It’s no surprise that journeyman quarterback Josh Dobbs returned to the atmosphere. Players are backups for a reason, and it was only a matter of time before Dobbs reminded people why he was available multiple times this season. What’s surprising about the current situation is that after the Vikings used their assets for the short-term loan, coach Kevin O’Connell is already non-committal after three starts.
That probably says more about Minnesota general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah than O’Connell, but let’s stick with the coach for a tick.
With All-Pro wide receiver Jordan Jefferson expected to return after the bye week, O’Connell said starting under center depends on his ability to maximize Jefferson.
“Justin’s role in our offense, from day one since we got here, has always been very, very important,” O’Connell said. “Any time you can inject the best receiver in football back into your offense, there will be ways to not only move Justin forward and make sure he has a critical impact on the football game… (and) the Quarterback position absolutely plays an important role.
“We’re going to make sure that whoever plays quarterback is aware and understands the intent behind the plays where Justin is the primary target, or depending on the coverage, depending on the defensive aspect, how to quickly and effectively get to the goal. good place to go with the football. Ultimately, that’s what the NFL passing game is: rhythm, timing, understanding that the defense can and will take some things away, but progressing in rhythm.
Even with context, it’s hard to tell what O’Connell is doing. The follow-up to the second-year head coach’s inaugural campaign wasn’t going well, even before Kirk Cousins’ season-ending Achilles injury, and now it’s in danger of being completely derailed.
Fellow backup QBs Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall will join Jefferson in returning from injury after the bye week, but there’s no way to know which signal-caller can maximize the star receiver because no one has thrown a pass to him. It feels like O’Connell said a bunch of football buzzwords to sound smart.
Usually, such sound bytes precede an incredibly stupid decision, so let’s see how this plays out. You’d think a coach would start the QB who gives him the best chance to win, and while that person might not be best for Jefferson’s stat line, winning is what What’s best for the team, right?
Even though Jefferson has talked a lot about his contract extension, is the team really going to bend his approach just to make him happy before negotiations? This seems excessive.
The underlying problem in Minnesota is that Adofo-Mensah has been trying to get rid of Cousins through attrition since arriving in the Twin Cities. Before the year, I wrote that the general manager had faked this list being completely dependent on Cousins; that’s why he let Dalvin Cook go and drafted Jordan Addisson. Well, the injury to the team’s starting QB prevented that plan from coming to fruition this season and perhaps delayed it indefinitely.
The last two weeks have reminded Skol fans that you can do a lot worse than Captain Kirk, so I’m not sure of Adofo-Mansah’s thought process when trading for Dobbs. Was it to show critics that Cousins was holding the team back? Dobbs led the Vikes to victories in his first two appearances before imploding in an explosion of turnovers.
Or did the general manager think a playoff run was still possible even without Cousins? If this were true, then why neglect strengthening, or even maintaining, the running game during the offseason? The defense is much improved from 2022 and is proving some of Adofo-Mensah’s moves worked, but I’m so confused by what’s happening in Minnesota.
Given the many questions facing this franchise after the season — it was Cousins last year under contract, and I’m not sure Jefferson shows up without a new one — some semblance of a plan would be best.