Case Keenum's been getting more attention of late from playing football than he's probably ever received. Even more than when he was setting every NCAA career passing record at the University of Houston. He's the quarterback of a Minnesota Vikings team that sits atop the NFC North with a 9-2 record. He was supposed to be the team's backup quarterback this season but that changed when Sam Bradford suffered some sort of knee injury in the first game of the season. Keenum played well in his first few games as the team's starter. He's gotten better with each game that he's played. So has the team that he's now leading. The Vikings have won seven straight games. They are starting to roll. All of this has caused football analysts, media talking heads, and fans to ask "Who is this Case Keenum?" We've never seen THIS Case Keenum before. In a season in which the NFL is desperate for a good story Keenum's story is a great one.
Where did all this come from?
This quote from ESPN Staff writer Bill Barnwell in his column about Keenum, in general, and quarterbacks, in particular, is a good place to start.
You might argue that Keenum is in a great situation to succeed given the quality of his defense and his receivers, and I'd agree. If Keenum can look like a Pro Bowler in that context, though, we need to change the way we talk about scarcity. Instead of saying that there aren't 32 good quarterbacks to go around, we should be saying that there aren't 32 good situations for quarterbacks at any given time in the NFL.
Too often coaches force a quarterback into a particular offense. It's always made more sense to me to fit an offense to the talents, skill, abilities, etc. of the quarterback. Former scout and current NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks recently commented that Keenum was prospering in Minnesota because offensive coordinator Pat Schumur has created an offensive system in which efficient play wasn't completely dependent upon the quarterback. That sounds a lot like the "West Coast Offense" that Bill Walsh built around a limited Virgil Carter in Cincinnati in the late 1960s. An offense that was more dependent on timing and accuracy than other-worldly athletic ability. I think explaining away Keenum's play in such a manner does a great disservice to him. Keenum is a talented quarterback. He proved that in college at Houston. He just doesn't look like or throw like the prototypical quarterback. At 6'1" and 205 lbs, Keenum's a little fella and he doesn't have a cannon attached to to his right shoulder. But, he moves well enough, he throws well enough, he studies and prepares more than well enough, and he's more than smart enough to play quarterback in a league that's repeatedly told him that he can't. He also has the confidence and swagger that every NFL quarterback has to have. He knows that he can do this and he's not the least bit surprised that he's excelling. As important as his confidence in himself is the confidence that his teammates have in him. It's visibly apparent that this team believes in their itty-bitty quarterback.
This Minnesota Vikings team is a talented football team. It's no stretch to say that it's the most talented team that Keenum's had around him. The brain trust of general manager Rick Spielman, head coach Mike Zimmer, the scouting department, and the coaching staff have stocked this roster with talented football players. The weakest part of the team in recent years has been the offensive line. No quarterback could succeed playing behind that revolving door of ineffective players. The team's decision-makers put a lot of money and resources into improving the offensive line last offseason. They succeeded. The Vikings line isn't a great line but it's a solid and often very good line. Keenum's rarely sacked. His movement skills help but the offensive line has done a fine job of keeping their quarterback safe. They've also done a fine job opening holes for a steadily improving running game. The Vikings have been a defense-first team since Zimmer was hired in 2014. Most of the talent was on that side of the ball and the defense was often the biggest reason for any team success. The offense just had to be steady and not put the defense in difficult situations. The Vikings offense is doing their part this season. The defense is still strong, currently ranking #5 in yards/game and #4 in points/game. The offense is finally keeping pace with the defense, #4 in yards/game and #8 in points/game. The Vikings are the only team in the league with top-5 rankings in yards/game for both offense and defense. That's a vast improvement over the one-sided teams of recent years. The talent level of the offense is approaching that of the defense. The Vikings have playmakers and Shurmur is doing a fine job of calling plays and Keenum and his teammates are executing those plays. Opposing defenses have been kept off-balance. Perhaps most importantly mistakes are at a minimum. Keenum and this offense have been fun to watch.
So, where do the Vikings go from here? Hopefully, they go to a Super Bowl that will be played in their own building. Now's probably not the time to focus on the big quarterback decisions that will have to be made in the offseason. It's best to enjoy this fun football season while were in it. Because Keenum's supposed to be a backup quarterback his week-to-week starting status has been a week-to-week question. That question isn't getting asked so much of late. Keenum's been playing well enough that it'd be wrong to replace him with one-time franchise quarterback, and face of the franchise, Teddy Bridgewater. Only an injury or drastic downturn in Keenum's play should bring Bridgewater off the bench this season. Any other decisions should wait until this fun season ends. Hopefully that end comes happily in early February.
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