Dane Mizutani: Jaren Hall potentially has an opportunity for the Minnesota Vikings

the sports you love the teams you can't live without the urgency this is Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975d KSL Sports Zone [Music] Jacob Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone let's talk a little jiren Hall let's get out of his own phone he covers the Vikings for the Pioneer Press Dane mizutani with us here on Jae and Ben Dane thanks for a few minutes how are you good how you guys doing Dane quickly as we get to know you I see you were born in Hawaii and chose to live in Minnesota that was a choice yeah I actually grew up in Illinois family still back in Hawaii but parents split when I was little and I guess I figured cold was is n cold enough so I I kept going north um but yeah have been here about 15 years now well before we get to jiren Hall can you give us an idea of I guess the culture of that division of the NFL because like you're saying you're talking about Chicago we're talking about Wisconsin we're talking about Minnesota I mean it is the brutal of the brutal weather that our country has to offer what does that bring out of these teams that you've noticed as you've covered them yeah I mean I think just generally speaking um it's brought a a level of intensity that that you kind of seem to see weak in week out over the course of the season um I don't know if I'll go as far as to say like it it kind of transcends into Big 10 football style of play where you see guys just loaded up and and run the ball certainly that at times in the past the Vikings have have relied on the ground game with with Adrien Peterson uh but obviously they've had Randy Moss they have Justin Jefferson now so I'm not saying the the weather dictates the the style of play um but I think it creates just inherent rivalries when you have these these intense games that are often times played in you know subzero temperatures Soldier Field Lambo field um we're lucky here we get to play in a dome so can't complain about that but yeah just just a good rivalry all around and in the NFC North is obviously an ascending division maybe the best in football right now how has uh Kurt Cousins departure gone over with the Viking faithful uh I think it's pretty split Kurt Cousins was a pretty polarizing guy he had people who were going to ride or die for him no matter what and he had people who thought he was a good not good enough type of quarterback so I think there is that section of of fans that probably no matter what happens is going to say ah they should have just found a way to get cousins back on the roster um but I'm in kind of the camp of you you had to move forward and it's really unfortunate with what happened with JJ McCarthy but there's a plan in place here and it's been in place for a couple of years um and I think part of that plan was eventually moving on from you know a mid-30 year old quarterback uh who maybe has played his best football now coming off in a killes injury so he's a polarizing guy but I think overall I would say half the fan base is probably living in the past half the fan base is excited about the future um it's pretty flipped 5050 split what was the expectation for JJ McCarthy I know when you draft the guy in the first round there's a chance that he's got to start right away and you look at Caleb Williams and you look at BO Knicks and some of these guys who have already won these jobs and success of CJ strad last year was that the expectation that he was going to be the guy or was he ever really competing for the job I think it was always Sam darnold's job to be the week one starter um I think JJ McCarthy the momentum was certainly building he's had a great training camp uh let should say he had had a great training camp because now he's no longer out there on the field but he's he performed really well in training camp and then everyone saw what he did in preseason game one against the Raiders and I think the excitement was building across Minnesota the momentum was building for when are we GNA see this guy under Center but truthfully when push came to shove I think Sam darnold was always going to be the guy to get the nod into early stages of the Season obviously the the entire thing was when is JJ going to play so that would have been a storyline that we got pretty much every week and now we don't have that it's pretty much Sam darnold's job unquestionably moving forward what do they like about jiren Hall I think they like just like he's as professional as a guy as you're GNA see um he's a guy who he carries himself like he's been in the league for 10 years um he's a he's a good study partner in that room um and I think just like he really fits into that culture that the Vikings are trying to kind of build I think there are limitations to what jiren Hall can do on the football field but I I think he was also put in a really tough spot last year probably being asked to play when maybe he wasn't ready to play so I'm not ready to judge his entire career arc on what we saw um you know or what we didn't see when when he got under Center last year in in live game action um but I think he's a really bright kid um you you won't find a player in the room that has a bad word to say about him um and and showed in the preseason game against the Browns over the weekend he's really starting to grasp this offense I thought it was as comfortable as he's looked in in a Vikings uniform and obviously it's a preseason game so he's not going against the ones um but I think Ascension is always something you're looking for in young players and I think they're seeing that with jiren Hall um I don't know what that means long term I don't know if maybe they hope to groom him into a a backup quarterback or if he's just kind of a practice squad guy for the foreseeable future um but I know they like him and and he's he certainly has a skill set and and something to offer the Vikings yeah I guess that's my next question is is he guaranteed a roster spot even because he was already behind McCarthy and then behind darnold by what you're saying and they brought in Nick Mullen again I mean Nick Mullen is still around so what is the expectation for jiren Holland his ability to even just make this this 53 man roster yeah I think a lot of what happens with jiren Hall will hinge on other positions and what I'm saying is I think in a perfect world or if the Vikings could just keep all the players they want to keep they would just keep jiren Hall on the 53 man roster because they value what he brings um they have the obviously an emergency quarterback Rule now and um I I I think I don't know if jiren Hall would get claimed off of waivers but the Vikings have put so much work into the kid over the last two years that if they were to way cut him and he were to get clammed off of waivers I think they would feel a bit like that was you know a waste on their part to to develop him and then just to kind of expose him to the rest of the league but what I'm saying when I say his spot on the roster hinges on other roster spots is I I do think if if we're splitting hairs and if the Vikings want to keep an extra cornerback or they feel they need a little bit more depth here on the edge or you're looking in the trenches and they and they're you know deciding between should we keep a a young defensive lineman a young offensive lineman or or jiren Hall I think they might take the risk of saying you know let's cut him maybe we can get him to the practice squad um I don't know who's using the wer claim on jiren hall right now um but I know you know it's always a risk so are the Vikings willing to take that risk we'll see um but I like I said I think he's he's had a really good training camp and his performance the other day in the preseason I think obviously increased his chances of of making this team in a couple of weeks now obviously you're on the air in Salt Lake City and uh so the Utah Jazz are a big topic of conversation and they are in the middle of a rebuild and Ben and I have spent the painstaking summer talking about if it would be advantageous for them to trade Lowry marinin or not so in that uh in that vein should uh Minnesota consider trading Justin Jefferson because he does not fit in the window no no way no way he's too good and I think it's a little different in the NBA where you can trade one guy with hopes of you know maybe getting worse in the short term you know if you traded if if the Jazz traded lry Markin in this year they'd put themselves in really good contention to get Cooper flag next year if you get Cooper flag you're instantly a good team in two years it's different in the NFL if you trade Justin Jefferson who is to me the best receiver in the NFL to some arguably the best receiver in the NFL like I I just don't see the vision like it's it's hard to turn the team around in in a couple of years with just a couple of draft picks so I think the goal in the NFL in terms of just roster construction building a team for the long-term future of the franchise get as many good players as you can um and and Justin Jefferson is one of the best players in the NFL so no chance I'm ever trading that guy um Vikings won't traded me they just gave him more money than God so uh he you know he's he's going to be around for a really long time what what is the Hope for the Vikings this year because they're not the Packers they're certainly not the Lions and they may not be the Bears so like what what what's the hope for the season what's a good year look like I think a good year looks like be competitive right around 500 and take your chances maybe be in that playoff race towards the end I I don't know if they're going to be good enough to win the division because I think the Lions have just taken another step um and I think the Packers with Jordan love taking another step are are more dangerous than the Vikings but I do think if the Vikings are able to get something out of Sam darnold and that's a big if because we haven't seen it much in his career um just very very short glimpses here and there but if the Vikings are able to get something out of Sam darnold this year I I think there's Talent across the roster where they could flirt with a nine and8 record and maybe that's good enough to get a wild card spot in the NFC I I don't think and I think there are people out there who do think that the Vikings are going to be one of the worst teams in football four wins five wins I think there's too much talent there um so I don't think that that's even remotely in the in the question of of you know possibilities that could happen I think when you just look at the top to bottom Talent we've talked about Justin Jefferson I think the defense will be improved um you don't need Sam darn to go out there and be you know Tom in his prime you just need him to not turn the ball over a lot and that's been an issue for him at times in the past but if they can kind of rain him in get the most out of him um it's the most Talent Sam darnold's had to work with I think this team could could flirt with the playoffs um one side or the other it's a razor that which which side are they going to end up on I don't know but I I think they'll be hovering right around 500 for most of the Year Dane we appreciate you jumping on with us man thanks a lot no problem guys anytime enjoy the season