With the QB Logjam in Place, Do the Vikings Pull Off a Trade
Apr 27, 2024 17:45:45 GMT -6
Vikeroo likes this
Post by blackmagic7 on Apr 27, 2024 17:45:45 GMT -6
I have thought on this a lot from even before the draft. I think the Vikings could move or move on from any of the other 3, but today is not the day to do that. You wait through TC and most of preseason and make sure the health situation is fine in the room. Darnold is easily movable especially with the Vikings taking on most of his cap hit regardless if JJM is playing and practicing better. If you have a plan to move to JJM early Mullens can start 1-4 games and do the lead in. If the plan is to have JJM sit most of the year you do not need Mullens as JJM is the backup to Darnold then. Hall doesn't matter anymore. Cold thing to say but what it is. They need 4 or 5 bodies for TC and preseason though. The one argument for moving on from Darnold before TC is that there will not be reps enough to get Darnold ready and JJM ready. Mullens doesn't need as many reps. I will not be shocked if a QB gets hurt somewhere and Darnold is moved during preseason.
You touched on something along my personal thoughts on it.
Mullens is 300 yards ready right now, with a better (hopefully) defense than last year and a better running back. We don't have a clue what Darnold will look like in our offense (or what KOC's playcall style and gameplans will look like with Darnold vs. Cousins/Hall/Dobbs/Mullens). I imagine Nick would 100% put up solid tape for McCarthy to learn from (ball location play to play and the deflating mistakes). He wouldn't force KOC to redesign a bunch of stuff or waste time learning the new QB which will trickle down to JJ's development.
With Mullens, everything just moves forward. He can teach McCarthy how the offense should be right away and all of the offensive work the coaching staff and the rest of the team puts in day to day will be applicable when McCarthy hits the field. With Darnold, he really needs to prove he's not just another sideshow distraction.
I even feel like transitioning; Mullens allowing other players to cook before throwing himself out of the game (for McCarthy, ideally) is preferable to everybody on offense sitting around waiting for the QB to figure out how to get a pass off game after game. ... again, whole point is, I really just want to see Darnold prove he has taken a step forward and is fully prepared to run our offense in preseason.