Cousins to start against Chicago

[4mnvikes1982]

Looks like Zimmer is going with Cousins

[Lash Man]

He thinks he can save his job with a win lol watch the Vikings will play their starters and the Bears will play mostly back ups and still win . This happened when the playoffs were on the line a few years ago .

[halfgiz]

Not a big fan of playing Cousins with a piecemeal offensive line.
Let the future starters play in a meaningless game
And try not to get any of our stars hurt.
Not very often you get these kind of games. Take advantage of it.

[StumpHunter]

Just curious how many teams already knocked out of the playoffs are going to trot out their backup QB this weekend?

[Texas Vike]

Zimm knows his days as HC are done, so he'll do his damndest to get go out with a win. What's more, draft position and getting young backups real game experience doesn't help him any, so why would he care? Lastly, our OL will be back by Sunday as the period has been changed to 5 days.

[VikingLord]

Zimmer knows what Zimmer knows which is the game right in front of him. Cousins is his starting QB, and he's going to play his starters and try to get a win.

This is yet another reason why Zimmer needs to go. He has no vision beyond the immediate. If he had vision he'd realize the focus should be shifting to the offseason and next season, which means he needs to get game film on his younger players.

In regards to Stump's question, the answer is it depends. It depends in large part on the situation each of those non-playoff teams is in at this juncture in their starting QB's career. If you're the Jags or the Lions and you don't have a young QB sitting and waiting his turn, you go with your regular starter. If you're a team with a starting QB who is near or at the end of his tenure with the team and you have a young prospect biding his time, I think you use a game like this upcoming game to get a good look at what you have going into the offseason.

A lot of the non-playoff teams are set at QB with their young prospects already. The Vikings are in a position where unless Cousins is the future, there is little point to trot him out there, and less to put Mannion out there. Mond, on the other hand, is a guy I'd think they'd want to see under game pressure, especially against the defensive front of the Bears who are likely to walk over, through, and around the Vikings OL yet again this upcoming game. See how Mond handles that. It could be very useful information heading into this upcoming draft.

[40for60]

This will be the type of game I hope they lose. I think if they lose they might get a top10 pick next year, maybe 8 if things “go well”. If they win, probably more in the middle.

[ERIK the PURPLE]

I say Jim Harbaugh - next coach of the Vikings!!

[psjordan]

This will be the type of game I hope they lose. I think if they lose they might get a top10 pick next year, maybe 8 if things “go well”. If they win, probably more in the middle.

Some commentator said as of now best we can do is #9 and worst is #16.

[CharVike]

This will be the type of game I hope they lose. I think if they lose they might get a top10 pick next year, maybe 8 if things “go well”. If they win, probably more in the middle.

Some commentator said as of now best we can do is #9 and worst is #16.

Does it really matter. If trader down is still calling the shots he will have us in the 20s and get an additional 4th rounder. While making that deal he'll skip on a CB that will be a day one starter for another team.

[IIsweet]

NFL Network on Sirius was blasting Zimmer this morning. Saying that it is extremely selfish for him to start Cousins. Has absolutely nothing to gain. Those are valuable reps to see if Mond is worth holding onto as a backup or drafting another QB. Those are extremely valuable in determining the quality of draft pick next year. Those are valuable to the franchises future.
They said that Rick should step in and tell him that Cousins is not starting. This franchise has nothing to gain with Cousins at QB. What if he is injured in this game and suffers an injury that takes a year to recover from. Next year we eat his salary as he holds a clipboard and we get nothing from him, because he played in a meaningless game.
If he is injured, we cannot even trade him.
1 more reason to fire Zimmer. It is not about the team, it is about his ego !!!

[StumpHunter]

In regards to Stump's question, the answer is it depends. It depends in large part on the situation each of those non-playoff teams is in at this juncture in their starting QB's career. If you're the Jags or the Lions and you don't have a young QB sitting and waiting his turn, you go with your regular starter. If you're a team with a starting QB who is near or at the end of his tenure with the team and you have a young prospect biding his time, I think you use a game like this upcoming game to get a good look at what you have going into the offseason.

Atlanta, Detroit, Carolina, Cleveland, Seattle and Denver are teams that will be considering a new QB either in 2022 or 2023 and who have nothing to play for in week 18.

Cleveland will start Case, with Mayfield being hurt, Atlanta, who is in a very similar situation to the Vikings, will start Ryan.

Denver just placed Teddy on IR, and will go with Lock instead of Rypien.

Detroit looks like they will be starting Goff even though their HC is safe and they have a lot to lose winning the game Sunday.

Carolina will start Darnold.

Seattle will start Wilson.

[VikingLord]

Atlanta, Detroit, Carolina, Cleveland, Seattle and Denver are teams that will be considering a new QB either in 2022 or 2023 and who have nothing to play for in week 18.

For those teams, who is on their roster that is the young QB they could gain by evaluating?

Time to take a look...

Atlanta's backup is Josh Rosen. I'm not sure how they view him as a potential replacement for Ryan, but my guess is they don't. Behind him is Feleipe Franks who was signed as an undrafted rookie free agent last year. Maybe they like Franks, but my guess is they don't see him as a viable future starter.

Detroit's backup is Tim Boyle who was an undrafted rookie free agent signed originally by the Packers in 2018. Behind him is David Blough, an undrafted rookie free agent signed in 2019 by the Browns. Never heard of either guy.

Carolina's backup is Sam Darnold, a former 1st round pick of the Jets that the Panthers have seen more than enough of I would guess. Or perhaps, Cam Newton, their original former 1st round pick and QB who took them to their greatest heights of glory, is their backup now? Not sure. The Panthers are in former 1st round QB h3ll. The guy behind both of them is, wait for it..., P.J. Walker, a 2017 undrafted rookie free agent who originally signed with the Colts.

Cleveland... Starting Case Keenum, who we know fairly well. It is useful to note that Baker Mayfield is out on IR and so can't start, so there is no way to tell if Stefanski would have started him had he been healthy, but Keenum was an undrafted rookie free agent signed in 2012 by the Texans. I still have a fondness for Keenum, but I don't think he's proven to be a reliable starting QB as a prod. His backup is the mighty Nick Mullens, signed as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2017 by the 49ers.

Seattle's backup to Wilson is former 2nd rounder Geno Smith, taken #39 overall by the Jets in the 2013 draft. He's had multiple seasons as a starter. Little new to discover there even if they started him. 3rd string QB for Seattle is Jacob Eason, a 2020 4th rounder (#122 overall) taken by the Colts originally. Notable that he is no longer with the Colts, but Eason might be the most similar to Mond in terms of potential and draft position.

Last, but not least, is Denver, whose former 1st round starter, Teddy Bridgewater, is on IR. Denver is starting Drew Lock, drafted by the Broncos in the 2nd round of the 2019 draft, so similar in some ways to Mond. Unlike Mond, however, Lock has seen some significant playing time in the regular season since being drafted. Despite that, he has never claimed the mantle as the regular starter for the team, and it looks doubtful that will change any time soon if it ever does. Behind Lock is Rypien, signed in 2019 as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Broncos. He's seen no appreciable playing time during the regular season since then, so probably not much to see there.

The only team in this list that resembles the Vikings in any way is Seattle in terms of how established their starter is and the young recently drafted prospect behind him (although notable again that the Seahawks weren't the team that did the drafting in this case). The main difference in Seattle is probably that Pete Carroll isn't being fired after the season and it is unlikely he wants to move on from Wilson as his starting QB.

Other than that, none of the teams on the list you cited is in a similar position with a prospect on the roster truly worth evaluating.

[IIsweet]

In regards to Stump's question, the answer is it depends. It depends in large part on the situation each of those non-playoff teams is in at this juncture in their starting QB's career. If you're the Jags or the Lions and you don't have a young QB sitting and waiting his turn, you go with your regular starter. If you're a team with a starting QB who is near or at the end of his tenure with the team and you have a young prospect biding his time, I think you use a game like this upcoming game to get a good look at what you have going into the offseason.

Atlanta, Detroit, Carolina, Cleveland, Seattle and Denver are teams that will be considering a new QB either in 2022 or 2023 and who have nothing to play for in week 18.

Cleveland will start Case, with Mayfield being hurt, Atlanta, who is in a very similar situation to the Vikings, will start Ryan.

Denver just placed Teddy on IR, and will go with Lock instead of Rypien.

Detroit looks like they will be starting Goff even though their HC is safe and they have a lot to lose winning the game Sunday.

Carolina will start Darnold.

Seattle will start Wilson.

Cleveland has no other option.
Denver has to showcase Lock and make a decision on him going forward and hope that someone takes him in a trade, or he is their next guy !
Detroit may want to keep Goff for the future. They have shown signs of improvement and want to continue building on that momentum. I see Goff being there a while with the way he and Amon have created chemistry.
Carolina has no one else worth starting, and has to hopefully showcase a good Darnold for trading. Plus evaluating new OC after letting go of Joe Brady.
Seattle ??? Show off an elite Wilson to create more buzz creating max trade value. He struggled earlier this season and needs to continue showing that he is elite.

Minnesota starting Cousins does not make much sense to me.
Viking Lord, I agree with what you are saying. Let's see what we have in Mond.

[StumpHunter]

Atlanta, Detroit, Carolina, Cleveland, Seattle and Denver are teams that will be considering a new QB either in 2022 or 2023 and who have nothing to play for in week 18.

Cleveland will start Case, with Mayfield being hurt, Atlanta, who is in a very similar situation to the Vikings, will start Ryan.

Denver just placed Teddy on IR, and will go with Lock instead of Rypien.

Detroit looks like they will be starting Goff even though their HC is safe and they have a lot to lose winning the game Sunday.

Carolina will start Darnold.

Seattle will start Wilson.

Cleveland has no other option.
Denver has to showcase Lock and make a decision on him going forward and hope that someone takes him in a trade, or he is their next guy !
Detroit may want to keep Goff for the future. They have shown signs of improvement and want to continue building on that momentum. I see Goff being there a while with the way he and Amon have created chemistry.
Carolina has no one else worth starting, and has to hopefully showcase a good Darnold for trading. Plus evaluating new OC after letting go of Joe Brady.
Seattle ??? Show off an elite Wilson to create more buzz creating max trade value. He struggled earlier this season and needs to continue showing that he is elite.

Minnesota starting Cousins does not make much sense to me.
Viking Lord, I agree with what you are saying. Let's see what we have in Mond.

Don't we have the same reason to start Cousins as Seattle? Cousins has been pretty bad 4 of the last 5 games and has hurt his trade value considerably, if there was any there to begin with. We need a good game against Chicago out of him or teams will look at the final quarter+ of the season and worry Cousins is on a significant decline.