What will the quarterback depth chart look like for the Minnesota Vikings in 2020?
For the first few years of Mike Zimmer’s tenure as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, the quarterback position was one of the most unstable on the team’s entire roster.
It wasn’t like Zimmer and the Vikings weren’t attempting to figure out a solution though. If not for Teddy Bridgewater’s freak injury in 2016, he might still be Minnesota’s starting quarterback.
However, Bridgewater’s injury ultimately led the Vikings to the position they are currently in with Kirk Cousins heading into his third season as the team’s starting signal-caller.
Instead of re-signing Bridgewater, Case Keenum, or Sam Bradford, Minnesota made the decision to throw stacks of money at Cousins during free agency in 2018. After a shaky first year with the Vikings, he bounced back and helped the team get back to the playoffs last season.
With Cousins, the top of Minnesota’s quarterback depth chart appears to be set for this year. But what about the rest? Who will the Vikings select to be their No. 2 guy behind Cousins for the 2020 season?
The Starter
Kirk Cousins
Teams typically don’t give contract extensions worth $66 million to a guy who isn’t going to be a starter on their roster. This is the amount of money the Vikings awarded Kirk Cousins this offseason and it says a lot about their feelings about him as their starting quarterback.
Cousins doesn’t only possess a solid amount of talent, he represents stability under center and that is something Minnesota has struggled to find throughout the entire existence of their franchise.
During his first season in 2018, the Vikings probably put more on the quarterback’s plate than they should have. They fixed this strategy in 2019 and it led to Cousins having one of the most efficient years of his NFL career.
For the upcoming season, he’ll get the opportunity to basically run the same offense as last year. Continuity with an offensive scheme has proven to lead to success in the past around the NFL so hopefully, it will result in Cousins leading Minnesota back to the playoffs once again in 2020.
The Backup
Sean Mannion
In terms of ability, Sean Mannion certainly isn’t going to rank near the top of any list of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL. But for some reason, the Vikings are happy with Mannion as their No. 2 guy behind Kirk Cousins.
Mannion has been in the NFL since 2015 and he still hasn’t thrown a single touchdown pass. He’s started a total of two games and he’s attempted less than 75 passes in his entire career.
When Minnesota let their starters rest during their season finale against the Chicago Bears last year, Mannion ended up getting the start under center. The result was him getting flustered by an underachieving Bears team as he completed just 57.1 of his passes for 126 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Still, the Vikings decided Mannion was worth re-signing this offseason and most assume he’ll continue to remain the top backup behind Cousins in 2020. But if Cousins has to miss any amount of time during the upcoming season, Minnesota will be forced to give meaningful playing time to Mannion and that could result in a tremendous disaster.
The Rest
Nate Stanley
For the first time since 2014, the Vikings used a draft pick on a quarterback this year when they selected former Iowa signal-caller Nate Stanley in the seventh round.
Stanley didn’t put up monster numbers in college, but he’s got good size (6-foot-4, 235 pounds) and Minnesota clearly saw something in him that made them decide he was worth drafting.
Could he challenge for the No. 2 job behind Kirk Cousins this year? It doesn’t seem likely (especially with the on-field time missed due to the COVID-19 pandemic), but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he ended up on the Vikings practice squad to begin the season.
Jake Browning
Signed as an undrafted rookie last year, Jake Browning spent all of last year on Minnesota’s practice squad. Browning re-signed with the Vikings this offseason with the hope that he’ll be able to crack the active roster at some point in 2020.
Like Stanley, there’s a small chance he could challenge Sean Mannion for the job as Minnesota’s top backup this year. But another stint on the team’s practice squad seems more likely for Browning in 2020.