Jaren Hall Will Be QB2 vs. Bengals, Josh Dobbs Demoted to Third-String

A month ago, Josh Dobbs was on top of the world. Coming off of miraculous performances in wins over the Falcons and Saints, he was the Vikings' clear-cut starting quarterback and one of the biggest stories in the NFL.

Now he's been demoted to the third-strong role, meaning he'll technically be inactive for Saturday's game against the Bengals. Rookie Jaren Hall will serve as the Vikings' backup quarterback in that game, Kevin O'Connell announced on Thursday.

Dobbs regressed a bit in a loss against the Broncos, then struggled to get anything going whatsoever against the Bears and Raiders. He was benched for Nick Mullens in Vegas — and Mullens will start this weekend's game in Cincinnati. If Mullens gets hurt or perhaps just plays really poorly, Hall would be next in line.

Teams often do this after benching a quarterback. The Jets did it with Zach Wilson earlier this year, making him their QB3 after benching him. I suppose the logic is that a recently-benched quarterback probably doesn't have a whole lot of confidence and shouldn't be expected to be ready to go in the backup role. This way, they can take a full step back.

Dobbs will be dressed in Cincy and could be called upon as the emergency third QB in the highly unlikely event both Mullens and Hall get hurt. But unless something changes going forward, it seems very likely that Dobbs has taken his last snap of the season.

What'll be interesting to see over the final four games of this regular season is if Mullens can take the job and run with it, or if Hall — who played two whole drives against the Falcons before getting concussed — gets another opportunity at some point.

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