Who will the be the Minnesota Vikings’ starting quarterback in 2018?
By Adam Patrick
Case Keenum:
2017 was a career year for Keenum in his first season with the Vikings. Signed to just a one-year deal by Minnesota last offseason, no one expected the quarterback to be anything more than a backup in 2017.
But after Bradford went down in Week 2, Minnesota really did not have any other options than to play Keenum. Due to the Vikings winning week after week with him under center, Keenum remained the team’s starter for the majority of the season and had his best year as an NFL quarterback.
That being said, this was the very first season of his career in which Keenum was able to play at a level that consistently produced wins. Most of Minnesota’s wins were not directly due to his performance under center, but Keenum did a good job in 2017 of not putting the Vikings in bad situations.
Is his play last season something that can be expected for the future? Or was his success due more to the strategic play-calling of former Minnesota offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur?
Are the Vikings willing to take a chance on finding out if Keenum can continue to perform well without Shurmur calling the plays for him? Even if Minnesota wants to re-sign Keenum, he may actually be better off getting a big-money contract from another team while he still has the chance to do so.