The 53 man roster is set as the Minnesota Vikings begin to prepare for September 10th at home versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and with that the quarterback room appears set for 2023.
Since the offseason rule change that allows an extra emergency quarterback not to count against the 53 man roster, the Vikings were allowed to keep the trio of Kirk Cousins, Nick Mullens, and Jaren Hall in tact for the 2023 NFL season. Yet, there is still an odd-man out. After a brief 1 week stint with the Vikings, 2023 XFL Offensive Player of the Year Jordan Ta’amu has found himself on the NFL waiver wire as he looks to continue his professional football career elsewhere. Ta’amu didn’t even play in the Vikings final preseason game vs the Arizona Cardinals, whom the Vikings had held joint practices with.
Only two quarterbacks got any run in preseason, Nick Mullens and Jaren Hall. In that final preseason game vs the Cardinals, it was the rookie show for Jaren Hall, the 5th round pick out of BYU. Hall had a pretty good performance going 16/27 for 178 passing yards, 21 rushing yards, 1 passing touchdown, and 1 interception. If you’re interested in more expert analysis on his game tape than I can give, I certainly recommend this breakdown of Jaren Hall’s performance vs the Cardinals.
In their second preseason game vs the Tennessee Titans, Mullens started going 13/23 for 151 passing yards and 9 rushing yards. Hall also played going 4/7 for 49 passing yards and 14 rushing yards.
The first preseason game was against the Seattle Seahawks. Mullens was the starter going 14/20 for 139 passing yards, 9 rushing yards, and 1 passing touchdown. Jaren Hall played as well going 6/14 for 37 passing yards.
It was some solid preseason work for Mullens and Hall despite the Vikings going 0-3 in preseason games. Mullens, the 28 year old quarterback most notable for his time on the San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns, was traded to the Vikings on August 22, 2022 for a 2024 conditional seventh round pick after spending training camp and preseason with the Las Vegas Raiders. Mullens looked solid in his brief appearances in the 2022 regular season. Across 4 games, Mullens went 21/25 for 224 passing yards, 8 rushing yards, 1 passing touchdown, and 1 interception. 
Mullens was QB2 last year and is expected to start the season as QB2, but coach Kevin O’Connell sees potential in Hall so he could find himself fighting for QB2 sooner rather than later.
I won’t waste your time with who QB1 is for the 2023 season. Kirk Cousins returns for his 6th year with the Vikings in a contract year in what is Cousin’s first time as a Viking having the same offensive playcaller (O’Connell) in consecutive seasons. With that in mind, a lot of us are expecting a big season from QB1. If you’re interested to read more about Cousins and why Patrick Mahomes and Marcus Mariota call him “the most underrated quarterback”, I wrote about him earlier this summer.
Kirk Cousins and Nick Mullens getting their throws in! #SKOL pic.twitter.com/mGHqJLgmRk
— SKOR North (@SKORNorth) August 23, 2023
After years of not having a competent backup quarterback, I’m glad the Vikings now have 2 that fans seem optimistic about.
These quarterbacks also seem to have the right mindset….
Dear Lord, please give me the strength to NOT send this to every group chat I’m in to start my day. “An opportunity, bub.” pic.twitter.com/feXJLeCYaK
— SKOL South (@SkolSouth) August 18, 2023
