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The Vikings' quarterback hierarchy for the remainder of this season is set. The quarterback hierarchy for the future remains muddled, and probably will be determined by Case Keenum's playoff performance.Earlier this week, I asked Vikings coach Mike Zimmer when he became comfortable with Case Keenum as his starting quarterback.
“Four or five weeks ago,” he said.
Long after the Vikings’ most vocal fans had decided that Keenum should be pronounced the starter for this and many seasons to come, Zimmer was just beginning to accept that Keenum would continue to play even as Teddy Bridgewater returned to the active roster.
Fans may see this as disloyalty to Keenum, blind loyalty to Bridgewater or just a coaching version of rudeness. It’s merely an experienced NFL coach acknowledging that when it comes to quarterbacks, we don’t know what we don’t know.
Whatever its management and public-relations problems, the NFL remains the dominant sport in North America. It is a billion-dollar industry prone to hyper-analysis, given the relatively few games and plays that occur every year, and the most intense analysis is focused on quarterbacks, who play the most pivotal position in American sports.
Yet NFL teams constantly make bad decisions on quarterbacks, no matter how many hours of game film they watch.
Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium, two different kinds of promising quarterbacks will start when the Vikings face the Bears. The Vikings made a shrewd signing of Keenum, who has a chance to lead them to their second 13-victory season in franchise history. The Bears used the second pick in the draft on Mitch Trubisky, who has displayed talent and flaws.
Let me let you in on a secret: Neither team really knows what they have...
http://www.startribune.com/vikings-still...467331303/
Keenum has played exceptionally well. What muddles analysis of him, from the Vikings’ perspective, is that Sam Bradford played exceptionally well in Pat Shurmur’s offense. As well as Keenum has played, perhaps the most impressive performance by a Vikings quarterback this season might be Bradford’s one healthy start, in the season opener.
In 1998, Randall Cunningham gave the Vikings one great regular season. He was benched in mid-October the following season. In 2004, Daunte Culpepper became a star. By 2006, he was out of the Vikings’ plans. Keenum has given the Vikings about 2½ high-quality months, and now Bridgewater is healthy and Bradford is ready to return to practice.
The quarterback hierarchy for the remainder of this season is set. The quarterback hierarchy for the future remains muddled, and probably will be determined by Keenum’s playoff performance and evaluations of Bradford’s knee.
The question the Vikings will be asking in February is whether Keenum is a franchise quarterback in isolation, or just when playing for Shurmur, who is likely to become a head coach this winter.
The smartest and most diligent talent evaluators in the NFL choose quarterbacks knowing that they are defining their reputations, and they still miss most of the time.
As you watch Keenum and Trubisky on Sunday, remember that their teams’ analysis is ongoing, and that in the eyes of Vikings evaluators, Keenum still has much to prove.
Jim Souhan’s podcast can be heard at MNSPN.com. On Twitter: @SouhanStrib E-mail: [email protected]
So, why isn't the N.F.L. beating down the Viking's door in order to snatch one of these quarterbacks for their own?
Sounds like Zimmer became convinced around the same time many of us did. Thanksgiving. Before that game, Keenum was a flawed QB getting lucky in a really good offense. It's just a matter of time before he gets yanked in favor of Teddy. Teddy's the future. Since that game, he's improved quite a bit. To the point where our QB decision for next season it at least a legit debate.
And as much as I hate Souhan, I have to give him credit for this paragraph:
Tom Brady was drafted in the sixth round. The players chosen by the Patriots before him: Adrian Klemm, J.R. Redmond, Greg Robinson-Randall, Dave Stachelski, Jeff Marriott and Antwan Harris. If Bill Belichick had any inkling that Brady could be a quality starter, much less a historic figure, he was foolish to wait until the sixth round to take him.
Drives me nuts when people talk about how smart Belichick was for taking Brady. Yeah, he was so smart he let 5 rounds go by before letting the world in on his cunning 20-year plan to take over the NFL. Brady was a flyer. It's idiotic to think otherwise.
Its probably unfair, but Keenum's leash as far as a longer-term signing is very short. Meaning the team is almost just waiting for the wheels to come off Case's wagon so they can move on to Teddy without regret or further reflection for 2018. I don't think any in the organization foresaw Keenum's play being so strong for so long. IMO, its surprising to the franchise and now it definitely complicates things for them moving forward.
Honestly, I have no idea what they are going to with the spot for 2018.
Quote: @StickyBun said:
Its probably unfair, but Keenum's leash as far as a longer-term signing is very short. Meaning the team is almost just waiting for the wheels to come off Case's wagon so they can move on to Teddy without regret or further reflection for 2018.
As it should be. I know some have called for Keenum to be extended now, but with all due respect to those people, that would be the most reckless and foolish thing we could do.
See 1998. Team's backup comes in, lights it up in OC's great offense. Just before playoffs, backup gets huge extension, team trades starter, OC gets head coach job, backup falls apart, starter wins super bowl for another team.
For the love of Odin, let it play out. After the season, lock all your smart people in a film room and kick 'em in the ass until they decide. Make the decision based on film, how you did in the playoffs, and what happens to your OC.
As I've said before, this front office is infinitely smarter than the one in '98, so I have confidence that they will make the right decision. They damn well better.
Quote: @dukes said:
So, why isn't the N.F.L. beating down the Viking's door in order to snatch one of these quarterbacks for their own?
Because they're under contract? And doing so would be a violation of NFL rules and cost them a draft pick?
Quote: @MaroonBells said:
Sounds like Zimmer became convinced around the same time many of us did. Thanksgiving. Before that game, Keenum was a flawed QB getting lucky in a really good offense. It's just a matter of time before he gets yanked in favor of Teddy. Teddy's the future. Since that game, he's improved quite a bit. To the point where our QB decision for next season it at least a legit debate.
And as much as I hate Souhan, I have to give him credit for this paragraph:
Tom Brady was drafted in the sixth round. The players chosen by the Patriots before him: Adrian Klemm, J.R. Redmond, Greg Robinson-Randall, Dave Stachelski, Jeff Marriott and Antwan Harris. If Bill Belichick had any inkling that Brady could be a quality starter, much less a historic figure, he was foolish to wait until the sixth round to take him.
Drives me nuts when people talk about how smart Belichick was for taking Brady. Yeah, he was so smart he let 5 rounds go by before letting the world in on his cunning 20-year plan to take over the NFL. Brady was a flyer. It's idiotic to think otherwise.
That's not a fair way to determine smart drafting. Taking the player you want in the latest round possible is smart drafting. Yes, looking back Brady was obviously worth the first overall pick. What makes it even better is that he wasn't. Read up on Russell Wilson, one of Carroll or Allen wanted to take Wilson earlier; the other knew he would be there in the third. Smart drafting.
There's a BIG difference between what happened with Wilson and what happened with Brady. Pats started thinking about Brady in the 3rd round, but as each round came, there was a player there they liked better.
On a related note, the Broncos targeted Kyle Sloter in the 7th round. Fully intended to take him there...until a player they didn't expect to be there fell to them, and that was Chad Kelly. It will be interesting to compare the careers of those two.
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