Vikings QB3 from 3 Weeks Ago Is Starting for Different Team
Life in the NFL comes at players fast, and a former Minnesota Vikings quarterback can attest.
Because of injuries to Kyler Murray and Colt McCoy, David Blough will start for the Arizona Cardinals this weekend, and yes, he’s the same man who was Minnesota’s QB3 three weeks ago.
Blough was a member of the Vikings for about three months, relegated to practice squad duty after Kirk Cousins and Nick Mullens grabbed the QB1 and QB2 jobs, respectively. Blough never took a snap for the Vikings, but he’ll surely take meaningful ones this Sunday for the Cardinals.
Vikings QB3 from 3 Weeks Ago Is Starting for Different Team
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Arizona hits the road for a date with the Atlanta Falcons in a game that is more about draft order than anything. The Cardinals struggled mightily in 2022, now forced to examine the future of head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Arizona’s ownership inked their “Big Three” to fat contracts in the offseason, securing general manager Steve Keim, Kingsbury, and Kyler Murray for the long haul — transactions that appear a bit silly 16 weeks into the NFL season.
That’s not Blough’s problem, though, as the ex-Viking duels rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder in Georgia. Blough started five games for the 2019 Detroit Lions and tabulated five losses. He’ll seek win No. 1 at Atlanta.
Blough, 27, entered the Vikings realm late last summer after the team said sayonara to the underwhelming combination of Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond. Minnesota released both players amid roster trimdowns, traded for Nick Mullens, and onboarded Blough as the QB3 contingency.
The Purdue alumnus lived on the Vikings practice squad until a few weeks ago when the Cardinals swooped in for the pilfer. An undrafted free agent in 2019, Blough started his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns. He was employed by Cleveland for a few months before a trade to the Lions in August of 2019. He spent time as QB2 and QB3 behind Matthew Stafford, intermixed with fellow backups Jeff Driskel and Chase Daniel.
Blough made those five starts as a rookie in the aforementioned 2019 Lions campaign when Stafford was injured, compiling 984 passing yards, four touchdown passes, six interceptions, and a 64.0 passer rating. The Lions were 0-5 under Blough’s leadership as a starter, and he hasn’t started a game since — until this weekend. He even started a game against Minnesota on December 8th, 2019, tabulating 205 yards, a touchdown, and two picks. He was sacked by Danielle Hunter three times that afternoon.
Blough earned Third-team All-Big Ten at Purdue accolades in 2018.
After Blough departed the Vikings earlier this month, Minnesota grabbed a high-profile QB3 in Josh Rosen. He took Blough’s spot on the practice squad.
Blough and his Cardinals are 4.5-point underdogs to get the job done over the Falcons. Interestingly, if Blough starts next weekend, he can help the Vikings by possibly defeating the San Francisco 49ers, a team jostling with Minnesota for the NFC’s No. 2 seed.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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