It's a little hard to argue Teddy was "far and away" above the other two. Maybe if he had never been injured I could agree with that, but he did return to the pros and has never been a full time starter anywhere. He looks fully recovered from his injury and it's hard to argue that ultimately held him back although it did cost him some time. He's basically bounced around the league as a journeyman since his return despite the league having an insatiable need for starting QBs.fiestavike wrote: ↑Fri Jul 08, 2022 2:19 pm Teddy was far and away the best and most complete QB of the three. It's hard not to wonder what would have become of the vikings if he hadn't been injured and played out that season. Zimmer and Spielman might still be here, and still be on the same page. I have the sneaking suspicion that differences on handling that QB position were ultimately the undoing of that regime.
In the end, Bridgewater is about as close to a "system QB" that the NFL has. He's physically limited and scares nobody with his arm or mobility, but he knows the playbook, throws accurately, and won't stray far from the script. In other words, he's the perfect QB for a coach like Mike Zimmer. He's also the definition of a journeyman backup, which is what he's become in a league desperate for starting QBs who can make an impact. Bridgewater isn't that. If he did well in 2016, it's largely the result of the strength of the rest of the team he played on ala what Jimmy G managed when he went to the Superbowl with San Fran. Put a strong enough team around a system QB who avoids mistakes and that can result in a winning team, but that doesn't make the QB great.
I agree with your observations on Culpepper's limitations. They were significant. Still, Culpepper had the arm strength to hurt teams deep and the physicality to extend plays. Defenses had to account for those attributes even if Culpepper never managed to maximize them. And I think those attributes show up in the TDs he threw compared to Bradford or Bridgewater. The threw almost 40 TDs in his best year, which is double the max number of TDs Teddy ever threw in any of his seasons as a pro.