Without a doubt, one of the more hospitable offensive environments for a rookie quarterback to succeed right away is what the Minnesota Vikings offer. However, I can undoubtedly recall a better circumstance from the recent past.
The spread offense used by Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs in 2016 was similar to that of Chip Kelly at Oregon or Urban Meyer at Florida and Ohio State. Recall that Reid was the same head coach that used quarterbacks Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick, and Alex Smith to lead ten separate offenses that finished in the top 10 in terms of scoring. Reid’s greatest offensive performance to date was in 2010 when playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, when he practically overnight revitalized Vick’s career following starter quarterback Kevin Kolb’s concussion during the first game against the Green Bay Packers. The 2010 Eagles were the third-best scorers in the NFL and every week their offensive outbursts were a spectacle to behold.
The quarterback Kansas City gambled heavily on at the time was a relative unknown from Texas Tech who raised a lot of red flags in the eyes of most people. This quarterback was a product of Lubbock’s Air Raid offense, where no quarterback before him had ever had a successful Sunday game. And as everyone is aware, Patrick Mahomes was the crucial component that allowed Kansas City’s previously mentioned core four to win the 2019 Lombardi Trophy and go to the top of the NFL.
So how do the Vikings compare to the Chiefs who were not in 2017? Without a doubt, Justin Jefferson has shown to be Tyreek Hill’s superior wide receiver since 2016. Furthermore, Jordan Addison is in a whole different league than Kansas City’s WR2-era players. Those are unmistakable indicators in Minnesota’s favor in this conversation. Everything else? Not in that way.
One may argue that Brian O’Neill’s finest football is in the past now that he is 29 years old and coming off of two seasons that were cut short by severe leg and Achilles injuries. In contrast, Fisher still had 2017 and beyond to play his best football in Kansas City. The left tackle Christian Darrisaw shows promise. However, he has never appeared in a Pro Bowl, much less been selected as an All-Pro like Schwartz did with the Chiefs in 2016. T.J. Hockenson has been to two Pro Bowls, but he has never been the top tight end in the NFL, unlike Kelce, who was with the Kansas City in 2016. In addition, Hockenson just recovered from an ACL injury that ended his season.
