Is Jaren Hall Vikings’ starting QB for Week 18? Exploring franchise’s situation amid injuries 

Jaren Hall's Minnesota Vikings are not quite out of the playoff picture heading into Week 18. Despite starting 0-3 and losing their starting quarterback for 2023, the franchise has found a way to claw their way past five NFC teams that are now out of the hunt.

However, Minnesota's season hangs by a thread after Hall's performance left the team with a hole too deep on Sunday Night Football when they lost to the Green Bay Packers 33-10.

After experimenting with Hall in primetime, the Vikings have a 3% chance of making the postseason. Those odds would jump to 9% with a win and a loss would drop them to less than a 1% chance. Will the franchise give Hall one more shot?

At the time of writing, there has been no announcement of who the starter is going to be for Week 18. That doesn't mean O'Connell doesn't know, however. Speaking at a press conference this week, he said he had already decided who the starter was going to be but was not ready to announce it yet:

"I have made a decision on who's going to start at quarterback for us this week. I have not had a chance yet with the players being off today to go through our face-to-face communication to let those players know. So I'm not going to announce that today."

Hiding the starting quarterback is not a new tactic. Holding off announcing a decision at starting quarterback was used several times by Bill Belichick earlier this year as a strategy to keep his opponents guessing. Now, O'Connell appears to be employing the same tactic. O'Connell alluded to this, according to Vikings media:

"[We have an] opportunity this week in the in the NFC North, going on the road against the division champions. Just played this team. We know them well."

Why Joshua Dobbs might be the front-runner to start for Vikings on Sunday

Joshua Dobbs at New Orleans Saints v Minnesota Vikings

At this point, the finalists for the starting role appear to be either Nick Mullens or Joshua Dobbs. Dobbs came in like a wrecking ball earlier this season, fizzled out, and was benched. However, some of that can be attributed to a shaky foundation of knowledge about the Vikings offense.

After spending a few months with the program, the hope would be that he had at least learned a few new tricks in the scheme to confuse the Detroit Lions. Also, while Mullens showed plenty of arm talent at times, he showed an inclination for interceptions.

Against the Lions on Christmas Eve, he threw for 411 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions. After Jaren Hall was benched on Sunday Night Football, it seems that the team is ready to look elsewhere and the freshest face is Dobbs.

Dobbs also might be the quarterback least studied by the Lions as with Hall and Mullens alternating, they might be the focus of the study this week. Meanwhile, Dobbs has sat out of the spotlight for almost a month since his last sighting against the Las Vegas Raiders.