As the Minnesota Vikings navigate through their bye week, they may leave it with a new plan at quarterback. Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell said after Monday night's 12-10 loss to the Chicago Bears that the team would look at the quarterback position before their next game, perhaps a sign Minnesota will move on from Josh Dobbs for the time being.
The other two QBs on the Vikings roster, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullens, are both healthy and give Minnesota plenty of options under center. With the rest of the offense seemingly in place upon Justin Jefferson's return next week, O'Connell reiterated the need to figure things out at quarterback.
“So, when you’re looking at our skill group overall, I think the quarterback position needs to be evaluated to just figure out what we think gives us the best chance to win – both on individual skill sets of all three of those guys – and take a look at that for what’s the best fit, right now, for our team. We’re in the process of doing that.”
Where the Vikings go from here
The Vikings have the advantage of a bye this week, so they can devote extra time to finding a solution at quarterback. The unfortunate thing is that none of the options stand out at the moment.
It would seem highly unlikely that Minnesota immediately goes back to Dobbs after his four-interception game on Monday. O'Connell credited Dobbs with coming in and helping the Vikings win a pair of games to keep their season alive, but he did not commit to Dobbs long-term.
That leaves Minnesota to decide between Hall and Mullens, two very different QBs in terms of experience and skill set.
Hall, a fifth-round pick by the Vikings in this year's draft, looked good in a very short stint as the starter earlier this year. In Week 9 against the Atlanta Falcons, Hall completed five of his six passing attempts for 78 yards before exiting with injury (which then led to Dobbs' heroic comeback in his Vikings debut).
Hall also presents somewhat of a dual threat, at least more than Mullens. He rushed for 4.4 yards per attempt during his two seasons as a starter at BYU, rushing for 657 total yards in a 22-game span.
Mullens is in his seventh season in the NFL and has been a starter before. He has 17 starts as a pro under his belt, 16 of them coming from his time with the San Francisco 49ers from 2018-2020. Mullens went 5-12 in games he started, posting an 86.2 passer rating with 4,552 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.
Mullens may have an advantage by being with the Vikings last season. Though he never took meaningful snaps, he appeared in four games in relief of Kirk Cousins and at least has more time studying the offense than Hall and Dobbs.
There is a very real chance the Vikings start their fourth different quarterback this season next Sunday when they travel to Las Vegas. Kevin O'Connell and his staff have their hands full, but Minnesota can at least be excited about getting back its best player, Justin Jefferson.
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