What's your initial feeling on the Vikings signing Freeman?

[Webbfann]

Post preserved for posterity.

One of the things I've read about Freeman is that he is poor under pressure. Overall I don't see his record and stats as being much different than Cassel's.
Hey I hope he does well just like I hoped Ponder did well. But the only one who actually HAS done well in a Vikings uniform is Cassel. I have no delusions about him. He has a checkered record and obviously can be both good and bad. Just like Freeman. Unlike most people here I don't think we can predict what he will do in the future.

I like how some people seem to think Cassell was our savior and starter the rest of the year. Did he look better than Ponder? Sure. Was it a good performance? Not really. He managed to not lose the game for us. We squeaked out a win against a bad, struggling Steelers team.

Cassell is not a starter, and you all would be up in arms if he started for us the rest of the way. I can guarantee you if this Josh Freeman signing didn't happen, we'd be seeing Ponder starting again within a few weeks as his ribs get magically better, after Cassell completely stinks up the joint.

I wouldn't be surprised if he has a terrible game this coming week. Carolina is coming off a loss, their defensive front 7 are monsters, and will be eating our OL alive. Cassell sucks under pressure and can't run. We could see Freeman under center as soon as the second half this week. (I'd actually say by the second quarter but I don't give our coaching staff enough credit to pull the trigger until after half time, even then I might be giving them too much credit to make a change).

[maembe]

My fear is that our after our next two games, our last three games will have been against teams with a combined total of one win (which was against a team with 0 wins), which means Cassell should easily have gotten three wins in a row. This could convince the team to keep riding Cassell which is just wasting time.

[Texas Vike]

One-on-one with Freeman: http://www.vikings.com/media-vault/vide ... b8c7d3a61b

He sounds sleepy. He also collects pythons. He should get along well with Jared.

Good video. Wobschall gets a bad rap... I thought he did a good job here.

Interesting that pre-draft he felt a connection to the Vikes and MN when he visited; he had that feeling that this would be a good fit.

Also interesting that he's leaving his pythons in Florida for now. Read: "I am aware of the temporariness of this situation."

[mondry]

Good video. Wobschall gets a bad rap... I thought he did a good job here.

Interesting that pre-draft he felt a connection to the Vikes and MN when he visited; he had that feeling that this would be a good fit.

Also interesting that he's leaving his pythons in Florida for now. Read: "I am aware of the temporariness of this situation."

Yeah, I could see that going both ways, as in he may not want to stay here in the long run or it may not work out for him here where the Vikings don't want him.

[PurpleKoolaid]

Because Cassel sucks and is definitely not the the long term answer at the position. There's a chance, as slim as it may be, that Freeman might be.

Why? With your blanket statement of 'Cassel' sucks, after seeing him in 1 game here, Freeman must really suck. To get cut after a few games, that's ultimate suckage.

Either Freeman starts or this whole thing was a waste, and we will still have Ponder with us next year. And if you want to talk about sucking, there are volumes of it about Ponder.

[mansquatch]

Yeah, I could see that going both ways, as in he may not want to stay here in the long run or it may not work out for him here where the Vikings don't want him.

Not that is a trend, but the one year deal thing with Simpson has worked out well this season. Obviously different nuances to that situation vs Freeman, but so far JS has been a positive outcome this season.

[Delaqure]

I just am not sold on Freeman at all. He has double the games under his belt than Ponder, yet his stats are not that much better. Here is a comparison.

Ponder completion 59.2%
Freeman completion 58.2%

Ponder yrds game 182
Freeman yrds game 225

Ponder yrds attempt 6.3
Freeman yrds attempt 6.9

Ponder is intercepted 3.4% of the time
Freeman is intercepted 3.4% of the time

Ponder TDs per game throwing .9
Freeman TDs per game throwing 1.3

So with double the games that Ponder has, Freeman hasn't shown himself to be much better. Sure he has a cannon arm, but apparently that cannon only has netted him a 1% better completion rate than Ponder and only a .6 yards per avg advantage. It hasn't given him a better interception rate, but admittedly he does give more TDs a game.
Cassel is basically about the same as Ponder and Freeman.

Now how much of that is a result of who he plays for I don't know and is an intangible at this point. Same goes for Cassel. Cassel hasn't played for us enough to really gauge his ability with our team and we sure have no idea how Freeman will do with our talent either. We can only say that Ponder has not looked good with our talent this year. In one game Cassel looked better, but it was only one game.

At this point I don't believe Freeman is the answer this year. He may turn out to be, but forgive me if I am not excited.

[Delaqure]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1803 ... ta-vikings

Here is an interesting article. What interests me is the note that Freeman may have a great arm, but his accuracy isn't that great and also the fact that his intangibles such as foot work and throwing location are regressing. So, despite his cannon arm he kinda sounds like he has some of the same issues that Ponder has.

I am not trying to be a downer here, just temper the excitement with a dose of reality. I would love it if Freeman or Cassel resurrect their careers here. We have the offensive talent to succeed with a good QB. I think this year is the proving ground for Freeman and Cassel. AD and improved receiving corps should be enough to let one of these guys jump to the forefront. At this point I am not convinced they will. But hey, what do I know.

It's all speculation until the whistle blows.

[S197]

I think the idea with this sort of deal is that if a player in Freeman's situation gets an opportunity with another team and it goes well, if the player has success in that new situation, that success provides strong motivation to stay. That seems to be exactly what happened with Felton. There are no guarantees but there is an incentive to re-sign and a window between the end of the season and the beginning of free agency in which the team has the exclusive right to negotiate.

It's a short term move with long term potential.

Freeman and his agent clearly believe he can be a starter in the NFL and he must have viewed the Vikings as the best opportunity to make that case. I think if the Vikings were one of the only teams that stepped up, there might be some degree of loyalty for giving him a shot but if it's true that 10 teams were interested, I think he just chose the best opportunity for himself. The Vikings will certainly have the inside track in resigning him should he perform well but in the end it will come down to money.

I don't disagree that there's upside to this signing, all I'm saying is he's signed to make an impact now, the Vikings are looking at this signing as helping them this season. The long-term stuff is up in the air with the ball in Freeman's court. At least they made an effort to sign him for 2-years, that shows some commitment, although Freeman turning it down doesn't indicate as much on his end.

[Mothman]

Here's a link to an interesting Pete Prisco column dated September 26th:

After Further Review: Freeman the scapegoat for Bucs' bad scheme

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have given up on Josh Freeman. He is being benched after three games for a rookie third-round pick who didn't exactly light it up when he played in the preseason.

The question I ask is this: Are the Bucs doing the right thing by sitting Freeman and playing Mike Glennon?

I've heard and written about the disconnect between Freeman and coach Greg Schiano for the past six months, and this is clearly about that as much as anything. Schiano can't possibly look at the tape from the past two games and put his offensive troubles all on Freeman.

Has Freeman been great? No. Has he been adequate? After a bad first game, I would say he has done some good things and some bad things. You can clearly see by studying the past two games on tape that there are reasons for the offensive problems and reasons why the Bucs have looked so bad throwing it.

Among them:

.... and the rest is at the link. It's a good read.

[John_Viveiros]

I just am not sold on Freeman at all. He has double the games under his belt than Ponder, yet his stats are not that much better. Here is a comparison.

Ponder completion 59.2%
Freeman completion 58.2%

Ponder yrds game 182
Freeman yrds game 225

Ponder yrds attempt 6.3
Freeman yrds attempt 6.9

Ponder is intercepted 3.4% of the time
Freeman is intercepted 3.4% of the time

Ponder TDs per game throwing .9
Freeman TDs per game throwing 1.3

So with double the games that Ponder has, Freeman hasn't shown himself to be much better.

Thanks for the stats. I read them A LOT differently than you do. The only thing they are comparable in that concerns me is interception percentage. Otherwise, to me, 43 yards per game is a huge difference. We're talking an extra first down every quarter. And Freeman basically throws half again (50% more) TD's than Ponder - he gets his teams in the end zone with his throws. I'm more sold on him now that you've posted this.

[Mothman]

Freeman and his agent clearly believe he can be a starter in the NFL and he must have viewed the Vikings as the best opportunity to make that case. I think if the Vikings were one of the only teams that stepped up, there might be some degree of loyalty for giving him a shot but if it's true that 10 teams were interested, I think he just chose the best opportunity for himself. The Vikings will certainly have the inside track in resigning him should he perform well but in the end it will come down to money.

It might... I'm not among those who buy into that notion. Money will undoubtedly be a factor but it might not be the deciding factor.

We're getting way ahead of things anyway. Let's see how Freeman actually performs this season with very little time to get acclimated to the offense.

I don't disagree that there's upside to this signing, all I'm saying is he's signed to make an impact now, the Vikings are looking at this signing as helping them this season. The long-term stuff is up in the air with the ball in Freeman's court. At least they made an effort to sign him for 2-years, that shows some commitment, although Freeman turning it down doesn't indicate as much on his end.

I'm sure the Vikes are hoping Freeman can make an immediate impact and help this season but I think this is absolutely a move they've made with long term considerations out-weighing short term. The player they hoped could be their franchise QB has been a disappointment. They found themselves with the rare opportunity to sign a 25 year old player with franchise QB potential and they seized it. I'm sure they want to win as many games as possible this season but in all likelihood, this is going to be an extended audition for the starting QB position in 2014 and possibly beyond. They almost certainly want to see if Freeman is worth investing in as their QB of the future.

[dead_poet]

Here's a link to an interesting Pete Prisco column dated September 26th:

After Further Review: Freeman the scapegoat for Bucs' bad scheme
.... and the rest is at the link. It's a good read.

That is a good read. Thanks. Though, it's hard not to want the guy to look at Ponder and see if he'd come to the same conclusion "It's not all on Ponder." (which, you know, it isn't.)

This sounded awfully familiar:

All of this isn't to say that Freeman doesn't have his share of the blame. He sometimes forces his passes in situations where throwing it away would clearly be the best option. It's almost as if he predetermines where he wants to go with the ball, and then goes there no matter what. He seems to be pressing,

[Odlid]

This is where my frustration rests. And I still think it won't matter unless the defense gets its act together.

+1000

We now have 3 suspect QB's on the roster, behind an offensive line that can't block. Combined with a defense that can't generate a pass rush and DB's that couldn't cover a dime with a 10'x10' tarp; things don't look good for the Purple Faithful. Don't even want to mention the Vikes' horrible punt and kickoff coverage...

Firing Frazier should have been the first step that the Front Office took...

[akvikingsfan]

Thanks for the stats. I read them A LOT differently than you do. The only thing they are comparable in that concerns me is interception percentage. Otherwise, to me, 43 yards per game is a huge difference. We're talking an extra first down every quarter. And Freeman basically throws half again (50% more) TD's than Ponder - he gets his teams in the end zone with his throws. I'm more sold on him now that you've posted this.

What I'm also interested in are these stats:

Rushing Attempts Per Game:
Ponder - 3.55
Freeman - 3.33

Rushing Yards Per Game:
Ponder - 18.89
Freeman - 15.67

Rushing Yards Per Attempt:
Ponder - 5.32
Freeman - 4.68

Rushing Touchdowns Per Game:
Ponder - .14
Freeman - .07

Fumbles Lost Per Game:
Ponder - .31
Freeman - .22

I know its not the primary job of the quarterback to be running around, but when you add these into the passing stats we see the following:

Turn Overs Per Game:
Ponder - 1.34
Freeman - 1.34

Touchdowns Per Game:
Ponder - 1.04
Freeman - 1.37

Yards Per Game:
Ponder - 200.89
Freeman - 240.67

We can see that turnover wise, they're essentially the same (both at 1.34 turnovers per game). Freeman produces slightly more touchdowns (.33 more per game or 31% more touchdowns) per game. And Freeman produces about 40 yards (19% more yards) per game. But this doesn't take into account AD. To me, stat wise these two guys are essentially the same. But Freeman shows more confidence and poise on the field than Ponder does. I guess it'll only be a couple weeks until we can see for ourselves. Hopefully, Freeman is far superior to Ponder, but based off what these numbers tell us I wouldn't be so sure.