In the leadup to the 2022 NFL Draft, Vikings.com is taking a position-by-position look at prospects who have garnered a range of attention from national outlets. The series will include rankings by those national outlets, stats and background information for multiple prospects. We'll also include comments that experts shared during interviews.

Vikings status at quarterback

After plenty of speculation about his future, Kirk Cousins remains with the Vikings, and also has a one-year contract extension in hand. The quarterback is now tied to Minnesota through the 2023 season, which would be his sixth with the Vikings.

In the near future, Cousins will get the chance to work with Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell, who was is position coach in Washington in 2017. Vikings General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah believes the partnership between Cousins and O'Connell can get the quarterback to an even higher level of play.

"We always talk about winning on the margins and things like that. You can win on the margins from a personnel basis by putting him in better situations, from a scheme basis, putting him in better situations," Adofo-Mensah said. "The cool thing about football is that it's so complex and interconnected. Small things can have big outcomes.

"And so, 80 percent of the games are within one score, all those things," Adofo-Mensah added. "So we're just searching for those margins, those little things to get us where we want to go with Kirk and the rest of the roster."

While Cousins is entrenched as the starter, he'll have some familiar faces in the QB room with him. The Vikings brought back Sean Mannion last month and have 2021 third-round pick Kellen Mond on the roster.

Ask the analyst

Jordan Reid, a former QB and coach at North Carolina Central University, is now a draft analyst for ESPN. He previously worked for The Draft Network and is a co-founder of ClimbingThePocket.com. Reid will offer evaluations of the 2022 QB class. Follow him on Twitter @Jordan_Reid for his analysis.

What did you make of the Vikings decision to extend Cousins, and how does that affect Minnesota's approach in the draft at QB?

Reid: "It makes sense. With the timeline with Kwesi and Kevin, they don't really see this as a complete tear down. I think it's more of a rebuild on the fly. With Kirk, they lowered his cap number, but they want to basically treat this year as a trial year to see if Kevin can crack the code and see if he can get him to that next level. Kirk's been very consistent since getting to the Vikings, but in terms of getting to that next tier, I think that's something O'Connell wants to see. As far as them drafting a quarterback, I don't really see it. With them bringing Mannion back and still having Kellen Mond, I just don't see a fit of where they can bring in a young quarterback right now."

Do you have a sleeper prospect who could end up surprising people?

Reid: "There's some later-round guys that I like. Kaleb Eleby from Western Michigan. He's a bit raw, but as far as the tools he has, he's a nice developmental piece you'd want in the building. Jack Coan from Notre Dame is another one I like. Another late-rounder, priority free agent type. I saw him at the East-West Shrine Game and was impressed with how much better he got throughout the week."

Which QB do you believe has the highest ceiling?

Reid: "Malik Willis has the highest ceiling. He has his own things to iron out as far as some flaws he needs to clean up. But as far as the natural talent, he has the arm talent, the power, the velocity and the mobility. You factor all that into the equation, and he has the most upside. But as far as walking through the door as the most pro-ready, I would go with Desmond Ridder and Kenny Pickett, just because those guys have played so much football. They had more responsibilities than the other guys in this class did."

Expert rankings

NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah currently has four quarterbacks in his overall Top 50: 24. Kenny Pickett, 27. Malik Willis, 35. Matt Corral and 48. Sam Howell.

ESPN's Mel Kiper, Jr., has three quarterbacks in his overall Top 25: 18. Willis, 19. Pickett and 21. Corral.

Rankings for quarterbacks by Jeremiah, his NFL Media counterpart Bucky Brooks, Kiper, analytics site Pro Football Focus and The Athletic's Dane Brugler are listed below.

Prospects

Note: Heights and weights are from each player's profile on NFL.com (linked for each player's name).

Kenny Pickett

School: Pittsburgh | Year: Redshirt Sr. | Ht: 6-foot-3 | Wt: 217 pounds

2021 stats: 13 games; 334-of-497 passing (67.2 percent), 4,319 yards, 42 TD, 7 INT, 165.3 NCAA passer rating; 98 rushes for 233 yards and 5 TD

Alone at the top: Pickett finished his career as Pitt's all-time leader in passing yards (12,303), completions (1,045), total offense (13,112), total touchdowns (102), passing touchdowns (81), 300-yard passing games (16), 400-yard passing games (five) and wins as a starting quarterback (32).

Reid's Review: "Started 49 games and played in 52, so he has a wealth of experience. Played in a pro-style system where he was asked to make half-field and full-field reads. The accuracy is something that jumps right out at you. He knows where to go with the football and rarely puts his team in a bad situation."

Malik Willis

School: Liberty (after Auburn) | Year: Redshirt Sr. | Ht: 6-foot-0 | Wt: 219 pounds

2021 stats: 13 games; 207-of-339 passing (61.1 percent), 2,857 yards, 27 TD, 12 INT, 151.1 NCAA passer rating; 197 rushes for 878 yards and 13 TD

Dual-threat QB: Willis accounted for 40 total touchdowns in 2021, including 13 on the ground. He tallied 77 total scores in his college career, including in his time at Auburn (2017-18) before transferring to Liberty, with 29 rushing trips to the end zone.

Reid's Review: "I thought Liberty's offense catered to his skill set quite a bit with the RPOs, designed runs, getting outside the pocket. Those are some of the things he's at his best at. There are some things he needs to clean up with processing and matching his eyes with what he sees, little things like that. I don't think he's ready to start right away, but if you have patience and an entrenched starter ahead of him, you could reap the benefits of what could be a top-10 starter down the road."

Matt Corral

School: Mississippi | Year: Redshirt Jr. | Ht: 6-foot-2 | Wt: 212 pounds

2021 stats: 13 games; 262-of-386 passing (67.9 percent), 3,349 yards, 20 TD, 5 INT, 155.3 NCAA passer rating; 152 rushes for 614 yards and 11 TD

Elite company: A former four-star recruit, Corral chose Mississippi over other big-time programs such as Alabama and Georgia. He excelled in 37 career games with Mississippi, becoming just the third quarterback in program history with back-to-back seasons of at least 20 passing touchdowns.

Reid's Review: "Everything is just quick with him. That's what I would use to describe his game: quick and sudden. He kind of has a baseball-style to his game where he has a short, compact and tight release. Sometimes his upper body gets ahead of his feet because he plays the game so quick. He was in a quarterback-friendly system with Lane Kiffin, so there could be a bit of a learning curve. He has starter-level traits and took much better care of the football [in 2021]. He can also get better at protecting his body. He exposed himself to a lot of unnecessary contact just because of how competitive he is. He's a magnetic guy and rah-rah guy, but he had 30 carries against Tennessee, so you definitely want that number reduced."

Sam Howell

School: North Carolina | Year: Jr. | Ht: 6-foot-1 | Wt: 218 pounds

2021 stats: 12 games; 217-of-347 passing (62.5 percent), 3,056 yards, 24 TD, 9 INT, 154.2 NCAA passer rating; 183 rushes for 828 yards and 11 TD

Leaving his mark: Howell holds UNC records in passing yards (10,283), passing touchdowns (92), total offense (11,316 yards) and passing yards per game (277.9). He also ranked third in 2021 among quarterbacks with 828 rushing yards.

Desmond Ridder

School: Cincinnati | Year: Redshirt Sr. | Ht: 6-foot-3 | Wt: 211 pounds

2021 stats: 14 games; 251-of-387 passing (64.9 percent), 3,334 yards, 30 TD, 8 INT, 158.7 NCAA passer rating; 110 rushes for 355 yards and 6 TD

Ridder the winner: The quarterback finished his collegiate career with 44 wins, the third-most wins by a quarterback in college football history. He also went undefeated (26-0) at Nippert Stadium, the home of the Bearcats.

Reid's Review: "He's the one, as far as all these guys, who has the most mixed opinions on him. A four-year starter and pretty much set every AAC record, he's just really smooth with his decision making and has a really nice, clean release. Something that he would need to clean up is the ball placement. He'll have some really nice throws, but then he'll come back and be a little inconsistent and erratic with some easy throws. He makes it a little bit harder than what it's supposed to be."

Carson Strong

School: Nevada | Year: Redshirt Jr. | Ht: 6-foot-3 | Wt: 226 pounds

2021 stats: 12 games; 366-of-522 passing (70.1 percent), 4,175 yards, 36 TD, 8 INT, 157.0 NCAA passer rating; 51 rushes for minus-208 yards

Strong résumé: Strong earned Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2020 and 2021, garnering First-Team All-Mountain West selections in both seasons. He participated in the 2022 Reese's Senior Bowl.

Bailey Zappe

School: Western Kentucky (after Houston Baptist) | Year: Sr. | Ht: 6-foot-0 | Wt: 215 pounds

2021 stats: 14 games; 476-of-686 passing (69.2 percent), 5,967 yards, 62 TD, 11 INT, 168.9 NCAA passer rating; 51 rushes for 17 yards

Eye-popping numbers: Zappe spent the first three seasons of his career at Houston Baptist before transferring to Western Kentucky. He made his lone season with the Hilltoppers one to remember as he set single-season FBS records with 5,987 passing yards and 62 touchdown passes. He was voted as Conference USA's Most Valuable Player.

Jack Coan

School: Notre Dame (after Wisconsin) | Year: Sr. | Ht: 6-foot-3 | Wt: 218 pounds

2021 stats: 13 games; 253-of-386 passing (65.5 percent), 3,150 yards, 25 TD, 7 INT, 151.8 NCAA passer rating; 57 rushes for minus-100 yards and 2 TD

From Madison to South Bend: Coan made 18 starts for Wisconsin in 2018 and 2019, and was poised to start again in 2020 before he broke his foot. He redshirted in 2020 and transferred to Notre Dame, leading the Irish to an 11-2 record.