WEBVTT - Spread Swing! Common Man Hour 2 0:00:00.030 --> 0:00:04.070 Plugged into everything KFN. Sports updates, ticket giveaways, and show highlights. 0:00:04.630 --> 0:00:08.490 Follow at KFN1003 on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X Today. 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:18.200 No power trip takeovers planned? Nothing in the vibes about 0:00:18.239 --> 0:00:22.739 that yet. They'll take over someplace, sometime, somewhere. 0:00:23.020 --> 0:00:26.040 I'm assuming there's going to be a Vegas-related vibe at 0:00:26.060 --> 0:00:26.480 some point. 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:30.540 They'll be taking it over. Hour number two begins with. 0:00:31.020 --> 0:00:39.430 Five, three, four. Time now for five questions. 0:00:39.970 --> 0:00:42.590 Well, actually three, but five sounds like more than four. 0:00:42.790 --> 0:00:54.870 Brought to you by Willow River Company. Question number one. 0:00:54.970 --> 0:00:57.570 It's now time to take an in-depth look at the 0:00:57.630 --> 0:00:58.530 state of the school. 0:00:59.050 --> 0:01:05.940 Head coach Kevin O'Connell said yesterday that Carson Wentz will 0:01:05.980 --> 0:01:08.900 be the primary backup to Kyler Murray in Sunday's game 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.429 against the Green Bay Packers. But Did not rule out J.J. 0:01:12.470 --> 0:01:14.850 McCarthy moving back to the No. 2 role at some 0:01:14.890 --> 0:01:16.810 point in the season, saying the team is approaching the 0:01:16.850 --> 0:01:19.809 backup role as, quote, a week-to-week thing. 0:01:20.610 --> 0:01:21.990 Common your thoughts. 0:01:21.730 --> 0:01:28.530 On the backup QB position being a week-to-week thing. 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:35.700 My guess is it continues to be the whole charade 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:40.319 thing where we started camp saying, hey, it's a battle 0:01:40.340 --> 0:01:45.700 for number one. It's even Stephen, on your mark, get set, go. 0:01:45.780 --> 0:01:47.960 I don't think you and I believed it from the beginning, 0:01:48.820 --> 0:01:52.990 other than we thought if Kyler Murray was just awful, well, maybe, 0:01:53.010 --> 0:01:57.490 I guess, McCarthy gets it, but I think they wanted 0:01:57.530 --> 0:01:58.550 to move in another direction. 0:01:59.530 --> 0:02:00.510 But I don't know why they continue. 0:02:00.530 --> 0:02:03.670 It's almost like they're going to say, If he shows 0:02:03.690 --> 0:02:05.680 that he's better during practice, what is he going to 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.660 do during practice that's going to make the coaching staff go, 0:02:10.340 --> 0:02:11.959 he gives us a better chance to win than Wentz? 0:02:12.340 --> 0:02:15.720 It's nonsense. It's almost like they just want to keep... 0:02:16.780 --> 0:02:19.460 They don't want McCarthy to get depressed and think it's 0:02:19.580 --> 0:02:20.140 over for you. 0:02:20.180 --> 0:02:22.100 You're a third string quarterback. We're going to release you. 0:02:22.139 --> 0:02:23.980 Your career is over. We don't believe in you anymore. 0:02:24.020 --> 0:02:25.200 It's almost like they. 0:02:25.300 --> 0:02:28.180 I'm not saying that they don't have some belief in him, 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:29.100 but I. 0:02:31.139 --> 0:02:36.579 I... I think that's the only... I think the only 0:02:36.620 --> 0:02:38.040 reason they're doing it is to try to make it 0:02:38.060 --> 0:02:40.419 so he doesn't get depressed. That would be my... It's weird. 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:44.919 Yeah, we aired the KOC presser during the 10 to 0:02:44.980 --> 0:02:47.020 Fitzgerald yesterday when he made those comments, and I came 0:02:47.060 --> 0:02:49.870 back out of it just going, why do they keep 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:50.990 trying to protect J.J. 0:02:51.030 --> 0:02:51.590 McCarthy? 0:02:52.380 --> 0:02:55.850 Is he just mentally fragile? I think that's what it's 0:02:55.870 --> 0:02:57.990 got to be. We had to act like he was 0:02:58.030 --> 0:03:00.709 in a quarterback competition for the starting job, which I 0:03:00.730 --> 0:03:03.790 don't know if he ever really was. And now that 0:03:03.830 --> 0:03:05.730 he's the number three spot, we still have to try 0:03:05.750 --> 0:03:07.690 to find a way to protect them. So, Oh, week 0:03:07.710 --> 0:03:10.090 to week, he can still earn as well. Technically anyone 0:03:10.130 --> 0:03:13.870 can elevate themselves in another spot, but it just seems 0:03:13.910 --> 0:03:17.840 weird that they keep. And I didn't know if for 0:03:17.850 --> 0:03:19.299 the long time, I just thought it was, they were 0:03:19.320 --> 0:03:20.900 trying to boost up his trade value as much as 0:03:20.940 --> 0:03:25.639 they could, but maybe he's, maybe he's mentally fragile. 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:25.960 I don't know. 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:28.180 I don't know what, what other reason they'd be doing it. 0:03:28.380 --> 0:03:32.090 Yeah. I, um, That would be it. 0:03:32.570 --> 0:03:34.660 I can't think of any other reason to say because 0:03:36.220 --> 0:03:39.840 what could he possibly do between now and. 0:03:39.860 --> 0:03:41.960 Well, he's not going to have the reps to do it. Yeah, 0:03:42.020 --> 0:03:45.490 that's it. That's my point. It makes no sense. So, anyway. 0:03:47.670 --> 0:03:56.880 Question number two. It's now time to delve deep into 0:03:56.940 --> 0:03:59.500 Twins territory. 0:04:02.500 --> 0:04:09.060 Yeah, Twins lost 7-2 yesterday in Detroit. They finished their 0:04:09.100 --> 0:04:13.310 road trip with a 2-4 record. Zebby Matthews got the start, 0:04:13.370 --> 0:04:15.430 but only lasted two and a third innings, giving up 0:04:15.510 --> 0:04:18.279 five runs and two hits and four walks. Twins are 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:20.020 now four and a half games out of a playoff 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.360 spot with 16 games to go. Common, will you keep 0:04:23.380 --> 0:04:26.080 paying attention to the Minnesota Twins over the next 16 games? 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:33.479 Well, probably not. You know, I'm the idiot. It's an 0:04:33.500 --> 0:04:35.490 old saying in Tennessee. I know there is in Texas. 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:40.870 It's fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice. 0:04:42.029 --> 0:04:45.210 I won't get fooled again. As Roger Daltrey once sang 0:04:45.350 --> 0:04:47.670 a song. I said all along. 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.180 I believe Tom Polad when he says, we're trying to 0:04:54.220 --> 0:04:56.860 change things up here. I realize our name is Mudd 0:04:57.600 --> 0:04:59.590 and we're going to actually try to compete. And so they, 0:04:59.610 --> 0:05:04.250 you know, again, the four players they traded for weren't the, well, 0:05:04.450 --> 0:05:08.310 you know, they weren't the three best relievers available. There 0:05:08.490 --> 0:05:12.070 wasn't the best starting pitcher available, but they actually decided 0:05:12.130 --> 0:05:14.160 we're going to actually, and I know their payroll isn't 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:15.919 where it once was and all that, but at least 0:05:15.940 --> 0:05:16.780 they were making an effort. 0:05:17.610 --> 0:05:19.390 And I thought, well, you know, hey, you're hanging around. 0:05:19.430 --> 0:05:21.970 It's not your fault that the, you know, it's like 0:05:22.630 --> 0:05:24.370 it's a bad division or a bad league this year 0:05:24.410 --> 0:05:25.030 and a bad division. 0:05:26.910 --> 0:05:28.410 But I've been saying this for the past few weeks. 0:05:28.470 --> 0:05:30.710 I'm more curious to see what they do during the offseason. 0:05:30.750 --> 0:05:33.390 But no, so I won't be paying any attention now. 0:05:34.029 --> 0:05:35.730 I guess if they win every, if they go, if 0:05:35.770 --> 0:05:37.050 they have 16 games, if they go 16 and 0. 0:05:37.010 --> 0:05:41.670 They're probably in. but I don't think they're going 16 0:05:41.670 --> 0:05:42.750 and all the. 0:05:42.740 --> 0:05:44.920 Men that probably got to go 13 and three. 0:05:44.940 --> 0:05:47.160 Yes, exactly. And I don't think that's going to happen. 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:49.740 So I don't think I'll, I'll start paying if, if 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:51.460 they go on like a six, seven game winning streak, 0:05:51.540 --> 0:05:53.480 I'll probably watch again, but. 0:05:53.380 --> 0:05:55.900 Yeah, again, they definitely had to win the next three. 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:58.040 They've got Cleveland. That's the team there. That's the one 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.200 team they're chasing. They have to leapfrog others, but you gotta, 0:06:01.250 --> 0:06:03.190 you gotta sweep this weekend to have any discussion. 0:06:03.330 --> 0:06:11.530 Correct. Um, but yeah, I would, um, I'm interested to 0:06:11.570 --> 0:06:12.610 see what the offseason holds. 0:06:12.710 --> 0:06:17.040 If they will, again, am I naive enough to think 0:06:17.070 --> 0:06:19.890 that the poll ads have changed, that Tom is so 0:06:19.950 --> 0:06:21.520 different than the other poll ads, it's going to be saying, 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:23.219 we're making a run at Aaron Judge. 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:25.039 I know that's not going. 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:27.860 To, but will they at least say, you know what, 0:06:28.020 --> 0:06:30.640 we're going to make Joe Ryan an offer he can't refuse. 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:32.620 We believe in Joe Ryan. We're not going to trade. 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:34.520 We're going to re-sign Jeffers. We're going to offer him 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:35.000 enough money. 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.260 And to prove to those guys, we're going to be, 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:41.150 we're going to be, active in the free agent market. 0:06:41.170 --> 0:06:43.090 They've got the money. They know they do. 0:06:43.430 --> 0:06:46.970 If they want to, again, I know they're not going 0:06:46.990 --> 0:06:49.330 to get a payroll like the Mets, the Dodgers, Yankees, 0:06:49.730 --> 0:06:52.270 but they can spend more money and they know, Tom 0:06:52.330 --> 0:06:55.950 knows they can. He knows the rest of us aren't 0:06:56.510 --> 0:06:59.739 foolish enough to think that they can't increase their payroll 0:06:59.779 --> 0:07:01.960 by $ 20, $ 30 million if they really want to, even 0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:03.180 more if they really wanted to. 0:07:03.700 --> 0:07:05.040 So I'm curious to see if they do that. 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.180 Not trading jeffers the trade deadline was the best thing 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:12.420 they did he he's he's as look i i don't 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:14.070 have a list of all the catchers in big league 0:07:14.090 --> 0:07:17.670 baseball offensively and defensively and how they how they you 0:07:17.870 --> 0:07:20.650 know uh run you know run a game you know 0:07:20.670 --> 0:07:22.770 how they work with a pitcher jeffers seems to be 0:07:22.810 --> 0:07:24.820 one of the best in the business and to not 0:07:24.900 --> 0:07:26.640 trade him at the trade deadline was good that doesn't 0:07:26.660 --> 0:07:27.960 mean they won't get rid of him in the off 0:07:27.980 --> 0:07:31.660 season but um Yeah, but I guess you have to 0:07:31.700 --> 0:07:32.260 answer your question. 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:33.440 I'm done for this year. 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:36.100 I'll be very curious to see how they handle Joe 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:37.040 Ryan in the offseason. 0:07:37.060 --> 0:07:40.020 Correct. Yes. That'll tell a lot. It will indeed. 0:07:42.420 --> 0:07:47.810 Question number three. And now it's time to go in 0:07:50.310 --> 0:07:51.450 the trenches. 0:07:53.060 --> 0:07:56.520 Drake May threw three interceptions as the Patriots blew a 0:07:56.550 --> 0:08:02.650 10-0 lead following 13-10 last night in Seattle. May finished 0:08:02.670 --> 0:08:07.390 23-33 for 178 yards, one touchdown, and three INTs. Common, 0:08:07.410 --> 0:08:10.480 what is your confidence level in Drake May going forward? 0:08:10.600 --> 0:08:14.600 Well, three ins all in the fourth quarter, I believe. 0:08:17.070 --> 0:08:21.130 The last throw was just, I don't understand that one there. 0:08:21.150 --> 0:08:23.710 You're in field goal range. Yes, you have to throw 0:08:23.750 --> 0:08:24.610 that ball away. 0:08:24.630 --> 0:08:27.370 I don't even know if that was a 50-50 ball, 0:08:27.490 --> 0:08:29.010 but even if it was, there's no reason to do 0:08:29.060 --> 0:08:32.440 a 50-50 ball at that point. The other two interceptions 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:34.700 were nice plays. One was, I just don't think he 0:08:34.740 --> 0:08:38.720 saw the guy coming, which is on him. The Seahawks 0:08:38.900 --> 0:08:40.120 just glided under one. 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:42.000 The other one was kind of a juggling catch. 0:08:43.670 --> 0:08:43.970 I don't know. 0:08:44.030 --> 0:08:46.730 I still like him. You know, I, you know. 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:51.420 You can't give up on a guy. 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:53.640 I can understand why people want to give up on McCarthy. 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:56.130 This has been a long... Drake May got a team 0:08:56.150 --> 0:08:57.170 to the big game last year. 0:08:57.230 --> 0:08:59.850 Not all on him, but he's... I mean, I think 0:08:59.890 --> 0:09:02.030 he's shown everybody he can play in this league. So 0:09:02.490 --> 0:09:05.929 that's not a good start to the season. But you're 0:09:05.970 --> 0:09:08.599 playing against the defending big game. That's a really good 0:09:08.630 --> 0:09:11.579 defense Seattle has. I mean, you know, I know that 0:09:11.679 --> 0:09:17.760 last night Collinsworth was talking about how sloppy... football was 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:24.400 because many of the starters, well, very few starters on 0:09:24.540 --> 0:09:27.100 any team play in the preseason. So maybe because they 0:09:27.140 --> 0:09:29.210 don't have the reps down as the first game action, 0:09:29.690 --> 0:09:31.050 maybe they're a little sloppier. 0:09:31.070 --> 0:09:33.710 But I tend to think that's a little overrated because 0:09:33.730 --> 0:09:34.670 they're all. 0:09:36.290 --> 0:09:38.250 Sloppy. 0:09:38.290 --> 0:09:40.470 It's not like one team is playing all their starters 0:09:40.490 --> 0:09:43.230 for three preseason games and the others aren't. And they've 0:09:43.250 --> 0:09:45.650 been playing football their whole lives. I think it comes 0:09:45.700 --> 0:09:49.120 pretty natural to them. But that's a good defense. And no, 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:51.220 I wouldn't be done with May. Now, if it continues, 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:55.589 but no, I'd take Drake May in an instant. I 0:09:55.610 --> 0:09:56.710 think he's got a ton of talent. 0:09:56.929 --> 0:09:58.190 You know, as we were watching the game last night, 0:09:58.210 --> 0:10:01.380 like all year last year, I never... believed in New England. 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:03.720 I just thought they had a soft schedule. They were 0:10:03.740 --> 0:10:05.540 playing against some of the worst quarterbacks in the league. 0:10:05.580 --> 0:10:08.040 They even got the break, if you recall, in the 0:10:08.100 --> 0:10:10.579 AFC Championship game where Bo Nix was hurt. So they 0:10:10.660 --> 0:10:12.800 had to beat a Broncos team with their backup quarterback 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:15.770 instead of him. And I just felt like that New 0:10:15.790 --> 0:10:19.190 England team was just never a great contending type team. 0:10:19.470 --> 0:10:19.670 Right. 0:10:20.330 --> 0:10:23.740 And then Sam Darnold goes down in the first series 0:10:24.700 --> 0:10:29.620 after five plays last night. And then New England's up 7-0. 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:32.760 They're getting lucky again. They were finally playing an actual 0:10:32.820 --> 0:10:36.990 real opponent with a competent quarterback, and the quarterback goes 0:10:37.030 --> 0:10:38.969 down right at you, and then they still blew it 0:10:38.990 --> 0:10:42.190 last night and couldn't score more than 10 points. And 0:10:42.210 --> 0:10:43.470 Seattle defense is pretty darn good. 0:10:43.490 --> 0:10:47.270 Yeah, that's a really good defense. The big story, though, 0:10:47.309 --> 0:10:50.710 was I thought how well Drew Lockley played. Again, that 0:10:50.730 --> 0:10:55.890 wasn't a Hall of Fame performance, but he's now a 0:10:55.929 --> 0:10:58.670 career backup quarterback, right? That's what he does. And to 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:01.180 come in in the game, first game of the season, 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:03.460 he has a really good team that you're facing in 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:03.880 the big game. 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:04.680 He played well last year. 0:11:06.890 --> 0:11:11.360 And that's it for today's edition of 5 Questions. 0:11:11.940 --> 0:11:15.340 Well, actually, 3 questions, but 5 sounds like more than 4. 0:11:15.340 --> 0:11:20.920 Coming up in a couple 13, 14 minutes, the 2026 NFL. 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:22.550 Debut of Spreadswing. 0:11:22.870 --> 0:11:25.850 Coming up with Common Man. It's going to be Deuce 0:11:25.929 --> 0:11:28.650 and Mark Rose. That's at 1.30 right here on The Fan. 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:35.980 The Common Man. 0:11:36.929 --> 0:11:48.880 That show is so creative. Headed down to the season 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:49.850 opener this Sunday. 0:11:49.870 --> 0:11:52.950 Couldn't find us outside the stadium before kickoff and entered 0:11:52.970 --> 0:11:55.189 to be our room of the game. You could secure 0:11:55.250 --> 0:11:58.670 a game day meal deal courtesy of Papa Murphy's. Get 0:11:58.700 --> 0:12:00.699 the details at KFN.com. Keyword calendar. 0:12:17.020 --> 0:12:18.179 I should have mentioned. 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:22.570 That 534 was brought to you by our friends at 0:12:22.710 --> 0:12:23.650 Willow River Company. 0:12:24.170 --> 0:12:28.450 They are your outdoor living experts. Right now, they're having a. 0:12:28.610 --> 0:12:32.370 B & B tree sale, 25% off all in-stock trees. 0:12:32.390 --> 0:12:33.630 You know what a B & B tree is? It's 0:12:33.650 --> 0:12:34.150 going to be. 0:12:34.650 --> 0:12:35.819 Bald and burlapped. 0:12:36.650 --> 0:12:40.570 Sounds like me. Yeah, they're bald. Wait, hold on. 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He could be elevated 0:13:23.950 --> 0:13:24.550 from number three. 0:13:24.570 --> 0:13:28.110 You know, just because he's the number three quarterback right now, 0:13:28.170 --> 0:13:30.540 he could still be elevated to number two. Maybe they're 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:33.339 just trying to save face a little bit. Because they 0:13:33.420 --> 0:13:35.880 gushed about him when they selected him. They moved up 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:39.580 a spot from 11th to 10th to draft him. Talked 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:40.660 about how much they liked him. 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:42.990 He can do this. He can do that. 0:13:44.050 --> 0:13:46.150 And if you remember, here's the other thing. I wonder 0:13:46.170 --> 0:13:49.550 if anybody ever asked KOC this. Remember the quote where 0:13:49.570 --> 0:13:54.439 he said, I sometimes think organizations fail young quarterbacks. Young 0:13:54.540 --> 0:14:00.869 quarterbacks fail organizations. Could he be asked, hey, Kevin, do 0:14:00.890 --> 0:14:03.480 you think you failed? Do you think the organization failed 0:14:03.890 --> 0:14:06.179 with J.J. McCarthy and see what he would say? I 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:09.040 wonder what his response would be. Would he admit to failure? 0:14:10.420 --> 0:14:11.800 Would he say we failed J.J. 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:12.380 McCarthy? 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.359 Because if you do, I don't think that means that 0:14:16.500 --> 0:14:19.160 you're terrible at your job or you should be let 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:20.900 go or you don't know what you're doing, but it 0:14:20.940 --> 0:14:22.540 would be an admission that you, I mean. 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:23.490 Because that's how he said it. 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.580 He said in most cases, I mean, my guess is 0:14:27.620 --> 0:14:30.210 they believe it's probably more McCarthy, but that would be 0:14:30.250 --> 0:14:32.970 a question that could be asked. You feel like the 0:14:33.030 --> 0:14:36.010 organization has. 0:14:36.150 --> 0:14:40.010 Um, specifically you, you worry. 0:14:40.030 --> 0:14:40.490 Exactly. 0:14:40.570 --> 0:14:41.010 Exactly. 0:14:41.050 --> 0:14:43.740 Because, you know, you are the quarterback whisper, which he 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:45.840 said he didn't like me called that. If you remember 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:48.080 that one, somebody, it was on one of those national 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:51.880 shows last year. I think it was where they, you know, 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:54.940 the pregame thing where the, the person from Fox sits 0:14:55.000 --> 0:14:56.720 right across, they're both on a chair and they sit 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:58.810 across from each other at the headquarters and they have a, 0:14:59.350 --> 0:15:02.510 you know, an in-depth personal one-on-one kind of an interview. 0:15:02.550 --> 0:15:04.430 And they asked him about the quarterback whisper. 0:15:04.970 --> 0:15:07.820 And he said, he didn't really like that yet at 0:15:07.860 --> 0:15:15.820 the same, at the same time he said, but we 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:16.860 do feel like we do. 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:24.930 A really nice job with, with our, with our quarterbacks. 0:15:25.330 --> 0:15:29.490 And, you know, they're, There is some evidence to that, 0:15:29.610 --> 0:15:31.930 but there's also some evidence that they don't do as 0:15:31.990 --> 0:15:33.220 well as they would like. 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.140 I love when The Athletic does this every year. This 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.940 is another list thing. The Hopo Meter. Did you talk 0:15:40.980 --> 0:15:43.600 about Hopo Meter on the 10 of Fitzgerald? 0:15:44.140 --> 0:15:46.010 Was that Twins related? 0:15:46.030 --> 0:15:46.570 I don't remember. 0:15:46.750 --> 0:15:49.570 No, this is with the. 0:15:51.150 --> 0:15:51.770 Football fans. 0:15:51.990 --> 0:15:56.170 NFL Hopo Meter for 2026. How are the fan base 0:15:56.290 --> 0:16:01.030 feeling about their team. Let's go right to. 0:16:01.050 --> 0:16:03.820 Because I feel like we had a hopometer for the 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:06.600 major baseball season, so maybe it's the same. Is this 0:16:06.620 --> 0:16:07.220 from The Athletic? 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:07.820 Yes, Athletic. 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:09.660 Okay, yeah, so they must just do that for every sport. 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.540 And remember the Twins having a low hopometer. Right. Lower 0:16:13.560 --> 0:16:15.920 than most. And then when they got off to an 0:16:15.980 --> 0:16:19.400 okay start... Some of the Pollard pocket protectors were like, oh, 0:16:19.540 --> 0:16:20.760 don't have any hope for this team, huh? 0:16:20.940 --> 0:16:22.280 Right. Yes, that's correct. 0:16:22.420 --> 0:16:23.800 And now the way it's turned out, I think the 0:16:23.820 --> 0:16:27.100 fans were correct in their assessment. 0:16:28.100 --> 0:16:30.480 So Vikings on the Hopo meter. Let me dial up. 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:35.840 Why can't I find the Vikings? Hold on. Why don't 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:41.160 I see the Vikings on my list? Maybe they have 0:16:41.250 --> 0:16:42.450 no hope for the Vikings. 0:16:45.410 --> 0:16:48.830 There's always some hope. And the National Football League... Usually, 0:16:49.950 --> 0:16:51.750 almost every team has a little bit of hope of 0:16:51.810 --> 0:16:52.270 some sort. 0:16:52.290 --> 0:16:54.470 Yes. Well, what I'm mad about is I looked at 0:16:54.490 --> 0:16:56.410 it yesterday and I saw it. Why doesn't it have 0:16:56.470 --> 0:16:56.950 all teams? 0:16:57.530 --> 0:17:00.460 Even in Arizona right now, they're coming up with some 0:17:00.500 --> 0:17:06.120 sort of concoction in their heads of how Arizona could 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:07.600 make the playoffs and go on a run. 0:17:16.150 --> 0:17:23.560 Yeah, it doesn't have Are there two categories? Is the 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:25.260 hope so bad for the other teams? 0:17:27.180 --> 0:17:35.270 Vikings, 54.6% optimism. Sounds like best of the lousiest, lousiest 0:17:35.290 --> 0:17:36.330 of the best. Yeah, pessimists. 0:17:36.510 --> 0:17:40.230 Although the KOC offense run through Kyler Murray as a 0:17:40.270 --> 0:17:44.320 chance to be exciting combined with the Flores defense, the 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.610 Athletic has a suspicion this will leave The team had 0:17:48.170 --> 0:17:51.490 a 7-9 win mark and continued purgatory. Pessimists were once 0:17:51.530 --> 0:17:53.750 again going to be good enough for a winning record 0:17:54.369 --> 0:17:56.010 and not good enough to win the whole thing. 0:17:56.050 --> 0:17:57.430 The optimists would say. 0:17:57.210 --> 0:18:00.200 They won nine games last year with the worst quarterback 0:18:00.220 --> 0:18:04.420 situation this side of Cleveland, but we talked about that. Optimists, 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:07.139 the Vikings always seem to overachieve when they're projected to 0:18:07.180 --> 0:18:10.169 finish at the bottom of the NFC North. Flores is 0:18:10.210 --> 0:18:13.869 going into year four. His defensive personnel is mostly his selections. 0:18:14.869 --> 0:18:17.750 The offensive weapons give Kyler a perfect runway to land 0:18:17.770 --> 0:18:20.629 the plane, finally settling into an environment that can nurture 0:18:20.650 --> 0:18:23.050 his skill set and get a payday and approve it 0:18:23.109 --> 0:18:26.070 all year. And they have Justin Jefferson. And that would 0:18:26.109 --> 0:18:29.640 be the, the, that would be the, the optimists look 0:18:29.720 --> 0:18:30.260 at it, right? 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:31.100 Is that. 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:34.560 Murray gets a fresh start here. 0:18:34.580 --> 0:18:40.020 I think it's a fact enemy that he has more 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:45.300 skill position players that are better. They're, The skill position 0:18:45.340 --> 0:18:47.899 players here in Minnesota are better than what he had 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:52.510 to work with in Arizona. I don't think that's– on 0:18:52.530 --> 0:18:55.649 the receiving core, anyways, just adding Jefferson alone and Addison's 0:18:55.670 --> 0:18:56.150 pretty good. 0:18:56.190 --> 0:18:58.690 And who is our Juwan Jennings? He's pretty good, too. 0:18:58.790 --> 0:19:02.640 So I do think that makes a difference. I also read– 0:19:02.859 --> 0:19:04.340 and I don't know if this was a– this might 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:06.300 have been a Star Trib. This might have been Gessling 0:19:06.340 --> 0:19:09.179 or Kramer. was writing about what we can expect from 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:12.379 the Vikings this year offensively. And it was something you 0:19:12.440 --> 0:19:14.260 and I discussed a long time ago. When you're bringing 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:17.300 in a different quarterback whose skill set might not match 0:19:17.340 --> 0:19:20.970 what a, you know, KLC loves the vertical passing game, 0:19:21.010 --> 0:19:23.430 likes to go for big passes, big chunks of yardage. 0:19:23.750 --> 0:19:27.870 That's really not Murray's game, specifically speaking. It said that 0:19:28.670 --> 0:19:29.710 what they expect. 0:19:29.390 --> 0:19:35.260 To see, it was real vanilla during, you know, That 0:19:35.460 --> 0:19:37.560 short period of time that he played, he played, what, 0:19:37.580 --> 0:19:40.420 a series or two in the first game, that. 0:19:40.340 --> 0:19:43.670 They are going to do more play-action pass. 0:19:43.690 --> 0:19:46.870 The word they used inside this, and there were quotes 0:19:46.890 --> 0:19:49.609 from some of the players, it's all about yak, yak. 0:19:50.500 --> 0:19:51.119 After the catch. 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.140 They're still going to, they still expect KOC to try 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:56.670 to make the big strikes down the field. But this 0:19:56.750 --> 0:20:00.170 is going to be more about trying to disguise the, 0:20:00.530 --> 0:20:03.350 to make it look like runs can look like play action, 0:20:03.430 --> 0:20:05.570 you know, can make it look like passes. They want 0:20:05.590 --> 0:20:07.970 to mix things up, but they, but that they, they're, 0:20:08.310 --> 0:20:09.830 it's not going to necessarily be just. 0:20:09.710 --> 0:20:11.010 A long passing game all the time. 0:20:11.050 --> 0:20:12.909 They're going to, they're, they're going to, they're going to 0:20:12.930 --> 0:20:15.630 acquiesce a little bit to what Murray does best. 0:20:15.670 --> 0:20:17.760 And that's what they should do. To me, it's easier 0:20:17.780 --> 0:20:19.020 for a coach to say, okay. 0:20:19.340 --> 0:20:21.160 Well, you also acquiesce to what your team does best, 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:24.679 which is your team is, has what we think is 0:20:24.700 --> 0:20:25.680 going to be a good defense. 0:20:25.980 --> 0:20:26.180 Right. 0:20:26.700 --> 0:20:29.580 So, you know, you might have to, lower some of 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:31.619 the risky throws to make sure we're not turning the 0:20:31.660 --> 0:20:33.080 ball over and putting them in bad spots. 0:20:33.440 --> 0:20:35.000 Yes, very much so. 0:20:36.420 --> 0:20:37.419 We'll know more on Sunday. 0:20:37.859 --> 0:20:38.280