5 hours ago
(This post was last modified: 4 hours ago by purplefaithful.)
It'll be a talker for the next few weeks, like it or not...
I'm in the camp of JJM and dont see this as a real issue to decide.
I say lets see what we got in JJ and hopefully he is 100% post bye...
==========================
LONDON – The Vikings enter the bye week with three fascinating quarterbacks and a fascinating quandary. At least, that’s what it looks like from the outside.
But there is a reason the Vikings’ decisionmaking in this instance is easy to predict and inherently logical, even if their likely decision won’t necessarily be immediately popular with their fan base.
First, let’s take a realistic look at their current three quarterbacks.
Carson Wentz
He orchestrated a remarkable game-winning drive on Sunday in London. He is 2-1 as a starter, and his loss occurred in a game that was lost as much because of poor offensive line play and an inability to stop the Steelers’ previously mediocre offense as it was because of Wentz’s play.
Give him high grades for being a quality backup, a tough human and an admirable competitor.
J.J. McCarthy
He’s played eight NFL quarters. He has played well in one of them. He remains an awkward match for a veteran roster trying to win big this season. He is also a top-10 draft pick with obvious talent and a championship pedigree.
Max Brosmer
Is he this year’s version of Gino Torretta? Remember Gino Torretta? The Vikings spent a seventh-round draft pick on him in 1993. He won two national titles at Miami and is a member of the college football Hall of Fame, and he looked like the Vikings’ best quarterback during the 1993 preseason. He would throw a total of five passes, completing one, in NFL regular-season games.
Give Brosmer this: He looks like an NFL quarterback when he’s standing on the sideline. He’s a big, strong guy with arm talent who has demonstrated composure when given a chance to play.
If fans were running the Vikings, they might be tempted to stick with Wentz, who is probably better equipped to play behind a mangled offensive line at this point in his career than either of the youngsters.
And there will be many who admired Brosmer’s play for the Gophers and in this preseason, and will want him to get a shot.
This is where a reminder is in order.
If all the Vikings wanted at their quarterback position was efficient passing (which Brosmer might provide), they would have kept Kirk Cousins. If all the Vikings wanted at their quarterback position was a veteran who could run their offense, they would have kept Sam Darnold.
They cut Cousins and Darnold loose because their goal is to win a Super Bowl, and they believe the best way to achieve that goal is to develop a talented youngster who will be around and affordable for years.
That’s McCarthy.
McCarthy has a high ankle sprain. He may not be fully ready to play coming out of the bye, and it would be foolish to play him until he is healthy and playing behind a relatively healthy offensive line.
But he is the Vikings’ quarterback.
You don’t draft someone with a top-10 pick, then give up on him because he looked overmatched in one game. He’s the Vikings most athletic quarterback, and he has already shown the ability to rally a team to victory on the road under difficult circumstances.
McCarthy should return when he’s ready, regardless of how Wentz plays or Brosmer looks when we get a glimpse of him.
Consider this: McCarthy played 40 games at Michigan and won a national title while playing for Jim Harbaugh, one of the world’s best quarterback coaches.
Then he spent a year studying Kevin O’Connell’s offense from the sideline while injured.
If he looked unready to take on the massive responsibilities of an NFL starting quarterback at the beginning of his second season, how could Brosmer, who played one year of major college football, at Minnesota, be ready?
Probably the best way to look at this “competition” is this: None of these three are going to win a Super Bowl this year.
So this year should be about developing McCarthy, while hoping he can also win games. Wentz has played admirably and Brosmer is intriguing, but McCarthy is the future, and nothing that has happened this season has changed that.
STRIB
I'm in the camp of JJM and dont see this as a real issue to decide.
I say lets see what we got in JJ and hopefully he is 100% post bye...
==========================
LONDON – The Vikings enter the bye week with three fascinating quarterbacks and a fascinating quandary. At least, that’s what it looks like from the outside.
But there is a reason the Vikings’ decisionmaking in this instance is easy to predict and inherently logical, even if their likely decision won’t necessarily be immediately popular with their fan base.
First, let’s take a realistic look at their current three quarterbacks.
Carson Wentz
He orchestrated a remarkable game-winning drive on Sunday in London. He is 2-1 as a starter, and his loss occurred in a game that was lost as much because of poor offensive line play and an inability to stop the Steelers’ previously mediocre offense as it was because of Wentz’s play.
Give him high grades for being a quality backup, a tough human and an admirable competitor.
J.J. McCarthy
He’s played eight NFL quarters. He has played well in one of them. He remains an awkward match for a veteran roster trying to win big this season. He is also a top-10 draft pick with obvious talent and a championship pedigree.
Max Brosmer
Is he this year’s version of Gino Torretta? Remember Gino Torretta? The Vikings spent a seventh-round draft pick on him in 1993. He won two national titles at Miami and is a member of the college football Hall of Fame, and he looked like the Vikings’ best quarterback during the 1993 preseason. He would throw a total of five passes, completing one, in NFL regular-season games.
Give Brosmer this: He looks like an NFL quarterback when he’s standing on the sideline. He’s a big, strong guy with arm talent who has demonstrated composure when given a chance to play.
If fans were running the Vikings, they might be tempted to stick with Wentz, who is probably better equipped to play behind a mangled offensive line at this point in his career than either of the youngsters.
And there will be many who admired Brosmer’s play for the Gophers and in this preseason, and will want him to get a shot.
This is where a reminder is in order.
If all the Vikings wanted at their quarterback position was efficient passing (which Brosmer might provide), they would have kept Kirk Cousins. If all the Vikings wanted at their quarterback position was a veteran who could run their offense, they would have kept Sam Darnold.
They cut Cousins and Darnold loose because their goal is to win a Super Bowl, and they believe the best way to achieve that goal is to develop a talented youngster who will be around and affordable for years.
That’s McCarthy.
McCarthy has a high ankle sprain. He may not be fully ready to play coming out of the bye, and it would be foolish to play him until he is healthy and playing behind a relatively healthy offensive line.
But he is the Vikings’ quarterback.
You don’t draft someone with a top-10 pick, then give up on him because he looked overmatched in one game. He’s the Vikings most athletic quarterback, and he has already shown the ability to rally a team to victory on the road under difficult circumstances.
McCarthy should return when he’s ready, regardless of how Wentz plays or Brosmer looks when we get a glimpse of him.
Consider this: McCarthy played 40 games at Michigan and won a national title while playing for Jim Harbaugh, one of the world’s best quarterback coaches.
Then he spent a year studying Kevin O’Connell’s offense from the sideline while injured.
If he looked unready to take on the massive responsibilities of an NFL starting quarterback at the beginning of his second season, how could Brosmer, who played one year of major college football, at Minnesota, be ready?
Probably the best way to look at this “competition” is this: None of these three are going to win a Super Bowl this year.
So this year should be about developing McCarthy, while hoping he can also win games. Wentz has played admirably and Brosmer is intriguing, but McCarthy is the future, and nothing that has happened this season has changed that.
STRIB