Can Teddy Bridgewater Be the Minnesota Vikings Savior as a Rookie?: The only thing standing in the way of Teddy Bridgewater becoming the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings is the playbook. Bridgewater was considered a pro-ready quarterback by some leading up to the draft. Not everyone felt that way, but those who did believe in him often pointed to his ability to run a pro-style offense at Louisville under then-head coach Charlie Strong, who gave him free reign to make checks and calls at the line of scrimmage. This was one of the biggest traits Bridgewater possessed that had people excited, especially in Minnesota after the Vikings traded back up into the first round to select him with the No. 32 pick, the final pick in the first round. Its easy to make checks and calls at the line of scrimmage when you have such a firm grasp on the playbook, which Bridgewater had at Louisville. But coming to Minnesota and the NFL and playing under new head coach Mike Zimmer and new offensive coordinator Norv Turner, Bridgewater has a learning curve that he must overcome in order to make any kind of an impact as a rookie. This is the same for all rookies, but considering Bridgewater plays the most important position on the field and Minnesota finished last in the division a season ago, fans in Minnesota will want that timetable to be expedited. Bridgewater will compete with veteran Matt Cassel, who re-signed in the offseason after playing in nine games last year, for the starting job. Third-year quarterback Christian Ponder will also be in the mix, but the former No. 12 pick in the 2011 draft hasnt earned the benefit of the doubt at this point. Bridgewater will play when hes ready. In order to get a feel for how difficult Bridgewaters task will be at learning Turners Air Coryell offense, lets take a look at what Turner said about his own offensive philosophy years ago to NFL reporter Jason Cole, via BayAreaBall. I dont think its hard to be innovative with your play calls, but its hard to make sure that the guys you have are comfortable running those plays. The key is to make sure you have a group of plays that your team can execute and then find a way to make them look different to the defense. That was the key to this system when Don Coryell put it together years ago. He made it very player friendly. You can give the defense a lot of different looks while running basically the same plays. In a given week, well have 12 to 15 running plays that were going to work on, and maybe 50 to 70 pass plays. In a game, well run maybe 10 of the running plays and 20 to 30 of the pass plays, depending on how the game goes. One of the biggest parts of Turners offense and the Air Coryell system in general is the deep-passing game. The deep-passing game is also an area where Bridgewater could use some improvement, per his NFL scouting report: Does not drive the ball with velocity down the field and can be affected by cold and windy conditions (see Cincinnati). Can improve placement and touch on the deep ball. Heres a look at one of those throws from his game against Cincinnati this season, via Draft Breakdown. Bridgewater overthrows his intended target, who is open downfield with the safety coming over late with help over the top. Turners ability to work with quarterbacks and offenses in general has been widely documented throughout the years, per Brian Hall of Fox Sports North: In 23 years as an offensive coordinator and head coach, Turner has had a top-10 scoring offense 10 times. His teams have finished in the top-11 in offensive yards 11 times. Bridgewater will have everything he needs from a developmental standpoint at his disposal to be a successful NFL quarterback. And the sooner he can learn, understand and ultimately take charge of the playbook, the sooner hell be out on the field. For the Vikings to go from worst to first in the NFC North this season, Bridgewater will have to be the one leading that charge. There isnt another quarterback on the roster who has proven to be able to make that jump. While its true that Bridgewater hasnt proven to be able to do anything in the NFL as of right now, theres uncertainty there, and from an optimistic standpoint, he hasnt proven not to be able to do it, either. It would be a huge surprise for Bridgewater to step right in and lead the Vikings to the playoffs in his rookie season, but saviors dont get that tag without earning it. For that to actually happen, Bridgewater will have earned it. Read more NFL news on BleacherReport #Football #NFL #NFCNorth #MinnesotaVikings
Posted on: Mon, 02 Jun 2014 06:30:13 +0000
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