When a person is envious of his or her neighbor, the saying is that the grass is greener on the other side. When that person is a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, his or her wish is that Green Bay Packers fans will one day become green with envy.
That’s because the Vikings have repeatedly failed to find that franchise-changing quarterback. Since coming into existence as an expansion team in 1961, it can be argued Minnesota has had just one legitimate franchise quarterback (Fran Tarkenton).
Since then, the Vikings have tried many ways to solve their four-decade quarterback void by using high draft picks on guys who didn’t pan out (Daunte Culpepper and Christian Ponder) and searching through the quarterback scrap heap (Warren Moon, Jim McMahon and Randall Cunningham) for one last fountain of youth.
Meanwhile, the Packers have enjoyed the services of Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers as if they were dropped into their laps by the football gods. It’s a situation that makes the most loyal Vikings fans pull their hair out and scream to the heavens, “Why do you shine down on them??”
As the Vikings enter the 2014 NFL Draft, they’ll have another opportunity to get this right. There are plenty of quarterbacks that could be selected with the eighth overall pick Thursday night, but there are just as many with promising traits that could be selected in the second round.
Despite all the smoke screens and speculation, there is one thing the general public knows: The Vikings can’t afford to screw this up.
The Vikings are in great need of a franchise savior. Their current one, Adrian Peterson, has carried the team on his back since arriving in 2007 but is starting to approach age 30, where even the greats at his position start to decline. It makes most people wonder if he’ll become the next Barry Sanders as an incredible rusher that never played in a Super Bowl.
Minnesota also needs the public perception boost from finding a rising face of the franchise. With a move into a stadium worth roughly $1 billion coming in 2016, it would be nice if they could field a contending team with an emerging star that could lead the Vikings to their first Super Bowl victory.
While all this dreaming takes place, the neighbors to the left laugh with cans of Old Milwaukee in their hands and foam pieces of cheese on their head. However, they know the secret to finding a franchise quarterback. All it takes is the right situation and a little bit of luck.
With the Vikings in their current state, the optimist would suggest Minnesota is finally due for a quarterback that can control a game. But the pessimist states that every quarterback in this draft class has his one significant flaw like the 2011 class when Rick Spielman reached for Ponder with the 12th overall pick.
Nobody knows when Spielman and his new coaching staff will pull the trigger at quarterback, but it’s certain that if they don’t find the right one, the Vikings could be in trouble for a long time.
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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. |