Vikings Message Board.Com

dead_poet wrote: Except statistically. Of course, going from a 54.3% completion percentage to 62% and 168 yards/game to 214 is still pretty poor.

YR           CMP          ATT          YDS          TD           INT          RAT
2011        158          291          1853         13           13            70.1
2012        300          483          2935         18           12            81.2
2013        98           158          1072         3            6             72.5

King James wrote:

MelanieMFunk wrote:Here are some of my thoughts on Ponder:

I think that, overall, he has enough tools to be our starter if the rest of the team is playing well around him. We've witnessed that. I know he's foolish at times and doesn't have a deep ball, but I think he has enough talent and intelligence to be a decent quarterback. My issue is: I think he needs to work harder. I question his dedication and work ethic. He knows he needs to improve by a lot, and he knows what his expectations are based on where we drafted him and the fact that he's the starting QB. He needs to get to work: study more film, come early and stay late, pick coaches' and veteran players' brains, etc. He needs to do whatever he can do to get better. I see Peyton Manning, who I happen to think is the best QB in the league, working his butt off after all of these years of being an elite quarterback. It's amazing to watch. I'm not suggesting Ponder could even be close to as good as Manning, but dang it, he could put in the same amount of work, couldn't he? Great athletes don't get great by accident. They work at it. Whether Manning and his team are down by a score or up by three, you see him over on the sidelines looking at crap to improve. He's such a special player. I think it was during the Colts/Broncos game the other week that they were talking about Reggie Wayne and how hard he works. They were telling a story about how he always came to work really early--and when he got there, Peyton was already there getting down to business. Again, two of the NFL's best players in the past decade didn't just wake up excellent. They had to work for it. So does Ponder. I don't think he'll ever be excellent, but he can put in the work towards being good or average, don't you think? Maybe I'm wrong, but I've never read that Ponder was the first guy there and the last to leave type of thing when it involved work ethic. I did, however, read that same thing about MBT. They said he was sticking around after practice, throwing balls to anyone willing to stick around and catch them. He did all that he could to improve. Why is MBT sticking around and putting in the work and Ponder is not? Maybe he has. Maybe I just didn't see it. If anyone has a link (or five) please share it. But, regardless, I think Ponder could do himself a favor by putting in the extra work like so many other NFL players do. And, until I see that kind of effort towards improvement, and ya know, actually bothering to improve on Sundays, I think it's time to move on.

King James wrote:

Interesting. I wonder how does Ponder fare in practice. Better yet how did he fare in training camp? I know the online reports only give a brief update on what the team is doing. Im sure fans who attended them have a better view on how Ponder this offseason leading to the game. No one has really said if Ponder performed badly during training camp or not. I know the couple of preseason games he was in spoke for itself though.. Idk maybe Ponder performs better than practice than he does during the game? I am curious to see how the coaches prepare Ponder during practices. I mean what are they seeing him that the rest of us are not seeing. And Im not buying the "tanking the season" excuse either. It has to be something.

VikingHoard wrote: It appears as though my humor is too dry for your taste. As an apology, I offer the following information which may save you from future embarassments. When criticizing another's argument, it's the validity of their logic you should dispute, not whether the logic is smart.

mosscarter wrote:cassell threw for over 200 yards in both his starts and also threw the only two td's jennings has caught all year. oh, and he has our only win. so how can you justify ponder has done better? in my opinion ponder is the worst starting qb in the nfl.

mosscarter wrote:cassell threw for over 200 yards in both his starts and also threw the only two td's jennings has caught all year. oh, and he has our only win.

King James wrote:I could be wrong but he looks much more comfortable throwing outside of the pocket than in. I know the problem of running outside of the pocket eliminates throwing to the WR on the opposite side. Im sure something can be done though. I don't think Ponder can mentally function in the pocket. He seems more accurate when running.
I don't know how reliable sport science is but this video also suggest that Ponder was more accurate on the run than any QB in that class he was drafted with.

PurpleMustReign wrote: Rofl!

King James wrote:
Interesting. I wonder how does Ponder fare in practice. Better yet how did he fare in training camp? I know the online reports only give a brief update on what the team is doing. Im sure fans who attended them have a better view on how Ponder this offseason leading to the game. No one has really said if Ponder performed badly during training camp or not. I know the couple of preseason games he was in spoke for itself though.. Idk maybe Ponder performs better than practice than he does during the game? I am curious to see how the coaches prepare Ponder during practices. I mean what are they seeing him that the rest of us are not seeing. And Im not buying the "tanking the season" excuse either. It has to be something.

mosscarter wrote:cassell threw for over 200 yards in both his starts and also threw the only two td's jennings has caught all year. oh, and he has our only win. so how can you justify ponder has done better? in my opinion ponder is the worst starting qb in the nfl.

maembe wrote: -The team has scored more points with Ponder in

-Ponder has a higher QBR

-Cassel's stats make him look better than he actually played, and they don't look that good to begin with

-You might be right him being the worst starting QB in the NFL, but only because Cassel isn't starting.