2 Vikings Elevated for Sunday’s Game
The stories write themselves for Sunday’s Vikings game. The squad will travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks, a group quarterbacked by old friend Sam Darnold. Signal-caller Darnold was let go despite his Pro Bowl nomination in 2024, and he has repeated his success in a different environment this year. The Vikings, meanwhile, haven’t gotten nearly that level of production from their new quarterbacks.
Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that the Seahawks are favored by about 11 points.
2 Vikings Elevated for Sunday’s Game
The Vikings added a couple of practice squad players to their gameday roster ahead of the game in Seattle. On Saturday, the team announced that quarterback John Wolford and cornerback Dwight McGlothern would be promoted.
Wolford will be Max Brosmer’s backup quarterback. Brosmer is set to log his first career start on Sunday after drawing praise all year. The undrafted rookie was envisioned to have a redshirt year behind J.J. McCarthy and Carson Wentz, but neither is available to face Seattle’s strong defense, so it’ll be on Brosmer to distribute the ball.
Given that there isn’t another quarterback on the 53-man roster, it had to be one of the practice squad passers to back up the first-time starter. The Vikings had the choice between 2022 draftee Desmond Ridder and former Rams quarterback John Wolford.
Wolford got the nod. He has been with the team longer and has Kevin O’Connell’s trust, as they worked together in Los Angeles when O’Connell coordinated the Rams, and Wolford was suddenly thrown into the starting lineup.
In seven games (four starts) with the Rams, Wolford completed 61 of 104 passes for 626 yards, one touchdown, and five interceptions. Barring an injury or crazy on-field struggles in Brosmer’s starting debut, Wolford will not take the field. He has not thrown an NFL pass since the 2022 season.
Wolford is a Super Bowl champion. He won the chip as Matthew Stafford’s backup in 2021. Bizarre but true: In the year prior, he started a playoff game over Jared Goff, who was injured but also kind of benched.
McGlothern has been a polarizing player in the Twin Cities. The cornerback was a high-profile undrafted rookie signing in 2024, and a strong preseason performance was enough for him to make the 53-man roster, though he barely played throughout his rookie year — a mistake, his fans believe.
This year, he made the team again, but after Jeff Okudah got hurt, it became apparent the Vikings don’t trust him for some reason. He was waived a couple of weeks ago but returned to the practice squad.
McGlothern is the fourth active cornerback behind starters Isaiah Rodgers and Byron Murphy. Veteran Fabian Moreau was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster a few weeks back and basically switched spots with McGlothern. Okudah is on IR with his second concussion of the season.
In two seasons, McGlothern has played in 13 games. He has logged 31 defensive snaps and 16 on special teams in eight appearances this year.
As he’s been all season, McGlothern is just one play away from seeing significant snaps. It’s hard to tell whether he has earned those or not, because he simply hasn’t gotten much of a chance.
An upset in Seattle is a long shot.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.