Vikings Message Board.Com

purple guy wrote:

Deal with it???? I said I liked the pick?

I was agreeing with you Man. I was asking OTHERS to have paitience with the pick.

ponder has a high IQ and is pretty mobile. i dont think he will be a superstar but he may be a mark brunnell, rich gannon type qb. musgrave develops qb's amd has qb friendly system. i wish we would have gotten him in the 2nd round, but maybe we can get a veteran qb to help out. we can still get a corner or pass rusher in free agency.

cam newton, gabbert, and mallett were the highest rated qb's in the draft. ponder, and dalton were the second tier qb's. some like dalton better than ponder and some like ponder better than dalton. locker was also rated a second round qb my most people. ponder is a good qb, not a first rounder however, but he may end up being a pretty decent qb. one or two of the qb's should be something special.......no one really knows who. i dont trust cam newton at all. there is something i dont like about him, and he also doesnt seem very intelligent IMO.

BGM wrote:It would have made sense in the second round, considering the talent pool in this year's draft. Had there been three QBs who were far and away the pick of the litter and then a bunch of dregs aside from that, then sure, you have to pull the trigger. But, I did not feel that way about this group. For me, Locker was the best prospect, then close behind him the group of Gabbert, Kaepernick, Mallett, Dalton, and Ponder. One of those last five was sure to make it to pick 43, IMO. Any of those guys at 43 would have made sense to me. Ponder at 12 does not.

You make a good point here, Brian. I am excited for Ponder mainly because it is a new direction and a pick at a position of dire need early and with conviction by team leadership. But I do have wonderment in the back of my head of why Ponder was the "choice" at #12 when McCoy lasted until #85 last year. I don't study college football, but I don't see the upside of a Ponder when you compare it to a McCoy in terms of one being 73 picks better in terms of value. At the same time, I am certain he will lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl in 2012 and start the parade into the new stadium in 2015.

the vikings got scared that ponder wouldnt be there in the second round. musgrave also must have felt that ponder is a student of the game and can be developed like he did with matt ryan and matt schaub.

I like the pick a lot. Ponder seems like the polar opposite of Jamarcus Russell to me: not the biggest arm in the world but he's accurate, athletic, smart, and he's got an unbelievable work ethic. I just can't imagine someone who works and studies as hard as Ponder does being a bust.

ponder wont be a bust. he's smart and has a good work ethic unlike ryan leaf, akili smith, and jamarcus russell. cant say the same about cam newton.

BGM wrote: It would have made sense in the second round, considering the talent pool in this year's draft. Had there been three QBs who were far and away the pick of the litter and then a bunch of dregs aside from that, then sure, you have to pull the trigger. But, I did not feel that way about this group. For me, Locker was the best prospect, then close behind him the group of Gabbert, Kaepernick, Mallett, Dalton, and Ponder. One of those last five was sure to make it to pick 43, IMO. Any of those guys at 43 would have made sense to me. Ponder at 12 does not.

Obviously, my views on these guys do not line up with the Vikings' assessments, so I should have some faith in their choice. It just pained me to see some really top notch talent fall to other teams because the Vikings had a laser focus on QB.

I respect your point of view BGM, however I have a much lower opinion of Dalton, Kaepernick (major longshot), Mallett, etc. I really believe we got the best qb in the draft with the 12th pick. I give Newton and Locker very low chances for success. Ponder is the guy in my opinion.

BGM wrote:It would have made sense in the second round, considering the talent pool in this year's draft. Had there been three QBs who were far and away the pick of the litter and then a bunch of dregs aside from that, then sure, you have to pull the trigger. But, I did not feel that way about this group. For me, Locker was the best prospect, then close behind him the group of Gabbert, Kaepernick, Mallett, Dalton, and Ponder. One of those last five was sure to make it to pick 43, IMO. Any of those guys at 43 would have made sense to me. Ponder at 12 does not.

In the end, Mallett was the only who made it that far and clearly, that was due to questions about his character. Maybe he'll turn out to be a good NFL QB (he certainly landed in a good spot) but I think we can understand why the Vikings weren't willing to commit to a player like that as their QB of the future. The way the draft played out illustrates that he would have been the only one of those QBs still available at #43. I also don't know why a team would settle for what they consider a lesser QB if they feel they can get a better one. After all, we're talking about the most important position on the team. If a team feels they've identified the player that's right for them at that position, I think its more than acceptable to grab him, and forget about draft value.

Obviously, my views on these guys do not line up with the Vikings' assessments, so I should have some faith in their choice. It just pained me to see some really top notch talent fall to other teams because the Vikings had a laser focus on QB.

Understandable. It pained me too but I think past moves put them in a desperate situation and they had no choice. They had to come out of this draft with the best QB they could get and I think they tried to do that. We all know the nature of the draft anyway: a couple of those players it pained so many to see the Vikings pass o up could easily be busts. It happens all the time.

Jim

One other thing concerns me about betting the farm on Ponder THIS year. The lockout. Maybe he will be the guy, and, truly, now that he has been drafted, I hope he is. But there is going to be a tremendous amount of development time lost due to this god-forsaken lockout. And, that is a tough position into which to throw any new player, much less the guy upon whom you are pegging the hopes of the future of the franchise. So, what my hope is: the coaches saw real potential and a complete package in Ponder that they just could NOT pass up, no matter who else was available. What my fear is: due to years of ignoring the future of the QB position, the Vikings decided to make a selection out of even a small sense of desperation that it was now or never.

BGM wrote:One other thing concerns me about betting the farm on Ponder THIS year. The lockout. Maybe he will be the guy, and, truly, now that he has been drafted, I hope he is. But there is going to be a tremendous amount of development time lost due to this god-forsaken lockout. And, that is a tough position into which to throw any new player, much less the guy upon whom you are pegging the hopes of the future of the franchise. So, what my hope is: the coaches saw real potential and a complete package in Ponder that they just could NOT pass up, no matter who else was available. What my fear is: due to years of ignoring the future of the QB position, the Vikings decided to make a selection out of even a small sense of desperation that it was now or never.

I think it may be a little of both.

The lockout and the inability to look for veteran help before the draft were almost certainly big contributing factors to this pick but, for the very reasons you stated above, I think we can expect to see the Vikings pursue a veteran QB hard once they're able to do so.

Jim

well ponder will do ok....but we need better than ok...lets think about if he starts who will he be throwing to?? will rice be back...will percy have a migrain...our offense is really up in the air now...?? at least he can handoff to ap.

I want to at least give props to the Vikings for taking a swing at a QB in the first round. I would have been ticked if they didn't try to get someone. I have been harping on the need ever since Brett came to town. It was a need that could not be ignored. No matter what we are going to give the Vikes crap, especially since most of our analysis can be from the luxury of hindsight being 20/20.

I am very underwhelmed with the pick of Ponder, as many are, but that being said I won't really know what to say until 2014. I will say that Webb is more exciting in my mind, but again it will just be time. May the best QB win and help the Vikings win!

OJVIKE wrote:well ponder will do ok....but we need better than ok...lets think about if he starts who will he be throwing to?? will rice be back...will percy have a migrain...our offense is really up in the air now...?? at least he can handoff to ap.

Trent Dilfer = ok and a superbowl.

hibbingviking wrote:ponder has a high IQ and is pretty mobile. i dont think he will be a superstar but he may be a mark brunnell, rich gannon type qb. musgrave develops qb's amd has qb friendly system. i wish we would have gotten him in the 2nd round, but maybe we can get a veteran qb to help out. we can still get a corner or pass rusher in free agency.

Keep in mind, Gannon won the NFL MVP in 2002, that's about as super star as you can get in the NFL. Maybe being a media darling helped that some, but scrubs don't win MVP.