Questions Answered: A 16-1 Season Afoot, Joseph over Brkic, End of Beebe
Dustin Baker
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The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by PurplePTSD. Today is the June 12th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to [email protected].
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.
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Q: I saw where Colin Cowherd predicted the Vikings will “double their win total from 2021.” Like, what?
A: The Vikings will not go 16-1 in 2022.
Cowherd indeed used the quote, but we believe he misspoke or exaggerated for effect. The 2022 Vikings should be better than last year’s edition, but 15-1 or 16-1 teams are truly stacked. Unless the Vikings offensive line is fixed with a snap of fingers and the team’s defensive depth is suddenly legendary, Minnesota will not go 16-1 in Kevin O’Connell’s first year.
A “ceiling” for wins — assuming everything clicks — should be 12 or so.
Q: Was it the right move to go with Greg Joseph at kicker over rookie Gabe Brkic?
A: Evidently, yes.
Brkic had decent draft stock coming out of Oklahoma in April, ranked by most draft brains as the third-or-so best kicker from the class.
Yet, when the Vikings and Brkic got down to brass tacks at mandatory minicamp, he performed poorly. And, wouldn’t you know it, Joseph, the incumbent, did kick well at last week’s event.
The sizzle around Brkic would’ve been the Vikings finally employing a kicker like Harrison Butker, who was new, homegrown, and without a naughty history like Joseph from early 2021. It didn’t pan out.
Joseph, it is.
Q: Will the Vikings miss Chad Beebe?
A: Absolutely not.
Beebe was a decent WR4-type for a defense-first head coach. That’s why Beebe played with the team for so long.
He’ll compete for a roster spot in Houston. That team’s WR corps is the worst in the NFL — by a mile — so perhaps Beebe can make the team.
Fans loved Beebe because he carried himself with Thielen vibes and was the son of former NFLer Don Beebe. But, let’s face it. Beebe wasn’t very dynamic — and the Vikings now have Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Jalen Nailor on the depth chart, both of whom possess a higher upside than Beebe.
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 Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
Purple PTSD Also Read: How Adam Thielen Earned His Spot in Minnesota