Veteran QB Brett Hundley Attends Vikings' Rookie Minicamp as Tryout Player
The Vikings had 42 players on the practice fields at TCO Performance Center on Friday for the first day of their rookie minicamp. That group was made up of their 10 recent draft picks, 9 undrafted free agents, 6 players who were late-round draft picks or UDFAs in 2021, and 17 tryout players.
The roster the team handed out to media members included biographical details on all of those players. One thing stood out: among a sea of 21-25 year-olds, there was a 28 year-old with 7 years of NFL experience. That would be quarterback Brett Hundley, who is far from a rookie but was brought to minicamp as a tryout player nonetheless.
Hundley was one of two tryout quarterbacks at minicamp, along with rookie Patrick O'Brien, who made stops at Nebraska, Colorado State, and Washington during his college career. The Vikings didn't draft a QB or sign one as a UDFA, so they needed to bring in a couple of them to throw passes. 2021 third-round pick Kellen Mond might not have been eligible based on how many games he was active for last year.
"Yeah it definitely benefits us," head coach Kevin O'Connell said about having a veteran like Hundley there. "And I thought Pat did a nice job today too, just from a standpoint of the quarterback position on weekends like this, a lot of times, from just being able to call the play in the huddle, to go execute the cadence, and then obviously make good decisions to put the ball in play and throw completions. I mean in my opinion, that position can kind of run the weekend and be either a big reason why it has a lot of success or be one of the sole reasons why it doesn't, so those guys deserve a lot of credit, both Brett and Pat today."
Hundley has bounced around the NFL since being drafted by the Packers in the fifth round back in 2015. The UCLA product was thrust into action when Aaron Rodgers got hurt in a game against the Vikings in 2017, starting the final nine games of the season and mostly struggling. The Packers went 3-6 in games Hundley started, and he threw 9 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions that year while taking a bunch of sacks. He's had stints with the Seahawks, Cardinals, and Colts since then, and is still trying to keep his NFL dreams alive as he enters his eighth year.
"I spent a lot of time on [Brett] coming out of the draft," O'Connell said. "I've always been intrigued by him as a quarterback in this league. He's kind of bounced around, been in some spots, been coached up well, you can tell in the meeting room. I thought [quarterbacks coach] Chris O'Hara did a great job getting those guys ready to go today, but ultimately we're just trying to see if we can make our team better in any way, shape or form, any of the positions out here. That's why the tryout guys are here, they're here for a reason, that's what I told them. Compete and we'll see how everything shakes out."
The Vikings don't have much proven depth behind Kirk Cousins in their QB room right now, with Mond and another 2015 draftee, Sean Mannion, the current backups. 2020 seventh-rounder Nate Stanley is also still on the roster. Still, there might be room for Hundley to earn a contract if he impresses over these two days. Hundley is a great athlete who ran for 270 yards and two touchdowns with the Packers in 2017 and was a major dual threat at UCLA.
A few other notable tryout players are former Minnesota Gophers cornerback Coney Durr, former Minnesota State Mankato offensive lineman Hunter Toppel, and former Steelers sixth-round pick Isaiah Buggs, a defensive lineman.
You can find the full rookie minicamp roster here.
The Vikings will be back on the field for a slightly more ramped-up day of minicamp on Saturday. Then, on Monday, the veterans will report for the beginning of OTAs.
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