The Big Surprises from Vikings' Depth Chart Release

Vikes now I am Dustin Baker and we are three days away from the preseason Vikings Raiders uh Twin Cities US Bank Stadium Vikings haven't won a preseason game in five years they are 0 and 10 in their last 10 pre-season game and it's an indictment of Mike Zimmer and Kevin oconnell this isn't just the oconnell or a Zimmer thing so we got to get off the schneide and to do that to prepare us for that because we have a depth chart we have Josh fry how are you sir I'm doing good yeah Vikings certainly know John Harbaugh when it comes to the preseason um they actually that that winning streak actually ended last year didn't it yeah yeah it was it was Mammoth win streak but I think it it came to an end I want to say maybe right away it felt like I I'll have to look that one but but yeah it's Polar Opposites for both purple teams uh I really don't care if the Vikings win or lose but they should win one as to keep avoiding you know like the the white sock isation of the Vikings preseason uh we got a depth chart yesterday and so I want to talk at length with you about that we want to talk about surprises from it because the depth chart is always so cool it's the the first thing in print um of [ __ ] we've been thinking about for the last four months so the disclaimer that I usually give and you tell me if you disagree is if your favorite player or your favorite rookie is buried that is not an indictment Jordan Addison was wr4 on the first depth chart last year Ivan Pace was ib5 and that all changed within a couple weeks however usually if some of the rookies or unsung guys have climbed that is a good indicator of staying power do I have that right yeah I would say so I mean yeah it's kind of like you just said it's kind of if rookies are a little bit buried early on first of all this is an unofficial depth chart so there's there there's a lot that could change in the next few weeks with preseason gr up and practices with everything The Joint practices that are coming up that's probably going to tell the team a little bit more than the actual preseason just because they have the opportunity to go through situational things and get a little bit I don't want to say more physical but I mean I think they're kind of more open to running a lot of their uh younger guys in those um rather than the actual games nowadays um but yeah if if if a rookie a little bit buried on the depth chart right away especially for this first unofficial one I wouldn't say it's a huge deal but if there are like udfa guys that are surprisingly High it probably means that they've been killing in in Camp and hopefully they're able to continue to do so so yeah I think you're spot on with it okay and we're going to jump into those I also want to say when you talked about The Unofficial depth chart it's always funny when reporters ask oconnell about depth chart because you can tell it gets on his ner it's like somebody asked him yeah it's like somebody asked him about Trump Biden and Harris like he's like oh yeah let's talk about that he always skates it he's got a smile on his face you could tell it gets on his nerves because I think in his mind the depth chart is either fluid or like he knows but he doesn't want to tell everybody as to dash hopes but when reporters you know because that's their job to ask about he's like yeah yeah you guys every time I think these preseason dep charts are kind of interesting because it might just be honestly releasing these J chirs just to see certain guys on the field at the same time and how they gel together so I don't even necessarily know if it's exactly the order that he thinks that the team is in right now it's just hey can we get these guys on the field at the same time and just see how they actually do out there and then maybe we can find something that carries over to the regular season I don't know it's kind of interesting stuff yeah it certainly is let's jump into them let's go back and forth because I think um our surprises uh differed a little bit although they did overlap so what's the first one you got that when you pulled it up vikings.com you're like oh okay so the first one I don't necessarily even know if it's a surprise at this point um I'm just kind of curious to see how this has changed over the past year but I've got Blake brandelle as the uh left guard the starting left guard right now which it's obviously from what's been said and what's been reported over the past few months it shouldn't necessarily be a surprise to a lot of folks that brandle has got that starting job right now over guys like Dalton Ryner um but it's just interesting to think about the fact that the Vikings lost desra Cleveland to that foot injury last year they felt like they didn't have a guy that could hold down that left guard spot so they went out and got Dalton Riser and it was his job for the entire rest of the season there was really no question about it um and now all of a sudden not only is Randle the starting left guard Riser is not even LIF listed as a left guard on the dep CH he's a Right Guard now which is a position he's never played before so I don't necessarily know if it's a surprise it's just it's it's interesting it's going to be interesting for me to find out as reporters do more digging into some of these things exactly how this process has changed from when initially joined the team to where he's at now yeah there's all kinds of oddities because brandle started off as a tackle unceremoniously was a guard um and then Ryner it took forever for him to resign than he did and uh he had his big Twitter moment like yeah I'm back baby I think that's what he wanted it was just to be celebrated as a free agent moment but now he's demoted and he he's playing a position like you said that he hasn't played I'm sure he'll be just fine um but the brandle uh hype was real when West Phil West Phil UPS said it in may he wasn't lying and it's cool now that they actually have depth at offensive guard and you know if we would have had this show in 2019 would be craving praying for this yeah for sure and I mean if something were to happen with Ed Ingram where he takes a step back I think he did at least decently well last year he at least wasn't stepping on Kurt Cousins feet all the time last year so I think it if for whatever reason he takes a step back in year three or he suffers another injury like he missed a couple weeks last year then you've got Dalton Ryner there he's a veteran who started his entire NFL career he's at it's left guard to Right Guard so it's a little bit of a transition but it's still guard it's still kind of the same sort of thing you're just doing things in the opposite motion sort of um but yeah like you said it's really cool that now after years and years of us just be like oh God they got nobody that they could fill in that guard spot they're gonna have to just go find some schmuck and throw them out there if somebody gets hurt but now they've actually got legitimate options and even rookie Michael Jurgens I think he if if something were to happen and he were able to he were able to get an opportunity I think he's I I thought he was really cool coming out of college and I think he's got an opportunity to uh showcase what he can do at the NFL level so that's one of the guys I'm excited to see this weekend actually just see him get out on the field and see what he can do yeah he uh I I think a lot of us had him penin as a center but then they have him at guard I've kind of thought that if Bradberry remains Bradberry which is just mid or sometimes good that they would pivot to Jurgens if he had a successful offseason and um but we shall see the first thing I had that differs from your list and this is Broad bird's eye view because if you've watched Vikings dealings this summer nobody's surprised by it but on the whole Andrew booth and Louis seen buried once again on a depth chart is big news for the grand scope of Vikings football if we would have started to Hash this thing out in February we'd probably say my God booth and seen have to do something this this year or this summer and they haven't uh scene's been hobbled by some damn injury and then booth has already been lapped on the depth chart by guys that shouldn't be lapping him so I wanted to point that one out briefly is unless something really changes I think louen is for sure a goner because I don't think they can keep six safeties Bobby McCain plays there at that spot now and then Andrew Booth is they have him situated right on the roster Bubble at cb5 so that's my first surprise what's your next one uh I actually I me to stick with the quarterback spot and go to Fabian row this is a guy that was just brought in a couple weeks ago kind of seemed like oh we're out of options here who's some guy that we can find and throw into the depth chart oh Fabian Maro is available we'll go get him and now he's just he's CB4 on the depth chart and it's really cool to see and obviously like this isn't just some random dude that they found on the street or anything this dude started 38 games over the past three seasons at the end of all level so he's he he definitely knows what he's doing at the cornerback spot I just it's interesting that I I'm curious to see if it's a matter of he's actually like balling out at camp or if it's just a situation where oh crap the Vikings just we just don't have anybody else that we can have pH in the spot so Fabian Maro is taking it over so that's that's that's kind of another thing I'm gonna be keeping an eye out on preseason as well and he was the guy I was referring to that has apparently already passed booth on the depth chart so not a good omen for booth whose job security I thought got weirdly safe after Kyrie Jackson's death and then maai Blackman's season ending injury but nope it seems like Booth is right there um kind of a quintessential roster bubble guy on cornerbacks my next surprise um is that Duke shell is listed down there at cb7 cb8 and they should know all about him the Vikings should because he played there wonderfully in 2022 so for a team whose most concerning aspect of the depth chart because of tragedy and injury is cornerback Duke Shelly is not even really in the mix unless this is one of those things where it was an oversight or you know we get to August 27th and Shel makes the team great but right now if you believe in the efficacy of the initial depth chart he's rather buried isn't he I would say so and it it might honestly be like between Ed donel and Brian Flores being completely different defensive coordinators like he had great success with that donatell but that was largely just playing backup prevent defense where he didn't necessarily have to get up on his guy at the line of scrimmage or anything whereas with Brian Flores he's probably going to be asked to get up and play some more man or press coverage um on against some of these wide receivers and being sub six foot under 200 200 pounds he's he's that's definitely not necessarily his greatest skill set in the world so I can't say I'm necessarily surprised by it but it definitely is notable to see him buried as much as he is on the dep chart even behind guys like you met Andrew boo where doesn't seem like Boo can even get on the field at this point and He's listed above Duke shell I don't know if Duke shell is GNA actually make this roster anymore act like we talked about last week where kind of I wasn't necessarily convinced that he'd be the 2022 version of Duke Shelly but I thought hey maybe this guy can at least be a depth piece on the roster and now it just doesn't even seem like he's gonna be that at this point yeah that's that's the odd part is they already know his his story and loud and clear one of the best CBS and football per PFF in 2022 and then now a team that really needs somebody at cornerback because of all the [ __ ] that's happened it's like well no he's probably not gonna make the team um all right so I think we got cornerbacks covered what's what's your next surprise that came out of the initial unofficial death chart yeah let's talk about some of the uh undrafted free agents here Gabriel Murphy in his rise up the death chart at the outside linebacker spot I think this was a dude that I thought would be like a fifth round pick maybe the draft because his year at UCLA alongside I'm blanking on his name now latu latu that first rounder that went to the Colts I I think he had a great year and was kind of overshadowed by latu a little bit um but at the end of the day you look at all of his band metrics between pressures and just generating sacks and consistently getting after opposing quarterbacks this dude can definitely rush the passer and that's kind of something that the Vikings need at this point especially from some of their younger guys to to step up and with some of the injury concerns with Andrew van GLE at the top of the depth chart and Jonathan grenard not necessarily having the most steady production throughout his NFL career at this point so having a guy like Gabriel Murphy who can potentially fill in if needed um and rise up the depth chart and contribute to this team I think is really cool to see and he's definitely made his statement so far and he he appears to be listed at ol5 which would probably get him over the bubble and on the team I mean at the very least or very worst he'd be on the practice squad um and is it accurate that the one knock on him really was his arms are too short or is there more to it kind of the sense that I got is just he doesn't have the longest arms in the world but he's also he's so athletic and so powerful that I don't necessarily even see that as a huge issue for him where he can kind of he can get around uh having some of the shorter arms on the team um so yeah that I think that would be the one knock but I'm not Super Con concerned about it it's always so weird with draft items excuse me my eyes giving me a problem it's always so weird like when you would look at that on a Scouting Report I know I know draft Scouts are good at their job but I would I would see that and think who cares almost like Ian Pace SL year oh inch and a half too short to be any good I would think who car or like on the other hand was it uh last year during the draft leadup the cornerback that went to the commanders was it Emanuel Forbes yep when he's like 160 pounds it's like why don't they care about that and then you know he shows up the NFL and he actually is really tiny and I don't know if he was Gang Busters last year but it's so weird how there's like rules um and sometimes they abide by them and sometimes they don't uh speaking of climbers from the udfa ranks there's been a lot of uh smoke about jwn Jones mainly because the team didn't have until training camp started a wr3 that we were really confident about now Jaylen Naylor has mostly licked those concern but there was speculation that hey watch for Deshawn Jones he looks like he's kind of game ready and those theorists I believe were correct at least per Vindication of this def chart He's listed around wr6 um which is kind of Tristian Jackson territory from Vikings team's past so at the very least it seems jwn Jones will probably live on the practice squad and if he uh he should be right down there you know based on his draft stock at wr11 like with they and Malik nolles and those guys but he's notably climbed so addition to Murphy um who has climbed uh Deshawn Jones as well um did you did you know about him Desa Jones before he became a viking I knew a little bit about him just because he was a big 10 guy in Maryland um and I think he's he definitely stands out because he's a he's he's he's a solid route Runner and he can create space in the middle of the field and get open so I think that's kind of probably what the Vikings have seen out of him uh throughout training camp and hopefully that's what they've seen anyway uh throughout training campus's ability to just create space with his route running um but yeah it's really cool to see him rising up the depth J too and heck we'll probably see him in action on Saturday so it'll be uh it'll be cool to see him against NFL Talent when I first saw that uh steam about jwn in probably May and then into June uh I first thought was oh it's because he went to Maryland people think he's automatically digs um that was just my first thought but when you dig into it um the skill set that he has with the route running you mentioned and then now the evident roster climb it'll be cool to monitor him and Vikings fans will love to have uh to watch wide receivers they always Circle one and they hope that he uh you know busts out for this preseason because he should get notable time um my other surprise before we get into your last one or two and we'll preview some of the preseason stuff is Robert tanyan uh the most experienced pass catching tight end if you assume TJ hackinson starts the season on the pup list He's listed around te5 and we were told in June that man this guy really looks the part he's going to be a red zone threat and they can't keep five tight ends so to me it was rather weird that for a team that probably needs a pass catching tight end that Johnny mutt would be ahead of tanion did that surprise you at all I wouldn't necessarily say it surprises me uh just because I don't know Tan's last couple years haven't really done a ton for me other than it was what his 2020 season with the Packers where Aaron Rogers was falling out and getting the ball every time they went down into the Red Zone um but yeah I mean at the end of the day I think Johnny mun and even Josh Oliver I think they've proven enough over the past year or two with the Vikings um that they're capable of catching passes when TJ Hawkinson isn't on the field and they need somebody to just run around in the middle of the field and be a safety net for their quarterback so I'm not necessarily surprised by it or concerned by it by any means because I think Mutt and Oliver are definitely uh depth capable of holding down that role and I think they they've they've proven that they they deserve that opportunity at this point so I think that uh the masses myself included might have been hoodwinked by the name recognition of tan because if we're paranoid the hackinson won't be ready well we at least need somebody and Aon Rogers made this guy good damn it that may have been what happened in retrospect all right you got a final surprise or two before we look at some of this preseason stuff yeah kind of just uh going to the defensive line again uh Jerry Tillery being listed as a starter there I I don't necessarily know if it's should be surprising but it kind of was just because he's former first- round pick obviously and he had all that hype coming into the NFL but over the past few years he's just kind of been a mostly reserved guy who rotates into the defense but the fact that he's holding down that starting job over guys like James Lynch jaquel and Roy Who I Really who I really like coming out of that 2022 draft or 2023 draft class uh for the Vikings um and the fact that the tiller's come in and he's seems to be holding down that starting job it's it it it had me raising an eyebrow a little bit and just being like huh I wonder what this guy's proven in Camp so far so I'm curious to see what happens when he gets out of the field yeah he got cleated on Saturday I don't know if you saw that so he should be back it sounds like it sounds like it's a nasty thing but it's not overly detrimental to football uh Kevin oconnell talked about that yesterday and the thing that was odd about him I think kind of like we talked about getting Hoodwinked by the name recognition tanyan I think we were disappointed when tiller was the keynote defensive tackle signing because there were so many other guys they could have got so when they got some first round bust that's you know a castoff it's like really that that's the guy we get uh he played about 500 snaps last year it's about half the time and his PFF grade was 67.7 so by Vikings standards that's certainly an improvement yeah over Dean Lowry in the gang um it's just that he has to kind of have a rebirth a Reclamation with Brian Flores and if he's at the top of the J uh depth chart uh so be it all right let's get into some preseason items I think you have to come up with these on the fly so um Saturday the Vikings take on the Raiders somehow they're underdogs by three and a half Point probably because of that damn losing streak I've got a little list of things um we can go back and forth uh at the at the bottom of the list but still important I want to see how will rker looks uh because it's been so damn long since the Vikings had a kicker that they drafted or found and the guy was good it was was the good days of Blair Walsh and before that at least in recent memory Ryan Longwell was very good but he came from the Packers so will will rikard's consistency I mean if if he misses a kick that's not the end of the world but I really want to see if they're going to be able to Showcase his leg a little bit um so the kicker position because it's so snake bitten for this franchise I will watch what's one you have on your mind well you stole the Riker one from me but with I'll stick with the Special Teams here and I I'll go with the I'll go with the new cake return rule I'm curious to see how Canadian Wong wo or whoever is out there on the field on Saturday I don't know if it'll be inong wo or Chandler however Kevin oconnell decides he wants to and Matt Daniels decide that they want to uh run this thing um but with the new kicker T rule it's kind of more like a play from scrimmage rather than the kick returns that were typically used to and nongu thrived in that old kick return uh role with the Vikings over the past three years but now with it being more of a play from scrimmage type of lineup and everything thing that dude hasn't really seen much opportunities as a running back with the Vikings offense so I'm curious to see if he can continue the same sort of production um in that special teams kick return role that he has over the past few years yeah and then the the the return rule change in general for those who didn't watch the Hall of Fame game it'll be the first taste for most of Vikings fans to figure out they're gonna be like yeah they're gonna be like oh yeah I forgot about this or I flat out didn't know about it they'll say what the hell is this um so I have seen him booth on my list I'm not going to get in my speech about them again but this is to me their last best chance these preseason games to show like hey you know we have that dog in US remains to be seen if that'll happen and then we just talked about the defensive tackles but I want to ask you if we think tiller will probably start next to Harrison Phillips on certain downs and then they love Jonathan Bullard I'm sure he finds a way to stay on the roster what about like the The Underdogs like Levi Drake Rodriguez or jquan Roy do you a expect both those guys to make the team or get substantial playing time this season I think it's probably going to be one or the other at this point unfortunately and I honestly I I think Levi Drake Rodriguez has shown just about everything that he possibly could as a seventh round pick so far in training camp just staying out on the field late he's bringing all the energy to the field press conferences whatever interviews he's doing so I I'm really excited to see him take the field on Saturday but yeah at the end of the day it might be a battle between and Rodriguez for that last roster spot at the defensive tackle position yeah there's others there too like uh Jonah Williams who looked pretty good at times James Lynch who always looked good but was never healthy for the Vikings so it's a crowded spot it's one of those ones where they got a lot of bodies but no absolute standouts or pro bowlers uh do you have a couple other we'll get to the quarterback here and to close out the show do you have any other story lines that you're watching um honestly I might I might just throw jayen I name out there again just because we haven't talked about him yet today and I I love me some Jaylen Naylor um and so far Camp seems like he's doing everything that he can to prove himself as a wide receiver three Lisa is wide receiver three on this initial depth chart so once he gets onto the field against actual competition against a different team a different defensive look how does he perform does he continue to progress in the way that the Vikings have seen him progress throughout training camp or does he take a step back and go back to being kind of that more wider five wide receiver six guy that we've kind of been used to over the past couple years they can't afford to let that happen uh because then what then you actually do have to go do the hunter Renfro thing that we've talked about since miday uh but Naylor for sure because nobody's ever had any beef with his talent it's whether or not he actually plays uh a couple other ones to monitor um are the cornerbacks although we talked about them in the first segment this this somebody if we consider presumptive starters Byron Murphy and Sha and I think we've talked ourselves into being hey they're veterans they're good but that isn't really good I mean it's that's that's decent guys and then what and you have to hope that Andrew Booth is ready or Caleb Evans is coached up to the utmost um so quarterbacks to see what their plan is in the preseason game and my other favorite one that I I always seem to forget until the F the few days before preseason is because Kevin oconnell never plays starters you have a built-in hack to figure out who's going to make the team uh so I I invite fans um whether you're there in attendance or at home watching it on NFL Network just figure out who's not playing and then those guys should be safe um from the roster bubble all right let's get into the quarterback stuff because that really is the the attraction for the preseason game I don't care what anybody else says assuming that JJ McCarthy and Sam Darnell play and I think the other two will tell me what is your is it just seeing McCarthy in an organized setting I I think that's it for me to see if this training camp like Majesty can translate or are you just as interested to see darnold I'm I'm honestly equally curious to see both of them uh because Kevin oconnell has been has given such high praise for both guys throughout training camp and obviously that's kind of his job at this point is to just hype his guys up as much as he possibly can at this point in the summer um but yeah I'm kind of curious to see how both perform and I'm curious to see how they compare against the Raiders defense this weekend obviously they'll probably be going against a lot of different Personnel um in terms of just substitutions and getting guys it's preseason so they're not going to keep the same guys out on the field for too long um but yeah I'm kind of curious to see how both uh perform this week and honestly even assuming Jared Hall gets onto the field at some point I'm curious to see how his development go is going as well because this is this dude was he had a raw deal in his rookie season and he he got a lot of flack for it um but I'm curious to see how he kind of has bounced back from the 2023 campaign yeah in an extreme alternate universe the Vikings could have reigned cousins and then Hall could have remained like the young guy we had that we were grooming even though he's he's pretty old for that task kind of the Kell andm feeling that we had in 2021 um so because we haven't talked to you at length uh since May or so I want to get to close out the show from you I want to know what you would do week one at quarterback and then secondarily what is your prediction now that we have about two and a half weeks of McCarthy tape that looks pretty damn spicy in a good way what would you do week one and what do you think will happen at qb1 I think for both answers I'm going Sam darnold starting a qv1 uh just I think it at this point the Vikings they should probably realize maybe they don't but they're obviously going into every week trying to win the game um but I think at this point the Vikings goal in 2024 is not to win a Super Bowl I've said that pretty much all spring been pretty consistent about that um it's mainly just developing the super young roster and seeing if they can use their salary cap space next spring to go all in on 2025 and I think rushing JJ McCarthy onto the field at this point would be a little bit foolish um given the fact that you've got Sam darnold there you've got Nick Mullins there as well both guys who have started consistent at consistently at points throughout their NFL careers um so making sure that JJ McCarthy is absolutely ready for when he takes his first snaps and maybe that is week one but I kind of have a feeling with how a lot of rookie QB situations go that probably isn't going to necessarily be the case he could probably be about 80% but I want him to be absolutely 100% ready when he takes his first NFL regular season snaps uh so that's why I kind of think that they'll stick with darnold I want him to stick with darnold at this point is there anything McCarthy could do the rest of this month for you to say oh [ __ ] let's let's go ahead and do this yeah I mean if he goes like 10 for 12 with two touchdowns over this over this weekend and the rest of the preseason games and I'd be like I'd probably be at that point like okay yeah this dude's ready just get him on the field whenever you want um but honestly it's it it it would take a lot like that for me to kind of sway from that opinion um I'm I'm I'm excited to see McCarthy on the field at some point but like I said I just want him to be absolutely ready for his first NFL snaps if we get to the 1 of September and there's a press conference where Kevin oconnell says this guy has won the job he's starting week one will you be mad or anxious absolutely not I I trust Kevin oconnell and if if he thinks that JJ McCarthy's ready he's he spent a lot more time than him with with him than I have so I'm gonna I'm gonna trust Kevin OK connell's judgment being a former quarterback being a guy that was brought in to develop a Young quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and their future if if he says we're ready to go I'm going to trust that they're ready to go and be excited to see what happens in week one and because you're such a draft head is there anything that um has happened in the NFL in the last three and a half months whether it's a player in a bad team whether it's a guy who's starting to show up at training camp is there any rookies that you've been like ah I knew it or oh my God what are they doing I'll be honest with you over the past few weeks with everything that I've been just going through in personal life I haven't gotten a chance to do much outside of the Vikings at this point um so I'm gonna I'm gonna have to get back to you on that one and hopefully have an answer for you at some point in the next few weeks as I as I settle in and uh get back into this thing we call NFL yeah it's perfect timing for it because the preseason completely takes off this weekend all right sir um I will be in Hawaii for the next several days but I think you and I can probably record next Thursday or Friday so we're about eight eight days from now um so yeah preseason game for the folks to watch somehow the Vikings are underdogs they haven't won one of these since 2019 any closing thoughts no I'm just excited for Saturday see what this team can do and maybe we'll snap this losing streak finally yep and then we we have no more Shawn Manion for good he's now a Packers coach if you can believe that so the preseason enters a new era what a sweet way to do it with a 21y old quarterback all right we'll talk to you in a little over a week okay sounds good see you then yep take care