‘Can’t Think of a Better Situation’, Minnesota Might Be the Best Place For a Quarterback to Land
The Minnesota Vikings are in an interesting situation. Having just gotten rid of their franchise quarterback since 2018, a contract stalemate with their number one receiver, and the 11th overall draft pick in this year’s draft, the Vikings are no stranger to an eventful offseason. In a red hot quarterback market, filled with what pundits are calling a quarterback-stuffed draft, it’s easy to question whether or not this class will suffer the same fate as 2021’s, with only one sticking around as a starter on an NFL franchise this year.
With five quarterbacks projected to go top-20 on most experts’ draft boards and as draft-scouting has evolved from player-based to environment-based, what is the best soft-landing for a quarterback that’s fresh in the league?
“I can’t think of a better situation for a young quarterback than the one that the
Minnesota Vikings have,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said on a conference call with the media on Wednesday.
JOFFREY’S MOCK DRAFT: 2024 Round One NFL Mock Draft: A QB Frenzy and Offensive Explosion Underline the First
The surefire, playoff-ready situation in Minnesota has developed rapidly into a big question mark. Having rid themselves of Kirk Cousins, who had been their franchise, starting quarterback since 2018 by letting him go in free agency to the Atlanta Falcons– Minnesota has turned itself into a team that is set to take at least a developmental project in the draft. Strong ties have been made to Vikings’ brass liking JJ McCarthy from Michigan, but the true pick will likely be sealed shut until it’s showtime in Detroit. Furthermore, Justin Jefferson, who has quickly evolved into one of the league’s best receivers is amid a contract holdout where he was not present for offseason OTAs.
Look past the brewing issues in the Twin Cities and suddenly you find that the Vikings have the 11th overall pick– prime position to pick up JJ McCarthy. And maybe, that might be the right pick.
“I would say, if you gave truth serum to the quarterbacks and the agents of all the top guys, every single one of them would say they would love nothing more than to go to the Minnesota Vikings,” Jeremiah says.
“That would be the No. 1 choice. Of all these teams that are quarterback teams, and we’ve run through all of them on this call, that is by far the best landing spot for a quarterback to go into. It’s all set up, from the things that we talk about with the three Ps, with the play caller, the protection, the play makers, check, check, check.”
The Minnesota Vikings still have most of their bits and pieces offensively from when their window with Cousins was open. Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison make up a strong and explosive receiving core that any quarterback would be grateful to have. At the end of the day, a young quarterback is only as good as his receivers– McCarthy could thrive behind the production that Jefferson, Addison, and WR3 KJ Osborn could provide.
Jefferson was ranked the fifth-best receiver in football last season with an aggregate PFF grade of 91.1 and a receiving grade of 91.2. Addison received a 68.6, teetering on an “above average” grade from PFF while Osborn also ranked highly amongst WR3s.
Jeremiah also credited the Vikings with having a contingency plan to try to get McCarthy ready for NFL level play, looking through the lens of Minnesota, “hey, maybe we don’t want to rush right onto the field, we want to sit and learn a little bit, we’ve got Sam Darnold who can get us through games, he can get us through the whole season if we needed to, but at least get us through games until you’re comfortable and ready to go out there.”
After all, McCarthy is viewed as a project. Not a day one starter. In today’s NFL, nearly no quarterback is a bona fide starter right away or even the first year. Looking at what successful teams have done in the past is have a transitory period for a quarterback to play and build around. Similar to what Green Bay did with Jordan Love and Kansas City with Patrick Mahomes. The Minnesota Vikings have been a relatively well run organization. Sure, they haven’t had as much postseason success as they’d have liked, however the team has been patient with their quarterbacks and had muffled, yet presentable success with their last notable rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in 2014.
The other growing sentiment is, McCarthy will have to sit for at least some extended period of time. His performance at Michigan was backed by a strong pro day, a national title win, and three years of success with the Wolverines. Yet, his play is hard to evaluate.
“It’s a difficult evaluation because you can see him do everything you want him to do or you need a big-time quarterback to do, it’s just the numbers in terms of the volume is not there,” Jeremiah said. “You’ve got somebody that, if you look at him from a size standpoint, he’s put on like 15 pounds in the last year. I think he’s still growing into his body. He’s going to be a bigger guy. Everybody that was at the pro days that I talked to said he threw it as well or better than any of the top quarterbacks. He’s got a big-time live arm.”
To protect a quarterback, his offensive line cannot resemble a revolving door of candidates. Back when the Vikings were focused on protecting Cousins (the irony), Minnesota invested heavily into their offensive line. Minnesota’s Christian Darrisaw ranked as the seventh-best pass blocker this past season, earning a 85.3 from PFF. Brian O’Neill, David Quessenberry, and Chris Reed all make up the better part of a solid bodyguard unit for whoever the Vikings choose to pick.
The Vikings also have a quarterback-friendly front office and coaching staff that has been scouting the prospects for the better part of two years. When Kirk Cousins went down with a torn Achilles this year, it all but solidified the decision for the Vikings to say sayonara to an aging quarterback that demanded a hefty price, and start looking ahead.
“One of the great things we probably learned from our meetings is that we saw a lot of great leaders, and none of them were the same,” Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “And that’s OK. You know, you can be the quiet leader; you can be the fiery leader; you can be the lead-by-example guy. It doesn’t matter, but I do think there’s an intangible sense that’s needed.”
Processing and accuracy are among the more important traits, Adofo-Mensah said, as well as the ability to “overcome some stuff,” including “a dirty pocket.” The third-year GM mentioned intangibles such as leadership and the ability to learn, both of which the team has tried to evaluate during the interview process.
With new talent galore and possibly a new quarterback on the horizon, the Vikings finally could be in position for the ever-elusive deep playoff run the team has desperately needed.
