There are no young quarterbacks in Minnesota’s roster worth developing, Kirk Cousins and is a free agency. Furthermore, quarterback-friendly coach Kevin O’Connell has a track record of setting up his quarterbacks for success. This is the most interesting place to go.
Though it’s true that O’Connell is a quarterback-friendly coach, one might also argue that 2023 fifth-round selection Jaren Hall, who succeeded Wilson at BYU, shouldn’t be entirely written off as undeserving of development following 20 throw attempts in the regular season.
The Vikings, along with the Colts and Titans, were ranked by Bleacher Report’s Adam Wells among Wilson’s top landing spots, citing Wilson’s lower career interception rate than Nick Mullens and Minnesota’s excellent offensive infrastructure. Although the latter is accurate, Wilson has a far lower career passer rating (73.2) than Mullens (88.1). He also does poorly in nearly every other statistical category.
Over the first three years of his NFL career, Wilson has experienced very little success. In his 33 starts, he has a passer rating of above 90 just five times, going 12-21 as a starter. After two seasons in which he had already completely earned the moniker “bust,” he failed to lead the loaded Jets club to victory the previous season when Aaron Rodgers was injured early in the season opener.
Wilson might not have much chance to succeed in the NFL, even as a backup. He will, however, get another opportunity somewhere as a former No. 2 overall choice, and perhaps this unavoidable change of scenery will enable him to somewhat revive his career and remain a backup for the time being.
The argument in favor of taking a chance on Wilson is that he still possesses the raw arm talent that allowed him to succeed at BYU and earn a high draft pick. He still has a lot of work to do in terms of understanding the game, making wise choices, and completing accurate passes, but at very little expense, it would be worthwhile to embark on this reclamation project. This Vikings administration, which has added unimpressive former first-round picks like Jalen Reagor, N’Keal Harry, Ross Blacklock, Joejuan Williams, and Cam Akers in the past, seems like the kind of move they should at least take into consideration.
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