The Minnesota Vikings still need a QB2 this offseason, and quarterback Case Keenum golfed with a handful of current and former Vikings players this week.
Guess Who Showed Up at the Vikings’ Little Golf Event
J.J. McCarthy participated in the event, the NFLPA golf tournament, and he’s on deck to lead Minnesota as the QB1 in 2025.
Adam Thielen and Harrison Smith joined the group.
Case Keenum with Vikings and Former Vikings at NFLPA Golf Tournament
Here’s the evidence, courtesy of Thielen’s Instagram:
While Keenum may not be an imminent option as Minnesota’s main backup quarterback behind McCarthy in 2025, his presence with the group was fascinating.
Kevin O’Connell & Case Keenum in WAS
O’Connell and Keenum were colleagues with the Washington Commanders in 2019. The period involved Dwayne Haskins in Washington, and O’Connell was three years away from taking the big job in Minnesota.
Keenum started half the season with O’Connell as offensive coordinator, which was O’Connell’s first OC gig in the NFL.
Keenum said in the summer of 2019: “I view new offenses like learning new languages. Certain offenses are like English to Chinese. Certain offenses are like Portuguese to Spanish. I would say I’ve been in Spanish before and this is more Portuguese.”
“There’s some carry-over, but some little tweak of the same word might mean something different in a different language. Part of it is trying to forget some of the old stuff and replace it with new stuff.”
Of course, the Commanders’ season broke bad, and everyone was canned. Keenum bounced around to the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, and Houston Texans. Head coach Jay Gruden lost his job for good, and O’Connell took a new gig in Los Angeles.
Keenum added, “I love this system, I really do. I think Jay Gruden has done a great job putting it together, and I think Kevin O’Connell, Matt Cavanaugh, Tim Rattay, all those guys, too. I think it’s really well presented and put together really good. I think I can thrive in it. So, I want to push it to the next level. I’m always trying to push it to that next level of playing.”
“I’ve been to that one game from the Super Bowl so I know what it takes to get there and I know how close it is. I’ve tasted just a bit of what that could be like and I want to get back there.”
O’Connell and Keenum are familiar with one another, and Keenum enjoys O’Connell’s offensive scheme.
Keenum in 2017 with the Vikings
The veteran passer is cherished by Vikings fans, mainly because his rise to fleeting fame was unforeseen. In 2017, QB1 Sam Bradford was lost for the season — and essentially his career — to a knee injury, and Keenum slid in with little initial fanfare. Before and after his Vikings stint, Keenum never caught on with a team as a consistent performer.
But inside the 2017 season, Keenum was superb, showcasing a playground-like knack for distributing the football, and Stefon Diggs, plus Adam Thielen, feasted. The Vikings finished 13-3 in 2017 behind a murderous defense led by the prime versions of Harrison Smith, Everson Griffen, Xavier Rhodes, Linval Joseph, and others.
Keenum was cut loose immediately after the storybook season, as then-head coach Mike Zimmer was never particularly enamored with his style. He landed with the Denver Broncos thereafter and struggled to remain the team’s QB1. Keenum later joined the Commanders and failed to catch on as the starter. Then, he embarked on back-to-back QB2/QB3 assignments in Cleveland, Buffalo, and Houston.
All told, Keenum has played for the Texans (three separate times), Rams, Vikings, Broncos, Commanders, Browns, and Bills.
Since leaving the Vikings in 2018, Keenum ranks 49th out of 65 QBs via efficiency [EPA+CPOE (min. 300 plays)]. Teams led by Keenum are 10-18 (.357), a win-loss record that ranks fourth-worst in the NFL during the timeframe.
Optimists would hope he could rekindle his 2017 flair, especially with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, Aaron Jones, and Jordan Mason on the roster.
McCarthy Not Handed the QB1 Job Yet
Just before the golf tournament, Kay Adams of The Up and Adams Show, sat down with McCarthy, and among a handful of topics, asked the 22-year-old how it felt to become Minnesota’s QB1.
Well, he didn’t know anything about that official title.
“They haven’t told me, and I’m happy they didn’t because I try to earn it every single day. I never want that to be given to me. It’s such a privilege and an opportunity to give me that chance. I’m just gonna make the most of it every single day,” he told Adams.
The 10th overall pick from last year’s draft evidently has to earn the job, even if it’s heavily implied that’ll he do precisely that.
Maybe Keenum will end up in the quarterback room with him to offer some pointers.
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 MIN 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.