The Vikings hope they found their franchise QB in Christian Ponder. (AP Images)
Presuming that Brett Favre stays retired this time (please!), the Minnesota Vikings have an opening for a starting quarterback. The team has Joe Webb, who started the final few games last season when Favre was injured, but he’s considered a raw project at best and isn’t likely to start in Week 1. And there’s always the chance the Vikings add a veteran via free agency or trade when the NFL opens for business.
But the club seemed to make a big statement when the shockingly took Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder with the 12th overall pick. Not that Ponder wasn’t good in his career as a Seminole, but most had him pegged as at best a late first-rounder or second-round pick. But when there was a run on quarterbacks, the Vikings felt the need to pounce when they did even though they probably could have traded down and still gotten Ponder.
Ponder is considered an intelligent player — he earned his undergraduate degree in 2½ years and had his master’s degree before he was a senior — with good intangibles. And he is fairly mobile and showed his toughness last season by playing despite a bruised triceps, a ruptured right bursa sac and a concussion. But he doesn’t have a great arm. As a senior, Ponder completed 184 of 299 passes (61.5 percent) for 2,044 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 12 games.
Of course Ponder says he wants to start from Day 1. And offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who admits the team wants to add a veteran, says there is a definitely a chance Ponder could start in Week 1. And the former Seminole said he feels he has an advantage entering the Vikings system because he said Musgrave plans to use an offensive system similar to what he ran at Florida State. Certainly starting from the beginning would boost Ponder’s chances to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he is 18/1 on that prop on Bodog’s NFL odds. One thing working against Ponder and all rookies hoping to start right away is the lockout, which robs first-year players of valuable time with their new teams.
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Tags: christian ponder Minnesota Vikings nfl offensive rookie of the year
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