Blame Micah Parsons. I’m sure it’s the only thing you’ll ever be annoyed with him about now that he’s a Green Bay Packer.

Anyway, let’s dive into your questions…

Eldon… How does the packers trading for Micah Parsons change the division?

Nobody’s going to like this but it makes Green Bay a legit Super Bowl contender. Not a favorite, a contender.

I’ve seen all the Vikings fans saying that he’s just one guy and that Dallas didn’t win any Super Bowls with him yada, yada, yada. I’m sure the comment section will explain to me how the Cowboys actually made a brilliant move here.

They had the 6th best defense in the NFL last year and top 10 in sacks and then they just added a guy who has posted the second most sacks over the first four years of a career since 2000. Not to mention he led the NFL in pressures in 2023 and had only 10 fewer pressures than Jonathan Greenard last year despite being a little banged up. This is an absolute monster of a player. What was it that dominated the postseason last year? Oh, right. Pass rush.

Green Bay still has a lot of questions. Is Jordan Love consistent enough? Do they have enough weapons? Are their corners good enough? But the Packers now have the greatness that they were missing before.

For the entire offseason, I’ve been saying Detroit 12 wins, MN 11 wins, Green Bay 9 wins and Chicago 7 wins. It’s hard not to move up Green Bay after this.

Justin M… Would love to hear how you think both lines against their counterparts on each team in NFC North. E.g. will we overpower a solid Bears o-line? Will we block Aiden Hutchinson or do we even need to if they have only him? Where are we deeper than our biggest rivals?

If we are talking all positions, here’s a few matchups where I think the Vikings will have an advantage within the division:

— The interior D-line versus Detroit’s interior O-line. The Lions have inexperience there and Hargrave/Allen/Redmond should be able to pressure Goff up the middle.

— Because the Bears only have one player on their football team, it’s easy to forget that their run defense was terrible last year. They gave up the fifth most rushing yards and 4.8 yards per carry. Did they improve in the trenches? I’m thinking the Vikings have an edge on the ground.

— Green Bay’s pass rush may be filthy now but their secondary is underwhelming. Their pass D was good last year but their schedule featured the AFC South and Sam Howell and Spencer Rattler. Sam Darnold against the Packers had a 119.0 QB rating for a reason.

The most concerning matchups will be Micah Parsons in the Packers’ new dynamic defensive scheme, the Bears’ deep group of wide receivers and Detroit’s weapons still being filthy.

Holmboy… Now with Thielen returning back home, do the Vikings have the best WR1-WR2-WR3 combo once Addison returns? I’m getting Moss-Carter-Reed vibes here…

If Thielen plays like he has in Carolina over the last two years, they probably do have the best top-three in the NFL. There are other teams that can get into the argument like Tampa Bay if they are healthy, the Rams if Tutu Atwell gives them anything, Detroit if they get anything from WR3, maybe the Bears if their two young WRs step up and Caleb Williams throws them the ball… but overall, it’s hard to find a trio this good. Not to mention Hockenson and Jones.

We really shouldn’t try to compare anything to Moss/Carter/Reed. That’s like comparing this defensive line to the Purple People Eaters. They are good but those units were legendary. Jordan Addison is putting together a good start to his career — he is not Cris Carter.

Could it be the best group of weapons since ‘98? Hmm… possibly.

Brent O… For someone who's probably followed camp and preseason too closely it seems like there's a minor panic as the season starts (Having to get a backup QB last minute, trading for Theilen because the WRs are all injured or suspended, no CB depth to speak of and relying on Okudah to turn his career around entirely, vague health statuses for Hitman and others seem worse than they're letting on). Talk us off the ledge that things really aren't that bad.

Every single team in the NFL has one or two positions where there are issues. Usually those are injury related. I’ve enjoyed diving super deep into every single detail of this team during preseason/camp but let’s not miss the forest through the trees. This team won 14 games last year and got better overall. It’s the deepest team since 2017. If we are talking about being concerned about CB3/4 and missing one wide receiver for three games, those are pretty small problems.

ESPN’s Mike Clay gives position groups scores from 1-10. Here’s how he grades the Vikings outside of QB: RB (5), WR (9), TE (8), OL (9), DL (8), ED (9), LB (6), CB (4), S (7) …he gave them the sixth best overall roster.

Think back to the 2021 team. Remember how they started Nick Vigil, Xavier Woods, DJ Wonnum, Bashaud Breeland and Mackensie Alexander as their opening day lineup?

Every single position on this team is stacked except cornerback and the starters are two good players with good health records. Keep in mind: This front office makes moves in-season if needed. If they feel like the corner spot is struggling, they’ll probably find a solution.

There’s no guarantees but as we enter September, this team is very, very strong on paper.

Stanley H… I am wondering your opinion of KJ Osborn being a free agent. Obviously, Kwesi felt Thielen had more to offer.

Always had an immense amount of respect for KJ. When he was drafted, I called his college coach at University of Buffalo and he guaranteed that KJ would make it. Said he was one of the smartest, toughest players he’d been around and he was right. But I can’t help but wonder what happened over the last two years. He couldn’t get on the field on a terrible New England team and then he couldn’t make Washington’s meh receiver room. He wasn’t really the same guy in 2023 that he was in 2021 and 2022.

He might be worth bringing in for a workout to see where he’s at but they should be OK rolling with Jefferson, Thielen and Nailor (if healthy). Otherwise, we’re going to see a lot of Josh Oliver and they might have to see if Tai Felton is ready to play a role.

Eldon… Do you think Elijah Williams will suit up for any games this season??

Because Brian Flores has often mixed in guys we don’t expect on the D-line, I wouldn’t be surprised if Williams gets into at least one game. Remember last year when Levi Drake Rodriguez played in Seattle and never any other games? Same thing pretty much happened with Gabe Murphy. One time in 2023 we saw Sheldon Day get into the mix.

The best thing for a guy like Williams is to develop and get a lot stronger. He already has the quickness and some impressive technique but young D-linemen usually need a year to get up to NFL-caliber strength. We saw that from LDR from his rookie year to this summer.

Robert S… I am feeling like, overall, Kwesi has been masterful. To take one small but very significant example, if Max Brosmer had been a 5th or a 6th round pick (Mond was a 3d), wouldn't that in itself have been a phenomenal decision? Instead, another udfa hit that we take more than a little for granted.

I think KOC probably deserves a lot of the credit for Brosmer. O’Connell has a relationship with Brosmer’s trainer Quincy Avery and his HC and OC at Minnesota. He saw him in two pro days and really liked him.

But to your bigger point…

We all have to be better about being trolled with the KWEZI CANT DRAAFFFTT stuff. Everybody knows that they haven’t had a ton of picks come to fruition but we really only have the answers on the 2022 class. Here’s the guys they have currently who are in their first, second or third season (in no particular order): Jordan Addison, Ivan Pace Jr., Jay Ward, Dallas Turner, Walter Rouse, Levi Drake Rodriguez, Bo Richter, Will Reichard, Jalen Redmond, Dwight McGlothern, JJ McCarthy, Michael Jurgeons, Zavier Scott, Ben Yurosek, Myles Price, Kobe King, Austin Keys, Donovan Jackson, Ty Ingram-Dawkins, Tai Felton, Chaz Chambliss, Max Brosmer.

Addison is a star. Pace Jr. is a three-year starter. McCarthy, Turner and Jackson all have potential of becoming long-term centerpieces of the franchise. We have seen a lot of good things from Redmond. There is some potential for carving out roles in the future for LDR, Ingram-Dawkins and Felton.

Is that the best group of young players in the entire NFL? Probably not. Are they totally devoid of young talent? Definitely not.

I didn’t even mention Theo Jackson, who they got off Tennessee’s practice squad. If their key draft picks were Addison, Pace Jr., Jackson, Redmond, McCarthy, Turner, Jackson we probably wouldn’t talk about this as much.

Anyway, after this mailbag, no more draft talk. Football time.

Stephen L… Why are player-for-player deals, which are so common in baseball, hockey, and basketball so rare--even non-existent--in the NFL? Is it because the salary cap makes every player contract so unique that it's impossible to produce parity through trades, or do GM's simply prefer the perceived flexibility of future draft choices?

I’m not really sure. I think the rookie contract thing being worth its weight in gold makes GMs prefer to have draft picks where they can get a cheap player for four years is better than taking someone else’s guy who is already more expensive. Also, once players leave the lot in the NFL, they have milage on their bodies.

Part of it could be that usually trades these days are from teams that are trying to build versus teams that are trying to win. For example, if you are the Steelers, you are incredibly desperate to win in 2025, so you acquire DK Metcalf. The Seahawks are trying to win but they are also looking for building blocks for the future, so they would prefer a young player to build with rather than a decent older player.

Brent M… Hey Matthew, I was happy to see the Vikings were able to acquire Thielen, not just to add him as a quality receiver, but for the story line itself. Loved the video of him with his daughter! Thanks for your breakdown on his acquisition. My question is on the surprising number of Rookie UDFA's the Vikings kept. Are there any metrics out there on UDFA roster %? I think you had suggested that some of this was to protect some of them from the initial waiver process. Any other theories on why/how this could happen on a potentially contending team?

I don’t have metrics on % for each team but there’s a couple explanations. First, they had a tiny draft class. If they picked 12 players, those guys would have taken up spots. What’s interesting about UDFAs vs. late-round draft picks is that the team is much more likely to keep/cut based on merit rather than somebody liking them in the draft. Kwesi said that they sell UDFAs on the idea that they can make it here and that’s come to fruition.

This front office has also become big spenders in the undrafted free agent market. I don’t have metrics on this but the Vikings have given out signing bonuses over the last few years that have been 5x bigger than what they used to do for these guys.

Draft analyst Chad Reuter makes a list every year of the top UDFAs at every position. He had Max Brosmer 2nd among QBs, Ben Yurosek 5th best TE, Joe Huber 25th iOL, Chaz Chambliss 10th among OLB and Tyler Battle No. 1 OLB.

Some of it is just luck. A guy like Elijah Williams making it is just crazy and random.

Bradley P… How many 22 year olds make captain? When’s the last time a Vikings QB wasn’t a captain?

I would guess 22-year-old QBs usually make captain. I don’t know what QB hasn’t been a captain in recent memory. Maybe Bradford/Keenum?

McCarthy was drafted in part because of his leadership capabilities and we’ve seen that in practice over the last two years. It isn’t a captain-in-name-only thing. But he’s got a lot of other leaders to lean on.

Florian K… After Thielen's trade the weak link is the CB room. However, the whole LB corp and safeties are strong groups with versatility. Because of his position-less philosophy it's fun to think how Flores may unleash another weird shape shifting monster. Your thoughts?

Yeah, this time of year gets tiring because it seems like we only talk about the one position group whose third or fourth player on the depth chart isn’t perfect and forget that this defense is revamped into something very different than last year.

I’m most intrigued by the combos on the front seven. Where does Jalen Redmond fit in? Where does Dallas Turner fit in? Are we going to see Josh Metellus at a traditional safety position more this year or will he still be in the box? Could we see Eric Wilson on the field in certain packages? What about guys like LDR or Ingram-Dawkins?

IceColdNorth…The Packers made an "all-in" move with the trade for Micah Parsons. Does it earn the Pack a Super Bowl win? I don't think so. What do you say?