Vikings release unofficial depth chart so let's talk about it

[Music] [Music] regulator Mount up we're coming [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey everybody welcome to another episode of purple Insider Matthew caller here just returning from tcco performance center where we were out there for another practice today and I have to say uh there were a few highlights but it was a less intense practice than we had seen over the last couple of padded practices uh so fewer takeaways I think but what we're starting to see is the roster and the depth chart come together and how about it folks they released The Unofficial depth chart as all teams do and then they remind us that it is not official uh and so don't take it too seriously to be the real depth chart but you know what here's how I look at it it's always a step toward the season for the team to release its first unofficial depth chart and you know what that is for you guys and for us reporters it's fun it's fun to take a look at the unofficial depth chart because it lays out all the players and then we could talk about what it looks like where it could go how it could change who's going to play in the preseason game that's what we do here they only play 17 times a year playoffs and then preseason added on top of it and the rest of the time we talk about the team so we will talk about The Unofficial depth chart just a couple little things to note from practice though first of all uh Sam darnold continued to look good to me I had a pretty solid day throwing the football especially a highlight I retweeted if you want to see it on social media the Vikings put it out uh of Sam darnold throwing one deep to Jordan Addison very very impressive uh throw from darnold one of those deep balls that he has been doing almost on a daily basis now at this point but the reason Jordan Addison got a few more targets today was that Justin Jefferson was not there as we're watching practice of course wondering where's Justin Jefferson is there an injury is there an issue uh personal day excuse absence that's why he was not here I expect that he'll be back tomorrow so not a big deal that Justin Jefferson was gone Christian derasa though I do uh maybe have a little bit of concern for her but just slight we'll see if it becomes a thing where he's out for multiple days but we were told that dar saw spent practice quote in the training room and David quesenberry was the left tackle now going back to the last practice that we saw and the days are really running together here so I think it was Saturday uh at the end of practice in some of the more intense drills it was David querry who was in at left tackle and darasa was standing in his helmet off to the side and my thought was okay well I guess there is just taking some reps off and quinberry could get called on at any time so get him some first team reps makes sense but then the fact that darasa wasn't there today is going to be worth monitoring if he doesn't miss multiple days though uh players get banged up and they take a day off when they're veterans and their $30 million tackles and it's no big deal but it will be something that we are going to be looking for uh when it comes to the next couple of practices is Christian derasa right back out there or is he not it doesn't sound like it's anything serious uh there was a couple updates on Jerry Tillery talked about that last night doesn't seem like it's too serious but had to have some stitches which might take a little while for him to start getting back and lsen did do some things in practice today in the individual portion so that happened and will rard my friends came out and nailed a couple of long field goals has just been on fire really since mini camp he had a couple of 50 plus misses and then bounced right back and has M made his last eight field goals there was never a a kicking competition because will rard has shown so much that they don't have to concern themselves with anybody else it has been an incredibly impressive stretch for him since he arrived here but then even during training camp to have his only misses be 250 plus yarders and I think made maybe four out of six overall from plus 50 today he really crushed it and it was probably good but for 63 64 yards away uh and and that's really about it it was still JJ McCarthy running with the second team there were no first team reps on 11 on 11 that we witnessed today from JJ McCarthy but he had a couple of nice throws the end of practice was maybe not ideal for McCarthy uh he was trying to run one of those final Drive drills the guys started pushing and shoving he couldn't get everybody lined up quickly and then when we went to spike the ball uh somebody wasn't lined up so it would have been a penalty and that was the end of the drill not exactly how they wanted it to go for McCarthy one of those learning moments in a final drill but he had a really nice touch pass to Trey Knox who has actually stepped up this team has 11 tight ends that can all play uh Trey Knox had a good practice Nick Muse continues to make plays and Jordan Addison was was very good in this practice but that's all we saw I mean you you could really judge it by just the amount of time you go deep into the day if it's a really intense practice you're going to probably about 5 o'clock at night tonight or this afternoon we were wrapped up by 4:15 uh so it was not one of those hardcore Dog Days practices uh I would expect tomorrow will be and then Thursday a little lighter as they prepare for Friday and then the preseason game but as we stand right now things look the same with Sam darnold and the Reps that he's taking which leads me to this The Unofficial depth chart uh and we'll we'll just go position by position here but I am going to call it up on the screen so all of you can see the unofficial depth chart and I'm sorry Vikings I'm not signing up for your emails uh I already get all the information from them but thank you uh so I'm just going to scroll through this hopefully you guys can see it okay that it's big enough there on the screen and we'll go position by position but as I do this and give some takes drop in your thoughts uh on the comment section and then when I go through the roster and I'm just going to give kind of a question or comment for each position we'll do it quickly and then you guys can get all of your thoughts uh in um oh uh Jason asked where were the oo and Oz well there were no fans there today because initially this was supposed to be a day off and it was supposed to be the night practice so there were no fans it was just us and we don't do oo and a on the sideline but I will say both of them uh the throws were impressive that one from darnold to Addison was really good and then a nice pass that McCarthy had as well so I'll run through would love to get your feedback on what I say and then I'll run through your comments and we will have a grand time and if you guys have any thoughts on what Mark wilf said today I did a podcast with Dane motani on that that that will be coming up later tonight on the channel but uh also if you have thoughts on anything that Mark wilf said I'll go through that as well before we call it a night but uh this this is always a fun time I I get I always get excited about this first unofficial depth chart because I can kind of compare it to what I think it's going to be and what we might see in the preseason season game so we will start out at quarterback starter qb1 Samuel darnold I don't know if is I don't know if he's a Sam or a Samuel but I'm GNA call him Samuel anyway uh no surprise here and this is correct I think because darnold has taken all the reps with the first team and he has had to my uh eye a very good start to training camp through the last that the first padded practice was pretty tough and since then he's really picked it up and the last three practices in general have been I I would say give him an a for the last three practices that is the sideline view I'm just watching for execution I don't know all the reads and everything he was supposed to do but as far as hitting downfield passes throwing on time looking like he's in control maybe B+ or a minus for the last three or four practices now for Sam darnold so he doesn't deserve to be knocked from that pedestal of qb1 as of right now going into the first preseason game and if he continues to take all the first team reps through the next few practices then that's a pretty good indication that he's going to get his chance to start against the New York Giants in week one now this is always a classic love this JJ McCarthy or Nick Mullins are your backup quarterbacks McCarthy or Nick Mullins could be your backup quarterbacks and that does bring about a question if it is Sam darnold starting week one then who is the backup Nick Mullins has so much experience uh time on task as they call it he's been around the NFL for a long time and when you compare Nick mullen's numbers and quarterback rating yards per pass attempt to other backup quarterbacks you would say Nick is a pretty decent backup quarterback there's not a lot of them that have had a whole heck of a lot of success in the league so would Kevin oconnell prefer that if Sam darnold were to get hurt Nick Mullins come in and run the entire show or would he prefer that JJ McCarthy just gives them a better chance to win it actually might be or as of right now because that may be fully determined based on how far along Kevin oconnell thinks JJ McCarthy is before week one so I'm going to not call Shenanigans I I'm going to say this it's legit it is an ore that doesn't say anything about McCarthy if Mullins is the backup and McCarthy is qb3 to start the season because the training camp has been good for JJ McCarthy and we know where this is going in the future but it wouldn't be unprecedented Jordan love was not the backup for Aaron Rogers for a while it was Tim Bole because because they just felt that he was more comfortable running the offense than McCarthy that said uh JJ McCarthy has taken a gazillion reps in comparison to Nick Mullins who's only taken a handful for the entire training camp I think I would prefer to have the rookie step in unless they were really afraid that he couldn't run the thing at all uh which he he has been during training camp so I don't know why it wouldn't be JJ McCarthy at this point but if Kevin oconnell wants to make sure that McCarthy only plays when he decides it is time for McCarthy to start a game if he doesn't want to throw him in the middle of a game if he would prefer that his first playing action is we are going to make sure you have the whole week to start to get completely locked into the Playbook okay I understand that or is totally fine and then jiren Hall no question is qb3 on to the running backs I would generally agree with this setup on The Unofficial depth chart for the running backs Aaron Jones without question the starter one of the best running backs of the last decade backup direct backup is Tai Chandler K Wong wo has been getting a lot of reps out there and I've wondered if they want to give Ken Wong wo every chance to show them that he belongs as part of this running back room or go get somebody else uh and then miles gasin and in my perception far behind Dwayne McBride just has not shown a whole heck of a lot doesn't get very many reps I see miles gasin out there more and uh you would think that if McBride was showing anything that he would be the guy that they would want out there uh more often so it is okay thank you for the correction it is Samuel Richard darnold I appreciate that um so there's not much to say for the running back room because I think this is right Ty Chandler and Aaron Jones I guess I if we're using or maybe it's and Aaron Jones and Tai Chandler and then the rest are the backups but I have no qualms uh with that as always the starter at fullback CJ ham uh year after year it doesn't seem like he's going anywhere that was a question that was brought up going into Camp hey could they cut CJ ham uh they've been running a lot of 11 personnel they talk about CJ and his value all the time yeah CJ ham all right now we get to the wide receivers interesting here they went with two wide receivers this is generally an 11 personnel system that includes wide receiver 3 a lot and Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison listed as the two starters now look at this one this this this is interesting here backups Jaylen Naylor and Brandon Powell and then the rest of the people and I might like this as what's actually going to happen because because if you look at the rep split in 11 on 11s between Naylor and Powell they have both got a lot of first team reps as wide receiver three Naylor has no doubt made more downfield catches and more spectacular plays in this Camp we've been looking at him more he's more of the intrigued guy but Brandon Powell proved last year that he's a pro he can make plays when he's called upon he caught the game-winning pass in the Atlanta game Brandon Powell can play in the NFL and can be a guy that you throw underneath too he can run some routes he got on the same page with Kirk Cousins before he got hurt uh there's a few plays there in the San Francisco game where he looked pretty good three and 3A or three sl4 for both of them maybe it depends on the situation but I do think that those two players have separated themselves from the Rest by kind of a ton and that they could both be part of the general rotation around Jefferson and around Addison but one thing that I do think why Naylor would be considered wide receiver three is that if someone gets hurt Jefferson or Addison it will be Naylor who takes their spot because he can play multiple positions he's more of a downfield wide receiver than Brandon Powell who I think would have to be a little more limited and even when Jefferson was not there today we saw jayen Naylor working in with that first team across from Addison uh a lot more so I I think that by technical standards Naylor is right now your wide receiver three but both of them are going to get used now this is an interesting order that I'm not sure really follows along based on how these guys have performed during training camp but I'm also not not sure if that makes sense Tristian Jackson Justa Jones Trent sherfield lucky Jackson Tai James theer Thomas Malik nolles uh but I notice and this is fun to look into I notice there is a little semicolon here now does that semicolon mean that the second group is Tristian Jackson jwn Jones Trent sherfield and then the third group is lucky Jackson Tai James theer Thomas and Malik nolles I guess that would stand to reason I mean I because I was thinking that lucky Jackson would be in this second group and maybe trisan Jackson would be in the third group but jwn Jones being here I've mentioned him a number of times standing out in practice I think Trent sherfield has started to come along he is somebody that we have not talked about a whole heck of a lot but I think that he has started to emerge as somebody that that's making plays a little more often and Tristan Jackson is a guy that they like uh that year after year is a a standout in the summertime and he was actually brought in by Zimmer's coaching staff and then stayed and then is still here so there has to be something why Tristian Jackson remains uh and I think that he makes enough plays in the off season he's well liked I think he works hard but jwn Jones being here matches up with the eye test and then uh I think actually lucky Jackson is outplayed where he sits on this but Trent sherfield was their signing in free agency overall though it just for the offensive group from the quarterback to the running backs fullback wide receivers I would say Act accuracy is maybe 95% or better as they go into their first preseason game and when we're going to see these guys play but I will definitely have my my eye on Jones and sherfield as two players that could potentially sneak on to this team uh or be like those surprises uh lucky Jackson got off to a better start before they put the pads on and we'll see how many opportunities he gets but Jones is kind of the new guy now here we have the tight ends T.J hackinson is the starter naturally will not be playing in the preseason very likely won't be playing in the first couple of games depending on his comeback I know oconnell seemed positive about it but uh it's going to take him some time to ramp up and now we got a bunch of names here as far as the backups go Josh Oliver Johnny Mont Nick Muse Robert tanion nille Harry Trey Knox and Sami Reyes uh I am sorry if that's not how his name is pronounced I've never heard it said to tell you the truth uh Josh Oliver Johnny Mt these guys are a one and one a when hackinson is out or two and twoa but Nick Muse and Robert tan this has to be the best tight end group in the entire league all these guys can play Robert tunyan has started before he may not play in the preseason game Nick Muse has stepped in once again for the second straight camp and just made plays on a daily basis but I would think that if TJ hackinson when TJ hackinson can't play in week one that Johnny Mt will be the guy who gets the most snaps he's had a lot of receptions during this Camp he I think has improved quite a bit as far as his ability to run routes and make plays and Josh Oliver will retain his job which is to be a hard-nosed blocker and occasionally sneak out uh and in a routee but this is the battle right here Nick Muse versus Robert tunan Muse made the roster last year was inactive All Season made one catch at the end of the year Robert tunan before he had the back spasms had made an impression and looked like somebody that could push Johnny Mt uh for a spot as the receiving tight end but as of right now Muse is the one on the field and Muse has played really well it doesn't seem like there's a great chance if this working out for nikil Harry and I've got Trey Knox circled as the practice squad guy um as a undrafted free agent who was just a receiver a couple years ago still developing but overall I would probably swap Mt and Oliver but I would keep this this way right now if we had to do the team right now I would have hackinson uh starting on ir and then Oliver Mt and Muse and maybe it's even that way if hackinson can come back and they would keep four tight ends like they did last year onto the tackle position there is really no debates to be had here they're just I mean this is darasa and O'Neal the stars at tackle Walter Rouse in my estimation has had a really good start to training camp David quesenberry although the way that this is listed is quesenberry as right tackle and we know this that daraw was out the last two days at times on Saturday and then today and it was David quesenberry who took the first team rep so he is the swing tackle and then Rouse is the developing young player Jeremy flax Doug Nester two guys that are going to be depth players in the preseason games uh interior offensive lineman Blake brandle has taken all of the first team reps at left guard there hasn't been any debate about that Garrett Bradberry Ed Ingram same thing when we heard well there's going to be a competition at Right Guard Ed Ingram has taken all the Reps at Right Guard and and then as your backups Jurgens I've been impressed by it times feny Ryner is a backup Right Guard at least the way he's listed and then Tyrese Robinson Henry bird Spencer Roland uh maybe pick one of those guys and put them on the practice squad but I could see Jurgens and feni and Ryner all making the interior roster and keeping two tackles so and then of course just the one Center where is the center do they have it listed oh there he is Garrett Bradberry I'm sorry I probably said that out loud so there you go with uh probably for the final 53 you might end up with darasa O'Neal Rouse quessenberry brandle Bradberry Ingram Jurgens feny Ryner that would be my guess as of right now so there is your offense in your unofficial depth chart let me swing back over to uh you guys here and full screen mode and uh let me get some of your uh let me get some of your responses here to um to the offense let's talk about the offense first and then we'll get into the defense after I I take a look at some of your comments so thoughts questions throw them my way for what you think of the offense I'll run through them then we'll get to the defense uh scint poac says don't Crown the depth chart love that that that right there that means you've been listening that means you've been paying attention do appreciate that uh that's funny don't Crown the depth chart I like that Jake what do you think the wil's expectations are for the team this year I respect that they push the team to be competitive but when your quarterback is hurt and you're rebuilding expecting greatness is a tough ask yeah I mean from last year right talking about not making the playoffs they might also remember the number of times that they needed just one more play to be in the playoffs whether it was the Denver Broncos game the Lions game where Nick Mullins threw the interception and I think I've always felt like if I was in their shoes I mean I can't say that I would be the same as I am now like the the way that I am now is hey guys timelines and tanking and rebuilding and it's all it's take your time and you'll get there if I was putting all my money into it I might be more like win what the heck we can't fumble right you know I I think all of us would act differently if we were the ones that had uh not just a little skin in the game but owned the entire franchise uh so I've always tried to put myself in their shoes when we talk about expectations it may be unfair to look at last year and call it a failure because your quarterback got hurt and let's look at the teams whose quarterbacks got hurt Cleveland made it to the playoffs and got pummeled and what didn't everybody else just be bad and when you I remember looking at the top 20 passing games and I think they were or top 15 or whatever and they were all just teams who had healthy quarterbacks that were starters so yeah I mean but that look seven and 10 goes on your record one way or the other uh whether you have an excuse or not and if you're the wils then you're setting the bar at it better be better than last year and I think what they want is to be there down the stretch they understand that we heard from Mark today Mark wil and he said we understand it's a very ult division so I don't think that they're setting the expectation as if you don't win the Super Bowl everybody's fired but hey look we paid some money for this quarterback we paid a 10 10th overall draft pick for the other quarterback we've given money for Jefferson darasa grenard van gingle Cashman like you know guys came back who were free agents are set to be free agents here so they've put a lot of money on the table and they have put a lot of trust in in Kevin oconnell and quacy daf Mena to guide a competitive rebuild not a full rebuild and if you win four games or you win five games then that's not what they asked for they asked for a competitive rebuild and so far they've been giving it to them but if you have a tank style season and you look like the Patriots last year or something then that's not what they're looking for it doesn't mean everyone's fired it just means that that would change the dynamic their expectation should be that this team goes into week 17 week 18 and it at least says in the hunt Minnesota Vikings and you know what if that's the case it will feel way different than in the hunt last year or in the hunt two years ago or three years ago because those were you have to win as long as you're paying your quarterback this much and the guy is 34 35 36 years old now when you're working with a Young quarterback who's 21 it and a lot of young players on the roster it is a bit of a different Dynamic at the same time I think it is fair for them to say we've gotten you know gathered here together a lot of talent we shouldn't be a laughing stock we should be a good team I think if you're in Mark wil's seat that's what you would say look at the talent on the roster look at how much we've spent for Brian Flores is a coach we have a coach who's a former quarterback that won a Super Bowl in Los Angeles there's no reason that the team should win five games that is completely fair so my guess at Mark wil's expectation and the will family's expectation is that by the end of the season they are still fighting for a playoff spot whether it's with darnold or McCarthy and overall they feel very good about where it's going into the future that is one of the best case scenarios uh Joel says who's your Mr Man KO at this point before a preseason game who else may be in the running uh who else might be in the running the first one that comes to mind is Will rard for me now I heard some people ask about or maybe I just saw some people ask about um whether jayen Naylor could be that guy I think the answer is no I think that once you have played in games you are disqualified uh that you have to have no games played so you could have been on the practice squad the previous season played no games and then showed up and won Mr Mano but if you've been in games you're you're out uh for Jaylen Naylor so who would that put after that oh that's that's an interesting one Levi Drake Rodriguez is probably in the lead right now Dwight mgln if Dwight McLean gets a pick if Levi Drake Rodriguez gets a sack then you've got something there Levi Drake Rodriguez would be at the top at this moment because he's gotten these first team reps you don't see seventh round picks off getting first team reps when everybody is healthy but he has and he's got the long hair he's got a big personality he's got three names I mean all that stuff just sort of Screams Mr Mano uh Midwest with a three as the E I really hope Jones and Chandler get a lot more touches this year yeah the touches have to come with the effectiveness right with Alexander Madison there were a few games that I felt Alexander Madison was playing pretty well and they should have stuck with it that was Chicago specifically where they kept going back to the passing game but Madison was averaging four and a half five yards a carry I forget exactly what it was they were succeeding on the ground and yet pass pass pass if you have the Trust In Aaron Jones and Tai Chandler caught a pass today I think it was a little screen and took off kind of right in front of us on the sideline and it's just a horse Galloping by he is blazing fast and in an Ideal World those two bouncing off each other with 6040 5545 and Chandler making plays and them starting to feel more comfortable with him pass blocking that is when we talk about ideal scenarios the best possible scenario if you finished with 750 yards for Aaron Jones and 600 yards for Tai Chandler and between the two I can do that math you at 1350 yards on the ground and maybe they catch 50 passes together you that's what you want from those two I don't think you want to just hope Aaron Jones is the entire show even though he is really really good uh Jazz herd says uh when will McCarthy be ready that is a question for the head coach sir I I don't know when Kevin oconnell will consider him ready for me watching him I look at him and say looks closer all the time looks like by the end of this preseason if you played him a lot in the preseason he would be maybe potentially ready to start but I don't know what McCarthy knows about the Playbook I don't know what Kevin oconnell knows about how McCarthy is handling the Playbook all I could tell you is standing on the sideline and watching him operate on a daily basis I have been wowed almost by how much more accurate he's been throwing the football than he was and our first impression of him even just warming up and hitting guys on routes that are even you know not against anyone but just running the full speed route and throwing it on time putting a little touch on the football at times scrambling and making plays Kevin oconnell talked about that when I asked him about it today about McCarthy scrambling and making plays and how much of a big part of uh his value comes from that and the same with darnold as well the fact that he is mobile and he does seem to have a lot of it at least in his head to where he can call it and line people up and run it that makes me think that he's not a million miles away from starting uh and often times I mean when you're talking about do you have to know every single thing from The Playbook to play or to be ready perfectly or just what you're having to do for that week's game plan those are two different things as well so I feel like from watching him he's not a million miles away from starting but I also don't know when Kevin oconnell thinks he'll be ready and the answer could be anywhere from at the be early part of the season to next season that I don't think we're going to go the entire year without seeing JJ McCarthy but it's not like it's never happened before with a first round guy uh Midwest says m will be the number two yeah I think so too based on the fact that he's just gotten so much more reps it's just that there is precedent for having a number three behind the first round pick be the backup on game day if they believe that person just knows the offense a lot better and they'd be more comfortable with him coming in and okell might just generally be against the idea of throwing a guy in in the middle all right here's Sam darnold he gets hurt in the second quarter uh go in there JJ and just figure it out I don't mind that I'm not as afraid of that I don't get fired if it goes wrong because the first round quarterbacks that we've seen over the years even if they had a bad team even if they had weird circumstances I mean think about when Josh Allen showed up here to face the Vikings in week three of 2018 his team had just gotten clobbered and was considered the worst team in the league through the first couple weeks of the season season they were facing a defense that was number one in the league the year before and doing it on the road at one of the loudest stadiums any W Justin Herbert had to come in I've brought up this example before Tyrod Taylor goes down Herbert has to come in Tyrod Taylor started in Cleveland and then Baker Mayfield had to come in he didn't collapse into the ocean I don't think they should be that afraid of it but I also respect if okono wants it to go a certain way Sean says I'm expecting darnold to start with a very small chance JJ catches and passes him McCarthy will be the backup I'm thinking they could put mullins's backup if JJ falters I don't see it though I think that Mullins belongs on this team he belongs in the NFL he is a backup that you can trust and that is a veteran and will carry himself in the best possible way behind the scenes and it practice every day so I wouldn't cut him uh as far as who would be the backup though who can emulate Sam darnold if Sam darnold goes down more JJ McCarthy with the windows that they want to throw into and the scrambling and playmaking ability JJ mcarthy can look like Sam darnold better than Nick Mullins can it's about the coach's comfort with McCarthy being just thrown in at total random as opposed to preparing him and also does he trust that Mullin is going to be able to run every single facet and every single play he wants to call versus well we're still working our way through those things with McCarthy because this Playbook is enormous and he's got this part down but he doesn't have that part down and he's going through his first game planning or whatever when Mullins has done it for many years like there's a bunch of things that are going to way into that decision of who should be the backup uh but I when it says or that might really be a thing it might be okell will go into a room with Josh maau Wes Phillips and the staff and say how far along is he should he be the backup let's come to a consensus I'm sure that's what will happen before they go into week one is they will decide how much he knows and some of it may be determined over the next couple of weeks before we really get into the game planning mode uh skull full sha how has the o line been looking haven't seen much reports on them uh okay I I think I think it's been all right um it's I don't want to say oh well they've looked phenomenal and then have Blake brandle struggle and then like oh well you said they were great they've looked okay to me they've looked competent to me uh the tackles are two of the best in the league we know what Bradberry is I don't see the quarterbacks getting sacked over and over and over again because people are getting beat straight up and part of that is that the defensive linemen on the interior are more of Gap stuffers than they are pass rushers up field and so I think that they've looked okay in pass protection run blocking I it's a mess from the sideline they hand off and you go where's a running back in there it's it's I've seen running backs breaking out I don't know that's that's harder easier to tell with pass protection the quarterbacks have had time to throw thus far and the tackles have looked great so far because they're two of the best players in the league that one is one we're going to really figure out week one when they start against the New York Giants and that's a very good team uh Sean says my big question do they protect three quarterbacks on the 53 I think that they will I think that they will uh the respect that Kevin oconnell has shown to Nick Mullins over the last year plus uh for for his professionalism and his trust that he has to go out there and having him in the room I and maybe could be running the scout team against their defense all that stuff makes me think that they will stick with Nick Mullins and the fact that they had to play Four quarterbacks last year uh Mark says we need a run by committee yeah and the if the third Runner can be Ken Wong wo and they can feel better about him and trust him more I know that last year they wanted to find out more about Ken Wong wo but he got hurt in training camp it was out for a long time and they just never got to find that out so this year he's got a lot of reps as the backup running back Jake says uh which players have big personalities is training camp a lot of business and work or is it fun times in Good Vibes uh there's some uh fun times and Good Vibes it's it's really I mean at this level it's it's business uh these guys are going out and the practices are very tight so there's not a lot of time to just stand around and hang out they have very uh strict script there's only so many hours you can go with these guys on the field and when they're out there they're looking to work uh most of the time I'm sure during warm-ups they have some fun conversations but uh the biggest personalities Harrison Phillips is a really outgoing person Jonathan grenard we learned pretty quickly is that way of course you guys know Justin Jefferson T.J hackinson is a player who I voted for as one of the media good guys for last year uh because always available uh really good talker there's a lot of players on this team Brian O'Neal has a huge personality there's a lot of players on this team that are very personable Aaron Jones has he he's very outgoing but he also brings kind of this respect factor to him like a little bit of I know how cool I am I know how awesome I am type of thing uh which you you got to respect somebody who's a baller there's a there's a lot there's a lot of big personalities on this team uh Mark says unpopular opinion one thing I learned Is That Flow is very Innovative KOC not so much really stuck to his system depends on what you mean by Innovative because sticking to a system that works if it's operated properly uh I mean that's not a a bad thing right and then adapting the route combinations from there based on each week's game plan there are a lot of very success coaches who do that I mean you could say even going back like or even just looking at Kyle Shanahan like Kyle Shanahan has his system and it goes back to Mike Shanahan Gary kubak all those guys uh laflor and they all have their different versions of it including McVey now McVey completely changed around for Matthew Stafford and what he wanted to do versus what they did with gof but every system is going to have its its base its roots in something and then you're going to build off of that so oconnell did not switch and this is where you could criticize he didn't switch to more of a screen play action short type of thing with Josh dos and maybe he should have and we did see that in Cincinnati where Zack Taylor did change the easy buttons for his quarterback when Jake Browning had to take over so I think you could say that um but also they won the Super Bowl with this system with Matthew Stafford gun in the ball around they brought it here they scored a lot of points and won a lot of games over the first how many would that be with Kirk Cousins would have played 17 18 and then eight more so that 26 games with Kirk Cousins they won a lot and they put up good passing numbers and the The Innovation from Kevin oconnell is really finding ways to get his number one wide receiver and his tight ends open and when you look at those numbers from those guys uh they're doing a lot to get Jefferson open they're doing a lot you could see where defenses get confused and where Jefferson is open and you go wait what the heck how is it and a lot of that is showing certain looks that they've shown in the past and then changing them using uh certain tweaks to the way that things are traditionally run and then changing them up this is why you need your quarterback to be on point right because he has to understand all these potential options so there's Innovation within a particular area is there Innovation on the ground probably not uh is there a million motions and guys running around like crazy like Mike McDaniel because they don't have Tyreek kill so no they have Justin Jefferson and they use him to his strengths is it an is it revolutionary I think it's hard to be revolutionary in 2024 because if you're airic Corel or the first time that Shanahan ran the outside zone or something it's not like everybody found out about everything immediately like they do now and figured it all out and got all the details and everything else with mountains of data and film um now everybody knows everything about what everyone else is doing and it's the wrinkles that you put into it and then it's the players that you maximize that make you an Innovative coach so I I wouldn't say that he's lacking an innovation uh it's just it's not it's not wildly unique in some way uh that is visible for us on the sideline in the stands watching on TV we just see Jefferson open but then when you look back on tape you go oh okay so for whatever reason the defense went that way and somehow they were fooled on a certain concept but I think it just goes deeper than our understanding just taking a look on TV hopefully that makes sense uh Midwest says have you seen any screen plays in practice oh they run screen plays but how could I tell if they were working or not because they can't tackle them but they are running screen play they need that screen game if that's what you're insinuating they need that screen game 100% uh to help out Sam darnold it's been bad in the last few years but you know who might help that a lot is just the Players Once Tai Chandler came in they started hitting on screens maybe those tight end screens not 100% ideal uh David says two rookies make it on the o line I think so uh my depth chart was more of an attempt to get the order maybe for the preseason and then we'll see what happens but if I was doing a 53 right now I think I would go with Jurgens making the team along with Rouse Rouse is just been good I I've had a good look at him at left tackle and and he's been battling sometimes against Dallas Turner sometimes against you know Patrick Jones and other guys who have mixed in I think Patrick Jones and other guys have mixed in and he looks like he just anchors really well and has uh well-coordinated feet he's a former basketball player and Jurgens it's a little harder to tell with guards because it's all up in the muck U but I think that they like him enough that he might make it that might be a difficult Final Cut and put him on the practice squad or something like that uh Brian says if they mostly run 11 personnel in Camp so far on offense there has been a fair amount of two tight end and a little bit of TW 21 personnel with CJ ham mixing in there but 11 is their that's what they do is always going to be the base of this offense it does seem like they want to use the two tight end effectively and mix in match but it's always going to start with the 11 personnel uh Sean says difference from last year at wide receiver was wide receiver 34 wasn't known yet whereas this year there's separation so last year it was KJ Osborne so it was all said after that it was pretty unknown but it was it was KJ Osborne he was set in that position as wide receiver three that's kind of what makes this year a little more intriguing but even the way that they wrote it on the unofficial dep chart which we're not crowning The Unofficial depth chart but you know what as far as the offense goes I think I actually want to Crown The Unofficial depth chart I think that the unofficial depth chart should put on these glasses we we should have put on these glasses while I was reading The Unofficial depth chart because I thought it was right on in the way that uh and we'll see we'll put him back on if the defense is good um I thought it was right on in calling those guys Naylor and Powell wide receiver three both of them like and having it be Naylor and Brandon Powell but interesting to me if jwn Jones is there because he's a guy that stood out and has a real opportunity in preseason uh let's see how is the offensive line looking mainly the depth uh I I really think that this is one of the deepest offensive lines in the league when you consider that they have feni Ryner quesenberry and Rouse has been looking good they could put in any of these guys I mean Rouse we'll see about real games but they could put in any of those guys and it would probably be okay as compared to previous Seasons where it was like Drew Samia uh scint pot Pock I'm sorry I'm not sure how to pronounce that um do you think that they will put 10 offensive lineman on the 53 it's either nine or 10 and that might depend on Jurgens or what they see in Dalton Ryner um if uh Dalton Ryner is not looking maybe the same as he did to them last year at Right Guard then they could move on if they wanted to keep Jurgens but I'll have to do a 503 that's another podcast this is an unofficial dep chart podcast let's let's not get it twisted here let's not go crazy just yet uh but I I'll have to work my way through whether they can fit ten on but I think they would want to Mark says I think West should take care of the offense with play calling and Personnel this year I don't care how good of a coach KOC is not gonna happen my friend not GNA happen Kevin oconnell as long as he has that headset is going to be calling the plays what he wants to do is he wants to put his brain inside that quarterback and he wants to be able to see what that quarterback sees and talk to that quarterback so they are on one heartbeat that's what he wants I don't disagree with it I mean there's lots of good coaches who call their plays uh doesn't Sean MC I'm sure Shawn McVey calls all of his plays he's had some success in the league uh Kyle Shanahan most certainly calls all of his plays he's had a lot of success in the league I don't is this an old school thing I I'm surprised this comes up that people think he should give up the play calling because I would think it would be advantageous as long as you have enough help on the game management stuff I would think it would be advantageous to have a coach quarterback relationship be extremely close or maybe that's just my biased of having seen Mike Zimmer and a coach quarterback relationship that was not close uh when it came to him and Kur cousins oh gosh says I hope the wols understand um that this team is either on par with last year's or slightly worse uh is seven and n and uh you correct to say seven and 10 a laughing stop no I think seven and N seven and 10 is right on the edge that they want to be better than that but they've also got to be aware that Vegas has them at six and a half um that's a great way to set expectations going into a season is by looking at those Vegas over unders I'm sure that they know what it says if you get to eight if you get to nine if you're in that competition here's the way I think of it the 2020 two Detroit Lions they were not there yet it was not a complete roster but they went 9 and8 and at the end of the season everyone said that team is coming that team is going to be here and uh that's where you want to be is by the end of the season having everyone say all right this team is going to be here uh Steve says Sam darnold will Shock the World could be he's looked very good in the the last four training camp practices and with these wide receivers there's always going to be a chance that we've seen it happen before there's always going to be a chance that Sam darnold turns himself around and becomes a different version of Sam darnold that we have ever seen before because he has Justin Jefferson and he has Jordan Addison and they are two of the best players flat out in the entire league uh Drew says we have quarterbacks team talent to compete in the north we don't really know if they have the quarterbacks to compete in the north that's the thing if you just went team Talent everyone except for quarterback Detroit is number one and then you'd go a pretty even after that right uh Green Bay I'm not convinced that they have a more talented roster overall Chicago I'm not convinced that they have a more talented roster but quarterback matters here they're starting a guy right now who is well under 500 for his career and has really struggled uh the other teams are starting a number one overall draft pick and that's the worst team in the division maybe and then Jordan love who emerged last year Jared Goff who is constantly leading top five offenses it's not easy to sit here and say well they they have good enough quarterback play uh the division would have to be a heck of a lot worse in order for that to happen but right now it's very good uh scoop says did Jurgens not stand out as being second team at both spots on the depth chart was he was he uh listed where was he listed he was listed as left guard yeah on the depth chart there um but you know it does stand out um with Jurgens just the way he's played so far and that he's gotten a lot of second team reps they appear to like him and uh that would make me think that he's going to make the team okay this seems like a good time to jum over to the defensive side let's do that let's go back to this mode so you guys can see it all right let's take a look at the defensive side of this unofficial depth chart and please please remember that it is not official if that has not been made clear to you guys yet um all right so we got the outside linebackers Jonathan grenard and Andrew van gingle that I would agree with and the backups Patrick Jones and Dallas Turner this would match up with their rotation so far during training camp we have seen a lot of Patrick Jones and a lot of Dallas Turner mixing in with the first team and after that Gabriel Murphy and Jihad Ward Owen Porter Andre Carter II and Bo RoR I I think we got to give him the glasses guys I I think can you see me over here hold on let me make my face bigger this means that I think they nailed it I think that this is right uh with the way that they going into this because from what we've seen and what we have heard uh Gabriel Murphy has stood out I've seen a lot of J Jihad Ward Jihad Ward is one of the biggest people I've ever seen in my life so he's not hard to miss Owen Porter I've mentioned you guys a couple of times as standing out a little but Andre Carter II and Bo RoR not so much I mean Bo RoR is maybe a development player but Andre Carter II has not stood out the way that maybe they expected him to whereas Gabriel Murphy has and Jihad Ward is an experienced pass rusher at this moment I like the way this unofficial depth chart looks from the outside linebacker position so let's move on and also I think they can mix and match with these four when the time comes will they play Dallas Turner in the preseason game I really want to know that they can mix and match those top four and even have three of them on the field at the same time or maybe even four depending on if they threw out some crazy uh NASCAR package is what it was called by Zimmer but Gabriel Murphy has been one of the standouts of training camp so let's go to the dline Jerry Tillery he's safe he's happy he's okay he's just got stitches folks nothing to worry about there so he'll be back Harrison Phillips and Jonathan Bullard this aligns with the starters with the first team when everyone has been healthy the backups James Lynch jaquin Roy Jonah Williams Levi Drake Rodriguez Taki tamman or tyam Mani Jaylen Redmond and Tyler monoa this one I don't know if it gets the glasses treatment or not because Levi Drake Rodriguez has taken more from my eye first round or first team reps than jquan Roy now Jonah Williams has taken a lot of them he's a veteran they picked up big strong guy from the Rams and James Lynch has been out there a lot on the defensive line so I I think that those two would go with Levi Drake Rodriguez if I was making this unofficial depth chart where jqu and Roy would be more down with Redmond tamman or tyman and uh monoa uh I I would definitely slide Drake Rodriguez up because his he actually looks like he has a position as a rotational pass rusher in those third down situations or at least that's what he's getting as far as opportunities right now so you don't get you don't get the sunglasses on for that on to the inside linebackers Blake Cashman and Ivan Pace Jr that is completely obvious kamu gr hill Brian asoa also as the second team obvious Dallas Gant and jabriel Cox are the backup backups there yep that's right on that gets there's really not a lot to talk about there but it gets the sunglasses treatment because it's it's correct we've seen there it is we've seen a lot of kamu gr Hill and um Brian awesome was getting a lot of reps uh he hasn't gotten a lot of opportunities with the first team from what I've seen and neither has gr Hill uh and Gant and Cox are are mix in guys um Dallas Gant I think is wearing Number 96 so it looks weird when he's in there so they're good there onto the corners sha Griffin and Byron Murphy Jr this is still to be expect expected when Griffin returns along with Byron Murphy Jr so if they're in base then that would mean those two would be on the outside but they were not in base this is where it gets interesting the backups listed as a Caleb Evans and Fabian marrow meaning that they've been rotating in that is something we've seen both of them have been in with Byron Murphy when sha Griffin has been out so that's been what it looks like in the nickel package it's Evans marrow and Murphy now Andrew boo Jr is after this then AJ Green jacobe Francis Jaylen Williams Duke Shelly Dwight mln and Naji Thompson who is injured this does not get the sunglasses treatment because that is not how the Reps from at least my notes have played out it has been more for Dwight mcglothern than Andrew Booth Jr and I don't have an exact count on this but I have seen more Dwight mcgl than Andrew Bruth Jr Booth Jr is more experienced but they seem to like what they've seen from mcgn quite a bit Shelly mixes in Williams mixes in jacobe Francis a little bit but I can't put him or AJ Green ahead of mln if I was doing it right now for who makes the team it would be Griffin Murphy Evans marrow mcglothern and maybe one more depending on how many spots they're keeping Nai Thompson if if he's back and healthy and is going to be the special teamer maybe Duke Shelly but that one I'm not as sure about and as far as the safeties Go Harrison Smith and cam bam very clearly the starters on this team matelis and Theo Jackson deser it deserves sort of an and here uh they do kind of play the same position I think that this should just move matelis up into the starters because he plays like a starter he'll play a thousand snaps if he's healthy and uh Jay Ward is still listed as a safety Jay Ward actually I take it back uh when I was talking about the corners Jay Ward as of this moment I think would make it as a corner and a special teamer he's played almost exclusively if not totally corner so he belongs at the cornerback position uh matelis belongs as a starter and then I'm not sure with Bobby McCain and lsen lsen I would guess gets cut right now Bobby McCain I I don't know that he makes it he might just be a body he has gotten a lot of reps out there but this one this one's a little wonkier in our unofficial depth chart watch that one needed a little more uh adjusting I think in order to get it right so there you go there is my you know what I'll call it my official analysis of the unofficial depth chart maybe I should make that the headline of this the official analysis of the unofficial depth chart so there you go oh did we get uh specialist wait who did they list oh Seth Vernon is listed as the backup okay I should have uh I closed it out um on the stream wait do I still have it streaming can I can I go back to this oh I can go back to this okay here we go sorry God what what am I doing over here it's been a long day I almost skipped out on teams will rard is the only kicker since they cut the other kicker starter is Ryan Wright backup is Seth Vernon until proven otherwise I'll with that Long Snapper I hope he never retires Andrew deala great at his job uh you oh and someone asked about personalities you're not going to find too many better than Andrew deala kickoff returners Ken Wong wo Chandler Powell two of these guys it should be listed as two starters I think because two of them will be back there Chandler being mentioned here I don't know how comfortable I am with that when you need somebody to be part of a running back Duo if it is Chandler back back there I don't know uh Powell also I mean you might need him a lot as a wide receiver and he is the starting punt returner Naylor has returned punts in his past but I'd prefer it was Powell to Chandler because Chandler has to get the ball now there is your entire official analysis why don't we just throw these on because now it's right official analysis of an unofficial depth chart going into the preseason we got two more practices I suspect that one of them wait is that right yep Wednesday Thursday one of them will be intense that's likely tomorrow Thursday will be dialed back probably and then they'll go into the preseason game and we'll see who gets the play which will be really fun to find out how they look at this roster Who belongs in the preseason game and then try to read between the lines it is all part of the preseason process C that we should enjoy every step just breathe it in this year because you likely won't get a pre-season quite as entertaining as this or interesting as this in some time and then what we here's what you don't want you don't want me to go back to the old rant about the preseason the old rant was none of this matters but this year you might see JJ McCarthy and then all of a sudden it matters and there's some other position battles normally though I go through this whole thing of guys it's really about maybe one or two roster spots and how people plays is not a big part of what Kevin oconnell factor I gotta give that whole thing not this year not this year uh Mark says I I remember a game uh something was not going well and you could hear Flores call a timeout they didn't get a flag or something I just think KOC is doing too much and needs to delegate no I understand where you're coming from Mark and all those coaches they have some blind spots all the coaches that are calling the plays you kind of just have to take that along with that guy being the best person for the job to call the plays and they do need to delegate as much as they possibly can and oconnell needs as much help as he can possibly get I just don't think he's ever going to look at it and go no I should be worrying about the timeouts and not every single play call because you have to remember something about oconnell he's a quarterback he can look out at the defense from the sideline and see the defense from the quarterback's eyes and so when he's giving the play and a few words to the quarterback there was one time he talked about this with Kirk where he said stay with the Reed right before like it's gonna come open stay with the Reed and he mentioned this in the postgame or what what he had to do with Josh dos can you do that in the same way I mean yeah there's a lot of play callers who maybe didn't play quarterback who are still good at it but I think for what he's asking offensively this is the best fit for him to do that uh JP says we got to take the depth chart with a grain of salt specifically with the defense Brian Flores has been mixing Levi Drake Rodriguez and He's listed at the bottom rotation oh I mean when it comes to the depth chart in general Brian Flores just doesn't have one he has a list of skills that everybody has and where he wants them them and then he puts them there he made that very obvious last year that it there is no you play first you play second you're the backup to this guy it is what player skill sets are going to work in what situations and what schemes and then there you go uh Evan asks do you think they should play Dallas Turner in this preseason probably not I I mean I think he is going to be worked in in the regular season uh he doesn't have to start right away he doesn't have to play 70 snaps when you have grenard you have van GLE you have Pat Jones and he can ramp up 15 snaps 25 snaps that kind of thing doesn't have to get out there and play I would really really hate to see him get hurt in a preseason game that doesn't mean anything so I'm going to go with no I do not think that Dallas Turner should play in the preseason just keep keep doing practice and then work him in slowly as the season goes along uh Zumer Kev on the Ivan Pace scale how much are Levi Drake Rodriguez and Dwight mcglothern forcing their way onto the field Pace looked like he didn't belong on the field last preseason in a good way oh yeah no he did yeah he came right out and was great in those preseason games that's a good observation um Ivan pace is one of the biggest outliers I've ever seen in my entire career watching sports football I mean how many times have you ever seen a guy who not only is undrafted but is also way below the usual specs then come out and just be excellent right away and great is the highest graded rookie linebacker when there's all these guys I don't know what was there probably 25 linebackers taken ahead of them I I've never seen anything like it happened right away normally for a udfa you're talking about two to three seasons like Adam thielen like Anthony Harris not instantly so yeah that would be a 10 out of 10 for a crazy late round or udfa player these guys are maybe a four or a five uh getting a rooll with the first team in practice puts you in that four five six range where you could be something right away as a seventh round pick a contributor potentially and uh Dwight mcle I would put more as maybe a two or three three if he makes the roster out of the pace scale that's a three or a four if he makes the roster he might still end up being a practice squad guy depending on their numbers um I don't want to go too far just yet but Levi Drake Rodriguez carving out a roll that's something that is absolutely something to look at um let's see miles good to see miles do you think that the depth chart is a sign of who's likely going to be playing in the first preseason game as in starters aren't going to be playing much if any Kevin oconnell has not been a big fan of playing his starters and if we were to go through and take a guess it would just be all the veteran players with any experience or rookie like Dallas Turner who I am not sure is going to play but anybody with any experience who's going to matter to the team except for whoever the quarterback needs you'll probably see jayen Naylor because the quarterback needs Jaylen Naylor and you'll see a lot of you know other wide receivers who are battling for position but someone like that is not proven enough to not be on the field anybody who's proven anybody who's locked into their spot shouldn't be playing and won't be playing in this preseason game it will be everybody else uh even the backup offensive line is pretty good maybe they have the starting offensive line go one series they did that I think they did that one year where they had the offensive line goal one series and that was it and then they were done for the day but the backup offensive line is pretty pretty good it it's not going to be many guys who are any type of significant contributor it could be Ken wongo starting as the backup running back uh or starting as the backup starting as the running back because even the first two guys Aaron Jones and Ty Chandler should not be playing they need them too much for those guys to be in at tight end you might not see Josh Oliver or Johnny M they might begin with Nick Muse which is fine there's a lot of intrigue with all these different players I just if you say to yourself could this guy matter then he's probably not playing and that's the thing about Sam darnold is does he change that math at all does it change to have Sam darnold run one series with Garrett Bradberry because they just want to get him out there and see or three series with Garrett Bradberry and the offensive line they will not be putting out Jordan Addison or Justin Jefferson that would be unless it was for again one series but I still can't even see that so then you're asking darnold to go out there and play with guys that he hasn't usually played with are they going to have him do that or are they just not going to play Sam darnold at all and make it pretty clear where things stand right now Zoomer Kev do you think Addison was catching punts in practice because he could be the fair catch hands guy for short punts I think that maybe every team has this do you remember well if you're Zoomer then I don't know if you remember uh but when uh Randy Moss came in a game late against the Chiefs they were losing it was a national TV game I think and he returned a punt for a touchdown it was absolutely electric uh Tyreek Hill did this where he came into a game uh against the Vikings and he went back there and he scared the punter and the punter shanked it and then they kicked a game-winning field goal Addison might be the okay down six points you got no timeouts the other team's punting you essentially need a punt return for a touchdown or a 50- yard return to have any chance to win the game let's send Jordan Addison back out there because he's special maybe that's the only thing I could come up with otherwise the Jordan Addison shouldn't be back there catching punts at all maybe he was bored I don't know miles uh everyone is begging to see the quarterback play I'm dying to see Flores dialing up that defense mixing and matching Edge rushers all over the front seven it's going to be a dream that's going to be very different from what we've seen these last two years um well two years ago was donatell since oconnell took over but last year it really had to just be two guys that they could mix in on the edge and now you're right they have four maybe if Gabriel Murphy makes the team they have five uh maybe Jihad ward has a role for himself there's a lot that they can do Mark says if the cornerback room works out I want our defense terrorizing offenses if the cornerback room is average they will be good on defense they will be a very tough team to handle if the corners are at least average then they will be really tough to go against Sean says starting JJ McCarthy or darnold on Saturday do you not put your best offensive line out there yeah that's a good question if you start mcarthy well then he should work with the guys that he's been working with in practice because they're familiar with each other so he should take I think it's Dani has been playing Center uh and uh Jurgens and Ryner and quesenberry and Rouse has been mixing in like do that like do that um like have the team that he's been working with and he's comfortable with those players but if darnold starts then you have to start the offensive line as well maybe that's a factor maybe it's not maybe they could go in for one or two series and you feel pretty good about it uh Evans says which two guys turn kickoffs during the preseason game if Wong wo Chandler and Powell don't play I think Wong wo will play uh but if Chandler and Powell don't play maybe you get Dwayne McBride in there maybe you get Jaylen Naylor uh that would be my guess for the guys who could be back there jayen Naylor I believe was back there taking some of them mil says I remember Percy Harvin was returning punts then again it was Percy he could do anything that's true Percy is uh exceptional exceptional one of the all-time talents maybe not the body of work but one of the all-time talents he could do anything I don't doubt that Percy Harvin could have played quarterback if you needed him to running back receiver punt returner Corner safety anything you asked him to do but that's the type of thing with Percy send him back there to return punts Addison did it in college it's just it's a dangerous position back there you can really get smacked you don't want that for Addison uh What About Bob if this team starts off soft turning the ball over missing tackles getting run over the Run game I'll question the toughness of the team and the preparation of the coaching staff you tell him Bob I don't know what year is it I I'm just not sure about that man I mean they fumbled a lot last year it was weird the first year they crushed the Packers in week one I don't know I we want to make those connections and I think people did last year when they fumbled a bunch of times where they wanted to say well yeah they should have played more guys in the preseason nobody plays anybody in the preseason there might be a one or two teams who still play their starters a little bit I think Andy Reid still forces his starters out there doesn't he for a couple series because he's old school I mean you just don't see it very much uh as far as the team being soft that's kind of another thing I mean when we look at the individuals on the team is Justin Jefferson soft is I mean talking about like making tackles Jonathan grenard Blake Cashman Ivan Pace U Andrew van gingle who's Harrison Smith Josh matelis like who's soft what what do we mean here if they make mistakes at the beginning of the season because they haven't played in uh three qus of a year or whatever it is half a year how many ever months then uh that will be not uncommon um last year I'm not sure how much we could connect what not playing in the preseason or how they practice and they've been aggressive in practice this year it's been harder practicing this year without question than before because they have a younger team um so I I I don't know I I can't get there with you that that feels sort of 1971 is to me uh with like how the season starts is a reflection it's not like they have six preseason games that everybody plays in um sloth says his noll's back from his injury he was an electric return yeah I think I saw him back there as well on some of those reps we could definitely see him returning he hasn't gotten much work as a wide receiver but he might uh might end up returning so uh oh gosh that's funny want Addison smacked maybe he'll learn something well he doesn't need to learn anything more on the field he's very good at that uh off the field we will see uh but I think this has been a good and enjoyable rundown of the I'm sorry a good and enjoyable official rundown of The Unofficial depth chart so guess what folks we've got another practice tomorrow and you know what that means I'll be going and you know what that means it's another live show and we'll have more fun tomorrow I imagine I really do think it's going to be one of their tougher practices of the year tomorrow which could mean a lot of takeaways we'll try to get more of a rep count and things like that as we go forward and uh then we'll look into it uh one more one more question since it's you miles uh who is the guy on the current roster who you can't help uh but want to succeed that is not a lock besides nailor oh that's uh yeah is there anybody coming back from injury that's uh like who's like who's battling who's trying to fight their way onto this thing you know who I mean who would be a good one is uh well are you talking about I mean on on the roster like you want to see succeed so I guess I could pick anybody but if Blake brandle were to be this guy at left guard I mean he was a a guy that was drafted as a left tackle who never played guard before that we didn't think a whole heck of a lot about and then just kept working and kept working and learned all the positions he even took a few uh backup kind of reps as a center I think last year just so he had all the positions down he's worked really hard to be here at left guard uh he would be one Zummer Kev with James Lynch absolutely James Lynch absolutely James Lynch a guy who's worked his butt off to get back uh with his knee I was trying to I knew somebody was coming back for an injury uh he's the one that's that's a good one um and even you know someone like Brian asima who is still around but got bumped down because of a really excellent player maybe he can actually work out a role this year it just didn't didn't work out for him last year I I'll think about that one so thanks a lot everybody for watching the official breakdown of The Unofficial depth chart and we'll have a lot more to talk about tomorrow uh my conversation with Dane misani in depth about Mark wilf's comments about the Vikings brass and a little more about today's practice and the preseason that'll be uh coming up on uh YouTube in the podcast feed very soon as well and uh tomorrow uh another podcast from TCO performance center expected with Will ragit of Sports Illustrated I mean just going to bring you absolutely everything this week so make sure you like subscribe tell your friends Um send a carrier pigeon to a random person with the words purple Insider written on it that would be much appreciated thanks everybody for watching SL listening and we'll see yall again soon football