He has started 17 games. His 18th will be today in Cincinnati. Is Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens ready for that?
Coach Kevin O’Connell believes so.
“There’s a reason we identified Nick Mullens as the following last year. The man we wanted right next to” O’Connell recently told SiriusXM NFL Radio. “A lot of it had to do with the length of time he’s been playing. He’s incredibly smart. He’s an unbelievable guy in terms of preparation, doing some of the work himself. His influence and ability really impacts the quarterback room in a positive way.
“And I always thought of Nick as a fundamentally sound, nervous pitcher in football. He’s accurate. And the biggest thing for Nick was when Kirk went down six games ago. In , Nick was supposed to be the guy who would get a chance to play in the game. But he just wasn’t healthy. And we had to give him time to settle down. We were able to do that, and we also found a way to convert three of the first five chances with Kirk out, so I think Josh Dobbs deserves a lot of credit for that. ”
Dobbs deserves credit for that, even if his compensation has catapulted him into a third-string, emergency quarterback role.
Either way, it’s Mullens’ time to shine. if you can.
“He can run a football team and be there to run the show and be a presence in that gathering to hopefully beg for our group to be the best it can be. He can do it. And it’s the other 10 guys around him doing their job so the quarterback can just do his thing and be productive on offense and move the football. “We can do that,” O’Connell said.
The offensive line hasn’t been moving well in the past few games. They had zero points until Mullens replaced Dobbs. Mullens only made three, but he did enough to secure the victory.
With four games remaining, the NFC North title is definitely more within reach than anyone imagined, and Mullens has a chance to prove he belongs. Especially in a league that needs more talented quarterbacks.
Mullens is 5-12 as a starter in his career. He completed 65.4 percent of his attempts, with 27 touchdown passes and 23 interceptions. His average yards per attempt is 7.7 yards per attempt and his passer rating is decent at 88.0.