Purple Insider must-reads: The best of 2020
It was a crazy Year 1 for Purple Insider but there were a lot of fascinating storylines to cover along the way... let's have a look back
Happy New Year everyone!
It’s been a crazy year in Vikings land, so I decided to go back through all the articles from this year and put together my favorite features to work on. Whether you’re a Day 1 subscriber, you just jumped on the email list or you’ve never heard of Purple Insider until today, I hope you enjoy looking through the feature articles from Year 1.
If you aren’t a paying subscriber, consider joining at just $7 a month or $56 a year. You’ll get daily Vikings articles all year round, including deep dives into the offseason, complete draft coverage, in-depth features, the Friday mailbag and everything in between.
OK, onto the articles…
Purple Insider launched on May 25 in the midst of the pandemic and thankfully Vikings fans jumped on board despite the uncertainty surrounding the 2020 season and the fact that the team wouldn’t be playing again until September.
So how were the early adopters rewarded? With a story about the XFL kickoff, of course.
I got together with the guy who invented the XFL kickoff and talked in depth about why it would work in the NFL and why Vikings fans should love the idea (largely because of their great history of kick returners). I talked with Moe Williams and Qadry Ismail about their experiences with the kickoff and got their opinions on the XFL’s new idea….
Why the Vikings should root for the XFL's kickoff rules
The first player ever profiled by Purple Insider was linebacker Eric Wilson, whose rise from an undrafted player to special teamer to starting linebacker sent me digging into his past to find out how he became such a Swiss Army Knife type.
It turns out that his rise from a long shot to a key player started in high school, where he played all over the field and learned the value of versatility.
Eric Wilson can do it all
Prior to the season opener, I got together with Kirk Cousins to take a look back at his first NFL start and talk about how far he’s come since then. He remembered numerous details about the lead up to the game, how Mike Shanahan made things easier on him and the lessons learned from overcoming a bumpy start to the game.
Kirk Cousins has come a long way
The Vikings got off to a rough start to the 2020 season by losing to the Packers at US Bank Stadium. Two key offensive play calls swung the game, which led to criticism of offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak. I decided to call up an XFL play caller named AJ Smith to take me inside what it’s like to call plays and he gave incredible insight into the process.
Gary Kubiak's rough Week 1 and the plight of the play caller
After two starts, it became extremely apparent that Justin Jefferson was en route to having a special rookie season. I decided to call up his high school receivers coach to watch tape of his first two NFL games and get his perspective on Justin’s growth from high school to the NFL.
'He's almost like a folk hero' -- Breaking down Justin Jefferson tape with his HS position
When the Vikings traded for Yannick Ngakoue early in the season, it appeared Rashod Hill was going to get his chance as a full-time starter. Instead Riley Reiff decided to re-work his contract and remain the starter. What most people didn’t realize is that Hill had been working like crazy behind the scenes for his next opportunity. They also don’t know that Hill is a glue guy in the locker room. I talked to people from his past and present to look at another guy who went from undrafted to the cusp of starting.
Rashod Hill's day will come
As things started to crumble early in the Vikings’ season, I noticed a trend on social media: Fans were tweeting pictures of Trevor Lawrence photoshopped in purple. I interviewed three fans with three very different perspectives on the team that all shared the same meme.
Inside Vikings fans' new obsession: Sharing Trevor Lawrence photoshops
While hunting for stories about players that Vikings fans were not all that familiar with, I discovered that rookie cornerback Harrison Hand had been granted a hardship waiver in college to transfer close to his home. What I didn’t know at the time was the incredible amount of adversity Hand faced in order to be a Minnesota Vikings. He and his family told the story of losing his best friend and many other hurdles…
Harrison Hand and the hardship waiver
As the season went along and Justin Jefferson continued to put up rookie records, it became more and more clear that other teams around the NFL shouldn’t have doubted him. I asked Jefferson why he thought teams passed early in the first round and several draft analysts looked back at their concerns vs. how it played out.
How the NFL missed on Justin Jefferson
When Kirk Cousins bounced back in the second half of the year, the debates over Cousins raged again. Should the Vikings go forward with him? Is this who he really is as a quarterback? Or are the ups and downs a feature rather than a bug? I looked into the numbers and the arguments for and against Cousins…
Everyone is wrong about Kirk Cousins
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Jefferson’s Draft fall article and Everyone is wrong about Cousins article are the best. You do a great job here Matthew!! Just for fun you should invite some subscribers on your podcast from time to time.