Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has played in just over six quarters of NFL-level football. That's a mighty small sample size to make any sort of judgement. It's been more than enough to excite the hell out of the Vikings fan base. It's even been enough to excite his own team. Which is really the most important group to be excited.
Bridgewater looked like an eventual NFL franchise quarterback in his three years at Louisville. A Pro Day that was judged by many as terrible dropped his draft stock so much that he nearly slid out of the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. A possibility that was thought to be impossible only four months earlier. The Vikings got very lucky that so many teams had soured him so much. They were able to select him with the 32nd and final pick of the first round. It was a gift.
One of the greatest skills of the greatest quarterbacks is their uncanny ability to ignore the defensive pass rush. The ability to stay calm in the middle of all of that chaos is what often separates the great ones for the not-so-great. The Vikings drafted Christian Ponder with the 12th pick of the 2011 NFL Draft. He was supposed be the face of the franchise, the franchise quarterback, the hope for the next decade of Vikings football. There was never the same excitement over Ponder as there has been over Bridgewater. The excitement over Bridgewater has been there even before his six quarters of regular season football. It was there at training camp. It was there in the preseason games. It was even there in the first preseason against the Oakland Raiders when the rookie looked like a rookie making his first NFL appearance. That was the only time that Teddy Bridgewater has looked like a rookie quarterback since he's been in Minnesota. There was even more excitement over Bridgewater when the Vikings selected him with that 32nd pick. Twenty picks later than the one that they used to select Ponder only three years earlier. The greatest difference between Ponder and Bridgewater was seen in the last ten days. Bridgewater looked cool, confident, and mostly excellent in his first career NFL start against the Atlanta Falcons. First start. First win. Unfortunately, he hurt his ankle late in the game. He wasn't able to make the next start in the ridiculously scheduled Thursday Night game four days later. As a result, Ponder made his 36th career NFL start. It was a disaster. In the span of a few days, a perfect comparison was made available. Ponder in 36 starts never looked as comfortable or as confident as Bridgewater did in his first. Ponder is easily harassed. He gets frantic in the pocket. He either rushes throws or doesn't make them at all. He often chooses to run or simply takes a sack rather than risk a throw that any elite quarterback can make. He needs a completely clean pocket which rarely happens in the NFL. Bridgewater just seems to have a calmness about him. Always. It's as if he knows something that you don't. The pass rush doesn't seem to bother him one bit. Defenders can be surrounding him, reaching for him, even grabbing him and he's as calm as if he's playing in the park. His eyes are downfield, his feet are steady, and he's just looking to make a play. It's amazing to see. It's even more amazing to see when the complete opposite is made available for viewing only four days later.
Six quarters is hardly a proper sample size. It's still enough to see that the Vikings finally have a quarterback that could actually be the "One."
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