Vikings Hand Out a Promotion
The quarterback group has been quite the revolving door for the Minnesota Vikings this season. Long gone is the stability of the past years, with Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold playing entire seasons. No, J.J. McCarthy has only been available in six of his 29 games, and Carson Wentz suffered a season-ending injury in his third appearance (granted, he lasted another two contests).
Vikings Hand Out a Promotion
Last week, the Vikings were down to QB3 Max Brosmer, and it was quite the disaster. On Saturday, the franchise ensured that there would be another option behind McCarthy, if needed for one reason or another.
Minnesota announced the promotion of practice squad passer John Wolford. The Vikes wrote on the team’s official website, “The Vikings on Saturday announced they have signed quarterback John Wolford from their practice squad to the 53-man roster. Wolford joins J.J. McCarthy, who is scheduled to return to action after missing Week 13 at Seattle while in concussion protocol, as well as undrafted rookie Max Brosmer. Wolford has four career starts with the Rams but has not appeared in an NFL game since 2022.”
Given McCarthy’s injury history, it’s not the worst idea to have several backups ready to go. We don’t know the order of the backups. Brosmer was clearly not ready last week, and there’s a chance Wolford is better prepared for the bright lights at this point.
He’s a veteran player who played in a postseason game half a decade ago. Wolford was initially signed after Wentz was ruled out for the season. After a month on the practice squad, he’s now promoted to the 53-man roster.
Undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2018, Wolford signed with the New York Jets, where he spent his first preseason. The passer was axed before the season kicked off. He then had a stint with the Arizona Hotshots of the AAF in 2019. Once that league folded, the quarterback was hired by the Rams.
He remained with the organization from 2019 to 2022. Perhaps most notable is his 2020 start in Week 17 with a playoff berth on the line. He became the first quarterback to rush for 50 yards and pass for 200 in his NFL debut. A week later, he started the playoff game in Seattle, but a neck injury knocked him out of the game. In 2020 and 2021, he worked with Vikings head coach and then-Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell.
On his NFL resume, Wolford has seven appearances in the regular season (four starts) and one start in the postseason. His total numbers show 64 completions on 110 attempts for 655 yards, one touchdown, and five picks. He added another 89 rushing yards.
Since leaving the Rams in the 2022 offseason, Wolford had stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2023) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (2024).
Vikings OC Wes Phillips said about the signal-caller last month, “I’m really glad we got John [Wolford]. Just the familiarity with the system, he’s an extremely intelligent person, John is, and he’s always been a grinder.”
Phillips was also employed by the Rams at the time Wolford was there. Phillips continued, “Him and Brian Allen would — our center — they were roommates in LA and they would go in a little, they had, I think they were in a small townhouse, and they had this tiny little backyard. And they’d go in the backyard with their helmets on and go through the game plan and he’d call the plays and they’d play this little mock game in this little strip of grass in the backyard. So he’s kind of a psycho.”
Wolford turned 30 in October. He has not been on an NFL field since 2022.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.