We found out what life without Kirk will be like, without a successful succession plan in place, when he went down in week 8 last season, with a torn achilles. In an effort to make sure they aren’t caught with QB pants down again, the Vikings quickly pivoted to Sam Darnold, who they signed to a 1-year, $10 million deal, just after the clock struck midnight, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

But if the Vikings want to keep Justin Jefferson happy long term, and they want panicking fans to forget about Kirk Cousins or and Sam Darnold in the short-term, then they need to hit on a rookie QB in the NFL Draft next month. As of Wednesday morning, the Vikings are favorites to land Michigan QB JJ McCarthy, along with being tied as favorites for Oregon’s, Bo Nix. — [Read More: Vikings QB Draft Odds]

Minnesota Vikings Absent from Bo Nix’s Pro Day

Now, we know that Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah have done exhaustive amounts of work on this year’s QB class. They’ve been linked to just about every top QB on board and interviewed all of them during the NFL scouting combine.

But if they are heavily interested in Bo Nix, they didn’t show it on Tuesday, when he performed in Eugene at Oregon’s scheduled pro day. In fact, they didn’t really show up at all. That’s right. No KOC, no Kwesi and no Josh McCown, who was just hired as QB coach a couple of weeks ago.

Doesn’t sound like Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Kevin O’Connell or Josh McCown are in Eugene today for Bo Nix’s pro day at Oregon. https://t.co/KXC695lTdk

— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) March 12, 2024

Of course, this could mean nothing. Obviously, with the free agency tampering period going on the last couple days and the Vikings being HEAVILY involved in all the action, they may have felt their time was better spent elsewhere yesterday, especially after most of the Minnesota coaching staff got a really close look at Bo Nix during the Senior Bowl.

Related: Former Packers RB Aaron Jones is Signing with the Vikings

Showing up in mass to Nix’s pro day could draw more attention to the former Ducks QB, too. So even if they are extremely interested, avoiding Eugene on Tuesday could be seen as an attempt to throw teams off-track on their plans in the draft.

Some of Bo Nix's best throws from Pro Day: #GoDucks #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/20QNrw9OwR

— Trevor Denton (@trevordenton37) March 12, 2024

McCown wasn’t on staff when they were in Mobile, AL coaching Bo Nix, but he was able to get eyes, hands and ears on him at the combine. With Kirk Cousins now out and the Vikings hunting for a new franchise QB, the next six weeks leading up to the draft will be a rollercoaster of reports and smokescreens. So hang on tight, Minnesota…

Bo Nix by the numbers at Oregon was absurd

Nix’s final year in Eugene was arguably the greatest season ever by a University of Oregon quarterback, which made him just the fourth Heisman Trophy finalist in program history (finished 3rd). I mean, the numbers that Bo put up last year are jaw-dropping.

Related: Vikings Signing Big Leg XFL Kicker John Parker Romo

He set an NCAA single-season record for completion percentage at 77.45% (364-of-470). Oh, the record he broke was his own, 71.9% set in 2022. Nix also broke Oregon’s single-season records for completions (364), passing yards (4,508) and passing touchdowns (45). How many interceptions? THREE.

Oh, you think all Oregon QBs put up huge numbers in that legendary spread-style offense? Try again. 2023 Bo Nix is the first ever Duck quarterback to surpass 4,500 passing yards in a season.

Is he one of the top 3 QB prospects? Probably not. But I'm surprised with how much flak I come across on Bo Nix. He was college football's most efficient red zone passer in 2023 and he possesses all of the desirable tools in a QB. pic.twitter.com/ImmYenNyce

— Tanner Weber – Purple Post (@Purple_Post) March 7, 2024

#RTB #SkiUMah #GoGophers pic.twitter.com/j0kDeISST3

— Rod Chance (@Coach_Chance) February 16, 2020

Another assistant coach is leaving the University of Minnesota. This time, it’s DB Coach Rod Chance, who will head back to Oregon, taking the same position he held here.

Chance was at Oregon, as a defensive analyst, before being hired at MN and has spent a lot of his career on the West side of the country (Southern Utah, Oregon). He’s from Georgia though, and helped land 4 of our commitments from that area for 2020.

I don’t like seeing coaches leave either, especially big time recruiters like Chance, but get used to it. PJ Fleck wants to grow his coaching tree and he wants to bring the best around the country, into his family…. even if he knows it will be for a limited time amount of time.

We’ll see what PJ does to fill this position. Joe Harasymiak came onto the scene at the same time as Rod Chance and coached part of the secondary last year, but was promoted to Co-DC already this offseason.

Even with plenty of secondary coaching experience I’d be surprised if we don’t see new blood, to help fill the newest hole in the Gophers coaching carousel.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan