File under: Thing I never thought I'd hear six months ago...

[JSn]

From Matt Bowen at National Football Post:

The National Football Post | NFL Over/Under: Playing The Odds

2-Quarterbacks the Vikings will bring in this offseason (OVER)

Hey, Brad Childress, you need a quarterback in Minnesota — probably more than one. Tarvaris Jackson’s performance against Philly on Sunday was brutal: 15-35-164-1 INT. Those numbers aren’t good enough to win in September, so you can forget about the NFL playoffs. It just seems that the Vikes have a lot going for them — a dominant running back in Adrian Peterson, a solid offensive line and a defense that forces turnovers. The piece that’s missing is the quarterback. Sure, their receivers are average, or a little above, for this league, but a good quarterback — a guy like Donovan McNabb or Matt Cassel — instantly makes this team a Super Bowl contender. Plus, and this is a big plus for Childress, a quarterback who can play and win in the playoffs will probably save the coach’s job — because the Vikes not only have to return to the playoffs next year, they also might have to win one or two of those games if Childress wants to keep calling plays in that purple polo shirt of his.

I know this is one guy's perspective, but I don't believe he's the only one. In fact, I think many of us die-hard fans think Matt would be our guy if somehow TFB were done.

Hard to believe after training-camp and pre-season speculation these kind of things are now being said out loud. Just another thing that make football so awesome!

 

[signbabybrady]

Cassel is the man and has proven that he deserves that kind of accolade. I think as many have pointed out that the Vikings would be a great fit for him because of the talent they have. I for one hope he ends up there because that is a team that we can all route for and I want to be able to route for him (well at least until we meet)

 

[Deus Irae]

I've been saying that I thought Cassel would be a good fit for that Minnesota team, but that Childress has to go. Unfortunately, Wilf is an idiot and isn't going to fire Childress.

 

[woolster22]

Take a first this year and conditional pick in next years draft to send him to the vikes...It would be great watching them steamroll the giants next year!

 

[Buchanty]

I've been saying that I thought Cassel would be a good fit for that Minnesota team, but that Childress has to go. Unfortunately, Wilf is an idiot and isn't going to fire Childress.

Totally agree - Vikes will never get far in the playoffs with Childress as the coach. Too cautious and too complex (play list is huge). I don't know what he's like in the locker room, but he doesn't have someone's silent strength (gasp) or another's steely determination. He just seems detached from the action.

I too would like to see MC there, as it is easy to route for that team, I just would hate to see Childress louse up Cassel's potential.

 

[Gwedd]

And speaking of idiots, the Wilfmeister is asking the cash-strapped citizens of Minnesota to pony up more than $650 million dollars to buy him a new stadium, and says he shouldn't have to pay any of it back.

Considering these economic times, and the record of his team, that's an awful lot of chutzpah.

 

[billdog3484]

i dont know if id call Childress a bad coach. its sure hard to win when you dont have a good QB

 

[Synovia]

i dont know if id call Childress a bad coach. its sure hard to win when you dont have a good QB

Tavaris Jackson came from a Division 1AA school, and was graded very poorly in the draft, seen as a 5th or 6th by some, and undrafted by others. He predicted poorly in every QB prediction system I've seen.

Childress not only took him in the 2nd round, but was confident enough to go into last season with absolutely nothing else. If the vikings had picked up Garcia the year before last, or Pennington, or a handful of other freely available vets, or drafted a QB who anyone thought would have a chance of success, they'd be winning 12+ games a year right now.

 

[signbabybrady]

Tavaris Jackson came from a Division 1AA school, and was graded very poorly in the draft, seen as a 5th or 6th by some, and undrafted by others. He predicted poorly in every QB prediction system I've seen.

Childress not only took him in the 2nd round, but was confident enough to go into last season with absolutely nothing else. If the vikings had picked up Garcia the year before last, or Pennington, or a handful of other freely available vets, or drafted a QB who anyone thought would have a chance of success, they'd be winning 12+ games a year right now.

Yeah he should of got Pennington....we would be in the playoffs right now

 

[stavros27]

Cassel's Moss/Welker combo would be Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade. I'm a Vikings fan, and I wouldn't take a chance on Cassel. He proved that he can succeed with the best coach in football, the best WR in football, and best slot WR in football. I'm not saying he won't be good, but there is no way you can say he is suddenly a great QB after one year in this system. And no, I don't care about how similar his stats are to Brady's first season.


Minnesota's offense is basically the opposite in those 3 categories. Not a great #1 receiver, not a great slot receiver, and not a great coach. So I can't say I'd be optimistic about paying him 30+ million to win with the Vikings, just because he looked good with an all star cast.

He could be the next big thing, but anyone who thinks he will undoubtedly be great just because of this one season is blinded.

 

[captadamnj]

I'm still waiting for "the next big thing" to leave NE and become "the next big thing", coach or player. Samuel had a good season, at least.

Here's another - Pats would be 11-5 and not win the AFC East!

 

[signbabybrady]

Cassel's Moss/Welker combo would be Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade. I'm a Vikings fan, and I wouldn't take a chance on Cassel. He proved that he can succeed with the best coach in football, the best WR in football, and best slot WR in football. I'm not saying he won't be good, but there is no way you can say he is suddenly a great QB after one year in this system. And no, I don't care about how similar his stats are to Brady's first season.


Minnesota's offense is basically the opposite in those 3 categories. Not a great #1 receiver, not a great slot receiver, and not a great coach. So I can't say I'd be optimistic about paying him 30+ million to win with the Vikings, just because he looked good with an all star cast.

He could be the next big thing, but anyone who thinks he will undoubtedly be great just because of this one season is blinded.

So let me get this straight you don't want a good QB because you have a bad coach, bad #1 WR, and bad slot reciever? What about the fact you have a bad QB? might that be reason enough to try and get someone else for the job?

Seems to me like you Trade for Cassel and sign a top flight WR and you can move your other guys down the depth chart and all the sudden Peterson has a team around him. But if you want to wait until you get another Randy Moss before you go after a QB feel free.

 

[Spiral]

Cassel's Moss/Welker combo would be Bernard Berrian and Bobby Wade. I'm a Vikings fan, and I wouldn't take a chance on Cassel. He proved that he can succeed with the best coach in football, the best WR in football, and best slot WR in football. I'm not saying he won't be good, but there is no way you can say he is suddenly a great QB after one year in this system. And no, I don't care about how similar his stats are to Brady's first season.


Minnesota's offense is basically the opposite in those 3 categories. Not a great #1 receiver, not a great slot receiver, and not a great coach. So I can't say I'd be optimistic about paying him 30+ million to win with the Vikings, just because he looked good with an all star cast.

He could be the next big thing, but anyone who thinks he will undoubtedly be great just because of this one season is blinded.

Trading for Cassel is less risky than drafting a QB, signing any other veteran out there (think Brett Favre would have worked out for you?), or hoping that Jackson will somehow become improve enough to become mediocre.

 

[xmarkd400x]

So let me get this straight you don't want a good QB because you have a bad coach, bad #1 WR, and bad slot reciever? What about the fact you have a bad QB? might that be reason enough to try and get someone else for the job?

Seems to me like you Trade for Cassel and sign a top flight WR and you can move your other guys down the depth chart and all the sudden Peterson has a team around him. But if you want to wait until you get another Randy Moss before you go after a QB feel free.

Your taking what he said out of context.

He said, yes MC looked good. However, it was with a GREAT supporting cast. Will MC be as good in Minnesota as he looked in 2008? He said probably not because of the downgrades in 3 areas that help a QB look good. He said MC may or may not be good, but Minnesota doesn't have the same supporting cast, so any flaws that NE was covering may be exposed there.

Would he want MC? I'd guess yes. Would he want MC for what MC will probably get paid? My quess is no.

 

[Synovia]

Seems to me like you Trade for Cassel and sign a top flight WR and you can move your other guys down the depth chart and all the sudden Peterson has a team around him. But if you want to wait until you get another Randy Moss before you go after a QB feel free.

And who is that top flight receiver that you just sign?


The one worry anyone has to have about Cassel is that all of his play has been with absolutely elite talent around him, and its impossible to seperate how much of his numbers are Matt Cassel, and how much of his numbers are Moss/Welker/Faulk/etc, and the Vikings have to absolutely be considering that. His performance throwing to Bobby Wade and Bernard Berrian is certainly not going to be as good as that with Moss and Welker, assuming he is what he is.


Now, if they think hes still developing, and going to get better, thats a different story.

 

[signbabybrady]

Your taking what he said out of context.

He said, yes MC looked good. However, it was with a GREAT supporting cast. Will MC be as good in Minnesota as he looked in 2008? He said probably not because of the downgrades in 3 areas that help a QB look good. He said MC may or may not be good, but Minnesota doesn't have the same supporting cast, so any flaws that NE was covering may be exposed there.

Would he want MC? I'd guess yes. Would he want MC for what MC will probably get paid? My quess is no.

What about the fact they have the best running back in the game? might that open things up for Cassel? I know our rushing attack was good this season but I figure people were more concerned about our passing game in Minn people will be more worried about their running game and likely that will make it easier than talented WRs. How many times do you think Cassel saw 8, 9 men in the box compared to how many times the Vikings QB saw 8, 9 men in the box?

IMO it is just flawed logic to think like that. If there was something about our system that he didn't feel would relate to his that would be one thing but just to say we don't have the targets for him that NE does so I don't want him is stupid in that case who does (arizona, maybe a one or two other teams but they may have a QB already)

 

[Synovia]

Would he want MC? I'd guess yes. Would he want MC for what MC will probably get paid? My quess is no.

The problem is, even mediocre QBs get HUGE money. You can't get a QB for cheap. Even if you do, you end up giving him a big extension in year 2 or 3, and then hes making elite money.

So you might as well get a guy you think is going to be good, and not worry about what hes going to cost.

 

[Synovia]

What about the fact they have the best running back in the game?

They don't have the best runningback in the game. They have the best runner. Adrian Peterson is a poor receiver, and a poor blocker, so when hes on the field, they're not throwing the ball. Honestly, on passing downs, I'd rather have Kevin Faulk.


If the Vikings are going to throw the ball, Chester Taylor has to be in the game, and nobody puts 8 or 9 in the box against him. Now, if Peterson gets better at blocking and receiving, it will be a completely different story, but there are plenty of RBs who never could figure out pass blocking.

 

[dtbrks]

I love what matt c did for the pats this year but I would have liked to see how he handled the playoff pressure. Regular season games are one thing, playoffs another (see Chad P this year). How many great regular season QB's have been average in the playoffs? Manning comes to mind (esp early in his career).

It would have been nice to get to see how he performed. We know Brady is one of the best QBs in the playoffs and under pressure (but that's not for this thread ).

 

[signbabybrady]

They don't have the best runningback in the game. They have the best runner. Adrian Peterson is a poor receiver, and a poor blocker, so when hes on the field, they're not throwing the ball. Honestly, on passing downs, I'd rather have Kevin Faulk.


If the Vikings are going to throw the ball, Chester Taylor has to be in the game, and nobody puts 8 or 9 in the box against him. Now, if Peterson gets better at blocking and receiving, it will be a completely different story, but there are plenty of RBs who never could figure out pass blocking.

Thats a valid point which I guess goes back to coaching...