It would be great if Anthony Richardson, Will Levis, C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young magically fall and are available when the Minnesota Vikings go on the clock with the 23rd pick in the NFL Draft, but that doesn’t seem very likely to happen.
That leaves the Vikings stuck between a rock and a hard place. They’re undoubtedly going into the 2023 season with Kirk Cousins at quarterback. The question is how long will they extend him this offseason and if it’s a short-term extension where are they going to find their future starting quarterback?
In a perfect world, they’ll find a diamond in the rough through the draft. But they only have four picks to work a miracle this year. If it happens, what quarterbacks are the next Jalen Hurts or Dak Prescott or Brock Purdy?
Keep in mind that Minnesota owns the following picks:
- 1st round: 23rd overall
- 3rd round: 87th overall
- 4th round: 116th overall
- 5th round: 155th overall
Anyway, without any inside information and simply digging through the internet for interesting information about players, here are five quarterbacks who are projected to go in the mid/late rounds who are interesting.
Hendon Hooker, Tennessee
He tore his ACL in November and at 25 years old he’s already older than Jalen Hurts (24) and just two years younger than Patrick Mahomes. Those two factors make him a big risk when quarterbacks who are 3-4 years younger with healthy knees could be developed while Cousins plays the next 1-3 years.
According to PFF, Hooker put himself in the Heisman conversation this past season thanks in large part to Tennessee’s no-huddle scheme that “makes it easy for quarterbacks to shine.” Still, he threw 58 touchdowns and only five interceptions in the past two seasons at Tennessee.
Hooker told ESPN two weeks ago that he’s feeling great and ready to show an NFL team what he can do. Here’s how he described himself to ESPN:
“I want to be smart and learn and want to come in and be extremely competitive. A dynamic guy who is hungry for betterment of himself on and off the field. A dynamic guy in the pocket and a good deep-ball thrower and an accurate thrower. And an athletic player. A competitor.”
Tanner McKee, Stanford
McKee is the fifth-ranked quarterback in Pro Football Focus’s rankings, which says the 6-foot-6 quarterback had to play behind a bad offensive line at Stanford but overall is “one of the best pure-pocket passers in this class in terms of accuracy, timing and footwork.” The cons to his game, per PFF, are that he doesn’t have the strongest arm and his not very mobile in the pocket.
The thing with McKee is that most can’t agree on where to rank him in this year’s quarterback class. For example, PFF has him fifth behind Young, Stroud, Levis and Richardson. Mel Kiper Jr., meanwhile, has McKee ranked 10th.
Aidan O’Connell, Purdue
Like Hooker, age is a factor with the 24-year-old O’Connell. Beyond that, he’s might be the ideal pick for a team looking for a quarterback he can hang in the pocket and make big throws. Of course, he’s not going to outrun anyone in the NFL if the pocket collapses. Here’s how FantasyPros describes him:
“A throwback pocket passer who doesn’t have the mobility teams are increasingly looking for at the position, but who has the size, arm strength, and touch to operate effectively when working from a clean pocket and who already has experience taking snaps from under center and working his way through progressions in a pro-style offense.”
PFF ranks O’Connell seventh among draft-eligible quarterbacks, just behind Hooker and McKee.
Clayton Tune, Houston
You know what’s probably nothing more than a coincidence but is cool nonetheless? Last year, CBS Sports draft analyst Dane Brugler ranked Brock Purdy as his ninth-best QB in the 2022 draft. Tune is ranked ninth in Brugler’s 2023 rankings.
Tune’s senior season at pass-happy Houston was electric as he threw for more than 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns. In his four-year career he threw for 11,127 yards, 95 touchdowns and 41 interceptions while adding nearly 1,300 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground.
You know who had similar college numbers? Purdy: 12,170 yards, 81 touchdowns and 33 interceptions along with 1,177 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns.
Just coincidence? Probably. But every team will be looking for the next Purdy and Tune certainly fits the mold.
Jaren Hall, BYU
Another one of the elder statesman as he turns 25 later this year, which means he’ll need to be pro-ready almost as soon as he steps onto an NFL field for the first time.
In twos years starting at BYU following Zach Wilson being drafted by the Jets No. 2 overall in 2021, Hall lit up the field with 6,174 yards, 52 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also racked up 798 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
Analysts all over the internet rave about his arm strength, which can take quarterbacks a long way in the modern game. Fill in the rest of the blanks and he could be a diamond in the rough in the right circumstances.
