ESPN’s Marcus Spears: What a QB Upgrade Would Mean for the Vikings

Hours before calling Bills-Vikings on Monday Night Countdown, Marcus Spears joined The Rich Eisen Show and did what he does best: told Rich exactly what he thought, even when it was uncomfortable. That included the Cowboys, the NFC pecking order, which North team misses the playoffs, and two quarterbacks Minnesota should look into.

Spears opened by reading Rich's mug out loud, "Best dad ever," and Rich explained that his 13-year-old daughter made it. Then Rich got right to it. Are we back on the Cowboys?

"No. No," Spears said. He gave the Cowboys credit for a win, because "it's hard to win in this league, no matter who you playing against." But they beat a Colts team that's being talked about as a seller, and "there's going to have to be a lot of proving for somebody to jump back on Dallas having any shot at doing anything significant." Looking around the league, he said, "right now, Dallas is not in it." His summary of the win: "They tried to lose that one."

On the NFC, Spears said it's still "the usual suspects": the 49ers and Chicago. He believes the Jeffery Simmons trade will be talked about more as the year goes on. "It's crazy how much he's multiplying the dudes around him," Spears said. Because Simmons draws double teams, Devin Bush was running through the line of scrimmage, Austin Booker played well, Sweat is showing up, and Grady Jarrett is "experiencing some freedom" to rush and move around. "They just have been multiplied so much by number 99."

San Francisco hasn't been great the last two weeks, but Spears expects the names on those jerseys to keep improving, and he hopes Mike Evans can "return to Mike Evans," not just get back on the field. Minnesota is the wild card, with Carson Wentz starting because of Kyler Murray's hamstring. A win over Buffalo would change the narrative. Overall, Spears thinks the NFC is more crowded with teams carrying deficiencies and weaknesses than the AFC.

Rich laid out the NFC playoff picture as it stood: all four NFC North teams in, and the Bears visiting Carolina. Rich called that ridiculous, repeating his idea that a sub-.500 division winner shouldn't host if the visiting wild card team is further above .500 than the host is below it. "Agreed," Spears said, recalling Carolina being in that spot before. Rich noted it has happened multiple times, including with Seattle.

That set up Rich's real question. With the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks and a Rams team that just got Myles Garrett back, does one of them sneak in, or does the North take four spots? Garrett, Rich noted, sacked Jayden Daniels three times with three tackles for loss in his return.

"If anybody snuck through, I would probably go Seattle, just because of that defense," Spears said. But Garrett gave him pause. "I would love to say that that performance is an anomaly, but he did that every week in Cleveland, damn near." Seattle has gotten solid play from Drew Lock in place of Sam Darnold, but Spears pointed to what Chicago's defense did to the Seahawks and to Darnold's interceptions the week before. A Rams defense that creates turnovers and pressure, against a Seattle team that "still can't run it at a high level," makes those late division games matter "a hell of a lot."

He also tossed in Green Bay with Micah back and said nobody is a cut above anymore, including the San Francisco team he once called the best. "I would probably still take Seattle because defensively they've carried the water the whole season, but it's going to be interesting down the stretch with Myles being back."

Then Rich reversed the question. If one of the Rams or Seahawks gets in, which North team doesn't? Spears knew it would sound crazy. The team he was calling that night.

"Because, Rich, they have the biggest flaw," he said. "At some point in this league, you going to have to score points to win a game. And as good as that defense is, at some point you're going to have to have either a shootout with somebody or be able to have critical drives late in games to get wins. And that offense just hasn't shown that at all."

He walked through the rest of the division's weak spots to make his case. Detroit's defense played well and is getting healthier. Green Bay had an offensive explosion, the defense pressured and forced turnovers, and Micah is coming back. Chicago turned the ball over five times and still won. "That's damn near impossible," Spears said, crediting a defense shored up by Simmons that answered turnover after turnover with stops. "We know it's not Detroit's offense. They still are elite. It's Minnesota's offense, and I think that's what scares everybody."

Rich asked whether a good game from Wentz would keep Minnesota out of the quarterback market. Spears answered with history. Sam Darnold won 13 games or so in Minnesota and now plays for Seattle. The Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy, lost belief after Darnold's bad playoff game, moved to Kyler Murray, and now McCarthy is on another team and Wentz is starting. "This organization and franchise will make a quarterback decision, whether it be good or bad," he said. But who is actually out there? "What quarterback in the NFL that a team thinks that they can win with at a high level is not playing? Because if that's the case, they are committing malpractice."

Rich offered two names. First, Kirk Cousins in Las Vegas, where the Raiders are 4-5 and will eventually turn to the kid. Second, Justin Herbert, right across the street. "I'm just throwing out what people are talking about," Rich said.

"Rich, you actually proved me wrong," Spears said. "Those are two names that I would absolutely go after." On Herbert, he argued that what we're seeing is a quarterback in an offense "that is absolutely against everything he is as a quarterback," and that if you protect him, he has shown he belongs in the conversation with the top guys. Still, he said, "there's no way in hell the Los Angeles Chargers do that," and he puts the Chargers' problems "more on coaching than I do Justin Herbert."

Cousins, on the other hand, he'd inquire about. Joking that Cousins is "like 50," Spears said Cousins was hot this season, and would be "a significant upgrade" over what he believes Murray and Wentz can be, especially with Kevin O'Connell, who had Darnold playing at a high level from the pocket.

As for Monday night, Spears said the most disappointing thing would be Buffalo letting Minnesota score a lot of points. "If Buffalo gives up 30 points tonight," he said, "everybody's going to be in full-on panic," because of what Cincinnati has with Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase.

"We are in the separation phase of the NFL now," Spears said. Week 9 means eight weeks left, "and a lot of who you are is what you're going to be." He pointed to Jacksonville trading for Jessie Bates after Houston put up a lot of points, and the Simmons trade in Chicago. "Teams now have started to identify, this is what we need. This is where we lack." Rich added that during Spears' answer, the Jaguars had made another move, acquiring a defensive lineman from New Orleans. "That's another big move," Spears said. "This the best time of the year."

Before signing off, Rich mentioned that Marcus Jr. plays that night and that he'd seen the video of Spears watching his son. "It was touching, bro," Spears said. "It was hard not to be there, but it was also good to see him in his element."