Friday Mailbag: Should there be hype?

Vikings fans have questions about how good the 2026 Vikings can be

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Friday, everyone! We’ve entered the slowest period of the schedule, which means there’s lots of opportunity to talk about all things football… so let’s dive into your questions…

Rzuppelli... I purposefully unplugged from the NFL for the last month or so. Anything important happen that I need to know about? Also, pick one: pancakes or waffles?

Well, I might say that the Vikings naming a new general manager is worth knowing but considering he won’t be putting his stamp on the team until at least the trade deadline (barring a shocking trade), then maybe the only thing that really moved the needle in the NFL over the last month is AJ Brown being traded to the New England Patriots. However, we knew about that for months.

If you missed Vikings minicamp reports, you don’t have to turn in your horns but there were some interesting details. I’m intrigued by UDFA Dillon Bell and the draft class made a strong way-too-early impression. Brian O’Neill wants to be a Viking for life. Will Fries and Christian Darrisaw are coming in healthy and Harrison Smith hasn’t come back yet. Oh, and the whole QB competition thing is still happening.

Other than that, I think you’re all caught up.

I’m the worst guy to ask food questions because I’ll pretty much eat anything.

Roger N… What’s your script for the 2026 NFL season that would maximize revenue for Purple Insider? QB battle? Breakout star? Undefeated season? 4 way division battle to the final week? Scandal?

Luckily you guys are insane about football so I never have to worry about controversy driving the success of the newsletter. But in terms of what would draw the most eyeballs, an undefeated season is easily the runaway winner here. Unfortunately four out of the six seasons covered by Purple Insider have resulted in the team missing the playoffs. It’s really tough to ask people to engage with the team when they are 4-8. If they win, everyone is jacked up about the team and the conversations become so much more energetic.

The QB battle will be good for business because folks are going to want to know what it looked like out at TCO Performance Center between the QBs every day and I’ll be happy to bring you my perspective on that every day. It’s not something that’s going to last into late August or into the season (I don’t think?) so that’s going to be a burst of compelling content, rather than something long-lasting like a full season.

Sadly breakout stars don’t tend to move the data needle for the newsletter unless the team’s overall performance goes along with it. Justin Jefferson was an instant superstar in 2020 and it was tough to get folks on board to read about him because that season was so bad.

A roller coaster season would normally be great for journalism because we love the storylines that come along with highs and lows. But this fan base is so used to highs and lows that I’m not sure there’s as much energy for that as there would be if it was like the Jets or Browns.

At the end of the day, nobody controls how things are going to turn out, so I always try to bring the same effort to this all the time and I’m deeply appreciative of everyone who reads my work.

Joshua S…. In assessing the roster he inherited, how often might a new GM like Teasley sit down with each player to talk while they’re present during offseason training? Or would he only watch them practice, dive into film/analytics and gather intel from coaches? I’m curious about this get-to-know-them process.

I don’t know exactly how Nolan Teasley is going to go about this but I think a general manager does need to have a personal relationship with players. Everything that I heard about Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s dealing with players is that he was up front with them and talked to them like people rather than assets and that was appreciated.

Maybe some GMs don’t want to get to know guys too closely because they will feel like they have to be ruthless sometimes and play the economics game. I just don’t buy that. These are players who understand how the business of the game works and any good GM wouldn’t make calls based on whether he likes players or not.

Most importantly, I’d say that Teasley will want to get to know the leaders of the team so he can understand what they view as important. How does Justin Jefferson see the direction of the team? What does Aaron Jones think of our process? How does Blake Cashman view what we do and where we might be able to get better? That would make sense to me.

Michael H…. Since your time covering the Vikings, name two players who performed significantly better than you expected when they first arrived (via draft, free agency, or trade) and two players who performed significantly worse.

We have to do this list as, “other than Case Keenum.” Nobody saw that coming.

So the No. 1 non-Keenum player who performed better than I expected is Adam Thielen. When I first moved here at the beginning of the 2016 season, he was a special teamer with a handful of receptions in 2015 and I couldn’t figure out why the media was always over at his locker interviewing him. I assumed it was just a local connection story that wasn’t going to mean a whole lot to my coverage. After the Week 5 game where he smoked the Texans, I was like… welp, this guy is just fantastic.

The other is Josh Metellus. I remember writing for several years that I wasn’t sure Josh was going to make the 53-man roster — and he didn’t the first year. He struck me as a fringe guy who didn’t have the physical tools to run with the big boys. I knew he was smart, I just didn’t expect him to ever find a significant role on the field. Wrong!

There are lots and lots of guys who I thought would be way better than they were. Laquon Treadwell was my favorite receiver in that draft. I watched a bunch of his college games and he was an absolute monster. My first long-form feature that I wrote was about Treadwell and his tough journey following that awful injury and everyone talked about his resilience. He’s still in the league but it didn’t work out how I thought.

The other one is Irv Smith Jr. If you look at his first two years as a duo TE with Kyle Rudolph, he was pretty effective. That injury in 2019 really seemed to set him back and he never turned into the star tight end that I thought he was going to be. I think about this a lot with young players and injuries… it’s so hard to come back from the development time missed and the trauma of an injury early in a player’s career, physical or mental.

Arin J… Matthew I am a glass half full guy and will admit I was wrong about the McCarthy hype last year. This year I believe with improved QB play Murray or an improved McCarthy barring injuries, the Vikings should be in the playoffs and contending for NFC Championship.

Offense should be top 10 fighting for top 5. WR group top 1 or 2 in the league, online top 10, rbs top 15, TE group top 10. Defense hard to asses with new faces but with Flores Top 10. Kicking and returns should be top 5, punting not sure but if that is the worst on the roster and QB play is top 10 to 15.

How do we not compete for the NFC Championship? Rams, Seahawks, better sure, anybody else pick em. It hinges on QB play but O’Connell’s ability to get great play out of veteran QBs Murray should be a top 10 QB. It’s too early but barring injuries I am expecting a top 10 offense fighting for top 5.

I think what we can create here is a criteria for how the Vikings could reach the NFC Championship. If the Vikings were to rank 10th in offense, driven by Murray becoming the 12th best quarterback by PFF and the run game improved and was leaned upon more heavily and the defense had some things click for them like Caleb Banks being good and getting good health luck, then they could certainly put themselves in position to be in the postseason.

Then it comes down to matchups. I’ll always wonder if the Vikings had lost to the Packers in Week 17 of 2024, how it would have played out. They would have faced the Bucs instead of traveling to Arizona to take on Los Angeles. Who knows where it goes from there. If they landed a favorable first-round matchup, they could win and then be a coin flip away from the NFCC game.

The other side of this is how difficult it can be to hit on everything at the same time. The Vikings need the NFC North to be worse than it looks on paper. They need to stay healthy on defense especially. The QB play can’t be worse than 15th. Justin Jefferson has to go for 1,300 yards and Jordan Mason/Aaron Jones have to stay on the field as well.

That can all happen. I expect them to be a very competitive team that ends up with a fork in the road at the trade deadline. If you told me that they decided to make a big swing to make the most out of this roster while it’s in the last version of itself, I would believe you. That could change the outlook.

Jason… Looking at the future of the o line, is there a possibility that Donovan Jackson will be a tackle in the not too distant future? Would that be the plan since there is still no O’Neill extension? Also, we had a season of feeling ok about guard play, don’t we deserve to return to the norm?

I don’t see Jackson as a tackle in the NFL. He’s always been a guard except for his last year at Ohio State where he had to fill in for injury. At 6-foot-3, 315 and with 33-inch arms, he would be a tiny tackle in the NFL. As a guard though, he’s pretty big and has top-notch athleticism and IQ. I’d much rather have him turn into a top-15 guard than a below average tackle.

In terms of the long-term outlook at right tackle. I still think they are going to sign O’Neill to an extension, it’s just a matter of getting the dollar figures right and not tying the team down for multiple years. Tackles generally age pretty well and they are super, duper hard to replace so he’s a guy that you don’t really want to walk out the door.

But if the numbers don’t match up, they did sign Ryan Van Demark and draft Caleb Tiernan. There is potential for both guys to be starters in the NFL at tackle if they needed to move on. It will be difficult to pay somewhere around $60 million at the tackle position in the future, especially if they have to pay a QB.

Adam B… It’s looking like a potentially incredibly tight NFC North with 4 competitive teams - at least on paper (and a cupcake schedule for the lions being a complicating factor). So do you think the in division games are even more important than usual this year? Do the Vikings need to go 5-1 at least to have any chance of winning the North?

You never know if there’s going to be a team that has a meltdown or gets crushed by injuries but on paper everyone has about equal chances to win the division.

I don’t think with the Vikings’ schedule that they need to go 5-1 but 3-3 is an absolute must. They still face the NFC South and have 9 home games and 7 away games (1 neutral site), so I see it as an advantageous schedule overall. They get the Jets and Dolphins, so it’s not crazy to think they could win 4 of 6 vs. the NFC South and those two teams.

The Packers are always in the mix with Jordan Love, who I thought actually did take a step forward last season but it was lost in some crazy L’s that they took down the stretch. The way he was playing while Tucker Kraft was in the lineup was legitimately elite. I think he’s always going to be sporadic but he might be getting better.

But I’m not convinced their roster is complete enough. Last year was really their year with the way Parsons was playing. I’m just not convinced they are deep enough without any O-line upgrades, a huge question in the backfield, fewer options at receiver and a questionable secondary.

The Bears are screaming “REGRESSION” because of all the interceptions and late-game heroics that it took to win. At the same time, Ben Johnson is legit. He was extremely impressive last year and this time around Caleb Williams isn’t learning how to play real football for the first time.

The Lions have the best roster in the NFC North but I can’t get over what we saw on Christmas Day. If they can’t block, they can’t win. They’ve got questions on their O-line still and their defense keeps getting hurt all the time.

You could see the entire division winning between 9 and 11 games. It’s going to be a circus and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.

Anglo V… Ok two questions from me. Firstly will Teasley consider the summer break a success if he has NO phone calls relating to players getting into trouble - yes Addison I am looking at you. Secondly do you see any shakeups coming in the way that the scouts on the road collate their data/assessments? ie will they have to view players differently to before and provide different information back to TCO?

It’s always a success when there’s no off-field issues. Teasley should consider it a successful offseason if he can get his family settled in the Twin Cities and figure out which restaurants he likes to go and which lake he’s going to boat on. I imagine he didn’t get here by spending a lot of time boating though, so I’m guessing he’s going to spend most of his time trying to take the lay of the land with the organization and formulate his messages and standards for the folks who are now working under him.

They will absolutely shake up how they do things with scouts. Every GM has their own vision for what scouts are supposed to be looking for. For example, you might have some GMs who are strongly focused on organizational fits from a play style or character perspective. There might be some who are looking for freak athletes. Others who are looking for coaching fits. Others who are looking for technical skills.

I’m giving the broad strokes but they are going to be very specific about these things. Teasley will absolutely have his outline and will be working closely with O’Connell and Flores to determine it.

AnToni… Considering all that’s transpired since last season, I’m curious what you feel may have been different had the Vikings…

A- won one more game and made the playoffs or

B- somehow managed to win a single playoff game?

You definitely have to wonder if they had made the playoffs if they would have made the decision to fire Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. If they ended up pulling out the win against the Bears that they lost on the kickoff play and then win five straight to end the season and play competitive football in the postseason, things would have felt way, way, way different in terms of the direction of the team.

KOC would have gotten tons of praise for turning it around, JJ McCarthy’s five-game winning streak would have been viewed differently (probably errantly), especially if he was competitive in a playoff game.

The big question is whether they would have been bringing in Kyler Murray. I tend to think so. There’s plenty of precedent for teams changing QBs after making the playoffs, including the Vikings with Case Keenum. The narrative toward this season would be very different. I don’t believe they would be last in all the betting markets in the NFC North had they squeaked into the playoffs.

Also isn’t it crazy that the Panthers made the playoffs at 8-9 and are considered a team in the right direction and the Vikings were 9-8 and they’re viewed nationally as a middling bleh fest? That playoff game means the world.

It’s a great question, man.

Jordan D… Who do you think is winning Coach of the Year? I think Klint Kubiak has a really good shot. I also like Kellen Moore, Robert Saleh, and Kevin O’Connell. Is it too simple to say it’s a competition of which team wins the most games compared to their betting over/under win total?

I definitely think Kellen Moore should be a favorite. Last year I picked Dave Canales and that might have been a year early. I would also toss Dan Quinn into the mix if Washington bounces back. I could see Jesse Minter if the Ravens defense returns to its previous form. Klint Kubiak is a good pick but that division is so brutal that it would be surprising if the Raiders were good enough this year to get him there.

How about DeMeco Ryans? If the Texans win 13 games or something, he could be right there.

It’s not that simple in terms of who wins more games than expected, though it’s a decent model for betting on it.

As far as O’Connell’s case, I think he would have to get back to 13 or 14 wins and have Kyler Murray in the MVP race in order to get consideration. Obviously that’s possible.

Patrick G… Re: sorsby… beyond the draft capital, can and should the Vikings afford the roster spot? I anticipate keeping Kyler, JJ, and Carson on the 53, but if you draft Sorsby, wouldn’t you pretty much have to keep him on the 53 so another team wouldn’t poach him?

Do you have any hot take predictions? Mine is if Kyler plays all 17 regular season games the Vikings will be in the NFC championship game, because that means he stayed healthy and played well enough to not want to even kick the tires on letting JJ play

Sure, they can keep four QBs on the roster. The fact that the NFL allows practice squad call-ups makes it much more feasible to have one more quarterback rather than a sixth wide receiver or extra defensive tackle. You’d just make him inactive and bump up a practice squad guy each week.

I have an article coming out with 50 predictions for the NFL season so I don’t want to ruin those but yours is a pretty bold prediction.

I’ll keep saying it: Kyler played 30 games in a row from 2023 to 2025. Anyone who thinks they can predict injuries is crazy.

Florian K… What are one or two things which surprised or surprises you about TCO performance center? Anything at all.

About the actual building? Well, our media room is amazing. At Winter Park we were stuffed in a closet inside of a bank across the street. Now we have snacks and podcast rooms.

What I really love about the building is the art. There’s so much amazing history on the walls. You can walk through it and take in the entire franchise’s greatest players and seasons and the team photographer is incredible at his job.

Thomas H… Matthew, I’m grateful for and impressed by your remarkable, multifaceted coverage of the Vikings. In recent podcasts you’ve properly worried about backup guard depth, mentioning that Henry Byrd hasn’t played and Walter Rouse has always been a tackle. What about Joe Huber, who did play in several games last year? Have you heard that Keith Carter is down on him, or is he still in the running?

Thank you, Thomas!

I haven’t heard anything about how Carter feels about Huber but I do think there is good reason to feel like Huber could take on a backup role. He got blasted a few times in his first start against the Browns last year and didn’t grade well but he held on for dear life as a UDFA rookie vs. a top five defensive line in the NFL. Maybe they’re looking at it like a competition and if they aren’t thrilled, then they will go look for a rookie. We have to remember that depth pieces shuffle all the time right before the season.

They might also be a lot higher on Byrd than we are. He’s been developing for a few years and he’s still on an NFL roster. That has to be for a reason. I’d prefer a veteran who’s capable of playing center though. Guys like Greg Van Roten or Alex Cappa might be waiting to see if someone has a guard get hurt where they can start before joining teams.

KellyJ…. Absolutely love the Podcasts and the genuine football talks. As you have stated so well, the rookie contract for a QB brings with it a lot of urgency and forces a lack of patience. In our current situation, that’s certainly at play.

I’m just wondering if it has to be as extreme as it’s been made out to be. Hear me out. Let’s say Kyler starts most of the year but doesn’t show what KOC is really looking for in a long-term answer and they let him go for a 3rd round comp - aka Sam Darnold redux. JJM gets in a few games due to injury and shows decent (may need to be significant) progress - enough to give him another look in 2027 but again with some competition as a hedge for a floor level of QB play.

If he plays well, say league average or just below, then wouldn’t the pay range be more like what Mayfield or Darnold got and not top 5-10ish QB pay. That seems completely doable in this day and age - especially if it’s structured smartly

Yeah, there’s been a shift when it comes to the expensive QB contracts. Last year 10 quarterbacks making over $20 million per year made the playoffs. The rookie QB contract advantage is worth its weight in gold but paying a QB should no longer be looked at as signing your own death wish, so long as you are comfortable taking the risk of structuring it in a way where you might be mega screwed in the future.

These deals are set up to have low cap hits for the first couple years, and then blow up in the fourth and fifth years. So they sign extensions after three years and boom, you never end up hitting the big numbers. Even when it does blow up, the Broncos recovered in a couple years after Russell Wilson and the Vikings won in 2024 with all Kirk’s dead cap space.

Not to mention that, indeed, there is a middle class of QB contract now that didn’t exist before. Does that sustain? We’ll see. But it has been here with Rodgers, Mayfield, Darnold, Geno, which has made it more possible.

As it pertains to McCarthy, you do want to pick up his fifth-year option if he played something like eight good games in 2026. Bryce Young’s fifth-year is only a $25 million cap hit. That’s absolutely workable.

Chris C… Have you ever been to Des Moines and if so any suggestions of places to go or things to do? I am going with my wife today and have never been.(We live in and are from Washington State)

If you could pick one Viking great from defense and one from offense (excluding QB because Kyler is the QB in this scenario) to put on this current Vikings roster who would it be and why? The idea is to be a deeper pull than some of the super obvious picks like Moss or Randle ect and more about scheme fit or what they could do in today’s NFL. Excluding the super obvious picks my defense pick would be Kevin Williams because I would love to see him in an NFL that embraces his pass rush abilities and how that might blossom under Flores. Offense I’d love to see someone like a Darrin Nelson get a shot in an NFL where pass catching backs are featured backs not just third down backs.

I’m sorry to say that I’ve never been to Des Moines. I’ve been to Iowa City for an Iowa women’s basketball game in the middle of winter and that was my only trip there. Hopefully you had a good time.

Let’s say that we’re pulling from the past but I can’t use anyone who’s ever been an All-Pro.

I’ll go with Percy Harvin on offense and kick returning. Can you imagine him with today’s kickoff rules? He might run five TDs back in a season. On offense, you can put him in the backfield, the slot, anything to get him the football and he’d go crazy.

The other pick on offense would be Jeff Christy. The only weakness on the O-line is center. A totally sturdy, solid, experienced center would give them a huge boost.

Defense, I’ll always take Antoine Winfield for this. Insane grit and toughness. Brian Flores would love that guy. Otherwise how about Xavier Rhodes? Him shutting down one side of the field in this defense would be nuts.

Ramsey K… I don’t think it would radically change my opinion on drafting Sorsby (4th or below, I’m in), but what contract would he get? The equivalent of that round’s draft slot? A UDFA deal?

Also - Daronte Jones has been an under discussed departure. Are you noticing any meaningful changes with him being gone and some of the newer faces in?

I believe he would just receive the same contract as a fourth-round pick. I agree with you on a fourth-round pick or later.

It’s hard to pick up on any differences with Daronte gone but I’m sure for the players it’s an adjustment. They brought in a guy in Gerald Alexander with a lot of credibility. It takes a while to get a feel for the assistant coaches and how the players are responding to them but Daronte was a big loss.

KellyJ…. Do you see a scenario where the Vikings decide to keep Jennings over Addison as WR2 going forward? I had to talk myself into it because of JAs talent but not sure I can trust him off the field with a large guaranteed contract. Jennings is an asset in the run and pass game. Of course then draft WR in the 2nd or third in 2027

As Kevin Garnett said: Anything is possible.

Addison had a legitimately bad year last year. A suspension, another small suspension, a 15% drop rate and then an arrest right after the season. Not great. If he doesn’t bounce back and struggles then it wouldn’t be a shock if they decided to move on.

I have trouble seeing it going that badly again. Last year for every pass catcher was a nightmare. I think they really want to keep him. It might come down to money and trust.

Jennings might end up being a guy who stays longer term because he ends up liking it here. It’s hard to know. I find it odd that he didn’t have anywhere near the market that you’d expect for a guy with that many catches over the last two years.

Jimmy B… The Vikings are in a very familiar and unique position for their near future in my humble opinion.

If Murray goes 6-11. He will not be extended or resigned. If JJM does well in the preseason will Teasley and staff try to give JJM another opportunity? I am in favor of keeping JJM on the roster though his contract if nothing else pops up. Meaning if a team offers us a 2nd or third round pick, I don’t see that happening. Best I can see is a 4th round pick. I would package that pick with another pick and move in the second round. 6-11 will not bring in a top QB prospect.

What is your thoughts as of now on what I outlined. Bye the way. You have spoke of the miss a few times, like calling the Olympics and the Ladies basketball team up there in Minnesota. But I seem to never hear hear name. Does she have a professional monicur? (Spelling sorry). Now I’m going to add a fandom remark. My fandom dream is the Vikings in a position to run deep in the playoffs. I’ve been a Vikings fan since their inception. Will Murray and the 26 draft class be the missing pieces? I hope so. If not I’ll still be a Vikings fan

My wife’s name is Sloane Martin. If you get the Victory+ channel and watch the Lynx, you’ll hear her calling the games. Otherwise she’s also on Big Ten Network doing volleyball sometimes and a lot of women’s college basketball and softball.

In terms of your scenario where Murray goes 6-11, that should be enough to get a top QB prospect. Last year Kansas City went 6-11 and traded up a few spots to pick 6th overall. Next year’s draft is supposed to have at least a few QB prospects that are projected in the top 15 picks.

Going 6-11 would make things crystal clear that they need to draft a QB and take another swing at it. The thing is, Kyler Murray has never been that bad unless his teams are abominable. Whenever he’s had decent teams, Arizona won between 8-11. That would be the hardest place to be. If they won 10 games and lost in the first round of the playoffs, then what?

It really depends on how it looks if they are average. Is the draft class on the rise? Was Kyler really good and they bungled some games like in 2023 with Kirk or was he super duper average and Flores got them to the playoffs?

There’s so many nuances to it.

Bradley P… I’m generally a Vikings optimist so I’m super excited for the front office Teasley has constructed to this point. Do you have any thoughts?

What do you think the ceiling for Dillon Bell is? I presume you think it’s far too early to be excited about an undrafted player, no?

All I can say is that I’ve heard great things about the AGM picks. I got several texts about Kirchner. He’s really respected around the league. And I know that Healey is highly regarded in the analytics space as well. Having a mix of different strengths makes sense to me. Overall, I like that they made changes, got some new voices in.

It’s basically too early to get excited about any UDFA until they are actually in real games making plays but there’s nothing like when a player pops in the offseason. In terms of his ceiling, it might be like a WR3. He does have some KJ Osborn-like qualities to him, where he’s got a bit of a running back body but can run some routes and make plays. You’d never project anything higher than that for a UDFA, even if they occasionally become Adam Thielen.

Ryan V…. Which league insiders do you trust most and/or who are a few of your favorite league wide podcasters to listen to or writers to read? Also, what advice do you have for a fellow Substacker (shameless plug for Sota Sports Roundup) to grow his audience?

The podcast that I listen to most is Sam Monson and Steve Palazzolo’s Check The Mic. By a mile, actually. Those guys have become good friends over the years and they’ve supported the heck out of my work.

As far as insiders, obviously if Rapsheet or Schefter reports it, you’re assuming it’s true… I think Albert Breer does a good job of giving perspective on stuff going on without trying to blow everything up to get attention. I appreciate Tom Pelissero’s journey to where he’s at because we worked at the same radio station (RIP 1500ESPN) and he’s someone that is dialed in and is a really good broadcaster.

In terms of advice, the biggest thing is just to make it your own. Don’t try to be anyone else. Find your own style and let people see your personality come out in your writing.

Jeffrey S… With the dead period up ahead, what will be your focus? Rest and relaxation is a legit answer!

On a scale of 1 to 10 how do you rate Teasley`s personnel moves so far (from a long term perspective)?

I don’t need R+R from football. I was just watching a Steelers-Titans game from 2009 the other day. There’s no reason to stop talking or writing about football, I just wish that I had more to work with.

It’s hard to rate front office personnel moves. The people he’s hired as AGMs come with good reviews and I’m in favor of fresh faces and voices in the front office. We’ll just have to see how it plays out going forward. It’s a start!

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