The Minnesota Vikings are evaluating which quarterback will be their starter with five games left in the season coming out of a Week 13 bye. After a 12-10 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday, November 27, head coach Kevin O’Connell said he would “take a look at everything” when asked if he would consider a quarterback change following a four-interception night from Josh Dobbs.
However, the decision appears to be narrowing; and rookie Jaren Hall, who was the team’s Week 9 starter in place of an injured Kirk Cousins, is unlikely to take the starting job. “I would be surprised if, at this moment, it’s Jaren Hall,” KSTP’s Darren Wolfson said on a November 28 episode of SKOR North’s “Mackey and Judd” podcast. “I would not be shocked if they go to Nick Mullens. Wouldn’t be surprised if they just rolled back Josh Dobbs.”
Wolfson’s rationale is the Vikings’ high opinion of Mullens, who was still on injured reserve with a back injury when Cousins went down with a season-ending Achilles on October 29. The Vikings had confidence in Hall, but his Week 9 start, which ended with him landing in concussion protocol in the first quarter, was due to him being the only quarterback available who had been in the system.
Off the injured reserve and with a few weeks of practice under his belt, Mullens is the only competition to Dobbs for the starting spot moving forward, according to Wolfson. “The debate right now is Dobbs v. Mullens,” Wolfson added. “If Mullens doesn’t hurt his back, maybe they still make the Dobbs trade, but Nick Mullens would have been the starting quarterback on November 5 (Week 9 vs. the Atlanta Falcons). They believe in him that much, to that extent, that he was going to be their guy.”
