Josh Dobbs endured his worst performance during his brief time with the Vikings during last night’s loss, and it remains to be seen if he will remain atop the quarterback depth chart after the team’s bye week. Head coach Kevin O’Connell acknowledged changes could be made ahead of Minnesota’s next game. 
Dobbs was acquired at the trade deadline to provide depth in the wake of Kirk Cousins‘ Achilles tear. Fifth-round rookie Jaren Hall was initially set to take over starting duties, but his own injury thrust Dobbs into the lineup days after arriving with the team. The Vikings enjoyed early success with the latter in place, but he threw four interceptions in Week 12, bringing him to a total of eight turnovers in his four Minnesota appearances. Dobbs nearly received the hook yesterday, O’Connell said (via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert).
Hall has cleared concussion protocol, while Nick Mullens – initially in place as Cousins’ backup to start the season – has come off injured reserve. As a result, O’Connell will have multiple options to choose from during his evaluation of the QB situation over the team’s week off. Sitting at 6-6 on the year, the chances of a push for a wild-card spot need to be taken into account along with the upside of giving Hall developmental reps down the stretch.
“We’re going to take a look and really evaluate the inventory of plays we have of Josh,” O’Connell said, via Seifert. “We got healthy. We got Jaren back available to us, and then Nick Mullens is available as well.”
Dobbs and Mullens have similar levels of regular season experience and they have each bounced around to several teams in their respective careers. The latter has far more familiarity with O’Connell’s system, though, having been in Minnesota since 2022. On the other hand, Hall was drafted this past spring in the team’s only move to add a potential Cousins successor, so giving him an extended look could carry signficant importance for 2024 and beyond.
Cousins is set to hit free agency this offseason, though he and the team have expressed a desire to continue their relationship. While that situation will be a central one for the Vikings, their more immediate future under center is also uncertain as the stretch run looms.
lol we broke them
We broke ourselves, man. The Bears did everything they could to break themselves, too. Ugliest game I’ve seen in a while, certainly in prime time.
But sure, the Bears “broke” a team that’s on its third quarterback and was without 4 starters… Moreso than winning, the Bears just avoided losing. Yea, biased Vikings fan. That’s basically what we did all of last year lol
Ugliest? Giants jets and giants patriots have entered the conversation lol
2 bad losses in a row! Too many turnovers. Let the rookie play QB.
Mullens, at one time, looked at least like a legit capable NFL QB when he was with the 49ers.
Now, idk if that was just due to their sheer amount of weapons and having Kyke as their coach, but he was definitely waaaay better than CJ Beathard…lol
Whatever move helps lions win division, I’m perfectly ok with
Except the Lions face the Vikings twice in the last 3 weeks. Xmas Eve in Minneapolis, Week 18 in Detroit.
Hahah and the Dobbs love show ends.
Wow, two weeks ago, the press had Dobbs as the second coming.
It was one bad game and I’d argue the one INT was on Addison, not Dobbs. Don’t overreact, he is the best option they have.
Nope, the throw was too far behind Addison. All the picks were on Dobbs. Poorly placed balls and bad decision making. I really admire Dobbs, but no one should be surprised at his unravelling.
To paraphrase Denny Green “he is who we thought he was”. He can’t consistently extend drives with his arm, but his legs give him a chance to do so.
All that is needed is adjustment in four areas.
#1) The receivers need to adjust their catching techniques to the “hard” throws that are coming from Dobbs.
#2) Dobbs needs to position his throws so that receivers are able to make catches with the aid of their bodies as opposed to just relying on their hands (although Hockenson seems to handle throws from Dobbs) and Dobbs needs to be able to adjust the velocity of his throws to the circumstances as well as to the skillset of his receivers.
#3) The coach and the OC need to be calling and structuring passing plays so that Dobbs is not called upon to thread his throws into tight windows in terms of both time and area.
#4) The receivers need to get greater separation from the various coverages that are called by the defense.
I know I’ve said this before, but Dobbs wasn’t ever going to offer very much more than what they had. He is at his best with a good strong run game, which Minnesota doesn’t have. Dobbs just doesn’t have NFL level arm talent, to be honest. It’s more of an issue with his precision than it is his arm strength, though his arm isn’t really strong enough to compensate for that. He just struggles too much with tight throws, especially at greater distances. I’ve just never been very impressed with what he brings to the table, in my opinion.
Mullens did have a period of success in San Francisco, and started a string of games there. He can be a bit of a gunslinger, or at least he used to. Jefferson’s return may complement that style, if he returns healthy. On the other hand, Hall could get some valuable experience, and they could get a chance to evaluate him. The questions Minnesota has to answer are whether or not they think they can continue to compete this year, and whether they want to bring Cousins back next year.
If the answer is yes to the former, they probably should start Mullens until they are out of contention. If they lose, they could choose to start Hall until the end of the year. As for the second question…if the Vikings are decided on moving on from Cousins next year, starting Hall now may have its advantages. They could see whether or not he is worth keeping as a successor. Of course, they may be convinced that Hall is not an option already.
Success? Mullens was 5-12 as a starter on a very good Niner team. 13Tds and 10ints season and a 12 and 12 one are not good.
When he started, he had success early, then tanked. Hence the phrase “period of success.”
They need to look at Hall since they spent a draft pick on him. Dobbs was a nice little story for the media, but he really isn’t more than a backup that can help for a game or 2. He is not a long term solution.
Nick Mullins is not much different than Dobbs. He wasn’t very good.
The CFL season has ended so maybe there is another Joe Kapp up north the Vikings can sign.
I thought the Vikings had already signed him to an extension? I heard the radio bozos say we should sign him to a 2/40 contract…. Let Jaren Hall play, and if he’s terrible or the game is too fast for him, let Mullens or Dobbs play.