Monday Morning Mailbag: Vikings Targeting Quarterback, Justin Jefferson’s Comeback
After taking a Week 13 bye, the Vikings are back in action, and this week will see a lot of talk about Justin Jefferson’s comeback. Jefferson missed seven consecutive games due to a hamstring injury.
The receiving group, head coach Kevin O’Connell, the medical staff, and receivers have shown endurance and long play with the current OFTY winner, who should assist an offense that faltered heading into the bye week.
The most pressing question surrounding the Vikings is what quarterback O’Connell will decide to play.
Everyone seems to know the team’s status, based on the email, but let me give you a quick update.
After facing him in that preseason, Minnesota traded for veteran backup Nick Mullens from Las Vegas, although he hasn’t played since the preseason and only appeared in sporadic games in 2022.
Following his Week 9 concussion in Atlanta, rookie Jaren Hall is back. Mullens was then placed on injured reserve, and a week after Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles injury against Green Bay in Week 8, Hall earned his first career start.
Joshua Dobbs was signed by the Vikings from Arizona two days after Cousins was hurt, and Dobbs was forced into action when Hall was hurt on the second possession. Following an unlikely victory over the Falcons in his hometown, Dobbs led the Vikings to one of their best halves in recent memory, leading New Orleans 24-3 at the half in Week 10.
But after that, including the last two games that Dobbs started, a run of 33 points in the previous 10 quarters has ensued.
A further complicating factor has been the Vikings’ persistent tendency to hand the ball away. The number of turnovers has increased to 24 for the season, an average of two per quarter, after seven in the last eight quarters.
If that pace holds true, it will be the 11th time a Vikings squad has averaged two or more turnovers per game since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Five of the previous Minnesota squads (8-7-1 in 1978, 11-5 in 1992, 10-6 in 1994, 9-7 in 1996, 10-6 in 1999) posted winning records. The other five each maxed out at five or six wins (2001, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2013).
Regardless of who is in the game, the Vikings really could start helping themselves by protecting the football better.
I questioned someone I respect about Dobbs’s opinions—who also happens to watch a lot of Tennessee Volunteers football—when the Vikings got him. Initially spoken, the word “beloved.” After that, even when he made mistakes—I’m paraphrasing—it happened very rapidly.
We’ve all witnessed some charming traits as Dobbs established a quick rapport with teammates and coaches, in addition to his charisma and personability that have been demonstrated throughout his media appearances.
We’ve seen him dazzle with spontaneous play-making ability, but we’ve also witnessed turnovers on an underthrown pass and a couple of deflections, as well as two fumbles at Denver (although one occurred on an illegal hit). I actually think one of the interceptions — the one that hit off Jordan Addison’s hands — had a little too much mustard on it.
It was a small sample size, but Hall seemed to have an incredibly clean operation on Minnesota’s first two possessions at Atlanta (showing nice growth since the preseason opener at Seattle). He showed good vision and accuracy with the football, even when throwing off-platform.
His performance, in my opinion, would have set up the Vikings for a victory over the Falcons, as I stated in an earlier edition.
In my opinion, the Dobbs case is still pending. For a quarterback, switching offensive systems in the middle of the season is extremely challenging since the rest of the team has been practicing and understanding them for months.
Based on three-plus games in Purple, Dobbs has been most effective outside of the pocket. It seemed Chicago made it a point to bottleneck him, but the Bears didn’t seem to sacrifice much/have to invest too many resources to do so.
With less than a minute remaining in the first half, he looked sharp in the two-minute drill before an intentional grounding penalty on a play at the Chicago 13-yard line ended the drive. The Bears managed to get home with just four defenders on a six-man blocking scheme (even if Mattison is included before releasing on his route) despite Minnesota using extra players to block. It appeared like Dobbs could have taken a checkdown to Alexander Mattison for a modest gain that would have allowed Mattison to get the ball out of bounds to stop the clock. However, he held it.
Vocality at the line of scrimmage appeared to be rather prevalent during the game, with players “canning” the first play that was called and moving on to the second.
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