Great summation of the Mond pick and the Davis pick, Matthew. In group text with friends last night the question was asked how we felt about the Mond pick, especially given the high number of mid-round train wrecks at the position. I said it directly correlates to how much you like or dislike Cousins--and I include his salary and all the limitations that come with it--as the QB. Put it this way: I like the Mond pick.
The Davis pick, coupled with Darrisaw in the first, said Vikes are tired of getting pushed around up front. We'll see first year growing pains, but an O-line of Darrisaw-Cleveland-Bradbury-Davis-O'Neill feels better than anything we've had in years. Put me down as one of those who thinks Davis plays RG like he did his whole college career with Cleveland moving back to his more natural left side.
Also, while I like Surratt at LB, I would have much preferred to have WR Dyami Brown with that pick. As much as I get fatigued by Purple Insider's pitch for wide receiver in round one, in this place in the draft for that good of a player, it was a mistake to pass on the much higher ranked wide receiver for the linebacker. Maybe you'll cover that in a different article, but if you go on a rant about that, you have my full support.
Last, I hope we see some help in the secondary today. Jamar Johnson at safety and some development CBs like Trill Williams, and Mike Renner (and Mel Kiper?) favorites Tay Gowan and Rachad Wildgoose would ace this draft in my mind. Plus, ya know, I just like Duck...Duck...Wildgoose!
AMEN on Brown over Surratt, Rob. I think Surratt will be a fine player and it is an area of need, but it just feels like another "here we go again" situation with Zimmer's myopic view of the modern NFL influenced the pick.
Also, Finchy, how are you feeling about Darrisaw now? Assuming you’ve now seen so much more on him. Know you had some reservations about him as a prospect going into the draft.
As per my rant yesterday, I really don't like the idea of taking a QB in the 3rd. Especially given the talent on the board, it honestly felt like an analytically terrible decision.
THAT SAID, I do really appreciate how you laid everything out here. The Vikings have been a very very good team for a long time, but it has felt like they were stuck in the mud in a few ways (insisting upon small OL, reupping on Kirk, neglecting the offense over less impactful improvements to their defense), and the draft so far seems to indicate that maybe this tiger is learning to change its stripes, which is very hopeful.
Also, not that Mond is on the team I will root for him. He does have some very exciting traits, and also a marvelous haircut, and frankly getting a 4 year starter that improved each year that is only 21(!!) is pretty damn impressive. I still won't bet on it, but I'll enthusiastically cheer for it.
Also Wyatt is the way. I am struggling to comprehend that the Vikes have 5 OL that are interesting that each give you reasons to be excited. 2021 is definitely better than 2020 so far.
I was fully on two trains prior to the draft: 1) Train trade up and get a QB & 2) Train draft one of the top WR's in the 1st round. Obviously both of those trains derailed. That being said...
I like the picks including the Mond pick. Outside of the top 5, I felt Mond had the best chance to be successful in the NFL. And if he's not, the Vikings at least took a swing. It wasn't a home run swing, but it was a swing.
I like the Derrisaw and Davis picks a lot from a medium to long-term perspective. But I think a lot of people are getting ahead of themselves. Highly unlikely that either guy is going to be league average this year. They're almost certainly going to struggle and barring further additions to the o-line, I'm expecting they'll be rather porous for another year.
One last item regarding the delicious Rodgers drama: I'm seeing a lot of people imply that Rodgers' disenchantment is due to the Love pick. It seems far more likely to me that his disgust with the packers organization is more due to their unwillingness to invest 1st day draft capital and FA money into weapons around him for 15 years and keeping a bad head coach around for a decade. The Love pick certainly factors in, but I suspect that's more in the sense that he watched the Packers trade up a year after an NFC championship appearance to take a backup player instead of a weapon like JJ. That's to say nothing of the next three rounds where the packers continued to draft backups.
Bottom line, I don't think the Cousins/Mond situation is in any way analogous to the Rodgers/Love situation. Kirk should have zero reasons to be bothered by the Vikings drafting what is clearly a project QB. Mond is nowhere near being ready to set foot on an NFL field and likely won't be for a minimum of two years.
Oh how sweet it is to finally have actual football stuff to mull over...
As jarring as it was to hear someone like RG3 poo-poo on Cousins, he did state the obvious; bringing in another QB in ANY round will likely ruffle feathers. Or will it? Maybe Minnesota is banking on the Rodgers/Love motivation. Maybe the Vikes are setting up a Wentz/Hurts safety net. Or maybe we're all completely off and Kubiak Jr. is making power moves for a team that will be entirely his in a few years.
The value of a 3rd round project compared to a 1st round gamble feels like an easy choice. Whether it was Mac Jones falling into their laps, or if they moved up a few spots and got Justin Fields. The Minnesota Vikings team AND coaching staff are not mentally equipped to handle such an undertaking. Too many intangibles, financials, Cousins, Zimmer, NFC North... the timing wasn't right for a 1st round QB. Thankfully, they acquired enough pieces to help the here and now squad.
Sorry if you answered this before Matt, but what are realistic scenarios for Kirk Cousin's contract situation at the end of this coming season. A $45M cap hit in 2022 and let him walk in 2023 seems untenable, but this seems likely if Mond shows promise this season. If the Vikings extend Cousins, he probably wants two or three more years at $35-40M per year. That also seems painful, but I don't see him taking less. Perhaps his open market value is dropping as he ages and he might accept a Drew Brees like 2 year $50M contract extension. What do you think?
Thanks for the Q Jeff. I think the most likely scenario if they wanted to bring the Cousins era to an end would be a trade. The team trading for him would then sign him to a contract extension to lower his cap hit. I agree with you that $45M cap hit in 2022 is untenable. It's really hard to see them just playing it out
Great summation of the Mond pick and the Davis pick, Matthew. In group text with friends last night the question was asked how we felt about the Mond pick, especially given the high number of mid-round train wrecks at the position. I said it directly correlates to how much you like or dislike Cousins--and I include his salary and all the limitations that come with it--as the QB. Put it this way: I like the Mond pick.
The Davis pick, coupled with Darrisaw in the first, said Vikes are tired of getting pushed around up front. We'll see first year growing pains, but an O-line of Darrisaw-Cleveland-Bradbury-Davis-O'Neill feels better than anything we've had in years. Put me down as one of those who thinks Davis plays RG like he did his whole college career with Cleveland moving back to his more natural left side.
Also, while I like Surratt at LB, I would have much preferred to have WR Dyami Brown with that pick. As much as I get fatigued by Purple Insider's pitch for wide receiver in round one, in this place in the draft for that good of a player, it was a mistake to pass on the much higher ranked wide receiver for the linebacker. Maybe you'll cover that in a different article, but if you go on a rant about that, you have my full support.
Last, I hope we see some help in the secondary today. Jamar Johnson at safety and some development CBs like Trill Williams, and Mike Renner (and Mel Kiper?) favorites Tay Gowan and Rachad Wildgoose would ace this draft in my mind. Plus, ya know, I just like Duck...Duck...Wildgoose!
Crazy thing with all those 3rd round picks, Vikings could've gotten both North Carolina players...
AMEN on Brown over Surratt, Rob. I think Surratt will be a fine player and it is an area of need, but it just feels like another "here we go again" situation with Zimmer's myopic view of the modern NFL influenced the pick.
Also, Finchy, how are you feeling about Darrisaw now? Assuming you’ve now seen so much more on him. Know you had some reservations about him as a prospect going into the draft.
Yeah, in a vacuum Surratt was an excellent pick, but for every selection you have to ask what else was there.
As per my rant yesterday, I really don't like the idea of taking a QB in the 3rd. Especially given the talent on the board, it honestly felt like an analytically terrible decision.
THAT SAID, I do really appreciate how you laid everything out here. The Vikings have been a very very good team for a long time, but it has felt like they were stuck in the mud in a few ways (insisting upon small OL, reupping on Kirk, neglecting the offense over less impactful improvements to their defense), and the draft so far seems to indicate that maybe this tiger is learning to change its stripes, which is very hopeful.
Also, not that Mond is on the team I will root for him. He does have some very exciting traits, and also a marvelous haircut, and frankly getting a 4 year starter that improved each year that is only 21(!!) is pretty damn impressive. I still won't bet on it, but I'll enthusiastically cheer for it.
Also Wyatt is the way. I am struggling to comprehend that the Vikes have 5 OL that are interesting that each give you reasons to be excited. 2021 is definitely better than 2020 so far.
I was fully on two trains prior to the draft: 1) Train trade up and get a QB & 2) Train draft one of the top WR's in the 1st round. Obviously both of those trains derailed. That being said...
I like the picks including the Mond pick. Outside of the top 5, I felt Mond had the best chance to be successful in the NFL. And if he's not, the Vikings at least took a swing. It wasn't a home run swing, but it was a swing.
I like the Derrisaw and Davis picks a lot from a medium to long-term perspective. But I think a lot of people are getting ahead of themselves. Highly unlikely that either guy is going to be league average this year. They're almost certainly going to struggle and barring further additions to the o-line, I'm expecting they'll be rather porous for another year.
One last item regarding the delicious Rodgers drama: I'm seeing a lot of people imply that Rodgers' disenchantment is due to the Love pick. It seems far more likely to me that his disgust with the packers organization is more due to their unwillingness to invest 1st day draft capital and FA money into weapons around him for 15 years and keeping a bad head coach around for a decade. The Love pick certainly factors in, but I suspect that's more in the sense that he watched the Packers trade up a year after an NFC championship appearance to take a backup player instead of a weapon like JJ. That's to say nothing of the next three rounds where the packers continued to draft backups.
Bottom line, I don't think the Cousins/Mond situation is in any way analogous to the Rodgers/Love situation. Kirk should have zero reasons to be bothered by the Vikings drafting what is clearly a project QB. Mond is nowhere near being ready to set foot on an NFL field and likely won't be for a minimum of two years.
Also, Kirk has to play a hell of a lot better before he has the right to be bothered about any draft moves relating to the QB position.
Oh how sweet it is to finally have actual football stuff to mull over...
As jarring as it was to hear someone like RG3 poo-poo on Cousins, he did state the obvious; bringing in another QB in ANY round will likely ruffle feathers. Or will it? Maybe Minnesota is banking on the Rodgers/Love motivation. Maybe the Vikes are setting up a Wentz/Hurts safety net. Or maybe we're all completely off and Kubiak Jr. is making power moves for a team that will be entirely his in a few years.
The value of a 3rd round project compared to a 1st round gamble feels like an easy choice. Whether it was Mac Jones falling into their laps, or if they moved up a few spots and got Justin Fields. The Minnesota Vikings team AND coaching staff are not mentally equipped to handle such an undertaking. Too many intangibles, financials, Cousins, Zimmer, NFC North... the timing wasn't right for a 1st round QB. Thankfully, they acquired enough pieces to help the here and now squad.
Nobody's concerned about Kirk's feelings at this point. Great article as usual.
Sorry if you answered this before Matt, but what are realistic scenarios for Kirk Cousin's contract situation at the end of this coming season. A $45M cap hit in 2022 and let him walk in 2023 seems untenable, but this seems likely if Mond shows promise this season. If the Vikings extend Cousins, he probably wants two or three more years at $35-40M per year. That also seems painful, but I don't see him taking less. Perhaps his open market value is dropping as he ages and he might accept a Drew Brees like 2 year $50M contract extension. What do you think?
Thanks for the Q Jeff. I think the most likely scenario if they wanted to bring the Cousins era to an end would be a trade. The team trading for him would then sign him to a contract extension to lower his cap hit. I agree with you that $45M cap hit in 2022 is untenable. It's really hard to see them just playing it out
Jeff, obviously I'm not Matthew but I I'll add one bit of feedback here: I don't think Kirk is as untradeable as most people think he is.