Very Quietly, The Vikings Worked Out Yet Another Quarterback
Safe to say that things haven’t proceeded as planned for Minnesota at the game’s most important position. Accordingly, the Vikings worked out some options before deciding on Desmond Ridder.
Behind the scenes, the team’s leadership brought more players to town. Ben Goessling of The Star Tribune offered the update: “In addition to Desmond Ridder, the #Vikings tried out five other players on Tuesday, including former Browns and Eagles quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson.” Alongside the extra passer within the workout were running back Raheem Blackshear, guard Kyle Hergel, guard Addison West, and running back Ian Wheeler.
Lost in the Shuffle, The Vikings Worked Out Another QB
Consider one factor: Ridder was most recently an employee of the Cincinnati Bengals. Coming to town in Week 3, very conveniently, are the Cincinnati Bengals. Might those two realities be connected somehow?
Zac Taylor seems sure to lean on his own depth passer — Mr. Brett Rypien — for the inside scoop on the Vikings. The former Viking is now the main backup after Joe Burrow was lost for several months. New starter Jake Browning used to be a Viking, as well, but he won’t have much (if any) knowledge of how things are operating since he wasn’t coached by Kevin O’Connell. The same cannot be said of Rypien, someone who is employed in the NFL primarily due to his brain bandwidth.
So, fair is fair.
Go ahead and bring Desmond Ridder to town. If a few state secrets get shared — some of the tendencies within the Bengals offense — then so be it. Cincinnati will need to adjust their language to keep their intentions disguised while Minnesota does likewise.
What’s fascinating is simply that Dorian Thompson-Robinson was also considered.
Undersized at 6’2″ and 203 pounds, Thompson-Robinson was picked in the 5th of the 2023 NFL Draft (No. 140 overall). At No. 141, the Vikings opted for DT Jaquelin Roy (no longer a Viking); later on in the 5th, the Vikings picked QB Jaren Hall (No. 164 and also no longer a Viking). The 25-year-old Thompson-Robinson spent 2023 and 2024 with the Browns, getting into game action on fifteen occasions while starting five games in his career.
The numbers aren’t anything to write home about. The completion percentage is an eyesore, coming in at just 52.6%. He has 880 yards in his career alongside 1 touchdown pass and 10 interceptions.
More promising, perhaps, is that he picked up some yardage on the ground. Thompson-Robinson turned 21 carries into 122 yards and 9 first downs in 2024. Were that a running back’s stats, people would walk away impressed. A 5.8 yards-per-carry average is healthy.
In the end, however, the decision was to add Desmond Ridder. The new quarterback offers better size at 6’4″ and 215 pounds, which is to say nothing of being a higher selection at No. 74 overall (3rd Round), albeit from within the 2022 NFL Draft.
Ridder has since gone 8-10 in his starts while completing 63.6% of his passes for 4,002 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Just based on the basic details alone, the Vikings appear to have walked away with the better passer even if there was some desire to do some due diligence.
Kevin O’Connell is widely regarded as being one of the foremost quarterback experts in the NFL. Currently, that belief is being put to the test, largely due to Mr. McCarthy beginning his career in such a disastrous manner.
Carson Wentz could very realistically end up having an excellent day on Sunday. Basically any quarterback is stepping into a tremendous situation in the Vikings’ offense, but fans are likely to be dissatisfied if the incompetence on offense continues. Whether there are boos or cheers over the weekend is largely going to come down to how well Mr. Wentz does.
Kickoff between the Vikings and Bengals is scheduled for noon on Sunday, September 21st.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
You must be logged in to post a comment.