![To QB Or Not To QB? That Is The Question Vikings Ponder [Gallery]](https://townsquare.media/site/67/files/2024/04/attachment-christianponder_wesleyhitt.jpg?w=980&q=75)
To QB Or Not To QB? That Is The Question Vikings Ponder [Gallery]
UNDATED (WJON News) -- The 2024 NFL Draft is less than two weeks away and the questions and rumors surround all teams and what they will do with their first pick/s. The Vikings have the #11 and #23 pick in the first round and most experts think they will use those two picks, plus maybe their 2025 first-round pick to move up and take a quarterback, but should they?
Who are the top QB choices for the Vikings?
The two names circulating most are Michigan's J.J. McCarthy and North Carolina's Drake Maye. McCarthy's stock has risen since winning the National Championship and a stellar pro-day. He is the youngest of the four top QBs but has only made 28 college starts and his stats are way less. Most contribute his lack of stats to the run-heavy Michigan offense. McCarthy threw for 6,226 yards with 49 TDs and 11 INTs. He has a 160.5 rating which is 2nd only to Caleb Williams, the consensus #1 pick. North Carolina's Drake Maye is the name rumors suggest Head Coach Kevin O'Connell covets but will the cost be too great to get him and will he follow in Mitch Trubisky's footsteps as a QB from North Carolina a team moved up to get and then doesn't live up to expectations. Maye threw for about 2,000 more yards than McCarthy with 8,018 and had 63 TDs to 16 INTs with a 154.1 rating. There is the possibility that the Vikings stand pat and take the best QB on the board, potentially netting them Michael Penix Jr. from Washington State or Oregon's Bo Nix.
How many QBs have the Vikings drafted in the 1st round before and how did they work out?
In their history, the Vikings have drafted four quarterbacks in the first round and never really found their franchise QB. The first was Tommy Kramer in 1977. Krammer had a solid but unspectacular career playing almost all of it with Minnesota. He threw for just under 25,000 total years with 159 TDs and 158 INTs and a career mark of 54 wins with 56 losses. The Vikings wouldn't use a first rounder on a QB again until 1999 when they took Daunte Culpepper. Early on it looked like they had their man until injuries curtailed his career. Culpepper was 43-62 in his career, tossed for just over 24,000 career yards with 149 TDs, 106 picks, and 102 fumbles. 12 years later the Vikings tried again moving up in the first round to take Christian Ponder. Ponder did not work out at all. He finished with only 6,658 yards passing, 38 TDs, 36 INTs, and a 15-22-1 record as a starter. The Vikings' last attempt at a franchise QB in the first round was Teddy Bridgewater in 2014. Like Culpepper, it looked like they found their QB early on but a freak knee injury in practice sidelined Bridgewater's career to an NFL backup. Bridgewater retired after the 2023 season with a 48-37 record, 15,120 passing yards, 75 TDs, and 47 INTs.
Who are the Vikings best Quarterbacks?
Based on passing, Fran Tarkenton is the best QB in Minnesota's history throwing for 33,000+ yards with a 93-78-6 record with the Vikings. Minnesota selected Tarkenton in the 3rd round of the 1961 draft. To show the lack of great QBs in franchise history, Kramer is #2 on the list and Culpepper 4th. Kirk Cousins comes in at #3 with 23,625 passing yards, 171 TDs, 55 INTs, and a 50-37-1 record in purple. #5 on the list? That would be Wade Wilson with 12,135 passing yards, 66 TDs, and 75 INTs in five years as a starter. #6 is Brad Johnson with 11,098 yards. Johnson would complete 60% or more of his passes for 13 straight seasons with MN, WAS, TB, and DAL, (the first NFL QB to do so), and win a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay. The Vikings took Johnson in the 9th round and Wilson in the 8th round.
What should the Vikings do?
Based on the team's history, moving up looks like a losing proposition. They moved up to take Ponder and Bridgewater and neither panned out. Their overall history of taking QBs in the first round is not good either. Two of the top 6 QBs in team history were taken after the 7th round (rounds that don't exist anymore), and the best, Tarkenton was selected in the 3rd. The best option might be to stand pat, take a defensive player at #11, and then the best QB left at #23. That strategy has worked out well twice for Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers and now Jordan Love (though Love needs another few seasons yet to cement him as a good pick). Keep scrolling below for a look at the Vikings' history of first-round picks and then decide for yourself.