Kevin O’Connell Makes Starting QB Decision for Week 10
The decision about the starting QB for the Minnesota Vikings is going to be an ongoing topic for the next few weeks.
Jaren Hall started Minnesota’s Week 9 game against the Falcons, but he suffered a concussion during the first quarter which opened the door for the Josh Dobbs show the rest of the way.
Ahead of Week 10, Kevin O’Connell stated during Monday’s press conference that Dobbs is currently slated to start for Minnesota against the New Orleans Saints.
Kevin O’Connell Makes Starting QB Decision for Week 10
Here is what O’Connell had to say on Monday afternoon:
Just knowing that Jaren (Hall) is going to be progressing through [the concussion protocol] and coming off of Josh’s performance yesterday, we’ll go into it making sure to get Josh all the reps to start the football game. We’ll work through what that looks like. Nick Mullens is progressing really well, I do not know yet as far as when we’ll potentially open his [practice] window and activate him back to help us in some capacity.
And then we have Sean Mannion on the practice squad who will be an option for us to elevate as well. So we’ll see. Jaren works through it, we want to do what’s best for him long-term and at the same time make sure that we’re ready to go for Sunday.
This is the smart decision for the Vikings. If Hall is healthy, it would be nice to see him get another chance to start a game this season. However, this simply may not be the week for that to happen. Concussion protocols will limit the rookie throughout the week, and he won’t be able to get a full week of preparation for this next game. It makes sense for the Vikings to give him another week to get fully healthy before letting him run the offense again.
We also can’t discount just how impressive Dobbs was on Sunday. After only four days of preparation, the QB came into Sunday’s game and led the Vikings to a comeback victory, capped off by a game-winning drive at the end of the game.
There were bumps along the way (a pair of fumbles and a safety), but in the end, Dobbs made the plays to win the game. He finished his outing with 158 passing yards and 2 TDs through the air while also adding 66 rushing yards and another TD on the ground.
Especially against a Saints defense that has a terrific secondary and ranks first in takeaways this season, the veteran Dobbs is a good choice for this weekend.
Still, this topic of starting QB is just getting started. If Dobbs has a stinker on Sunday, should Hall get another shot in Week 11? If Dobbs plays well, do the Vikings just stick with him for the rest of the way? What about Nick Mullens, who is eligible to come off IR and has been in this offense for over a year?
These are impossible questions to answer right now, but for the time being, it seems like Minnesota is content to ride it out with Dobbs for at least one more game.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.