By Matthew Coller
Happy Friday, folks. Only a few more days until actual football. Whew. We’ve almost made it.
Let’s see what’s on your minds!
IceColdNorth… Ordinarily, we think of “situational pass rushers” as defensive ends subbing in on passing downs. However, I’m wondering whether Caleb Banks’ role this season might be as a situational pass rusher from his defensive tackle position. Given that he’s still developing, is that how you think Flores will use Banks this year? That seemed to be where he shined at the Senior Bowl.
I think you’re onto something here. The pass-rush specialist defensive tackle is definitely a thing these days and I could see Brian Flores using Banks at 3-tech to give him a little extra space to work with so the linemen aren’t getting their hands on him right away and to create openings for second-level players to rush.
So imagine Banks takes on the guard and drives him toward the center and Dallas Turner rushes wide and then Eric Wilson rockets through the B gap where he’s one-on-one with a running back and creates a pressure. Or you could see them using Wilson mugged up on the A gap with Banks rushing over the guard and Wilson goes into the guard, giving Banks a chance to loop around him and rush up the middle.
From what we’ve seen, it’s hard to believe that they’ll use him for any more of a role than a situational player right away but that could work out to give him some development on the fly while he’s still getting into 100% shape and learning how to play the position.
Brad L… Read the tea leaves for us, when will we get an “official” announcement on Harrison Smith and what will it be?
Every year a team seemingly comes from nowhere to make the playoffs. Who will that be this year?
I’m not sure we’ll get an official announcement on Harrison. There isn’t a rule that a player has to declare that he’s retiring or returning. He can sit in limbo and see what happens. This entire time, I figured that Smith would stay in shape and think about playing and then see how things turned out for the team. If they are 6-2 but the safety room is suspect, get the cape on and come play. If they are 4-4 and it’s not clear they’re a legit contender, maybe he just decides it was a great career and it ended well last year.
That’s not based on any knowledge, it’s just how I’d handle it if I were in his shoes. He could come back tomorrow and it wouldn’t surprise me. It’s pretty clear from what KOC said about talking to him about “more than golf” that they want him back.
If there’s an “outta nowhere” team that has a serious shot to make the playoffs, it’s the New York Jets. That might sound crazy but they added a boat load of talent in the offseason and Geno Smith had a 10-win season in 2024. They won’t beat the Bills and Patriots but those teams are flawed and it’s plausible that they could have a run at a wild card spot in the last week of the season or something like that if things come together.
I feel like so many people have called the Saints or Giants the teams that are on the rise that they might not qualify anymore.
Chris C…Having addressed interior O line depth and edge depth. Do you see them addressing your other depth concerns at RB, D line and safety?
Is there anyone out there you see as a fit for each of those positions?
I might be wrong but I think the time for adding players is over. They signed Kyle Van Noy to fill the OLB depth spot, brought in DeeJay Dallas, who got playing time with the Seattle Seahawks from 2020-2023 as a receiving back and got semi-experienced Naquan Jones at nose tackle. I’m not sure how much more you can do at this time of year. Usually the bigger swings like Chris Herndon or Adam Thielen turn out poorly.
I don’t get the sense that they’re going to make a move at safety with two young players they like there and two guys with a decent amount of experience. I’m not sure who’s going to be better than Theo Jackson at this time of year.
I think these are your 2026 Vikings until the trade deadline.
Florian K… How much access to players are you allowed during any given week or day? Do you have access to the locker room or are you allowed only if they are given a presser? What is a typical day for you around the facility?
The way it works is we have open locker room for one hour on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after practice. So we’ll usually go in for a press conference with KOC and the QB on Wednesday and then head to the locker room after practice and then on Thursday we talk with Justin Jefferson and TJ Hockenson and go into the locker room before/after that and then we are in there on Friday KOC talks.
Cody B…Is this a pop-up year for the Vikings? The Vikings have a pop-up year every decade. They haven’t had one since 2017. I think we’re due for that this year. If there was going to be a year to do it, it’s this year. A lot of players coming to the end of their time in Minnesota, Kyler Murray coming in fresh and with something to prove, a defense that could be really good. Outside of health I think this team could go on a run this year. If there was a year to do it it’s this year because the roster will see pretty large churn starting next year.
I would count 2024 as a pop-up year but yeah, it kinda has all the signals of that, doesn’t it?
They have a quarterback who’s been good before but nobody really expects to be great, good coaching, an advantageous schedule with nine home games and only seven true road games (one neutral field) and superstar wide receivers.
The thing that I’m really unsure about is the division. In some pop-up years, the division was just not all that great. In 2017, the Packers fell apart after Rodgers got hurt and the Bears weren’t good and the Lions melted after a good start. That definitely helped. This time around there’s some very serious competition in the North, even if they are all flawed teams.
My expectation is that this team is going to have a bunch of really close games that come down to the final moments. Whether they end like 2021 or 2022, who knows.
Tony T…O’Connell was asked about the value of big-bodied Dillon Bell during his 3rd quarter interview vs. the Broncos. His response was indirect, saying in essence that the team needs to find low-cost players, because the team wants to keep Jefferson and Addison for a long time. You’ve speculated at length about the team’s doubts about Addison, but KOC seems all in.
Yeah, I caught that. I’ve always felt like O’Connell loves everything that Addison brings to the table. He sees him as a super talent who was about as good in 2023 and 2024 as a WR2 as you’re going to see in the league. He’s an outstanding route runner with (normally) great hands and the capability of making spectacular catches that other receivers just can’t grab and he’s probably better in terms of YAC than we give him credit for because he has great speed.
If there were no off-field problems and Addison hadn’t had so many drops last year, we’d be talking about him being a lock to get a big deal after this season — or maybe he’d already have an extension at this point.
I think they’d love to have the problem of extending Addison. But they are in a position where he has to prove it. Nolan Teasley was in Seattle when they traded away DK Metcalf and if they don’t see the production and stability off the field, then they could be looking at other options rather than extending him.
Also Justin Jefferson’s contract will need a readjustment soon. When other receivers are passing him and his cap hits are going up, that’s the time for another extension. But that’s a whole other barrel of footballs.
MaineK2… Hello, Matthew. Two questions, please: Should we pay Mike Florio any credence when he says he has a reliable source that says Kyler Murray is only at the Vikings facilities when mandated? (There on time; leaves “when the bell rings”.) That obviously plays into the Murray-is-not-a student-of-the-game narrative.
Secondly, do you agree, since Caleb Banks is a project, as you wrote this morn, that a better use of that pick would have been trading back and then nabbing Logan Jones?, the fab center from Iowa who is likely to have already beaten out Garrett Bradbury for the Bears’ starting center job. We can’t deny Blake Brandel’s snapping woes; I feel like this is not going to end well at the center position. We’re find out soon enough, I imagine. Skol.
I try to avoid getting into other reporters’ reports too much. It does seem like somebody that Florio talks to in the building really wants there to be chaos all the time (I’m thinking of the suggestion that the Vikings were going to trade Jefferson during contract negotiations). There’s a history there that has to be noted when it comes to stuff like this.
I’m old enough to remember when people gave Kirk Cousins a hard time for not coming into the facility on Tuesdays. I did not care about that at all considering Cousins had vastly outperformed his talent over his career and never appeared to be unprepared. Every player has their own way of doing things. Josh Weinfuss of ESPN talked about that on my show when the Vikings signed Kyler. He said that he’s going to do stuff his own way.
Here’s what I care about: Is Kyler prepared? Does he run the offense correctly? Does he perform at a high level? Does he win games?
Thus far he has looked pretty well locked into KOC’s offense in camp. That’s all I know.
As far as the draft goes, I’m not convinced that any interior offensive lineman would be an immediate answer because of how complex defenses are these days and how much pressure is on a rookie center in KOC’s system.
I’m never in favor of trying to draft for players to help right away anyway. I think that’s how you end up making bad short-sighted decisions when the reality is that all players need development. There’s a reason they brought in Bradbury and drafted Jones — because it would be really hard for him to be good right away.
I totally understand the focus from fans on the draft picks. We all love the draft. But we also need to see it play out before we start saying that they blew it.
Brent M… Hey Matthew, I am intrigued by the Van Noy signing because of his previous stints with Flores, but I was surprised that he was signed to the Practice Squad. Here are my questions:
1) Why the PS? It seems like most edge rushers signings are on the 53.
2) What are your expectations for him/his role?
3) I thought there were rules around what players could be on a PS?
One thought would be that it was either sign with the PS or don’t play football for Van Noy. It’s better to sign him to the PS so they don’t have to give up anybody on the 53 and they can elevate him three times before having to sign him to the roster.
The rules changed on the practice squad a few years ago to allow more players, veterans and elevations. I think it’s been an awesome development for teams and players.
In terms of his role, I see it being part of a third-down rush package right away and if either Van Ginkel or Turner needs a quick rest and then it’s depth. Think of it as the way they used somebody like Patrick Jones in 2024.
Tim… Detroit wins the division their window is closed after this year 11-6
I picked the Bears to win last year I think they are a flash in the pan
9-7
Packers are through
8-9
The Vikings are my team but I think they fire KOC after this year.
8-9
What is your pick for the North Matthew?
Where do the Vikings finish?
I think Wentz plays half the games
Well, Tim, at least I can see you’re excited for the season!
I kid, I kid. But this is pretty dang bleak, man. Why is it that Vikings fans seem to feel this year is going to be a disaster? I’m not saying it isn’t possible, it’s just that they are objectively a pretty good roster with great defensive coaching and a quarterback who has been in the top 15 multiple times during his career. Not only that but he’s one of the most exciting players in the league. I woulda thought there would be more energy for this. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because the Prince That Was Promised didn’t work out and now everyone’s having a tough time getting amped for another retread QB. I get it. I just think the upside is higher than a lot of fans do.
The Kyler injury thing has kinda driven me to the edge of sanity. To begin his career, he played 57 out of a possible 60 games before tearing his ACL and then when he came back he played 30 straight. He could have come back from the injury last year after a few weeks but the team chose to tank (as Tyler Dunne reported).
Nobody knows if he’ll get hurt but he’s not “injury prone.”