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Minnesota Vikings sniffing around sleeper quarterback in 2019 draft

By Erik Lambert

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - JANUARY 19: Jordan Ta'amu #10 from Mississippi playing on the East Team looks to throw the ball during the second quarter against the West Team at the 2019 East-West Shrine Game at Tropicana Field on January 19, 2019 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - JANUARY 19: Jordan Ta'amu #10 from Mississippi playing on the East Team looks to throw the ball during the second quarter against the West Team at the 2019 East-West Shrine Game at Tropicana Field on January 19, 2019 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /
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It seems the Minnesota Vikings might be keeping their options open at the quarterback position, at least in the near future.

There’s no question that Kirk Cousins will be their starter in 2019. Hopes are high that new offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski can get more out of him and the offense in general than Jon DeFilippo was able to. That said, Mike Zimmer has never been known for his patience regarding that position. If Cousins fails to deliver a playoff run again this year? Don’t be surprised if the team looks for an escape hatch.

That would involve possibly laying the groundwork of having options in 2020. This may explain why the team is sniffing around some of the quarterbacks in the 2019 draft. One that seems to have caught their attention is Ole Miss standout Jordan Ta’amu. According to Tony Pauline of Draft Analyst, he met with three teams at his pro day with one of them being the Vikings.

"“He made all the passes, showed great arm strength and was very accurate. Except for a few red zone passes, all his throws were on the mark. Ta’amu was inconsistent during his senior season and during Shrine Game practices but he’s had limited experience at quarterback. Today’s performance assures Ta’amu will be selected during the final day of the draft and is a terrific developmental prospect with great upside.Ta’amu met extensively with the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboy, and Houston Texans.”"

Jordan Ta’amu looks like a project with big upside for a stable team

From a physical standpoint, Ta’amu is the total package. He’s 6’3 with a live arm that can throw deep and plenty of mobility to get yards himself. He has the athletic skills teams covet in a quarterback. So why isn’t he projected among the top names in this draft? Put simply: his processor. Too many times in games Ta’amu was slow to react to blitzes and had a lot of trouble identifying what defenses were trying to do.

This isn’t entirely his fault. He only played one full season of Division I college ball. Before that, he was on the junior college circuit where he didn’t need to read defenses because none of them were talented enough to stop him. So is that he simply can’t do that part of the job or he just hasn’t learned it’s a necessity to his future? At least one team is going to spend a draft pick to find out, and the Vikings may be lining up to be one of them.

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