MVP: Assist. QB Coach Jerrod Johnson On New Scheme, Utilizing Past Experience | Episode 152

you know I'm thankful for. This is episode one fifty two of the Minnesota Vikings podcast, and we're bringing the heat this week. We figured we'd have to match those record high tempts. Jay, I'm not gonna lie to you. You moved to Minnesota and everyone asks you about how cold it is, and then it hits a hundred on the day that you move into a new house, and

you're like, this is a very cruel joke. The best part for me is that we've been kind of chiding you a little bit, saying, hey, just wait in the summer, it's gonna get hot, and you're like, yeah, it's never gonna be here what it was in my car it said one hundred and five. The other day when I

was driving, I'm like, yeah, this is oppressively hot. So I will say on that day, though, I did go out to the driving range and hit some balls a little bit for golf, and it was hot and it was definitely steamy, but it was something that it actually felt kind of good just to kind of be in

that warm weather and just kind of keep moving. I had cracked a joke to my wife, and I said, these are the days when I used to do manual labor jobs that actually you hated but you loved at the same time because you just felt disgusting all day and doing work and stuff. But you come home and you step on the scale and you lose a couple of pomps, it's all worth it. It's good for me. Yeah, now that didn't happen to us, even though we moved. Actually, I can't even find my scale right now, but it's

so nice. I just love being like feeling it on my skin. And it was a really strange thing to say, but there's just something about just being in the sun that I just love. And so for me, I loved it. I just thought how ironic that the hottest day of

the year is my move out day. You know. Sorry, It's one of those things too, where when we kind of correct jokes in the winter too, saying just waited, it'll be about a one hundred and thirty degree temperature difference in this something like, what are you talking about? And this is one of those days. You know, I don't envy people that have to move in the middle of the snow. I'd rather definitely do it on one hundred degree temperature. Sure for sure. Yeah, well, we kind

of got things going earlier. That's our producer, Jay Nelson. I'm Tatum Embert Weeger host today as we're cooling off inside the TCO Radio studio right now. In this week's episode, we're talking training camp. It's almost exactly a month away. We'll go more in depth on the position battles and what our camp expectations are. Plus, we continue our chats

with the new coaching staff. Last week's episode, we featured assistant Special Teams coach Ben Katweka, and this week we've got assistant quarterbacks coach Gerard Johnson, who talks about his relationships with the guys in the room and why he wanted to come coach in Minnesota. It's a great chat.

Be sure to us tune in in just a second before we do that, though, Jay, we were perusing the interwebs reading all the latest Vikings articles and earlier this week ESPN's Kevin Seffert, who is the new but the old at the same time. It always feels weird saying that he's like the new Vikings Beat reporter when he's

already kind of done it before. Oh he's been here for I am multiple decades at this point, writing for multiple publications, but he was, you know, kind of the lead NFL writer, and then you know, when there was an opening here, they've kind of assigned him Minnesota again because he knows us so well, and so to have a guy like Kevin Seffert in this market and to pay attention. He's done a ton of stuff with Vin

as well over the years. He's great, and so he's always somebody that whenever he writes something that you pay attention to just to see what his take is on things. You know, I think I'm going to have to start saying he's returning as the Vikings Beat reporter. That's probably why I should say not new he's returning to the

Vikings beat. He posted an article with his projected fifty three man roster, which I mean I saw him out here during all of the practices, So this is based on solely his observations and how things were ran by coach O'Connell during Mini camp and OTA. So I thought it'd be a good time to kind of go through position by positions see if we see any wild cards or any names that maybe were shocked to maybe not

see on the fifty three man roster. But also let's talk more about just the battles themselves, like if a guy's left off, who's fighting him for that bubble spot? Right? Yeah? I mean the hard part with this is you get to this time of year, you haven't even hit training camp yet. You don't know what happens with injuries, you don't know what happens with even outside moves. There's talk of free agents still out there, you know, just trying

to figure out what's going on. But when a guy like Seaford kind of puts his list together, you start to kind of pay attention a little bit more to these positions, and it's going to be a talker all through training camp. You know, I went through this too ahead of time obviously and looked around and there were some names I think that I was like, oh, you know,

in my head I had them. But then you also that when you actually go through position by position, you start to realize how many people have to you have to say goodbye to at the end of it. Like it kind of puts it into perspective. Well, that's the hard part too. When it comes to general managers and coaches having to make those decisions. There's a ton of different things that come in. It's is it somebody we could put on practice squad, is it a veteran salary?

Is it something where they're trying to massage the cap, Like, there's all of these reasons why they make some decisions. And you know, sometimes there's veterans who are guys that they want to give a shot just knowing they're not going to make it, and they tend to cut them early to give them that opportunity to jump on somewhere else. There's so many different things and so many variables, so all of this is going to change within a month,

basically a month and a half. But you know, it's a good list to look through and just kind of see if there's any names here that jump out at you. Yeah, I mean it's fun to talk about this kind of stuff, and it's fun to talk about the quarterback position. That's the first one we'll get going with. It's it's pretty standard. I think Kevin has Kirk, Cousins, Sean Manion, and kelln man three qbs on the roster. There's no there's there's

nothing shocking here. It's the three main people that you really think about here at quarterback and you know, barring some sort of craziness that's happened in the past during training camp, you know, some sort of a quarterback move that would have to be made, these are the three guys that you just look at and say, Cousins, Manning, and Mond these are who you expect to be on

the roster. Yeah. Right now there are four quarterbacks in the roster, with Nate Stanley who's been here before, fighting for some playing time as well. Moving to running back, Kevin has Dalvin Cook, Alex Madison, kna Wong Wu, C. J. Hamm and Tie Chandler, which you have to think they're going to give the rookie, oh for sure, a chance to be on this list, but I mean it's a big running back room though. That's the thing. It's it's

five on that list, you know. I think the ideas is Tie Chandler somebody that you could potentially slide through two practice squad. I think he is a prime candidate for people since he was a draft pick, for us to want to poach a guy like that, or to reach out to him if he gets cut, to say Yo, we want to bring you in and give you a shot with our room. I've seen a bunch of stuff even recently online talking about kind of the most in

depth running back rooms in the league. There's kind of a list of the top eight teams Vikings were hovering in that like three to four range as far as rankings. There is a glut of riches here, and it is exciting to think about, you know, Kenay as fast as he is and Ty Chandler now having that speed. CJ. Hamm. There's a ton of discussion we've even had on this show about what is his role going to be. And he's somebody that could be kind of a secret weapon.

So all five of these guys make sense, and I think there's some really good talent there in that room. Yeah, Jake Bargas is a guy that I think Minnesota's used to hearing from as well. He's been through camp here before. He's on the roster currently to fighting for I guess practice squad something like that, because you know, as long

as CJ can stay healthy. Yeah. And that's the other thing too, is like I said before, barring injuries or something crazy happening, you know, there's a good list here and Bargas said he's going to get his shot as well. And it's just hard when you have a ton of talent in that room just to you know, eventually someone's going to be the odd man out if if Jake really whiles I'm here in camp, you know who knows here is where I got a little interesting okay wide receiver.

We know how talented these guys are, and you got to think justin Jefferson, Adam Feelin, kg Asbourne locks. But then you've also got B. C. Johnson out there, who was a stunnard during a training camp last year before his injury. Kevin has him making the roster along with Jalen Naylor, the rookie out of Michigan State, and Albert Wilson, the free agent signing that was made I guess a month ago or so. Now that leaves a Mere Smith Marsett off of this list. In Kevin's opinion, I'm curious

me too. But at the same point, I'm curious if there's something in there where he's kind of thinking about that due to the injury that he had had here this offseason. I don't know if he's taking that into account. Yeah, but that is a surprise just in that he was a guy that people were pointing at to say, you know, what can he do as a returner, whether it's punt

or kick returner or something. I think there's a ton of options here at the wide receiver spots, and it just really comes down to Kevin O'Connell scheme and what he really wants to do. That's a good point, I think. Also part of it. I mean, Kevin did mention, Kevin Sefert did mention that he will probably be battle Naylor

and Wilson for punt return ability. So if you're a mere Mark Smith Marsette, you see you know Jefferson, thelan Osbourne as kind of locks right now, you've got to make it known that you can be on special teams. You're competing against BC Johnson, who's had big games before, who's a more of a more season vet. But you can't let a talent like a Miror Smith Smarsette hit

waivers either well. And that's the thing is if he does still have an injury designation, there's all these other rules and apply to that kind of stuff too, So it just depends on how long they're going to expect him to potentially be out. So a guy like I think a guy like a Mere Smith Marsette, everyone has seen the talent. I think there's going to be a feeling that he's definitely going to get a fair shake. But it just depends on if he can be out there.

You know. It's the kind of the Pete Bursas. She used to always talk about it and say, you can't, you know, make the club in the tub, and it's like you just you have to get out there and take all this time basically between all of the OTAs and the mini camp and then with training camp coming and just doing as much of the rehab as you can. So I'm sure for a guy like him, he's he's

itching to get back out there. Oh, for sure. I mean there's twelve guys competing for you know, if you're going off of Kevin's list six spots, right, there's twelve guys. I mean you're missing out on names like a mere Blake Prole, who's coming back from an injury as well, looked great at camp last year. Until then Dan Chisenna who he's speed is unmatched, and he's been on special teams as a you know, a gunner and he's done

a ton of work there too. So again, the guy like Dan, you're looking at it saying, you know, where's his role? What's he going to be is that they're going to put him out there as a special teamer. You know, what are they going to do? Is he going to make the roster or not. There's just a lot of questions, Like you said that, that room is absolutely a little bit twelve people twelve, Yeah, it's kind of crazy a room that's a bit on the smaller side. Tight ends. There are five of them on the roster.

Kevin has four of them making the final fifty three man list. Don't forget guys, this is this pre pre preseason. Absolutely predictions. We've got Irv Smith, Junior, Ben Ellefson, Johnny Mutt, and Nick Muse, which leaves Zack Davidson off of the main fifty three man roster draft picked from two years ago. And then I mean, he's I'll say this about Zach. You know, it is a very crowded tight end room, but he is here at the facility all the time, working like he is here so much so it should

be a really interesting competition. I just remember a guy like Tyler Conklin that this is where, this is where he shined. Was everyone kind of had him as kind of an odd man out. They're just kind of a bit player. And then training camp hit last year and man, he was making some circus catches. He was one of those guys that was a grinder who was constantly its facility,

working really hard. And all I know is within that tight end room, if they've got five and they're potentially on this list keeping four, there's going to be a lot of work that's going to have to happen during training camp. And I think a guy like mus coming in here and then yeah, yeah, I think he makes it for the special team's role more than likely, right, most likely, you know, I think it's one of those things where they We've even had you know, cut week

of talking about it, saying it doesn't hurt. You know, that's where these guys really shine. And if they can make the roster that way and then progress in their position group, it's going to be a big help. We all assumed that Irv Smith was going to be the guy last year. He got hurt, Tyler jumped in there, and you know, it just kind of shows you what if something were to happen again, knock on wood for IRV. But if something were to happen again, which one of

these guys is going to jump up? I know, I'm just saying in event like that, it just shows you depth wise, these guys need to step up and make make their head. Yeah. I mean, I think I'm most excited to see IRV just out there and to see the difference he can make, because you know, he was

quote unquote wide receiver number three last year. Heading into training camp and watching him and things like that, and that's when a guy like Tyler Conklin and even kJ Asbourne really had to step up, and so you see these guys emerge. I just hope he can return to that same spark because he is just fun to watch. I know this Ben Elfson, guys, Minnesota, there you go. He is more of a blocking tight end, so he could be more of that utility player who could do more.

Johnny Munt spent time in the Rams with O'Connell last season, so he brings in a little bit of knowledge and experience within there. So yeah, that's a really interesting one. Another one that's gonna be fun to watch the offensive line Minnesota. Everyone loves talking about the offensive line, but

it's it's kind of interesting though. You go into camp and you have to assume four of the five positions are locked in by starters who have experienced in those roles together, barring some sort of a crazy differing of opinions by the offensive line coaching staff and even you know, O'Connell himself and whatever they've been discussing, I think that we all assume at this point, like you said, four

of those five positions are set. The fifth position, the guard position, is going to be the one that's going to be a huge battle. And with the changeover of the position group, with a bunch of extra new talent that has come in this offseason, I am curious who's going to step in and take that role. Yeah, we've got Garrett brad Berry as the center, and then Ezra Cleveland as a guard. Christian dar Saw tackle. You've got

Bryan O'Neill tackle. So you've got your bookends there and so it's really that right guard spot, like you said, that's up for grabs. Jesse Davis is someone who is experienced at that position. He took the first team reps. He switched out a lot with Chris Reid. They do not have Wyatt Davis on this list, the draft pick

who we haven't seen much of. But you have to keep in mind that they've got two guys in the draft as well, add ingram Vadarian Lowe that are also they're probably they're just needing to earn their spot and need to get that time. They're not going to make necessarily let them go to waivers just yet, especially that's how high they picked them. And then you've got a guy like Austin Schlottman who is really versatile and plays

multiple positions. So those are the names that we see on this list by mister Seyffert, and a couple of the names that you know the offensive line injuries happen, You're gonna have to shuffle things around a lot more than I guess you really expect. So we do see guys like Kyle Hinton, oli Udo, Whyatt Davis, Guys that may not make the fifty three, but they're not going to be unheard of. You're going to hear from these

guys again. Offensive line is also a position where when there are usually cuts that happen in camp from other teams and everything. Teams really pay attention to that because the biggest thing, like you've mentioned, is just depth at

that position. We haven't had a solid depth at that position here, which has caused the angst over the years at this point, and so there has there's been a feeling of we're trying to kind of restock the shelves at this point, and hopefully the right guard gets solidified early and we'll really start to know once those preseason games happen if everything looks kind of clean. But that is the sixty four thousand dollar question, is what's going

to happen at that right guard position. You also Blake Brandell and timon Paris as some tackles that are fighting for positions in playing time roster spots whatnot, this offseason, this training camp. So moving on, let's go to the defensive side of things. We'll kick that one off with the defensive line. The guys looking at the uglies in the middle. Now, they're not ugly, I don't mean it. Yeah, we used to our team we're we're the Cougars, and

in college were we called ourselves the fat Cats. That's good. So it was basically, yeah, the fat cats were they are? All right, well, the fat cats on the defensive line. This will be the really, this will be the probably the most interesting because maybe we're not used to seeing the numbers that they're normally keeping at each of these

positions between defensive line, outside linebacker, and inside linebacker. So what they what Kevin has right here is five defensive linemen Issasio, Tomy, Woe, Harrison, Phillips, Dalvin, Tomlinson, armand Watts. It said five, but I'd listed for it says five on his doc. Yeah, okay, well you know, maybe that fifth position is still up for a little bit of debate. I think that those guys bring in so much experience.

Then you have Assasi, who has the intangibles that are just ready to go from just down the road in Minnesota, and so though he's got the right guys bringing him up, it's going to be exciting to see Harrison, Phillips and Dalman Tomlinson right there in the middle and armand showed

a lot of promise last year. I think the discussion with this being a three four centered defense, that is where your defensive line group here is a little bit smaller because you're basically looking at what's happening on the interior of that defensive line. There's going to be a larger trunk of linebackers here as part of that group. But we've all kind of had that discussion as well in the offseason, saying, well, as it going to be

a three four, is gonna be four three? Coaches have basically said it's gonna be whatever the offensive Yeah, like, whatever it dictates will put them out there. Luckily, your your quote unquote outside linebackers, you have some serious athleticism there with guys that are traditionally defensive ends that can also play that linebacker position. So when it comes to the defensive line Atomy, Will, Phillips, Tomlinson, and Watts, all four of those guys, they're they're going to be exciting

to watch with Harrison Phillips being added. Delvin has been a you know here and and has kind of proven himself, and Urban Watts was really coming on last season, so I'm curious to see what he's gonna be. Yeah, I think this will be your four for armand so he's kind of really clicked on last season and now now

getting another chance. Uh. It's interesting because there are like eleven guys on the defensive line roster right now, so like that's where another like the receiver position, that where another chunk of guys you're going to see practice squad or hit the hit the waiver wire. But a couple of names that we're used to seeing around here. Jonathan Bullard was an off season pickup, so he's going to

be competing during camp. James Lynch, Tie McGill and Jaylen Twyman who couldn't play last season after his offseason injury or his off season incident rather and so you know, it's exciting. I mean, I know he's excited to be back. We've heard him talk and he's like it's been a rough road here, so it'd be great to see, you know, where he stands in all of this as well. That's a guy who was extremely motivated when he got here,

had the incident, couldn't play. I have a hard time leaving that that guy is not going to give it his all. Coming up, we're in training camp. So I think he's a guy that could raise some eyebrows just given his motivation. The bigger question is, you know, in a Dontel defense kind of what is his role potentially going to be. Given the list of names that we already had here with the Toomo, ol Phillips, Thomlinson, and Watts, that's going to be a tough. Yeah, tough way to

crack that that defensive line group. But you never know. And I wouldn't put anything past him. He was very motivated when he got here, and I think he's gonna utilize that's the thing. That's the thing I think. You know, a guy like that, if he's putting the time in and culture, Yeah, putting the time in and putting the effort in, I think he's going to raise some eyebrows. I like that. Well, outside linebacker we've got, I mean,

this list is just ridiculous. I feel like this should be like a list of here here is what a freek athlete looks like. And here are the five names, Daniel Hunter, Patrick Jones, the Second, Jenarius Robinson, Zadarius Smith, and DJ Wanham Freaks. That is some long, long, speedy, quote unquote outside linebackers, right, yeah, right, you know that kind of a joke with Daniel as he's kind of

the Greek god. Well, yea, all of the rest of the four album on that list are all that similar body type, that that prototypical defensive end outside linebacker body type, super long, super lengthy, quick and great hands. And I think that is a like you said a little bit, it's an embarrassment of riches. It is with that list

of people. It is and there are you know, there are three other names on here competing against them, a couple of guys with playing experience, but knowing that this group has had a history with injury, it's probably great

to have this much competition. And I'm just really excited to see guys like like the effect of Desi, Darius in a room like that where you have Genarius Robinson and Dj Wantam who especially DJ really had glimmers last season or bright spots if they can like learn from someone who learned from someone been, you know, under him, like he was with Terrell Sucks. He was in a room before he really came on and could be a

really nice mentor for those guys. He talked about that role and understanding what that meant when he got into Baltimore and when he got his shot, and just kind of understanding that, you know, I'm going to learn from a guy like Suggs who was an All Pro, and learn from the best of the best, and when I get my shot, I'm going to take it on the flip side. Now, he's the elder statesman in that room with a bunch of younger guys looking at him. The depth part of it, I mean, we can't sugarcoat it.

He and Denil Hunter both were out with injuries for the majority, if not all, of last season. Zadarius came back for that playoff game. Those two guys, you just want to see him stay healthy. But if not, then you have some of these younger guys who are going to be able to step in. And you know, given the depth that you said, there's even more guys that could potentially play those roles that are going to potentially need to jump in there. If something were to happen.

But if these five guys can stay healthy during the season, watch out. It's an exciting room to that list of names as pretty special. The next one is the inside linebackers. We have Brian Assamoa, Eric Kendricks, Jordan Hicks, and Troy Die. So Kevin has four names on that one. Again, not really knowing too much how things are going to go, this sounds like a solid list. Brian Asimoa obviously the draft pick from this season, Jordan Hicks the offseason acquisition

from the Cardinals. He brings in a lot of experience. Troy Dye has flashed here and there. I mean, these guys are good. You know that they're solid moving forward. I think I think it's a position that Eric Kendricks is going to have to really step up. I mean, I know Jordan Hicks has the experience, but Eric is pretty much almost like the quarterback of this defense. So the elder statesman and Eric Kendricks and Jordan Hicks within this group, they're working with the younger guys of Osimo

and Troy Die. Those guys, to me, the Troy Dies and Brian Assamoa has had that similar kind of long lanky body types. That is where I think those guys. You've seen Troy when he has flashed, it's been in moments, especially on special teams. I'm curious to see what they're gonna do here with Brian Asimoa and just kind of how they're gonna want to utilize him, and even just to see what Troy does, you know, how he kind of can take a next step here this season because

he hasn't necessarily played a ton. He did play and fill in duty during some of the injuries that were going on last season. But this group of four guys, I think there's your your elder statesman, and your younger players.

And I'm just curious to see what those younger players, how much they play, how much they would would step up into those roles, and you know, like these other positions depth wise, you know what happens if a Kendricks or a Hicks or somebody goes down, which one of those other two guys steps up, you know, if not some of the other people that are competing for that

inside linebacker position. And check this out, there are a couple of names of younger guys, Blake Lynch who had to step up with all the injuries last season and chat Serrat whose names aren't on Kevin's list, But that doesn't mean that they can't fight for spots or still really be around, because I think both Chaz and Blake

we're really starting to approach making a difference here. Those two guys are both, like you said, they've they've had some sort of utilization within this defense in the past. So it's again, it's not like there's the cupboards Bear. I think you know, he's looking at Asamoa saying they won't draft him if they weren't going to keep him, and then a guy like Troy Dye had filled in, and maybe he's looking at it schematically from a three

four kind of that long, quick linebacker style. Maybe that's where he's he's kind of picking these two guys specifically out of you know, yeah, outside of the other two people. But you know, I am curious to see kind of what happens where, especially on the special team side with I mean, you got to make decisions Rad and Lynch, like, you know, those are guys that have been utilized that

way too in the past. Yeah, a lot of these guys I feel like that maybe haven't made this preliminary list are guys that we have seen so much from this special teams side of things. So how much do these younger players show up in training camp to try and take those spots or how much do these older guys and by older, I mean like two or three years older really claim, you know, where they're supposed to be on this roster. It's going to be really interesting.

There's going to be a ton of parody going on during training camp, and I think your traditional you know, well, who's going to make the wide receiver and who's going to make the quarterback? Shock us, I mean all of there's usually there's usually at least probably half a dozen additions on rosters typically at the end of every training camp that are not necessarily eyebrow raising, but they weren't necessarily the front runners on the first list when when

you went into training camp. I think there's everyone assumes a lot of times that some of these veterans and some of these guys that have been around a while are going to have that you know, guaranteed spot on the roster, and that is just not the case, especially with a new GM and a new head coaching, that that is definitely going to be the current fall, isn't it? What are they going to do with cornerback? Jay Kevin has six names on here, Andrew Booth junior, Cameron danceler A,

Caleb Evans, Patrick Peterson, Shandon Sullivan, and Ty Smith. We're not seeing a Harrison hand who's the special teams guy. We're not seeing Perry Nickerson, who's battling for the job as well. Nate Hairston the offseason free agent acquisition from the Packers, and Chris Boyd another gunner. So who you know, if this is, if this was what the roster looks like, who takes these positions? Who takes these spots? So it really is going to be like we like, I keep

just driving this point home. It's going to be very interesting. It's always harder when it is a known veteran versus a rookie and trying to understand, you know, what is the what have they been doing in the classroom, what have they been doing to impress their coaches to say, this guy gets it. We need to have him here. You know. And Andrew Booth jor high draft pick, he's going to that roster. Patrick Peterson, we all assume at this point being the veteran in that room, he's going

to make this roster. You know, Caleb Evans was a draft pack. Cam Danceler is a guy who got some service to the last you know, last year, especially a guy like Cam Danceler or somebody that you assume is going to be part of that group. So Channon Sullivan and Ti Smith are on this list, I mean, barring some sort of craziness that happens, you know, there are a bunch of names that are in that other position room.

It's going to be a lot of competition at camp, and you really aren't going to know anything like sure this this was helpful to see who maybe the coaches were thinking or in the league in these certain spots, but the pats haven't even come on yet, or who

is Seaffert thinks the coaches. That's also true because I think also the hardest part about this is that even when you're the media, you're not sitting at the entire practice, no, or you're just not like they The periods that you have are what they want you to see, in what they allow you to see, and then you walk away. So so a lot of times you're not even really

seeing what competitions are going on at camp. And that's the thing, is that whether it's the camp competition or you know, as he talking to coaches, who knows who he talked to and kind of told him kind of what the thoughts are. But if he's, if he's, it's his job as a reporter who covers the vikings to know and to put out something like this, you know, speculative a month before camp when people and here we

are we're talking about it. Yes, it's something that I think with his list there, you kind of understand the logic, but there's always some wild cards. I like the thought provocation. Keep it coming, Kevin, Uh, there's a lot. One of the last positions we'll talk about safety, he has Cam buying him, Lewis seen, Harrison Smith, and Josh Mattellis. I mean, you can't see those first three guys, Cam, Lewis or Harrison really going anywhere. Yeah, those those first three guys

are definitely someone that you see. It makes total sense. Josh Mattellis is a name that's been thrown out there a ton, and all four of those guys make sense at this point. And you know, here's the thing. Everyone kind of assumes Harrison Smith is going to be out there for shore. What is Lewis scene going to be being the number one draft pick. How quickly is he picking it up? How quickly are they going to trust

him to be out there? Because if he is, the old guy and the new guy are going to be out there patrol in that safety position and look out. Two man wrecking crew, the Bash Brothers. You know, to go back to the old Oakland Athletics with Maguire and Conseco. Yeah, you know, Harrison Smith and Louis Scene. It's like, just keep him on the field. No no fines, no no penalties.

But it will be fun to see two guys like that that you could trust, that you know, are going to bring bring the lumber when they get the chance. Allows for a guy like a Harrison Smith or even a Lewis Scene to kind of go rover. Let the other guy be able to, you know, cover the back end of the defense. But the excitement of what potentially Lewis scene could be and what he could mean playing alongside Harrison Smith, that's gonna be a lot of fun

to watch. Josh Mattellas is someone who has been a big part of the team over the last couple of seasons. He also would be competing against Miles Dorn, Who's someone that I think we're familiar hearing, someone who this coaching staff wants to see more from take the next step.

And so yeah, I think as much as you love the Cam Bidams of the world, who really had a great who stepped up in big moments last year when Harrison Smith was out, you hope he can take a step up and then Miles and Josh kind of square off on that last spot, you hope. So that's the goal. You know, You've got some factors here. I mean, we talk about Lewis and Harrison. Cam can have a big year exactly. And that's the thing. I don't think Cam's

gonna just willingly give up that position. You know, Cam's going to fight too to prove there's a reason why I'm here. Um, you know, a guy like Josh, he's another name that he's when he's filled in and spot duty and other positions. When it comes to special teams and things like he's he's flashed too. So that is a good group. That's a good, good, good quad and hopefully they can see the super Bowl team. Jay, why not everybody at this point, all thirty two teams say

why not? Why not? Yep? Well, just rounding things out, Um, Kevin has the same specialists from last season. Andrew Powela as the long snapper, Jordan Berry punter, Greg Joseph as the kicker. There's only one other punter on the roster right now. They could add some guys during camp, there could be other workout who knows, but no, Greg became so reliable down the stretch and I think that they like what they see and you know those guys have

a great relationship with each other as well. But you know, you never know what will happen at training camp. The feeling in that position, Typic or that group of specialists is consistency. If you can have consistency and they can feel the camaraderie and feel comfortable with each other, have everything be kind of second nature, you know, that is

a good thing to have. And if they can just continue to build on what they what they were doing last year, I think it'll be good to I think group slidified and not have to ask a lot of questions going into the season. I agree, I agree consistency isn't always a bad thing. Especially in special teams. Hit some punts, flip the field, some kicks, win some games and goal. Well, great job, Kevin, that was a really

fun article. Thanks you know for putting that together. Um, it's always crazy to me to think that most of those guys that we mentioned like won't be around. Really, that's the thing, that's Kevin's that's Kevin's speculation. That's the hardest part is when you have nine, you know, ninety people around the building and you see how much they work, so how hard they work rookie rookie camps. That's why it's hard on our end, Why right, Well, that's the thing.

It's it's the hardest part is when you have camaraderie with these guys, when you know them as people, you realize very quickly how much of a business this is when it comes to those moments. So hopefully we can keep as many around as we can, because it seems like there's a really good group of guys in this building. Look, and these are the tough decisions. We've kind of been in this honeymoon period where everything is great. Look at this new coach, Look at this new GM, Look at

all these new guys. We're adding and now it's time to get to the nitty gritty, right, Like the honeymoon period is going to start to wear off. You're going to start going into training camp, cuts are made, the season starts, hopefully there's wins like those kinds of things, and then it kind of starts to feel less honeymoon and more like the real world. You start to really

notice it when it comes to preseason games. Yeah, and when you start to see those initial cuts and then you see the final cuts, that is where the rubber meets the road. These guys have about a two month two and a half month chunk of time to really

impress these coaches and show that they belong here. And I think for all of them this time of year, they're saying, hey, great, I get my time off quote unquote, but I still need to take care of my diet, exercise, do all of the things to get ready so that when I do in the door, there is no time to kind of catch up. You have to be able to go immediately, otherwise you're potentially sitting on the outside

looking in. That's right. They are off right now, still staying healthy like you said, Jay, but the players do have some time off right now and enjoying his first offseason with the Vikings is assistant quarterbacks coach Graw Johnson. He has such a unique background. He's played at the highest level, he's coached on the private level fundamental skills quarterback coaching, and now he's here in Minnesota coaching our quarterbacks.

He's an NFL assistant quarterbacks coach, Graw Johnson. Let's bring him in to get to know him a little bit better. And joining us now on the Minnesota Vikings podcast. First time that we've really heard from you is Grad Johnson, our assistant quarterbacks coach here for the Vikings. Welcome to Minnesota. How has it been treating you so far? Oh? Well, yeah, thank you all for having me. Minnesota has been great.

You know, got in I guess when it was pretty cold, but now I'm seeing the weather kind of warm up a little bit. But I really enjoyed the city and kind of enjoyed we've got going on here, and it's been been all good for me. It's got to help having your brother here too, right, your older brother, Marquis Johnson, assistant strength coach here. It does it really does? You know? One from just to lay the land, but too, just

the same every day getting to work. You know, we uh, you know, our dad with a football coach growing up, and so we spent a lot of time talking about what we want to do when we get older, and so for that dream to become fruition. Both know we want to coach, and it's been pretty cool. I guess your mom says she wasn't coming up here regardless of if y'all both got a job here or not, because she's from Houston and she's like, she doesn't want to get going, you know. She she's kind of so so

about the snow. You know, we're trying to convince her. I think I'm close. I'm gonna spending the whole summer trying to convince her to come up here. But uh, but she's got some fears about the snow. But it ain't that bad. It's a great place. Like my family's in Louisiana. They had the same thing. They came up here in December and they, you know, they braved it. I guess you could say, no that we'll get her jacket. She'll be good. That's all you need, right, A good jacket.

You got yours. Yet I got a couple. Yeah, Okay, that's good. I got a couple. Yeah. Man, this this quarterback room. You got a quarterback room that is very experienced, but then you got Kellen Mond and then you got Sean Mayon. Just the dynamic of having this room described that it's been really good. You know, all those guys have played a lot of football, you know, and that's the thing. Even Kellen had so many college starts that

he's played a lot of football. So as a staff coming in bringing a new offense, you know, it's been really good to be around guys who picked things up fast to who study, they take notes, they work well together, you know. So from a from a standpoint of understanding what we're trying to get done, the direction we're trying to take the offense, those guys done a really good

job to spring leading it. You know. I think Kevin set up our you know a lot of our practice where we're going two fields, so where everybody's getting reps and I'm on the second field with some of the younger guys or Kellen and Sean, and man, I tell you what, those guys have really taken an ownership of the offense. And you can't do a lot of those things unless the quarterback position is kind of on point.

And so those guys taking a leadership role and teaching the offense to the younger guys, and that's I mean, it's gone great. It's what has it been like to be reunited with Kellen. I know Texas A and M ties broke a couple of records, and so being able to kind of to come here and be a part of his career right now, it's been awesome. You know, of course I love Texas and M. My dad played football there, I played there. You know, I have a lot of love for university, and so I didn't really

know Kelling that well. We had met a couple of times through alumni events, but I didn't know him personally that well. I had a lot of respect for who he is the person, you know, what he's done there, his career there, and so I've been excited to work with him. And I mean, he's got a lot of talent. He's really smart. I think can be a really good player, and so it's been fun to work with him. But knowing those that common bond and having some things to

a foundation of bill from has been pretty cool. Working with him. How would they describe you as a coach. I guess they'd say, I'm I'm I try to just put it in terms, like from being a former player. I try to put it in terms and try to always as I talk to them, as I directed him, I try to think, how would I want to be spoken to? And so I think in our room, No, Chris so here, our quarterback coach, done a great job setting everything up. He's on point, he's very organized, you know.

Our meetings have been great, you know, and I just try to find my niche on like what can I do to kind of add value to the room. And so I guess they say I'm detailed. I guess they say, I'm pretty meticulous about the mechanics and fundamentals of the position, and that's kind of been my focus with the things we've been doing. But yeah, I guess I say that.

How would you say your coaching style compliments alongside Chris O'Hara's coaching stuff, Um, I think I think, like I think the biggest thing is so Chris came from LA you know, and he really knows what Kevin wants. I think that's the big thing. As they have an offensive head coach with making sure we can echo what he wants done, and it starts in the quarterback room. I think Chris's a really good job of that and their relationship.

And so for me, I was in Indianapolis the last three years, and so for me, I'm learning the system slightly before the players did. So I've just been sitting back and and kind of let, you know, letting Chris take charge and run the room and just kind of really learn the way that they want to do things and then take that and give it to the players.

And so as somebody who is my first year in the system, which I think is a great system of really unique cutting it on the cutting edge side of the game, I think my role has really been trying to really focus on those fundamental things a physical aspect of playing the position, your footwork, your mechanics, your balancer base,

those things that go beyond scheme. And I think it's a really good mesh between the two for Chris to kind of know exactly what the system needs to have success, and then me to kind of be from my background in the kind of quarterback mechanics space to really kind of help the guys physically. Was that part of the appeal to this playbook that working with this this next NFL type of style. That was that part of the

appeal of coming here. Absolutely, you know, I've been I've been a fan of the system with these guys have done offensively for a while as a player and even as a coach when I as an Indianapolis just watching this system and the success it's had, I've been very curious about how it runs, the ins and outs of it, and so an opportunity to learn from Kevin and Chris and all the guys you know who've been in this

system and had a lot of success. To me, that was a huge, huge part of me coming here to just to kind of expand my horizon as a coach. It's kind of learned this way of doing football. We talked to Coach Band, assistant special teams coach, and he basically said, you know, you have to unlearn some things to relearn things as a coach. How was that process for you trying to teach these guys to learn things,

but still trying to learn it yourself. I mean, it can be challenging your time, but I think that's that's the beauty of this game. I think there's a there's a shared respect in the NFL for every team is showing up every day with their own unique ideas and their view of football, you know. And so at the end of the day, I think a lot of the terms and concepts and schemes are relative. It's just minor details that change or what you call things is the

biggest difference. So so yeah, it can be a little tough to unlearn something because you were setting your ways and you know, come from Indianapolis, I was setting how we did things there. But to hear the differences and why things are done, and I've said, I've learned a lot has been very positive for me to be like, wow, I've watched that play and we've put that in from watching it all last week, like you know, last year, and we were not putting in correctly or you know,

there's a detail we left out or whatnot. So I think that's the beauty of the NFL. It's because I think a lot of the plays are similar, but there's little details and just small things and adjustments that can make a play completely different. And so as a just an opportunity to expand your knowledge base, you know. And so you got to study and learn and and you know, to find those make sure you know well enough to teach the players. But at the end of the day,

I think it makes you grow. It's a young coach, it makes you grow. And I've been excited about the opportunity. How would you say you've grown as a coach? I mean forty nine ers seventeen as a Bill Wash Diversity Coaching Fellowship Indianapolis cost nineteen twenty, well, the last three years in Indianapolis. So just from all those years up until now, it's finally being you know, having that role. It's like, okay, I got a room. Now, how how

have you developed? I think it's all helped in my develop me, you know, And for me, I think I have a very unique perspective on coaching and coaching in the NFL. I've coaching high school, I ran my own business. During private quarterback training, I lived in the Guru space with Jordan Palmer and George Woodfield and Quincy Avery and that kind of world and the private side of things.

And then coming in my internship with the forty nine ers and the last three years with the Colts, learning that scheme and football and what it takes to break down tape and the hours you spend, so I think I have a unique fresh perspective. I'm playing the position you know that you know I'm thankful for, you know. So I'm thankful for saying times high school where I coached. I'm thankful to work with those kids because working with younger kids, to me, makes you learn how to put

complicated things in very simple terms. And I think that even though they're professional athletes, you still need to find ways to make it as simple as possible so they can be the best version of themselves. And so for me, I'm thankful for every step in my journey to get here, the playing up and downs, all the different levels I've coached on. But it's all kind of led me to become the coach that I am. And I'm steady growing, and I'm you know, very happy to be here and

excited to learn from everybody here. Kirk has talked a lot about learning the system using flash cards, having to like remember everything. What excites you about putting him into this system. He's a natural thrower of the football, you know, And so Kirk's doing a really good job learning the system. And I think as coaches first, were teachers first, So how can we find ways to get him to play fast? Putting him in a situation where he can just react,

you know, just see it. If you see something, good chance he's going to hit it because he has he's the best thing he does to be accurate with the football, you know. And so I think for us, we're excited to see him in this system. But but he's learned a lot and he's he's worked really hard at it, and you know, you kind of take it for granted sometimes with veterans, you know, at the same times it's a new system for him as well. But he's he's

taking it. He's done great with it, and you know, you can definitely see him playing fast and well to spring. You guys in the same draft class we might have been doing Kirk, So you were. I was twenty ten draft class, I believe, and Kirk was what I just was thinking about eleven. I think he's one year old. Yes, so me and Kurt had Yeah, we so we have cross passed and I me and Kurt were both counselors of an Elite eleven camp. We're in college at one point.

That's the first time we met and weren't complete strangers only saw him again. So whenever I'm in the building, like on Saturdays and Sundays, um you probably already know this, but I usually try to get my work done before people come in. And one person that I always see, at least the last three times I've been here, it's Kellen Mott. He's been in the meeting rooms, whether he's watching film or just like literally in the hallways, just like going three step drops, like you see a progression

from year one to year two. Being able to coach him now as his coach, but also seeing how he's grown. Is that encouraging for a guy in his position where he knows he's not going to be the starting quarterback. I mean it is encouraging, you know, because I think Kellen and I think what any player wants is to try to be the best version of themselves. And so you can see Kellen's work ethic in that. You know,

he takes really good notes. You know, he's really organized, he's detailed, he asked good questions, you know, he asks challenging questions, and so you can just see that Kellen wants to be great. You know, he understands that you know, all you can do in this league, especially if you're a backup quarterback, you know you're competing to become a starting quarterback to something point in your career is make

sure you're ready when your time comes. And so all you can do is study and try to get time after and try to get those mental reps so that when you do get those opportunities you can make the most of it. And so for me, you have a lot of respect for how Kelen's handed himself and he's come in every single day and try to put his best Before did you know that this guy has a cover on Spotify? No, but I did know that he played basketball at Texas and him. Yeah, but you got

a cover on Spotify. Yeah. Before you say anything, Gabe, guess the song, because I want him to see if he can guess. I can't guess the song. I don't think I'm gonna bit of guessing. But Steve Donnittel was saying, get him to sing, no diggity, it's it's a hobby. Yeah. So in college, you know, I wrote some music and uh, you know, I recorded a couple of things, and so it's been it's been a hobby of mine. And it's something fun to do to get your mind off football.

I get it. Thomas Rhett. Wow, yeah, die a happy man, happy man. It's a good song song, right, I'll get you to sing. But like, man, like that's crazy because your brother Marquis, he was the last person I think was sing but like you was like you may not. Yeah. I love my brother Ann, but nah I was singing that his deal not. I don't know. Just growing up it was something I would mimic songs and stuff and so, uh, you know, I I liked a bunch of things growing up.

You know, our music has been a huge part of my life. It put to me music. Music is associated with memories, you know, And so for me, I love music and that when I hear songs that puts me back into a place in time or it makes me think. And so I think it's a pretty good thing to a hobby to have outside the ball for sure. What's your instrument? Man? Why do you why do you use your instrument to help others? As far as coaching, coaching

isn't is an instrument? Voice is an instrument? Yeah? Absolutely? I think for me, my my my kind of focus or goal as a coaches to make sure that I can give someone information to help them m you know, get to where they want to be. You know, I'm a direct result of the people who gave me information to help me, and so I just want to pass that back, you know. And so I knew, I knew all growing up that I'm a product of my environment.

I grew up in humble, Texas, and from the high school coaches and teachers and my dad and going to Texas A and M and the counselors and everybody there. You know, all those people pour into you, you know. And so when you have all this information and these experiences, whether they're good or bad, I think that, you know, you get into coaching to try to share those with someone else so that their experience or their their trials

and tribulations can hope. But you can give them some information to make their life a little bit easier and they can, you know, get to whatever they're trying to get to. That's awesome. Man. Whenever I hear of like, I just respect the music industry. So whenever I hear of singers, singers or like artists, the first thing I think of is that they're a great listener. Because you have to be listening. You have to listen to yourself,

you have to listen to your surroundings. You have to you have to just be aware of everything that's going on. And I just feel like that just makes an easy transition into coaching because I feel like it's a lot of listening involved. Yeah, I guess so. I mean for me when musically, you know, I'm attached to words, So I like storytelling and words, so you know that's what I hear when I hear songs, and so yeah, I

guess that all does tight. And I can see that well, you know, being from Houston, I can see a country song being your spot by choice. I guess you know you got bumbat down there too. Yeah. I like a little bit of a lot, you know, it's I like a little bit of a lot. So it's good. Awesome, Thank you so much, Coach Johnson. Draw Johnson joining us here on the middle of Likings podcast, looking forward to

the season. Awesome, thank you for having again. A big thank you to coach Draw Johnson for taking the time to join us for the podcast. We will continue this series with the coaching staff and support staff next week and tell that if you want to keep getting to know the coaches better at checkout Vikings dot com for

Gabe's interview with wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell. Lots of interesting perspectives there because he's one of the few, one of two really that we're retained from the previous coaching staff and someone that the players themselves really fought for to stay in his spots. So I think that's probably

the biggest takeaway for me from all that. I think the great part about it is you understand from a guy like that you had talked before, just the breath of everything that he's seen and done as a quarterback and a quarterback coach. He's seen it from tons of different angles. And that's something that this coaching staff has seemed to really push, was to say we want guys

with different experiences. This is a guy who has seen it from all different angles, and I'm really curious to see what kind of adjustments are things that we see within that group, especially with Kirk working with a guy like Gerarde, and just to see if anything is noticeably different this year. Yeah, I think the biggest the biggest appeal to me is that he brings that fundamental side

of coaching. Like these guys usually have their guy right outside of the coaching staff that they work with in the off season, but now they have a guy they used to be that guy in the room with them every week. I think that's pretty interesting. That'll be super helpful. Yeah, for sure. Well this has been a really fun episode, Episode one fifty two. Thank you so much for listening

to the Minnesota Vikings podcast. Be sure to rate review subscribes that we can see how much you love us now I'm just getting just don't be mean right here. We do, we do no, but seriously, thank you so much for listening. We will have episodes continuing all the way through training camp. Like we said, we'll have more interviews with the coaching staff coming very very soon. Until then, enjoy your summer.