Daily Norseman
The debate about when the Vikings should bring back JJ McCarthy to start is already raging. SMDH. Wentz is going to start again this week and this should be a tougher test. If he does well again, then the debate should get fiercer. If he does not do well then the calls to put JJ back in will increase and with good reason.
KOC is in a tough spot. He wants to develop JJ because he believes he is the QBOTF. He also wants to win games and compete for a title. The way the roster was constructed this offseason led many to believe the team was going all in or at least going to do everything they can to get back to the playoffs and win a game or more.
If Wentz is doing OK and the team is winning and he goes back to JJ and he has some customary rookie QB struggles, how will the team respond? Will some go to KOC and say that Wentz is the better option because they want to win games?
I think that Wentz will do OK and that KOC will go back to JJ when he is fully healthy.
For Wentz’s role as a trusted backup quarterback, it was good. For a Vikings franchise that needed to settle down from the volatile highs and lows of first-time starter J.J. McCarthy, it was even better.
“[He] came in and played point guard for us,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said of the 32-year-old Wentz, who set an NFL record by starting a game for his sixth different team in six consecutive seasons. “Ran the show, was efficient, he made great decisions, he got through his progressions and did a lot of things to help the Minnesota Vikings win today.”
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“This is the feeling that we chase,” O’Connell said afterward. “Now we’ve got to go back to work and start checking the box of being a consistent football team showing up on game day. … It showed some growth and maturity. The ability to come back and put a performance like that together really in all three phases is very encouraging for the future.”
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“That’s obviously what I want to do when I go out there,” Wentz said. “I don’t want to be the one making the plays. I just want to get it to these playmakers That’s always been my philosophy. We’ve got some good ones here. It’s been fun just seeing them work and practice. It’s only been a couple weeks, obviously. But seeing it live in a game like today — even [Justin Jefferson], just catching a little deep slant and turning it into whatever he did, 30, 40 yards, it’s fun for me to see that. Because my job is just 1-2-3, throw it, and let them do the hard work....
