The 4 Most Important Minnesota Vikings of 2024 | The Minnesota Football Party

Intro welcome to the party I'm Sam extrom of lock on Sports Minnesota today we give you the for most important Vikings the 2024 campaign hey this is Arif Assan of the WID left substack I'm excited today because Sam extrom has promised to break down the top diss track set to BBL Drizzy can't wait for that Luke imman at lukor spin schedule release today it's got me wondering how I've never been to Lambo field still maybe this is the year finally locked on Sports Minnesota podcast it's endless Minnesota Vikings talk with the diverse voices of your local experts it's time for the Minnesota football [Music] party well we're still on spin men what's up everybody Welcome in to the Minnesota football party I'm Sam xrom that's Luke Inman that's Arif Assan talking Vikings for the next hour or so we're glad you've joined us live in the lockon sports Minnesota YouTube channel uh watching us on demand on YouTube or listening to us in the locked on Vikings podcast feed no Luke Brun today he's on his honeymoon but you can catch uh his lock on Vikings show the lock on Vikings podcast feed daily lots to get into today in honor of the Timberwolves I want to name the best Vikings defense that we've ever watched we'll name our four most important Vikings to the 2024 season uh we'll name our favorite schedule road trip that's schedule coming out within the next week and Ron Johnson joins a little later in the program it's a program that is brought to you today by Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply um all right before we dive into our foremost important Vikings let's just let's pay homage to the Timberwolves quickly who are sweeping the nation sweeping the globe with their defensive acument what is the Vikings defense that we've watched also like sweeping the Nuggets right like that's like part of oh yeah sweep is the operative word they might sweep their way through the playoffs at this point uh six down 10 to go um game three tomorrow Target Center lockdown wolves postcast with luk but uh but like excluding the Purple People leaders because let's be honest like none of us could really dissect I think like what what differentiated the 60 18 team from the 72 team like teams that we've watched um most impressive Vikings defense that that you didn't want to take your eyes off of Inman yeah I think it's kind of a clear-cut number Most Impressive Vikings Defense one choice statistically right we're all probably get a first thing you think of as 2017 almost impossible to beat That season again statistically but just for argument sake here I'll throw another hat in the ring I'll go with 2009 that's probably the the next best option for me I mean you pull up the roster you pull up these starters the names are just so fun you got a young Chad Greenway fresh off that ACL tear in the preseason the dominating Williams wall Kevin Williams and Pat Williams Jared Allen coming off the edge 14 and a half sacks that year EJ Henderson the perfect middle linebacker behind that front four until that gruesome brutal leg injury I think it was like week 13 uh at Carolina I want to say I want to say it was a night game I still remember it uh all too well unfortunately that play still keeps me up at night but um and then my favorite player of that defense Antoine Winfield Mighty Mouse shut down clear-cut number one quarterback even though he is 5 foot1 5 foot n he was a ball hawk in coverage but I mean the guy set the tone in run support every week um and then you got some oddballs in there you know Ray Edwards Ben lever Cedric Griffin opposite Antoine Winfield uh the the the Hall of Fame tandem at safety you got a highly overpriced Med Williams okay and then a round pick a rookie from Arkansas State not Arkansas Arkansas State Tyrell Johnson but yeah 2017 definitely the a topic choice I feel like they broke all the records the the third down defense right y yards allowed per game I think was up there uh but the most fun outside of that one I think was definitely 2009 and I think you know you think about the Timberwolves defense right now just the the energy the electricity they're bringing to the table right now every game I think both those defenses I think have a lot of traits in common um the Cedric Griffin headline there podcaster calls Ben Liber an oddball um I think that's take yeah yeah no I will that that 2009 defense had such a a weak secondary aside from Antoine Winfield really like the safety position had Tyrell Johnson and medu Williams Cedric Griffin was Cedric Griffin was good for a year or two he he he was good for a year or two as the number two he he never had those traits or character is to be a number one corner yeah he he would have absolutely just I feel like disappeared as a number one guy but as the number two compliment a year or two that's about all we got and then he had a bunch of knee injuries I remember going to a game um at the Metrodome and watching him up close and personal a few years after his knee injuries you could just see how slow he was in and out of his break pedaling backwards things like that so yeah I think the injuries really deteriorated kind of his career those last couple years but for a year or two 2009 specifically he was all right he was s usually those those top defenses are marked by a handful of players that were in their Prime at the time yeah and I think you could make the case for Kevin Williams being in that Prime Jared Allen Pat Williams was probably in the back end but Chad Greenway EJ Henderson before he broke his leg that year um Winfield's Prime was kind of extended he was still very very good probably four or five Vikings defense and you could say Ray Edwards too Ray Edwards never did much more than than that 2009 season uh that was a really fun defense some great personalities on that defense even if their person or if they uh stats weren't number one in the league Arie Defense fan yeah I mean obviously I'm going to give it up to the the 2017 Vikings defense was the best defense was a ton of fun to watch I don't want to take away from that but we want to expand the discussion to like just fun to watch I think um this was statistically an awful defense and in many ways was not fun to watch but I did love Allen approaching the sack record in 2011 I mean that was enough reason to watch that defense right it was a bad defense uh they didn't perform well but it was fun to watch Jared Allen do his thing in 2011 so that was that was really remarkable uh 2006 was statistically an average defense but of course we saw how good they were against the run really fun to see the Williams wall do what they did so I thought that that was pretty fun and then just like in terms of seeing something new seeing something influence the rest of the league uh the 2015 Vikings defense wasn't as good as it was going to be in 2016 certainly not in 2017 or 2018 or 2019 but that 2015 defense you know we we saw you know Zimmer have a little bit more comfort with complicating the defense making it a little bit more difficult for opponents um finding ways to to make that defense really sing with the Personnel that it had and we got the breakdown the double a gap Blitz which actually I think peaked in 2015 we talked about it a lot every single year but in terms of of actually deploying that third down package I think it happened more often in 2015 than any other year and that changed the way that the rest of the league played defense which I thought was really cool uh a couple things there real quick I I love Honorable mentions that you called out that double a gap look because now it's just like second nature it's like even a common fan could watch NFL and be like oh that's the doublea Gap but but you're right that all started around that era with Zimmer he just made that such a staple in so many defenses glad you called that out Jared Allen the one of the best highlights of all time for him was that Tampa Bay Buck Monday Night Football game with Donald was that 2011 though or was that the next year was that 2011 during that that sack record Chase no it was 12 it was 12 I was at that game yeah okay yeah oh my gosh and then thing I I just want to say in the comments Hoops talk uh I always thought Jasper Brinkley was gonna be great he was he was that Thumper in the middle of that 2009 defense as well South Carolina young dude just a bricks a shed house basically but just a downhill guy and and he had uh uh you know kind of carved out a you know specific certain role for that defense as well but I love that you called a thumper because Zimmer only called him a thumper it's like what do you think of Jasper Brinkley he's a thumper right that was Zimmer's word for Jasper you guys have touched on all the all the sort of honorable mentions I wanted to but I do want to throw in this as well how about just for a rogue out of nowhere solid defense 2012 under Frasier that that oh actually yeah the Frasier era was sandwiched by the 31st ranked defense in 2011 the 32nd ranked defense in 2013 and then right in the middle the 14th ranked defense on a playoff team in 2012 that featured um Prime Brian Robinson Jared Allen still very good um Kevin Williams back end of his career still pretty effective Chad Greenway Aaron Henderson and Brinkley Windfield even further down down the road into his Twilight Chris Cook Jamarcus Sanford rookie Harrison Smith was kind of the Lynch pin that was a w secondary that was 23rd and got you know carved up by Aaron roders a couple times but that defense was Plucky they took the ball away they had some some high-end talents that were about to be gone from the team I think shortly after um but obviously They Carried a dreadful offense with Christian Ponder that that couldn't throw the ball and then Adrien Peterson running them to a division or a playoff appearance that year that was kind of just a one-off weirdly entertaining defense that I enjoyed yeah you're totally right like a lot of guys in the in the back half of their career but still made a huge impact Kevin Williams Jared Allen like you said Chad Greenway uh Antoine Winfield I forgot he was still sticking around uh in that era as well but yeah that's a sneaky one too because you're right you think Leslie Frasier era you think those two terrible Seasons defensively um but 2012 was fun for a lot of different reasons not just the defense kind of holding their own keeping afloat but Adrien Peterson's iconic kind of uh rushing records you know hunt that year as well was just awesome um let's give the 2017 group some flowers though because we've all The 2017 Vikings kind of tiptoed around that because that was the obvious answer but how about these for home Point totals allowed at usbank stadium that year 19 17 1410 16 77 and 10 nothing more than 19 points allowed at home that year um they won every game at home that year if I'm not M actually no they the Dalvin cook game they lost I'm sorry they lost the uh when Dalvin cook SCS ACL against Detroit so they went seven seven and one at home that year um they were second against the pass second against the rush 30th in scoring percentage against or another way to say that would be third third best in scoring percentage against and the crazy part is guys it's not like this was a super opportunistic defense they were 23rd in takeaways they didn't take the ball away that much they were just so good first down second down stopping the Run especially thirdd down setting teams up on third down wasn't this the historic third down yeah I I believe it's still absolutely best Third Down Season that uh I think the Patriots two years later I think the Patriots maybe they didn't break it but they came really close I know that they came yeah um but I'm pretty confident that the the The 2017 Jaguars 2017 Vikings maintain it was an interesting discussion because at the time the Jacksonville Jaguars were the other top defense in the league and they were doing it via turnovers right you know clus Campbell forcing all those fumbles Yi and gque later becoming a viking also forcing a ton of fumbles a couple of interceptions in there but it was like you didn't see a ton of like most takeaway Centric teams it's like interceptions right this team you know was really phenomenal at at forcing fumbles and then of course they recovered those fumbles which you know made it a very volatile defense just in terms of how reliable it could be but you know we don't have to worry about reliability when all the games are already you know kind of set and S we have to we don't have to predict how good they'll be all those games are done right and so it was kind of like a fun back and forth they both were at various points in the year leading the league in points allowed I still think that that Vikings defense was just a little bit better just because of you know how important it is to be good on third down how often you would force punts and how opportunistic you would be but it did you know that the 2017 defense for the Jaguars did allow Blake Bortles to kind of maneuver his way into a good season also had a weirdly good year that year too because of Allen Robinson's contested catches you know 35 touchdowns something like that um you know from Bortles but yeah I just that was that was a really fun year to be watching defense just because like the the good defenses all did it in a different way and the Vikings setting a record on third for third down conversions as far back as we can remember yeah they started sorry 25.3% I got 25.2% right here on my guess either it does say in 2019 the Patriots would later outrank Minnesota's 27 two years later and I don't think Flores I think that was flores's first The 2019 Dolphins year in Miami as the head coach so I don't think flor's that was immediately where my mind goes was flor's part of that 2019 Patriots coaching staff on defense but I I believe and triple check this I believe that was his first year as a head coach in in Miami nonetheless yeah it it's such a shame that 2017 season ended the way they did not just to lose right one game away from this the way that it kind of unfolded right the fashion in which that defense kind of just melted uh on the road versus Philly that was just kind of a put obviously put a bad taste in your mouth after such a an amazing again so many records broken that year um just just like the last possible way you would want to go out at the end of the year that that defense did not travel that well like they gave up 26 in Pittsburgh um 30 at Home Field Advantage Washington 23 at Detroit 31 at Carolina and then 38 at Philly they for whatever reason on grass didn't have the juice didn't have they they needed that home field advantage for whatever reason um that was so impactful in 2017 and I I always said this um when teams were playing at US Bank Stadium for the first time they got blitzed like they did not know what hit them the the the noise the environment the speed the Vikings had on on those defenses there was just something about the way they came out other teams didn't know what to do like and I think if you look at you know the home field advantage obviously was stronger in those early years not so much in recent years teams uh have gotten a little bit more accustom um but that's a good discussion we'll uh we'll get into our four most important vik ings to the 2024 team's success that's next on the Minnesota football party this next segment is brought to you by better help sometimes we all need Better Help the opportunity to get something off our chest big or small certain things can really start to get to you it's important to to talk about that to somebody who's unbiased in your life um and you might be talking about something that's more important than your favorite sports teams on this show we like to rant about why the 2017 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Wednesdays with a panel of experts the postcast after every single Twins and t-wolves game right now Luke Inman hosting doing a great job it's all here at lockon sports Minnesota all right uh we're going to to have the world renowned Minnesota sports rank them segment let's go this is Minnesota sports rankam part of locked on Sports Minnesota and it starts [Music] now doesn't that music just want to make you go to battle I mean I'm ready it's it's first of all I I I mean I'm having so many great memories and flashbacks from all our rank him shows we did uh in the summer last year Sam but yeah I always said that's got a it's got kind of like a Game of Thrones vibe to it and yeah I'm ready to go to battle with you guys let's go yeah armor up uh we're going to rank our former most important Vikings to the 2024 season um let's start with one we'll go one two 3 4 a lot of people might think that number one is obvious but uh I'm not not so certain about that obvious yeah okay good good let's have some debate son I'm G I'm gonna go with uh Nerd Choice with kind of the analytics Egghead nerd Choice here and just go with the quarterback it's Sam darnold um this is not to say he's the best Viking on the roster obviously but how he plays um and to what degree he plays well will control wins more than anybody else on the team and there's a lot of uncertainty over how he'll play and I think that's fair enough right you know we saw him play decently well for about 50 snaps in San Francisco saw him play pretty well for about six games in Carolina we saw him play catastrophically poorly both in Carolina and the New York Jets before that we don't know how good he'll be for the Vikings but we do know that he's probably going to be the starter pretty good chance he'll start the whole season and if the Vikings want to win this year which I mean if they don't fair enough right but if they want to win this year Sam darnold is going to have to play his best football and obviously there are other players on the team that are going to play some really pivotal roles they're going to design the offense or defense around but none of it is going to go well without Sam darnold at least playing up to his potential however limited that potential may be yeah I I agree that's my number one guy as well because if darnold comes out and stinks you could be one and four again yeah um like that he could like yeah don't think about what his ceiling is think about what his floor is and it might be a pretty low floor yeah so that is also my number one guy Luke Inman well I uh just for parody sake I knew both you guys were gonna throw a quart I don't Harrison Phillips even have a quarterback on this list I just it's too easy I knew you guys were gonna spend too easy it's too I knew I don't want to be repetitive and redundant and say the same things you guys did um I went a little off thee wall number one on my list Harrison Phillips and let me just hold on let me okay here hold on all right pal nobody nobody on that defensive line played more snaps than Harrison Phillips last year he played almost 200 more snaps than the second most guy which was Jonathan Bullard and then there's a massive drop off if you look at the snap count massive drop off from those two guys to the next three or four guys and and there was just so many times last year guys I don't know about you but I I was just worried about how much they were using him how much they were relying on one guy Harrison Phillips in the trenches to be that guy and and don't get me wrong he lived up to the billing he was fantastic in those trenches he was great but you only bring in this off season Jerry Tillery to help out jaquell and Roy didn't even play a hundred snaps last year and it worries me again how much they're going to rely and lean on Harrison Phillips for the entirety of the season and why he's number one on my list is because if he were to go down with an injury the drop off from him to the next few guys is so significant that this defensive line in the trenches I just feel like would would be an immediate weakness more than it probably already is on paper and and him just not just staying healthy but fresh over the course of this entire season I think is going to go a long way to how well this specifically the run defense but I think you can say the defense just in general can hold up and I know Flores can can scheme a lot of different things week to week and kind of mass some weaknesses I get that but at the end of the day you need talent I mean that's most important and Phillips is by far way their best defensive lineman talent-wise on paper and I think without him a three-man rotation of Jonathan Bullard Jerry Tillery and jwen Roy it's just not enough for me and my money to feel confident about you know them to go out there and succeed in the trenches for multiple weeks multiple months in a row without him someone's got to ask quazy about this about why the the defensive tackle position has been kind of a blind spot um because it's a good point Luke like I think that Phillips whether one two three or four belongs on that list because of the Void behind him I actually like that answer um you know you know quy wouldn't answer that the way you want he definitely wouldn't he he's so he even calls himself out he goes well I hate to give the cliche answer he says that three out of four questions well okay well I would we had we had a couple of opportunities to to supplement that room and and we didn't you know unfortunately we got close we didn't that's too good that's too accurate really excited about about what Jerry can bring and we think CH is gonna take another step this this is Jerry tiller's year you all wait yeah watch out this is the breakout year for sure no he just need the right scheme and system the right surroundings okay um I I honestly to answer your question Sam just my gift I just feel like there just wasn't enough assets to go around not enough draft picks to go around there was so many needs I mean you can look at the offensive side of the ball and say boy in a loaded receiver class they didn't draft a a what they hope would be a new number three receiver to take over for KJ OS someday um I just think they ran out of draft picks and assets when they moved up twice like they did we'll get Ron Johnson away on this as well he's about to join us on the Minnesota football party but but let's do our number two um I'm going to go and I was debating leaving him off just and and using the argument well ah the Vikings were one and eight last year when Justin Jefferson play more than a half of football but uh they also don't have hackinson to carry the load with Jefferson like if he um because last year hackinson was a beast when when Jefferson was out and they don't have that luxury early in the season this year Osborne's gone Jefferson's just too good Jefferson's my number two again going the obvious route is anybody disagreeing with that nope uh for me you Justin Jefferson know I put Jefferson it to as well for me it's uh it's just um not just obviously his talent level which obviously matters a lot but also I mean they're designing the offense around him there's no question about that schematically um you can't run the offense that they want to run without Jefferson you have to adapt and obviously last year they did a remarkable job adapting but I just don't think that you're going to you know strike iron twice that way right like I think that um if you don't have Jefferson there your plans on offense have to shift immediately I don't think that's true of any other player and there are some really good offensive players on this team I don't think it's true of any other player um that you know unless Jefferson is healthy and capable and playing the level we know that he plays at um the offense is just not going to succeed and the offense right now is better than the defense and so you need that offense to to carry the load and you need Jefferson to carry the load on offense yeah not too much to add there uh you guys laid out a lot of good points I mean this this league is built on XA factors having X factors at certain specific positions obviously Justin Jefferson is arguably the best wide receiver in the game and I I agree with ar Reef it's going to be really tough if you lose this guy for maybe a couple games or so to strike twice didn't they win what six seven in a row without him like that's not going to happen pretty nuts man it's just like you know what we talked about like the luck regression going from 2022 to 23 everybody was you know there was a lot of different variant opinions and and uh you know takes and stances on that and and sure enough boy did they regress and they regressed hard they fell flat on their face as far as that metric go you're not going to win a bunch of games without Justin Jefferson again and especially I mean sometimes we joke about like the presence of KJ Osborne I think we all agree especially now that he's G KJ Osborne is a great number three and my point is you lose Justin Jefferson now what does your 11 personnel look like so now it's Jordan Addison at the one Brandon Powell and Jaylen Naylor like KJ asor people forget this he played 821 snaps last year so now that's a lot of snaps all of a sudden gone up JJ's not on the field yeah this entire offense this entire team looks a lot different uh we're going to get to Ron Johnson here and then we'll unveil our numbers three and four as well coming up on the Minnesota football party we'll bring Ron in after a quick Game Time word we are presented today by game time now an authorized ticket Marketplace of the NBA which makes getting playoff tickets even faster and easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to tip off killer last minute deals all in prices views from your seat and the lowest price guarantee game time takes the guest work out of buying tickets um I like when you get to see the seat on the app you get the view the panoramic before you buy the lowest price guarantee where game time credits you 110% of the difference if you find better seats and their Flash Deals have exclusive inapp offers on select seats ahead of the event check out game time get in the building for Friday and Sunday Timberwolves game three and four against the Nuggets download the game time Time app create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code locked on NFL l c k d o nnfl for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed the man Ron Johnson joins us now host of The Ron Johnson show on lockdown Sports Minnesota golfers Hall Top 4 of Famer joining the program Ron we are ranking our most important Vikings to the 2024 season I know I didn't really give you the prep for this but just top of the head um who would your top couple on the list be are we saying without Justin J like what I mean JJ be anyone anyone can be on the list there's uh there's no rules for instance Luke edman went with Harrison Phillips as his number one okay let me tell you I'm not I don't even need to know why we out don't you worry Luke br's not here so somebody has to wear the tinf foil hat so I had to do it somebody has to be weird and obscure um I'm gonna go with Justin Jefferson uh Christian darasa Aaron Jones and then Harrison Smith oh I like I like it that's a good top four why why like what um Aaron Jones that one stuck out to me what about Aaron Jones do you Aaron Jones think is did you see the running game last year did did you see it um or that lack thereof um this this is what I this's the reason why I say it we were looking for a running back who can get a lot of production with limited touches Aaron Jones was that for the Packers when you think about all the other running backs that the Packers kept bringing in and you know they wanted to have this three-headed you know 49ers running back Monster uh he was asked to play receiver a little bit more than normal and he did a good job of that um picking up the blitz he can do that as well so he's not a back that you have to take out on third Downs um and again back to the running game like you if you don't have a running game because we keep talking about how like JJ McCarthy eventually could be one of the best playaction quarterbacks with his back to the defense you can't do that if you don't run the ball Michigan had the best running game in the country pretty much when you think about Blake corm and Donovan Edwards they were able to put their back to the defense because the defense was worried about the running backs if he had nothing against I'm not giv a hate on anybody if he had let's just go with Uncle Rico um from from from uh what was the Napoleon Dynamite Napoleon yeah at running back and uh maybe uh keano Reeves because we know he's played some football movies if he had keano Reeves and Uncle Rico at running back you can't turn your back to the defense because when you fake it if you if you only have 12 yards rushing in the game they're coming they're like I don't you don't you're not handing this off it's third and six this dude sucks but when you have a running back that you can do that with and that's why I think Aaron Jones is extremely important he also keeps guys in the box so Justin Jefferson gets a clearer pitcher of maybe just five like if they run a top four defense with a four on top they only can keep four on top and maybe one underneath they can't have seven guys back there or eight they can't drop eight with Aaron Jones I don't think so we'll see and that's why I think he has to be important so they can't drop eight so they have to honor him at running back they have to honor him at receiver when he when he motions out and if he has a mismatch you're going to go to him so I think he's very important uh Justin Jefferson goes without saying Christian darol goes without saying and then Harrison Smith because when you look at this defensive back field other than Byron Murphy Jr they're still pretty young and green I mean your your safeties are solid Josh matelis uh C bin them but I think Harrison Smith has to become a true vocal Captain we know he's a captain and the leader but like a true vocal guy to make sure these guys are lined up right uh this is probably his last like maybe two years left maybe and so I mean we thought he was going to retire at before this season so he's coming back for another year so may this could be it so I think he is very important to makeing sure that defense is lined up in the right way Ron I'm glad you brought up Aaron Jones that was going to be one of my questions uh to you and to your point too uh average drive time in 2022 K's first year 29th in the league bottom three uh the rushing attack bottom five in a lot of categories last last year bottom 10 in a lot of categories I'm excited to see KOC hopefully with Aaron Jones finally have a running game uh to kind of balance out his passing attack with this offense yeah and I think he did it with dvin cook or he tried to at least you know like it's it's it's just when you when you look at how the offense was set up again Dalvin Cook's not a 100% between the tackles guy and he wasn't healthy all the time you know like we we know the biggest thing with dvin cook is to make it to the playoffs like that was always the question mark can dvin cook make it I think KLC limited his touches because that was kind of the key can he get to the playoffs and he did uh when he got his opportunities he was great but again when you have Justin Jefferson and TJ hackinson it's kind of hard not to want to throw the ball and so that's why I think Aaron Jones is built to have limited carries but give you top production with it because he's done it with the Packers I'm gonna quick unveil the rest of my top four let's just get a let's get everybody's top four out there so Ron gave us his I I went darnold Jefferson and then a Caleb Evans needing to take a step um and Jonathan grenard were my top four in so Aaron Donald is gonna sign with the Vikings is that what you that's who you did Aaron oh darnold oh I think said Donald got it okay all right fair enough um retir yeah who is that I don't even know um I had uh TJ hackinson number three on my list and Blake brandelle number four on my list I'm not going to give you the the entire spieling explanation I just think TJ please explain Blake brandale well well here's it's you know as far as Blake brandale it's not about like okay I we can't find a replacement whether it's dton Ryner still on the street or like okay maybe one of the backups you know there isn't that big of a drop off we just don't know a lot about this guy not only just as a full-time starter but interior as a guard you know some of his his his spot starts were at tackle for deru so it's just such a small sample size you know the only thing I have to go off of really outside of a couple games right a couple snaps is I know I've heard KOC and West Phillips both call him out by name and multiple pressers which is something I've kind of kept in the back of my mind they both spoke very highly of him which is great but that only goes so far and I think it's again it's not that I don't think you can find a replacement if he struggles four or five weeks in and like the drop off is going to be super significant but having another revolving door on the inside of this inter your line I mean we all know the offensive line is really only as good as your your weakest link um for two young developing quarterbacks whether it's darnold or whether it's JJ um I just think that would do a a big disservice I think having any weakness inside that uh interior and I think for that matter you could say any three of those interior guys if they struggle I think it goes without saying to some degree whatever quarterback's back there is going to struggle to some degree as well uh I'm pretty sure that at the end of this episode Luke inman's gonna take off his mask and it's gonna be BR under there and arasan is gonna be the reason he was unveiled and he I could have got away with this whole show if it wasn't for those meling kids in that AEF spin loves his interior guys he likes the big uglies in the middle I do hey it all starts up front guys okay it starts up front I will say Bowski under there is that Peter you gota wait till the end Ron gota wait till the end this this this list was you know most important Vikings not best Vikings and I think to me you know that that means you know guys whose performances will determine the outcome of the season I still think Luke's list is nuts I'm going to say that but I think that is a good to include Sam darn I don't think he's the best player on the team I don't think he's the 10th best player on the team but he's my number one in terms of most important because how well he plays is going to do more to determine how good the team is going to be so he's my number one there obviously two Justin Jefferson three for me Christian darasa for Jonathan grard you gotta stop pass rushers you gotta rush the passer right and um I think the the you know I I like Andrew van gingle a lot I like Dallas Turner a lot I don't think they're going to play nearly as many snaps as grenard is um who's also better against the Run than both of those two players so I think that um you know that defense obviously there's going to be a lot of moving Parts Byron Murphy's going to matter a lot Harrison Smith is going to matter a lot um but I think that you know the way that that pass rush operates is just it's going to require that grenard you know carry the burden of that defense so he's my only defensive player on that list I think that how he does is going to help determine outcomes on that defense a lot more but yeah I mean Christian Dar Justin Jefferson don't have to do a lot to justify those picks at three and two but yeah I I I think that um you know unless darnold plays you know really well I mean the team's not going to go anywhere so that's why he's my number one nice did you unveil your top four arief that was my top four got Sam darn Justin Jefferson Christian Dar and Jonathan grard beautiful um Ron we got the schedule dropping within I think six days I think Wednesday talked talked a little bit about this on the Ron Johnson show yesterday but let me te up again um just couple story lines that you're most intrigued by with this schedule um so the the the Colts coming back like we know the demise of that one so we're going to see a ton of uh talk about that game um Anthony Richardson walking into the building um Reggie Wayne and I you know K June we get to connect uh the night before the game like we did last time we have to get K I think K came on the show last year so we have to hopefully this time he won't be at the mall though um but we have to get K back on the show and maybe Reggie Wayne as well um I I think that one for me uh the other one of course is Kurt Cousins like Kurt Cousins walking back into the building is he going to be healthy uh what is that return going to be like um I guess I want to say the Packers Aaron Jones um to see if if KOC is really that petty unless Aaron Jones go off against them uh especially if the game because because the thing about the Packers game and the Vikings game before Kurt Cousins gets hurt so we know the outcome probably changes if Kirk doesn't teor as Achilles but when you think about controlling the clock in doing to the Packers what they want to do to you which is run the ball slow the game down and then run play action that would be a perfect time for KC to kind of say let's let's see what this Aaron Jones kid can do with with Tai Chandler um and and really just milk this clock a little bit and then kill him every once in a while with Justin Jefferson um but those those are kind of the ones that jump out to me um other than that I'm not I'm not sure but I do really want to see this I don't know why like this this Falcons because again if Michael pennick is playing by this it might be the funniest return to usbank Stadium ever if Michael penix is the starter like especially if it's especially if it's like week three like wait a minute what happened what happened the first three weeks well if it's week three Kirk might not be back yet like his Achilles might not it's like week 12 you know and they've already started doing the Russell Wilson to Kirk like hey can you can you take off that injury uh thing yeah that CLA we want to play you but we can't let you get hurt can you imagine if Kirk Achilles suffers an Aaron roders like fate with Atlanta four snaps into the oh my gosh oh that's I don't think they're going to put him out there right away I think they're GNA like make sure he's 100% healthy when you have a100 million do guaranteed into a player uh and you've already had to explain to your owner like hey sorry sorry this is what we this is what I was thinking like this is what I was thinking like so does that mean he's not getting any snaps in training camp and pre not I mean not nothing serious I don't think they're gonna put him out there seriously and that makes sense too dude you don't want to rush him out man the million dollar man you can't rush him out but that means Michael panx is getting all those number one reps all these guys in practice like dude this dude can sling it and then he goes plays a couple games what happens if he looks lights out or looks I mean his was eight what was his eight weeks after Aaron roggers um something like that that's about right so if his was eight to nine weeks after his so that's two to three months Aaron Rogers they're saying is not fully cleared until the start of training camp which means you have to put Kirk three months after he didn't really practice he was out there like Kurt Cousins on the tennis ball court like he was just throwing to to make Pat McAfee happy and you know be able to talk about RFK and running as an independent and like that's pullback lose his job they were like we got the only reason he went out there was so that RFK could see him feel like you know what if we don't have the Twin Tower we have RFK and Aaron Rodgers like that you heard about heard about rfk's brainworm right that might explain why he considered Aaron Rogers on his short he also has a lot I'm not even gonna get into the things he thinks is real in life but Aron Rogers like we know he was just out there just for BS I mean the fact that he's told his team uh we we we can't let distractions in this in this building and he's the number one distraction um that's the first part second part is Kirk if he's like I said if they're saying he's not back until I think they said like a week into training camp Aaron Rogers should be fully cleared that means Kirk is not back until two months to three unless again unless he has a miracle guy healing him he can't he's not back until two to three months after the started tree you have to put him on the Aaron Rogers window so if Rogers is not to the start like Kirk Kirk is two three months out from that which is like what might be on TJ Hinson here my question though is Bri or yeah what yeah Brian O'Neal right his Achilles same thing rur that week 16 in Lambo he was back out there for week one so and and that's a big guy too that's a big dude and I just felt athletically yeah I don't know everybody's body was it but what was was his a rupture or like you know what I mean like was it a pop did we see the Kevin Durant like see the ref what did they say the reverberation um did we see that in his calf or was his more just like a partial kind I think I think they announced that O'Neal's was slightly less severe they did say that yeah because I remember he didn't like again not say he's not able to bend as much as Aaron Rogers and Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant and Kurt Cousins sure but I'm also not saying he's not able like I don't think he can bend his like ankle that much to get it to pop as much as it does for more athletic guys I mean he is athletic he's a athlete but just the amount of force it takes for like a Kevin Durant versus him I don't see think we saw the reverberation that we see in like like Kirks we saw it right away in the calf we're like oh that's an Achilles say want you that's lower leg injury shut up it's an Achilles um so that's you know that's that's where I think Brian O'Neal's was not as severe and that's why he was back Kirks completely was ruptured and so again but but again he was on the tenis cour throwing so maybe you know maybe he has uh maybe somewhere Jesus is in his house touching laying hands on him so he's got a body guy now Ron he hired the guy last dophins or maybe he fired him because he got hurt I don't know I don't know maybe Taylor Swift and Britney Mahomes came over I don't know we don't know we don't know we won't speculate not on this show we don't do that we never have we never will um Ron between you know you covering the Vikings uh for as many years as you have and then your playing days in the NFL as well I'm just wondering as a fan put yourself in the fan shoes what's the best road game atmosphere between the stadium and the City and tailgating all that kind of stuff give us like two or three of your favorites if if you were road tripping with your family and friends which city or which team would you want the Vikings to go play oh my family is a fan so like as a player like I said I only I only play like three to four years so I didn't get to go to every single Stadium sure um but as a fan I mean it's got to be warm weather like if you're if it's a December November game you want to go down to warmer weather like that's the key if you can get down to Texas Miami Miami Jacksonville like you want to like those are like it's it becomes less about the game and the team and more about like the weather that's that's what I think as far as me I don't know about the rest of because I know some people like oh I really want to get the lambo at some point in my life I don't like I really don't care about I'm actually good on that uh historic oh it's historic yeah no we get it it's old we get it give me terrible Jacksonville but it's nice and warm I I heard the reason that br that up I'm curious I've never been to Nashville but I heard Nashville a lot of people who go to it's warm there now Nashville like that's why if you think about the B games for the Gophers yeah everybody loved the Music City Bowl like it's one of those like oh we get to go back to the Music City Bowl like because you get pissed off about it that you're not like in the outback but then you're like well wait a minute we're going to Nashville so I have heard Nashville um I've been down there but not to like party I went down there like a work thing but I've heard it it's a fun time like everybody from the Gophers the Minnesota groups that have gone down for the Music City Bowl I've heard nothing but like great things about Nashville that it is awesome well well the first year they didn't have the NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York I believe it was Nashville if it wasn't the first it was the second year and and apparently rave reviews came out of that week or weekend I should say about just how great the atmosphere was and downtown and everything else yeah it was huge and it was one of the biggest like I don't know if you saw some of the tweets because that's like the one of the top uh Bachelor bachelorette party scenes and so there was a couple bachelorette parties that I think got interviewed on ESPN that had no idea why so many people were in Nashville that week that was so great yeah what's going on I think there are there are arguably three stadium takeovers that Vikings fans could could do this year maybe I mean I think the Titans are pretty well supported but I think going to to Nashville going to Tennessee going to Jacksonville that's going to be all purple and going to the LA Rams yeah oh yeah la that's another good one that's expensive though but yes is not a bad one that's warm out there too uh but you got to deal with uh earthquakes uh so but AI I'm guessing they're gonna have ai people walking around thebly too so you never know yeah um Ron we'll watch for your schedule release content I assume at vikings.com ven stuff that's coming up on Wednesday yep I think we are supposed to do it Tuesday so my lips are sealed until I think 6:59 p.m. on Wednesday I think is when we officially can kind of start to but you're going to see leaks on Monday Tuesday because the thing gets faxed over Monday afternoon so of course you're going to start to see leaks on Monday Tuesday which is so frustrating but yeah and I actually know like I've heard who leaked it two years ago in last year so uh these faxes are getting Tighter and Tighter of who they let P see it because people are starting to like leak it to people for dollars because they want to plan their trip the NFL yeah because think about how much money you can save Vegas because if you knew if you knew the week the Vikings were going to Vegas before Vegas and the airlines know then you can hurry up and go get a $200 ticket to fly to Vegas and that's what people were doing people a lot of people don't really care too much they just want to know what week can I buy my La ticket ahead of time what week can I buy my Jacksonville ticket yeah my hotel before because once they get the schedule then the hotels and everybody else start doing that too they start marking up the flights the hotels everything so yeah that's that's kind of the big the big point of it is when when are they going to LA or when are they going to you know so and so forth there's no Vegas this year so I think they're good now I think people just want to see when is kurk cousins coming here because I want to get a ticket for that no doubt to that point apparently uh Green Bay Lambo is hosting the draft here soon maybe it's next year I believe and why would they do that I I've heard that outside of the stadium there's just not a lot of like lodging options there's a house there's one house we've seen that house social media like we seen that house on on TV like they video that guy's driving like I think he has a driveway and he charged people like a hundred bucks to park in his driveway like come on now I would why would you do that why would you host it in Green Bay I get it but no it's it's historical no lot of drinking going on Minnesota would be way better Downtown Minneapolis you got the Indoor Stadium you like way better um Ron we'll talk to you on the run or the uh Round Table tomorrow pre viewing game three wolves nuggets we appreciate your Thursday appearances as always great stuff talk to soon all right um and that's it for us on this week's Minnesota football party we uh will talk to you Monday no show next Thursday we've got two people out of the country I'm in Utah so it's not going to happen next Thursday we'll be out I think we can almost get that that Wing eting contest for Luke Brun on the schedule here soon but we are out for today Luke Inman Arie fan I'm Sam extrom it's the Minnesota football party part of locked on Sports Minnesota thanks for watching and listening talk to you next time