The Minnesota Vikings are likely to draft a quarterback in the 2023 NFL draft. They need to find a quarterback of the future and Kirk Cousins is set to be a free agent after the season.
There are a few options out there at the position and we highlighted some of them last week. The Vikings have 4-5 options they could take in the first round with Will Levis and Hendon Hooker being the most likely options.
There are some in the fanbase that are weary of drafting a quarterback in the first round, especially if it involves a trade up. Who can blame them? The Vikings haven’t prioritized the position and the last five quarterbacks that they drafted have all busted in some way, shape or form.
When taking a look at the history of the position, I looked at it from 1980 on. Fran Tarkenton is the only true franchise quarterback that the Vikings have had with the only other debatable players being Daunte Culpepper and Cousins.
As I dove into the research, it was startling how little the Vikings have put into the position over the years. It’s especially alarming because they haven’t had that true franchise guy in over 40 years. Let’s take a deep dive.
Quarterbacks drafted before 1980
- 1961: Fran Tarkenton-3rd round
- 1961: Mike McFarland-20th round
- 1965: John Hankinson-8th round
- 1968: Jim Haynie-15th round
- 1968: Bob Lee-17th round
- 1969: Brian Dowling-11th round
- 1970: Bill Cappleman-2nd round
- 1972: Neil Graf-16th round
- 1973: Mike Wells-4th round
- 1976: Bill Salmon-10th round
- 1977: Tommy Kramer-1st round
- 1979: Steve Dils-4th round
1980-1999
One of the reasons that I set the cut off at 1980 was that we were three years into the draft being shortened to 12 rounds. In the first 16 drafts, teams would just throw darts even more than they do now. With a three year transition, how teams deal with the shortage of rounds becomes more clear.
Let’s start with the first 20 years from 1980-1999. Here is how the Vikings drafted.
- 286 quarterbacks drafted
- 7 Vikings quarterback selection
- 2.45% of all quarterbacks taken (below expected by nearly 1%)
The expected quarterbacks taken should be between 3-4%. One thing that changed a lot during this 20 years was how many teams were in the National Football League.
- 28 teams from 1980-1994
- 30 teams from 1995-1998
- 31 teams from 1999-2001
- 32 from 2002-present
Throughout that time, the Vikings have tried the veteran option way too many times along with starting players they took in the later round years after they were drafted in round nine or later. Here is list of the 12 quarterbacks that started a game for the Vikings in that time.
- Tommy Kramer
- Steve Dils
- Wade Wilson
- Archie Manning
- Tony Adams
- Rich Gannon
- Sean Salisbury
- Jim McMahon
- Warren Moon
- Brad Johnson
- Randall Cunningham
- Jeff George
Wilson and Kramer were the quarterbacks for the majority of the 1980’s but they rotated and got injured often. Of course, it was a different era then, but the point remains that they haven’t been able to identify a quarterback.
That was exponentially more of an issue once Dennis Green became the head coach. Instead of trying to draft a quarterback, he constantly was signing veterans to try and stay competitive. It’s not all to different from how Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is approaching the competitive rebuild, except Green didn’t try to get a quarterback until he unloaded Johnson for 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks after the 1998 season.
Quarterbacks drafted from 1980-1999
- 1981: Wade Wilson 210th overall-8th round
- 1985: Steve Bono 142nd overall-6th round
- 1987: Brent Pease 295th overall-11th round
- 1992: Brad Johnson 227th overall-9th round
- 1993: Gino Toretta 193rd overall-7th round
- 1995: Chad May 111th overall-5th round
- 1999: Daunte Culpepper 11th overall-1st round
Wilson, Johnson and Culpepper were the only players to start a game for the Vikings and all three had varying levels of success. Pease got into coaching and has been an offensive coordinator at the college level for years. Bono spent a lot of time as a backup. Toretta and May were out of the league quickly.
2000-present
The last 23 years of Vikings football have been really challenging when it comes to quarterbacks. Daunte Culpepper took over in 2000 and was the unquestioned guy until he tore his ACL and other ligaments in a game agaisnt the Carolina Panthers in 2005. A feud with new head coach Brad Childress surrounding his rehb next to an Orange Julius ended up with him being traded that offseason.
Ever since, the position has been incredibly murky. They have started 20 quarterbacks since the start of the 2000 season with multiple others playing snaps during that time.
- Daunte Culpepper
- Spergeon Wynn
- Todd Bouman
- Gus Frerotte
- Brad Johnson
- Tarvaris Jackson
- Kelly Holcomb
- Brooks Bollinger
- Brett Favre
- Joe Webb
- Donovan McNabb
- Christian Ponder
- Matt Cassel
- Josh Freeman
- Teddy Bridgewater
- Shaun Hill
- Sam Bradford
- Case Keenum
- Kirk Cousins
- Sean Mannion
That’s not a great thing. The Browns have started more in that time frame and they have been inept during nearly their entire existence post-reincarnation in 1999. It’s no surprise why fans are weary of taking a quarterback and potentially moving up. This is a lot of frustration boiled up to one list. The stats don’t do that any favors either.
- 281 quarterbacks drafted
- 6 quarterbacks drafted by the Vikings
- Joe Webb ins’t included, as he was drafted to play, and announced as a wide receiver
- 2.14% of all quarterbacks drafted
Perhaps the biggest reason is the selection of Ponder. At 12th overall in 2011, the Vikings didn’t just reach on the pick, they forced the pick. The Vikings desperately needed a quarterback post-Favre and they just took the next guy, even though his talent didn’t warrant the selection. That pick ended up costing Leslie Frazier his job indirectly and he’s among the worst Vikings picks of all-time.
Quarterbacks drafted from 2000-2022
- 2006: Tarvaris Jackson 64th overall-2nd round
- 2007: Tyler Thigpen 217th overall-7th round
- 2010: Joe Webb 199th overall-6th round (drafted as a WR)
- 2008: John David Booty 137th overall-5th round
- 2011: Christian Ponder 12th overall-1st round
- 2014: Teddy Bridgewater 32nd overall-1st round
- 2020: Nate Stanley 249th overall-7th round
- 2021: Kellen Mond 66th overall-3rd round
Bridgewater’s career was derailed by a catastrophic knee injury. He was the only one to see any form of success. Jackson was drafted as a developmental guy, but he couldn’t pair his arm talent with technical prowess. The Vikings couldn’t sneak Thigpen onto the practice squad and he played with Kansas City for a short time. Booty didn’t play a down in the NFL and neither did Stanley. Mond ended up being waived after just a year on the roster and only three plays played during the year.
What can we make of this?
It’s evident that based on the information we have that two things needed to change: how the Vikings approach the quarterback position and they need to take more bites at the apple.
One of the common arguments that people will make against cases like Tom Brady, Dak Prescott or even Brock Purdy are very rare. While that’s true, you have a zero percent chance of finding one if you don’t even try. Yes, this isn’t the age of developing a Brad Johnson you took at the end of the draft to potentially make into a starter, but taking a guy on day three is a good idea because they will be a backup on the cheap for four years.
Rick Spielman couldn’t identify a young quarterback and had to resort to both trades (Bradford) and free agency (Cousins) to acheive stability at the position. The Vikings hired both Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell to identify that player and now is the time to do so.
Just because it didn’t work before, doesn’t mean it won’t work now. Embrace the unknown and let’s hope the new regime changes history.
