STEELE SPORTS

Whether you loved him or hated him, one truth that Vikings fans have to admit is that this team was better with Kirk Cousins under center.

Now, as our chain-wearing savior sits idly on the sidelines, the Vikings will have to finally admit that it is time to address the future of this team at the quarterback position.

As much as I would love to see Cousins retire in purple – which there may still be hope of – the time is now for the Vikings to draft a quarterback in the first round.

This year’s class of quarterbacks making the jump from college to the NFL includes some heavy-hitting names that fans might want to keep their eyes on.

While Caleb Williams (University of Southern California) and Drake Maye (University of North Carolina) may go too early in the first round for the Vikings to grab them without jeopardizing more assets, there are some names to watch in the back end of the first round.

According to 5 Eyewitness News anchor Darren Wolfson, the Vikings have been connected to Louisiana State University quarterback Jayden Daniels and University of Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

While I will say that I like both of these options – Daniels being the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner and McCarthy a proven winner leading Michigan to a No. 1-seed this season – I do have a definite preference of Daniels over McCarthy.

My reasoning: the ability to run the football.

It has been far too long since Minnesota has had a quarterback who can effectively utilize the ground game.

Our offense is already the most pass-heavy of all 32 teams, largely in part to having one of the best receiving corps around.

However, to effectively set up our passes, we need to have a more threatening run game.

This season has proven to fans that Alexander Mattison, while serviceable, is not our star-studded running back of the future.

With our offensive line playing well and our standout crew of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson carrying the offense, we need to plug in a dual-threat quarterback to keep opposing defenses on their toes.

Daniels’ size (six-foot-four, 210 pounds) and rushing abilities (1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns on 135 attempts in 2023) prove that he could be an immediate weapon that would lighten the load on our running back carousel, while also not dropping off skill-wise for our talented receivers.

Professional football will always have a place for your standard pocket-passer quarterback but with so much youth in our coaching staff, I think it would benefit this team greatly to bring in a guy who offers the team the opportunity to be multi-dimensional at the quarterback position.

That being said, if McCarthy ends up being our guy, I won’t be upset either.

We must trust in Kevin O’Connell because, at the very least, he has us in a position to take the wild card despite having three separate backups start for us this season.