If teddy is there at #8 do you take him now?

[PurpleKoolaid]

I would be fine with Bridgewater at 8 assuming that Clowney, Mack and Manziel are all gone. Ideally I'd be more comfortable with taking advantage of his low perceived value and trading down and adding a few more picks and taking Teddy middle of the first round, Although if they see him as our franchise QB I have no problem with them grabbing him at 8.

I want to point out a few knocks on Bridgewater that have few if any basis to them:

1. Too small - He is the same height as Aaron Rodgers, Joe Montana and Steve Young. He weighs more than Johnny Manziel, Doug Flutie, Russell Wilson and a few lbs less than Vick, RG3, Kurt Warner and other successful QBs. Yes some of these QB's have had Injury problems, but those same QB's run WAY more than Bridgewater ever will.

2. Weak Arm - Some people have tried to make the case that Bridewater has a weak arm. Teddy throws the ball 54 MPH. "Strong Arm" Flacco throws 55MPH, Bortles 56 MPH, Russell Wilson 55MPH, Andy Dalton 56MPH, Cam Newton 56MPH. I've also noticed from watching tape that on shorter throws Teddy seems to have more zip on the ball than Bortles who tends to ease up and not put his full arm strength behind passes. Sports Science had this to say about Teddy's arm "Bridgewater excelled in our arm strength test, with an angular velocity of 2200 of 2,200 degrees + /seconds Bridgewater hits 54 MPH, the fastest throw we recorded this year. This strong arm means that compared to a more typical 48 MPH throw on a 20 yard pass; Bridgewater's pass would arrive about .10 seconds sooner. Against a DB running at top speed that translates to a target window a entire yard larger."

3. Small Hands - If Bridgewaters hands are too small than so are Bortles since his is 1/8th of a inch bigger. Get a ruler out and see how small that is if you want to get caught up in his hand size. For another comparision Mike Vicks hand size was 8.5 inches which is over a 1/2 inch smaller. The only problem I have with his small hands is that he doesn't wear his gloves in bad weather games, which could actually be a fairly serious problem for playoff games.

4. Not accurate - This became a knock only after the pro-day, before it was being touted as one of his great strengths. Peyton Manning didn't have a great pro day either, one of the reasons Leaf was taken ahead of him. So trust me go with game tape over pro day. While I will say that he struggles with deep Passes, he mostly overthrows them so either his guy gets there or its incomplete. I would much rather have this than consistent underthrows, like bortles, that will be picked in the NFL. Also Teddy completed a higher percentage of 20+ passes than Carr who is praised for his strong arm and deep passes. Outside of deep throws Teddy excels though completing 71% of all passes. This is more impressive when you know he threw the fewest percentage of screens out of the top 4 QB's in the draft. He has the highest completion percentage of the top four QB's from 1-5 yards and 5-10 yards and comes in second from 10-20. He also has the highest completion percentage when blitzed and second highest when under pressure.

5. Not the Face of a Franchise - Frankly this wreaks to me of racism. I don't think they are deliberately being racist but it seems like it definitely has a part in it. Teddy is a quiet guy so he won't necessarily get fans excited by interviews and such, but he conducts himself exactly how you want you're franchise QB to act. He doesn't get in trouble off the field, he mastered a pro style offense and even called his line protection (something many college QB's don't do), and he was beloved by his fan base at Louisville. I've seen too many redskins fans complaining about how egotistical RG3 is and how they want him to just shut up and play football. Teddy is the exact opposite he's not gonna be big news off the field, he'll just stay quiet and work hard. Some people will try to equate Teddy being quiet with him not having enough "Fire" Just watch him will his team to victory against Cincinnati as proof that he has that "fire" when he steps on the field.

Hmm I screwed up my other post.

Good write up on Teddy. There's only 2 defensive players I would take over him and theres now way in the world they will be there at 8.

You ought to write one up for JFB. I Was talking to my friend in VA who kinda works for ESPN (actually works for a new writer that just started there) and he is so big on JFB. I have 2 concern, would he fit in norv's O, and is there going to be a media circus with him win or lose?

[PurpleKoolaid]

Oh and another thing. Norv does like to air it out. But unless we upgrade our Oline pass protection, Norv is going to have to adjust that. I cant remember the last time when our QBs had time to make consecutive long throws in a row. We almost killed Favre when he tried.

[Loki]

Ryan Leaf wasn't drafted before Peyton Manning

Thanks for that correction. I've always thought he was the first pick that year and Peyton was the number 2 just because of the way they talk about the debate between those two and I assumed what made him that big of a bust was that they chose him over Peyton. Even though the fact was wrong the point is the same, what if they took leaf because he had a good pro day and peyton didn't?

[frosted]

Thanks for that correction. I've always thought he was the first pick that year and Peyton was the number 2 just because of the way they talk about the debate between those two and I assumed what made him that big of a bust was that they chose him over Peyton. Even though the fact was wrong the point is the same, what if they took leaf because he had a good pro day and peyton didn't?

You're right, and your post makes a lot of sense.

[Loki]

Hmm I screwed up my other post.

Good write up on Teddy. There's only 2 defensive players I would take over him and theres now way in the world they will be there at 8.

You ought to write one up for JFB. I Was talking to my friend in VA who kinda works for ESPN (actually works for a new writer that just started there) and he is so big on JFB. I have 2 concern, would he fit in norv's O, and is there going to be a media circus with him win or lose?

Thanks, I've covered 2 of the knocks on Johnny in the "Do you want Johnny Manziel at #8?" thread. Those two being that Manziel was mainly a product of Mike Evans and that he is not succesfull in the pocket. As far as the other knocks on him it becomes very blurry because the knocks aren't about his stats. A lot of the knocks on Manziel are simply opinion based such as the two you pointed out and if he will be able to stay healthy, if he can transition to more of a pocket passer, if he can stay out of trouble off field, and if he can be a team leader. On these i can only give my opinion which is that Manziel is a competitor of the highest degree who will do anything to win (which may be bad for the saying healthy argument). I can't speak about off the field stuff, even though he seems to have slowed his role, but I know that when he's on the field on sundays he will put his heart and soul into getting his team the win.

[Loki]

I also wanted to post these, the top one was posted about a month ago by dead_poet and I think I've seen the others on here before too. These all make a strong case for bridgewater, even though I prefer Manziel, I'd be glad to have a QB who puts up stats like Bridgewater.

One thing to keep in mind when looking at these stats is that Manziel plays in the SEC, Bridgewater and Bortles in the American Athletic Conference, and Carr in the Mountain West conference.

[MatteoSpace]

If we go Best Defensive Player at #8 the question is who will be there?

I can tell you my favorites but i haven't idea how they will be used in our LB
Greenway?...Strongside o moved to Weakside?
Starter ILB?...Brinkley? Mauti? Cole?
Opposite Greenway?...Cole? Hodges?

what kind of player Zimmer are looking for?

C.J. Mosley, Anthony Barr, Justin Gilbert, Dennard, Clinton Dix, Aaron Donald??? All of these guys could be considered a reach at #8.

Imho it's not a reach, the charts can be wrong

I agree with Mothman

[...] Once you get past the few clearly elite players in any draft, most players essentially fall into groups. [...]

I feel like once it is our turn to pick, there will be no players that other teams might want to trade up for (e.g. Mike Evans, Greg Robinson) and that we will be forced to either go with a QB in Teddy, Bortles, Carr, Manziel or one of the defense players that I mentioned earlier. Right now im hoping that somehow Evans is there at #8 and a team like St. Louis at 13 or the Jets at 18 wants to move up and then we can get a QB or Best Defensive player available. For me this is one of the most exciting drafts that we have had in a long time!

I don't think.
Donald it's possible target for many team (Giants, Dallas, Bears)
With Evans and Watkins without board a team can trade up for take a Best WR Aviable (true, the class is deep)
Team can trade up for take a Matthews, Gilbert, Clinton-Dix, Lewan, ecc...

After block top player Clowney-Mack-Watkins-Evans-Robinson, anyone can be called (or fall).

If Spielman want trade down with [from Lions to Jets] could take picks of lesser value.

[headless_norseman]

Actually, he had the highest percentage by far in the pocket, TD's included.

[headless_norseman]

Your basing his quality as a QB based on one day?

Didn't say that, did I.

[majorm]

This quote below was in a Star Tribune article this morning about the active role Zimmer is taking in scouting this draft:
Presumably, they've discussed the QBs available and answered those questions for themselves so should they take Bridgewater at #8? If they feel he is the best fit, they should absolutely take him. Ditto for Bortles, JFB or even Carr. They should trust their evaluation and get the quarterback they believe is the right man for the job. If it works out, that player will be well worth the eighth pick in the draft. If they draft a QB and it doesn't work out, that player probably wasn't going to be worth a trade back into the first or the price of a second round pick either.

That's it right there. The Vikings have to have confidence in the scouting dept. or they shouldn't be the scouting dept. If the guys they have evaluating talent think this guy or that guy is the right guy and he's there, they absolutely should take him. They can not and I'm sure do not have the mind-set of, "...we blew it on a QB last time; we just can't take the chance of doing it again."

I feel none of the QBs in this draft are worthy of the #8 overall pick. But I don't get paid to make that call. I don't spend hours and hours looking at tape, watching workouts and talking to the prospects. Hopefully the guys that do get paid for that will make the right call and continue to get paid to do it.

As I sit here right now, I hope they do not take Teddy. I base that on a little bit of video I've watched and evaluations I've heard from several different sources. But if they do, I'm not going to throw a fit. I will give the Viking braintrust the benefit of the doubt - especially with new people in significant roles - and figure they have seen a lot they like in him.

Then we'll all wait and see if they were right or if they should be selling shoes instead of evaluating football talent.

[Mothman]

Then we'll all wait and see if they were right or if they should be selling shoes instead of evaluating football talent.

LOL! Which means they would all go work for the NBA, right? Isn't that league all about selling shoes?

[Loki]

Actually, he had the highest percentage by far in the pocket, TD's included.[/quote]
Which is exactly what I pointed out, I also gave statistical evidence that he wasn't just a product of Evans

[Loki]

.

[Loki]

Those two being that Manziel was mainly a product of Mike Evans and that he is not succesfull in the pocket.

Actually, he had the highest percentage by far in the pocket, TD's included.

Which is exactly what I pointed out, I also gave statistical evidence that he wasn't just a product of Evans

[King James]

Mike Mayock has Bridgewater projected as a second round pick now.