LB and DB

[Demi]

Ponder graduated in 2 1/2 years from FSU with a degree in finance. Yep, not too bright
I finally might have figured it out. Some of you naysayers and bashers are just damn right jealous. Here is a 24 year old man making millions of dollars a year, married to one of the hottest girls you could imagine, a starting QB in the NFL (one of only 32 human beings in the world), has his degree in finance, Has great cars, a great house, and then there are YOU guys

Wow. I get it now. You literally *worship* the guy! There's some kind of hero worship thing going on! Not sure if you want to BE Ponder, or just be WITH him. But you definitely have some issues...

The rest of us only care about one thing, how is he as a quarterback. I've never once considered any of that meaningless crap.

Either that or with the purple rotting your brain you're feeling the need to start trying to find other excuses why anyone would dare question your purple messiah, since watching him on the field he can do no wrong to you, then there must be something anyone who thinks otherwise is considering.

When he's a backup or off the roster, he'll still have all those things, and he'll still be a terrible quarterback. Will you acknowledge it then? Or will you change your avatar to Ponder and demand they start him again because just ONE more year and he'd get it!

Really need to start calling out other posters because of ONE comment about a player on the team? Jesus.

[The Breeze]

I think TJack ruined it for many. Ponder hasn't even played two full seasons. His rookie year was during a lockout with no camp.

I see the guy has some confidence issues...but that's it for me. He does not strike me as a horrible QB or a Purple Messiah. I think many of you are jumping the shark in both directions.

Regardless, this his year...

[Purple bruise]

Wow. I get it now. You literally *worship* the guy! There's some kind of hero worship thing going on! Not sure if you want to BE Ponder, or just be WITH him. But you definitely have some issues...

The rest of us only care about one thing, how is he as a quarterback. I've never once considered any of that meaningless crap.

Either that or with the purple rotting your brain you're feeling the need to start trying to find other excuses why anyone would dare question your purple messiah, since watching him on the field he can do no wrong to you, then there must be something anyone who thinks otherwise is considering.

When he's a backup or off the roster, he'll still have all those things, and he'll still be a terrible quarterback. Will you acknowledge it then? Or will you change your avatar to Ponder and demand they start him again because just ONE more year and he'd get it!

Really need to start calling out other posters because of ONE comment about a player on the team? Jesus.

Oh did i touch a little nerve there No one was calling out any posters although I was responding to a fan who said that Ponder was not very smart. It Probably would be a good idea for you to quit responding to my posts.

[Eli]

Oh did i touch a little nerve there. No one was calling out any posters although I was responding to a fan who said that Ponder was not very smart. It Probably would be a good idea for you to quit responding to my posts.

This one?

Being bright isnt always a sure thing for a NFL player....look at Ponder.

If so, I think you misread that.

[Rus]

For all those who think Audie Cole is the guy the Vikings are going to tab for MLB, you might want to stop hoping desperately that the Vikings aren't going to use one of their first picks on a linebacker.

(Audie is pretty slow and everyone knows it.)

He may have a decent head for where the ball is going, but that's in part due to quarterbacks knowing that he is slow and can't keep up with slot receivers and even most tight ends. If they can burn him over the middle, over the course of a season that could get very, very ugly.

I kind of like Audie as a backup and special teamer, though. But in this defense, you kind of need a middle who can drop back and cover as well as move up and stuff the run. It's the kind of defense that works best with a beast in the middle. You can't skimp on your middle linebacker in Alan Williams's defense, if Brinkley was outplaying Cole in practice, then I think they're going to need to draft a guy in the first two rounds. EJ was a second rounder, just so you all know.

(I know so many of you want them to stockpile WRs and offensive guards, but this draft is deep at WR and most drafts have plenty of guards to choose from)

[Purple bruise]

This one?
If so, I think you misread that.

You are probably right it was another "backhanded insult" that I misread

[Rus]

Oh did i touch a little nerve there No one was calling out any posters although I was responding to a fan who said that Ponder was not very smart. It Probably would be a good idea for you to quit responding to my posts.

Ha, that's Demi for you.

He used to make me want to change my avatar to Dr. Venture. I stopped reading his replies to my posts a long time ago. It's not worth letting yourself get trolled off a football discussion board over a misunderstanding. He structures sentences in such a way that makes me not want to engage him in conversation very often.

[Eli]

For all those who think Audie Cole is the guy the Vikings are going to tab for MLB, you might want to stop hoping desperately that the Vikings aren't going to use one of their first picks on a linebacker.

(Audie is pretty slow and everyone knows it.)

He may have a decent head for where the ball is going, but that's in part due to quarterbacks knowing that he is slow and can't keep up with slot receivers and even most tight ends. If they can burn him over the middle, over the course of a season that could get very, very ugly.

I kind of like Audie as a backup and special teamer, though. But in this defense, you kind of need a middle who can drop back and cover as well as move up and stuff the run.

The hope is that Cole might be a natural at the position and one of those guys who plays head and shoulders above his measurables. If he's all you say, then he doesn't really have much use on special teams, or as a backup. I've said it before, but Spielman's oh-so-amazingly successful last couple of drafts, where 8 or 10 guys make the team, won't look so great once the cruft starts to be replaced by the newest crop of sixth and seventh rounders.

(I know so many of you want them to stockpile WRs and offensive guards, but this draft is deep at WR and most drafts have plenty of guards to choose from)

Stockpile(!) wide receivers and offensive guards??? That's maybe the single funniest thing I've read here in months. The Vikings are _so_ far from stockpiling players at either position that I can't even fathom where that comes from.

[Purple bruise]

Ha, that's Demi for you.

He used to make me want to change my avatar to Dr. Venture. I stopped reading his replies years ago. It's not worth letting yourself get trolled off a football discussion board over a misunderstanding.

You are a very wise man but even when you foe some one you still have to read their remarks when they reply to some one else's posts.
This is the kind of post that are unending and work their way into almost every "Topic":
"Because he's a head case. Mentally weak. Emotionally questionable. Immature. A front runner? It showed even more when he felt the need to reply to the pointless jab about his girlfriend that a starting NFL quarterback should be above. And reports early on that the Vikings didn't feel it'd be a good idea to bring in any real competition because they had questions about just that, his confidence.
Forget the other physical issues I have, mentally he isn't all their either."
And of course he is only a 6-2 230 lb. midget , mobile QB with a high IQ that has a noodle arm Forget that he has had only 1.5 seasons and ended up beating the Packers with a 120 QB rating and 3 tds and no ints. and the team made the play-offs

[Rus]

You are a very wise man but even when you foe some one you still have to read their remarks when they reply to some one else's posts.
This is the kind of posts tyhat atre unending aqnd work their way into almost every "Topic":
"Because he's a head case. Mentally weak. Emotionally questionable. Immature. A front runner? It showed even more when he felt the need to reply to the pointless jab about his girlfriend that a starting NFL quarterback should be above. And reports early on that the Vikings didn't feel it'd be a good idea to bring in any real competition because they had questions about just that, his confidence.
Forget the other physical issues I have, mentally he isn't all their either."
And of course he is only a 6-2 230 lb. midget , mobile QB with a high IQ that has a noodle arm Forget that he has had only 1.5 seasons and ended up beating the Packers with a 120 QB rating and 3 tds and no ints. and the team made the play-offs

I think fans just don't understand that some quarterbacks are ready to start right away, and some need development time. Ponder needed time, everyone knew that when he was drafted. He didn't really get that time because Frazier and Spielman screwed up and signed a free agent quarterback that went completely in the can (because they both liked the guy personally). Ponder starting 10 games in his first season was not an optimal situation at all, but the fans set their expectations to Andrew Luck type levels. Ponder is not that kind of quarterback. When they drafted the guy, I said he was a lot like Rich Gannon, probably a little more pro-ready as Gannon was originally a wildcat quarterback in college. It took Gannon 3 years on the bench just to be ready to play, and he wasn't really great for about 5 years. But given time, Gannon was one of the best and most underrated quarterbacks in the game.

In his 1 1/2 years of playing, Ponder's had 3-4 games that were better than ANY game Tarvaris Jackson ever had. They were the type of games statistically that a franchise quarterback should have. And that's with some pretty shoddy weapons at wide receiver (aside from Harvin, who was injured a big chunk of that time), holes in the offensive line, and again, a big chunk of that time with an injured star running back. Considering that the original plan was to have him play behind Donovan McNabb in 2011 and 2012, and that THIS year would be his first, I don't think he's done that poorly. Despite how people feel about AD, anyone who watched any of those games knows that if Ponder were really as bad as they say he is, he could have made it impossible for them to have reached the playoffs last year. The Vikings aren't a team that leads the league in defensive scoring. They're actually kind of bad at it. Actually, the Vikings defense is surprisingly average, statistically. Kind of relies on big plays at the right time, hard to really judge that defense with stats alone.

[Purple bruise]

I think fans just don't understand that some quarterbacks are ready to start right away, and some need development time. Ponder needed time, everyone knew that when he was drafted. He didn't really get that time because Frazier and Spielman screwed up and signed a free agent quarterback that went completely in the can (because they both liked the guy personally). Ponder starting 10 games in his first season was not an optimal situation at all, but the fans set their expectations to Andrew Luck type levels. Ponder is not that kind of quarterback. When they drafted the guy, I said he was a lot like Rich Gannon, probably a little more pro-ready as Gannon was originally a wildcat quarterback in college. It took Gannon 3 years on the bench just to be ready to play, and he wasn't really great for about 5 years. But given time, Gannon was one of the best and most underrated quarterbacks in the game.

In his 1 1/2 years of playing, Ponder's had 3-4 games that were better than ANY game Tarvaris Jackson ever had. They were the type of games statistically that a franchise quarterback should have. And that's with some pretty shoddy weapons at wide receiver (aside from Harvin, who was injured a big chunk of that time), holes in the offensive line, and again, a big chunk of that time with an injured star running back. Considering that the original plan was to have him play behind Donovan McNabb in 2011 and 2012, and that THIS year would be his first, I don't think he's done that poorly. Despite how people feel about AD, anyone who watched any of those games knows that if Ponder were really as bad as they say he is, he could have made it impossible for them to have reached the playoffs last year. The Vikings aren't a team that leads the league in defensive scoring. They're actually kind of bad at it. Actually, the Vikings defense is surprisingly average, statistically. Kind of relies on big plays at the right time, hard to really judge that defense with stats alone.

I could not agree any more but would ad the facts that his pass protection has really been poor and he was injured and hampered his first year (hip pointer and shoulder).

[Demi]

You are probably right it was another "backhanded insult" that I misread

So how about responding to his point and not taking a shot at him? I know knee jerk purple blood in your veins is to attack anyone who dares question those who wear the horns...but please at least try for basic reading comprehension...and focus on the team and not other posters...

[The Breeze]

oh deer

[NextQuestion]

Being bright isnt always a sure thing for a NFL player....look at Ponder.

I totally agree but I get nervous that this kid might just hit the ol' ganja habit again. He's quotes on marijuana were interesting and how he fell into the rockstar life too fast. Welcome to the NFL where parties are constantly around you

[Purple bruise]

Demi posted: "So how about responding to his point and not taking a shot at him? I know knee jerk purple blood in your veins is to attack anyone who dares question those who wear the horns...but please at least try for basic reading comprehension...and focus on the team and not other posters...[/quote]

The particular "fan" that I was directing my post to was giving a back handed insult by saying that Ponder IS intelligent but still is a bad QB. That is his opinion, the type that he has posted a hundred times about Ponder in every Topic imaginable, just like you constantly do. Don't insult me by all of the "worship" bullcrap that you accuse me of and the purple is rotting me blah blah
Bottum line is that you seem to despise Ponder and have turned it into a personal vendeta for some unknown reason that I can't comprehend. It goes beyond you not thinking that he is or ever will be a good QB. That is just fine with me but don't ridicule me because I have been a FSU fan for ever and have watched him play since he was 19 years old up and watched him become the MVP of the Senior Bowl and understand that it takes most good QB's time and years to develop. I was very excited when the Vikings drafted him but did not expect that he would develop over night or would be thrown to the wolves without a training camp, poor receivers, crappy pass protectors either.
An so go on with your never ending agenda of hating Ponder but leave me out of it please.