During the Minnesota Vikings’ Monday Night Football win over the Chicago Bears on December 16, ESPN ran a graphic displaying Minnesota’s quarterbacks under contract. Had they run it before the quarantine, it would have baffled the millions of fans tuning in to watch the Vikings beat Chicago 30-12.
- Sam Darnold? The New York Jets had taken him third overall in 2018.
- Daniel Jones? The New York Giants used the sixth pick in 2019 on him.
- Brett Rypien? As in Mark Rypien’s son.
- Nick Mullens? The Southern Miss grad who kinda plays like Brett Favre.
- J.J. McCarthy would have still been in high school. He was a freshman at Michigan in 2021.
“We had a very strong quarterback room this year,” Kevin O’Connell concluded at his end-of-season press conference.
“At one point in time, I remember walking in there and seeing five quarterbacks in that room, all with the ability to win games. All with the ability to play the position at a pretty darn high level, [and] all at different times and points of their journey as quarterbacks in this league.”
It’s an eclectic group of QBs, but each is a testament to O’Connell’s passion for developing the most important position in football. McCarthy, the understudy. Darnold and Jones, the reclamation projects. Rypien and Mullens, the undrafted overachievers.
Each represents the pool from which Minnesota can select a starter and backup for next season. Each represents a path the Vikings must choose to create stability at a position where they haven’t had a Hall of Famer since Fran Tarkenton retired in 1978.
“You’re talking about the most important position in our sport,” Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said after the season. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to assemble a lot of talented players in that room that fit our vision.”
Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell didn’t commit to Darnold for next season; it would be hard to after how he played in Detroit and Glendale. Still, they didn’t want Darnold’s final two games to overshadow his rejuvenation this season.
“Sam should be very proud about the season he put together from start to finish,” said O’Connell. “He answered the bell day in and day out with his preparation, and he learned a lot about what he can be in this league.”
“We got to see Sam play some incredible football for us,” echoed Adofo-Mensah. “Won a lot of big games: at Seattle, at Lambeau. [With his production], we’re talking about games where he won them for us.”
O’Connell believes he can bring the best out of a talented but tarnished quarterback. Darnold is his proof of concept. Adofo-Mensah wants myriad options to increase the probability that the Vikings land a franchise quarterback.
“When you think about that decision,” said Adofo-Mensah, “you want to give yourselves options.”
Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell are negotiating contract extensions with ownership. In early January, Mark Wilf said he “looked forward to a great future” with Minnesota’s general manager and coach, whom they hired in 2022.
“I’ve always dreamt of being a general manager in an organization that’s trying to do the thing that they haven’t done,” said Adofo-Mensah. “I still have visions when I wake up in the morning and think of what that could be like.”
O’Connell downplayed the reported tension between him and Vikings ownership.
“I love being the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, and with that comes the fact that I love our ownership,” said O’Connell. “I have a great relationship with our ownership, not just the way that they support and believe in us, but the impact they have on our players, on our locker room, and ultimately where we all want to go together.”
To stay in Minnesota long term, Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell must find their franchise quarterback. While there’s no guarantee they’ll do that, they have complementary skill sets and quarterback options.
That’s the first step to finding the quarterback to take the Vikings to a place they’ve never been.
