Kevin O’Connell Clarifies the New Vikings QB Hierarchy
The second game of J.J. McCarthy’s young career was a stinker, as he had multiple turnovers in a losing effort that included only very few signs that he is indeed the franchise’s future. On the following day, he reported pain and swelling in his ankle, and that sprain will sideline him for the near future, meaning he can’t get rid of that game as his last impression.
Kevin O’Connell Clarifies the New Vikings QB Hierarchy
In his absence, the Vikings will lean on backup Carson Wentz, who was signed just over three weeks ago. That’s not quite a long time to learn a playbook and get to know the teammates’ tendencies on routes.
Skipper Kevin O’Connell voiced his confidence in the veteran on Wednesday, “Excited for Carson to get a full week of preparation. I was telling the team today, you’ve got a guy that’s played at a really high level, played a lot of football, and ultimately is at a place in his career where I think you can really tap into a lot of that while also shaping a game plan that he’s comfortable with, and he can go out and have consistent success.”
Wentz undoubtedly has the most experience in that QB room with 94 starts and 98 games played. That experience evolved from a promising potential franchise quarterback to an MVP candidate a year later, to an ousted journeyman starter, and now, he’s a backup for the third straight season.
Behind him, the Vikings employ a duo of quarterbacks. Of course, Max Brosmer is still in the mix. The rookie did a good job in the preseason. In addition to Wentz and Brosmer, the Vikings also acquired free agent Desmond Ridder this week to have three healthy passers on the roster.
It’s clear that Wentz is starting during McCarthy’s absence, but who’s the backup and who’s the emergency QB?
O’Connell revealed, “With the rules being what they are with the emergency third quarterback, we wanted to have one. Based upon the early aspect of our season, we’re pretty deep into some position groupings as it is. We wanted to make sure we could get a guy that’s played before. Desmond had a great workout. … If we get to that scenario, we felt like it would be good to have a veteran guy that’s still young and growing as a player, but can step in and execute if called upon.”
Brosmer is the backup and would enter the game if something happened to the actual backup, Wentz. Ridder is QB3, functioning as the emergency quarterback. Unlike in 2023, the Vikings have three QBs on the roster and don’t need to thrust the newcomer into the backup role. Had Nick Mullens not spent time on IR when Kirk Cousins got hurt, Dobbs mania likely wouldn’t have happened because he would’ve been the emergency passer behind Mullens and Jaren Hall a handful of days after arriving in the Twin Cities.
Regardless, Ridder is a good choice if the goal was to find a signal-caller with some experience in the league who might also possess some hidden potential as a former third-rounder. He has started games for the Atlanta Falcons and the Las Vegas Raiders.
About Brosmer, Sunday’s QB2, O’Connell said, “The way Max has been preparing, being two snaps away, will probably only be enhanced. There’s probably not much more room he can grow from a preparation standpoint, other than the physical reps that would come with it.”
He went from being two snaps away to being one snap away, which drastically changes the odds of him actually seeing the field.
For now, all Vikings fans can do is hope that O’Connell’s magic, which he has shown with veteran quarterbacks, works with Wentz just like it did with Sam Darnold and a brief stint with Dobbs. The good news is that the offense will likely look more like an NFL offense on Sunday, as Wentz (despite all the limitations and shortcomings) has the experience to run the operation more smoothly than the second-time starter McCarthy.
It’ll be Wentz under center, backed up by Brosmer, while Ridder holds the emergency QB duties.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.