Hey everybody, this is your GM, your back row
dumbass, your GM who currently is not on the
team right now, but don't you worry about it.
K .O. here to bring you episode 8 of the Stack
and Shed series. Now in this series, we're covering
all 32 teams, so everybody gets a chance to be
talked about, all right? Now we're covering a
few different topics. They include what went
wrong, what do they need, stack or shed, their
draft picks, one move I would do, and their cap
space. Now in this episode, we're talking about
the Vikings. So buckle up, it's going to get
a little bit crazy. All right, let's get into
it. So what went wrong in the Vikings season?
And I will eventually say it was inconsistent
quarterback play. With the departure of Sam Darnold,
there were a lot of questions on if J .J. McCarthy
would be able to carry that same momentum that
Sam Darnold had in the previous season. Now,
unfortunately, that didn't happen, and now the
Vikings are at a crossroads where they need to
figure out if they're going to give J .J. McCarthy
another chance or if they're going to go in a
different direction at quarterback. Now, I wasn't
expecting J .J. McCarthy to light it up on the
field every single week, but what I was expecting
was for him to show that he's progressing in
all the right areas, that he's comfortable in
the pocket, that he's comfortable with his receivers
tight ends and running backs and that he's able
to execute the routine things but instead all
we saw was inconsistencies week after week after
week and that quarterback the most important
position on the field you can't be inconsistent
now can you go through a dry spell where you're
not playing your best ball sure everybody does
but what you can't do is go through an entire
season of being inconsistent and the 10 games
that J .J. McCarthy played He was 243 attempts
for 140 completions, 1 ,632 passing yards, 11
touchdowns, 12 interceptions, 6 .7 yards per
attempt, and a 57 .6 completion percentage. Now
with that being said, what do the Vikings need?
And that is better quarterback play. You guys
know that old saying that your mom or your dad
would tell you, your attitude dictates your altitude?
We're going to tweak that a little bit, okay?
Your quarterback play dictates your altitude.
But right now, the Vikings' altitude is low,
but it can change. As long as J .J. McCarthy
can provide average to slightly above average
play, they have a chance. But if J .J. McCarthy
can't reach that level, then the Vikings need
to go back to the drawing board and figure out
what they need to do moving forward. Now, with
that being said, the question we all need to
ask ourselves is stack or shed? And I will eventually
say stack. And the reason why I say that is because
this team is just a quarterback away from being
in the Super Bowl. They have a really good offense.
They have a really good defense. All they need
is just average to slightly above average quarterback
play. Now, when we look at their draft picks,
they have their first, their second, they have
two third round picks, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth,
and three seventh round picks, which isn't bad.
You have the 18th pick in the first round, which,
I mean, that's a really good spot. Now, the question
is this, what are you going to address in the
first round? The two positions that come to mind
is either safety or defensive tackle. Now, if
the Vikings want to go after the safety, the
three names that come to mind is Adam Thienemann,
Caleb Downs, and Emmanuel McNeil -Warren. Now,
out of those three options, you may have to trade
up to get Caleb Downs or Emmanuel McNeil -Warren.
now the question is this would you be willing
to trade up and how high would you be willing
to trade up to get one of those safeties now
i think defensive tackle is probably a more realistic
option because you won't have to trade up in
order to get one of the top guys now me personally
i would go after someone like a caleb banks or
lee hunter now that's mainly in part because
javon hargrave and jonathan allen may be cut
or trade candidates so with that being said you
may need to address that position high up in
the first round Now, me personally, I think Caleb
Banks is a really good option. 6 '6", can plug
up the middle. That's somebody that you want
in your team. Now, if you want to go after Lee
Hunter, I still think that's a really good option
as well. And since we're talking about draft
prospects and the combine and all things related
to the draft, I need to go on a little bit of
a rant, okay? If you are someone that accepted
an invite to the Combine, but you're not participating
at all, then why the hell are you there? I understand
the Combine is the hub for all of these players
to meet these GMs and head coaches and organizations
just to get a feel for who they are, do a little
bit of testing, do a little bit of medical work
and all that other stuff, right? But if you're
not participating in the drills, then why are
you there? And I'm only bringing this up because
by you accepting an invite and not participating
in any of the drills, that's an invite that could
have went to somebody that needed that extra
bump in their draft stock. We've seen players
go from being a fourth round grade to maybe a
second or even first round grade by doing well
at the combine. The only two excuses that I would
give to prospects is if you're still recovering
from an injury or your draft stock is super high
and you have a feeling of where you're going
to go. Outside of that, you should be participating
in the combine to some degree. The only person
in this draft class that I would give an excuse
for is Fernando Mendoza, and that's solely because
we all know where he's going, and that's to the
Raiders. Outside of that... Everybody needs to
be participating in the combine. Reuben Bain,
there is no reason why you shouldn't be able
to participate in the combine unless you're hurt.
Players such as Sonny Styles didn't have to participate
in the combine, but he did it just to showcase
his skill set. And by doing so, he has now locked
himself in to being a top three pick. But you
know what? I think I need to break it down in
a different way so you guys can understand this,
okay? By not participating in the combine drills,
that is the difference between making $2 million
a year to $22 million a year. And I'm bringing
up money because we all know the difference in
being drafted in the third, fourth, and fifth.
round compared to being drafted in the first
and second round. That should be motivation for
you to work out in these drills. Now, if you
don't want to do these drills, again, it's perfectly
fine. That's your choice. But just know, if you
don't ball out on your pro day... Oh, you messed
yourself up. You took an unnecessary risk just
because you don't want to do it. Now, back to
the Vikings. Do I think they're going to use
all 11 picks in this draft class? No. I think
they're going to use some of these draft picks
to either trade up or trade down or trade for
other players in free agency. Now, the one move
that I would do is bring in a veteran quarterback.
While I understand the Vikings invested a first
round pick into J .J. McCarthy, it's time for
you to go in a different direction. It's time
for you to maximize this competitive window that
you have right now because you don't know if
you're going to be able to replicate this again.
You need to bring in a veteran quarterback who
is comfortable working with Kevin O 'Connell.
Now, the two names that come to mind is either
Aaron Rodgers or Kirk Cousins. I think if you
get either one of them, that is a low risk, high
reward move. And I also think that will provide
the veteran mentorship that J .J. McCarthy needs.
I think maybe if you just sit him down for a
season and let him learn under someone like a
Kirk Cousins or Aaron Rodgers, I think it'll
light a fire in him to want to be better. because
we're reaching a point where there needs to be
a sense of urgency within the Vikings organization
to want to win now, especially towards Kevin
O 'Connell, because he hasn't won a playoff game
since being the head coach for this team. When
we look at their cap situation, they have negative
36 .6 million. Now, I do expect the Vikings to
get rid of Javon Hargrave and possibly Jonathan
Allen. I also expect for them to make a couple
restructures, and I also expect for them to maybe
get rid of Ryan Kelly as well. So I don't think
the Vikings are in a really bad spot. I think
all they need to do is just reshuffle the deck
like how every other team does and figure out
who's worth the money and who isn't worth the
money. Now, do I expect for them to be big players
in free agency? No. I think at best, the Vikings
will be players in that second and third wave
of free agency, but only time will tell. But
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Later, guys.