Our Quarterbacks
These are my thoughts after a very limited sample of exhibition game action. All thoughts to be served with a grain of salt!
Kyler - he looked about like I expected. Didn't set the world on fire, but he can deliver the ball when he needs to. I think KOC went run heavy to avoid contact for his #1, no need to put him in harm's way for a nothing game. He needs all those #1 camp reps to get better timing down with his targets and keep learning this offense. He should look better as the season goes on and that stuff settles in.
JJM - well surprisingly I thought he looked better in one area, which was delivering the ball on time from a clean pocket. Last year he struggled even with that. His accuracy is still suspect but again, maybe a little better from a clean pocket.
The problem is when he's under pressure. He honestly to me looks like he might have regressed and he was already really bad. His go-to move when it turns chaotic is a sidearm sling from his upper body, with no base or discernable footwork at all. This is going to be an off-target ball or an interception 90% of the time in the NFL.
I don't know how you fix that, even if he were playing all the games and he's likely to just be practicing. I maintain that the best thing for him would be to go play in the CFL or USFL where he could get constant live reps for some team and learn to play under pressure. If that learning is possible, I don't know if it is.
Carson - was exactly what I expected. This guy can look like an all-pro on one play and a total dud on the next. He is a roller coaster and it's not game to game or even half to half or series to series, it's like every other play. He's good enough to backup but he's not leading anyone to a title if he has to take over a season for an injured guy. Right now I'd put him slightly above JJ for #2 but honestly that is only because he can in fact deliver under pressure more often than JJ and has a ton of experience in the NFL.
Max Gopher - ya gotta love our little Golden Gopher but he seems somewhat snakebitten. He gets in a game and throws the underhanded pick six in Seattle, or has 3 net yards passing against Detroit, or plays one series today and goes out with an injury. I think he eventually will do a KOC path and become a QB coach somewhere. I like him but I don't think he's destined to even be a backup in the NFL.
2026 will make it the 4th new QB1 on opening day since 2022:
Cousins
Darnold
McCarthy
Murray
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
purplefaithful wrote:
2026 will make it the 4th new QB1 on opening day since 2022:
Cousins
Darnold
McCarthy
Murray
Because this franchise has all the foresight of a grasshopper when it comes to positioning ourselves to get a good one. Been that way since I was in a crib.
pattersaur wrote:
Because this franchise has all the foresight of a grasshopper when it comes to positioning ourselves to get a good one. Been that way since I was in a crib.
I think they should get some points with the intent of drafting a QB at 10..
My grandpa used to say "people plan and the lord laughs"
He was right too.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
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pattersaur wrote:
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Nothing more needs to be said.....other than Minnesota has won an amazing amount of regular seasons wins during that time with so many QBs.
pattersaur wrote:
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...and if you included all the QBs who've started games for us, you'd need a bar about twice that long.
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
—George Orwell
I always thought of the Bears as having by far the worst QB situation, but that is really embarrassing. I would say Culpepper is one of the only ones that standouts as a true franchise QB who was in his prime at the time and not recycled. And of course possibly the guy we let walk recently 😀
Of all the QBs the one that sticks out and turns my stomach as the most embarrassing and worst moment for our franchise is Favre and it is not close. Seeing him on the list totally repels me, not someone that was easy to root for and the reminder that he is part of our history make me wish we could erase his face from the list.
StickierBuns wrote:
Nothing more needs to be said.....other than Minnesota has won an amazing amount of regular seasons wins during that time with so many QBs.
To land THAT GUY at QB you either gotta get lucky or plan ahead. The Vikings franchise has shown an unwillingness to plan ahead (right or wrong) and we all know how the luck around here works. It's why the JJ McCarthy saga stings more than it otherwise would for a different franchise. Sigh. Someday.
pattersaur wrote:
To land THAT GUY at QB you either gotta get lucky or plan ahead. The Vikings franchise has shown an unwillingness to plan ahead (right or wrong) and we all know how the luck around here works. It's why the JJ McCarthy saga stings more than it otherwise would for a different franchise. Sigh. Someday.
Or just not have your top 10 QB lose a year and a 1/2 of development due to injury after injury. We can only imagine where he'd be today if his trajectory was injury free.
Culpepper, Bradford, Bridgewater, McCarthy all share something in common.
We'll see how this year goes...Despite the objections of JIT, I can't help but believe NT is going to dip into 27 QB pool in some way.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
purplefaithful wrote:
Or just not have your top 10 QB lose a year and a 1/2 of development due to injury after injury. We can only imagine where he'd be today if his trajectory was injury free.
Culpepper, Bradford, Bridgewater, McCarthy all share something in common.
We'll see how this year goes...Despite the objections of JIT, I can't help but believe NT is going to dip into 27 QB pool in some way.
JJ was the 5th QB taken in that draft and is an example of the Vikings failure to do what's necessary in order to get a top pick, when the time is right. Teams like the Patriots don't go from the best in the league for years to the #3 overall pick, right back to the best in the league by accident.
pattersaur wrote:
JJ was the 5th QB taken in that draft and is an example of the Vikings failure to do what's necessary in order to get a top pick, when the time is right. Teams like the Patriots don't go from the best in the league for years to the #3 overall pick, right back to the best in the league by accident.
I think we’d be having a very different discussion if Maye had missed 2/3 rds of his first two years while McCarthy stayed on the field. You can’t gameplan for anything like that.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
purplefaithful wrote:
I think we’d be having a very different discussion if Maye had missed 2/3 rds of his first two years while McCarthy stayed on the field. You can’t gameplan for anything like that.
The QB we selected either missed the game, got hurt in the game or left the game due to injury in 29 of his 34 games...and it's KOC's fault.
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
—George Orwell
MaroonBells wrote:
The QB we selected either missed the game, got hurt in the game or left the game due to injury in 29 of his 34 games...and it's KOC's fault.
that’s pretty crazy stats btw..downright depressing
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Too bad we could not swing a trade for Drake Maye. I know KOC wanted him.
I don’t think it’s an either/or situation, where it’s either JJM just sucks / JJM and Oline got hurt / KOC is bad at coaching QBs.
It’s a mix of all of it. I think there’s no doubt in my mind that JJM would be better now than he is now if he got more on field / in game reps. I think there’s a certain amount of just having to live in an offense and let it slow down that needs to happen before you can really be changing everything. It’s unfortunate that there’s no real development league for the NFL. I think KOC/McCown have an undeserved reputation as a QB whisperer. The track record is not there and all the ones that are there have asterisks by them. He’s a young coach. I don’t think he’s had the time to really develop his teaching skills and I think he’s better suited to teaching guys that are already close to his skill level. I think it’s easy to say that organizations are bad. It’s much harder to develop a robust organization and I think KOC’s scheme which has been called challenging by more than one QB that has been in his system has made the transition harder. There’s always the option that JJM just sucks. More QBs are going to bust than are going to succeed. It’s just the way it is. If Jaren Hall was good or if Brosmer was good, I think we could feel better about JJM being the primary/only problem in the equation.
Wanna play QB in the NFL? pic.twitter.com/VZcDvR3Dws
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) August 26, 2026
LIVE WELL ~ LOVE MUCH ~ LAUGH OFTEN
It's kinda funny reading these reports about how KO knew last summer well before the season that they were in trouble at the QB spot. Makes me wonder how he is feeling today.
If Kyler balls out and we see the ceiling-- even if it's only for a few quarters of the first couple games-- I will feel a lot more optimistic about our chances for a fun year. As of this moment, "Good team... no QB" feels very in play again this year to me. I felt the same way about Darnold and Keenum though so ya never know. They both had the big chip on their shoulder that I think prepared them for their moment. Kyler should too. Is it gameday yet???
pattersaur wrote:
It's kinda funny reading these reports about how KO knew last summer well before the season that they were in trouble at the QB spot. Makes me wonder how he is feeling today.
If Kyler balls out and we see the ceiling-- even if it's only for a few quarters of the first couple games-- I will feel a lot more optimistic about our chances for a fun year. As of this moment, "Good team... no QB" feels very in play again this year to me. I felt the same way about Darnold and Keenum though so ya never know. They both had the big chip on their shoulder that I think prepared them for their moment. Kyler should too. Is it gameday yet???
Its been a long off-season for sure...
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
It also makes you wonder a little bit about the difference in what was being reported then, which was “everything was great, we’re actively in our SB window, don’t even need to do a preseason game for JJM”, and these reports coming out this year, which are “Oh, KOC knew it was going bad, etc.”
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