Top 8 seasons by a Minnesota Vikings backup quarterback
By Tim Arcand
The Minnesota Vikings have had some great efforts by backup quarterbacks, here is a look at the best of them.
The Minnesota Vikings have four quarterbacks on the roster heading into the summer. Still, there is no question that Kirk Cousins is the starter. The only competition that remains is who gets to hold the clipboard and wear the baseball cap on the sideline when the season starts.
Having a capable backup is critical for any team with playoff aspirations. Without one, a season can be lost simply on a high-ankle sprain knocking your quarterback out for a month. According to Pro Football Reference, over the past 10 seasons, the league has averaged 15.1 quarterbacks starting all 16 games for their team. That calculates to 53 percent of teams needing a backup for at least one game during the season.
In the 58 years of the Minnesota Vikings franchise, only 14 times has a quarterback started every game of the season. Fran Tarkenton is the only quarterback to start every game in consecutive seasons, accomplishing it twice in 1964 and 1965 and again between 1972 and 1973. Luckily for the Vikings, Cousins has shown great resilience, starting every game since becoming the full-time starter for the Redskins in 2015. During that span, only Colt McCoy in 2015 has thrown a pass in a game. He threw 11 of them when he saw action in Week 17 of that season.
In honor of Cousins and his resilience, here’s a look at the top-eight seasons when a Vikings second-string quarterback played the bulk of the games over the starter. To be considered among the best backups the quarterback in question had to be second or third on the depth chart when the season opened. The criteria used for the ranking included passing yards, touchdowns, and interceptions with extra emphasis placed on their record as the starter—after all, in the NFL it always comes down to winning.