If you poll Minnesota Vikings fans on the street over the team’s biggest problem in 2013, there’s a good chance that “quarterback” will come out of their mouth. With the team deciding to hold open tryouts after an 0-3 start, it had to be the most embarrassing aspect in a lost season.
General manager Rick Speilman knew this heading into the offseason and made it a priority to find the quarterback of the future. That answer may have been found in Teddy Bridgewater, who took the tumble from top overall pick to the end of the first round during the draft process.
Because of his pre-process legend that made him a can’t miss prospect, many purple-clad fans welcomed Bridgewater’s arrival with open arms while demanding he be installed the starter immediately. After all, Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel already had their opportunity and a new regime usually means it’s time for a new quarterback.
However, new head coach Mike Zimmer made it clear during OTAs that he will not leave the quarterback position to a popularity contest.
“I really don’t care where his jersey ranks, or sales or anything like that,” Zimmer said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press during a three-day rookie minicamp. “We’re going to bring Teddy along at the right time.”
The right time will make all the difference for a team who threw Ponder into the fire after five lackluster starts by Donovan McNabb in 2011. Considering Zimmer waited 20 years for his first head coaching gig, he’s going to be careful not to make that mistake.
It makes having an experienced option like Matt Cassel a smart decision for the Vikings. After re-signing for two years and $10 million last March, there is some belief that he’ll win the job in camp and be the starter for at least the first month of the season.
That could be a good thing as the Vikings transition to Norv Turner’s vertical offense. According to Pro Football Focus, Cassel was great when throwing intermediate routes (10-19 yards) and was able to make plays down the field as well (20+ yards).
Throwing down the field will be vital in the new offense, but there will be other things Cassel has to work through. His 12 batted balls were 7th most in the league according to Pro Football Focus. That’s astonishing when you consider that he’s a prototypical quarterback with a height of 6’5” and only appeared in nine games.
With this and a bevy of overthrows, it’s possible that Cassel’s 2013 only looked good because he had Ponder as his main competition. If that’s the case it could be “Teddy Time” sooner than we think.
Of course, there’s always two ends to the spectrum. The Vikings have to make sure that Bridgewater is ready before they throw him into the fire.
Since Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco both made the playoffs with 11-5 records in 2008, there have been 14 quarterbacks selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
While that may look promising, those rookies combined for a 91-106 record as a starter during that initial year. Out that crop, six have lost their starting jobs with their original team and one even finds themselves out of the league (Tim Tebow).
It seems like a horror story on it’s own, but there’s one number that will grab the attention of the Vikings coaching staff: Four.
That’s the number of first-round quarterbacks who have made the playoffs in their rookie season since 2008. With that being a main goal for the Vikings, it’s important for the coaching staff to figure out if Bridgewater is on the same level as Ryan, Flacco, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.
If he’s not, it’s possible that offensive coordinator Norv Turner thinks he can get enough out of Cassel to keep the team in the playoff mix. After all, Turner already stated that he wanted to make him the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns a season ago. Once that didn’t happen, he proceeded to get Brandon Weeden, Brian Hoyer and Jason Campbell to produce over 4,000 yards passing.
That could be why the Vikings also hung onto Ponder as “Plan C.” Thought to be on the way out with the arrivals of Bridgewater and Cassel, he remains on the roster and is headed to Mankato ready to compete — even if he’s competing for a job somewhere else.
With so many variables, the Vikings’ quarterback competition will be one of the most closely watched battles in training camp. Whomever does emerge from the crowd will have a tall task on their hands though as their first five games include three playoff teams.
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Chris Schad contributes to 105 The Ticket and has had his work featured on the Bleacher Report and Yahoo Contributor Network. He serves as the Vikings Lead Writerfor Pro Football Spot. Find him on Twitter @crishad. |