I’m going to say something that sounds ridiculous. Case Keenum might be the best Vikings quarterback I’ve ever watched. Not the most talented. Not the best career or the guy I’d take first in a quarterback draft. But for one season? Give me 2017 Case Keenum. And I’m not entirely convinced the Vikings should have ever moved on from him.
He Wasn’t Even Supposed To Be The Quarterback
Keenum entered 2017 as Sam Bradford’s backup. Bradford played one game, his knee became a problem, and suddenly Minnesota’s season was in the hands of a journeyman quarterback playing on a one-year deal.
Then Dalvin Cook tore his ACL four games into the season. So Keenum wasn’t stepping into some perfectly constructed offense either. Minnesota lost the dynamic running back it had built much of the offense around and leaned on Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon the rest of the way.
What happened? Keenum went 11-3 as the starter. He completed 67.6% of his passes, threw for 3,547 yards and finished with 22 touchdowns against just seven interceptions.
And here’s the number that gets forgotten: Case Keenum finished second in the entire NFL in QBR. Not second among NFC quarterbacks. Second in football. Ahead of Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Ryan. At some point, “the defense carried him” stops explaining everything.
Yes, The Defense Was Great
The 2017 Vikings defense was incredible. There’s no argument there, but people sometimes talk about Keenum like Minnesota could have put anybody back there and gone 13-3.
Then 2018 happened. The Vikings kept essentially the same defensive core and even added Sheldon Richardson. Dalvin Cook returned. Adam Thielen caught 113 passes. Stefon Diggs caught 102. And Minnesota replaced Keenum with Kirk Cousins, giving him an $84 million fully guaranteed contract because quarterback was supposedly the missing piece.
Cousins put up good numbers. The Vikings went 8-7-1 and missed the playoffs. What’s even more interesting: Minnesota averaged 23.9 points per game in 2017 and dropped to 22.5 in 2018. With Keenum, the Vikings converted 43.5% of their third downs, third-best in football. With Cousins the following year? 35.8%. 26th.
The expensive quarterback arrived. The offensive weapons got healthier and more productive. The defense was still one of the NFL’s best. And somehow the team got substantially worse. Maybe Case deserved a little more credit.
Keenum Made That Offense Work
This wasn’t just a quarterback standing behind an elite offensive line throwing to wide-open receivers. Minnesota’s offensive line was far from dominant, and Keenum faced pressure constantly. What he did exceptionally well was survive it. He moved and extended plays. He turned broken pockets into completions, and he gave Thielen and Diggs time to uncover downfield.
It wasn’t always pretty either, and sometimes it looked completely insane. But it worked, and there was a confidence about that offense that disappeared surprisingly quickly once Keenum left.
The Minneapolis Miracle
Ten seconds left. Vikings down 24-23. Third-and-10. Keenum throws it toward the sideline. Diggs. Sideline. Touchdown. You know the rest.
The greatest play in Vikings history happened with Case Keenum at quarterback. Was there luck involved? Absolutely. Welcome to football. Minnesota sports fans have spent decades watching the luck go the other direction. I’m not apologizing for finally getting one.
Keenum delivered one of the few postseason moments in Vikings history that will still be replayed 50 years from now.
So Why Didn’t We Bring Him Back?
This is the part I keep coming back to. The Vikings had just gone 13-3. They reached the NFC Championship Game. Their quarterback finished second in the NFL in QBR, threw three touchdowns for every interception and went 11-3 as the starter. And he was cheap. Did Minnesota really have to blow that up?
Nobody knew exactly what Keenum would become after 2017. His numbers later in his career were nowhere near what he did in Minnesota, but look at where he went. Denver was cycling through quarterbacks and coaches. Washington was a mess. Cleveland was Cleveland. Houston eventually became one of the worst teams in football.
Maybe 2017 was simply the perfect marriage between Case Keenum, Pat Shurmur, Diggs, Thielen and that Vikings roster. If it was, why were the Vikings in such a hurry to end the marriage?
Run it back. Keep Case. Keep the cap flexibility that came with him. Spend the money elsewhere. Maybe upgrade the offensive line. Maybe keep building around a roster that had just won 13 games instead of committing $84 million to prove quarterback was the problem.
Would Keenum have taken the Vikings back to the NFC Championship? Nobody knows. But we do know what happened after Minnesota upgraded. They didn’t.
For all the better throws, prettier stat sheets and quarterback talent Minnesota has had before and since, I’ve never enjoyed watching a Vikings quarterback more than Case Keenum in 2017. The backup became one of the best quarterbacks in football. The Vikings won 13 games. He gave us the Minneapolis Miracle. And Minnesota hasn’t been back to the NFC Championship Game since.
Maybe Case Keenum wasn’t the problem. Maybe moving on from him was.
This is a ridiculous take