But don’t worry, it’s a late-round pick
Much has been made of the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback situation this offseason, and for good reason. From the impending return of J.J. McCarthy from injury, the “will they or won’t they” with Sam Darnold, and the “they’d better not” of Aaron Rodgers, there have been a lot of storylines swirling around the most important position on the field for our favorite team.
With only four picks. . .as of now. . .in the 2025 NFL Draft, the quarterback spot hasn’t been one that’s been mentioned a lot for the Vikings. However, behind the great E$PN paywall, Ben Solak has projections for 12 teams that he believes are perfect fits for quarterbacks throughout the Draft, and believes that the Vikings would be well-served to select Ohio State signal caller Will Howard with a later-round pick in a couple of weeks.
Ideally, the Vikings go QB earlier in this draft — but Howard in Round 6 is a pretty square deal. He had 43 starts over four seasons at Kansas State and a national championship campaign with Ohio State. With the Buckeyes, he looked the part of a poised and trustworthy veteran. I like Howard’s mobility, but he isn’t a one-read-and-scramble escape artist in the pocket. He’ll sit in there, bounce through progressions and look for the correct throw. He can break a tackle or two as well; he’s big and doesn’t shy away from contact.
Howard can access all the levels of the field and is generally safe with the football, but he doesn’t see it fast and will get hoodwinked by coverage rotations at the snap. He needs an offense like the one Kevin O’Connell runs, as it protects the quarterback from high processing demands. At Ohio State, Howard picked his poison on isolation routes with elite college receivers in Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. In Minnesota, he could do the same with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.
Honestly, if the Vikings accumulate more picks as we believe we will, I think they could do a whole lot worse than to take a guy like Howard to develop for the long term. You’d have to think he’s got more upside than Brett Rypien at this point in their football journeys, and they wouldn’t be expecting him to step in and be the backup right away or anything. The team will almost certainly be bringing in a veteran to back up McCarthy (once they no longer count against the compensatory pick calculus), so Howard could stick as the #3/emergency quarterback and just learn for a year (at least) while he develops.
Whether or not quarterback is a screaming need for the Vikings at this point depends on how you view J.J. McCarthy, I assume. As someone who thinks that he has a real opportunity to be the long-term answer that this team has been seeking for as long as I can remember, I still wouldn’t be opposed to grabbing a prospect like Howard that Kevin O’Connell can work with if the team addresses a few other things first.
Do you think the Vikings should be looking at grabbing a quarterback during the 2025 NFL Draft, folks?
