Photo By Brian Curski
Written By Chris Schad
Cold Omaha staff writer Chris Schad kicks off a seven-part series reviewing the 2014 season for the Minnesota Vikings and looking forward to how they can make improvements during the offseason. In the opening installment, Chris takes a look at the quarterback position.
For years, the Minnesota Vikings have struggled at quarterback. A year removed from using three different starters to lead the offense, the team is confident that they’ve found an answer in 2014 first-round pick Teddy Bridgewater.
While there have been growing pains for the Louisville product over the course of the year, the Vikings believe that Bridgewater can lead the team successfully over the next couple seasons and grow into the stabilizing presence they’ve been searching for since Daunte Culpepper tore his ACL.
With all of that promise, Bridgewater seems to have quieted the annual YouTube scouting of collegiate quarterbacks amongst Vikings fans and given them hope instead. Of course, how the team got there was a different story.
How The Vikings Envisioned 2014
The Vikings entered the year by allowing Bridgewater to compete for the starting quarterback job in training camp. After he showed signs of inconsistency (typical for a rookie at any position), the team utilized Plan A by starting Matt Cassel.
With Cassel’s success a season prior, the Vikings could let Bridgewater learn behind him in 2014 before handing Teddy the keys in 2015 or ‘16. Such a blueprint would follow the path of Aaron Rodgers, who became the best quarterback in football after sitting behind Brett Favre for three seasons before taking over for the Green Bay Packers in 2008.
How 2014 Played Out
It took two games for the Teddy chants to begin erupting at TCF Bank Stadium, and a week later Cassel broke his foot and was lost for the season. In a baptism by fire, Bridgewater did alright for his situation. With a limited running game, and an injury and performance-plagued offensive line, he threw six touchdowns and seven interceptions in his first eight games.
However, the light bulb came on beginning with a Week 13 victory over the Carolina Panthers and Bridgewater completed 72 percent of his passes while throwing for eight touchdowns and five interceptions. With a 103.0 quarterback rating, the Vikings went 3-2 during that stretch.
That leaves his overall statistics looking solid by rookie standards (2,919 yards, 14 TD, 12 INT, 85.2 QB Rating), but he also appeared to be more comfortable while hitting receivers in stride and not making the same mistakes twice. While his development heading into his second season will be key, he’s shown enough potential to buy another year as the Vikings’ quarterback.
The Current Situation
The Vikings currently have two quarterbacks under contract heading into the offseason. The contract of former first-round pick and once-quarterback-of-the-future Christian Ponder will be off the books, and the team will be able to use that to potentially lure some weapons to help Bridgewater.Offseason Plan & Targets
With the presence of Bridgewater, the drama has been taken out of the quarterback picture for now. The only questions are whether the team will add a third quarterback and if they’ll let Cassel walk as his 2015 salary is non-guaranteed.
In a likely scenario, the Vikings hang onto Cassel to mentor Bridgewater for one more season and add an undrafted free-agent to fill in the third spot since the quarterbacks in next year’s market are uninspiring.
This is Teddy’s job for the time being, and the Vikings will sink or swim on his shoulders.