Nick Mullen’s Receives A Boost $5m Ahead Of…
When Minnesota Vikings quarterback Nick Mullens trots out onto the field for the first play of Week 15, it will be his first start for the team.
He will become the fourth player to start at the position for them this season.
He will also be one of 56 different passers to open a game in the NFL this season, per Stathead, and 57 if Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is out this week.
It doesn’t stop there, though, as the former undrafted free agent — who was brought in to be Kirk Cousins’ backup ahead of last season — could etch his name in the record books.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Vikings will be the 29th NFL team since 1950 to endure that frequency of turnover at the position,” wrote Kevin Seifert of ESPN on December 14.
“Only four of the previous 28 teams have made the playoffs, and all of them … have gotten their original starter back for at least a portion of the remainder of the season.
Even in the messy interim, none of them got wins from all four of their starters in that seven-game stretch (except for during the 1987 strike season).”
Cousins is out for the season, so it is up to Mullens to get the Vikings to the promised land. A win over the Cincinnati Bengals – who also lost their quarterback, Joe Burrow, for the season – would boost the Vikings’ odds of making the postseason tremendously.
Mullens certainly has the support of the coaching staff. Head coach Kevin O’Connell quickly decided to make the change at quarterback.
He did so one day after seemingly suggesting they could wait to make the call until later in the week.