After Sam Darnold, it’s a mystery for the Minnesota Vikings at quarterback.
Vikings QB Depth Chart Is a Mystery for Playoffs
Darnold will start for the purple team on Monday Night Football, the site of Minnesota’s first playoff game, a showdown against the Los Angeles Rams. Whether Nick Mullens or Daniel Jones would play in the event of a Darnold injury, for example, is unknown.
“It’s such a fluid thing here the rest of the way. We’re gonna do whatever we think gives us the best chance to win,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said Thursday when asked if Jones would be the QB2 in the postseason.
For the last 18 weeks, Mullens, not Jones, has served as the undisputed QB2.
The Vikings signed Jones in November after the New York Giants cut ties with the veteran passer. Jones asked for his release after getting benched, and New York’s front office obliged. Minnesota quickly scooped Jones, situating him on the practice squad until this week.
Jones joined the 53-man roster on Tuesday, and if he leaves the team in March via free agency, the Vikings will now be eligible for compensatory draft pick consideration thanks to the roster elevation.
But according to O’Connell, Jones could actually play this week — or next, if Minnesota advances to the Divisional Round — if Darnold gets hurt.
There’s also another matter to ponder: Darnold played horribly last weekend at the Detroit Lions, unable to find a groove and overthrowing pass-catchers repeatedly in a game that decided the NFC’s No. 1 seed. One might wonder how long O’Connell would stick with Darnold if he began tossing incompletions left and right in Los Angeles. Stay tuned.
O’Connell said about Jones six weeks ago when he signed with the organization: “Excited about the possibility of adding Daniel Jones to our organization, still kind of working through the final details on that, some roster maneuvering and things, but we’re expecting, anticipating Daniel to arrive Friday morning, and very much looking forward to that good addition to our quarterbacks room. I love our quarterbacks room already.”
If Mullens remains the QB2, he provides a unique skill set. He accumulates ample passing yards and touchdowns at a clip among the NFL’s best. He also throws a quantity of interceptions among the NFL’s worst.
Conversely, Jones isn’t much of a gunslinger and doesn’t have Sam Darnold’s arm strength, but he’s probably the most mobile passer on the roster not named J.J. McCarthy.
Minnesota is a 1.5-point road favorite this week to topple the Rams, a squad it lost to in October. Los Angeles defeated the Vikings 30-20 at SoFi Stadium in Week 8, which featured a missed facemask call that the whole world — even non-Vikings fans — deemed outrageous.
A QB2 may not be known until applicable in a playoff game.
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.