Mothman wrote:I've asked this before but why such an extreme point of view or at least why such extreme rhetoric (like "the guy cannot play")? This is what I don't understand. It seems irrational to me....
Okay Jim. You know I respect your opinion as much or more as anyone on the board. And because of that respect, you'll never have to worry about me getting too contentious with you. We've had some good discussion and I always appreciate your viewpoint. So I'll throw out all the hyperbole and silly statements like, "he can't play!" and talk seriously.
It's pretty clear you let your emotions somewhat play a part in your evaluation of players as well. We ALL do. When "he who shall not be named" played the best QB this team has seen since Tommy Kramer, you would never give him any credit because of how you felt about him. It's crystal clear you don't care for Cassel much and seem to have a bit of a soft spot for Ponder. At least it seems that way to me. And that's perfectly fine.
You always say Cassel is only "marginally" better than Ponder. I disagree. I - and many here - think it's pretty clear that he's significantly better. It may not be anything that consistently shows up in the stat sheet or even the win/loss record but he just "looks" more like a NFL QB. He's more solid and confident in the pocket. He throws the ball with much more velocity and can make those deep middle throws that Ponder won't even try. No, he's not a great QB by any stretch. If he was, he'd still be in KC. He's prone to stretches of inaccuracy and poor decision making. But he's by far the Vikings' best option in my opinion.
As far as Ponder, I wanted him to succeed as bad as anyone, but I had my doubts very early. At the end of 2012 the Vikings won those four in a row but I truly at the time felt they won those more in spite of Ponder's play than because of it. Adrian was off the chain and Ponder avoided crushing mistakes. Now, in the GB game to end the year, Ponder was very good. He definitely was a big reason they won that game. But I still felt we hadn't seen enough good play out of him to give me much confidence.
I had no problem with them naming Ponder the unchallenged starter heading into 2013. They HAD to based on the last game he played. But once the season started I saw all the things that had worried me about him from the start. The shakiness in the pocket. The wobbly throws, the off target throws, the completions that didn't hit the receivers where they should. And of course, the gut wrenching INTs. And even when he was adequate enough for the team to be in position to win, he just didn't make plays when he needed to. When he HAD to. Sure, he still was pretty young and inexperienced, but things like the way he threw the ball just weren't things to me that were going to change with more snaps. And things didn't change. He kept making the same bad throws and poor decisions he'd been making. And what became his constant post-game mantra , "...everything is correctable" drove me crazy! If it's so easily correctable, CORRECT IT!!
I could see what was happening. It was T-Jack all over again. They were determined to leave Ponder in there and try and prove they were not wrong in drafting him that high. I was done with him after Cassel started against the Steelers. And every time I'd hear Frazier say he was still the starter, it made me madder. And the more he played, the more he showed he had no business being the starter.
Bottom line is; this is where my feelings for Ponder come from. And it's pretty clear that there is a huge section of the fan base that feel about Ponder the way I do. For that reason, I think it would be as good for him as the team to cut ties and let him move on. Especially with a new regime wanting to put their stamp on this team, I think keeping him around in any capacity would just not be a good idea.
Have I gotten irrational at times with my criticism? Oh yeah. No doubt. But maybe after this wall of text, you'll understand where I'm coming from and I promise I won't blab on like this again.
'Till the next time.
I can get down with that, if you can own up to that and not play the victim all of the time, because, well, you're far from innocent in the Ponder/Cassel discussions. 
