Morning Joes

So, with Cousins being the card, we decided to rank him here on Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast. Mark Craig from the Star Tribune and startribune.com joins Joe Oberle from Vikings Territory.com and purplePTSD.com and weigh in on where we think he should be ranked and what other think.

Actually, we are a bit early. Camp, which begins on July 25 (players report) is still more than a month away—it’s only the summer temps that are a tad bit early. So we will have to wait, and speculate. And there is much to speculate on. Last week on the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast, Joe Oberle, senior writer for VikingsTerritory and purplePTSD and Mark Craig, NFL Insider and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune newspaper and Startribune.com speculate on the depth of the Vikings defense. There were a lot of changes to the defense this off-season, so depth could become an issue.

Mark Craig of the Star Tribune isn't a big kumbaya kind of guy, so he will be on the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast to douse the grill and shank a seven-iron out of bounds. Craig will also address the acquisition of new linebacker Andre Mintzie, who the Vikings picked up from Denver. Another Ed Dontell disciple in the house. The linebacker unit is going to change this season for Minnesota, and Craig joins VT senior writer Joe Oberle to discuss if it will be better than in the past.

They say Kirk Cousins is a smart dude—just look at the contracts he has secured in Minnesota. Well, if reports we’re getting out of TCO Performance Center are valid, perhaps the Vikings need a refund. The Star Tribune’s NFL Insider Mark Craig has been at Vikings minicamp this week and so far he reports that Kirk is confused by Ed Donatell’s defensive scheme. (Please tell me Kellen Mond is picking it up . . . ). Craig says the defense is ahead of the offense at this point, and the result has been a confused Cousins. Craig has seen several plays in 11 on 11 in which Kirk was throwing the ball away or holding on to it long after he would have been sacked. It’s early. No need to panic, Purple Nation. Maybe Kirk is still seeing Zimmer-disguised blitz ghosts and needs to clear his head. And then maybe the defense is always ahead of the offense—particularly when the unit is learning a new offense—because a lot of the D’s job is to react and the offense needs time to get things tight. Or is it the other way around? W

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins spoke last week and once again proved to be a master of allocution when faced with the media's questions. He demonstrated his agility behind a microphone, avoiding the rush of media inquiries and a deft touch in saying much without ever giving away any team secrets or providing a stark inspection of what lies behind his winning smile. It's great if you're a young fan wanting to hear from the star quarterback, but it's frustrating for members of the media trying to get the story and inside the QB’s head. Kirk is adept at providing plenty of verbiage without really revealing much (not unlike this article), yet Joe Oberle, senior writer for Vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com and Mark Craig from the Star Tribune and Startribune.com will be here to break it down and mine it for every essential morsel. In fact, Kirk offered a glimpse of his duties under new head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense, comparing to his time with flashcards “trying to memorize plays and terms

Joe Oberle and Mark Craig from the Star Tribune talk Vikings offseason and what is going on with MN Vikings

Mark Craig of the Star Tribune has been on hand at TCO to check out the new players, and he will here on the VT Breakdown podcast to well, break it down. Tune in and see for yourself.

So, perhaps the Vikings can be home for more than nine games this season. That’s where the rock-solid prognostication comes in. We can look down the schedule and forecast just how many of those home (and road) games the Vikings are going to win this season and if any extra post-season games will take place at The Vault. Let the speculation begin: and we will start it off with ours this week on the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast. Mark Craig from the Star Tribune joins me to stop staring at our navels and start gazing at that old Purple crystal ball. Will they have nine wins, 10 or 11 and a home playoff game? The NFC North is not as assured as in years past, so anything can happen. Tune in to the VT Breakdown podcast to see what we think will take place.

Mark Craig and Joe Oberle talk about the Divisional Trades and more.

The 2022 NFL Crapshooter, I mean NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 28, and the Vikings hold the 12th selection of the first round in that draft. That is as much certainty as we can safely predict at the time of this writing. What will the Vikings do with the 12th overall pick? Will they trade up to grab the player they want? We can pretty much speculate that they won’t trade down with the pick to secure several more seventh-round picks. At least if the words of general manager Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah prior to the draft mean anything:

The folks at the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast have you covered. Mark Craig from the Star Tribune and Joe Oberle fromVikingsTerritory.com discuss the players returning to TCO Performance Center and look ahead to the Draft. They will break down the Vikings' roster needs and try to predict whom general manager Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah will select with his first draft in his new position. Can we expect more collaboration than has been reported the last regime was experiencing in the final years at the helm of the Vikings Ship? We can only hope.

Co-host Joe Oberle and Star Tribune's Mark Craig talk what came out of the first week or press conferences with players since the GM and coaching change.

And we will talk about that on the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast with Mark Craig from the Star Tribune and Joe Oberle from puplePSTD.com and VikingsTerritory.com. We will also talk about the offensive line—specifically at the right guard position, a problem situation that the Vikings’ new regime has been busy trying to rectify and rebuild.

But Mark Craig from the Star Tribune joins Joe Oberle from purplePTSD.com to sort it all out on the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast. Neither one of them is named Davis, so don’t expect them to be vying for a crack at the RG position, but count on them to venture some speculation as to who might win it. The Vikings, amazingly, still have some cap room left as time for the NFL Draft nears, and we get the feeling with how Free Agency has gone thus far, they may not be finished with their “competitive rebuild,” as Kwesi put it. Tune into the VT Breakdown Podcast to hear the latest.

Co host Joe Oberle and Star Tribune's Mark Craig talk all the free agency moves for the Vikings. Who the Vikings signed? Who they kept (and lost)? What and who happens next? Around the NFL changes

Co host Joe Oberle and The Star Tribune's Mark Craig talk the free agency tampering period is here (which is one the silliest things going—just open up free agency on Monday and let ‘er rip). But then the NFL has never been one for drawing a line and sticking to it (e.g. there will be no gambling in the NFL!) unless, of course, it has to do with giving Colin Kaepernick a job. But that’s another quarterback story for another day.

Mark Craig of the Star Tribune will break that down on the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast with VT senior writer Joe Oberle.

Co-host Joe Oberle and Star Tribunes Mark Craig talk new coaching staff and what the NFL combine might bring the Vikings. Craig will look at the Vikings new coaching staff (led by Kevin O’Connell) and offer his ideas of the team’s top three needs in the draft for the coming season—and there are likely more needs, as well. Mark will also examine what the new offensive and defensive coordinators (Wes Phillips and Ed Donatell, respectively) had to say last week in their introductory pressers.

KOC Racing to Catch Up—And it Starts With Kirk Still, the Vikings under new GM Kwesi Adolfo Mensah were not sitting idly by while KOC was high-fiving his former players and drinking champagne in the back of a parade car. They were interviewing plenty of new staff members and were ready to bring them aboard just as soon as KOC was in place. Mark Craig from the Star Tribune and Joe Oberle, senior writer for VikingsTerritory.com and purplePTSD.com, will look at all the new hires to the Vikings staff and speculate what’s to come next on the VT Breakdown podcast.

The Los Angeles Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16 in the Super Bowl last Sunday. That is the headline, but there are so many other sub-plots to recognize. Matthew Stafford left Detroit and got a ring (while his fellow Detroiter Eminem followed him to LA and knelt in honor of Colin Kaepernick—good on ya, mate), Rams owner Stan Kroenke build a winning team through trades and free agency (and hopefully built himself a private bathroom) and the Vikings get their new head coach in Rams offensive coach Kevin O’Connell. The wealth was spread around to everywhere but Cincinnati, which came ever so close to winning the title and capping off an incredible turnaround of a franchise. At least they had the day off of school on Monday to sulk around home and lick their wounds. The Bengals do have the look of a team on the rise, however, and we should expect them (if they bolster their offensive line to protect star QB Joe Burrow) in the hunt for years to come. Just think, now at 0-3 in the Super Bowl, the Bengals have