Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast

Matthew Coller and Sam Ekstrom were in attendance at TCO Performance Center when Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman talked to the media. What's the latest on O-line coach Rick Dennison's role? Why the wide receiver battle is suddenly in the spotlight. Will we see Jeff Gladney at camp? How many catches will Dede Westbrook have? What does it mean that Christian Darrisaw is going to be brought along slowly due to a groin issue?

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Pro Football Focus data scientist and PFF Forecast podcast host Eric Eager joins Matthew Coller to talk about reasonable expectations for the Vikings. Why the Vikings have reached a fork in the road by the way they handled the offseason. Eric explains how the Vikings have performed against Vegas expectations in recent years and why that matters. He talks about the bets the Vikings are making with short-term deals and which have the best and worst chance of working out.

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Matthew Coller and Sam Ekstrom get together to break down reports that Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers have worked things out and that Rodgers is coming back. How good will the Packers be with him under center? What does it mean for the Minnesota Vikings this year? Where do we think Rodgers finishes his career?

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Matthew Coller is joined by Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen to talk about the upcoming season. Adam talks about why he's improved as a receiver because of the other great players (i.e. Stefon Diggs and Justin Jefferson) that he's been able to play alongside as well as discussing when he realized he had a killer mentality and why the Kubiak style offense is so successful.

In the second half of the episode, Brandon Thorn of Trench Warfare breaks down his top 50 players in the trenches, where Danielle Hunter ranks and why the Vikings have a really tough schedule of defensive linemen to match up against.

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Matthew Coller chats with Vikings fans about the signing of Dede Westbrook. Will the Vikings actually use him? What's the best case scenario for how Westbrook fits in with Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson? Does the offense have no excuses now? How many receptions do we expect Westbrook to have this year?

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Matthew Coller gives a rundown on offensive line coach Rick Dennison's situation regarding his vaccination status and role with the team this year and why it could be problematic for the Vikings (and why it might be OK if he isn't there)

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Matthew Coller and Sam Ekstrom continue their series looking at every position leading into training camp. In this edition, they discuss the backup quarterback situation and whether the Vikings would actually give the job to Jake Browning over Kellen Mond. What would it say about Mond? How do we expect his trajectory to go during camp? What's our best guess on whether he's good? Also we look at safeties and the Harrison Smith/Xavier Woods dynamic and who plays behind them. And then Sam is forced to spell camp body names.

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Pro Football Focus just brought Ari Meirov on board to head up their newsdesk so to congratulate him on the new gig, Matthew Coller asks him about every storyline for all the Minnesota Vikings opponents during the first half of the season. Should we be watching Joe Burrow's progress during training camp and the preseason or are the Bengals not a threat? Do we believe the Arizona Cardinals have the star power to take another step forward? What happened to all that Russell Wilson noise during the offseason? Are the Panthers the biggest gimme game on the schedule? How will the Cleveland Browns handle the hype? Plus what Ari thinks the biggest Vikings storyline is for the upcoming season.

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Regular guest Arif Hasan of The Athletic is back to talk under-the-radar Vikings storylines. He weighs in on Dantzler vs. Breeland as starting CB, whether any of the corners on one-year deals have a future in Minnesota and what Kene Nwangwu can offer as a rookie. The two also touch on three big NFL headlines, including the report that Aaron Rodgers turned down a massive offer from the Packers.

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Earlier this offseason ESPN's Courtney Cronin picked the Vikings to go 7-10. Now she's changed her tune. Which games does she think the Vikings will win? Why does she believe their record will be better now than a few months ago? Which games does she see as the season-shifting games for the Vikings? How is she viewing the Packers and factoring the Aaron Rodgers situation?

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