Minnesota is meeting with seemingly every available quarterback in the run up to the draft, and Eastern Illinois' Jimmy Garoppolo is the latest.
Garoppolo, the FCS player of the year in 2013, worked out for the Vikings on Friday, The Star-Tribune) and numerous other media outlets reported.
Though he does seem to be gaining some momentum as a prospect, Garoppolo still looks to be a second-round pick. The Vikings own the eighth pick in the first round, way too early for Garoppolo. If the quarterback-needy Vikings don't target a quarterback at that spot, they could look to grab one when they pick eighth in the second round (40th overall). Garoppolo is a fit for that spot.
Garoppolo (6-foot-2, 226 pounds) led all of college football with 53 touchdown passes in 2013, when he threw for 5,050 yards. During 2013, he broke school single-season and career records belonging to Tony Romo and Sean Payton.
He might have the quickest release in the draft, but NFL Network analyst Charley Casserly, who thinks Garoppolo is a solid prospect, said the signal-caller is "totally raw" and teams would have to "start from scratch on him."
While the Vikings have Matt Cassel and 2011 first-rounder Christian Ponder on their roster, neither is a long-term solution at quarterback. The Vikings also have met with UCF's Blake Bortles, Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel, LSU's Zach Mettenberger, Fresno State's Derek Carr, Georgia's Aaron Murray, Alabama's AJ McCarron and Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater.
Bridgewater worked out with the Vikings on Saturday, according to NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport, and was scheduled to meet with team officials Sunday and Monday.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
