Advertisement

Shaun Hill takes over for Vikings, who don't have many good options

To everyone speculating on the possible acquisitions for the Minnesota Vikings to replace Teddy Bridgewater: Good luck finding a good, available quarterback on Aug. 30.

Bridgewater is out, probably for the season, with a significant knee injury suffered in practice. That’s a terrible blow for a team that is coming off an NFC North championship and had high hopes this year.

Shaun Hill is next in line at quarterback, which prompted people to name every possible quarterback who might actually become the starter instead of Hill. That’s not realistic. Any quarterback available in late August is not saving your season.

Shaun Hill (AP)
Shaun Hill (AP)

[ Play Yahoo Fantasy Football for free | Mock Draft now | Rankings | Draft Kit ]

Sure, Mark Sanchez could get cut by the Denver Broncos. Geno Smith or Bryce Petty might be available from the New York Jets. T.J. Yates and Mike Vick are free agents. And, yes, Colin Kaepernick reportedly is falling out of favor with the San Francisco 49ers (maybe for football reasons and maybe not). But there would be a reason any of those players are available. There are no saviors there. And no team two weeks before the regular season is going to want to give up a good backup — think Mike Glennon of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or AJ McCarron of the Cincinnati Bengals — unless the Vikings significantly overpay in a trade. And does anyone think it’s smart to give a ransom for someone like Glennon or McCarron (or Josh McCown or any other high-end backup)?

And any new quarterback who would be coming to the Vikings would have to learn the entire offense a week-and-a-half before the season starts. The timing of Bridgewater’s injury was not good.

It’s fun to talk about who the Vikings might sign, but realistically there’s no great option out there for them. The answer has to be Hill, and maybe someone gets acquired to back him up, at least early on. At least he knows the offense. And it’s possible the Vikings could survive with Hill.

Hill is 36 and didn’t play great in eight starts for the 2014 St. Louis Rams, but he has had flashes of being a competent NFL quarterback. And although Bridgewater is talented, the Vikings didn’t ask him to do much last season. The Vikings had the fewest passing attempts in the NFL last season. They want to run the ball often with Adrian Peterson and play great defense. Hill might be able to manage that.

It’s not like the Vikings have any other wonderful option. The hypothetical moment Sanchez or Vick or Yates would arrive, fans would start wondering if there’s a better option. Assuming Bridgewater is out for the season, it’s probably Hill or bust.

Related video from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – – –

Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!