This is an unlocked article from the Athletic on Randy and how he blew people's minds at his pro day and was later drafted by the Vikings.   I really enjoyed reading it.

link

EAGAN, Minn. -- Take a look at the first words coach Kevin O'Connell said to the first question he faced this offseason about the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback situation.

"When I think about it," O'Connell said on Jan. 13, "it's about having the most talented and deep quarterback room you can."

As it turns out, that response accurately predicted how the Vikings would approach the position over the ensuing 10 weeks. They signed Kyler Murray, the most physically gifted and accomplished quarterback available on the free agent market, and later re-signed veteran Carson Wentz.

Along with J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings will head into offseason workouts next month with three passers who were selected among the top 10 picks of their respective drafts. And because Murray will receive almost all of his $36.8 million salary from the Arizona Cardinals, the Vikings have all four of their quarterbacks signed (including Max Brosmer) for $11 million in cap space this season -- seventh lowest in the NFL.

O'Connell figures to face repeated media questions about the specifics of his plan next week at the NFL league meetings, but the Vikings' intentions -- for McCarthy to be challenged and potentially supplanted by a new arrival -- have remained clear all winter.

Some observers have zeroed in on O'Connell's refusal to lay out a depth chart and have used it to speculate on McCarthy's future, perceived questions about Murray's fit and even Wentz's decision to return to a seemingly crowded room. However, we can trace much of what has and likely will happen with public statements from O'Connell and Rob Brzezinski, who is serving as the Vikings' interim general manager.

Here's what Vikings decision-makers have said about the quarterback situation so far:

The Vikings are more than comfortable with Murray's fit in their offense.

O'Connell, March 12: "When you actually dive in and really study -- snap in and snap out -- Kyler's experience at the position, you do see a lot of really, really great qualities that fit into some of the things that we ask our quarterbacks to do. I think Kyler's an accurate player. I think he's really learned to play with very, very solid fundamentals in the pass game. I think his ability and just experience playing from an NFL pocket has proven to be something where he can make all the throws."

Murray can be special, and no one has denied it.

O'Connell, March 12: "With Kyler, the ability to make a lot of throws in the pocket is absolutely paired with the ability to be a real weapon with his athleticism, his quickness, his ability to not only attack the line of scrimmage as a runner, but maintaining the ability to create some throwing opportunities off schedule and hopefully be a challenge for the way we're defended."

The Vikings have not given up on McCarthy ...

O'Connell, Jan. 13: "J.J. McCarthy is a guy that wants to be great. I know he's going to work tirelessly to do that. I know his teammates have a lot of confidence in what he's going to go to work to improve on this offseason and come back and have a great offseason and be ready to hit the ground running in 2026. But I think a deep and talented quarterback room will only enhance his ability to do that, and I look forward to being a part of that process."

Brzezinski, Feb. 23: "I can tell you we have a ton of confidence in J.J. McCarthy. He's been through a lot of adversity. And guess what? This is a really, really hard job with a lot of pressure. In our organization, and with our history, everybody's yearning for that young franchise quarterback. And if I can be candid, I'm not sure that it's fair all the time. ... I can tell you he's a fabulous person. He cares. He works really hard. He wants to be successful, and he wants to win. And so I can tell you, however J.J. McCarthy's career ends up, he's going to maximize what's in that body and what his potential is."

... but acknowledge the impact of McCarthy's slow development.

(When McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury prior to his rookie season, O'Connell said he had seen enough in training camp to believe McCarthy was the Vikings' future franchise quarterback.)

O'Connell, Feb. 23: "When I said that in 2024, when he got injured, the point I was making at the time was based upon the strong training camp he had had -- seeing him progress through the learning phase of acquiring him and going through the offseason program and then introducing him into that competitive phase of training camp, which it was a competitive camp with what has turned out to be a really good player [Sam Darnold] at the position.

"I felt confident at that time saying [McCarthy] had demonstrated a lot of those things. That we could feel that progression to becoming [a franchise QB], which is what you do when you try to draft a guy inevitably in the first round of a draft. A lot of those feelings are still the same. It's just the timeline is in a different place for all of us than it was at that point."

While Murray is the strong favorite to win the job, it would be surprising if there isn't a split of practice reps.

O'Connell, March 12: "Throughout the offseason program, I like to call it that 'learning phase' and 'teaching phase,' where we're really trying to home in on the details, teach how to do things, teach why we do things, so our players have that ownership -- at all positions and not just the quarterback position. So, as we approach training camp and we have a clear vision of how we want to best maximize those reps, maybe we'll have some clarity. And at that point, we're still going to want to make sure that all of those guys are in a situation where they can keep ascending."

Wentz is best viewed as insurance.

(Neither O'Connell nor Brzezinski have talked about Wentz's return, but previous comments foretold the arrival of a formidable veteran backup who could run the offense well if the starter is injured.)

O'Connell, Feb. 23: "In 2022 and 2024, we played one guy, and we won 13 games and 14 games. The other two years, we've gone 7-10 and 9-8, and I believe we played six other additional players during that time. So, when our quarterback position, at least from an availability standpoint -- and also production and a consistency factor of that guy doing his job at a baseline level that allows the rest of our offense and team to play to a certain way -- we've won quite a few games.

"And that's where we've got to take all the experience that we've had up until this point and understand: What's the best way to put together that room, our team and inevitably continue to ascend?"

Brzezinski, Feb. 23: "What we do know is we need a level of baseline quarterback play for us to be effective."

O'Connell, March 12: "We're always looking for any players in any positions that we can accomplish the goals ... of being the most competitive team while also having a mindset on the future, as well."

ESPN

The NFL can't keep from grabbing more and more

https://www.nfl.com/news/seahawks-to-kic...in-seattle

Per Shefter:

Z. Wilson to Saints
J. Flacco to Bengals

In 2028, it will have been 10 years since U.S. Bank Stadium hosted Super Bowl LII. The Vikings are hoping to bring another major event to the stadium a decade after the Super Bowl.

The team and Minnesota Sports and Events submitted a bid for the 2028 NFL draft earlier this month. Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of several NFL markets bidding for the draft, which could bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area during the three-day event in late April.

Lester Bagley, the Vikings’ executive vice president of public affairs, said the team has been trying to bring the draft to the Twin Cities since 2019. The 2028 bid would feature U.S. Bank Stadium as the “anchor” of the draft weekend in downtown Minneapolis, Bagley said. The draft proposal would feature events in both cities, as well as the Mall of America and the Viking Lakes development around the team’s Eagan headquarters, MSE executive vice president of business development and tourism Matt Meunier said.

The late-April date for the draft could mean a dicey weather forecast for outdoor events in Minnesota, but Meunier pointed to recent NFL drafts in Green Bay, Detroit and Kansas City as evidence the possibility of a cold Midwestern weekend wouldn’t scare off draft visitors.

“The league definitely wants us to lean into U.S. Bank Stadium, so we proposed options,” Meunier said. “We can turn to similar markets, similar climates that have hosted outdoors. Obviously, Green Bay’s was very successful last year. So, the exact location of a lot of those sites is still to be determined.”

This year’s draft is April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.

Meunier said the 2024 NFL draft brought fans from all 50 states and 20 countries to Detroit, delivering an estimated $213 million of economic impact to the area as 775,000 fans attended the draft over three days. Last year’s draft in Green Bay brought $104 million of economic impact to the area, Meunier said, with 600,000 fans attending.

The committee would not share details about fundraising requirements for the bid because the market is still in competition to land the draft, but Wendy Blackshaw, MSE’s president and CEO, said the draft “will need to be funded primarily through corporate support,” adding the committee has contacted business leaders throughout the state asking for financial support.

Ecolab President and CEO Christophe Beck, U.S. Bank President and CEO Gunjan Kedia, and Medtronic Chairman and CEO Jeff Martha are all honorary co-chairs of the committee, as is Vikings co-owner Mark Wilf.

If the NFL doesn’t pick the Twin Cities for the 2028 draft, the leaders behind the bid would continue to petition for future drafts.

“In talking to other draft cities that have hosted, often times it does take multiple attempts to secure future drafts,” Meunier said. “And so certainly if 2028 doesn’t work out, we would need to pivot to a future year. We’d try to figure out what is the earliest available year, because we do want to bring this event to our community. It would be a massive, massive impact. So, we’re focused on ‘28 now, and we’ll just wait until the league tells us otherwise.”

After hosting the Super Bowl in 2018, U.S. Bank Stadium was the site of the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four in 2019 and has had events like the X Games and NCAA Division I wrestling championships, with WWE’s SummerSlam event scheduled for early August 2026 at the stadium. But a bid for the 2020 CFP national championship game fell short, and Blackshaw said MSE is the only sports commission of its kind in the country without a permanent funding model for major events.

“It puts us, frankly, at a significant disadvantage when we are bidding on these major events,” she said.

The NFL has typically announced draft sites in early May, so the 2028 announcement could come within the next several weeks.

STRIB

I listened to Barnard my entire youth and into my young adulthood...RIP to ex Viking Phil Wise too. 

============================


Radio legend Tom Barnard announces he has Alzheimer's disease
The former KQRS host broke the news on his podcast.

 
Tom Barnard, one of the most successful radio personalities in Twin Cities history, has revealed that he has Alzheimer’s disease.

The 74-year-old host shared the news from his West Palm Beach homeon the March 20 edition of “The Tom Barnard Podcast.”

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia and is believed to be irreversible. But during the broadcast, Barnard said he thinks the seven treatments he’s had so far may be improving his condition.

“It’s just ticking down, not dropping like a rock,” he said.

Barnard’s family members, who are part of his podcast, said they had been urging him to be checked out for three years.

Barnard spent part of Monday’s podcast, which airs live on YouTube from 10:30-11:45 a.m. weekdays, reading well wishes from listeners.

In April 2025, Barnard had said he would be handing over the podcast to his children in November 2026. But the radio kingpin has a history of changing his mind. In a Facebook post on Saturday, he sounded like someone who is committed to staying at the microphone as long as he can.

“Kathryn and I have talked,” he posted, referring to his wife, Kathryn Brandt. “We both think it would be a good idea to focus on Tom Barnard family podcast and keep a very positive attitude. She knows I have always loved radio and podcasting and want to focus on laughing and positivity. A podcast based on love and laughter.”

During his 37 years at KQRS, Barnard hosted one of the most successful morning shows in the country. At one point, 1 in every 4 Twin Cities listeners from age 18 to 34 was tuning in. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2017.

Starting in 1979, Barnard was in demand for voice-over work with high-end clients like Burger King, Cargill and Nike.

Fans of the “The KQ92 Morning Show” also had to deal this past weekend with news that longtime contributor Phil Wise died on March 22. The former Minnesota Viking, known as “Philly Dawg” on the air, was a regular during the program’s peak years.

“I worshipped him!” Barnard said Sunday on Facebook. “He was a very loyal friend and a wonderful person to everyone. The world has lost a great man!”

STRIB

Dillon Thieneman Highlights


I'm starting to warm up to this kid at #18.
He looked good at both Purdue and then Oregon last season.
He kinda reminds me a bit of Dirty Harry, too, with his nose for the ball.  Good hands, sure tackler.

Anybody else been glued to the TV? Just incredible. A few thoughts;

- This has been the most star studded tourney in a while. If your favorite NBA team is drafting in the top 15, you are going to get a hell of a player.
- With that said, I think Darryn Peterson is the 4th or 5th best player in the draft with lots of question marks.
- Acuff is Starbury 2.0
- Rick Pitino truly is one of the great college coaches of all time. The Johnnie's vs Duke will be must see TV.
- I've watched a lot of Arizona this year and love that roster. They are my pick to win it all. Brayden Burries is a dog 
- Speaking of must see TV, Coen Carr at State is the best in-game dunker since Vince Carter. 

Top notch tourney and if you haven't been watching, you are missing out

CHICAGO -- Ryan Poles has learned the art of pivoting quickly over his four years as the general manager of the Chicago Bears.

His first experience came two months into the job in March 2022, when his marquee free agent signing fell through after defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi failed a physical. Four years later, Poles was once again tasked with pivoting and redirecting quickly after center Drew Dalman called it a career after five NFL seasons.

Dalman's retirement after one season in Chicago came as a shock to the organization that gave him a three-year contract in March 2025. After quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked 68 times as a rookie, tied for third most ever taken in a single season in NFL history, the Bears prioritized rebuilding their offensive line from the inside out.

But with Dalman no longer in the fold, Poles and the Bears' brass knew they couldn't afford a drop-off in play at center. Three days after Dalman's departure, Chicago sent a 2027 fifth-round pick to the New England Patriots for center Garrett Bradbury, a former first-round pick with 105 starts over seven seasons.

"We felt like the best thing for us to do was to make that trade with a veteran center that's played with a young quarterback before, that's very good with his communication, smart, been in different systems," Poles said. "We feel like he can plug in and have command of that O-line."

Bradbury comes to Chicago having worked with quarterbacks of all levels of experience, from Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold and Drake Maye. In Bradbury's lone season with the Patriots in 2025, New England reached Super Bowl LX behind a top-tier offense that saw Maye throw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions while leading the NFL with a 72% completion percentage.

The role Bradbury played on an inexperienced offensive line that featured two rookie starters, and the way he elevated the play around him, made him an intriguing option for Chicago. Williams experienced plenty of change during his first season with coach Ben Johnson, including going under center 49% of the time (fifth-highest rate in the NFL) from 29% (16th) as a rookie. That led to the league's second-highest play-action usage rate (32%), something that would not have succeeded without the quarterback and his center being in lockstep.

The Bears believe Bradbury's experience will yield similar results in Williams' third season. The 30-year-old sees himself as responsible for making that happen by helping shoulder a significant load of the offense.

"It's the same process of I want to get to know them and they want to get to know me, and if there's ways I can help them ..." Bradbury said. "I think the quarterback position is so unique that there's so many people talking to them, there's so much on their plate that you don't want to be a guy that just adds to that. I kind of want to pick my spots and find ways. If I can help him in any way, then great. That's what I'm here for. But I don't want to add. I don't just want to be another voice in their head."

Within hours of Bradbury arriving for his physical on March 8, Williams had already left a lasting impression on his new teammate by showing up to welcome Bradbury to Chicago.

"I've heard great things about him, and that reaffirmed everything that I've heard," Bradbury said. "He's an awesome guy, he's obviously an awesome player, so I'm looking forward to getting to work with him and helping him any way I can and learning from him as well."

Bradbury has one year remaining on the two-year deal he signed with New England last offseason, with the Bears on the hook for $4.7 million this season.

Although the center position is solved in the short term, Chicago might also be eyeing one in a deep draft class that features Florida's Jake Slaughter, Auburn's Connor Lew and Kansas State's Sam Hecht as the top three center prospects according to ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.

Having pivoted to an immediate solution and in possession of draft picks to find their long-term answer, the Bears exited the beginning of the league year feeling confident about the state of the offensive line, having also brought in Jedrick Wills Jr. and re-signed Braxton Jones to compete at left tackle while Ozzy Trapilo spends most of the 2026 season recovering from knee surgery.

Maintaining their position as a unit that ranked No. 1 in pass block win rate (74%) and fifth in run block win rate (74%) started with finding a veteran center who could pick up where Dalman left off

The parallels between Bradbury's time in New England on a team that went from 4-13 before his arrival to the Super Bowl in one season mirror much of what Chicago experienced from Williams' rookie year to an 11-win season and playoff berth a year later.

This time, Bradbury joins a team that has already laid a foundation for success. He'll slot in between his former NC State teammate and first-team All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney and right guard Jonah Jackson, along with second-team All-Pro right tackle Darnell Wright.

"They have their culture set, and so I'm not coming in to try and reestablish anything," Bradbury said. "I'm just trying to learn from these guys. How do you guys work? They won the division last year, they had success, won a playoff game. Like, I'm not coming in to try and change anything. I'm coming in to help. And so that starts with building these relationships and figuring out how I can help, and then it goes from there."

ESPN