#92Noon! 10am Hour 3/24 Ben Goessling, Maxx's Musings

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, looking to score tickets to the biggest games in
concerts in town from the Minnesota Wildest, Santana, the Doobie Brothers,
Chris Stapleton.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
And more.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Your chance to win is waiting entered now at Cafe
dot com keyword contests.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Hey, no, Apa, this is mad in Minneapolis.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (00:48):
There's only one thing you need in baseball to win,
and that is to be a coastal market with deep
pockets and owners willing to buy the best athletes, get
the best TV deals and beat up on quadruple A
teams like the Twins and whatever the Athletics are.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
That's how you win in baseball.

Speaker 4 (01:08):
Yeah, thank you very much for the talkback, and it's
our current leader for the Northern Fire Barbecue Talkback Prize
package winner. At the end of the radio show, Ben
Gasoline Star Tribune, Star Tribune dot Com. At Ben Gesling
via x, we have the podcast Access Vikings, we have
the ever controversial newsletter, and much more.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
And that answer right there.

Speaker 4 (01:30):
Ben played up a question that I set up an
hour and change you go for some talkbacks, and I
asked Chris Finch the question on Friday and we played
his response where like winning at the highest level consistently,
and in hockey it seems you have to have the
right goalie. In baseball you need to have the right pitcher. Pitchers,

(01:52):
but in the biggest game, the right pitcher is probably
going to make you favor In football, it would be quarterback. Yes,
in basketball, what do you think it would be. I
tend to think the point guard.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
I mean, in terms of the NCAA tournament, if we're
thinking one and done, a guy that can bring the
ball up, can run the offense.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
I mean that's a very quarterback like role.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
And I mean in a lot of ways, these positions
are you know, singular in the sense of a goalie
at a pitcher. A pitcher obviously is kind of leading
the defense in a way that a goalie is, but
a pitcher is the person that initiates every play on
the field, and a point guard kind of has that role.
I guess a quarterback takes the ball from the center.
The center initiates it technically, with the quarterbacks the one

(02:34):
calling for the snap. So there's that level of I'm
the one that's making things go, I'm the one that's
controlling the tempo. I'm the one that's kind of the
calming influence. I would typically go point guard, but you know,
other well, as the game is spread out, I would
think it's probably more guards. I mean, I have obviously
grew up in the nineties in the era of a
keem Olajuan and Patrick Ewing and David Robinson and Shaquille

(02:56):
O'Neal and all these centers. The game has shifted a
lot since then, So I even thought then. I mean
I grew up, you know, living in souther California for
a few years, I was a big Magic Johnson guy,
and so I fell in love with the point guard
back then. Yeah, and I think I would still say
it's the point guard.

Speaker 4 (03:10):
Yeah, Finchy, he went down the road of you have
to have the right superstar, okay, and and you know
which can be the guy that brings the ball up, correct,
But the right superstar, to paraphrase what the head coach
of the t Wolf said, was.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Who galvanizes others.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
Yeah, so the right superstar has tentacles to it, enough defense,
enough ball handling, and then and then he's like, defensively,
you have to have the right rim protector. Well, that's
interesting in this day and age, because you know they're
they're like Oklahoma City. Well, what makes Oklahoma City so
tough to play is Holmgren and Hartenstein, especially holme Gren

(03:52):
miniha Academy go crazy. Yeah, he protects the rim, but
he hits threes, so he's the right kind of rim Breton.
So it's like that, right change are our keys to
that equation. I met Johnny Hecker at the Minnesota Vikings
facility yesterday from Afar. He looked like a cross between
Carson Wentz and Dave Portnoy. That's a big dude. I

(04:15):
saw him walking down the hallway. I thought, is that
Carson Wentz or is that Dave Portnoy? Or is that
Carson Portnoy? So I met the punter who passes yesterday.
Will you find yourself in any way missing Ryan Wright? Well,
Ryan Right had a heck of a year last year.
I mean, and I guess Ryan Wright is also a
punter who passes.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
He did it in London two.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
Yeah, he finished one of two thirteen yards and we
got this top of our heads, Jillen Naylor for a
first down for thirteen yards and in London on a
gotcha play against the against the Saints special teams coordinator.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Because like I think Matt Daniels explained it to me
years ago.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
It's they saw something enough and then like if you
put guys in motion. They put guys over here, and
they did it with nail or and they got thirteen yards.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
But that was it for Ryan Wright. One of two
thirteen yards.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
Yeah, yeah, that play I remember being fairly pivotal in that.
I think that was a double joint game in London.
But yeah, I mean I thought he was awfully good
last year. The money he got was not probably something
they were going to chase. But yeah, I mean, Johnny
Hecker has been an All pro punter, has been a
guy that as a holder comes with fairly high repute.

(05:26):
He's a guy that's fairly well trusted as a holder
and seen as one of the best in the business.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
There which is going to be piece.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
It was going to be a piece of this because
will Record, with the year he had, they wanted somebody
that was not going to disrupt that operation that much.
So yeah, I mean, I think Brian Wright, off of
the year he had, he hit the market at the
right time.

Speaker 4 (05:46):
Do you think they'll let Johnny Hecker pass? There may
be something in there. Once or twice I suppose, I
mean yeah, I mean Kevin O'Connell would have history with that,
Wes Phelps would have history with that in terms of
seeing him do it. Matt Daniels would have Matt Daniels
as coached it before. So it's probably it'll come up
in a meeting. I would guess. That always is such
a tricky equation when you have a quarterback who throws, Yeah,

(06:09):
but you have a punter who passes too, and I
don't know if he's I think maybe his last pass
was twenty.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
It's not that far away. But it doesn't happen as
frequently as it used to.

Speaker 4 (06:20):
But when you do, when you execute plays like that, yeah,
and if they don't work, I mean, that's consternation within
the covenant right second, guessing why did we do it?
Why did we work on it? Why are we having
this guy throw? We got this guy? It all depends on.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
How the season's going.

Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, the whole fake punt thing is interesting in this
day and age when you see teams go for it
more often and the situations where you would go for
it are probably there's a wider bandwidth of that. So, like,
I haven't looked into this in great detail, But I
would be curious to hear if the fake punt or
the appetite for it is less because teams are like, yeah,

(06:57):
we'll go for it in a fourth down a little more often.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
You're just saying, we don't need to try to trick
anybody here.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Let's just put our offense out, put our best on best,
and say let's try to go at a first down.
So yeah, I mean, I would be interested to this
seems like a conversation that would be good for a
Matt Daglis press conference at some point. He's usually up
for a philosophical you know, kind of take out some
guardrail and talk conceptually about these shifts in the game.

(07:22):
So I'm interested if that is something that's different. As
coaches go for and a fourth downs more.

Speaker 4 (07:27):
Often, does the learned scribe have a take on more
two point conversions and fewer extra points? And that's this
is age old. Yeah, it's not age old from like
the new Rockney days. Yeah, but like something popped up
within the last twenty years or so, being like, if
you're at the forty or whatever between here, you never punt.

(07:47):
You go for it on fourth down every time. Here
are the percentages and then there were before the extra
point got moved back when it was out to ten. Yeah,
I mean it was loud like over the course of time,
It's it's a long it would be a long winding,
long winding sample size would be required. If you go

(08:07):
for two every time, you will benefit more than you don't.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yes, what do you think of that? Well, it's the
same math of going forward on fourth down. It's you
look at the benefits of it over time and say
the benefits outweigh the risk. I mean, all of this
stuff is what are my percentage chances of hitting it?
What do I gain if I get it? What do
I lose if I don't? I mean it's enough to
With all due respect to the old GM, it's it's

(08:33):
an economics model.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
It's what's your.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
Cost benefit analysis, what's your opportunity costs? What's the risk
of doing this? And I think a lot of the
math is on fourth downs. Yeah, there's enough upside to
this that it's worth the risk. You're going to benefit
from it more often than you're not. Now, you got
to be able to get it, you got to be
good enough at it. But I would think it'd be
the same thing on a two point conversion where it's
double the points, and are you more than double the

(09:01):
likelihood of not converting? I wouldn't think so. So I
think as you do the math, as you come through it,
you'd say yeah. I mean, there's going to be risks
at times, and there's certain times where you say, no,
this doesn't make sense to do it. But the general
move has been once you apply the math, the old
approach with coaches of we have to be super risk
averse because if we miss it, everybody's going to be

(09:24):
mad about it, and people like me are going to
be asking questions, why did you go for it here?

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Or why did you go for two.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
I think as the conversation has shifted and people are
paying more attention to know that the math actually makes
sense here, that conversation probably reduces the risk too. Coaches
are famously risk averse and famously worried about the one
time that something doesn't work the right way compared to
the eighty five or ninety or ninety nine, and it
might so. I think as that conversation has shifted, you

(09:52):
see people praised more for being aggressive with it and
being innovative with it more so than being mocked for
being a risk with it. I think all of that
has changed late late last week. DeAndre Hopkins kind of
low key beg to play here with Kyler Murray. Yeah,
it was some TMZ thing. I know they've been.

Speaker 4 (10:12):
Balling on a budget, as it was put to me,
I don't know if they're still balling on a budget.
Yeah they are, I don't think, dion. I mean, gapwise,
they are. Unless it's a Brian O'Neil extension that's hit
in the last five minutes. Max is broke, but he's dope,
but everybody's broke. DeAndre Hopkins should they consider? I mean,
it's a guy that has a history with Kyler Murray.

(10:34):
It's a guy that obviously has had a lot of
success in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
I think the question would be what's the role?

Speaker 1 (10:42):
But you know, a guy that has been that good
and has that connection with the quarterback, and I think
is as reliable in red zone situations as he is.
I mean, it would depend on the cost. I think
all of this would depend on the cost. But you
know that much.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
I can't.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
And they lost Jalen Naylor. Adam Thielen was acquired to
play some of that role. Didn't quite go that way,
but they need wide receiver depth. There's not really like
a third on the roster right now that you're saying, okay,
this is this is the guy that you just completely
trust in it. I mean, maybe it's Stiefelt and maybe
he grows into that. You know, you could look at
probably in addition here or there in the draft. But yeah,

(11:21):
I think if you said this is a guy that
has a rapport with the quarterback and can still play
and wants to play relatively affordably, I don't see why
you wouldn't look at it.

Speaker 4 (11:33):
Well, he correct me if I'm wrong here, at this
stage of his career, DeAndre Hopkins would not be considered
like super fast, right, Okay, but see that's kind of fine. Yeah,
in this equation for the amount of plays that spot
would play with Hopkinson, you know, being say pass pc
not w R three PC three, pass catcher three because

(11:55):
Jefferson flies Addison's fast. Then you got Hawk doing what
he does so like from an intermediate middle of the field,
middle zone, infatuation, red zone, all that.

Speaker 2 (12:07):
I mean, it's it's.

Speaker 4 (12:08):
Like Hopkins is right at the end, but I you know,
I can't say it doesn't fit.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
Yeah, A guy that can body up a corner and
catch a pass in a goal go situation, catch a
pass in the red zone. A guy that is, you know,
on a underneath drag route that if you're looking downfield
then you need something that you trust. I think there
would be some value in that. I mean, again, it
would depend on what he's looking for, what he's looking

(12:34):
for financially, all of those things. But yeah, I think
there could be some some intrigue there.

Speaker 4 (12:40):
The Carson Wentz Steele, according to at Ben Gesling, is
one year, three million dollars, one point one million signing bonus,
one point five million fully guaranteed.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
Then we got to some like roster stuff, Yeah all that.

Speaker 4 (12:55):
Why do you think they closed when they did? Why
do you think this took place now when generally situations
like like with Carson was it was at the midnight hour, Yeah,
last year, and they're you know, there aren't a bevy
of opens openings around the National Football League, but you
know that there are openings and there are some other

(13:16):
two spots that are available. Why do you think it
happened when it did? Well?

Speaker 1 (13:20):
I think they want him in the building. I think
they want more time to work with him. I think
he probably saw there would have been a benefit to
having more of the offseason to be in Minnesota versus
trying to come in on the fly and learn everything.
I think he clicked well with the coaches. I think
there is a trust level in the way he prepares,

(13:40):
the way he can kind of work in that room
with other quarterbacks. I mean, a guy that has seen
a lot of different offenses in addition to having been
in this one. I think they valued the perspective. And
I also think he wanted to be here. I mean,
he talked about this a lot last year. This was
kind of a dream scenario for him, playing for the
team that he grew up rooting for, you know, growing
up in North Dakota. So I think there was enough

(14:03):
interest on his part too of this was a good
fit for me last year. This is a place I
want to be, a team I want to play for.
You know, why not come in and take the job?
I mean, yeah, could there have been something else where
He's going to compete for a job more possibly of
getting the job than he would hear? Yeah, maybe it

(14:25):
was that, But he may also look at it and say, hey,
I'm not that far away, and they've gone through enough quarterbacks,
and it's a stable place for me to be. It's
a place close to home, It's where I want to
spend my time, so you know, why not keep myself
in the same place rather than bouncing around and switching
teams like he's been doing so much.

Speaker 4 (14:41):
Okay, So with this Carson Wentz deal, it's like when
it went down before I went to Ben Gesline to
get the skinning on what the deal was. Yeah, it
looked from afar like this is a proved deal. This
is one of those eight million off season proved deals
that you see, but proven deals generally don't, don't you know,
immediately have a signing bonus of a million or higher that

(15:03):
this isn't a proven deal. Really, this thing's that's in stone.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, I think just about every dollar of it, or
every dollar that matters, is guaranteed. I mean there's the
roster bonus stuff, but the signing bonus and the base
salary guaranteed. So so it was not really a proved deal.

Speaker 2 (15:16):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (15:16):
So with that and knowing Kyler Murray's a lot in life. Yeah,
and then this is there any steam that JJ McCarthy
possibly would want a trade out of here.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
I have not heard steam to corroborate that. I mean,
i've heard people talk about that possibility that you know,
would he consider that. I mean, I suppose without being
directly in his head. It's hard to say that, and
I'm sure a lot of people I don't know the
people have talked to him that much. I know he
is back in Minnesota. I think he's getting ready for

(15:50):
the off season and kind of preparing for start of
off season workouts. It seems like he has every intention
to be here, But I mean, you know, it's it's
hard to say that there would be a scenario where
they wouldn't do it. I mean, if somebody came along
and gave them a big offer, then you know, maybe
you consider those things. But I don't think anybody in
that building has given up on him, And I don't

(16:10):
think that he is blindsided by the idea that they
were going to bring somebody in. I mean, they've been
in contact with him about that the whole way through,
and I think he ended the season kind of aware
of that being a reality based on the way that.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
Twenty twenty five went for him.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
So yeah, I would be a little surprised if he's
banging the table trying to get his way out of here. Right,
it's also a place where he could find himself back
in the mix. It's not impossible that he does that.
He's gonna have to be a lot better. He's gonna
have to prove things to people that he's improved in
some pretty significant areas. But no, I don't get the

(16:48):
sense that there's trouble afoot at the moment there on
the sense that he would want to get out of
here quickly. All right.

Speaker 2 (16:55):
So with Kyler Murray.

Speaker 4 (16:56):
Okay, so the bell of the ball with quarter back
to this offseason was Malik Willis. Yeah, I mean it
turned out to be that way. Former coach brings him
down there, he gets a big, a nice big deal. Uh,
but you know, Malik still has a lot to prove. Yeah,
likewise for Kyler Murray. Right, So do.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
You with with with the knowledge.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
You know, and and and I believe the organization specifically
O'Connell have talked publicly about there will be a veteran
quarterback to come in here and compete. Uh, do you
think it's like Kyler Murray is absolutely the one there?
Somebody would want or is it the the best arm

(17:38):
that's most accurate. Plus we're balling on a budget and
it fits yeah, I mean yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
And the the balling on a budget component of this
plays in because effectively he's there for he's a veteran
minimum player that the Cardinals are essentially paying to be here.
I mean, the Cardinals are basically paying him to play
for the Vikings. So I think that was part of it.
But it's also one of those things where the appeal
of the talent, the appeal of the fact that he's

(18:07):
still in his twenties, and if you get one of
these things again where the guy on the one year
deal hits, it's not impossible that they would say this
is a long term answer for us. I know the
fact that I mean they let Sam Darnold go knowing
that they wanted McCarthy to play, and they also thought

(18:28):
they were going to get Daniel Jones back. The fact
that they didn't get Daniel Jones back, they maybe misread
the situation a little bit, and and Daniel Jones looked
at it and said, I have a better chance to
win this job in Indianapolis, which he was probably right about.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
But I do.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
Think if they go through that situation again where Kyler
Murray comes in and has a good year and kind
of reboots his career, they go to the playoffs, I
don't think they're going to want to go do that
again where they let somebody go and he goes and
you know, he's playing well again and is taking the
structure of the tutele thats you got in Minnesota and
using it to go succeed for somebody else on a

(19:04):
new deal. I would imagine they're not terribly interested in
offering that service to another team in the NFL, particularly
the NFC, as they you know, kind of inevitably did
for Sam Darnold. So I think the fact that he's
still in his twenties matters here. It's going to be

(19:24):
interesting to see how this fits in the offense. But
I do think the offense is going to have some
different flavors with Frank Smith coming in here, so you know,
there's a lot to figure out in terms of can
he play in a you know, kind of the rhythm
and timing type pass concepts that you hear Kevin O'Connell
talk about all the time. But they've known each other
for a while I mean I've learned this over the
years that whether it's working with young quarterbacks when he's

(19:46):
prepping them for the Combine or scouting them when he
was in Cleveland or Washington or even la Kevin O'Connell
has a fairly deep rolodex of young quarterbacks. I mean,
like he's known Caleb Williams, May all of those guys
since they were like seventeen.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
So Kyler Murray is that same kind of thing where
they've kind of stayed in touch and watched each other
from afar, and I think there's enough of a relationship there,
there's enough of a history that it was not just
to throw a dart at a wall. I think it
was Yeah, this can work in maybe a little bit
of a different flavor of the offense, but I think
there was enough of a background there that it was

(20:27):
a fairly premeditated thing that they went and signed him.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
You just said something.

Speaker 4 (20:31):
I'm glad you said it, because I haven't asked anybody
about it. But you mentioned the name Frank Smith, who
worked with Mike McDaniel and the offense in Miami. Now,
when Kyler Murray, when he saw when he signed here
and O'Connell did a zoom presser.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yes, okay's yeah.

Speaker 4 (20:52):
I'm so glad you said that because during that it
was just kind of a sidewinding kind of throwaway comment,
like you know, and because of some paraphrasing, because of
some new coaches we have here, we're going to do
some different things offensive, So you know what I'm saying, right, yes, no,
but that it's I'm glad you brought it up, man,
because that's not a throwaway comment. It's not there's something

(21:13):
big about me throw away comments. If he says something
that generally is coming from somewhere, he may lay out
croutons and you're like, okay, well those are the creutons
now they lead to the chef's sound. Yes, so like this,
what do you think he means because you just said
something there too that and use that name.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:30):
Yeah, And I've had some conversations with people about this.
They are very excited about his voice in the offense.
I mean a lot of the run game stuff that
they did in Miami that Mike McDaniel did, you know
when it was kind of taking the lead by storm.
Frank Smith was very involved in that. I know there
was a lot of intrigue about him speaking into that
piece of the offense. So I think because of the

(21:55):
background that he brings to it, you are going to
see some different permutations of this offense this year. It's
not just great to get sneaky. Well, I think there's
gonna be it's gonna be more diverse. I think it's
gonna be more eclectic with the run game. I think
there's a lot of ideas about how to pair those
two things together. I mean, you hear about the marriage
of the run in the pass all the time, but

(22:15):
I think there is interest in bringing some of what
you saw in Miami to Minnesota. And I also thought
it was very interesting when Kevin O'Connell was talking about
Kyler Murray. I asked something about how he fits in
the offense, and he brought up very quickly the process
of trying to solve the way teams cover Justin Jefferson
and are so focused on taking him away, and he

(22:37):
mentioned the running quarterback, and then I followed up on
it again a little bit later and he said, yeah,
it's something that teams have to consider. And I thought
it was really interesting because we have not known Kevin
O'Connell to be a guy that says, yeah, I want
a running quarterback to be a major component of my offense.
I think I think even when Josh Dobbs was here,
it was yeah, if the play breaks down, let's extend

(22:58):
it or pick up a start with the legs. But
I don't think they wanted to lean on that as
a primary part of the offense. And I don't know
that that's going to happen here either, But I just
think it was interesting to hear it because that comment
struck me as a guy who has been banging his
head against the wall for four years about everybody puts
so much attention on number eighteen and they're so focused

(23:20):
on taking him away. How do we make them pay
for that? And you add TJ. Hockinson, you add Jordan Edison,
and people still do it. So I think there's a
little bit of let's change the math. If you want
to keep two safeties back, that means you have one
less than the box. And Kyler now is somebody you
have to account for. If you decide you want to
play man cop. Nobody plays man coverage against them. But

(23:41):
if you tried to do that, then you've got your
back turn and the quarterback can get out and run.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
That's okay.

Speaker 4 (23:46):
So what you just said there, I think I mean
if Kyling is a JJ antidote, a little bit if wow,
well an anidote well explained. Yeah if And I don't
know if Kyler's good at recognizing matters zone, Yeah, if
he is and it's consistent, or say he's okay at
it and he puts more time into it and gets
good at it.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
Here, I mean, you know what it looks like, man.

Speaker 4 (24:08):
If quarterbacks who naturally can run like Kyler, Yeah, you
break the pocket and you catch them with their backs
turned to you. Well, that's twenty two yards for this guy,
I mean right out of the gate right now.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
Yeah, there's I think they're intrigued by the pick your
poison element of this, where it's like, fine, if you
want to keep all of these defenders on justin Jefferson,
we put him on one side, we roll Kyler out
to the other side, and there's all sorts of space
over here. They talk all the time about finding open grass,
attacking open grass, finding voids and vacancies. I think there's

(24:40):
intrigue about where Kyler Murray's athletic ability could create more
of those things. Again, I don't think this is going
to be all the time. I don't think they're going
to go start running zone reed stuff all the time
and have him with the ball in his hands constantly
because they have to keep him healthy too, and that's
been a big question with him. But you have I mean,

(25:01):
Carson Wentz has done a lot of readoption stuff in
his career. Two, not that that's going to be a
huge focus at this point. But McCarthy scored price last year. Yes,
the one where he graded it in the end zone.
They told him not to do it. That was on
a read option play the first game of the year
against the Bears. He won the game on a readoption.
You did, Yep, totally. So I think there's enough of
that They've They've brought enough people in with that skill

(25:24):
set that when you see them moving that way, it's like, Yeah,
it's just one of those things that you kind of
file in your the back of your mind that this
could be a little more of.

Speaker 2 (25:33):
A prominent flavor in this offense this year. Fascinating.

Speaker 4 (25:37):
Ben Geslin, vikings beat writer for the Star Tribune and
Star Tribune dot Com. We'll have another segment with Ben
next it only.

Speaker 2 (25:51):
Wild fans. This is a your season experience the.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
Energy, the goals and the unforgettable moments at Brand Casino Arena.

Speaker 2 (26:00):
Your tickets now, including to.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Wild versus Canucks on April second, hit Wild versus Kraken
on April seventh at Wild dot com slash tickets. That's
Wild dot com slash tickets to cheer on the Wild
this season.

Speaker 5 (26:39):
APA, And this is brand from Corkoran with regards to
the Kyler Murray coming to the Vikings and the turn
of the uncertain future of JJ McCarthy. I think this
is quite the exact perfect opportunity we could hope for
for JJ to season behind the guy who is even

(26:59):
more undersund but plays bigger and learn to understand the
nuances of the NFL.

Speaker 4 (27:05):
Give them time to season, all right, Benny g Ben
Gesling nine to noon, ten thirty five. Let's see I'm
gonna land the Kyler playing here because Ben had some

(27:26):
incredibly interesting things to say about the Minnesota Vikings offense.
Much of what you would get when he and the
cast do access Vikings the podcast or we have the
newsletter or at Ben Gestlin via x. And of course
there are the stories in the newspaper or Star Tribune
dot com. But before Ryan Vandamark and some other things

(27:48):
that are new. With everything you just laid out about
the Kyler Murray threat, the Frank Smith aside, reading man
compared to zone and running like the wind and or
chasing the wind. There was a lot with Jones and
Mason in the fold. Does it make sense to identify

(28:10):
running back in the draft Thursday or Friday during the draft,
so round one, two or three? Because I came into
this being like you know, I mean, Aaron's in and
out a little bit and Mason. You can win with
Mason consistently. I mean, I know he got hurt at
some point last year, but generally speaking, that's not part
of his calling card. But he also has limitations with

(28:32):
the way he plays. So now and Chandler Leaves went
to New Orleans? Right, yeah, all right, so Jones, Mason,
But this whole speed thing that you're laying out there
with Murray and break in the pocket and the Frank
Smith aside and next level Shanny concepts and things like that,
Jeremiah Love or fast running back, Emma Johnson just just whatever.

(28:55):
I mean, would you be surprised if they moved on
a running back quite high in the draft.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
I would not be surprised by that.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
I think there's a very good chance that they do
that because very good you say, yeah, because I think
the concept of what they're trying to do and what
we just talked about with some of the Frank Smith stuff,
some of the McDaniel stuff that they I think have
been impressed by. I think it makes sense there. And
you also have to think about the future there where

(29:23):
Aaron Jones, you know, is going to be thirty one here,
I think they actually turns I want to say thirty Yeah,
that maybe even thirty two in December. So you got
to think about that going forward. And Jordan Mason is
a certain type of running back, but I think you
could use the move. I think we talked about it
a little bit, the thunder and lightning. You suddenly the

(29:45):
lightning part of this, and Aaron Jones still has some speed,
but we've seen it towards the end of seasons where
just the hits in the and the wear and tearor
slows him down a little bit. So I think it
makes a lot of sense for the continued investment in
that position. And I would not be surprised if one
of those top one hundred pick is on a running back.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
Interesting.

Speaker 4 (30:05):
So, yeah, we'll deal with would they keep this guy
or would they keep that guy? Even though this guy's
here under this redone contract. All that that's for another time.
Offensive lineman Ryan van Demark, Yes, swing lineman from the Bills,
Ben wrote was attained quote with a savvy bit of
pricing from Rob Razinski and crew end quote.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
What does that mean?

Speaker 1 (30:26):
Yeah, So this was an interesting one because the Bills,
from my understanding, wanted to keep him and obviously had
put the RFA tag on him. And you're kind of thinking, Okay,
are they going to let a guy go because he
is versatile, He's played both sides, both tackle positions, he's
so relatively young, and the Vikings, like a lot of teams, say,

(30:47):
if we have versatility at this position, somebody we can
plug in on either side if there's an injury. It's
important because those guys are really hard to find during
the season. We've seen them prioritize it, whether it was
just in school, even keeping oli Udo when they made
the trade for Cam Robinson, that was because they needed
a starter, but offensive line depth, it's part of the
reason Blake Brandell has been here. That is something that

(31:09):
it's an insurance policy that you need to have, because
if you lose a guy and you're starting five in
the middle of the season, it becomes a big problem.
As we saw with them just about in every spot
other than right guard last year. I think the Bills
wanted to keep them. The Vikings knew that the Bills
are also tight against the cap, so they're balling on

(31:30):
a budget. Yeah, the Bills are as well, but the
Vikings knew if we put this off for just a
little bit higher than they're willing to match, I mean
kind of understanding where the walkaway price was going to be.
I think a lot of what went into this from
my understanding was, Yeah, it's Robertszinski, it's Matt Thomas, Emily Betis.
That is a department with I mean, two guys that

(31:52):
have done this for a long long time. And Emily
Betas is somebody in that building that her thought process,
her level of knowledge of all of these things is
very highly respected. So a lot of all of those
things came to bear on this one. And you know,
it's it's a couple hundred thousand dollars here and there.
But it's enough. It's knowing where the walkaway price is

(32:12):
if I if I priced.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
This thing in the auction here.

Speaker 1 (32:16):
We all do this in fantasy football drafts, and this
is not fantasy ball.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
This is real people's money.

Speaker 1 (32:20):
But it's the same thing of what's the pain point
for this person that's going to make them go you
know what?

Speaker 2 (32:25):
Yeah, I'd love to, but it's too much. And I
think a lot.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
Of what they did to get him in here was
just understanding that at a pretty nuanced level.

Speaker 4 (32:33):
Do you think that maybe that's what the Saints did
with Ryan Wright?

Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yeah, I mean I think four years, eight million guaranteed.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, it's one of those things where it's, you know,
a guy that I think they would.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
Have wanted to keep.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
I mean, I think Ryan Wright was a guy they
would have very much liked to keep on a new deal.
But the Saints knowing, yeah, it's going to be we
can see there's their cap space just like everybody else can.
We can project what they're going to need to do.
They're not going to spend this on a punter. So
you know, I think Brian Vandimar coming a little bit
later in free agency where you had some things settled

(33:06):
and you say, Okay, we know some of these positions
are going to be relatively cheap. We've done some restructures
for cap space purposes. That probably was an easier deal
to do, you know, a little later in a free
agency than.

Speaker 2 (33:21):
Than it would have been right away.

Speaker 4 (33:22):
So so swing lineman from the Bills, like, like, what
what's his best position? Any idea, like what does he play?

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Well, he's played both tackle spots, I mean, and I
think that's something that you're going to want. Because we
saw what happened with Christian dearris l last year. I
think their expectation is that is in the review mirror.
But Brian O'Neill has played through things. Brian O'Neil has
missed time a little bit here and there, not a ton,
But you know, you're sitting there thinking about what will

(33:51):
it look like if we need somebody else to play
one of these tackle positions during the course of the season.
And those are not guys you want to be caught
in a bind trying to replace. I mean, they're both
highly compensated for a reason because they're foundational pieces of
that line. So yes, he is somebody that comes in

(34:11):
as a tackle and again has played both of these,
has been more on the left and the right. I
think some of that's been need but got it. I
think a lot of it is just having the insurance
policy at either of those spots if you need him.

Speaker 4 (34:22):
Maybe answered this earlier with the right to change the opinion,
because we still are. We're a month in change from
the NFL draft.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
Yep. What do you think the head coach wants at
eighteen or in the first round.

Speaker 1 (34:33):
Well, I mean, I think there's a lot of ways
you could do it, and there's a lot of approaches
you could take. I think adding help on the defensive
side of the ball is It's been a popular thought,
and I think Brian Flores will have things that he
wants to do too. If you get a defensive tackle
to replace Alan or Hargrave, that maybe is a little

(34:55):
more effective, a little more dynamic. I think that could
be a need, you know, whether that's guy like Caleb
Banks or Kid McDonald. I think those are possibilities. I mean,
corner is an interesting one too, because they could use
a young, lengthy corner. I think that's a big spot
that they've tried to fill in I mean Jaiah Rodgers

(35:16):
has helped, but.

Speaker 2 (35:17):
Shoot, they tried that all the way back to a
Caleb Evans. Yeah. Yeah, I mean Caleb didn't work, but
it was long and range. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:23):
They've missed on a lot of corners in the draft.
I mean, whether it's Mike Hues, whether it's Andrew Booth,
the Caleb Evans, I mean, Makai Blackman's injuries. But they've
had a lot of these where they've tried it and
they have not solved that need. So some of those
corners Aviante Terrell in the first round would be one
that I would keep an eye on. Ajterrell's brother Londson.

(35:44):
So I think a corner, even a safety is a
possibility to to If you think Harrison Smith is not
going to be back last.

Speaker 4 (35:51):
One minute, you get it. All was all the Jonathan
Grenard trade speculation. Hevill which is Hebrew for smoke or vapor.
We're reporters chasing after the wind on that one. Not necessarily.
I think there is certainly interest from Gernard and a
new deal. I think the Vikings are pretty comfortable paying
them what they're paying him, So I think that conversation is, hey,

(36:13):
we want a new deal. Okay, Well, we don't really
feel like we want to move off of where we're at,
but if you can find somebody that will give you that,
then you're welcome to go down that road. And that's
I think where that stuff starts coming from is agent
drives it. Speculation kind of comes from there.

Speaker 1 (36:30):
If the offer came through and the Vikings were able
to get, say, a second round pick for him, yeah
I could see it happening. But a lot of that
I think is coming from Gernard wanting a new deal
and the Vikings saying if we're not in the place
to do it, you know, maybe there's somebody else that
you could get what you want and we get high
compensation for it, and everybody walks away feeling okay about
the deal.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
We will try to call you in Palm Beach next week,
but if you're busy, completely understandable. Otherwise, God bless you
and your family. Always great seeing you and thanks for stopping.
Great to see you too. We'll walk next week. Ben Gasline,
Star Tribune, Star Tribune dot Com back after this, all right.

(37:24):
This portion of the radio show generally is mused ord
provided by Canterbury Parking Canterbury Park dot Com. If it's
double b producing, it is Brett's bits and bets. But
with young Maxwell here, it's about time to get easy
with it. We call it Max's musing. It's his version
of a sports update. And there they are.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
Yes, Sir, the Wild drop the Punk on a three
game road trip tonight when they take on the Lightning
in Tampa Bay. Carell Capriesov, juwel Ericson Eck and Marcus
Felino all practice yesterday and all traveled with the team.
It's up in the air when they play. All three
are expected to return at some point during this upcoming

(38:04):
road trip. Felino hasn't played since late February, while Capriesov
and k have missed the last few two for Capriceof
and three for K to be specific. The aforementioned road
trip includes tonight's game against Tampa, a duel with the
defending champion Panthers, and a battle with the Boston Bruins
as well. Yeah, that's nothing but good news at this
stage of the season with like eleven to go. The

(38:26):
Dallas Stars were beaten here over the weekend and overtime,
but they still stole a point, so they're five clear
of US, and then they had a chance to do
some significant damage to the Minnesota Wild and their puncher's
chance quest to have home ice advantage against Dallas in
round one by going to Vegas and beating the times
beatable Golden Knights in regulation, but they lost in regulation.

(38:50):
So Dallas has been down of late players like Rupe
Hintz and Miko rantin him a couple of game changers,
So they're trying to get themselves right. Like Heinz, Heinsey
is gonna get some some significant firepower and some significant
intensity and strength with Folino back here relatively soon, maybe

(39:12):
even tonight, and John Hines joins nine to noon tomorrow
at nine forty five. The Twins a Spring of training
finale is going down in Florida this afternoon, about five
minutes after this show ends, when they take on the
Red Sox. The next time we see the Twins in action,
we'll be on Thursday afternoon against the Orioles in their

(39:32):
regular season opener. Joe Ryan will be the opening day
starter for you, our Minnesota Twins. A lot of sports
books are predicting the Twins will win about seventy.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
Two games this season.

Speaker 4 (39:42):
Here comes MLB, which means I don't know how long
it'll take for hardcore seamts to start complaining about no
salarycap and the LA Dodgers.

Speaker 2 (39:53):
Can you know what, We're.

Speaker 4 (39:54):
Gonna go out and get Mookie, and we're gonna go
out and get show Hey, and yeah, you know what,
Kyle Tucker is a really good I think we'll bring
Kyle Tucker in and the halves and the have nots
in the world of the salary kapaliss Major League Baseball scene.

Speaker 2 (40:09):
For me, given the opening day is Thursday, then I'm.

Speaker 4 (40:13):
Probably gonna get with my Comcast Covenant start looking for
the Twins channel right now.

Speaker 2 (40:17):
I always love that.

Speaker 4 (40:18):
Well started zero zero zero one and add up to
the three thousands I didn't know I had, and we're
gonna win Twins.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
We're gonna score. They're in there somewhere.

Speaker 1 (40:29):
We are officially thirty days out from day one of
the NFL Draft, PA that's going down in Pittsburgh Pencil
Alvani on April twenty third is when things get started.
Your Minnesota Vikings and mine pick eighteenth overall in round one.
In a recent mock draft from earlier today from Esteemed
ESPN reporter field to Yates as the Vikings select in

(40:50):
safety Dylan Tianeman.

Speaker 2 (40:53):
Out of Oregon. It's Tinam and Dana and Tinaman. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (40:56):
I got touted on him when I was at the Combine,
and I think you were in Turkey trying to get
back by way of Cutter. So therefore, you know, trying
to hit the listen line or the iHeart app. It
might not have worked there at that time. But I'll
tell this quickly because I've heard it before. When God
decides to provide steam on things, it can come from anywhere.

(41:17):
It's unpredictable. So I'm flying to the Combine to do
a couple of radio shows. I got this. You know,
guy's kind of a beefeeder. It's a bigger guy sitting
next to me wearing Oregon garb. Well, so we get
to know each other a little bit, and and his
name is Atticus Sappington. Wow, he was a kicker for Oregon.
He's going to be probably a drafted kicker. So I'm like,

(41:39):
you know, I told him, you know what I do
and stuff like that, and we talked the whole flight
and then he's like, you know, Atlanta, this with your
guy young Wayku, But I think they signed a kicker.
Doesn't mean Atticus can't go there. Could be with Green Bay,
could be with a Chicago. You know, those are the
teams that were kind of feeling them out a little bit.
Atticus Happington though, cool name, a great name.

Speaker 2 (42:02):
So but then you know that the the.

Speaker 4 (42:05):
Hyperactive cartoon character announcer immediately is like, Hey, don't take
this personally or anything, but like, I don't watch a
lot of college football. I got a lot of things
going on that time of the year, Like who are
some ballers on your squad? He went right to that
guy the safety. Wow, how great he is off the field,
things that go into his practice habits. So I mean,
of course I get to the combine, I'm like, don't

(42:26):
tell anybody, but I.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
Got an opinion. I came in here with an opinion.
I just got to figure out how to pronounce his name.
So I've been calling him tum and Theeneman.

Speaker 4 (42:36):
But yeah, I was talented on him as a fit
for this team before the combine. But we have a
metaphorical fly in the proverbia a oointment. And here's what
I mean. I mean we we had a retirement ceremony
last week, right with thelan and CJ.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
Ham Right where was hit Man? Hit Man was nowhere
to be found.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
He was in California playing in the flag football bit,
replacing Derwin James. He wasn't supposed to play in it,
but then Derwin James like he got messed up or something,
so Hitman had to play there. So Ben Gesling was
so thoughtful and vain opening about so many Kyler Murray
offensive related things. Today they're like eight questions I have

(43:23):
for him I didn't get to and and one of
them was was going to involve like that, and like
Harrison Smith, and I mean, I'm starting I'm guessing here,
so we're riding discernment. But I'm starting to feel like
Hitman is going to play next year, Like, well, we
don't have an official retirement. You are not out until

(43:44):
you're officially out, and he ain't out. So and then
he played in that flag football game. So I don't know, Man,
I wouldn't bet on it. But the closer we get
to the season, then we get to the draft, and
if they don't like identify a safety high not that
they have to have one. After talking to Gestling, man
about all the speed on offense, and you and I

(44:04):
chopping it up a little bit about Kyler Murray and
you know, I don't know if Kyler is good at
immediately identifying manner zone. That is such a major key
to Minnesota Vikings offensive football this year because if he's
good at it, and O'Connell, we already know, is good
at putting people, they'll right people in good places to
move the ball. I mean, if Kyler can tell when

(44:25):
they're trying to play man or some form of defense
where he can run, he can scoot for fifteen to
twenty and then we move on for another first down.
If they're able to crap that and concoct that with
Jefferson speed, with Addison speed, with Hockinson who's one of
the speedier tight ends, and you find a fast running back,

(44:48):
the young, fast, bruising running back that you like with
showtime and or Mason Man and Darris Astay's healthy, I
mean that offense could be in business.

Speaker 1 (45:00):
Yeah, and possibly d hop though, who still got some
juice left in the tank as well. He had some
highlight catches last year for Baltimore.

Speaker 2 (45:08):
He was awesome.

Speaker 1 (45:09):
While we're on the subject of the NFL, some other
little headlines from the NFL over the last couple of days,
as Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy says he said on
a recent interview that Aaron Rodgers reunion would be a
great story.

Speaker 2 (45:22):
Rogers remains a.

Speaker 1 (45:23):
Free agent for now, but the Steelers don't seem super
urgent to sign a quarterback. He's not going to be
super urgent to sign with them, but the Mike McCarthy
higher appears to point towards a possible Rogers reunion. And
Travis Kelce signed a three year deal with the Chiefs
of three year extension yesterday with a maximum value of
fifty seven million dollars.

Speaker 2 (45:45):
And change golden golf for hockey fans.

Speaker 4 (45:47):
The University of Minnesota has named Brett Larson as new
men's hockey coach, replacing Bob Moscow. Larson comes from Saint
Cloud State University, so Moscow and the team mutually agreed
to part ways and Brett Larson is the new coach
of the Golden Gophers hockey team and guardsy squad guards
of the Box. He'll be heading to Sacramento. I think

(46:09):
it is six thirty Central on Friday. The Golden Gophers
the women's team is in the Sweet sixteen for the
first time in a couple of decades, and I mean
they hook a monster. I mean I'll watch four minutes
of that thing. Last night, Ucla, Holy cow. Is that
a good basketball team? They get the one seed of
all one seeds ever to one seed they get UCLA

(46:30):
in Sacramento.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
U CLA dusted Oklahoma State last night.

Speaker 4 (46:34):
So the Sweet sixteen Friday with Guardsy on lead vocals
on radio slash Audio, that's going to be against UCLA
and that'll take place in Sacramento. Max Fuller led Max's
Musin's courtesy of Canterbury Park and Canterbury Park dot Com.
It's eleven o'clock in the neighborhood, the neighborhood being the
Covenant at FM one hundred point three kfa N