The Vikings have taken a different path to the quarterback this year, placing inexperienced passengers behind the starter Kirk Cousins. Third round rookie Kellen Mond and veteran of the training staff Jake Browning they compete to be the Minnesota backup. So far, the results have not impressed.
While Minnesota also has the selection for the seventh round of 2020 Nate Stanley and the much-traveled former UDFA Danny Etling on the list, Mond and Browning appear to be competing for the concert. After the team’s second preseason game, Mike Room described his QB2 status as work in progress, said the team will discuss the possibility of presenting an external option this week, through Chris Tomasson, of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Mond, who wasted time due to a contraction of the COVID-19 before camp, has not advanced to the point where it can be relied upon as a backup, according to Tomasson. Browning, Stanley and Etling have also not taken any snapshots of the NFL regular season. Browning has spent the last two seasons on the Vikings ’training roster. The Vikings did not re-sign a two-year backup Sean Mannion, and their hopes of negotiating Justin Fields did not produce the desired result. Although Cousins has proven durable (zero games lost due to injury), the team can be vulnerable if their incumbent suffers an injury or re-enters the reserve list / COVID-19.
Under Zimmer, the Vikings have used several veterans as backups. Matt Cassel, Shaun Hill, Case Keenum, Trevor Siemian and Mannion have been in these roles at various points over the past seven seasons. The addition of Keenum from Vikings 2017 turned out to be quite important, with Sam Bradford coming down early and Keenum delivering by far the best season of his career to lead the team to the NFC championship game.
Zimmer mentioned the need to be financially cautious, even though the team had more than $ 13 million at the cap and a QB2 signing that probably wouldn’t cost much at the time. Available options include Blake Bortles, new ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III i Josh Rosen. The latter, however, has not been seen by his last two teams as a secondary caliber pin. Minnesota could also look at the commercial market. With Falcons backup AJ McCarron coming down with an ACL tear and the Jets also have no experience behind their starter, there are figures that there will be competition on the commercial front.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.