From Starter to Emergency Backup: Vikings Rookie Has Been Benched Ahead of Week 18
Josh Frey
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It’s been a bit of a wild year for Vikings rookie QB Jaren Hall in 2023.
After being selected in the fifth round of last spring’s draft, many viewed Hall as a project QB and was expected to sit behind Kirk Cousins and learn the offense this year. That is exactly what transpired for the first seven weeks of the season, but everything changed in Week 8 when Cousins suffered a torn Achilles.
This injury thrust Hall into the lineup to finish out the Week 8 game, and since then, it’s been a roller coaster ride at the QB position for Minnesota. Hall started Week 9 against the Atlanta Falcons, but a concussion knocked him out of that game. After Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens got cracks at the starting job, Hall got another chance in Week 17 against the Packers.
However, that ended disastrously for the rookie after he completed just five of his 10 passes for 67 yards and an interception. Mullens came in for the second half, and the veteran will get the starting job again in Week 18.
However, it doesn’t end there for Hall. Not only will he not start, but the Vikings rookie will not even get the chance to back up Mullens in Week 18 against the Detroit Lions. Instead, Minnesota announced on Friday that Dobbs will be QB2 this weekend.
Vikings Rookie Gets Benched for Week 18
Head coach Kevin O’Connell announced the decision during a press conference on Friday, saying, “We’ll have Josh Dobbs as the backup. I think Josh has kind of been able to go about the week in a process of getting a little bit more reps here and there […] and then Jaren will be in that emergency third role.”
O’Connell went on to explain the reasoning behind the decision: “A lot of things go into it, but just the idea that that third guy cannot go in the game unless there’s been injury to the first two guys. Didn’t think it was fair to Jaren to possibly have him in a situation where, unless he’s injured, he can’t come out of the game.”
It is a reasonable conclusion to come to. The rookie seemed a bit in over his head against the Green Bay Packers, and he had trouble navigating a ferocious pass rush from that team. Considering Minnesota could be without three starting offensive linemen on Sunday, there should be plenty of pressure from Detroit’s defensive front as well.
O’Connell still has confidence in the long-term future of Hall in the NFL though. “Still a ton of confidence in where [Hall’s] at. I love the way he’s attacked this week regardless of where he was at on the depth chart, and I think any young player with a really bright future, that’s the hope. And he knows we support him fully, and we’re gonna use last week as a long-term learning opp.”
No doubt, the Vikings QB position will be examined with a fine-toothed comb this offseason. However, despite a really rough outing last Sunday night, it is unfair to judge Hall completely off of one game in a rookie season where he was never expected to be a starting quarterback.
Hall still has work in front of him, but hopefully, like O’Connell said, last weekend against the Packers can simply be a learning opportunity in a bright future.
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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.