Sam Howell is the PERFECT backup QB for the Minnesota Vikings

Tyler Forness discusses why Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Howell is the perfect backup quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.

Transcript

00:00Backup quarterback is becoming somewhat of a concern for the Minnesota Vikings,

00:03but it really shouldn't be because that guy is probably on someone else's roster.

00:11The Minnesota Vikings need a backup quarterback behind J.J. McCarthy.

00:15Yes, they have Brett Rippin, and he started a couple games in the National Football League,

00:18but you want somebody you feel a little bit more comfortable with if McCarthy has to miss a couple

00:22of weeks to potentially win you those games. Rippin does not instill that confidence.

00:27Guys like Nick Mullins, who have moved on to the Jacksonville Jaguars from the Vikings,

00:32didn't instill that confidence. It was chaotic. There were turnovers,

00:35but he would throw for 400 yards and a couple touchdowns. He would keep you in football games.

00:40That's what you want. You want a guy who can do those things for you,

00:44and I think the Vikings can end up finding that, but it's getting a lot slimmer in the free agent market.

00:49Joe Flacco and Drew Locke signed on Friday afternoon with teams,

00:54and there's a lot of panic and sighing, just like the one I gave you there,

00:59about whether or not the Vikings were going to be able to find a good one.

01:03Well, that's the thing. Drew Locke signed with the Seattle Seahawks, who had him in 2023.

01:08Locke left for greener pastures. Well, he thought so, going to the New York Giants in 2024,

01:13thinking, hey, I might have a chance to start there.

01:15But he kind of did. He got to play a little bit because of Daniel Jones end up getting caught

01:22and benched, all that stuff, and he had one of the best games in NFL history, surprisingly enough.

01:28With all that said, his signing in Seattle could end up being the key that unlocks

01:33the Vikings' backup quarterback spot, Sam Howell.

01:37The Seattle Seahawks traded third and fifth round picks for fourth and sixth round picks

01:41to the Washington Commanders. The idea was, hey, Howell can be our developmental guy.

01:46He can be our backup. Well, the one game he got to play extensively against the Green Bay Packers

01:50in December, he was a disaster. It was rough. Howell has a little bit of a slow processing ability,

01:59and he takes a lot of sacks. In his one full year as a starter in 2023, 65 sacks,

02:06one of the highest totals in NFL history. Now, why would the Vikings want that?

02:10Well, Howell's also young. He's only 24 years old. About to go into his fourth season in the

02:16National Football League after starting for three years at the University of North Carolina.

02:22Now, Kevin O'Connell's quarterback school is quarterback rehab. Howell's the perfect kind

02:30of guy because he's a gamer. He's kind of got that Baker Mayfield energy where you just know that

02:35he's going to do everything that he can in order to win the football game. Is that going to

02:39manifest in wins? Oh, it hasn't yet, but that's the kind of player you want to have on your roster

02:46because, hey, this is a gamer. He's somebody I can trust to at least, you know, have the legs as well

02:53to keep me in football games. And with O'Connell's ability to elevate players, including the Josh Dobbs

03:00mania from a couple years ago, Howell is a perfect candidate. You can teach some of the little

03:07nuances and elevate those factors. You can't teach the things that a backup should have. The wheels,

03:13the grit, the toughness. And you know what? He could soon be available because they might not want to

03:21keep Sam Howell as their true backup when they already have Drew Locke on the roster and Jaron Hall

03:27is still out there, too. I'm Tyler Fornes with A to Z Sports. It's Cole Vikings.