A leader has emerged in the Vikings’ backup quarterback battle

After the first few full-team practices of this year’s training camp, Sean Mannion appears to have the lead in the battle to be the backup quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.

For the second year in a row, there are no questions about who the starting quarterback will be for the Minnesota Vikings. Kirk Cousins has the job locked down and he is on track to be the first signal-caller to start back-to-back season openers since Mike Zimmer became the team’s head coach in 2014.

Figuring out who will be the No. 2 guy behind Cousins this year is still something that has yet to be decided though.

Competing to be the Vikings’ backup quarterback this season is Sean Mannion, Kyle Sloter, and Jake Browning. After Minnesota’s first few training camp practices this year, Mannion appears to have the early lead in the battle.

Helping the former Los Angeles Rams signal-caller emerge as the early leader for the job is his experience with a lot of the concepts the Vikings are running on offense this year.

Many of the things the Rams do on offense originate from a scheme developed by former NFL head coach Mike Shanahan. New Minnesota offensive advisor Gary Kubiak worked under Shanahan for a number of years and he’s using what he learned during their tenure together to try and help the Vikings’ offense get back on track in 2019.

Mannion’s main competition for the backup spot behind Cousins this season is Sloter. However, the majority of Sloter’s reps in camp this year have come with Minnesota’s third-team offense.

Zimmer commented on Sunday that Sloter tends to not play as well during practice as he does in games. So his best opportunity to make his case to be the Vikings’ No. 2 quarterback in 2019 will likely come during the team’s preseason matchups this year.

Mannion may have the early lead to win the job right now. But this battle is far from being anywhere close to over.