Young Theodore Bridgewater

[maembe]

All I'm saying that Demi's criticism is completely legitimate and it's not because he has it in for Teddy or something. He didn't say he's a bust, he said we don't know either way at this point, which is almost certainly true. People are praising him for a game because he lead the team to a late field goal in a game in which we scored 13 offensive points against one of the worst teams in the league. He clearly does play well when the game is on the line, but if the game is on the line consistently against teams like Tampa Bay we're not going to be a winning team.

As I said before, Teddy has shown flashes and doesn't look like he gets rattled easily, which is definitely a positive trait, but it's a little bit early to start accusing people of not being a Teddy fan because they have legitimate doubts/concerns about his performance thusfar.

[Pondering Her Percy]

All I'm saying that Demi's criticism is completely legitimate and it's not because he has it in for Teddy or something. He didn't say he's a bust, he said we don't know either way at this point, which is almost certainly true. People are praising him for a game because he lead the team to a late field goal in a game in which we scored 13 offensive points against one of the worst teams in the league. He clearly does play well when the game is on the line, but if the game is on the line consistently against teams like Tampa Bay we're not going to be a winning team.

As I said before, Teddy has shown flashes and doesn't look like he gets rattled easily, which is definitely a positive trait, but it's a little bit early to start accusing people of not being a Teddy fan because they have legitimate doubts/concerns about his performance thusfar.

Well yeah I'm not saying someone is or isn't a Teddy fan. But if you look at the last 5 games and compare them to the last 5 games of other starting QBs in the NFL, is it still considered below average?? Now that Teddy has his feet wet, I definitely don't think he is below average by any means.

[Mothman]

Well yeah I'm not saying someone is or isn't a Teddy fan. But if you look at the last 5 games and compare them to the last 5 games of other starting QBs in the NFL, is it still considered below average??

It would be interesting to make the comparison but I suspect he would still appear below average. Overall, his last 5 games really aren't that impressive, statistically or otherwise:

Now that Teddy has his feet wet, I definitely don't think he is below average by any means.

Well, he's currently ranked 31st in average yards per game with 203 (which is pretty much his average over the last 5 games). His passer rating of 79 is clearly below average and even though he just had an excellent passer rating against Carolina, his rating in 3 of the past 5 games was below 80. As we've discussed before, his YPA in 3 of those 5 games is dreadful. His TD/INT ratio over that period is good, but he's only averaging a little less than 1 TD pass per game. Sometimes that's because they're running the ball when they get deep in the red zone but the Vikes weren't racking up points in most of those contests so the main reason Teddy doesn't have many TD passes over the past 5 games is because the Vikes aren't scoring that many offensive TDs.

I'm not trying to pick Bridgewater apart here but I don't understand what he's suppsoedly done over the last 5 games as a whole that suggests he's performing at an average or above average level. He's a rookie so I don't expect him to be above average yet but to me, "average" or better would put him around the middle of the league's starters in most of these categories and he's just not there.

[J. Kapp 11]

Here's what's sad.

If Teddy could somehow throw for slightly more than 277 yards per game over the last four, he'd have the most passing yards for a Vikings QB in a season since Brett Favre's big year in 2009 (Christian Ponder threw for 2,935 in 2012).

How horrible is THAT?

[Mothman]

Here's what's sad.

If Teddy could somehow throw for slightly more than 277 yards per game over the last four, he'd have the most passing yards for a Vikings QB in a season since Brett Favre's big year in 2009 (Christian Ponder threw for 2,935 in 2012).

How horrible is THAT?

It's certainly not good, although now that I think about it, Ponder's 2012 season is the only season since 2009 in which the Vikings had the same QB start all 16 games.

Here's the really sad part, my friend: I think those two seasons by Favre and Ponder represent the two highest passing yardage totals for an individual Vikings QB since Culpepper threw for 4717 in 2004 (and Ponder didn't even break 3000)!

[Purple Reign]

NFL.com had an article rating the 32 qbs in the league and this is what was said about TB:

That's my top 20. The remaining group could really be listed in almost any order.

21. Teddy Bridgewater: He's the best rookie quarterback right now. It's not by much, and his ceiling could be higher than his counterparts. Bridgewater is crafty. He's the type of quarterback who analysts or teammates love to call a "gamer" or a "winner." He's going to be around a while, but possibly in the mold of guys like Alex Smith or Andy Dalton.

[frosted]

It would be interesting to make the comparison but I suspect he would still appear below average. Overall, his last 5 games really aren't that impressive, statistically or otherwise:

This got me thinking. Since week 8 (Teddy's last five games), 38 QBs have taken at least 114 snaps and 27 QBs have taken at least 234 snaps. The cut off I used for this exercise was both 25% and 50% of the number of snaps taken by the QB with the most snaps over that time period, Peyton Manning's 452. Thus, the cut off was 114 snaps (at 25%) and 226 snaps (at 50%) during that period. I did this to account for small sample size, a backup playing a few snaps here and there, etc. Teddy has taken 311 during this period. For reference, Aaron Rodgers has taken 308. Colt McCoy has taken 152, Drew Stanton 185, Ryan Mallett 154, Tom Brady 363, Tony Romo 222...etc. etc. I was going to use 50% only, but to prevent the inevitable nit picking, I will present two sets of data, and just let ya'll decide which one to use. Below I will present the category, Teddy's total in parentheses, and underneath the category, his ranking among his counterparts. The first ranking is for the 25% cut off, the second ranking is for the 50% cutoff.

Passing attempts (170)
16th of 38
16th of 27

Pass Completions (104)
18th of 38
18th of 27

Completion Percentage (61.2%)
19th of 38
15th of 27

Yards (1,015)
26th of 38
26th of 27

Yards/Attempt (6.0)
35th of 38
25th of 27

Touchdowns (7)
17th of 38
15th of 27

Interceptions (2)
4th of 38
2nd of 27

Passer Rating (86.8 )
19th of 38
15th of 27

He's well below average in yards per attempt, roughly average (or slightly below, depending on the threshold you prefer) in completion percentage and passer rating, slightly below average in touchdowns thrown, and well above average in taking care of the football, which is nice. This is all of course, for weeks 8-13. I only used this time range because the 'last five games' comparison was being thrown around. So no need to eat me for 'cherry picking' this set of statistics.

Simply put, he's a rookie. He's not in the above average QB class yet, but that's OK! It's not an affront to Teddy to say he's not yet a good QB. He should improve substantially the remainder of this season, and through this off season. The whole point of creating this thread in the first place was to point out how young he is. He just turned 22. He's the best 22 year old QB in the NFL

[J. Kapp 11]

It's certainly not good, although now that I think about it, Ponder's 2012 season is the only season since 2009 in which the Vikings had the same QB start all 16 games.

Here's the really sad part, my friend: I think those two seasons by Favre and Ponder represent the two highest passing yardage totals for an individual Vikings QB since Culpepper threw for 4717 in 2004 (and Ponder didn't even break 3000)!

The passing juggernaut does not reside in Minneapolis, that's for sure.

[losperros]

The passing juggernaut does not reside in Minneapolis, that's for sure.

And it's starting to piss me off as a fan. I'm not sure what can be done about it, but it seems like a no-brainer that the Vikings have needed a stronger passing attack for quite some time.

[PacificNorseWest]

Stronger passing attack or more efficient?

I don't think we oughta get bogged down in thinking that the Vikings need a 4,000 yard passer to win again. The key for me, is turnovers. Teddy limits them, especially of late. I think that's much more a key to winning than passing yardage is.

[Pondering Her Percy]

This got me thinking. Since week 8 (Teddy's last five games), 38 QBs have taken at least 114 snaps and 27 QBs have taken at least 234 snaps. The cut off I used for this exercise was both 25% and 50% of the number of snaps taken by the QB with the most snaps over that time period, Peyton Manning's 452. Thus, the cut off was 114 snaps (at 25%) and 226 snaps (at 50%) during that period. I did this to account for small sample size, a backup playing a few snaps here and there, etc. Teddy has taken 311 during this period. For reference, Aaron Rodgers has taken 308. Colt McCoy has taken 152, Drew Stanton 185, Ryan Mallett 154, Tom Brady 363, Tony Romo 222...etc. etc. I was going to use 50% only, but to prevent the inevitable nit picking, I will present two sets of data, and just let ya'll decide which one to use. Below I will present the category, Teddy's total in parentheses, and underneath the category, his ranking among his counterparts. The first ranking is for the 25% cut off, the second ranking is for the 50% cutoff.

Passing attempts (170)
16th of 38
16th of 27

Pass Completions (104)
18th of 38
18th of 27

Completion Percentage (61.2%)
19th of 38
15th of 27

Yards (1,015)
26th of 38
26th of 27

Yards/Attempt (6.0)
35th of 38
25th of 27

Touchdowns (7)
17th of 38
15th of 27

Interceptions (2)
4th of 38
2nd of 27

Passer Rating (86.8 )
19th of 38
15th of 27

He's well below average in yards per attempt, roughly average (or slightly below, depending on the threshold you prefer) in completion percentage and passer rating, slightly below average in touchdowns thrown, and well above average in taking care of the football, which is nice. This is all of course, for weeks 8-13. I only used this time range because the 'last five games' comparison was being thrown around. So no need to eat me for 'cherry picking' this set of statistics.

Simply put, he's a rookie. He's not in the above average QB class yet, but that's OK! It's not an affront to Teddy to say he's not yet a good QB. He should improve substantially the remainder of this season, and through this off season. The whole point of creating this thread in the first place was to point out how young he is. He just turned 22. He's the best 22 year old QB in the NFL

Great post Frosted!! To say he's below average to horrible is what I was disagreeing with. Granted he might be "below average" in a few categories but is right on or above average in others. Another thing I did was look at the TD:INT ratio, yards and record other QBs had in this time span. Basically similar to what you covered but to see how he match up against other specific QBs. Granted, I'm not going to compare him to the elite ones but the better ones.

Teddy Bridgewater
7 TDs
2 INTs
1,015 Yards
3-2 Record


Joe Flacco
6 TDs
3 INTs
1,135 Yards
2-3 Record


Matt Stafford
6 TDs
4 INTs
1,442 Yards
3-2 Record


Matt Ryan
8 TDs
3 INTs
1,349 Yards
3-2 Record


Philip Rivers
8 TDs
7 INTs
1,257 Yards
3-2 Record


Andy Dalton
7 TDs
9 INTs
948 Yards
4-1 Record


Russell Wilson
4 TDs
2 INTs
976 Yards
4-1 Record


.....Granted, Teddy is lower in yards but as you can see, yards aren't everything. He's not lighting the world on fire but he's getting the job done right now. He's getting wins under his belt and taking care of the football. His TD's are where a lot of others are at this point. I'm not saying he is any of these guys but definitely comparable based on how he is playing right now.

[DK Sweets]

Nice analysis, frosted. You too, PHP.

(I don't know what the plural form of analysis is...analysises? Analysese? Whatever.)

[Purple bruise]

Great post Frosted!! To say he's below average to horrible is what I was disagreeing with. Granted he might be "below average" in a few categories but is right on or above average in others. Another thing I did was look at the TD:INT ratio, yards and record other QBs had in this time span. Basically similar to what you covered but to see how he match up against other specific QBs. Granted, I'm not going to compare him to the elite ones but the better ones.

Teddy Bridgewater
7 TDs
2 INTs
1,015 Yards
3-2 Record


Joe Flacco
6 TDs
3 INTs
1,135 Yards
2-3 Record


Matt Stafford
6 TDs
4 INTs
1,442 Yards
3-2 Record


Matt Ryan
8 TDs
3 INTs
1,349 Yards
3-2 Record


Philip Rivers
8 TDs
7 INTs
1,257 Yards
3-2 Record


Andy Dalton
7 TDs
9 INTs
948 Yards
4-1 Record


Russell Wilson
4 TDs
2 INTs
976 Yards
4-1 Record


.....Granted, Teddy is lower in yards but as you can see, yards aren't everything. He's not lighting the world on fire but he's getting the job done right now. He's getting wins under his belt and taking care of the football. His TD's are where a lot of others are at this point. I'm not saying he is any of these guys but definitely comparable based on how he is playing right now.

The defense is playing head and shoulders better that they did a year ago when the Vikes had several last minute losses due to their defense screwing up at the end of games. Teddy is blessed to play with this much improved defense.
I get that you seem to be enthralled with him and you have every right to your own opinion.I am just not "sold" yet.
As I have posted many times, I sure hope that he can prove me wrong and turn out to be that franchise QB, long awaited for. Time will tell and I hope that he continues to improve. I think that this game against the Jets will give him another opprotunity to show us some more improvement. I am pulling for him.

[Mothman]

Thanks for putting those stats together, Frosted. Much appreciated....

Great post Frosted!! To say he's below average to horrible is what I was disagreeing with. Granted he might be "below average" in a few categories but is right on or above average in others. Another thing I did was look at the TD:INT ratio, yards and record other QBs had in this time span. Basically similar to what you covered but to see how he match up against other specific QBs. Granted, I'm not going to compare him to the elite ones but the better ones.

Teddy Bridgewater
7 TDs
2 INTs
1,015 Yards
3-2 Record


Joe Flacco
6 TDs
3 INTs
1,135 Yards
2-3 Record


Matt Stafford
6 TDs
4 INTs
1,442 Yards
3-2 Record


Matt Ryan
8 TDs
3 INTs
1,349 Yards
3-2 Record


Philip Rivers
8 TDs
7 INTs
1,257 Yards
3-2 Record


Andy Dalton
7 TDs
9 INTs
948 Yards
4-1 Record


Russell Wilson
4 TDs
2 INTs
976 Yards
4-1 Record

.....Granted, Teddy is lower in yards but as you can see, yards aren't everything. He's not lighting the world on fire but he's getting the job done right now. He's getting wins under his belt and taking care of the football. His TD's are where a lot of others are at this point. I'm not saying he is any of these guys but definitely comparable based on how he is playing right now.

I think his yards per attempt numbers (which you didn't include above) are what really mark him as below average right now. Frosted understandably rounded that stat up to 6.0 but it's actually 5.97 over the last 5 games. Either way, it's bad and I think it casts some of the other stats in a different light. A completion percentage of 61.2% doesn't look too great when combined with a YPA of just under 6.0. With such a low average per attempt, you'd expect a higher percentage of completions. Instead, those two stats combined are indicative of the issues Teddy has had throwing the ball down the field. He's done a great job of taking care of the ball but that's not surprising over a stretch where he was criticized for checking down too often.

It's good to see his TDs up and he played good, efficient football last week. If he keeps that up, he'll be on his way. It will be interesting to see how he performs against some of the better defenses he'll face in the coming weeks.

[Pondering Her Percy]

The defense is playing head and shoulders better that they did a year ago when the Vikes had several last minute losses due to their defense screwing up at the end of games. Teddy is blessed to play with this much improved defense.
I get that you seem to be enthralled with him and you have every right to your own opinion.I am just not "sold" yet.
As I have posted many times, I sure hope that he can prove me wrong and turn out to be that franchise QB, long awaited for. Time will tell and I hope that he continues to improve. I think that this game against the Jets will give him another opprotunity to show us some more improvement. I am pulling for him.

I understand what you're saying PB. But if you look close at the guys I listed above, Wilson, Stafford and Dalton are all blessed with pretty good defenses as well and they are putting up very similar if not, worse numbers than Teddy