Friday mailbag: The questions that have to be asked

Vikings fans, as you might expect, are restless about what's next for the franchise

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Friday, everyone. I’m sure everyone’s still downtrodden after last week — and this mailbag probably won’t cheer you up — but we’ve got a lot to discuss…

@NsportsfanM Lot of commentary on this platform about how talented the roster is and a better coach would have them contending for the super bowl. Where does this roster rank as a whole talent wise and are their weak spots at positions that cause exponential problems or is it all coaching?

They’re an upper-middle roster when healthy and 16-20ish when banged up even a little, (i.e. losing Hunter). The thing about analyzing a roster is that we usually do it by how many good players they have in total and then whether we consider the team to have solid depth. The problem with that way of breaking it down is that one position is way more valuable than all of the others. If we were drafting all the QBs in the NFL, you probably take Brady, Rodgers, Jackson, Allen, Burrow, Murray, Mahomes Prescott, Herbert and maybe Stafford and Carr before Cousins. So your starting point for the roster is something like 10th-12th. If your receivers and running backs are top five but O-line is bottom five and defense is mid-pack, it’s hard to say you’ve moved that slider much higher than 10th-12th and that’s when everything is right.

Long story short: No, they’re not coming this far short of a Super Bowl because of the coaching. Have they done everything they can to fully maximize what the QB can do? From a roster and offensive philosophy standpoint, probably not. But a lot of these points end up sounding overly apologetic to the QB when his salary cap hit is a significant reason for it.

@jdbondy In your estimation what/when is this team’s tipping point? Week 11? End of year? I wonder what your odds would be(pie chart perhaps) for when the shoes would drop….also with this season about to be over, who are the vets that are most likely to go on IR? Barr? Smith?

I don’t know about the thing with guys going on IR but the tipping point is whenever it feels like they’re out of the playoffs and aren’t fighting anymore. In 2016, for example, they lost a key game to Indy 34-6 and then the cornerbacks decided they were going to play defense however they wanted down in Green Bay the next week. Back then, it was a sad ending to a season of so many bad breaks. If that same thing happened this year, that would probably mark the end. If they’re remaining in the playoff race and battling each week, there won’t be a change.

@WarleyOwl How long into the Ravens game will be until you think “jeez if only the Vikings had drafted Lamar, like some young up and coming journalist had been saying at the time”

Well, that’s true, I did think in 2018 that the most favorable option was to keep Teddy and Case and draft Lamar. I would say this: If you try to hunt for the strongest position to take on a subject, you’ll have it right more often than you have it wrong, but you’ll never be right all the time. There are other moves I’ve thought they should make that wouldn’t have worked out. Where I think you can say, “toldya so” is when it’s clear that moves are illogical from the start or failing to see the big picture. I wouldn’t rip them for not drafting Jackson after signing Kirk, it would have taken extra galaxy brain to see a few years into the future on that one.

By the way, I’ll never agree with the people who think the Vikings would have “ruined” Lamar or not used him correctly. The dude is an MVP talent and they have made a lot out of their QBs since Zimmer got here. Teddy was good. Sam was good. Case was good. Kirk has been good.

@jdbondy Is it just me or does Kirk’s behavior remind you of Jeff George-June Jones early/mid 90’s drama? I mean time outs? Mad teammates…terrible performance in prime time?!

Not to that level. It’s sorta like all things pertaining to him…when they’re rolling, everyone talks about how his leadership has improved and they’ve got his back. When things are going sideways, he won’t be the one to put it all on his back and drag them out of a downturn. I’ll always apologize for Jeff George though. A crazy character with a cannon. He was so much fun.

@MIvikesfan living in MI, I actually get to see the vikings play this weekend. is it worth actually watching, or will it be another disappointment like Dallas and 3 hours of my life I'll never get back?

The only guarantee I can hand out on this well-meaning newsletter is that we’ll be covering it. I can’t tell you what it’s going to look like. I suppose if you look at recent history though, every game the Vikings play is bat-bleep crazy, so you might as well.

@MichaelMoers If you had been leading the post-game speech in last Sunday night's Viking locker room, what would you have said? I'm very curious what coaches say after a dismal job coaching and executing.

I’m not sure there’s a ton of that type of thing at the NFL level. Coaches will do the postgame thing when they win and present game balls but at this stage, professionals already know how to handle themselves. Maybe there’s something you can say about playing to prove something to everyone who thinks you’re down and out, I don’t know. That kind of thing seems more cinematic than real life. It’s probably more important the message that gets conveyed to the public. Zimmer’s choice to read a bunch of stats from a card would not have been my approach.

@Ragnarskingdom How would you weigh the benefits of vikings losing out and getting a great high draft pick with the concern about losing the lockerroom and younger players or free agents not wanting to be on a losing team? My ideal scenario is we only win two more games (both Green Bay games)

As of this moment, that’s not really a conversation because they’re very much in the thick of the playoff race. I’d never say that fans should be rooting for their team to lose for draft picks when they can make the playoffs because there’s always a chance for something crazy to happen. There’s also not a tank button with this team unless they benched Cousins, which would be the thing you might do on Madden and put the punter at quarterback but you can’t do that in the pros. That means everyone is fired and any player who’s part of the future will want out. However, if they lost organically and ended up in a position to draft high, they’d either land a young QB or someone who could vastly improve the roster at a key position.

@jls1968 Since every Vikings fan has Zimmer fired is Byron Leftwich the best man to coach the team next year?

@KyeBaxter Byron Leftwich is the head coach for x team next season?

If you’re talking about the most likely type of coach the Vikings would look at, guys like Leftwich and Kellen Moore fit the bill. Usually teams go for the polar opposite of what they’ve just had, so it would be hard to see them seeking out an experienced defensive coordinator. We can never separate someone like Leftwich from Tom Brady but the Bucs have done a really good job of letting Brady be free within his offense. Leftwich seems like a high class individual as well. If he doesn’t get consideration for head coaching jobs, something is very wrong.

@Nichola79135367 Do you root for the Vikes to do well? I know you’re a reporter not a fan, but I have to imagine it’s more fun covering a good team.

Here’s my approach: I’m trying to give everyone who reads this and listens to the podcast the best reactions to games and thoughts on their moves and information on day-to-day news that I can. I’m trying to get a few laughs, provide some insight, make you think a little about different ways the team could handle things and interview a few people that you’ll enjoy. I’ll do those things whether they’re in the Super Bowl or they’re 7-10 for the rest of the time I cover the team. Nothing changes for me, win or lose. You don’t want me to be all sad after they blow a game to Cooper Rush, you want me to break down what the heck happened, right? Covering a winning vs. losing team is done differently but doesn’t make any difference on my end. If they end up winning some day, however, I’ll feel happy for all of you who have suffered through a lot of disappointment.

@youvikethat1 How many more backup QBs will the Vikings lose to this year? Over/under 2.5?

I suppose it’s possible Rodgers could still be out when the Vikings face the Packers but I’d be surprised, so I’ll rule that one out. Do we see Andy Dalton in one of those Bears games? I could see Roethlisberger getting dinged up. I’ll take the under though. All of the teams on their current schedule have healthy QBs at the moment. They’re gonna have to earn it if they make the playoffs.

@TraaashMike With mason cole covering for Bradbury this weekend, and the center position likely going from bad to below average as a result, is this the beginning of the end for Bradbury?

I respect the straws you’re grasping at here but I can’t see Cole playing over Bradbury somehow transforming the line. Bradbury might not have impressive PFF grades but he does have the command of the line. Cole filling in on the road versus a team that blitzes all over the place isn’t particularly promising.

@SamRoot43 How under appreciated is Latavius Murray? It's been a while since he's been a #1 back, but every stop he makes, he's a big impact in the running game. Easy guy to root for

You don’t have to convince me that Murray deserves appreciation. He came from a tiny high school in the middle of nowhere and went to a college that rarely produces NFL talent, he was drafted in the sixth round and ended up in the Pro Bowl and he has beaten the age curve to be an effective running back for a long time. He’s one of the most interesting, intelligent, thoughtful and aware athletes I’ve been around. He deserves a ton of credit for his role in the Vikings reaching the NFC Championship game in ‘17.

@alexjjlarsen Lamar is a versatile weapon, so it seems like the defense will have to go bend-don't-break and accept some slicing and dicing. What will it take from the offense to keep up, esp. considering Baltimore's weakness at CB?

It always seems to come down to whether they can get things going in the running game. Baltimore is the fourth best team in the NFL in yards per rush allowed on the ground, so that might be a tricky task but it always seems to be the pattern. When Dallas stopped Cook, the Vikings started getting in second and third-and-long situations and the Cowboys knew exactly how to keep them from getting the ball down the field. That’s the other part — when the deep shots come, they have to hit. Like Dallas, Baltimore will usually give up some chances on those downfield passes.

@benjackson0812 Do feel the Vikings roster is like a nice car that needs a better driver (I.E a new QB HC combo and a GM)??

I know this is a popular sentiment but only kinda sorta. If Sean McVay or Sean Payton are running the team, is the offense a little better? Definitely. But if it’s anyone even slightly under the two best guys in the league, probably not. They’ve had really good offensive minds with this group and have seen the same results every year. On any given week they can be the best or worst offense because that’s how the QB has always been and they don’t have the offensive line to even out some of the ups and downs. The Vikings are really good at receiver at RB but what else? Linebacker? Everything else is taped together.

@Tad_Fundermann Knowing changes are probably happening this offseason. Which players under contract after this year would you keep and build the team around? JJ, O'Neill, etc. Who would you cut/trade to start the rebuild process?

Jefferson, O’Neill, Thielen, Kendricks, Irv Smith Jr. and Darrisaw are non-negotiable. Woods might be a good player to sign to an extension soon. Hunter is a tougher call because of the injury. Dalvin Tomlinson and KJ Osborn are good players. Smith probably can’t be moved with his contract. After that, it’s all pretty much up in the air.

@sgibbles How do you toe the line between asking hard questions and maintaining relationships? When Kirk said that he doesn’t have authority to call TOs in the 2 min drill, I thought the appropriate response from the next reporter would’ve been: “c‘mon, we really supposed to believe that?”

That’s definitely not an appropriate response by a reporter. There could have been a follow-up asking why that might be but sometimes when you get a really unexpected answer like that, you have to go back and review exactly what was said before you ask about it later in the week. The goal in asking questions is to get the best understanding of what’s going on, not to call BS when you don’t feel they’re telling the truth. You ask professionally and then react accordingly. Here’s an example: Stefon Diggs’s “truth to all rumors.” Nobody yelled at him after he pretended to be sick. We just asked him whether the rumors were true and he said… yeah pretty much.

There’s no concern about relationships, at least from the perspective of a beat reporter. We’re there every day, through thick and thin. If they don’t respect that part of the job is to ask about the good and bad, oh well.

@rinkygolf What’s the #1 thing you would change about the offensive philosophy and what’s the #1 thing you would like to see Kirk change in how he executes the offense?

When Cousins throws between 10-19 yards, his rating is 146.5 but he’s only thrown 45 passes of that sort, which is 16% of throws. Last year those passes were closer to 20%. He’s also gaining 4.1 yards per attempt on throws behind the line of scrimmage. In 2019 they averaged 7.5 yards per attempt on throws behind the LOS. They have to get the screen game going to Dalvin Cook more and maximize those intermediate routes with play-action etc. The things that hold back Cousins from the other QBs mentioned at the top aren’t really that changeable. You can’t make him not run a 4.9 or have Josh Allen’s arm or Case Keenum’s guts. When it comes to making the throws when things go right, his legit one of the best there is.