Quote: @Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Disagree. I think too many try to retrofit Teddy into this game-manager straitjacket as if that's all he'll ever be. That's what he was his first two seasons because, like a lot of young QBs around that time, that's what he was asked to do on a run-first team with a good defense and one of the NFL's best running backs.
It's frustrating, too, because everyone seems to have forgotten that the idea was that the straitjacket was going to come off in his 3rd season. If you recall the buzz from that summer, Mike Zimmer talked about it. Norv talked about it. Even Adrian mentioned that he was going to have to adapt and be more of a pass catcher because the offense was changing.
It would be like Matt Ryan missing the last couple of seasons and folks claiming that all he'll ever be is a game manager who averaged about 3,000 yards a season with 19 TDs and 13 INTs, because that's what he averaged his first two seasons.
It's kinda ridiculous.
Do you mean if people ignored Ryan having 6 years averaging 28 TDs and 4,000 yards, and only looking at his first 2 years, that would be ridiculous? Well, yeah, it would.
But if the ONLY experience Ryan had in the NFL was his first two years - yes, some people would justifiably suggest he might never produce any more. Why would we assume otherwise? Not every rookie who is "decent" his first 2 seasons becomes a much better player, even if uninjured. Christian Ponder's stats were similar to Bridgewater's for his first two seasons, but he didn't turn into Matt Ryan.
Some people seem to see 6 great seasons by Bridgewater that haven't happened yet.
If you couldn't see the difference in composure and accuracy between the two in their first two seasons, then there's probably nothing I can say that will change your mind. Ponder was a 2nd to 3rd round QB taken in the first due to a run on QBs. Bridgewater was the consensus #1 overall pick until a bunch of idiots put too much stock into a bad pro day. His rookie year had most people rethinking their approach to pro days. You could SEE the cobwebs and chaos in Ponder's head from the beginning.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Disagree. I think too many try to retrofit Teddy into this game-manager straitjacket as if that's all he'll ever be. That's what he was his first two seasons because, like a lot of young QBs around that time, that's what he was asked to do on a run-first team with a good defense and one of the NFL's best running backs.
It's frustrating, too, because everyone seems to have forgotten that the idea was that the straitjacket was going to come off in his 3rd season. If you recall the buzz from that summer, Mike Zimmer talked about it. Norv talked about it. Even Adrian mentioned that he was going to have to adapt and be more of a pass catcher because the offense was changing.
It would be like Matt Ryan missing the last couple of seasons and folks claiming that all he'll ever be is a game manager who averaged about 3,000 yards a season with 19 TDs and 13 INTs, because that's what he averaged his first two seasons.
It's kinda ridiculous.
Do you mean if people ignored Ryan having 6 years averaging 28 TDs and 4,000 yards, and only looking at his first 2 years, that would be ridiculous? Well, yeah, it would.
But if the ONLY experience Ryan had in the NFL was his first two years - yes, some people would justifiably suggest he might never produce any more. Why would we assume otherwise? Not every rookie who is "decent" his first 2 seasons becomes a much better player, even if uninjured. Christian Ponder's stats were similar to Bridgewater's for his first two seasons, but he didn't turn into Matt Ryan.
Some people seem to see 6 great seasons by Bridgewater that haven't happened yet.
If you couldn't see the difference in composure and accuracy between the two in their first two seasons, then there's probably nothing I can say that will change your mind. Ponder was a 2nd to 3rd round QB taken in the first due to a run on QBs. Bridgewater was the consensus #1 overall pick until a bunch of idiots put too much stock into a bad pro day. His rookie year had most people rethinking their approach to pro days. You could SEE the cobwebs and chaos in Ponder's head from the beginning.
Teddy always looked like a colt pushing against the reigns, wanting to do more and go farther...faster, ... Christian always looked like a colt that was looking around for his mother for security. ( and I liked Christian) There was something about Teddy that said that he had a little more than what you see from most young players, his confidence and quiet demeanor for me were reassuring that we had a made a good pick.
Quote: @FSUVike said:
...
Do you have any decent highlights for Cousins? I just can’t get excited about him. I watch the highlights and I don’t see many
splash plays that scream “franchise QB” to me.
I look at his stats and clearly there is something there, but I’m not
sure where it comes from.
Separately, I think you have some recency bias going
on. In the last couple years, it sure
seems like offenses are dominating the playoffs and SB, but it wasn’t that long
ago that dominant defenses were what won championships. It’s not like defenses are negligible and
scores are going to be 41-33 very often.
The average score for both the last 10 and last 15 years is about 29.5 –
21. So we definitely need to upgrade our
offense, but the winning teams are still holding SB caliber offenses to 21
points.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Disagree. I think too many try to retrofit Teddy into this game-manager straitjacket as if that's all he'll ever be. That's what he was his first two seasons because, like a lot of young QBs around that time, that's what he was asked to do on a run-first team with a good defense and one of the NFL's best running backs.
It's frustrating, too, because everyone seems to have forgotten that the idea was that the straitjacket was going to come off in his 3rd season. If you recall the buzz from that summer, Mike Zimmer talked about it. Norv talked about it. Even Adrian mentioned that he was going to have to adapt and be more of a pass catcher because the offense was changing.
It would be like Matt Ryan missing the last couple of seasons and folks claiming that all he'll ever be is a game manager who averaged about 3,000 yards a season with 19 TDs and 13 INTs, because that's what he averaged his first two seasons.
It's kinda ridiculous.
Do you mean if people ignored Ryan having 6 years averaging 28 TDs and 4,000 yards, and only looking at his first 2 years, that would be ridiculous? Well, yeah, it would.
But if the ONLY experience Ryan had in the NFL was his first two years - yes, some people would justifiably suggest he might never produce any more. Why would we assume otherwise? Not every rookie who is "decent" his first 2 seasons becomes a much better player, even if uninjured. Christian Ponder's stats were similar to Bridgewater's for his first two seasons, but he didn't turn into Matt Ryan.
Some people seem to see 6 great seasons by Bridgewater that haven't happened yet.
If you couldn't see the difference in composure and accuracy between the two in their first two seasons, then there's probably nothing I can say that will change your mind. Ponder was a 2nd to 3rd round QB taken in the first due to a run on QBs. Bridgewater was the consensus #1 overall pick until a bunch of idiots put too much stock into a bad pro day. His rookie year had most people rethinking their approach to pro days. You could SEE the cobwebs and chaos in Ponder's head from the beginning.
This is probably the best way of simplifying the differences. There are exceptions, but very few QB's come into the league and are dominant until year 3 in their career. What you are looking for in years 1-2 is steady improvement and specific traits. Bridgewater did a lot of good things. His ability to maneuver the pocket was really the biggest chip he brought to the table. Without dropping his eyes he did a very good job of feeling pressure and finding enough space to get passes off. Within 15-20 yards he was lethally accurate and understood ball placement. Not only did receivers have a chance to run after the catch but they were often times protected from unnecessary hits. In no ways was Bridgewater a finished product in 2015/16. But he showed the traits that he had a good chance of significantly improving his production. Ponder didn't show those same qualities.
Ultimately you need to know what you're letting walk out the door if you're the Vikings. At this point I am not sold they are 100% confident in their evaluation of where he's at. Part of that has to deal with the fact that he hasn't gotten into a meaningful game situation. Practice will give them a good idea, but you won't know what Teddy is until he is taking snaps with a live pass rush. Risky, yes. But it likely has the highest upside given the cost.
Quote: @"Geoff Nichols" said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Disagree. I think too many try to retrofit Teddy into this game-manager straitjacket as if that's all he'll ever be. That's what he was his first two seasons because, like a lot of young QBs around that time, that's what he was asked to do on a run-first team with a good defense and one of the NFL's best running backs.
It's frustrating, too, because everyone seems to have forgotten that the idea was that the straitjacket was going to come off in his 3rd season. If you recall the buzz from that summer, Mike Zimmer talked about it. Norv talked about it. Even Adrian mentioned that he was going to have to adapt and be more of a pass catcher because the offense was changing.
It would be like Matt Ryan missing the last couple of seasons and folks claiming that all he'll ever be is a game manager who averaged about 3,000 yards a season with 19 TDs and 13 INTs, because that's what he averaged his first two seasons.
It's kinda ridiculous.
Do you mean if people ignored Ryan having 6 years averaging 28 TDs and 4,000 yards, and only looking at his first 2 years, that would be ridiculous? Well, yeah, it would.
But if the ONLY experience Ryan had in the NFL was his first two years - yes, some people would justifiably suggest he might never produce any more. Why would we assume otherwise? Not every rookie who is "decent" his first 2 seasons becomes a much better player, even if uninjured. Christian Ponder's stats were similar to Bridgewater's for his first two seasons, but he didn't turn into Matt Ryan.
Some people seem to see 6 great seasons by Bridgewater that haven't happened yet.
If you couldn't see the difference in composure and accuracy between the two in their first two seasons, then there's probably nothing I can say that will change your mind. Ponder was a 2nd to 3rd round QB taken in the first due to a run on QBs. Bridgewater was the consensus #1 overall pick until a bunch of idiots put too much stock into a bad pro day. His rookie year had most people rethinking their approach to pro days. You could SEE the cobwebs and chaos in Ponder's head from the beginning.
This is probably the best way of simplifying the differences. There are exceptions, but very few QB's come into the league and are dominant until year 3 in their career. What you are looking for in years 1-2 is steady improvement and specific traits. Bridgewater did a lot of good things. His ability to maneuver the pocket was really the biggest chip he brought to the table. Without dropping his eyes he did a very good job of feeling pressure and finding enough space to get passes off. Within 15-20 yards he was lethally accurate and understood ball placement. Not only did receivers have a chance to run after the catch but they were often times protected from unnecessary hits. In no ways was Bridgewater a finished product in 2015/16. But he showed the traits that he had a good chance of significantly improving his production. Ponder didn't show those same qualities.
Ultimately you need to know what you're letting walk out the door if you're the Vikings. At this point I am not sold they are 100% confident in their evaluation of where he's at. Part of that has to deal with the fact that he hasn't gotten into a meaningful game situation. Practice will give them a good idea, but you won't know what Teddy is until he is taking snaps with a live pass rush. Risky, yes. But it likely has the highest upside given the cost.
any word on what Teddys agent is realistically looking for? do they really think he will get an offer from somebody without any legit competition for the #1 spot or are they expecting to be in a camp battle no matter where they end up?
(the same questions with Sam and Case as well I guess)
Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Disagree. I think too many try to retrofit Teddy into this game-manager straitjacket as if that's all he'll ever be. That's what he was his first two seasons because, like a lot of young QBs around that time, that's what he was asked to do on a run-first team with a good defense and one of the NFL's best running backs.
It's frustrating, too, because everyone seems to have forgotten that the idea was that the straitjacket was going to come off in his 3rd season. If you recall the buzz from that summer, Mike Zimmer talked about it. Norv talked about it. Even Adrian mentioned that he was going to have to adapt and be more of a pass catcher because the offense was changing.
It would be like Matt Ryan missing the last couple of seasons and folks claiming that all he'll ever be is a game manager who averaged about 3,000 yards a season with 19 TDs and 13 INTs, because that's what he averaged his first two seasons.
It's kinda ridiculous.
Do you mean if people ignored Ryan having 6 years averaging 28 TDs and 4,000 yards, and only looking at his first 2 years, that would be ridiculous? Well, yeah, it would.
But if the ONLY experience Ryan had in the NFL was his first two years - yes, some people would justifiably suggest he might never produce any more. Why would we assume otherwise? Not every rookie who is "decent" his first 2 seasons becomes a much better player, even if uninjured. Christian Ponder's stats were similar to Bridgewater's for his first two seasons, but he didn't turn into Matt Ryan.
Some people seem to see 6 great seasons by Bridgewater that haven't happened yet.
If you couldn't see the difference in composure and accuracy between the two in their first two seasons, then there's probably nothing I can say that will change your mind. Ponder was a 2nd to 3rd round QB taken in the first due to a run on QBs. Bridgewater was the consensus #1 overall pick until a bunch of idiots put too much stock into a bad pro day. His rookie year had most people rethinking their approach to pro days. You could SEE the cobwebs and chaos in Ponder's head from the beginning.
Teddy always looked like a colt pushing against the reigns, wanting to do more and go farther...faster, ... Christian always looked like a colt that was looking around for his mother for security. ( and I liked Christian) There was something about Teddy that said that he had a little more than what you see from most young players, his confidence and quiet demeanor for me were reassuring that we had a made a good pick.
I think that's a pretty fair analogy. Bad protection can ruin a QB. It shatters their confidence and makes them see ghosts. That can have a big impact on accuracy, even when there's adequate protection. There were times in his 2nd season when I thought we might be better served in the long term getting Bridgewater out of harms way, but danged if he didn't seem to have the mental toughness to endure it. Despite the constant jailbreaks, he was composed for the most part, he had good escapability and he wasn't afraid to the throw the ball away. And he was improving within those constraints. His performance under pressure, in come-from-behind games, suggested to me that if you could just take those constraints away and give him "league average" OL play, you would see him really take off. I never saw that in Ponder. Ponder was a wreck. My lasting impression of him is just chaos.
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Disagree. I think too many try to retrofit Teddy into this game-manager straitjacket as if that's all he'll ever be. That's what he was his first two seasons because, like a lot of young QBs around that time, that's what he was asked to do on a run-first team with a good defense and one of the NFL's best running backs.
It's frustrating, too, because everyone seems to have forgotten that the idea was that the straitjacket was going to come off in his 3rd season. If you recall the buzz from that summer, Mike Zimmer talked about it. Norv talked about it. Even Adrian mentioned that he was going to have to adapt and be more of a pass catcher because the offense was changing.
It would be like Matt Ryan missing the last couple of seasons and folks claiming that all he'll ever be is a game manager who averaged about 3,000 yards a season with 19 TDs and 13 INTs, because that's what he averaged his first two seasons.
It's kinda ridiculous.
Do you mean if people ignored Ryan having 6 years averaging 28 TDs and 4,000 yards, and only looking at his first 2 years, that would be ridiculous? Well, yeah, it would.
But if the ONLY experience Ryan had in the NFL was his first two years - yes, some people would justifiably suggest he might never produce any more. Why would we assume otherwise? Not every rookie who is "decent" his first 2 seasons becomes a much better player, even if uninjured. Christian Ponder's stats were similar to Bridgewater's for his first two seasons, but he didn't turn into Matt Ryan.
Some people seem to see 6 great seasons by Bridgewater that haven't happened yet.
If you couldn't see the difference in composure and accuracy between the two in their first two seasons, then there's probably nothing I can say that will change your mind. Ponder was a 2nd to 3rd round QB taken in the first due to a run on QBs. Bridgewater was the consensus #1 overall pick until a bunch of idiots put too much stock into a bad pro day. His rookie year had most people rethinking their approach to pro days. You could SEE the cobwebs and chaos in Ponder's head from the beginning.
Teddy always looked like a colt pushing against the reigns, wanting to do more and go farther...faster, ... Christian always looked like a colt that was looking around for his mother for security. ( and I liked Christian) There was something about Teddy that said that he had a little more than what you see from most young players, his confidence and quiet demeanor for me were reassuring that we had a made a good pick.
I think that's a pretty fair analogy. Bad protection can ruin a QB. It shatters their confidence and makes them see ghosts. That can have a big impact on accuracy, even when there's adequate protection. There were times in his 2nd season when I thought we might be better served in the long term getting Bridgewater out of harms way, but danged if he didn't seem to have the mental toughness to endure it. Despite the constant jailbreaks, he was composed for the most part, he had good escapability and he wasn't afraid to the throw the ball away. And he was improving within those constraints. His performance under pressure, in come-from-behind games, suggested to me that if you could just take those constraints away and give him "league average" OL play, you would see him really take off. I never saw that in Ponder. Ponder was a wreck. My lasting impression of him is just chaos.
i think ponders biggest problem was he read what was written about him. he is/was a better Qb than what we saw most the time. when he was asked to just go in and play he did pretty good, when he had all week to think about it... not so settled mentally and it showed. he needed to play video games or something that got him off of twitter and all that other social media shit where people were heavily scrutinizing him all week... and for the love of God he needed to forget that the stib or ppress existed.
Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
@"Geoff Nichols" said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Disagree. I think too many try to retrofit Teddy into this game-manager straitjacket as if that's all he'll ever be. That's what he was his first two seasons because, like a lot of young QBs around that time, that's what he was asked to do on a run-first team with a good defense and one of the NFL's best running backs.
It's frustrating, too, because everyone seems to have forgotten that the idea was that the straitjacket was going to come off in his 3rd season. If you recall the buzz from that summer, Mike Zimmer talked about it. Norv talked about it. Even Adrian mentioned that he was going to have to adapt and be more of a pass catcher because the offense was changing.
It would be like Matt Ryan missing the last couple of seasons and folks claiming that all he'll ever be is a game manager who averaged about 3,000 yards a season with 19 TDs and 13 INTs, because that's what he averaged his first two seasons.
It's kinda ridiculous.
Do you mean if people ignored Ryan having 6 years averaging 28 TDs and 4,000 yards, and only looking at his first 2 years, that would be ridiculous? Well, yeah, it would.
But if the ONLY experience Ryan had in the NFL was his first two years - yes, some people would justifiably suggest he might never produce any more. Why would we assume otherwise? Not every rookie who is "decent" his first 2 seasons becomes a much better player, even if uninjured. Christian Ponder's stats were similar to Bridgewater's for his first two seasons, but he didn't turn into Matt Ryan.
Some people seem to see 6 great seasons by Bridgewater that haven't happened yet.
If you couldn't see the difference in composure and accuracy between the two in their first two seasons, then there's probably nothing I can say that will change your mind. Ponder was a 2nd to 3rd round QB taken in the first due to a run on QBs. Bridgewater was the consensus #1 overall pick until a bunch of idiots put too much stock into a bad pro day. His rookie year had most people rethinking their approach to pro days. You could SEE the cobwebs and chaos in Ponder's head from the beginning.
This is probably the best way of simplifying the differences. There are exceptions, but very few QB's come into the league and are dominant until year 3 in their career. What you are looking for in years 1-2 is steady improvement and specific traits. Bridgewater did a lot of good things. His ability to maneuver the pocket was really the biggest chip he brought to the table. Without dropping his eyes he did a very good job of feeling pressure and finding enough space to get passes off. Within 15-20 yards he was lethally accurate and understood ball placement. Not only did receivers have a chance to run after the catch but they were often times protected from unnecessary hits. In no ways was Bridgewater a finished product in 2015/16. But he showed the traits that he had a good chance of significantly improving his production. Ponder didn't show those same qualities.
Ultimately you need to know what you're letting walk out the door if you're the Vikings. At this point I am not sold they are 100% confident in their evaluation of where he's at. Part of that has to deal with the fact that he hasn't gotten into a meaningful game situation. Practice will give them a good idea, but you won't know what Teddy is until he is taking snaps with a live pass rush. Risky, yes. But it likely has the highest upside given the cost.
any word on what Teddys agent is realistically looking for? do they really think he will get an offer from somebody without any legit competition for the #1 spot or are they expecting to be in a camp battle no matter where they end up?
(the same questions with Sam and Case as well I guess)
No idea what his agent would be looking for, the market will dictate it. But whether his contract tolls is the conversation right now. The Vikings have expressed to Bridgewater's camp they would like him back though.
Quote: @"Geoff Nichols" said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
@"Geoff Nichols" said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Disagree. I think too many try to retrofit Teddy into this game-manager straitjacket as if that's all he'll ever be. That's what he was his first two seasons because, like a lot of young QBs around that time, that's what he was asked to do on a run-first team with a good defense and one of the NFL's best running backs.
It's frustrating, too, because everyone seems to have forgotten that the idea was that the straitjacket was going to come off in his 3rd season. If you recall the buzz from that summer, Mike Zimmer talked about it. Norv talked about it. Even Adrian mentioned that he was going to have to adapt and be more of a pass catcher because the offense was changing.
It would be like Matt Ryan missing the last couple of seasons and folks claiming that all he'll ever be is a game manager who averaged about 3,000 yards a season with 19 TDs and 13 INTs, because that's what he averaged his first two seasons.
It's kinda ridiculous.
Do you mean if people ignored Ryan having 6 years averaging 28 TDs and 4,000 yards, and only looking at his first 2 years, that would be ridiculous? Well, yeah, it would.
But if the ONLY experience Ryan had in the NFL was his first two years - yes, some people would justifiably suggest he might never produce any more. Why would we assume otherwise? Not every rookie who is "decent" his first 2 seasons becomes a much better player, even if uninjured. Christian Ponder's stats were similar to Bridgewater's for his first two seasons, but he didn't turn into Matt Ryan.
Some people seem to see 6 great seasons by Bridgewater that haven't happened yet.
If you couldn't see the difference in composure and accuracy between the two in their first two seasons, then there's probably nothing I can say that will change your mind. Ponder was a 2nd to 3rd round QB taken in the first due to a run on QBs. Bridgewater was the consensus #1 overall pick until a bunch of idiots put too much stock into a bad pro day. His rookie year had most people rethinking their approach to pro days. You could SEE the cobwebs and chaos in Ponder's head from the beginning.
This is probably the best way of simplifying the differences. There are exceptions, but very few QB's come into the league and are dominant until year 3 in their career. What you are looking for in years 1-2 is steady improvement and specific traits. Bridgewater did a lot of good things. His ability to maneuver the pocket was really the biggest chip he brought to the table. Without dropping his eyes he did a very good job of feeling pressure and finding enough space to get passes off. Within 15-20 yards he was lethally accurate and understood ball placement. Not only did receivers have a chance to run after the catch but they were often times protected from unnecessary hits. In no ways was Bridgewater a finished product in 2015/16. But he showed the traits that he had a good chance of significantly improving his production. Ponder didn't show those same qualities.
Ultimately you need to know what you're letting walk out the door if you're the Vikings. At this point I am not sold they are 100% confident in their evaluation of where he's at. Part of that has to deal with the fact that he hasn't gotten into a meaningful game situation. Practice will give them a good idea, but you won't know what Teddy is until he is taking snaps with a live pass rush. Risky, yes. But it likely has the highest upside given the cost.
any word on what Teddys agent is realistically looking for? do they really think he will get an offer from somebody without any legit competition for the #1 spot or are they expecting to be in a camp battle no matter where they end up?
(the same questions with Sam and Case as well I guess)
No idea what his agent would be looking for, the market will dictate it. But whether his contract tolls is the conversation right now. The Vikings have expressed to Bridgewater's camp they would like him back though.
i didnt know if he was in your circle of trust or not. I am glad to hear the team wants Teddy back, but I would expect that they have expressed the same sentiment to Sam and Case as well even though they know that they wont be signing all 3. one of those PC things they just have to say.
Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
@"Geoff Nichols" said:
@ JimmyinSD said:
@"Geoff Nichols" said:
@ MaroonBells said:
@ Jor-El said:
@ MaroonBells said:
Disagree. I think too many try to retrofit Teddy into this game-manager straitjacket as if that's all he'll ever be. That's what he was his first two seasons because, like a lot of young QBs around that time, that's what he was asked to do on a run-first team with a good defense and one of the NFL's best running backs.
It's frustrating, too, because everyone seems to have forgotten that the idea was that the straitjacket was going to come off in his 3rd season. If you recall the buzz from that summer, Mike Zimmer talked about it. Norv talked about it. Even Adrian mentioned that he was going to have to adapt and be more of a pass catcher because the offense was changing.
It would be like Matt Ryan missing the last couple of seasons and folks claiming that all he'll ever be is a game manager who averaged about 3,000 yards a season with 19 TDs and 13 INTs, because that's what he averaged his first two seasons.
It's kinda ridiculous.
Do you mean if people ignored Ryan having 6 years averaging 28 TDs and 4,000 yards, and only looking at his first 2 years, that would be ridiculous? Well, yeah, it would.
But if the ONLY experience Ryan had in the NFL was his first two years - yes, some people would justifiably suggest he might never produce any more. Why would we assume otherwise? Not every rookie who is "decent" his first 2 seasons becomes a much better player, even if uninjured. Christian Ponder's stats were similar to Bridgewater's for his first two seasons, but he didn't turn into Matt Ryan.
Some people seem to see 6 great seasons by Bridgewater that haven't happened yet.
If you couldn't see the difference in composure and accuracy between the two in their first two seasons, then there's probably nothing I can say that will change your mind. Ponder was a 2nd to 3rd round QB taken in the first due to a run on QBs. Bridgewater was the consensus #1 overall pick until a bunch of idiots put too much stock into a bad pro day. His rookie year had most people rethinking their approach to pro days. You could SEE the cobwebs and chaos in Ponder's head from the beginning.
This is probably the best way of simplifying the differences. There are exceptions, but very few QB's come into the league and are dominant until year 3 in their career. What you are looking for in years 1-2 is steady improvement and specific traits. Bridgewater did a lot of good things. His ability to maneuver the pocket was really the biggest chip he brought to the table. Without dropping his eyes he did a very good job of feeling pressure and finding enough space to get passes off. Within 15-20 yards he was lethally accurate and understood ball placement. Not only did receivers have a chance to run after the catch but they were often times protected from unnecessary hits. In no ways was Bridgewater a finished product in 2015/16. But he showed the traits that he had a good chance of significantly improving his production. Ponder didn't show those same qualities.
Ultimately you need to know what you're letting walk out the door if you're the Vikings. At this point I am not sold they are 100% confident in their evaluation of where he's at. Part of that has to deal with the fact that he hasn't gotten into a meaningful game situation. Practice will give them a good idea, but you won't know what Teddy is until he is taking snaps with a live pass rush. Risky, yes. But it likely has the highest upside given the cost.
any word on what Teddys agent is realistically looking for? do they really think he will get an offer from somebody without any legit competition for the #1 spot or are they expecting to be in a camp battle no matter where they end up?
(the same questions with Sam and Case as well I guess)
No idea what his agent would be looking for, the market will dictate it. But whether his contract tolls is the conversation right now. The Vikings have expressed to Bridgewater's camp they would like him back though.
i didnt know if he was in your circle of trust or not. I am glad to hear the team wants Teddy back, but I would expect that they have expressed the same sentiment to Sam and Case as well even though they know that they wont be signing all 3. one of those PC things they just have to say.
They haven't told anything to Sam or Case to this point.
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