Guest Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 The Backup QB Quandary thread got me thinking about the Vikings history of backup QB's. To my mind, the Vikings have never really had "that" 2nd string QB that the team had absolute trust in. Miami Dolphins used to have a guy out of Virginia Tech named Don Strock, who came off the bench quite often to win the game. Baltimore Colts and Dolphins also had Earl Morrell. Steve Young was a great backup to Montana, but he also was a HOF starter after Montana left. For the Vikings, the best I can come up with is Bob Lee who backed up Gary Cuozzo and then Tarkenton. I also thought Tommy Kramer was better coming off the bench then he was as a starter. Who do you think of as the best 2nd string QB's to don the purple and gold? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeydudemanG Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Case Keenum wasn't a 2nd string QB but he sure played well when Bradford went out. I'm surprised you didn't bring him up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klomp Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 17 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said: The Backup QB Quandary thread got me thinking about the Vikings history of backup QB's. To my mind, the Vikings have never really had "that" 2nd string QB that the team had absolute trust in. Miami Dolphins used to have a guy out of Virginia Tech named Don Strock, who came off the bench quite often to win the game. Baltimore Colts and Dolphins also had Earl Morrell. Steve Young was a great backup to Montana, but he also was a HOF starter after Montana left. For the Vikings, the best I can come up with is Bob Lee who backed up Gary Cuozzo and then Tarkenton. I also thought Tommy Kramer was better coming off the bench then he was as a starter. Who do you think of as the best 2nd string QB's to don the purple and gold? Brad Johnson, Randall Cunningham, Jeff George all had decent stints as backups here before thrown into the lineup. Frerotte was solid for a few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Brad Johnson maybe. Seemed pretty steady in the 90s backing up Moon. Had a few chances as a starter but had some injuries in 97 and 98. Went on to being a fairly mediocre starter and even won a super bowl. Not a terrible career for who most thought of as a backup. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krauser Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 (edited) The Vikings two highest regular season win totals were both mostly the product of backup QBs: 15-1 in 1998 and 13-3 in 2017 -- both years the week one backup QBs (Cunningham, Keenum) started 14 games and won most of them (Cunningham 13-1, Keenum 12-2). Half of their playoff wins from the last 20 years were led by backups. 1998: Cunningham 1-1 (Johnson was the week one starter that year) 1999: George 1-1 (Cunningham) 2000: Culpepper* 1-1 2004: Culpepper* 1-1 2008: Jackson* 0-1 2009: Favre* 1-1 2012: Webb 0-1 (Ponder) 2015: Bridgewater* 0-1 2017: Keenum 1-1 (Bradford) So the backups are 3-4 with two NFCCG appearances (Cunningham, Keenum) and the starters are 3-5 with two NFCCG appearances (Culpepper, Favre). Edited May 8, 2019 by Krauser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Wade Wilson is the greatest Vikings' backup QB in the history of the franchise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 On 5/7/2019 at 3:47 PM, HeydudemanG said: Case Keenum wasn't a 2nd string QB but he sure played well when Bradford went out. I'm surprised you didn't bring him up. For my consideration, the backup had to be around for several seasons. Case played great in '17, no doubt...but the brain trust for the Vikings didn't think he was valuable enough as either a starter or backup to offer him a contract that he would accept. Both Bob Lee and Kramer were kept around by the Vikings because they were highly valued coming off the bench, much like Nick Foles was for the Eagles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeydudemanG Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Virginia Viking said: For my consideration, the backup had to be around for several seasons. Case played great in '17, no doubt...but the brain trust for the Vikings didn't think he was valuable enough as either a starter or backup to offer him a contract that he would accept. Both Bob Lee and Kramer were kept around by the Vikings because they were highly valued coming off the bench, much like Nick Foles was for the Eagles. I mean back-up quarterbacks weren't getting paid 10 mill a year like Keenum got. I'm sure we would have loved to keep Keenum, but paying him 10 mill a year to start might not have been the best move based on the fact I think we can all agree Cousins is a slight upgrade and little more consistent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 9, 2019 Share Posted May 9, 2019 52 minutes ago, HeydudemanG said: I mean back-up quarterbacks weren't getting paid 10 mill a year like Keenum got. I'm sure we would have loved to keep Keenum, but paying him 10 mill a year to start might not have been the best move based on the fact I think we can all agree Cousins is a slight upgrade and little more consistent. I will agree that Cousins had somewhat better passing statistics...except he had fewer wins then Keenum...but this is about back up quarterbacking not about Cousins or Keenum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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