J.J. McCarthy is the No. 1 quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings this year, and no one is arguing against that, but what has been taking place with one of the team's other signal-callers in the first few training camp practices is already raising some concerns.
After the Vikings acquired Sam Howell in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks earlier this year, most have assumed that he will enter the 2025 season as the team's No. 2 quarterback behind McCarthy. However, a recent report about Howell's early performance in Minnesota's training camp certainly puts his future with the team in doubt.
On Monday, The Athletic's Alec Lewis shared some notes about how Howell has played in Vikings camp so far, and it seems like the fourth-year quarterback has been a bit underwhelming, to say the least.
"The best way to sum up Howell’s performance is a beat too slow. Without the post-practice film, it’s impossible to assess each rep accurately.
Is Howell taking a hitch because he’s not seeing the picture correctly, or is he waiting a split second extra because the receiver was rerouted by a cornerback? Whatever the case, it feels fair to say that Howell hasn’t consistently pulled the trigger promptly."
Is the Minnesota Vikings backup QB for the 2025 season currently on the team's roster?
For context, Lewis did also mention that most of Howell's reps in this year's training camp have come against Minnesota's first-team defense, so that is definitely something to keep in mind when evaluating his performance.
Still, if Howell has to play at all in 2025, it's going to be against an opposing team's first-string defense, so any concerns about his early struggles in camp shouldn't be ignored.
Back in 2022, during Kevin O'Connell's first year as the head coach of the Vikings, the team wound up making a trade for Nick Mullens after being unhappy with their backup quarterback situation in training camp.
Is this a path that Minnesota could take again this summer if Howell's struggles continue and neither Brett Rypien nor rookie Max Brosmer emerges as a legit option to be the team's No. 2 signal-caller?
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has never shown a hesitancy to make a trade during his tenure with the team, so Minnesota making a deal for a new backup quarterback before the start of the 2025 season definitely isn't out of the question just yet.