Could the Vikings draft Kyle Trask in Round 2 as Kirk Cousins’ successor?

The Minnesota Vikings may come out of the 2021 draft with Kirk Cousins’ successor, but could Kyle Trask be the guy in Round 2?

For better or worse, and certainly worse for his sternest detractors, the Minnesota Vikings are stuck with Kirk Cousins for at least one more season. Some might say, with his $35 million base salary for 2022 becoming guaranteed in March, they’re married to him for two more seasons. Then there’s the possibility he’ll get another contract extension.

In some way, shape or form, almost certainly with a pick outside the first round, the Vikings may come out of next week’s draft with Cousins’ successor. After the first five quarterback prospects, who may all be gone by the time the Vikings go on the clock at No. 14, the second-tier of signal callers is where that conversation starts.

Right now, Nate Stanley and Jake Browning are behind Cousins on the depth chart. Sean Mannion is a free agent, and he could be re-signed. Any way you slice it, the man who will succeed Cousins is not on the roster yet.

Could Kyle Trask be tabbed as Cousins’ successor in Round 2?

After the aforementioned first five quarterbacks, Trevor Lawrence followed by Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Mac Jones and Trey Lance in some order, Florida quarterback Kyle Trask is in the mix to be the sixth quarterback drafted. Maybe even, as some buzz has suggested, late in the first round. But more realistically, as suggested by Max Cashio of The Zone Coverage, Trask will be taken in the second or third round.

Right now, the Vikings have no second-round pick and two third-round picks (No. 78 and No. 90). Some mock drafts have had them taking Trask with one of those third-round picks. A move up into the second round, to get Trask or whichever second-tier quarterback prospect is to general manager Rick Spielman’s liking (Kellen Mond? Davis Mills?) can’t be ruled out.

The knock on the 6-foot-5, 240-pound Trask is a perceived lack of mobility. But there’s no arguing how he produced last season for the Gators, with 4,283 yards, 43 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.

At a glance, Trask seems way too similar to Cousins in terms of skill-set and (lack of) upside. And if things go off the rails this season, Spielman may wind up drafting a young quarterback for a new regime in 2022. But Trask is easy to attach to the Vikings as an option to be Cousins’ successor, and they need some sort of plan for who that might be.