Should the Vikings Just Release Ponder?

[Just Me]

Plopping his useless butt on the bench isn't going to help either. He is what he is and it isn't good.

If he is indeed as useless as alleged, it would help a great deal to put him on the bench as another (hopefully better) quarterback would be playing. This part makes sense. What I don't see is the advantage of "cutting" him over benching him. In both cases Ponder won't play again (a perceived advantage). In the case of cutting him, we unnecessarily limit our potential future options.

[TheFoxInDetox]

First off, Ponder has had a LOT more than 3 mediocre games, try 30. His best game of his entire career has been mediocre at best and the vast majority of them have been terrible. Absolutely awful. He has started 30 games and has a career passer rating of about 70. If any other starter on this team had 30 consecutive mediocre to terrible games they would be cut.

Second, there have been many examples over the years of good teams cutting under-performing high profile players unexpectedly mid-season in order to get the other players attention and attempt to create a spark. If the other guys in the locker room don't like it, tough. Like you said, this is a business. They will get over it or they will be sent down the road right behind him.

Don't worry though, this bunch of "likable" coaches would never make such a bold statement, they don't have the nerve.

(I agree that the defense sucks too but you can't pin that on one guy and none of them have stunk for 30 consecutive games)

[TheFoxInDetox]

If he is indeed as useless as alleged, it would help a great deal to put him on the bench as another (hopefully better) quarterback would be playing. This part makes sense. What I don't see is the advantage of "cutting" him over benching him. In both cases Ponder won't play again (a perceived advantage). In the case of cutting him, we unnecessarily limit our potential future options.

What do you gain by keeping him on the roster? A 3rd string back up in case the other 2 guys get injured? At that point we might as Well throw Webb back in there until we can sign a Veteran off the street. Once he hits the bench he can not come back in for any reason or your team officially becomes a NY Jets type of circus. If they cut him loose they make a statement they are done with him.

I'm only playing devils advocate here because I am frustrated with this entire mess. I know they will never do it. But if they did it would get a lot of peoples attention and I think they would be a better team in the long run.

[Just Me]

His best game of his entire career has been mediocre at best and the vast majority of them have been terrible.

I'm not saying Ponder is good, because I don't believe that. The hyperbole that his 'best game' has been mediocre is not accurate. His problem is: He can't consistently turn in a good performance, and that is the problem. To say his "best game" is mediocre weakens your argument IMHO, and Ponder is inconsistent enough that his performance speaks for itself. About half his games have been in the "poor performance" category (70 or less passer rating). Frankly, I don't see that (*only half of his games*) as an effective "defense" of Ponder so I don't think we need to make it sound worse than it is. Suffice to say: On any given Sunday (so far) I've got about even odds that Ponder has a poor vs. average/good game. That level of consistency is not going to get it done.

[PurpleMustReign]

Oh good, another Ponder thread. Why can't this be merged with the myriad other Ponder threads? #frustrated

[TheFoxInDetox]

I don't have access to his statistical performance from every game in his NFL career. Has he ever passed for over 300 yards/2 tds./passer rating over 100? I don't believe so but I could be wrong.

Never mind, I found it. He did pass for over 300 yards. 1 time in his entire career. It came in a loss to the Redskins last year. Stat line was

35 52 352 67.3 6.77 23 2 2 42.5 83.2

[Just Me]

What do you gain by keeping him on the roster? A 3rd string back up in case the other 2 guys get injured? At that point we might as Well throw Webb back in there until we can sign a Veteran off the street. Once he hits the bench he can not come back in for any reason or your team officially becomes a NY Jets type of circus. If they cut him loose they make a statement they are done with him.

I'm only playing devils advocate here because I am frustrated with this entire mess. I know they will never do it. But if they did it would get a lot of peoples attention and I think they would be a better team in the long run.

He could be Mr. Clipboard Holder I think we are all frustrated. I'm only pointing out that cutting/benching permanently are the same thing except that benching at least gives you s glimmer of hope of getting something in trade or using him to hold the clipboard....

[TheFoxInDetox]

He could be Mr. Clipboard Holder I think we are all frustrated. I'm only pointing out that cutting/benching permanently are the same thing except that benching at least gives you s glimmer of hope of getting something in trade or using him to hold the clipboard....

I understand that. I just think the impact of releasing him today would be much more valuable to the team long term than the 7th round draft pick that we will likely never get. It's time for this staff to take charge of the team and that would definitely get their attention.

[Just Me]

I don't have access to his statistical performance from every game in his NFL career. Has he ever passed for over 300 yards/2 tds./passer rating over 100? I don't believe so but I could be wrong.

Never mind, I found it. He did pass for over 300 yards. 1 time in his entire career. It came in a loss to the Redskins last year. Stat line was

35 52 352 67.3 6.77 23 2 2 42.5 83.2

Correct. He actually has had a passer rating of over 100 a few games too. He's just too inconsistent...

[TheFoxInDetox]

Correct. He actually has had a passer rating of over 100 a few games too. He's just too inconsistent...

I just reviewed the stats of every one of his NFL games. He is consistent, very consistent. Consistently bad

Here is his entire 2012 campaign
http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_ ... ian-ponder

[Just Me]

I just reviewed the stats of every one of his NFL games. He is consistent, very consistent. Consistently bad

Here is his entire 2012 campaign
http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_ ... ian-ponder

Thanks for posting the link. 4 (25% of his games last year) were north of a 100+ passer rating. By any measure a 100+ passer rating is usually indicative of a good game. I would not term that as 'consistently bad'.

[mondry]

Thanks for posting the link. 4 (25% of his games last year) were north of a 100+ passer rating. By any measure a 100+ passer rating is usually indicative of a good game. I would not term that as 'consistently bad'.

Yep.... we've been over it 100 times now, he's been great, average, and bad. We were hoping to see more great more often but it hasn't played out, oh well, back to square one.

[TheFoxInDetox]

Here is his entire 2012 campaign
http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_ ... ian-ponder

Compare that to Matt Schaub 2012. An above average QB with a similar amount of wins last year and with a great running back to take the pressure off of him.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_ ... att-schaub

Boy would I love to have Schaub right now...

[VikingLord]

No point in releasing Ponder or firing Musgrave, nor will they during the season. After the season is over is a different story.

But I'm not sure Musgrave should be fired, nor is the playcalling all that bad. There have been numerous stills posted in various threads showing receivers wide open and solid protection for Ponder. It seems where the offense is falling down is more in the player's ability to execute the plays. Obviously, Ponder is a big part of that with his inaccurate throws, consistent failure to find his 2nd or 3rd options, late releases, etc. But the offensive line has struggled at times as well, and AD has been far from his formerly dominant self.

I think the Vikings should just play the season out with Ponder no matter what happens. They banked on him and said they'd give him his 3 seasons and I think they should do that even if the Vikings end up 0-16 as a result. I've said it in other threads and I'll say it again here, but if Ponder can't take them to the promised land maybe he can do poorly enough that he'll put the team in position to get someone who can.

[Raptorman]

Compare that to Matt Schaub 2012. An above average QB with a similar amount of wins last year and with a great running back to take the pressure off of him.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_ ... att-schaub

Boy would I love to have Schaub right now...

No, no, no. Let's compare him to Luck. Because he is the new standard of young QB's.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_ ... ndrew-luck


I'll bet you most people would never guess that Andrew Luck had worse passer rating than Ponder did last year.