Questions Answered: Predicting the RB1, Garrett Bradbury, Jimmy Garoppolo in Purple?
The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by VikingsTerritory. Today is the March 1st edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
Questions Answered: Predicting the RB1, Garrett Bradbury, Jimmy Garoppolo in Purple?
Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.
Q: With Alexander Mattison out, who will take the Vikings’ first rushing attempt of 2024?
Answer: Ty Chandler.
The Vikings will likely add another running back from free agency or the draft — or re-sign Cam Akers and call it good. Mattison’s release paved the way for adding another runner, with Chandler presumably taking over an RB1 or at least a committee approach’s frontman.
Chandler’s advanced metrics were quite good in 2023, even tallying a better EPA/Play than Jahmyr Gibbs. If he can improve his pass-blocking, the sky is the limit.
Chandler should get a look as RB1. He deserves it. But that doesn’t mean the club can’t also draft Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen, for example.
Q: Will Garrett Bradbury be released?
Answer: This one is tricky and can go either way. We’ll say probably not.
Minnesota can save $5 million by cutting Bradbury with a post-June 1st designation. That may be tempting. However, the Vikings’ coaching staff seems to value Bradbury, and loyalty runs deep in Kevin O’Connell’s culture.
This one is big fat maybe, and we apologize for the wishy-washiness.
Thankfully for the Vikings’ sake, if they’re ready to end the Bradbury era, starting centers can often be found from the draft’s mid- or late-rounds. Teams don’t have to spend 1st-Rounders on centers. Any anti-Bradbury solution this offseason need not be terribly expensive.
Q: Would you invite Jimmy Garoppolo onto the Vikings’ roster as a bridge quarterback?
A: No. Not in one million years.
If the Vikings even remotely ponder a Garoppolo signing, they should just re-sign Kirk Cousins and call it good. They could also do the “bridge quarterback” thing with Nick Mullens and hope Brian Flores’ defense doesn’t die this time the moment he takes the reins.
Minnesota should either recommit to Cousins if it feels it can win the Super Bowl or draft a new quarterback and start him Week 1. Dinking around with bridges like Garoppolo is lame.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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