August 29, 2025 • 43 mins
Welcome to the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. It's been a busy couple weeks at TCO Performance Center. The Minnesota Vikings named their initial 53-man roster, they traded Harrison Phillips to the Jets, brought in Quarterback Carson Wentz, and traded for Wide Receiver Adam Thielen. Tatum Everett reached out to Vikings Radio Analyst Pete Bercich to help break it all down. Pete dives into the mentality of the front office moves, why the Carson Wentz move feels like a good fit, the urgency to acquire Adam Thielen, and why coaches only focus on the need to win on a week-to-week fashion. Plus, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah addresses the media during his press conference this week. All of this and more is in episode 309 edition of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. I'm your MVP host
Tatum Everett. It's been a really busy week over here
at Twin City's Orthopedics Performance Center. Roster cuts, decision making
that sets the tone for the season ahead, plus back
to work with practices, and just getting ready for the
season opener in Chicago on September eighth. We've got some
(00:30):
major storylines to talk about. How about Adam Feelen returning
to Minnesota, Carson Wentz a new quarterback here for the team.
We'll talk about how the roster shaped up on both
sides of the ball and what it all means as
we gear up for that Week one matchup. We've got
a special guest ahead of us. It's going to be
Pete Bursts from the Vikings Radio Network. We were able
(00:51):
to get together with Paul Allen to do a roster
cutdown show earlier this week, which you can find on
Vikings dot Com on the Vikings YouTube page, and we
did some preliminary talk about that, but I wanted Pete
to come onto the podcast to talk a little bit
more in depth about what these moves mean and what
he's looking forward to about playing Chicago. But first, before
(01:11):
we get to Pete, let's hear from Vikings general manager
Quasi Adopha Mensa, who was, you know, the main catalyst
and making all these tough decisions this week because everything
had to be decided by Tuesday at three o'clock.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And those are tough decisions.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You're telling guys that, you know, maybe they didn't make
the team and their dream is on hold. So he
spoke a little bit about what that decision making process
is like and why the Vikings feel confident in their
roster moving forward.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
You know, as we established the fifty three in our
practice squad, we're you know, really excited about where we are.
It's a team, it's it's a result accumulation of just
a long, dedicated process of exhaustive, intentional, detailed I always
want to start off by thanking the front office staff,
who works incredibly hard, on my executive staff, all the
(01:59):
members of the personnel team. You know, the August is
the time that we're all conditioned ourselves towards the rigors
of the NFL season, and it's no different for the players,
coaches and the staff. You know, a lot of late
nights in August when everybody else is on their summer vacation,
they spend their time here in pursuit of this goal.
So I always want to make sure I thank them
to Ko and his staff, you know, the continued collaboration
(02:20):
we have, and that's not just in the decision making process,
but that's also who we bring in, where we're aligned,
and who we bring in and who we want to coach,
how do they fit in and so that continues to
be a great thing here. And then and lastly, our
football operations staff, who provide our players great resources as
they you know, optimize their ability to to finish this
great training camp that Kevin and his staff put on.
(02:42):
So we're excited where we are. We think, you know,
obviously there's a lot of hard decisions. You know, I
think I think we have a deep roster and you know,
with that came just some hard decisions. And you never
want to trade away players, especially ones that do that
do the right thing and do everything that that fit
to fit into this culture and be about this culture.
But those are things that come with the job and
(03:02):
we have to do them. But we like where we are,
where this roster is excited about the you know, the connectivity,
the culture we're excited about, you know, the mix of
veteran players and young players, and we're excited about the systems,
the coaching staff and how they're going to be able
to get the best out of this team.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
You can hear Quacy and head coach Kevin O'Connell's entire
press conference on vikings dot com and the Vikings app.
Carson Wentz, Adam Thielen, and former Golden Gopher Max Brosmer
also spoke today and those interviews are also online. We're
going to take a quick break before we get to
our guest, Pete Burstt, so stay tuned. Say hello to
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(04:06):
to Vikings fans. Welcome back inside the Minnesota Vikings podcast.
We are excited to be joined by someone who knows
this team inside and out. Pete Bursich, who was a
linebacker here, also served on the coaching staff and now
he's a trusted voice in.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
The broadcast booth. He's literally seen the.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Game from every angle and that's why he's the best
guy for this episode to talk about roster position groups
and what to watch for before heading into our primetime
season opener Monday, September eighth. That's Soldier Field. Well, let's
welcome in our friend of the show, Pete Bursach. Pete,
it is so nice of you to join us once again.
(04:46):
I know you were on our Roster cut Day show,
which you can find on Vikings dot com. However, I
wanted to dive more into the roster specifics with you.
I thought you had a lot of really fun perspectives.
Have you been able to like take it all in,
you know, analyze it in your head, listen to Quacy
and Kevin and kind of like get a new bearing
(05:07):
on what's going on in the last few days.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Yeah. You you know, the smoke casts are kind of
clear and in that regard, that's exactly what's going on.
It's just a matter of digesting everything that's happened. Uh.
And then you know, as far as who's gonna fit
where you kind of figure that out and you see
spots where maybe there's some lack of depth or veteran depth,
(05:31):
if you will. But overall, they you know, they sounded
him very happy with how the roster turned out, and
you know, I would have to agree. And getting a
guy like Adam Feelen does change, does change a lot
of things.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, let's talk about that one move Peine in particular.
I'm glad you brought it up, was my next question,
because like he's coming back.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Yeah, it's it's you know, it's a it's a move.
It's kind of when I was when I played here
with Dennis Green whenever, you know, you go through training
camp and you'd have your cuts and everything else, and
once the season was going on, if somebody went down,
put on ir something like that. He would always try
to bring back a familiar face once once you get
(06:17):
into that regular season mode. And it was something that
he did intentionally. That way, whoever you bring in isn't
going to be a distraction. They understand how things work,
they understand the process and how they practice and all
those things. So to bring in someone who's familiar with
all the faces with everybody who works there. You know
what I'm saying, There's no you don't have to show
(06:39):
him where the restroom is, so to speak, where's the
locker room or you know, he can come right in.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
No pete.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
He was dapping up everybody in the media area before
he even started his press conference, say saying hello to everyone,
and talking in this presser about how you know, how
comfortable he is with Kevin O'Connell, how much trust he
has in him and as a play caller, just the
evolving of of everything, and and you're right, like that
adds just such another layer to things.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Well what it what it does is it not necessarily
like adds a layer. It just makes the transition so
much easier.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
That's fair.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
I mean think about think about think about with his
with with his family. Yeah, right, they know where they are.
They know what you don't have. You don't have any
of those worries. You have family, you have. It's it's
almost and I wouldn't say too good to be true,
but it's as ideal as it can be to bring
in somebody. Now, the need at the wide receiver position,
(07:35):
he's gonna He's gonna fill that in the first three
weeks of this season is going to be extremely important
till George, you know, til Addison gets back. So he's
gonna have to come. He's gonna have to be ready
to go right out of the gate.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
And Pete, do you think we're going to see him?
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Do you think we're going to see him like do
the same stuff that we saw what two seasons ago?
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, I mean I would think going going into this
first game, it all depends on, you know, the health
of Jalen Naylor and where Jalen Naylor is. Right, because
he's he's the number three. Is he good enough to
be the number two yet? Well, that's that's going to
be the question. So and that's why it's so good
(08:20):
to have a guy like Adam Feelin because he he
can learn multiple positions. Now it's it's it's a new
old offense, so to speak. But he's flexible enough. I
think that you can plug him in anywhere and he's
he's going to produce. So depending on the health of
Jalen Naylor and where he is, you know, Feeling could
be the number two receiver going into Monday night against
(08:44):
the Chicago Bears. So it's it's it's a. It's an
absolute need for that spot. I don't know Ty Felton,
Jalen Naylor, those those are like the next you know,
obviously the next body's up where they are right now,
we don't know, We're not going to know, and so
be ready to see feeling either get some three wide
(09:06):
help on third down or be out there for third down,
or he might just be out there almost all the time.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yes, Kevin O'Connell spoke in his press conference today. Asked
about some injuries that are happening, and he says he'll
give a full report in the week leading up to the.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Monday night football games.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
We really don't have much of an update towards any
of the knicks or bruises or injuries that happened during
training camp. I want to also switch gears a little
bit into another post, you know, well pre roster really,
but as they're making the decision to go from ninety
to fifty three, they waive Brett Rippon, trade Sam Howell,
(09:45):
and sign Carson Wentz. And that was just kind of
a flurry of moves that the Vikings made over the
weekend that led into three quarterbacks on the roster with
starter JJ McCarthy, then Carson Wentz the veteran in the room,
and now you have undrafted free agent, former Golden Gopher,
also rookie ma Max Brosmer, and I mean, it's just
(10:07):
incredible to see how this shook up over the last
few days. But what were your thoughts on all those moves?
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Well, I think the main thing with I think JJ
is exactly where he needs to be. In fact, you know,
listening and talking to coach O'Connell, he believes JJ, at
least a week or two ago, a week or so ago,
was ahead of schedule. So that's good. It's just the
Sam Howell thing didn't work. They obviously saw something in
(10:33):
Sam Howell as a quarterback. And I went back on
the film too, and and and and talked about that
and what he did two years ago and with the
Commanders and watched the game against Philly and the Bears,
and there's some there's talent there, There's there's something there.
And he's a veteran. He knows what it's like to
game plan and and change week to week. And so
(10:56):
if something did go wrong with JJ, then and you'd
have at least a veteran backup. And he has a
skill set, different style of offense now, and that was
the big question mark was is he going to fit?
But credit the Vikings. This is again something that if
you've been around as long as I have, when guys
(11:16):
are brought in or mistakes were made, they kind of
lived with them. Whereas now if they don't like the
way something's going, they they they step up and make
a change. They release a guy, they bring somebody in,
They make moves to make this roster look how they
want it. And Carson Wentz is perfect for that. I
mean he's not Adam Feeling, but he's like yeah feeling. Yes,
(11:40):
I was kind of fan North Dakota State.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, well, I was gonna say.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
And Kevin talked about like his familiarity with that system
that he was on the rams, so he's familiar with
that McVeigh system. He's got a lot of familiarity with
Ryan Kelly, the new Viking Center, who used to be
with the Colts.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
They are apparently like best of friends.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
They were in Indie, see a lot of each other,
So you already have that connection with your center, and
so I think like to build upon that. It was
like another like oh well we should do this because
this makes sense for transition reasons, similar to what you
said about feeling right.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
And make no mistake, Carson Wentz would if if you
throw him in there tomorrow, Uh, he's going to struggle.
You know, we saw that with Josh Dobbs a couple
of years ago. It's just you fresh off the truck.
Here's a new language, go learn. It's like learning how
to speak Spanish in you know, thirty, you know, forty
eight hours. It's very difficult to do. So he's he
(12:39):
has a learning curve as well. H His great the
greatest asset that he is he's going to be to
the team right now is to just mentor JJ McCarthy,
and he spoke about that in his press County.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
You're right, yeah, you know.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
He and JJ were talking about what's the schedule going
to look like for the week and everything else. And
so if if he's the right kind of guy, you know,
gets in there, watches film studies organized, uh, it's going
to rub off on on the you know, on JJ
and and hopefully that's that's what you want and it works.
(13:14):
Jay's got to do what's right for him. But having
a guy like Carson Wentz who's pretty wise in his
in his in his years, Yeah, is going to do
nothing but help so.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Well in the relatability between being a first round draft
pick with high expectations, who's now mentoring a first round
draft pick with expectations. And another thing that was ultimated huge.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
They both played big time college. You're both champions.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
You're right, well, they they both are national champions technically.
And in another thing of note is you know, Josh
McCown backed up Carson Wentz, went into the game when
Carson Wentz was injured. So there's also this familiarity between
Josh McCown, the Vikings quarterbacks coach, and Arson Wentz. And
so it's kind of all that like same kind of
(14:04):
everyone's connected, Like what is it called like six degrees
of Kevin Bacon or something like everyone is like connected
on the football something.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
You just told me you don't watch movies, so I
don't I can't.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Trust that from a movie. I just thought about something that.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Let me ask you this though, what if what if
McCown had a bone to pick with Wentz from years ago?
You know what I mean, like Carson like Carson, like
you just didn't like him, Carson wentz.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
He went, I mean probably wouldn't be here right.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
The shoes on the other foot. Now, oh, shoes on
the other foot.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I don't know you're fishing. I know you're gonna fishing.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I saw you catch a lot of fish last week
Brian Harper's house.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
We're done with practice. I feel like new guys, you
guys got to run some extra and J. J.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
McCarthy probably be like, yeah, sure, I totally will. I
love this stuff, speaking of good Yeah, no, I'm for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Was there any other position group that you watched the
moves being me that you were like, I'm really excited
to see this group in action.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Excited. I'm it's more interest than excitement. And I think
the guys, you know, the guys that I'm we're excited
about are mostly guys that we're familiar with, you know.
I mean, really, Donovan Jackson's the guy, the rookie, and
and well JJ I'll put him in there, but Donovan
(15:31):
Jackson is going to be very I'm very excited to
see him play. I'm excited to see Isaiah Rogers get
out there. We haven't seen anything of him. We've heard
all this great stuff, we haven't seen anything I'm very
interested to see how Jeff Okuda holds up, what's he like,
how's he gonna fit? And then who's the next guy
(15:52):
in that group? Same thing with Harrison Smith, right, I
mean Harrison, is he still the same old Harrison or not?
I mean we're gonna see a lot of THEO Jackson.
How is he gonna look and how he's gonna hold it.
It's like last year there were a lot of question
marks and the defense has has a number of them
as well. Not like glaring, so to speak. But you
(16:16):
you wonder is Javon Hargrave gonna play nose tackle or
three technique? And if if he does, who's the next
guy in. I think it would be Jalen Redman. It
might be Tyree on Ingram Dawkins. I mean he's he's
had a great preseason. I think he's He's The defensive
line position with this scheme is different, it's different. I
(16:38):
remember talking to Jonathan Allen. He said it's the most
complex defensive line system he's ever been in. Most of
a lot of times, you don't want to make those
big guys think he's let them pin their ears back
and go. But in this case, in this scheme, there's
a lot to think about, and the techniques are different
the way they stop the run because they're usually shorter
guy in the box, so it's a gap and happen.
(17:00):
It depends a ton on technique. But Ingram Dawkins has really,
I think UH done a great job with that. Like
he's a fit, more so of a fit than anybody
would have seen rejecting him on film from his days
at Georgia. So we might be seeing a lot more
of him in there. But Jalen Redman and Ingram's Dawkins
(17:21):
are probably going to be the main two. And then
you know Drake Rodriguez Levi, he's got some juice in
the pass rush, so you never know. You might yel
but you're gonna see that that second wave of d
Lineman more so than you're gonna see the next corner
back that gets in there, or the next linebacker or
you know, we'll get Dallas Turner in there, but you're
(17:43):
not gonna you're gonna see sub the new new The
new names are going to be the interior defensive line.
Those are the guys that UH are gonna be on
the field first and the most. And you know they
they've got a tough job to do. It's not it's
not holding up on double teams, and it's not glorious.
(18:03):
It's not.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
I think Harrison Phillips, who used to be with the team,
obviously he was traded, recently called that being the fire
hydrant in a dog park.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Yes, at a dog show, dog sholl neither way fire
hydrant and dogs.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Just being a fire hydrant around any dug.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Maybe that's why they traded him.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Well, I do believe that he there.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
He was just like a you know, a victim of
how much depth they had at that position. And he
plays a little bit differently. I think he's such a
great run stopper, but maybe not so versatile on the
other positions around the line, whereas like a lot of
these guys are so like like you're talking about Tyren
Ingram Dawkins, like he can play in multiple spots along
the line, Whereas Harrison Phillips was just so good at
(18:45):
run stopping and I think it just ended up not
being the right fit anymore that things have been evolving,
they've gotten so many more of those pieces because you
have to think back when Brian Flores, you know, inherited
this team. Harrison Phillips is already here, so he was
able to kind of find all the pieces and fill
in the blanks and figure out what he wanted in
(19:05):
those types of players. And maybe Harrison Phillips was a
great captain, a great community member, but just not right
the right fit anymore, and they wanted him to go
off and do good things.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
And I think some of the things that you're alluding
to is just it's it's the NFL.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Right, that's fair.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Yeah, the business, Well, I'm saying as a player, you
you play and then you start getting to you know, thirty,
you got seven, eight, nine years in the league. You
are no longer cheap labor, right, Yeah, you know you're
you're descending in that regard because you're not getting any younger.
(19:43):
Your body can only hold up for so long and
at some point it's like, well we can keep two
guys for the price of one, right, And you know,
and so that that that's a reality. I mean, I
remember the players Union and minimum wages and all that.
They would always they're trying to find a balance that
the new rookie labor isn't so cheap that the veterans
(20:05):
just get cut all the time. They wanted to keep
some of those guys around. And I mean there's nothing
that Harrison Phillips did or did not do, I think,
to get himself to get to get himself traded. I mean,
I think it has everything to do with the fact
that they looked. That's football. You look at your you
look at your board, you look at your players, and
(20:26):
you say, I mean, I don't see much of a
difference between A, B and C. But A costs three
times as much. You know, maybe A has some value
somewhere else and what will be just as fine, just
as good. So again, these are the types of moves
that I was talking about earlier. When I'm like, the
club sees opportunities, they do things, they just move, they
(20:46):
do them right, they don't, they don't just stick with.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
What do you think that says about them as a
front office?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Well, well, I mean I say a lot. It says
a lot because sunk costs are can sink teams in
that regard. You make a bad investment on somebody, you
can make the decision, invest the money and say he's yours.
That's it. You got to live with him. Uh. And
(21:18):
when you make I think that's the biggest thing, especially
with the draft. You see that. You see it there
quite a bit. When you draft a guy, if if
it's a mistake, if if for some reason it didn't
work out, you can't just live with it, right. You
have to make you have to make it right if
you want to continue to be competitive. And by the way, Tatum,
(21:41):
I think the other part of it too is the
rest of the locker room. If you are if you're
a draft pick, I don't care who you are, but
you see a third round draft pick get traded, or
you see a first rounder eventually get released. And I'm
not talking about people in particular, you, it perks you
up a little bit. The feeling, the feeling that whim
(22:04):
a draft picked, I'm safe that that you know, that's
not that doesn't exist here, see what I mean. So
you by by you don't want to call it shaking
things up because you know, we're not getting rid of
people that like if we got rid of Jonathan Grenard,
that would be a shake up, right, it's not. It's
(22:24):
nothing like that. It's just you're on notice and if
you're not carrying your your own share of the water,
this team's going to make a decision and move you,
so it it has an effect. I mean, nobody feels comfortable.
I don't think there's anybody on this roster outside of
maybe Josh Mintel's who just inked a deal, maybe feels
(22:45):
a little bit comfortable. But he's a character guy, so
you don't have to worry about that. But you know
my point, Yes.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yes, I mean definitely, there there's a standard here that
they're set. I think what Quasi called it that I
believe was such a really cool way to describe it,
was this is a meritocracy where we are going to
reward great play. We're gonna reward the hard work, the culture, fit,
(23:10):
the effort. No matter what your background is, where you are,
where you're from, what school you went to, any of that,
what's your playing history, your resume. It's a meritocracy here.
And that really leads me to my next question. Seven
undrafted free agents making this roster, which, albeit it may
be a little bit of a reason why due to
(23:32):
the fact that there were five only five draft picks
this year, However, it's incredibly tough to come here, especially
someone like my Elijah Williams, who was a rookie tryout
and had to try out to even go to rookie
meuning camp.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Then now he makes the roster. What does you know?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
I guess for me, what has impressed you the most
about the scouting process and maybe the coaching from your
coaching perspective on being able to roster seven guys who
were not your draft picks?
Speaker 4 (24:02):
That's uh, you know, either way, at some point you
got to stop and go. It doesn't matter if the
guys were drafted or not. They're here and somehow they
brought them in, right, So finding talent is finding talent,
whether they're undrafted guys or or guys that you pick.
So in a year, yeah, you don't have a ton
(24:24):
of picks to bring these guys in. Now, you hope
you know, you look at the list, you're a sec Brozemer,
Elijah Williams, Miles Price, Joe huber Chas Chamblis, Austin Keyes.
You hope that you don't go into a game soon,
depending I mean, depending on one of these guys, right see.
(24:44):
And I think I think that's the difference that we're
that we all have to accept, is when when when
you're looking at an offensive line position, you're looking at
Donovan Jackson and you're saying, Okay, this guy's going to
be ready to go day one. Well, that's why he's
a first round draft pick. These other guys are, you know,
(25:06):
there's they need some development, right, they need to they
need to work on some things, but eventually they can
be starters or they can contribute. And that's the reality
of the situation. You you have a number of these
undrafted guys that you're excited about that, you know, guys
like EuroSec. He definitely has all the tools. You know,
(25:29):
he had with the second second or third fastest, second,
second fastest forty of all the tight ends that worked out,
he had the fastest ten yard split. I mean he's
a four to six guy as a two hundred and
fifty pounds six foot three, six foot four tight end,
So it's not a high weight speed, you know, what
is it? So maybe it's because he was at Stanford
for four years and.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
The translate to Georgia behind people.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
You know, and then and Quasi's alluded to that many
times too, where with with the portal and guys transferring,
they you know, they get paid money, they go somewhere
and then doesn't work out and they don't play much,
so how do you judge them? So those there are
guys out there, yeah, don't get drafted that are good
football players. And we found a bunch of them.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
And you know, I I not to mention that there's
Bo Richter, Dwight mcglotherin from this past draft class like
twenty twenty four paid and Ivan paid from twenty twenty three.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Let me ask you this, Tatum, you were an if
you were an agent, and you were right in your
client is getting the sixth round, getting close to free agency,
and then client doesn't get drafted, and then you get
a phone call from the Vikings. Yeah, I mean that matters.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
That does matter in the long run.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Yeah yeah, if I'm under if I'm it matters. It
matters a lot, especially if you're a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
But well especially if you're an under drafted.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
You guys make it here.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Right, Well, like Ben, you'asek, they're they're fielding other offers
for people. They're like as much as you're just they're like, like, oh,
like we want this undrafted free agent that for agents
also decided between other offers and not that it's like
the college recruiting process, but you do have to kind
of sell them on wanting to be there. And if
the opportunity, like you said, is greater here, there's more
(27:14):
of a meritocracy, then they're gonna pick this place over
other offers that are on the table.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Right, And that's you know, so we talk about the
Vikings being ready to add or near the top with facilities,
and how will they take care of players and everything else.
That's when that's when some of that stuff, you know matters.
That's that you know, that little bit can make a
can make enough of a difference for sure. You know
(27:41):
that's a good that's a good, uh project for you.
I don't think I don't like it in your free time.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Oh it's like, don't get me anywhere.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
I don't want to do school interview.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Okay, I can do that then, okay.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Say why why Minnesota? Now it could be as simple
as they were gonna pay me. They paid me ten
grand more than anybody else.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
All right, that's I can call that assignment.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Or it could be, hey, you know I heard about this,
I heard about that, this coach knows this guy, this whatever.
But what is it, right, what is it that's that's
making this place attractive to first? You got to find them, right,
But like a Joe Hubert.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I can find it.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
It's it's it's yeah, it's just you get it. You know. Well,
I'm saying you have the final undrafted guys that you
want these.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I thought you meant, oh, like you have to find like, No,
I'll go have lunch with them.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
But why here? You know, why did you come here?
And and that's that's valuable information to the franchise itself.
So you can put together a nice presentation. Double space, right,
don't make it too long. Colors, pie charts, pie charts.
People love pie charts and walk Look this is what
we got right.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
I thought this was just for you.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
No, this is for you to go.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Okay. See, I was going to have.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
One of our producers is our associate, Abby Whittington, and
Abby is gonna. Abby is really good at our project
management software. I feel like if I gave her the info,
she could make me some charts.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
If you're in If you're in football, there's an old
saying saying that it goes the more you can do. Yeah,
you're if you're If you're a special teams guy and
you can play multiple spots, you do if you can
hold snaps for p A t you do it. The
more you can do, the better. So for you. I mean,
if you can start doing some of this data research
(29:24):
on you know, and and those kinds of things and
bringing it to the front office, I guess the more
you can do, more I can do. Yeah, you know, valuable.
You become to very rategize in the organization.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Pete Persage giving me career and life advice on the
Minnesota Vikings podcast.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
I greatly appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
Yeah, no problem, just trying out, Pete.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
How much do you follow what's going on in Chicago
and the football team there?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
I think in the in the NFC North a lot, Yeah,
you know, but the with the with uh, the Bears.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I'm I mean the Bears. Have you been doing some research?
She got a game call in a few days.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
No, of course.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I mean what's looking like?
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Well, I mean, it's interesting to watch Caleb Williams and
see how much he's changed, you know, just looking at
him at the preseason, and there are some things. He
looks better in some areas, but in other areas he's
still kind of the same old Caleb. If you can
get pressure on him. He was sacked sixty eight times
I think last year, and that that lingers a right.
(30:25):
There's this little bit of a scar there, meaning he'll
speed up his when you get pressure, he'll speed up
his reeds and he may you know, you know, not
wait for something to come come free before he decides
to pull it down and scramble. But he's doing I
think better in some of the other categories. You watch
(30:47):
the Bears against even it's interesting they played Buffalo and
just like a hot knife through butter, but Buffalo just
lined up and played base defense. But you watch Kansas
City started throwing some herr balls at them. That's what
Kansas City does or zone blitz team. They do a lot.
They throw out of looks at you. And when the
Bears didn't make the right adjustments and they had free
(31:10):
rushers or people getting in Caleb's face, he looked a
lot more like the old Caleb. You know, we're the Ben.
And the thing is with Ben Johnson too, is the
success that he's had against the Vikings. You have to
sit there and say, is it the scheme or is
it the players right?
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Is it right?
Speaker 4 (31:28):
What? You know? What is it? And you know the
Bears lash the Bears with flores. Here, the Bears have
scored on a averaged sixteen points a game. Offensively, the
Lions with Ben Johnson have scored thirty points a game. Okay,
so is it Ben Johnson or is it the players?
I'm saying it's Jamior Gibbs and Jared Goff.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
I mean that's definitely just.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
Just if you want, if you have nothing to do with.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Your life, maybe an homework assignment.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
No, not for you. I'm just in general. Just go
back and look at all the touchdowns that that the Lions,
at least last year, all the touchdowns the line scored.
They were cornerback falls down, Golf finds them, hits them,
mental air on a blitz, GoF finds the receiver running
a go route and hits them. Jamie or Gibbs with
(32:20):
the big run. There was a you know, we were
without Cashman at the time, and you know we had
Dallas Turner playing off the ball linebacker, just a misfit
and he's good enough to make a guy miss. And
then you watch the game this game seventeen last year,
and they were lining up with a tight end in
full but they were running I like an I formation
(32:41):
ISO run that they scored a touchdown on after a
mistackle by cam bining them. It's like, it doesn't it's
not complicated. I mean, the better your players are, the
thinner your playbook should be. And it's not like there's
some magic formula that Ben Johnson had to beat to
(33:02):
beat the Vikings or to be able to score thirty
points a game against the Vikings. That's why I'm so
intrigued about this game is he doesn't have Jamior Gibbs.
Jamior Gibbs we gave up with nine rushing touchdowns last year.
Is either nine or eleven, it's somewhere like, you know,
around ten. Gibbs had five of them. Five.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
That's incredible.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
It's that guy's just a thorn on our side. Now
we got to figure out how to stop him when
we play him. But you know, Ben Johnson doesn't have
that weapon in the backfield. Now, he might be able
to move the chains whatever, but you're not going to
get those forty, you know, forty thirty yard runs, the
big runs that we've seen out of them. So my
guess would be that Flores is gonna literally throw the
(33:44):
kitchen sink at Caleb Williams. As far as looks go,
don't let them get comfortable, don't let him feel like
he knows what he's what he's looking at defensively, and
make him make all the adjustments and make him his
uncomfortable and get him off. It is timing off as
much as you possibly can.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
I have a question about that.
Speaker 4 (34:04):
There's some of that there go So, So.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
If you're Brian Flores and you're throwing the kitchen sink,
do you want to put that much of that on
film this early on in this season. From a coaching perspective.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
You don't, Yeah, you don't. You don't worry about Week two.
You are not worried about the Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Zero, But like down the line, like do you come
out and like I feel like some offenses don't show
everything week one?
Speaker 4 (34:29):
You know you though? Yes, I mean here's the thing
you can only you can only do so much. Yeah, okay,
you can only you can only a head coach. You'll
see his flip card. He'll have you know you got
let's say you got sixty plays or seventy plays on
on on the flip card, there's only sixty five plays
in a game. You can't call. You call plays over
(34:51):
again you can't just call sixty different plays. Ye how
it works, right, You might have a run that works,
so you flip it and run the other way or whatever.
You can't. You have all that there to know it.
You're capable of doing it, but you have to focus
on a specific number of these plays. And defensively, as
a coach, you, like I said, you don't worry about
(35:12):
showing anything. You really you don't care.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Well that has really excited about that game?
Speaker 4 (35:18):
Well, you want to beat the Bears and if I
got to, I mean.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Well, and think about the support that if your defense
comes out there and just shuts them down. How much
playing not having to play from behind of a lift
and support that could be for the offense going out
for the first time with JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Yeah, absolutely, you well, I mean when the games, if
it's a one score game, you can offensively, you can
maintain your balance, right. If you're ahead by multiple scores,
then you may get run heavy. If you're down by
multiple scores, then you're going to have to get chunk
plays and move the football, so you get a little
(35:58):
pass heavy. Yeah, right, that's why when when teams break
down other teams offenses and defenses. They the score differential
is a big part of big part of it because
on base downs when it's one score game, you do
this when you're you know, and so that matters.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Situational masters, that's what they say, it's what they call
them up here, exactly.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
They do situation.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
It's a lot. It's a lot.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:25):
And but and despite having all that information, if you're
a Flores or Kevin O'Connell and you're the one calling plays,
you have to have a gut feeling about things right.
And that's what makes those guys great. You can't just
be a data processor and call the defenses.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Yeah. I'll tell you what though, this this game Monday
Night Football, Like I'm going to be raring to go
because we're going to be watching games all weekend long
and we're gonna sit there on Sunday and be traveling.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
The game will never get here. It's never it's never
going to get here. The first week, Monday Night is
the worst because well, we're just.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Gonna be waiting all day Monday in Chicago. First world problems,
I get it, But like we're just gonna be waiting
around being like, Okay, what is gonna happen. I can't
imagine the nerves. Oh my god, I'm not even playing obviously.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
So yeah, tough. That's yeah, that's a that's a you know,
it's something that the players need to keep in mind.
And you can't sit there and watch football all day
and get caught up in that because it'll it will,
you know, it will eventually, it will wear you out
a little bit.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Probably.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
Yeah, you know, we have to figure out this road
prime time thing.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Though.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
I think we've lost our last seven in a row.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
You dropped that nugget on the Roster Show and I.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
Was like, Paul got up, Yeah, Paul got all upset
at me. But it's what it is. It's a number.
The thing is, it is. What it is doesn't mean
anything right, right, And I'm not I mean, I'm not
a coach, So I'm not going to go back and
try to, you know, look through every every single one
of those and figure out if there's something. There's something there,
but it's an area of focus. Just like short yardage
(38:08):
running game, deep red zone running game. These are all
things that have been addressed. And when you bring in
veterans like you have with Will Fryes and you know,
Kelly and the rest of them. These guys been doing
this for a long time, so they should be ready
and hopefully be more ready.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Yeah, heck yeah.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
It's yeah, it's going to be different hotel though, Tatum,
I'm sorry, but you're not gonna be staying at the
JW and the financial distance.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
I love that bad Yeah, I've already I've already looked
at all that kind of stuff ahead of time. I'm
a creature of habit I like to know where I'm going,
who who do I know in the city?
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Who can I meet up with? I do that in
Nashville every year.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I always have like my friends, and I like being
able to take advantage of that.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
So, but UGO is one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
I'm excited to go back to Soldier Field hot maybe
a hot take. I know people talk about that stadium
and whatnot, maybe not favorably, but I think Soldier Field's cool.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
I like the locations different.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
I don't mind it. I think it's really neat and
I like I mean, I like it. So I don't
know what people are saying, but I like it.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
Just take it all in because I don't know how
much longer they're going to be there. It looks like
moving to Arlington.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Yeah, but I mean, look the Titans, they have how
many more years in their stadium and they're building one
like literally next door. So I think we've got a
few more seasons in there, maybe a couple.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Yeah, I mean I'm good with it.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
This is it, though, this could be it.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
This is you know they're not going to be able
to knock it down and build something.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
No, no, no, I know, no, no, I know that.
But I'm saying this is your one chance this year.
You may have next year and then I'm just saying
the end is near near, right, the end is near? Yeah, well,
of course you want to play a wild Card game
in Chicago, which I really don't.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
No, not outdoors place, no, thank you. Well, the end
is the end is here for this podcast, we have
been yapping it up, and I really, Pete, I really
appreciate you joining. I always love I love picking your
brain about the game and getting your insights because I
feel like not many people out there have played, coached,
(40:12):
been an analyst for as long as you have, and
and it's it's really lucky for people like me who
just want to be a sponge in this league and
and learn the most that they can from guys like you.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
So I appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
Oh absolutely any time. I just I enjoyed talking about it.
And football is the best.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
It's the absolute best there is and it just it's
not working a day in your life.
Speaker 4 (40:37):
So many great people, so many sort of I would say,
since I moved into the booth, yeah, yeah, like a
dream job.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
This is really cool.
Speaker 4 (40:50):
But the you know, I mean there's been there's a
lot of blood, sweat and tears that got me into
the booth.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
I bet so, it's like, but you're there.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
I just yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
And you get to talk to Viking stands every week,
which is so cool.
Speaker 4 (41:04):
My dad told me, you get paid to talk. Don't
ever miss a day of work. You know, that's how
bad could it be. You don't have to ye dig
a hole, you don't have to move stuff, You just talk.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
My parents didn't know I can make a career out
of this, and here I am fifteen years old.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
Look at you.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I know. Ok see, they shouldn't have ever listened to
my teachers and tell me to be quiet in school.
Speaker 4 (41:24):
And when you march into Quasy's office with this with
the pie charts, and everything else.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
They're gonna be like wow, more than a pretty faces.
Speaker 4 (41:32):
I'm just saying, you're gonna get yourself a promotion and
you're gonna football side. The office will have to be
big enough to cover both ends of the buildings. Oh wow,
I'm just trying to help. Just remember me when you're
on top.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Oh I will, I'll hire you to be my analyst.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
Well yeah, make me do all the all the I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Exactly all the make me look good, Pete. Well, thank
you again, Pete, and I will see you. I will
see you very soon as we get ready for Chicago
for that big since and opener. It's going to be awesome,
so we will we will talk soon.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Thank you, Pete.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Sounds good. Take care of Tatum.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Thank you to Pete. It's always so great to have
him on. And we really appreciate his insight. If you
couldn't tell from how many times I thanked him.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
We are so excited, obviously for this.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
Big time Monday night football matchup. It's going to be
so amazing. And if you need to catch up on
anything Vikings related to get you ready, primed and ready
for that game, you can check out Vikings dot com
or the Vikings app. We have so much stuff in
store for you. The latest news, interviews, and features all
across Bikings Entertainment Network posted super soon and currently actually
(42:47):
because I've seen some really neat social videos that have
been dropping and I cannot.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
Wait to see more.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
We appreciate you guys for listening, and of course we're
gonna have another episode coming ATCHA next week, so stay
tuned for the next episode of the Minnesota Vikings podcast.
Spoalan Montage is the Twin Cities premier salon and spa
destination and proud official hair sponsor of the Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders.
(43:14):
With three convenient locations in idnah, Woodbury, and chan Hassen.
There's a Spalan close to you. Visit online at spolan
dot com.
Welcome to the Minnesota Vikings Podcast. I'm your MVP host
Tatum Everett. It's been a really busy week over here
at Twin City's Orthopedics Performance Center. Roster cuts, decision making
that sets the tone for the season ahead, plus back
to work with practices, and just getting ready for the
season opener in Chicago on September eighth. We've got some
(00:30):
major storylines to talk about. How about Adam Feelen returning
to Minnesota, Carson Wentz a new quarterback here for the team.
We'll talk about how the roster shaped up on both
sides of the ball and what it all means as
we gear up for that Week one matchup. We've got
a special guest ahead of us. It's going to be
Pete Bursts from the Vikings Radio Network. We were able
(00:51):
to get together with Paul Allen to do a roster
cutdown show earlier this week, which you can find on
Vikings dot Com on the Vikings YouTube page, and we
did some preliminary talk about that, but I wanted Pete
to come onto the podcast to talk a little bit
more in depth about what these moves mean and what
he's looking forward to about playing Chicago. But first, before
(01:11):
we get to Pete, let's hear from Vikings general manager
Quasi Adopha Mensa, who was, you know, the main catalyst
and making all these tough decisions this week because everything
had to be decided by Tuesday at three o'clock.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And those are tough decisions.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
You're telling guys that, you know, maybe they didn't make
the team and their dream is on hold. So he
spoke a little bit about what that decision making process
is like and why the Vikings feel confident in their
roster moving forward.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
You know, as we established the fifty three in our
practice squad, we're you know, really excited about where we are.
It's a team, it's it's a result accumulation of just
a long, dedicated process of exhaustive, intentional, detailed I always
want to start off by thanking the front office staff,
who works incredibly hard, on my executive staff, all the
(01:59):
members of the personnel team. You know, the August is
the time that we're all conditioned ourselves towards the rigors
of the NFL season, and it's no different for the players,
coaches and the staff. You know, a lot of late
nights in August when everybody else is on their summer vacation,
they spend their time here in pursuit of this goal.
So I always want to make sure I thank them
to Ko and his staff, you know, the continued collaboration
(02:20):
we have, and that's not just in the decision making process,
but that's also who we bring in, where we're aligned,
and who we bring in and who we want to coach,
how do they fit in and so that continues to
be a great thing here. And then and lastly, our
football operations staff, who provide our players great resources as
they you know, optimize their ability to to finish this
great training camp that Kevin and his staff put on.
(02:42):
So we're excited where we are. We think, you know,
obviously there's a lot of hard decisions. You know, I
think I think we have a deep roster and you know,
with that came just some hard decisions. And you never
want to trade away players, especially ones that do that
do the right thing and do everything that that fit
to fit into this culture and be about this culture.
But those are things that come with the job and
(03:02):
we have to do them. But we like where we are,
where this roster is excited about the you know, the connectivity,
the culture we're excited about, you know, the mix of
veteran players and young players, and we're excited about the systems,
the coaching staff and how they're going to be able
to get the best out of this team.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
You can hear Quacy and head coach Kevin O'Connell's entire
press conference on vikings dot com and the Vikings app.
Carson Wentz, Adam Thielen, and former Golden Gopher Max Brosmer
also spoke today and those interviews are also online. We're
going to take a quick break before we get to
our guest, Pete Burstt, so stay tuned. Say hello to
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(04:06):
to Vikings fans. Welcome back inside the Minnesota Vikings podcast.
We are excited to be joined by someone who knows
this team inside and out. Pete Bursich, who was a
linebacker here, also served on the coaching staff and now
he's a trusted voice in.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
The broadcast booth. He's literally seen the.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Game from every angle and that's why he's the best
guy for this episode to talk about roster position groups
and what to watch for before heading into our primetime
season opener Monday, September eighth. That's Soldier Field. Well, let's
welcome in our friend of the show, Pete Bursach. Pete,
it is so nice of you to join us once again.
(04:46):
I know you were on our Roster cut Day show,
which you can find on Vikings dot com. However, I
wanted to dive more into the roster specifics with you.
I thought you had a lot of really fun perspectives.
Have you been able to like take it all in,
you know, analyze it in your head, listen to Quacy
and Kevin and kind of like get a new bearing
(05:07):
on what's going on in the last few days.
Speaker 4 (05:10):
Yeah. You you know, the smoke casts are kind of
clear and in that regard, that's exactly what's going on.
It's just a matter of digesting everything that's happened. Uh.
And then you know, as far as who's gonna fit
where you kind of figure that out and you see
spots where maybe there's some lack of depth or veteran depth,
(05:31):
if you will. But overall, they you know, they sounded
him very happy with how the roster turned out, and
you know, I would have to agree. And getting a
guy like Adam Feelen does change, does change a lot
of things.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah, let's talk about that one move Peine in particular.
I'm glad you brought it up, was my next question,
because like he's coming back.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Yeah, it's it's you know, it's a it's a move.
It's kind of when I was when I played here
with Dennis Green whenever, you know, you go through training
camp and you'd have your cuts and everything else, and
once the season was going on, if somebody went down,
put on ir something like that. He would always try
to bring back a familiar face once once you get
(06:17):
into that regular season mode. And it was something that
he did intentionally. That way, whoever you bring in isn't
going to be a distraction. They understand how things work,
they understand the process and how they practice and all
those things. So to bring in someone who's familiar with
all the faces with everybody who works there. You know
what I'm saying, There's no you don't have to show
(06:39):
him where the restroom is, so to speak, where's the
locker room or you know, he can come right in.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
No pete.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
He was dapping up everybody in the media area before
he even started his press conference, say saying hello to everyone,
and talking in this presser about how you know, how
comfortable he is with Kevin O'Connell, how much trust he
has in him and as a play caller, just the
evolving of of everything, and and you're right, like that
adds just such another layer to things.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Well what it what it does is it not necessarily
like adds a layer. It just makes the transition so
much easier.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
That's fair.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
I mean think about think about think about with his
with with his family. Yeah, right, they know where they are.
They know what you don't have. You don't have any
of those worries. You have family, you have. It's it's
almost and I wouldn't say too good to be true,
but it's as ideal as it can be to bring
in somebody. Now, the need at the wide receiver position,
(07:35):
he's gonna He's gonna fill that in the first three
weeks of this season is going to be extremely important
till George, you know, til Addison gets back. So he's
gonna have to come. He's gonna have to be ready
to go right out of the gate.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
And Pete, do you think we're going to see him?
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Do you think we're going to see him like do
the same stuff that we saw what two seasons ago?
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, I mean I would think going going into this
first game, it all depends on, you know, the health
of Jalen Naylor and where Jalen Naylor is. Right, because
he's he's the number three. Is he good enough to
be the number two yet? Well, that's that's going to
be the question. So and that's why it's so good
(08:20):
to have a guy like Adam Feelin because he he
can learn multiple positions. Now it's it's it's a new
old offense, so to speak. But he's flexible enough. I
think that you can plug him in anywhere and he's
he's going to produce. So depending on the health of
Jalen Naylor and where he is, you know, Feeling could
be the number two receiver going into Monday night against
(08:44):
the Chicago Bears. So it's it's it's a. It's an
absolute need for that spot. I don't know Ty Felton,
Jalen Naylor, those those are like the next you know,
obviously the next body's up where they are right now,
we don't know, We're not going to know, and so
be ready to see feeling either get some three wide
(09:06):
help on third down or be out there for third down,
or he might just be out there almost all the time.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yes, Kevin O'Connell spoke in his press conference today. Asked
about some injuries that are happening, and he says he'll
give a full report in the week leading up to the.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Monday night football games.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
We really don't have much of an update towards any
of the knicks or bruises or injuries that happened during
training camp. I want to also switch gears a little
bit into another post, you know, well pre roster really,
but as they're making the decision to go from ninety
to fifty three, they waive Brett Rippon, trade Sam Howell,
(09:45):
and sign Carson Wentz. And that was just kind of
a flurry of moves that the Vikings made over the
weekend that led into three quarterbacks on the roster with
starter JJ McCarthy, then Carson Wentz the veteran in the room,
and now you have undrafted free agent, former Golden Gopher,
also rookie ma Max Brosmer, and I mean, it's just
(10:07):
incredible to see how this shook up over the last
few days. But what were your thoughts on all those moves?
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Well, I think the main thing with I think JJ
is exactly where he needs to be. In fact, you know,
listening and talking to coach O'Connell, he believes JJ, at
least a week or two ago, a week or so ago,
was ahead of schedule. So that's good. It's just the
Sam Howell thing didn't work. They obviously saw something in
(10:33):
Sam Howell as a quarterback. And I went back on
the film too, and and and and talked about that
and what he did two years ago and with the
Commanders and watched the game against Philly and the Bears,
and there's some there's talent there, There's there's something there.
And he's a veteran. He knows what it's like to
game plan and and change week to week. And so
(10:56):
if something did go wrong with JJ, then and you'd
have at least a veteran backup. And he has a
skill set, different style of offense now, and that was
the big question mark was is he going to fit?
But credit the Vikings. This is again something that if
you've been around as long as I have, when guys
(11:16):
are brought in or mistakes were made, they kind of
lived with them. Whereas now if they don't like the
way something's going, they they they step up and make
a change. They release a guy, they bring somebody in,
They make moves to make this roster look how they
want it. And Carson Wentz is perfect for that. I
mean he's not Adam Feeling, but he's like yeah feeling. Yes,
(11:40):
I was kind of fan North Dakota State.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, well, I was gonna say.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
And Kevin talked about like his familiarity with that system
that he was on the rams, so he's familiar with
that McVeigh system. He's got a lot of familiarity with
Ryan Kelly, the new Viking Center, who used to be
with the Colts.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
They are apparently like best of friends.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
They were in Indie, see a lot of each other,
So you already have that connection with your center, and
so I think like to build upon that. It was
like another like oh well we should do this because
this makes sense for transition reasons, similar to what you
said about feeling right.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
And make no mistake, Carson Wentz would if if you
throw him in there tomorrow, Uh, he's going to struggle.
You know, we saw that with Josh Dobbs a couple
of years ago. It's just you fresh off the truck.
Here's a new language, go learn. It's like learning how
to speak Spanish in you know, thirty, you know, forty
eight hours. It's very difficult to do. So he's he
(12:39):
has a learning curve as well. H His great the
greatest asset that he is he's going to be to
the team right now is to just mentor JJ McCarthy,
and he spoke about that in his press County.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
You're right, yeah, you know.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
He and JJ were talking about what's the schedule going
to look like for the week and everything else. And
so if if he's the right kind of guy, you know,
gets in there, watches film studies organized, uh, it's going
to rub off on on the you know, on JJ
and and hopefully that's that's what you want and it works.
(13:14):
Jay's got to do what's right for him. But having
a guy like Carson Wentz who's pretty wise in his
in his in his years, Yeah, is going to do
nothing but help so.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Well in the relatability between being a first round draft
pick with high expectations, who's now mentoring a first round
draft pick with expectations. And another thing that was ultimated huge.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
They both played big time college. You're both champions.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
You're right, well, they they both are national champions technically.
And in another thing of note is you know, Josh
McCown backed up Carson Wentz, went into the game when
Carson Wentz was injured. So there's also this familiarity between
Josh McCown, the Vikings quarterbacks coach, and Arson Wentz. And
so it's kind of all that like same kind of
(14:04):
everyone's connected, Like what is it called like six degrees
of Kevin Bacon or something like everyone is like connected
on the football something.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
You just told me you don't watch movies, so I
don't I can't.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Trust that from a movie. I just thought about something that.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
Let me ask you this though, what if what if
McCown had a bone to pick with Wentz from years ago?
You know what I mean, like Carson like Carson, like
you just didn't like him, Carson wentz.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
He went, I mean probably wouldn't be here right.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
The shoes on the other foot. Now, oh, shoes on
the other foot.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
I don't know you're fishing. I know you're gonna fishing.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
I saw you catch a lot of fish last week
Brian Harper's house.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
We're done with practice. I feel like new guys, you
guys got to run some extra and J. J.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
McCarthy probably be like, yeah, sure, I totally will. I
love this stuff, speaking of good Yeah, no, I'm for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Was there any other position group that you watched the
moves being me that you were like, I'm really excited
to see this group in action.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Excited. I'm it's more interest than excitement. And I think
the guys, you know, the guys that I'm we're excited
about are mostly guys that we're familiar with, you know.
I mean, really, Donovan Jackson's the guy, the rookie, and
and well JJ I'll put him in there, but Donovan
(15:31):
Jackson is going to be very I'm very excited to
see him play. I'm excited to see Isaiah Rogers get
out there. We haven't seen anything of him. We've heard
all this great stuff, we haven't seen anything I'm very
interested to see how Jeff Okuda holds up, what's he like,
how's he gonna fit? And then who's the next guy
(15:52):
in that group? Same thing with Harrison Smith, right, I
mean Harrison, is he still the same old Harrison or not?
I mean we're gonna see a lot of THEO Jackson.
How is he gonna look and how he's gonna hold it.
It's like last year there were a lot of question
marks and the defense has has a number of them
as well. Not like glaring, so to speak. But you
(16:16):
you wonder is Javon Hargrave gonna play nose tackle or
three technique? And if if he does, who's the next
guy in. I think it would be Jalen Redman. It
might be Tyree on Ingram Dawkins. I mean he's he's
had a great preseason. I think he's He's The defensive
line position with this scheme is different, it's different. I
(16:38):
remember talking to Jonathan Allen. He said it's the most
complex defensive line system he's ever been in. Most of
a lot of times, you don't want to make those
big guys think he's let them pin their ears back
and go. But in this case, in this scheme, there's
a lot to think about, and the techniques are different
the way they stop the run because they're usually shorter
guy in the box, so it's a gap and happen.
(17:00):
It depends a ton on technique. But Ingram Dawkins has really,
I think UH done a great job with that. Like
he's a fit, more so of a fit than anybody
would have seen rejecting him on film from his days
at Georgia. So we might be seeing a lot more
of him in there. But Jalen Redman and Ingram's Dawkins
(17:21):
are probably going to be the main two. And then
you know Drake Rodriguez Levi, he's got some juice in
the pass rush, so you never know. You might yel
but you're gonna see that that second wave of d
Lineman more so than you're gonna see the next corner
back that gets in there, or the next linebacker or
you know, we'll get Dallas Turner in there, but you're
(17:43):
not gonna you're gonna see sub the new new The
new names are going to be the interior defensive line.
Those are the guys that UH are gonna be on
the field first and the most. And you know they
they've got a tough job to do. It's not it's
not holding up on double teams, and it's not glorious.
(18:03):
It's not.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
I think Harrison Phillips, who used to be with the team,
obviously he was traded, recently called that being the fire
hydrant in a dog park.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Yes, at a dog show, dog sholl neither way fire
hydrant and dogs.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Just being a fire hydrant around any dug.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Maybe that's why they traded him.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Well, I do believe that he there.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
He was just like a you know, a victim of
how much depth they had at that position. And he
plays a little bit differently. I think he's such a
great run stopper, but maybe not so versatile on the
other positions around the line, whereas like a lot of
these guys are so like like you're talking about Tyren
Ingram Dawkins, like he can play in multiple spots along
the line, Whereas Harrison Phillips was just so good at
(18:45):
run stopping and I think it just ended up not
being the right fit anymore that things have been evolving,
they've gotten so many more of those pieces because you
have to think back when Brian Flores, you know, inherited
this team. Harrison Phillips is already here, so he was
able to kind of find all the pieces and fill
in the blanks and figure out what he wanted in
(19:05):
those types of players. And maybe Harrison Phillips was a
great captain, a great community member, but just not right
the right fit anymore, and they wanted him to go
off and do good things.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
And I think some of the things that you're alluding
to is just it's it's the NFL.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Right, that's fair.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Yeah, the business, Well, I'm saying as a player, you
you play and then you start getting to you know, thirty,
you got seven, eight, nine years in the league. You
are no longer cheap labor, right, Yeah, you know you're
you're descending in that regard because you're not getting any younger.
(19:43):
Your body can only hold up for so long and
at some point it's like, well we can keep two
guys for the price of one, right, And you know,
and so that that that's a reality. I mean, I
remember the players Union and minimum wages and all that.
They would always they're trying to find a balance that
the new rookie labor isn't so cheap that the veterans
(20:05):
just get cut all the time. They wanted to keep
some of those guys around. And I mean there's nothing
that Harrison Phillips did or did not do, I think,
to get himself to get to get himself traded. I mean,
I think it has everything to do with the fact
that they looked. That's football. You look at your you
look at your board, you look at your players, and
(20:26):
you say, I mean, I don't see much of a
difference between A, B and C. But A costs three
times as much. You know, maybe A has some value
somewhere else and what will be just as fine, just
as good. So again, these are the types of moves
that I was talking about earlier. When I'm like, the
club sees opportunities, they do things, they just move, they
(20:46):
do them right, they don't, they don't just stick with.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
What do you think that says about them as a
front office?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Well, well, I mean I say a lot. It says
a lot because sunk costs are can sink teams in
that regard. You make a bad investment on somebody, you
can make the decision, invest the money and say he's yours.
That's it. You got to live with him. Uh. And
(21:18):
when you make I think that's the biggest thing, especially
with the draft. You see that. You see it there
quite a bit. When you draft a guy, if if
it's a mistake, if if for some reason it didn't
work out, you can't just live with it, right. You
have to make you have to make it right if
you want to continue to be competitive. And by the way, Tatum,
(21:41):
I think the other part of it too is the
rest of the locker room. If you are if you're
a draft pick, I don't care who you are, but
you see a third round draft pick get traded, or
you see a first rounder eventually get released. And I'm
not talking about people in particular, you, it perks you
up a little bit. The feeling, the feeling that whim
(22:04):
a draft picked, I'm safe that that you know, that's
not that doesn't exist here, see what I mean. So
you by by you don't want to call it shaking
things up because you know, we're not getting rid of
people that like if we got rid of Jonathan Grenard,
that would be a shake up, right, it's not. It's
(22:24):
nothing like that. It's just you're on notice and if
you're not carrying your your own share of the water,
this team's going to make a decision and move you,
so it it has an effect. I mean, nobody feels comfortable.
I don't think there's anybody on this roster outside of
maybe Josh Mintel's who just inked a deal, maybe feels
(22:45):
a little bit comfortable. But he's a character guy, so
you don't have to worry about that. But you know
my point, Yes.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yes, I mean definitely, there there's a standard here that
they're set. I think what Quasi called it that I
believe was such a really cool way to describe it,
was this is a meritocracy where we are going to
reward great play. We're gonna reward the hard work, the culture, fit,
(23:10):
the effort. No matter what your background is, where you are,
where you're from, what school you went to, any of that,
what's your playing history, your resume. It's a meritocracy here.
And that really leads me to my next question. Seven
undrafted free agents making this roster, which, albeit it may
be a little bit of a reason why due to
(23:32):
the fact that there were five only five draft picks
this year, However, it's incredibly tough to come here, especially
someone like my Elijah Williams, who was a rookie tryout
and had to try out to even go to rookie
meuning camp.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Then now he makes the roster. What does you know?
Speaker 1 (23:48):
I guess for me, what has impressed you the most
about the scouting process and maybe the coaching from your
coaching perspective on being able to roster seven guys who
were not your draft picks?
Speaker 4 (24:02):
That's uh, you know, either way, at some point you
got to stop and go. It doesn't matter if the
guys were drafted or not. They're here and somehow they
brought them in, right, So finding talent is finding talent,
whether they're undrafted guys or or guys that you pick.
So in a year, yeah, you don't have a ton
(24:24):
of picks to bring these guys in. Now, you hope
you know, you look at the list, you're a sec Brozemer,
Elijah Williams, Miles Price, Joe huber Chas Chamblis, Austin Keyes.
You hope that you don't go into a game soon,
depending I mean, depending on one of these guys, right see.
(24:44):
And I think I think that's the difference that we're
that we all have to accept, is when when when
you're looking at an offensive line position, you're looking at
Donovan Jackson and you're saying, Okay, this guy's going to
be ready to go day one. Well, that's why he's
a first round draft pick. These other guys are, you know,
(25:06):
there's they need some development, right, they need to they
need to work on some things, but eventually they can
be starters or they can contribute. And that's the reality
of the situation. You you have a number of these
undrafted guys that you're excited about that, you know, guys
like EuroSec. He definitely has all the tools. You know,
(25:29):
he had with the second second or third fastest, second,
second fastest forty of all the tight ends that worked out,
he had the fastest ten yard split. I mean he's
a four to six guy as a two hundred and
fifty pounds six foot three, six foot four tight end,
So it's not a high weight speed, you know, what
is it? So maybe it's because he was at Stanford
for four years and.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
The translate to Georgia behind people.
Speaker 4 (25:52):
You know, and then and Quasi's alluded to that many
times too, where with with the portal and guys transferring,
they you know, they get paid money, they go somewhere
and then doesn't work out and they don't play much,
so how do you judge them? So those there are
guys out there, yeah, don't get drafted that are good
football players. And we found a bunch of them.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
And you know, I I not to mention that there's
Bo Richter, Dwight mcglotherin from this past draft class like
twenty twenty four paid and Ivan paid from twenty twenty three.
Speaker 4 (26:25):
Let me ask you this, Tatum, you were an if
you were an agent, and you were right in your
client is getting the sixth round, getting close to free agency,
and then client doesn't get drafted, and then you get
a phone call from the Vikings. Yeah, I mean that matters.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
That does matter in the long run.
Speaker 4 (26:44):
Yeah yeah, if I'm under if I'm it matters. It
matters a lot, especially if you're a quarterback.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
But well especially if you're an under drafted.
Speaker 4 (26:51):
You guys make it here.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Right, Well, like Ben, you'asek, they're they're fielding other offers
for people. They're like as much as you're just they're like, like, oh,
like we want this undrafted free agent that for agents
also decided between other offers and not that it's like
the college recruiting process, but you do have to kind
of sell them on wanting to be there. And if
the opportunity, like you said, is greater here, there's more
(27:14):
of a meritocracy, then they're gonna pick this place over
other offers that are on the table.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Right, And that's you know, so we talk about the
Vikings being ready to add or near the top with facilities,
and how will they take care of players and everything else.
That's when that's when some of that stuff, you know matters.
That's that you know, that little bit can make a
can make enough of a difference for sure. You know
(27:41):
that's a good that's a good, uh project for you.
I don't think I don't like it in your free time.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Oh it's like, don't get me anywhere.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
I don't want to do school interview.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Okay, I can do that then, okay.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
Say why why Minnesota? Now it could be as simple
as they were gonna pay me. They paid me ten
grand more than anybody else.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
All right, that's I can call that assignment.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
Or it could be, hey, you know I heard about this,
I heard about that, this coach knows this guy, this whatever.
But what is it, right, what is it that's that's
making this place attractive to first? You got to find them, right,
But like a Joe Hubert.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
I can find it.
Speaker 4 (28:18):
It's it's it's yeah, it's just you get it. You know. Well,
I'm saying you have the final undrafted guys that you
want these.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I thought you meant, oh, like you have to find like, No,
I'll go have lunch with them.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
But why here? You know, why did you come here?
And and that's that's valuable information to the franchise itself.
So you can put together a nice presentation. Double space, right,
don't make it too long. Colors, pie charts, pie charts.
People love pie charts and walk Look this is what
we got right.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
I thought this was just for you.
Speaker 4 (28:50):
No, this is for you to go.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Okay. See, I was going to have.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
One of our producers is our associate, Abby Whittington, and
Abby is gonna. Abby is really good at our project
management software. I feel like if I gave her the info,
she could make me some charts.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
If you're in If you're in football, there's an old
saying saying that it goes the more you can do. Yeah,
you're if you're If you're a special teams guy and
you can play multiple spots, you do if you can
hold snaps for p A t you do it. The
more you can do, the better. So for you. I mean,
if you can start doing some of this data research
(29:24):
on you know, and and those kinds of things and
bringing it to the front office, I guess the more
you can do, more I can do. Yeah, you know, valuable.
You become to very rategize in the organization.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
Pete Persage giving me career and life advice on the
Minnesota Vikings podcast.
Speaker 2 (29:38):
I greatly appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
Yeah, no problem, just trying out, Pete.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
How much do you follow what's going on in Chicago
and the football team there?
Speaker 4 (29:47):
I think in the in the NFC North a lot, Yeah,
you know, but the with the with uh, the Bears.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
I'm I mean the Bears. Have you been doing some research?
She got a game call in a few days.
Speaker 4 (30:00):
No, of course.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
I mean what's looking like?
Speaker 4 (30:05):
Well, I mean, it's interesting to watch Caleb Williams and
see how much he's changed, you know, just looking at
him at the preseason, and there are some things. He
looks better in some areas, but in other areas he's
still kind of the same old Caleb. If you can
get pressure on him. He was sacked sixty eight times
I think last year, and that that lingers a right.
(30:25):
There's this little bit of a scar there, meaning he'll
speed up his when you get pressure, he'll speed up
his reeds and he may you know, you know, not
wait for something to come come free before he decides
to pull it down and scramble. But he's doing I
think better in some of the other categories. You watch
(30:47):
the Bears against even it's interesting they played Buffalo and
just like a hot knife through butter, but Buffalo just
lined up and played base defense. But you watch Kansas
City started throwing some herr balls at them. That's what
Kansas City does or zone blitz team. They do a lot.
They throw out of looks at you. And when the
Bears didn't make the right adjustments and they had free
(31:10):
rushers or people getting in Caleb's face, he looked a
lot more like the old Caleb. You know, we're the Ben.
And the thing is with Ben Johnson too, is the
success that he's had against the Vikings. You have to
sit there and say, is it the scheme or is
it the players right?
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Is it right?
Speaker 4 (31:28):
What? You know? What is it? And you know the
Bears lash the Bears with flores. Here, the Bears have
scored on a averaged sixteen points a game. Offensively, the
Lions with Ben Johnson have scored thirty points a game. Okay,
so is it Ben Johnson or is it the players?
I'm saying it's Jamior Gibbs and Jared Goff.
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:50):
I mean that's definitely just.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
Just if you want, if you have nothing to do with.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Your life, maybe an homework assignment.
Speaker 4 (31:59):
No, not for you. I'm just in general. Just go
back and look at all the touchdowns that that the Lions,
at least last year, all the touchdowns the line scored.
They were cornerback falls down, Golf finds them, hits them,
mental air on a blitz, GoF finds the receiver running
a go route and hits them. Jamie or Gibbs with
(32:20):
the big run. There was a you know, we were
without Cashman at the time, and you know we had
Dallas Turner playing off the ball linebacker, just a misfit
and he's good enough to make a guy miss. And
then you watch the game this game seventeen last year,
and they were lining up with a tight end in
full but they were running I like an I formation
(32:41):
ISO run that they scored a touchdown on after a
mistackle by cam bining them. It's like, it doesn't it's
not complicated. I mean, the better your players are, the
thinner your playbook should be. And it's not like there's
some magic formula that Ben Johnson had to beat to
(33:02):
beat the Vikings or to be able to score thirty
points a game against the Vikings. That's why I'm so
intrigued about this game is he doesn't have Jamior Gibbs.
Jamior Gibbs we gave up with nine rushing touchdowns last year.
Is either nine or eleven, it's somewhere like, you know,
around ten. Gibbs had five of them. Five.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
That's incredible.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
It's that guy's just a thorn on our side. Now
we got to figure out how to stop him when
we play him. But you know, Ben Johnson doesn't have
that weapon in the backfield. Now, he might be able
to move the chains whatever, but you're not going to
get those forty, you know, forty thirty yard runs, the
big runs that we've seen out of them. So my
guess would be that Flores is gonna literally throw the
(33:44):
kitchen sink at Caleb Williams. As far as looks go,
don't let them get comfortable, don't let him feel like
he knows what he's what he's looking at defensively, and
make him make all the adjustments and make him his
uncomfortable and get him off. It is timing off as
much as you possibly can.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
I have a question about that.
Speaker 4 (34:04):
There's some of that there go So, So.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
If you're Brian Flores and you're throwing the kitchen sink,
do you want to put that much of that on
film this early on in this season. From a coaching perspective.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
You don't, Yeah, you don't. You don't worry about Week two.
You are not worried about the Atlanta Falcons.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
Zero, But like down the line, like do you come
out and like I feel like some offenses don't show
everything week one?
Speaker 4 (34:29):
You know you though? Yes, I mean here's the thing
you can only you can only do so much. Yeah, okay,
you can only you can only a head coach. You'll
see his flip card. He'll have you know you got
let's say you got sixty plays or seventy plays on
on on the flip card, there's only sixty five plays
in a game. You can't call. You call plays over
(34:51):
again you can't just call sixty different plays. Ye how
it works, right, You might have a run that works,
so you flip it and run the other way or whatever.
You can't. You have all that there to know it.
You're capable of doing it, but you have to focus
on a specific number of these plays. And defensively, as
a coach, you, like I said, you don't worry about
(35:12):
showing anything. You really you don't care.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Well that has really excited about that game?
Speaker 4 (35:18):
Well, you want to beat the Bears and if I
got to, I mean.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Well, and think about the support that if your defense
comes out there and just shuts them down. How much
playing not having to play from behind of a lift
and support that could be for the offense going out
for the first time with JJ McCarthy.
Speaker 4 (35:38):
Yeah, absolutely, you well, I mean when the games, if
it's a one score game, you can offensively, you can
maintain your balance, right. If you're ahead by multiple scores,
then you may get run heavy. If you're down by
multiple scores, then you're going to have to get chunk
plays and move the football, so you get a little
(35:58):
pass heavy. Yeah, right, that's why when when teams break
down other teams offenses and defenses. They the score differential
is a big part of big part of it because
on base downs when it's one score game, you do
this when you're you know, and so that matters.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Situational masters, that's what they say, it's what they call
them up here, exactly.
Speaker 2 (36:21):
They do situation.
Speaker 4 (36:22):
It's a lot. It's a lot.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:25):
And but and despite having all that information, if you're
a Flores or Kevin O'Connell and you're the one calling plays,
you have to have a gut feeling about things right.
And that's what makes those guys great. You can't just
be a data processor and call the defenses.
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Yeah. I'll tell you what though, this this game Monday
Night Football, Like I'm going to be raring to go
because we're going to be watching games all weekend long
and we're gonna sit there on Sunday and be traveling.
Speaker 4 (36:56):
The game will never get here. It's never it's never
going to get here. The first week, Monday Night is
the worst because well, we're just.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Gonna be waiting all day Monday in Chicago. First world problems,
I get it, But like we're just gonna be waiting
around being like, Okay, what is gonna happen. I can't
imagine the nerves. Oh my god, I'm not even playing obviously.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
So yeah, tough. That's yeah, that's a that's a you know,
it's something that the players need to keep in mind.
And you can't sit there and watch football all day
and get caught up in that because it'll it will,
you know, it will eventually, it will wear you out
a little bit.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
Probably.
Speaker 4 (37:33):
Yeah, you know, we have to figure out this road
prime time thing.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
Though.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
I think we've lost our last seven in a row.
Speaker 2 (37:42):
You dropped that nugget on the Roster Show and I.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
Was like, Paul got up, Yeah, Paul got all upset
at me. But it's what it is. It's a number.
The thing is, it is. What it is doesn't mean
anything right, right, And I'm not I mean, I'm not
a coach, So I'm not going to go back and
try to, you know, look through every every single one
of those and figure out if there's something. There's something there,
but it's an area of focus. Just like short yardage
(38:08):
running game, deep red zone running game. These are all
things that have been addressed. And when you bring in
veterans like you have with Will Fryes and you know,
Kelly and the rest of them. These guys been doing
this for a long time, so they should be ready
and hopefully be more ready.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Yeah, heck yeah.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
It's yeah, it's going to be different hotel though, Tatum,
I'm sorry, but you're not gonna be staying at the
JW and the financial distance.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
I love that bad Yeah, I've already I've already looked
at all that kind of stuff ahead of time. I'm
a creature of habit I like to know where I'm going,
who who do I know in the city?
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Who can I meet up with? I do that in
Nashville every year.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I always have like my friends, and I like being
able to take advantage of that.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
So, but UGO is one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
I'm excited to go back to Soldier Field hot maybe
a hot take. I know people talk about that stadium
and whatnot, maybe not favorably, but I think Soldier Field's cool.
Speaker 2 (39:04):
I like the locations different.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
I don't mind it. I think it's really neat and
I like I mean, I like it. So I don't
know what people are saying, but I like it.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
Just take it all in because I don't know how
much longer they're going to be there. It looks like
moving to Arlington.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Yeah, but I mean, look the Titans, they have how
many more years in their stadium and they're building one
like literally next door. So I think we've got a
few more seasons in there, maybe a couple.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
Yeah, I mean I'm good with it.
Speaker 4 (39:29):
This is it, though, this could be it.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
This is you know they're not going to be able
to knock it down and build something.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
No, no, no, I know, no, no, I know that.
But I'm saying this is your one chance this year.
You may have next year and then I'm just saying
the end is near near, right, the end is near? Yeah, well,
of course you want to play a wild Card game
in Chicago, which I really don't.
Speaker 1 (39:49):
No, not outdoors place, no, thank you. Well, the end
is the end is here for this podcast, we have
been yapping it up, and I really, Pete, I really
appreciate you joining. I always love I love picking your
brain about the game and getting your insights because I
feel like not many people out there have played, coached,
(40:12):
been an analyst for as long as you have, and
and it's it's really lucky for people like me who
just want to be a sponge in this league and
and learn the most that they can from guys like you.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
So I appreciate your time.
Speaker 4 (40:23):
Oh absolutely any time. I just I enjoyed talking about it.
And football is the best.
Speaker 1 (40:30):
It's the absolute best there is and it just it's
not working a day in your life.
Speaker 4 (40:37):
So many great people, so many sort of I would say,
since I moved into the booth, yeah, yeah, like a
dream job.
Speaker 2 (40:48):
This is really cool.
Speaker 4 (40:50):
But the you know, I mean there's been there's a
lot of blood, sweat and tears that got me into
the booth.
Speaker 2 (40:56):
I bet so, it's like, but you're there.
Speaker 4 (41:00):
I just yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
And you get to talk to Viking stands every week,
which is so cool.
Speaker 4 (41:04):
My dad told me, you get paid to talk. Don't
ever miss a day of work. You know, that's how
bad could it be. You don't have to ye dig
a hole, you don't have to move stuff, You just talk.
Speaker 1 (41:14):
My parents didn't know I can make a career out
of this, and here I am fifteen years old.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
Look at you.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I know. Ok see, they shouldn't have ever listened to
my teachers and tell me to be quiet in school.
Speaker 4 (41:24):
And when you march into Quasy's office with this with
the pie charts, and everything else.
Speaker 1 (41:29):
They're gonna be like wow, more than a pretty faces.
Speaker 4 (41:32):
I'm just saying, you're gonna get yourself a promotion and
you're gonna football side. The office will have to be
big enough to cover both ends of the buildings. Oh wow,
I'm just trying to help. Just remember me when you're
on top.
Speaker 2 (41:44):
Oh I will, I'll hire you to be my analyst.
Speaker 4 (41:48):
Well yeah, make me do all the all the I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Exactly all the make me look good, Pete. Well, thank
you again, Pete, and I will see you. I will
see you very soon as we get ready for Chicago
for that big since and opener. It's going to be awesome,
so we will we will talk soon.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Thank you, Pete.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Sounds good. Take care of Tatum.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Thank you to Pete. It's always so great to have
him on. And we really appreciate his insight. If you
couldn't tell from how many times I thanked him.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
We are so excited, obviously for this.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
Big time Monday night football matchup. It's going to be
so amazing. And if you need to catch up on
anything Vikings related to get you ready, primed and ready
for that game, you can check out Vikings dot com
or the Vikings app. We have so much stuff in
store for you. The latest news, interviews, and features all
across Bikings Entertainment Network posted super soon and currently actually
(42:47):
because I've seen some really neat social videos that have
been dropping and I cannot.
Speaker 2 (42:51):
Wait to see more.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
We appreciate you guys for listening, and of course we're
gonna have another episode coming ATCHA next week, so stay
tuned for the next episode of the Minnesota Vikings podcast.
Spoalan Montage is the Twin Cities premier salon and spa
destination and proud official hair sponsor of the Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders.
(43:14):
With three convenient locations in idnah, Woodbury, and chan Hassen.
There's a Spalan close to you. Visit online at spolan
dot com.
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