Another Unsung Viking Comes out of the Woodwork
Nick Mullens didn’t even play for the Minnesota Vikings in the club’s first preseason game.
Another Unsung Viking Comes out of the Woodwork
He evidently didn’t need the action as a veteran entering his eighth season. Yet, in the same now-dreadful preseason contest, Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy tore his meniscus and will miss the entire 2024 campaign.
And that brings Mullens firmly back in the mix — so much so that head coach Kevin O’Connell addressed it this week.
“I know we had some rep charters out there in this group, and if you were charting, you would see that it was Sam and J.J. basically took all the reps for the better part of the last three weeks by design — knowing that Nick Mullens is a guy that in many ways, he’s not just another capable guy in that quarterback room,” O’Connell said this week right after McCarthy’s meniscus surgery.
A gunslinging QB2, Mullens started three games for the 2023 Vikings — and Minnesota lost all three. His insertion into the starting lineup inconveniently corresponded with the death of Brian Flores’ 2023 defense. The moment Mullens took the scepter versus the Cincinnati Bengals last December, Flores’ defense stopped playing well. It was really odd.
O’Connell continued, “I think he learned that he could be an explosive driver of our offense and also had some lessons of taking care of the football and trying to make sure we’re playing aggressively but not over the line to where you put the ball at risk of being turned over.”
Before the McCarthy injury and QB3 Jaren Hall’s lackluster preseason performance, Mullens lived on the roster bubble — which feels like a million years ago now. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, Mullens will man QB2 duties in 2024, “one snap away,” per O’Connell, from the big job.
“I think the team’s excited about Nick because, like many of us, we’ve gone through the ups and downs, but he’s in a position to really be a guy we can rely on and be a snap away,” O’Connell concluded. “But he’ll clearly start getting a lot more reps as we now prepare him to be ready to be one snap away.”
Two years ago, Mullens joined Minnesota via trade with the Las Vegas Raiders for a late-round draft pick. And if something happened to Sam Darnold, Mullens would be the last best hope for Minnesota, barring a trade or free-agent signing.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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