Just when it seemed like the Minnesota Vikings had found their answer at starting quarterback, they again find themselves embroiled in a controversy at the position. With a bye in Week 13, they are faced with a major decision: Who will be their starting QB?
Joshua Dobbs, acquired by Minnesota (6-6) before the Oct. 31 trade deadline from the Arizona Cardinals, was the story of the NFL for his first few weeks with the Vikings. He brought a high-tempo offense and a running element to the organization — a stark contract to the passing-friendly offense under Kirk Cousins, who’s out for the season with an Achilles injury.
The magic, however, seemed to disappear for Dobbs after his four interceptions during a 12-10 loss to the Chicago Bears on “Monday Night Football.” Many pundits expected Dobbs — a journeyman — to perform like one at some point. He has trended in the wrong direction the past two weeks, leading the team to consider other options at QB.
Fortunately for the offense, it will soon get a major boost with star wide receiver Justin Jefferson’s probable return Dec. 10 against the Raiders.
On Tuesday, head coach Kevin O’Connell told the media the importance of Jefferson’s significance to the offense and that his return will factor in to the decision of who will start at quarterback.
Accuracy and the deep ball will be paramount to the offense. The turnover margin has been a battle for the Vikings all season, so the four-interception game does not bode well for Dobbs’ chances of retaining the job.
Besides the turnover struggles against the Bears, Dobbs missed a wide-open Jordan Addison for an easy touchdown. Addison seemed to have lost his sense of where he was relative to out of bounds, but Dobbs’ pass was a blatant miss.
If the Vikings stray from Dobbs against the Raiders, their options are either rookie Jaren Hall or Nick Mullens, another journeyman. Will the Vikings stay will Dobbs to see what he can do with Jefferson back in the mix? Or will it be time for another change in Minnesota?
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NFL
Patriots unexpectedly sign their former quarterback
The New England Patriots have had many issues this season, especially regarding the quarterback position. Mac Jones has been benched more times than the team has won, and Bailey Zappe cannot seem to find a rhythm. Now, New England has signed another quarterback to the team, and it just so happens that he is a familiar face to the Patriots organization. The Patriots have signed former Carolina Panthers quarterback Will Grier to their practice squad. Grier was released by New England this past weekend, and he has now rejoined the practice squad. It is unlikely that he will see any playing time, but amid the quarterback struggles with the team, it could be a real possibility for him to be elevated at some point. Grier has not performed well enough in the NFL to be a starting quarterback in the league. He has only played in two games, for the Panthers back in 2019, and has 228 passing yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions. He also has 22 yards rushing with zero touchdowns and a fumble, so you can say that Grier has not had the ideal NFL career. New England continues to have major quarterback problems this year, and the team has been under serious fire from fans and analysts. Jones has been playing terribly, which has caused the team to bench him four times, and Zappe has not been able to perform much better. New England’s options are running slim, and head coach Bill Belichick has been under some serious heat because of it. Rumors continue to swirl regarding Belichick’s future, and many think he will be out of New England. The Patriots are currently 2-9 and have the worst record in the AFC. They will host the struggling Los Angeles Chargers this coming weekend. Will the team get its third win of the season, or will we see it continue to tank the rest of the year to secure a top-five draft pick?
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NHL
Kyle Dubas was close to trading core Maple Leafs player before being fired?
In an interview between TSN First Up and Jonas Siegel, a writer for The Athletic, the scribe revealed something quite interesting about former Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas. According to Siegel, Dubas was on the verge of trading a major piece of the roster before he was fired by the Maple Leafs. Dubas ultimately went on to take a job with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but fans are wondering what this team might have looked like had he stuck around. When asked to imagine what the Maple Leafs might have looked like if Dubas stayed on as GM. “I think they would look totally different. We got the indication from Kyle Dubas at that crazy press conference before he was let go, where he indicated maybe looking at a trade of a core player, so I think that’s on the table. So, obviously, you can pretty quickly narrow it down to who that might be and what it might look like. So that’s one of those players potentially gone which is significant. Obviously you would get considerable pieces back for that player, whoever it is, whether it was Marner or Nylander.” He went on to say that he thinks Dubas would have made a pitch for Tyler Bertuzzi, but he doesn’t imagine he would have gone after any of the other big signings the team made this summer. “Everybody else, I just don’t see it, Siegel continued. “I don’t think there’s any way they sign John Klingberg. There’s zero chance they sign Ryan Reaves to a three-year contract.” He added that maybe Dubas brings in Max Domi, “but I don’t really see it.” Would Dubas have overhauled the Maple Leafs roster? Siegel said that the guys the team brought in doesn’t include utility players. “None of those guys kill penalties, none of those guys are the kinds of players you want to put on the ice when you’re defending a lead in a playoff game, let alone a regular season game.” He said that if you look at what Dubas did at the trade deadline last year, it’s clear he would have considered all those factors when going after players. Siegel seemed to be questioning whether the team made the right decision to let Dubas go. “The team has major issues to sort out,” he said. He’s wondering how the team is going to fix all of these different things.
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NFL
Do the Giants already have their long-term answer at QB?
It’s been a weird NFL season, to say the least. Numerous star players have had year-ending injuries. Many coaches have been fired. And it’s also produced a sign that the apocalypse may be nigh: the Patriots are terrible and the Lions are actually good. Above all, it’s been the Season of the Backup Quarterback. Due to injury, bad play, or both, over half the teams in the league have used backup QBs this year. While the meteoric rise (pun intended) of Joshua Dobbs of the Minnesota Vikings has been a fun story, there’s another backup QB who deserves some attention: Tommy DeVito. Sure, he won’t be leaving the Earth anytime soon — or perhaps even his parents’ house, for that matter — but he’s one of the few sparks the moribund New York Giants have had this year. DeVito has so far only started three games, but the results have been promising. After getting shellacked by the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10, DeVito led Big Blue to two straight wins — something that didn’t happen when Daniel Jones was starting this season. In those two games, he went 35-of-51 for 437 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Clearly, it’s way too early to talk about DeVito in the same company as, say, Brock Purdy, who also took over for an injured starter, but let’s do it anyway. Here are their numbers from their first three starts: DeVito: 49/78, 523 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT Purdy: 48/69, 636 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT Perhaps the best part of the DeVito saga is that he’s from New Jersey — in case you couldn’t tell by his name. He grew up in Cedar Grove, which is a mere 11 miles from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford where the Giants play. Fans have embraced him in large part because he seems like he could easily be out in the parking lot with them tailgating before a game instead of on the field warming up. DeVito doesn’t shy away from the fact that he lives with his parents. His father owns a heating and plumbing business. His mother makes sure her boy is well-fed, and is the primary reason why he’s been dubbed “Tommy Cutlets.” He’s also humble. When his name was announced in the introductions before the home game against the Patriots, DeVito said “I kinda blacked out. I didn’t know if people were cheering or booing, or what was going on. It could have been anything, but I was just locked in, enjoying it.” With the Giants having little to play for the rest of the season, DeVito will have his chance to prove that he belongs. Many people — including former star QB Boomer Esiason — think the potential is there. No matter how DeVito plays down the stretch, this of course won’t prevent the Giants from drafting a top QB if they get the chance or trying to get Jones back on the field because he’s a huge financial investment. But, right now, none of that concerns Tommy Cutlets. “I’m gonna go out and try to prove myself every single time I step on the field, whether I would have been drafted No. 1 overall or undrafted as I was,” he said. “That status and all that doesn’t really mean anything, but how you go out and play means something.”
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NBA
Draymond Green has embarrassing sequence in his return
Draymond Green came back from his five-game suspension Tuesday. His emotions still got the best of him. Early in the fourth quarter, the Sacramento Kings got multiple offensive rebounds in one possession, which ended with Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins finally grabbing th
