Here is what I dont get about the Sloter debate.
1. The kid is clearly playing really well against 3rd string (as some say).
2. In the three years he has been with us, he had played very well.
3. When some say he should be elevated to 2nd QB others say he is not good enough. How on earth do we know (I know Zim does not care what we know or need to know) how good or bad he is without giving him a chance? All people are asking is to see him have a shot/extended action with the 2s.
For those they say he is only good cos he is playing with third and fourth string players. Who else is he supposed to play with? He is working with what he is being given to work with.
Given this is preseason, is it really that hard to find a few mins for him to play with the 2s?
Even if he does not play well or struggles with the 2s, that would serve as an opportunity for Sloter to know he is not as ready as he may think he is.
The hard part about QB is youre either playing or youre not. Its not like a DE where you might play sub packages with a couple different guys and they have the oppertuniry to play even if they dont start.
sometimes when you have a guy supremely confident in his ability (rightly or wrongly) the best way to get him to realize his shortcomings/test him is to put him in a position where you expect him to fall flat on his face.
Put him in against top players, if he struggles maybe he will see how he needs to improve, if he does't fail maybe you are onto something...
Cousins is a .500 QB and is likely to remain so. Can Sloter be the heir apparent? Mannion isn't. Otherwise it is Browning or a draft pick. But if it comes to that, it will probably be the choice of a new head coach and/or new GM. In which case Sloter won't be offered much of a chance either.
I remember when Gannon wasn't given a chance, because there was a clause in his contract that said he would have a substantial increase in salary if he took a single regular season snap. Johnson may have had the same clause, I'm not sure.
But it was BS, and Gannon did well elsewhere. I just hope they aren't as short sighted with Sloter, and give him a chance.
As frustrated as fans are, can you imagine how Sloter feels? All he does is perform, and he's never even given a second look.
I have no idea why the Vikings insisted on bringing him in, and keeping him on the roster so no one else could snag him, just to hand the QB2 job to outside guys like Siemian and Mannion in consecutive offseasons.
I'm so confused by all of it. When Sloter gets the chance, he'll be moving on to a team that'll give him a legitimate opportunity to move up the depth chart, because that's not happening in Minnesota.
Quote: @jargomcfargo said:
I remember when Gannon wasn't given a chance, because there was a clause in his contract that said he would have a substantial increase in salary if he took a single regular season snap. Johnson may have had the same clause, I'm not sure.
But it was BS, and Gannon did well elsewhere. I just hope they aren't as short sighted with Sloter, and give him a chance.
Gannon eventually got quite a bit of playing time with the Vikings, (35 starts over 6 years) so they did give him a chance. He then spent the next 5 seasons in Washington and Kansas City and did nothing. Finally, in Oakland for his 12th season he became a Pro-Bowl QB. It's not really fair to call the Vikings short sighted on Gannon when when they gave him 35 starts and he was let go by 2 other teams after that.
As for Sloter, I hope they do keep him until he has a legitimate chance to prove himself.
Pete Bercich was raving about Sloter the other day when I was listening to the Vikings game. He said that he has that "moxie" you look for in a QB and everybody in the locker room genuinely likes the guy. If you remember, a bunch of his teammates were sporting SloterHaus shirts last season... that's not common at all for a QB3 and shows he has some of that proverbial "it" factor.
I get the sense he's kind of like Keenum where he makes plays in practice and then has stretches where he struggles. Zimmer was reluctant to commit to Keenum for that very reason, despite him playing pretty well most of the season. It sounds like that is what happening with Sloter... makes enough mistakes in practice where you wonder if he can play well in games and then he goes out and makes plays all over the field in preseason.
Honestly, I think the team wants a veteran guy in Cousin's ear as the QB2 as Geoff has alluded to in the past. Mannion has what... 3-4 years as a starting college QB in a power conference and 5 years in the NFL? Meanwhile, Sloter played one year of QB in college and is just entering his 3rd NFL season...
The interesting thing to me is if something happens to Cousins... would the team play Sloter and keep Mannion as that veteran guy in his ear on the sidelines? Hard to say... but I don't get the angst over whether he is the QB2 or QB3 since he'll be on the team again this season IMO.
Quote: @PurplePotato said:
As frustrated as fans are, can you imagine how Sloter feels? All he does is perform, and he's never even given a second look.
I have no idea why the Vikings insisted on bringing him in, and keeping him on the roster so no one else could snag him, just to hand the QB2 job to outside guys like Siemian and Mannion in consecutive offseasons.
I'm so confused by all of it. When Sloter gets the chance, he'll be moving on to a team that'll give him a legitimate opportunity to move up the depth chart, because that's not happening in Minnesota.
One thing that occurred to me is that the coaching staff may want Mannion at #2 because he is similar to Cousins in his playing style - that is, neither uses mobility as a primary strength, but are pocket passers who follow the called play exactly. So when Mannion leads a practice with starters and near-starters, the offense feels essentially the same as it does with Cousins.
Sloter, OTOH, is useful to run the scout team, especially when they are preparing for teams with mobile QBs. (Would you have Statue Mannion pretend he's Russell Wilson??)
I kind of understand if that's some of the rationale...but it's a philosophy that is totally saying, "Cousins is our ONLY important QB, and these other guys are just here to play specific supporting roles in practice". Kind of dangerous.
Quote: @Wetlander said:
Pete Bercich was raving about Sloter the other day when I was listening to the Vikings game. He said that he has that "moxie" you look for in a QB and everybody in the locker room genuinely likes the guy. If you remember, a bunch of his teammates were sporting SloterHaus shirts last season... that's not common at all for a QB3 and shows he has some of that proverbial "it" factor.
I get the sense he's kind of like Keenum where he makes plays in practice and then has stretches where he struggles. Zimmer was reluctant to commit to Keenum for that very reason, despite him playing pretty well most of the season. It sounds like that is what happening with Sloter... makes enough mistakes in practice where you wonder if he can play well in games and then he goes out and makes plays all over the field in preseason.
Honestly, I think the team wants a veteran guy in Cousin's ear as the QB2 as Geoff has alluded to in the past. Mannion has what... 3-4 years as a starting college QB in a power conference and 5 years in the NFL? Meanwhile, Sloter played one year of QB in college and is just entering his 3rd NFL season...
The interesting thing to me is if something happens to Cousins... would the team play Sloter and keep Mannion as that veteran guy in his ear on the sidelines? Hard to say... but I don't get the angst over whether he is the QB2 or QB3 since he'll be on the team again this season IMO.
^^^
This is spot-on imo...
He'll be on the team either way at @ 2 or 3
They need another vet QB today for the Qb room and on the sidelines for Cousins
He is still inconsistent enough @ practice, calling plays, getting everyone lined-up correctly etc.
He will benefit from another year of curating
Next year I could see him moving to QB2.
I'd have liked to see what he could have done against better level of NFL competition this pre-season. Mannion will probably start vs Bills? But it wouldn't surprise me if Sloter gets a lot of extended play - maybe even in Q1.
Quote: @Wetlander said:
Pete Bercich was raving about Sloter the other day when I was listening to the Vikings game. He said that he has that "moxie" you look for in a QB and everybody in the locker room genuinely likes the guy. If you remember, a bunch of his teammates were sporting SloterHaus shirts last season... that's not common at all for a QB3 and shows he has some of that proverbial "it" factor.
I get the sense he's kind of like Keenum where he makes plays in practice and then has stretches where he struggles. Zimmer was reluctant to commit to Keenum for that very reason, despite him playing pretty well most of the season. It sounds like that is what happening with Sloter... makes enough mistakes in practice where you wonder if he can play well in games and then he goes out and makes plays all over the field in preseason.
Honestly, I think the team wants a veteran guy in Cousin's ear as the QB2 as Geoff has alluded to in the past. Mannion has what... 3-4 years as a starting college QB in a power conference and 5 years in the NFL? Meanwhile, Sloter played one year of QB in college and is just entering his 3rd NFL season...
The interesting thing to me is if something happens to Cousins... would the team play Sloter and keep Mannion as that veteran guy in his ear on the sidelines? Hard to say... but I don't get the angst over whether he is the QB2 or QB3 since he'll be on the team again this season IMO.
I have no trouble with Mannion as our #2 and Sloter as #3. But there was some talk before camp (here and in the media) that whoever didn't win that competition would be released, with Browning on the practice squad. It seems like that is a near impossibility now given the performance of Sloter. It even sounds like Zimmer is coming around to the idea that Sloter just might be one of those gamer types. And you can't release or trade a kid like that until he absolutely proves he's not.
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