With the 11th pick, your Minnesota Vikings select...

Does it really matter to them what direction we go on if there will be expectations either way though? If people are viewing year 3 of this regime like many have spoken about then the expectation is turning this around fast and getting the answers needed. This is what I questioned Funky on in the KOC thread too. The reality is this fan base is not happy with how this team has been run and while most of that falls above KOC imo (ownership/gm) the expectations in terms of winning are going to fall on him with many. When Kirk went down there was a thread created after the first game and despite backups that had losing records everywhere or a rookie with a defense lacking talent I was literally the only one that predicted we would not go above .500 without Kirk on the year. The hype was similar outside this forum. The expectations from the fans seem high and a big part is because of the direction forced and narratives about being super competitive from ownership. Even without Kirk and scrambling mid season at the position.

So if that is the viewpoint from a majority and the owners are sticking with that "super competitive" plan then keeping Kirk is easily the safest choice. It isn't a smart long term plan but it's much safer than hoping you get the right rookie and can still end .500 or better. If you don't.... well look at reactions this offseason and at least double the complaints/outrage.

We know that the Viking's "brass" were in Mobile last week checking out Penix, Jr. and Nix up-close. There was a mock draft yesterday from the gang at The Draft Network that suggested they wanted to specifically see if Penix, Jr. could take snaps from under center in the practice sessions and if they liked what they saw there, they could possibly take him at the #11 spot...

From a recent mock from The Draft Network (link):

11. Minnesota Vikings
Michael Penix Jr., QB, Washington
At the Senior Bowl, Michael Penix Jr. showed that he can work under center and that's exactly what the Vikings' front office needed to see. In Minnesota, Penix Jr. would have two high-level weapons to throw the ball to along with one of the best play-callers in the NFL.

They even included a nice picture of what Penix would look like in Vikings purple:



But outside of Penix, Jr. at #11, the other interesting thing I noticed was at the top of their mock, with Washington trading-up with Chicago to the #1 overall spot to take Caleb Williams (now with Kingsbury in town, Washington might want to set their sights on Caleb), leaving Chicago to accumulate more picks, take Harrison, Jr. at #2 to give Fields another weapon and leaving Maye for New England to take at #3. That means that Daniels drops a bit to the #5 / #6 range beyond Arizona at #4 and the cost to trade up would be a little bit less than it was at #3. They have the Giants and Brian Daboll taking Daniels at #6, which I believe they would since Dabol has had success developing "mobile" QB's (Josh Allen in Buffalo and Daniel Jones in NY)...

If that scenario happened at the top of the Draft - meaning Washington trading up to #1 for Caleb, Chicago going Harrison, Jr. at #2 and New England taking Maye - would you be in-favor of a slightly less jump from #12 to #5 (with the Chargers) to get in-front of the Giants to take Daniels?

I think it will be very interesting to see if the Viking's "brass" meets with Daniels at the Combine or LSU Pro Day coming up in the next 2 months and that could tell us something about their Draft plans and if Daniels is any part of them.

It's all purely speculation now, and hopefully we'll get a bit more information at The Combine at the end of the month and then at the start of free agency with then 2024 League Year opens up in mid-March. 

Yeah exactly you could easily get fans and your team exciting for the trading up segment. Thats what I am very scared of, I think they are going to try like hell to do it, hopefully no one is selling. It would be cool to see the Vikings actually do something different but I really dont think its the right move for this team right now. Daniels is far from a guarantee, like anyone really, I dont see the value of trading up and taking him over standing pat at 11 or trading back and getting McCarthy or Penix.

I am not sure any coach has ever needed to be SB contenders with this ownership, the standard seems to moreso be just making the playoffs. That's why keeping Kirk makes sense unless something is changed in terms of that perspective from above the coach (it's a massive problem imo to have such low standards and keep pushing in just to reach them but that's what we have seen). So again if the standards are largely the same and ownership isn't going to admit their own issues this is where we end up. The safe route to meet their expectations is Kirk. 

I do agree with you about having the opportunity before and declining which is a good sign (I will note they added 50 mil in dead cap hits to this year so it wasn't without completely hurting the future). That was before this season played out and there was backlash though. Before the Wilfs left the GB game like cowards in a way we basically never see instead of going to the locker room. The fear is that there is more pressure now on this regime to turn it around where as they seemingly had more leeway after 13 wins. It really comes down to what the Wilfs are saying and expecting more than anything and the level of pressure they might feel now. Like you say they have to be on the same page and there are a lot of variables. 

At the end of the day no one has any idea because it was a bad plan. We should have been doing this type of stuff years ago, having higher picks, collecting assets instead of just losing guys, clearing cap in previous years etc. etc. to avoid any of it. The route we took didn't actually make us competitive in terms of SB level and didn't actually set us up to rebuild the roster. We just keep ending up in the same circles. So now everyone is all over the place trying to figure out what it actually means moving forward. I sure hope you are right that this was always Kwesi's plan and he is sticking to more of a rebuild now even with more pressure. 

I would have Levis as QB7 and Pickett as QB8 this year. Levis didn't have anywhere near the production of Penix or Nix. Nor the upside of McCarthy. Pickett I never understood at all.

Was listening to a Matthew Coller podcast last night and he very rationally laid out what Kwesi has been doing. #1. Fix the Salary Cap while remaining 'competitive'. 2. Give yourself flexibility with Cousins. In other words, don't get held hostage by Kirk at the negotiating table.

Minnesota absolutely tried to get their QBOTF last year in Anthony Richardson. And they told Cousins no when he offered a home Team discount because of the number of guaranteed years he wanted.

So Kwesi has accomplished both #1. and #2. That doesn't mean Cousins isn't coming back. It just means that it's on Kwesi's terms, not Kirk's. If they do bring him back, even on their terms, it signals that they are changing course from the path they originally chose when they got to Minnesota.

And that requires going All In. Extend everyone. Sign several big name guys and backload the crap out of their Contracts. Face cap hell in three years.

But why would they change from their original course? Poles is on record last year of saying THIS is the draft to have as many picks as possible. It's not exactly been a secret that it is one of the best Offensive Draft Classes in quite a while. 8 Blue Chip Prospects. All on Offense. But very deep at positions that don't have any Blue Chip players like RB & IOL.

It appears that Kwesi & Kevin targeted this year. But also liked Richardson enough to try and move up to get him. All signs point to moving on from Kirk. Unless they get him on their terms.

That's why all the chatter right now is so fascinating. Both sides are purposely leaking tidbits to make their side look right or the other side look bad. Jockeying for leverage at the bargaining table.

Kirk's leverage comes from playing great right before the injury and from becoming a true locker room leader beloved by his teammates and now, surprise embraced by the fans.

Kwesi's leverage comes from Cousins coming off a serious injury and his age. And the fact that the plan was always to get to this exact point. So why cave now?

The one reason I think could lead to them caving is how bad the backups looked in O'Connell's system. But if they go with a Rookie Kevin will have an entire offseason to actually mold his scheme to the new guy's strengths and weaknesses.

Luke Braun very soberly laid out just how hard it is to adjust to a different kind of QB in season. The Vikings didn't have RPOs installed and once they did couldn't spend hours drilling on them just because Dobbs can run.

Kevin isn't a Shotgun Quick Game playcaller. He isn't a boots and waggles guy. Or a Shanahan style guy who attacks you horizontally. I criticize the sh*t out of him for ignoring those parts of Offenses. But I have to accept that he can't dip into those concepts heavily because QB1 went down.

Penix, Nix and McCarthy stand tall in the pocket and throw the ball to their primary read. Levis had a bad habit of vacating clean pockets. And bad touch on shorter passes. Again, I never liked Pickett at all. Mac Jones ultra lite.

You'd like to see more going through full field reads. But you can say the exact same thing about Caleb Williams and Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels. College QBs live in the Shotgun and aren't asked to consistently make full field reads. Even Stroud wasn't asked to do that a lot at OSU.

2023 was a much better QB Class than 2022 and Kwesi tried to get one. 2024 is even better. Unless Kirk goes with what Kwesi offers, albeit after a lot of back and forth, I am starting to change my stance and think QB is absolutely in play.

Where they pick one is now becoming a more intriguing question.

I have him as the biggest boom or bust. And for that I would take him at 11. If he bust who cares. You get a high draft pick next year like AZ with Murray.