Promoted Viking Snags Vote of Confidence, Praise from Vikings HC
In an ideal world, the now promoted Viking would still be the QB3, but that’s not the reality facing the Minnesota Vikings.
J.J. McCarthy has been lost for the 2024 season, meaning Nick Mullens has ascended into the QB2 role. Sam Darnold will continue leading the charge and Jaren Hall is the developmental QB3, providing a mirror image of last season’s quarterback hierarchy except for Kirk Cousins swapping out for Mr. Darnold. On Wednesday, Kevin O’Connell expressed confidence in what Mullens is capable of doing.
Promoted Viking Nick Mullens is a Snap Away from Starting
For a little while, Nick Mullens looked like a trade target.
The veteran journeyman was either the QB3 or QB4 as Minnesota moved into the year with the Darnold/McCarthy tandem leading the way. In theory, Mullens could have been moved for a late-round pick, giving Kwesi Adofo-Mensah a bit more draft capital for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Instead, Mullens resumes his role as the main backup quarterback, which is the job he was originally brought aboard to fulfill.
When asked about Mullens as the main backup, O’Connell wasn’t scant with his praise. “One of the reasons why we felt so strong about — I know we had some rep charters out there in this group — if you were chartin’,” O’Connell explained, “you would see that it was Sam and J.J. basically took all the reps for the better part of the last three weeks by design.”
The reason? Mullens offers so much without needing those 1st-team reps.
“Nick Mullens is a guy that, in many ways, he’s not just another capable guy in that quarterback room. He is providing context and experience and understanding of our offense on a daily basis that adds to Josh [McCown], Grant [Udinski], Wes [Phillips], myself.” Mullens, in short, has functioned as both player and coach while operating as the QB3.
Mullens isn’t just a Sean Mannion-like brain, though. On the contrary, he’s someone who is smart, yes, but also someone who can move the ball when given the chance.
“His experience last year I thought was critical. I think he learned,” O’Connell further notes, “that he can be an explosive driver of our offense.” The head coach goes on to say that there were some issues with turnovers but those are teachable moments. Plus, Mullens’ teammates are confident in his ability to thrive.
“He’ll clearly start getting a lot more reps as we now prepare him to be ready to be one snap away,” O’Connell concluded.
Keep in mind that O’Connell’s opinion of Mullens hasn’t changed. Yes, the role is now different as the main backup, but the head coach has always been effusive in his praise for Nick Mullens. At various points in the offseason, O’Connell has relayed his belief that Mullens is a good QB.
In 2023, Mullens had no issues with moving the ball. He completed 67.6% of his passes for 1,306 yards, 7 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. The turnovers are the major issue.
Nick Mullens, 29, goes into the 2024 season carrying a $2,230,000 cap charge.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.
