Tag: Nick Mullens

Vikings named as likely landing spot for free agent QB

What about the backup option for J.J. McCarthy? They won’t be bringing back Sam Darnold, but could there be a free-agent fit?

The Minnesota Vikings are set at quarterback for the foreseeable future. Immediately, they are rolling with Sam Darnold and are now 8-2 with him as the man under center. Long-term, they have J.J. McCarthy, who the team remains fully committed to after seeing what he could do in his lone preseason game in August.

What about the backup option for J.J. McCarthy? They won’t be bringing back Sam Darnold, but could there be a free-agent fit?

On Thursday, the New York Giants released quarterback Daniel Jones after benching him in favor of Tommy DeVito before their Week 12 game. Jones was the sixth overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft and never found consistent success in New York.

Could the Vikings and Kevin O’Connell be a fit for another former New York quarterback reclamation project?

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Sunday morning that the Vikings and Ravens were the two teams likely to attempt to sign Jones after he clears waivers. Jones could make sense for the team to use as a backup behind J.J. McCarthy next season at a much cheaper rate than most other quarterback options.

Sam Darnold has played his way into a bigger contract as a starter so with his expected departure, the team needs a reliable option.

New Vikings QB Brett Rypien has a hilarious note on his draft profile

For the NFL Draft, Lance Zierlein of NFL Media wrote up his draft profile, which includes a funny note that Vikings fans may enjoy.

The 2019 NFL Draft was a fun quarterback group for fans, analysts, and teams to enjoy seeing if their team would land them. One of those quarterbacks was Brett Rypien, who had wrapped up a very successful career at Boise State.

Upon entering the NFL Draft, Lance Zierlein of NFL Media wrote up his draft profile, which includes a funny note that Vikings fans may enjoy.

It doesn’t relate to hand size, bench press, or his 3-cone drill workout. It relates to his pro comparison as it happens to be a full-circle moment for Rypien and one of his teammates.

The veteran draft analyst had his official player comparison for Rypien to be his future teammate, Nick Mullens.

As someone who did draft analysis for that class, I believe the player comp is accurate. They both have live arms that can make throws to any level of the field, but they struggle with some mechanics and processing, which leads to turnovers and bad plays.

Despite that note, Rypien could prove to be a perfect fit for Kevin O’Connell the same way Nick Mullens has. Neither one will win an MVP award anytime soon, but they can be efficient within his offense.

Sam Darnold labeled Minnesota Vikings’ “X-factor” heading into 2024

The Minnesota Vikings’ season is going to hinge on the performance of quarterback Sam Darnold, making him the team’s “X-factor” in 2024.

The Minnesota Vikings are in a bit of a pickle regarding their quarterback situation heading into the 2024 season. The plan all along was for former first-round pick Sam Darnold to start the season and for the team to evaluate when to bring in this year’s first-round pick, J.J. McCarthy.

That plan changed dramatically when McCarthy was lost for the season with a knee injury. Now, the Vikings are left with Darnold as the starter and a lot of uncertainty behind him if things don’t pan out for the much-maligned quarterback.

That uncertainty is what has Bleacher Report NFL analyst Kristopher Knox naming Darnold the Minnesota Vikings’ “X-factor” for the 2024 season. Darnold can have one of two seasons: either a redemptive season reminiscent of Baker Mayfield and Geno Smith or a complete collapse, and the Vikings will have to turn elsewhere.

If that second scenario plays out, they’d be turning to either Nick Mullens, who was prolific in his starts last season in relief of injured quarterback Kirk Cousins but was 0-3 in his starts, or Jaren Hall—who was unimpressive in his two starts but went 1-1—or recently signed Matt Corral, who has yet to play a game in the NFL.

The Vikings are in a position where they desperately need Darnold to play like a quarterback who was taken with a top-three pick and not like the quarterback he has played for much of his career.

Fantasy football: Minnesota Vikings QB preview

Will Sam Darnold resurrect his career in Minnesota?

One of the training camps that garnered a lot of interest earlier this month was the Minnesota Vikings. After years with Kirk Cousins at the wheel, Minnesota was breaking new ground. The Vikings held off trading up when quarterbacks were flying off the board until they gave away far less than projected to land J.J. McCarthy with the 10th pick in the draft.

They had their player. The Vikings came up with a Plan B scenario, signing veteran Sam Darnold on a team-friendly, one-year deal similar to the contract Baker Mayfield signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year. The primary difference was that the Vikings had a dissimilar plan in place. As soon as McCarthy was ready, Darnold was heading to the bench – a “rent don’t own” situation in Minnesota.

That ended in the first preseason game. McCarthy suffered a torn meniscus, and his rookie season is over. Plan B is now Plan A in Minnesota.

Vikings QB Nick Mullens gave the Browns his best Iron Man impersonation

We saw Nick Mullens give everyone his best Iron Man impression with a tough first half and a stat backs up just how wild it was for him. 

It was announced before the game that Sam Darnold and the majority of the Vikings starters would not be playing against the Browns. One can assume that was a result of the team’s joint practices this week and the injuries that resulted.

With that, we saw Nick Mullens give everyone his best Iron Man impression with a tough first half, and a stat backs up just how wild it was for him.

Kevin Seifert of ESPN shared on social media that ESPN stats and info had Mullens hit on nearly half of his 20 dropbacks. The Browns’ defense, which dominated the Vikings’ offensive line, hit him nine times and sacked him two other times.

Despite that, Mullens played the entire first half and led the Vikings to a 13-to-7 first-half lead. He had a couple of nice throws when he was allowed time and converted several third downs to extend drives.

Nice steps taken after missing the game last week.

Vikings QB Sam Darnold to sit against Browns, Nick Mullens to start

The Vikings have had an interesting week in regards to their quarterbacks, and we got one more wrinkle in it all before the Browns game.

The Minnesota Vikings have had an interesting week regarding their quarterbacks, and we have one more wrinkle before the Cleveland Browns game. With J.J. McCarthy on injured reserve, the team signed Matt Corral to add some depth to the roster.

Now as we get ready for kickoff against the Browns, we get news of Sam Darnold not playing against them.

Chris Hawkey of Minnesota Vikings Radio reported hours before kickoff that Darnold will not be playing against the Browns. Instead, Nick Mullens, who sat out last week against the Las Vegas Raiders, will get the start. He reports that Matt Corral and Jaren Hall will get some reps as the team works to figure out the quarterback position.

Mullens was a healthy scratch last week, and it is expected that Darnold will be the same this week. It is odd, though, that Darnold isn’t being exposed to the Browns” defense anymore after a tough week of practice.

For now, we get to see our first look at Mullens who did flash some good moments last year filling in for Kirk Cousins.

WATCH: Nick Mullens connects with Trishton Jackson downfield

Quarterback Nick Mullens connected with wide receiver Trishton Jackson on a deep pass in the team’s joint practice with the Cleveland Browns

The Minnesota Vikings were dealt a massive blow on Wednesday with the news that rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy would miss the entirety of his rookie season after having surgery to repair a torn meniscus. This injury leaves Sam Darnold as the undisputed starting quarterback and a lot of uncertainty behind him.

Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall are suddenly battling for the backup quarterback duties, and Mullens appears to be taking full advantage of his new-found position. Where the two were previously fighting for a roster spot, it’s now possible that both make the roster, and 2024 could be another carousel season at the position.

If it is, it looks like Mullens has developed a connection with at least one of his wide receivers: Trishton Jackson. Jackson himself is embroiled in a position battle, his for the third wide receiver spot behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. While Jalen Nailor may have a lead in the battle, Jackson is making sure that the staff doesn’t have an easy decision by making big plays in practice, like the one below.

Vikings’ Sam Darnold labeled a ‘free agency steal’ by NFL analyst

Maurice Moton of Bleacher Report believes the Minnesota Vikings got a steal in free agency with the signing of quarterback Sam Darnold.

The Minnesota Vikings were caught between a rock and a hard place this off-season. It was clear to most people that former starting quarterback Kirk Cousins wouldn’t be back with the team. He was an impending free agent in his mid-30s coming off a serious injury, and looking for a major payday. It just was never in the cards for him to return under the circumstances.

But what were the Vikings going to do at quarterback in his absence? They seemingly hadn’t prepared very well for life after Cousins, and they were left with either the prospect of throwing a rookie quarterback into the fire immediately or signing a re-tread in hopes he could provide a bridge to the young quarterback.

The Vikings opted for the second route and signed former New York Jets first-round pick Sam Darnold. According to Maurice Moton of Bleacher Report, that decision is already one of the biggest steals of the offseason.

Moton recently identified eight players who already look like free agency steals in training camp, and among them is the much-maligned quarterback. Darnold—at least so far in Vikings camp—has been performing well and showing folks that, while he may never live up to the position he was drafted at, he can be a serviceable quarterback in this league.

That’s all the Vikings need. Minnesota just barely missed out on a playoff berth last season, with the trio of Nick Mullens, Jaren Hall, and Joshua Dobbs starting games for them. If Darnold can provide the team with slightly more production — or, at the very least, fewer drive-killing turnovers — the Vikings have a chance to be playoff contenders this season.

Getting that from a quarterback making just $10 million– especially in today’s quarterback market- qualifies as a steal.

More belief behind 2024 being a ‘redshirt year’ for J.J. McCarthy

One Vikings writer views J.J. McCarthy as QB3 entering training camp and he may not get on the field at all in 2024.

Even though Minnesota spent the 10th overall pick on its franchise quarterback, it might not be in the cards for J.J. McCarthy to start for the Vikings in 2024. That’s what some believe that are in the ‘know.’

According to Pioneer Press writer Charley Walters, he believes McCarthy won’t start in ’24 and won’t even be the main backup. He looks for Sam Darnold to start this upcoming season with Nick Mullens backing him up. That would mean McCarthy has a ‘redshirt’ year as a rookie.

“It will be a redshirt year for rookie QB J.J. McCarthy, with Sam Darnold the starter and Nick Mullens the backup. It appears the transition plan will be to turn the starting job over to McCarthy in 2025.”

McCarthy was 27-1 at Michigan in two seasons as the starter. He won a State Title in high school and has been a winner wherever he goes. But the Vikings aren’t going to rush McCarthy and are perfectly fine in a world where he sits and is ready to go in 2025. However, if Darnold bombs and Mullens is a turnover machine, it’s not a foregone conclusion that McCarthy doesn’t get some serious playtime this year.

Could the Vikings keep three quarterbacks on the roster in 2024?

The play-by-play announcer looks for the Vikings to keep three quarterbacks on the active roster this season.

After the Vikings selected Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, fans started pondering if he would start in ’24. But Minnesota also signed veteran Sam Darnold this offseason, and the Vikings aren’t in any hurry to rush McCarthy to the starting position. This would realistically mean Darnold enters Week 1 as the starter, with McCarthy standing on the sideline, ready for his opportunity as the backup.

Well, maybe not.

According to the voice of the Vikings and play-by-play announcer Paul Allen, via KFan1003, he is looking for Minnesota to keep three quarterbacks on its roster this season. The caveat is that he doesn’t think McCarthy will enter the season as the number two quarterback.

“I would make it prohibitively favored in that it would be Sam Darnold starting, Nick Mullens as the backup, and then J.J. McCarthy as the 3rd QB,” said Allen. “But this is an opportunity for McCarthy. Punchers chance would be too strong, but long-ish shot fashion to win the two job in training camp. And I don’t know if it will happen, but I would make 3 QBs on the active roster prohibitively favored.”

Nick Mullens was one of the quarterbackss to start last season when Kirk Cousins went down. Mullens moved the offense and put up some nice yardage stats, but turnovers reared their ugly head when Mullens was behind center. It’s something that would have to be improved if he ended up getting the second shot in Darnold’s place.