Wentz Gets Jefferson, Hockenson, and a Backfield He Didn't Choose

Carson Wentz takes the Vikings into Chicago on Sunday as the third man to start at quarterback for Minnesota in nine days, which I've already written about at some length. What I haven't gotten into is what he's actually working with offensively, because the situation is more functional than the chaos around it suggests.

Justin Jefferson and T.J. Hockenson are both active and healthy. Aaron Jones Sr. steps into the lead back role with Jordan Mason on injured reserve after thumb surgery. The receiving pieces are legitimate — Jefferson had over 1,000 yards last season, Hockenson caught 51 passes — and Wentz has operated behind worse supporting casts in his career. The line, anchored by Brian O'Neill on a freshly signed extension, is intact.

The complication is that Wentz inherited this offense with almost no preparation time in the system, behind a quarterback room that has been reshuffled twice since September 9. He knows how to manage a game. Whether he knows this game plan well enough to use Jefferson the way Jefferson needs to be used is a different question, and it's the one worth watching Sunday.

Mason's absence is real. Jerome Ford is next up at running back, and the Vikings will need to establish something on the ground to keep Chicago's defense from sitting entirely on the pass. That's the short-term problem Wentz can't scheme his way around — he just has to execute with what's there.