Friday Mailbag: Post-deadline, how strong are they?

Vikings fans want to know what's in store next with the roster set the rest of the way

Photo courtesy Minnesota Vikings

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Friday, everyone! Maybe Vikings-Jags isn’t the sexiest matchup but the Vikings have to take advantage of the gimmes when they are handed to them. Anyway, let’s dive in to your questions…

Rad… If you could pick any 10 year period, for any team, any sport, to go back and cover. Which team would you choose?

My mind went first to the 70s Bronx Zoo Yankees. I can’t imagine how insane that must have been with the crazy Billy Martin drama and Reggie Jackson going Mr. October. I know you said team sports but Ali’s comeback and the fights after that would have been incredible to witness.

In football, I’m tempted to say the 80s Browns. They had many great characters and went deep in the playoffs so many times only to have something go wrong. Plus there was that crazy ‘88 season where they lost all their QBs and ancient Don Strock got them into the playoffs. If I’m picking a more recent decade for a team, I might go 2010-2020 Seattle. The rise of the defense, the Super Bowl win and loss, Marshawn etc. Maybe Pittsburgh 2000-2010 would get a nod here too.

Rzuppelli… What brand of new devilry has been employed to obfuscate the area above Darnold's shoulders? Is this the product of some hex or spell placed either on Darnold himself? The officials? Is it just another manifestation of the curse on the Vikings franchise? Is it possible some sort of talisman has somehow been hidden in his helmet?

I’m thinking that the Jaguars run over Darnold’s head at the 50-yard line with a Dodge Ram to see how far they can push the envelope.

All I can say is that there has never been a year that I’ve covered the NFL and there hasn’t been huge complaints about the refs. I’ve always been baffled at why the referees don’t have a person in the booth who they can call upon to check on something. If they’re down on the field and Darnold gets facemasked and everybody is going crazy, they could simply buzz up to the booth, ask if it’s a facemask and get an answer. Put a 30 second rule on it. If the other ref can’t give them an answer in 30 seconds, we move on.

What really irritated O’Connell was that the refs could have gotten a replay assist on Sunday night if they had thrown the flag for unnecessary roughness but because they threw it for a facemask (ironically) and picked it up, then the booth couldn’t help. That’s complete madness.

Kyle S… Trevor Lawrence. How good is he?

He falls in the same bucket as someone like Geno Smith where he’s capable of such amazing things at times that it’s really hard to understand why he isn’t better. He had a four game stretch this year with a 109.0 QB rating and 9.1 yards per attempt and then he goes to Philly and averages 5.5 YPA with two picks.

Everyone loves to rank QBs but it makes more sense to put them into buckets. Lawrence falls under the category of the guys like Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts who can be amazing for stretches and win a lot of games under the right circumstances but are too flawed to thrive in any situation. These guys are usually hovering around .500 and then have a few seasons where things break their way and they win 10+ and have a legit chance. Dak Prescott is the highest end of this bucket.

I don’t think the Jags have ever given Trevor enough to have his Dak years with CeeDee Lamb or Hurts years with that O-Line and AJ Brown or Tua years with Mike McDaniel. Maybe someday. They better hope it’s before his body is broken.

Eldon… With reports that Mac Jones may start against Minnesota this week with Lawrence dealing with a shoulder injury should we be worried about a cooper rush type loss?

I’m not trying to jinx this but… in the KOC era, I don’t believe we have seen a Cooper Rush type loss. They almost blew it against Tyson Bagent and Mike White in 2022 — do we count the Jake Browning loss when they were playing Nick Mullens? That doesn’t seem fair when it’s backup vs. backup and that Cincinnati team won 9 games.

Thing is, even if Mac Jones plays well, it’s really hard to see the Jags winning. They are currently 32nd in defensive Expected Points Added. Opposing QBs have a 113.4 rating against them. It’s really hard to see how they can stop the Vikings offense.

Kip N… What’s your final prediction for record ? 10? 11? Playoff win?

I’ll go with 11 and a playoff win. Last week was really big for that. I felt they found some good answers to the issue of the offense not staying on the field long enough (i.e. getting out of the huddle faster, using quick game passes) and TJ Hockenson’s return is huge. On defense there will probably be some up and down moments but overall they are a really good unit. I can see them getting a favorable playoff matchup and winning a game on the road. Beyond that, well, ya never know.

Random Substack user… More of a historical topic. Power rank historical position groups in Vikings history. WR gets a lot of credit and deservedly so, but DL seems like it is on par or ahead. Would also be interested in Manny Hill's take on this sometime.

The Vikings have a case as having the best WR and D-line groups in NFL history. Crazy. I’m not sure which one that I’d give the No. 1 spot. Eller, Page, Marshall, Doleman, Williams (both), Allen, Griffin, Hunter vs. Moss, Jefferson, Carter (both), Diggs, Rashad, Thielen, Reed. Insane. Maybe the tiniest edge to the D-line.

After that, No. 3 is running backs with AP, Foreman, Smith, Cook. The order after… I’ll go O-line, safeties, quarterbacks, tight ends, linebackers, corners.

Thomas S… This might be impossible, Matthew, but if anyone can do it, it’s you: Can you explain the NFL’s indiscriminate use of replay assist?

Yeah. My understanding is that they can use replay assist for a bunch of things like spotting the ball, late hits out of bounds, obvious completions, game clock stuff… but they can’t use it if flags aren’t thrown. There’s an explanation here. So when the refs picked up the flag, they couldn’t get the replay assist — and the fact that they threw the flag initially for facemasking made it so they couldn’t have even gotten replay assist if they called that. Why is facemasking not on the list? Whoooooo knows.

Rob… If a genie gave me one wish to use on the Vikings and said I could pick one position group on the defense to have an all pro player which position group should I pick and why?

Corner. If they added Patrick Surtain II or DJ Reed to this team, it would be disgusting. They could mix in more single high stuff knowing that they could island a guy a la Xavier Rhodes 2017. Pass rush is needed, coverage is king. Remember 2022 when Za’Darius and Danielle got a ton of pressure and sacks and they couldn’t stop anyone because of the coverage? They’re going to live and die with that part. If they can cover, they can be a really good defense.

Joel… Any interest in Bryce Young or Richardson as backup QB of the future?

I don’t think either of their teams should be throwing those guys away. How could any team look around and see Mayfield, Darnold and Smith playing this well and think it’s a good idea to give away players that young? Especially Richardson. The dude is the same age as next year’s QB class. At his age, Jayden Daniels had 10 touchdowns 10 INTs in college. His upside remains so high that they have to keep going back to the well. Young probably doesn’t have the same ceiling but he also hasn’t gotten any chance to play with legitimate talent around him.

As far as the Vikings go, they should be looking at always having a veteran backup like Mullens in there with JJ McCarthy in the future.

PurpFoolio… Since we don’t have an imposing DL or CB, and no real prospects for the future. Doesn’t the timing of everything seem to not be lining up? I’m operating on the idea that a true championship window demands those two positions.

Well, I wouldn’t forget about Mekhi Blackmon. He had a really good rookie year and was expected to be a starting outside corner. Is he Jalen Ramsey? No. But he’s shown that he can play. There’s a ton of corners that will be hitting free agency next year. I’d guess they back up the truck of cash to DJ Reed’s house.

The reality is that nobody has a defense that’s stacked at every single position. The Dolphins are No. 1 in points against right now and they have two linebackers graded under 50 by PFF and a safety with a 50.8 grade. The Chiefs last year had a starting DT with a 40.8 grade and a corner who gave up a 109.4 rating on throws his way. A lot of times, defense in the playoffs comes down to who’s healthy and the matchup.

When it comes to their future on defense, they will have Greenard, Van Ginkel, Cashman, Phillips, Metellus, Pace Jr., possibly Bynum and presumably Turner as building blocks. They’ll need to develop players like McGlothern, Levi Drake Rodriguez, Gabe Murphy and find fits for Flores. With Flores’s history of finding guys who work for him, it doesn’t seem like an impossible task to remain strong. I’m also assuming that their 1st round pick next year will be DT or CB.

Ben Dz… With his experience playing in the AFC South his entire NFL career, and thus familiarity with Indy, Jax, and Tennessee, do you think that will accelerate Robinson’s adoption time in the KOC offense? Or will we have to worry about him becoming exposed when he gets to less familiar foes? Please answer in the form of a Courtney Cronin-esque pie chart.

I’m not sure how I’m supposed to use a pie chart to answer this question. I might need to write an article on when pie charts can be used. Cam Robinson is a pro who can adapt quickly. He knows how to learn a gameplan and prepare for an opponent every week. I don’t see that changing much when he goes against other teams outside his former division. The only concern I have with Robinson is health. He’s been banged up at times during his career and they will need him for every game.

Myles S… If/When are we going to see Dalton Risner? It feels like he should have gone in in place of Ingram almost as soon as his window opened. Even with Ingram's better game against the Colts, the sample size has to be too big to think the trend will reverse.