drafting ponder set this team back three years

[mosscarter]

I can't speak for everyone, but the red-shirt freshman qb for Notre Dame has a better pocket presence and arm than Ponder. Just think, if they hadn't won that useless game against Washington last year, we would probably have RGIII, but we don't. This kid has to be the worst deep ball thrower in the NFL, and anyone can complete roughly 70 percent of their passes when they are all under 10 yards. They made a colossal mistake taking him at 12, and the rest of this year will prove my point. At best, they go 7 and 9, and we are still left with both Ponder and Frazier heading into next season. This fluke winning streak (against likely the weakest schedule in the NFL) will ultimately come back to hurt us in the end. Anyone who thought this team could actually contend is insane. I've said it all along, wait until November and the truth will come out.

[jackal]

Aikman had a horrible first year I think 1-15

Manning had about the same

many HOF have struggled in their first few years

[ADnChester]

haha patience is a virtue my friend. really? 5-3 is nothing to scoff at. no one thought this team could contend before this year we are above 500 at the mid-point of the season. i dont think anyone could have projected us to be above 500 before the year started much less win more than 4-5 games this year. obviously ponder hasnt been the best these past 2-3 games but d*mn hes a 2nd year qb hasnt started a full season yet but hes done enough to win games this year. why cant we just let him develop a little bit and give him a little leeway? everyone wants to live in the now and with #28 in the backfield who knows what is possible but lets give him the benefit of the doubt and give him some time to grow before we pass him off as another t-jack.

[Eli]

Teams have played worse QBs for much longer than three years. Ponder may be leading this team to 8-8 seasons for another decade.

[smoothoperator]

what a joke. no he has not. look around the league at the other qbs. cutler -7 yards in the first half, but im sure its not his fault...

[Demi]

what a joke. no he has not. look around the league at the other qbs. cutler -7 yards in the first half, but im sure its not his fault...

He's only got two stars on offense with him. Forte and Marshall. So it's only logical he struggles. He's also got one of the worst offensive lines possible.

And he still brought his team back late to win.

Flushed 3 years down the toilet with this nonsense.

[soflavike]

what a joke. no he has not. look around the league at the other qbs. cutler -7 yards in the first half, but im sure its not his fault...

You wouldn't trade Ponder for Cutler right now? I would.

[mosscarter]

Ponder will lead this team nowhere. You are talking about a guy who cannot even stand in the pocket and complete passes, aside from check downs. The longer we keep him at the helm, the worse off we will be. What games are you guy's watching? The only time he even tries to throw down the field its one step back, then a pathetic lob which bases everything on the receiver to come up with the ball. Ponder is horrible, better to recognize it sooner rather than later.

[Juice]

Comp/Att || Cmp% || Yards || TD || INT || Rate
263/ 451 || 58.3% || 2916 || 22 || 14 || 80.9 Matt Ryan http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... elog/2009/
294/ 557 || 52.8% || 3762 || 24 || 17 || 75.9 Eli Manning http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... elog/2005/
320/ 526 || 60.8% || 3284 || 17 || 16 || 76.9 Drew Brees [2nd- 1st full] http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... elog/2002/
205/ 356 || 57.6% || 2108 || 11 || 15 || 67.5 Drew Brees [3rd- 2nd full] http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... elog/2003/
373/ 601 || 62.1% || 3764 || 28 || 14 || 85.7 Tom Brady [3rd- 2nd full] http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... elog/2002/
297/ 467 || 63.6% || 3497 || 20 || 14 || 88.1 Jay Cutler http://www.pro-football-reference.com/p ... elog/2007/

171/ 262 || 65.3% || 1743 || 10 || 7 || 85.8 Christian Ponder (Current)
342/ 546 || 65.3% || 3486 || 20 || 14 || 85.8 Christian Ponder (Estimated +/-)

While looking at the 2nd year of the fallowing QB's, I noticed that most of them started off very similar to the way Ponder has this year. Started off good and took a step back. Just about all of those step backs were around the mid-season mark like Ponder's. All QB's showed ups and downs throughout the season. I realize statistics don't paint the whole picture nor am I saying he will pan out but giving up on him right now is pretty stupid IMO.

[Mothman]

While looking at the 2nd year of the fallowing QB's, I noticed that most of them started off very similar to the way Ponder has this year. Started off good and took a step back. Just about all of those step backs were around the mid-season mark like Ponder's. All QB's showed ups and downs throughout the season. I realize statistics don't paint the whole picture nor am I saying he will pan out but giving up on him right now is pretty stupid IMO.

Thanks for doing that research!

[Just Me]

I can't speak for everyone, but the red-shirt freshman qb for Notre Dame has a better pocket presence and arm than Ponder. Just think, if they hadn't won that useless game against Washington last year, we would probably have RGIII, but we don't. This kid has to be the worst deep ball thrower in the NFL, and anyone can complete roughly 70 percent of their passes when they are all under 10 yards. They made a colossal mistake taking him at 12, and the rest of this year will prove my point. At best, they go 7 and 9, and we are still left with both Ponder and Frazier heading into next season. This fluke winning streak (against likely the weakest schedule in the NFL) will ultimately come back to hurt us in the end. Anyone who thought this team could actually contend is insane. I've said it all along, wait until November and the truth will come out.

I have commented on this before, but I will again: Yes, we might well have gotten RG3. The problem is, we'd not have obtained our extra draft picks so we'd be without Kalil and Smith. RG3 would still be behind a marginal OL (which even HOF quarterbacks have struggled to produce) and it's likely his performance would be much worse and fans would be griping about how they couldn't believe how stupid the Vikings front office is "wasting" the pick of a lifetime. Our defense would continue to be beyond bad and fans would be screaming for RG3 to be benched after our first couple of losses. RG3 would be painted as TJack part 2 and why didn't we learn the first time. I'd even venture to say there would be some fans claiming we were dumb for not picking Ponder instead of RG3 (after one of Ponder's good games). That's the beauty of "what if." You can jump to a different quarterback (whichever one has the best game) every week and claim we'd be better off with him. The problem is: Once you actually have the QB on your roster, you're stuck with him for both the good games and the bad. Last year it was Newton. This Year its RG3 (although some wanted us to get Luck). I'll guess the hindsight prognosticators (the oxymoron is intentional) will, at the end of the season, anguish over how "if we would have only drafted "X" our team would be so much better off"

[indianation65]

When any player is drafted, no one in the organization has any idea whether he will excel or bust...bottom line.

...wisdom

[DanAS]

The Vikings wouldn't have drafted RG3 anyway. They woulda traded it just like the Rams did.

Probably true. Because "Ponder is our guy."

I'll let others ponder Ponder. Personally, I think he was a reach when he was drafted, he lacks a particularly strong arm, he is inconsistent in terms of accuracy, and he doesn't show particularly good instincts as to what to do with the ball. In short, I see him as having the caliber of a back-up.

To those who say, "It's too early to tell," I can only respond that the same can be said about the next healthy baby boy that's born in my neighborhood hospital. But that baby hasn't proven he's likely ever to be a Pro Bowl caliber QB. And neither has Ponder.

I think people just like him because of his name. It is a cool name. If we had a weak armed, jittery, turnover prone quarterback called "Contemplative Jew," I'd probably give him every possible chance also.

[mansquatch]

SIGH...

[smoothoperator]

because of his name? my goodness, this is getting out of hand. ponder is doing fine and well compared to other sophomore qb's. he is better than any other option we have and once the offense can figure out how to balance the pass and run game, i think he will get back on the right track.