Former Viking Has Really Goofy QB Endorsement
Dustin Baker
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Think the Minnesota Vikings are whittling down choices at quarterback to Drake Maye or J.J. McCarthy?
Former Viking Has Really Goofy QB Endorsement
Don’t tell Kyle Rudolph.
The former Vikings tight end, now retired, hasn’t been shy about offering his NFL takes since hanging up the cleats last year. And regarding his old team, Rudolph believes Minnesota should bypass the early rounds of the draft in favor of a late-round passer: Joe Milton.
Most Vikings fans have spent the last couple of months daydreaming about a rookie quarterback when it became evident that longtime passer Kirk Cousins wouldn’t return. Then, two weeks ago, Cousins chased the largest bag of cash on the open market, joining the Atlanta Falcons for four years and $180 million. Fast forward to late March, and Minnesota needs a QB1 as Cousins’ replacement.
For Rudolph, that man should be Milton, a player with a Round 6 or so scouting report and labeled by some scouts as a developmental QB3 type.
“I see, after watching the Combine, a guy like Joe Milton from Tennessee. You have just super, freak potential athleticism. You’re not going to have to mortgage your future to get a guy like that,” Rudolph told The Up and Adams Show this week.
The idea would be great — if the Vikings had Kirk Cousins on the roster at the age of 32, for example. Like Kellen Mond or Jaren Hall, Milton, in theory, could watch and learn and perhaps take over down the road. But in 2024, the Vikings don’t have that luxury.
Nevertheless, Rudolph continued: “It’s a guy that you watch and you’re like, ‘Holy cow.’ This kid could be one of those mid-round picks who all of a sudden we’re talking about a Russell Wilson 3-4 years down the road where guess what, when you have a third-round pick as your starting quarterback, look at the San Francisco 49ers roster, it’s built around a rookie deal quarterback and they have talent everywhere.”
The Vikings are equipped with two 1st-Round picks in this year’s draft and expected to move up the board for the aforementioned Maye or McCarthy.
Rudolph concluded, “The Vikings need good players right now who can come in, and trading your two first-round picks to ultimately take a quarterback who might not play right away, I don’t think that’s the answer.”
Minnesota could draft Milton in addition to their QB1 plan from Round 1 or 2. But onboarding Milton and nominating him as the QB1 solution while pairing him with Sam Darnold is severely unlikely. Rudolph also claimed on The Up and Adams Show that Kevin O’Connell’s offense is too sophisticated for a rookie quarterback.
The NFL draft is exactly one month away.
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 Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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