The Minnesota Vikings may have signaled that they aren’t big fans of their current backup quarterback situation; aside from statements in pressers that reveal a lack of confidence in their backup situation, they’ve also signed former University of Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner.
Of 67 quarterbacks who threw at least 15 passes in the preseason, Keenum and Heinicke rank 34th and 54th in adjusted net yards per attempt. Though Heinicke may deserve some leeway for an interception that was Isaac Fruechte’s fault, he also should have been intercepted once more in the prior game on a pass eventually completed to Terrell Newby. Keenum, too, threw more interceptable passes than show up on his stat sheet.
Between Taylor Heinicke, Wes Lunt and Mitch Leidner — quarterbacks we have Pro Football Focus data for — Leidner was the least accurate in college after accounting for drops, throwaways, spikes and so on. Heinicke hit the receiver on 72.9 percent of his targets, while Lunt and Leidner hit 66.4 percent and 65.3 percent, respectively.
Generally speaking, Leidner wasn’t particularly efficient, either; the former Gopher threw in the 19th percentile among college quarterbacks in Football Outsiders’ S&P passing efficiency statistic.
He threw more interceptions than touchdowns in his final year of college play.
Like Lunt, he’s a tall quarterback with a good arm. There are other positives to work from in his game, too. His ability to sell play fakes can compete with anyone in the class and can make some surprisingly accurate throws at all three levels of the field. He has good athleticism on the field and is a viable running threat and can throw the ball with some accuracy off a variety of platforms and can take a hit.
Unfortunately, his spurts of accuracy disappear for long stretches of time, and never appeared while throwing on the run. His decision-making is terrible and he consistently throws into heavy coverage. His receivers are often not ready for the ball, which likely says much more about him than it does the receivers. He will stare down his targets and alert the defense about where he’ll throw.
While there are tools there, it’s a longshot developmental option. In fact, Leidner is far enough away from ready that this may not be an indication that the Vikings are looking for a short-term backup option but putting pressure on Heinicke as a long-term developmental player. After all, players like Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin, Shaun Hill, Christian Ponder and Zach Mettenberger are available as likely better short-term solutions to a backup problem.
That isn’t to say the Vikings shouldn’t have pursued other young developmental options like Keith Wenning, Zach Terrell, Seth Russell or Ryan Higgins. It’s a curious decision that looks like it might be more about having a fourth quarterback in the mold of Wes Lunt ready for the fourth preseason game than a serious look at a backup option at quarterback.
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