Tag: Jaren Hall

Grading the Minnesota Vikings’ 2023 rookie draft class

With their rookie seasons under their belt, let’s revisit the Minnesota Vikings’ 2023 NFL draft and hand out some rookie grades.

The 2023 season for the Minnesota Vikings was the ultimate rollercoaster ride. Not even just week-to-week, but seemingly quarter-by-quarter and even series-to-series. You never knew what you were going to get from this iteration of the Vikings on any given day, and it made for some wild moments.

The season may not have ended the way the team, or the fans, wanted, but that disappointment shouldn’t overshadow the many good things that happened this year, least of all the many great contributions from the team’s rookie class.

There are a number of different ways to build a successful franchise in the NFL, but still the prevailing thought process is that it’s best to utilize the draft to build your base, and to supplement that base through free agency, trades, and the like.

Over the past few years, the Vikings have used the draft well to build up their base, including nabbing arguably the best wide receiver in football just a few short years ago when taking Justin Jefferson.

That success in the NFL draft continued in 2023, with the Vikings getting some major contributions from a number of their selections. Perhaps even more impressive, arguably their best rookie this season came in the form of someone who wasn’t drafted at all – instead being a true diamond-in-the-rough as an undrafted free agent.

With that as our backdrop, let’s revisit the 2023 Minnesota Vikings NFL draft class and hand out some grades now that their first season is officially behind them.

2023 Minnesota Vikings by The Numbers

The 2023 season for the Minnesota Vikings was one that can’t be forgotten.

Since 2017, there have been 65 teams that have had a winning streak of five or more in a single season. Only ten failed to make the playoffs, including three from 2023: The Denver Broncos, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota’s run is a bit more impressive due to two of the wins being with a quarterback in Josh Dobbs, who was in the building for less than two weeks. Like the other two teams, however, the Vikings were victims of a crushing late-season collapse that took them out of the playoff race. 

Don’t let the ending take away from another memorable season for the Vikings.

What started as a simple quest for answers for the franchise’s future became an adventure for the ages, littered with twists and turns suitable for the Alex Rider series. While the ride ended disappointingly, the numbers from this season may have helped the front office to their answers after all.

To explain, we will split this season into four quarters and explain the numbers that coincide with each quarter to come to a conclusion for the future of the Vikings.

(All statistics are from Pro-Football-Reference via Stathead or rbsdm.com, unless otherwise stated.)

Josh Dobbs replaces Jaren Hall as QB2 vs. Lions

Josh Dobbs replaces Jaren Hall as the backup quarterback for Sunday’s game

After a disastrous performance against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night football, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Jaren Hall has been replaced as the backup quarterback by Josh Dobbs. Head coach Kevin O’Connell announced the news on Friday afternoon during his press conference.

“We’ll have (Josh) Dobbs as the backup, said O’Connell. “I think Dobbs has been able to go about the week and the process of getting a little bit more reps here and there, spending a little bit of time with Chris and Grant making sure he’s dialed in ready to go. Jaren will be in that emergency third (QB) role. A lot of things go into it, just the idea that third guy cannot go in the game unless there’s been injury to the first two guys. I didn’t think it was fair to Jaren to possibly have him in a situation where unless he’s injured he can’t come out of the game. Just long-term development, still a ton of confidence in where he’s at. I love the way he’s attacked this week and I think any good young player with a bright future, that’s the hope. He knows we support him fully and we’re going to use last week as a long-term learning op.”

This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise after the struggles that Hall had on Sunday. He completed just five-of-10 passes for 67 yards, an interception and a strip fack fumble. It does say something that the team still has confidence in Hall.

Dobbs has been the emergency quarterback since he was demoted after the Vikings 3-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. With the elevation of Dobbs, it could spell a short leash for starting quarterback Nick Mullens.

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The Real Forno Show: Who’s to blame for Vikings’ struggles?

The latest episode of The Real Forno Show dives into the Minnesota Vikings’ struggles in December. Who’s fault is it?

The Minnesota Vikings continue to disappoint fans by dropping to 7-9 with a 33-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

The big question here is who deserves the blame for these poor performances in big games?

Head coach Kevin O’Connell is now 0-2 as the Vikings head coach in must-win games. It appeared when watching the games that the team wasn’t ready to play the game. There were a lot of things that went wrong for the Vikings on Sunday night.

  • Jaren Hall’s poor performance
  • Christian Darrisaw getting obliterated by Preston Smith
  • Brian Flores’ defense struggling to make adjustments
  • Do the Vikings have a talent gap that will be difficult to overcome?
  • Where do the Vikings go from here at quarterback?

We are here to break it all down and more on the latest episode of The Real Forno Show, airing Monday and Wednesday nights at 6 pm central on the Vikings 1st & SKOL YouTube channel.

Purple Daily on Draft: Value of potential Vikings draft picks

The latest episode of Purple Daily on Draft discusses draft pick values for the Minnesota Vikings in the first round

The Minnesota Vikings might have lost to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 33-10 but it also isn’t the end of the franchise.

Looking at the future of the franchise shows some real promise for the Vikings and it starts with free agency and the 2024 NFL draft.

As things currently sit, the Vikings are set to select 12th in April’s draft. With the Vikings used to picking in the 20’s, how much of a difference is there between a pick in the early 20’s and a top 10 pick or close to it?

The Vikings roster construction is currently in a rough place. What can they do to build up their talent level? Are the in a position to go full rebuild?

Lastly, Jaren Hall struggled mightily and ended up getting benched for Nick Mullens. Was it the right call? What does his future look like?

All of that and more on the latest episode of Purple Daily on Draft, dropping every Monday afternoon on the Purple Daily YouTube channel.

Vikings vs. Packers: Offensive PFF grades in 33-10 loss

The PFF grades on offense don’t reflect how poorly the unit played

Dealing with a loss is never fun, but dealing with a loss to your biggest rival is significantly worse, especially when it ends a calendar year.

The Minnesota Vikings are dealing with just that, as they lost to the Green Bay Packers by a score of 33-10. It was a brutal one for multiple reasons and it started with the poor play from the entire team. Pair that with the coaching staff not having this team ready to go and you have a loss that essentially knocked the Vikings out of the playoffs.

Nevertheless, there is still a small modicum of hope for the Vikings to make the playoffs. If they want to make it, they are going to have to show massive improvement.

The Pro Football Focus grades on offense are out and they reflect a team that needs to show improvement.

Studs and duds from Vikings 33-10 loss vs. Packers

The Minnesota Vikings fell 33-10 to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night and the duds massively outnumbered the studs.

The Minnesota Vikings struggled mightily on Sunday night by losing to their NFC North rival Green Bay Packers by a score of 33-10.

It wasn’t just the score that was bad for the Vikings, the performances across the team were brutal.

The coaching was bad.

The offense was bad.

The defense was bad.

Special teams was relatively fine, especially the punt coverage.

When you have to go to the punt coverage unit to find a unit that played relative well, that’s not a good sign. With the loss, the Vikings no longer control their own destiny with the playoffs.

The studs and duds are not very positive on Sunday night and it’s stark at how poor things were.

Stock up, stock down in 33-10 loss vs. Packers

Plenty of stocks fell, while others went up during the 33-10 loss against the Packers.

Flat. Unprepared. Disappointing.

The Green Bay Packers came into U.S. Bank Stadium and kicked the Minnesota Vikings’ playoff hopes into a ravine by a score of 33-10.

There are usually a few positives that can be found in even the worst of performances from this season. Not this one. This was bad from beginning to end.

The defense looked unprepared for the Packers’ game plan and wasn’t able to adapt. The offense looked as disjointed as they have this season after the Kirk Cousins injury.

While searching for any semblance of a positive, there will be plenty of negatives to point out from an overall perspective.

Good, bad and ugly from Vikings 33-10 loss vs. Packers

The Minnesota Vikings lost to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football 33-10, all but ending their hopes at making a playoff run. Chris Spooner looks at the good, bad and ugly from a disappointing performance.

Just like that, the Minnesota Vikings 2023 season is all but over. Last week’s loss against the Detroit Lions removed all possibility of taking home the NFC North title. This week, with a 33-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, the Vikings have been all but eliminated from the NFC playoff picture entirely.

Minnesota isn’t mathematically eliminated. There is still a scenario in which they can make the playoffs, but it’s far-fetched. Minnesota would have to win next week against the Lions. They would also need the following to happen.

  • Packers to lose against the Chicago Bears
  • Seattle Seahawks to lose against the Arizona Cardinals
  • Either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or New Orleans Saints to lose their game.

It’s not impossible, but the loss makes a playoff berth highly improbable. But Minnesota even being in this spot at all was highly improbable, after losing Kirk Cousins for the season and the quarterback carousel that followed.

That carousel played a major role in the Vikings’ ultimate demise, as starting quarterback Jaren Hall was benched for former starter Nick Mullens. The move provided a little bit of a spark, but not nearly enough, as Minnesota got blown out at home against their division rival. Here’s the good, bad and ugly from a disappointing performance on Sunday Night Football.

Kevin O’Connell not committing to starting quarterback vs. Lions

O’Connell refused to name a starter ahead of the final regular season game

The Minnesota Vikings have not just started four quarterbacks during the course of the 2023 season but they each have gotten at least two starts.

After Sunday’s 33-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers where he pulled starting quarterback Jaren Hall for Nick Mullens, head coach Kevin O’Connell told the media after the game that he is not committing yet to a starting quarterback for their week 18 matchup against the Detroit Lions.

This is the third time that O’Connell has done that this season, doing so after losses against the Las Vegas Raiders and Lions. Each time he did, O’Connell announced the starting quarterback mid week.

Who will be the starter against the Lions? That remains to be seen, as all three quarterbacks have merit to get the start. Mullens looks to be the best option to get the win, Dobbs is a major changeup that could give a spark to the offense and Hall would be the choice if you want to keep learning about what he could be in the future.

That answer will come in time but don’t expect it quite yet.

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