Tommy Kramer sees a potential battle for the No. 1 quarterback spot when the Vikings are in training camp next summer. Kramer, the Vikings All-NFC quarterback in 1986, qualified his prediction based on the health of Teddy Bridgewater who missed this season because of a serious knee injury. It’s unknown whether Bridgewater will be fully recovered by next summer.
Sam Bradford had a career season in 2016 but Kramer thinks a healthy Bridgewater will create a lot of competition in the future. “Oh, yeah, it will definitely be an open competition,” Kramer told Sports Headliners.
Bradford, 29, had a career high passer rating of 99.3 this season, among the best for NFL starters. He threw 20 touchdown passes in 15 games, and was intercepted only five times despite playing behind one of the league’s worst offensive line. He set an NFL completion percentage record for a single season with a mark of 71.6 percent.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said last week that Bradford has done “an unbelievable job.” Part of the coach’s perspective is how his quarterback adjusted to being traded to the Vikings eight days before the start of the season, having to learn a new system and teammates (including replacements during the fall), and even dealing with a change in offensive coordinators in November. “Maybe this is the best year he’s ever had,” Zimmer said. “If you put all those together and look at the things he’s had to deal with, I think he’s been amazing.”
Bridgewater, 24, was starting his third NFL season when he was injured in August. At the time he was considered the Vikings’ franchise quarterback, although he had mediocre career totals of 28 touchdown passes, 21 interceptions and a passer rating of 90.1.
“It doesn’t hurt to have two players (Bradford and Bridgewater) like that, anyway,” said Kramer who was the Vikings’ No. 1 draft choice in 1977. “(If) something happens again, at least both of them will be more prepared.”
One of the knocks on Bridgewater was his inability to throw down field. Bradford, when the offensive allowed him the time, showed accuracy on all kinds of throws—deep, intermediate and short.
Bridgewater was expected to show improvement in his overall passing this season before his injury. Better production in passing, to go with his running, would make Bridgewater special. “He can pick up yards with his legs, but he’s gotta learn to slide all the time,” Kramer said. “No reason to take a hit trying to get an extra yard.”
Kramer, who now lives in his native Texas, likes both quarterbacks. “They each have things they do better than the other one,” he said.
Regardless of who is the quarterback in 2017, Kramer wants the Vikings to draft “as many offensive linemen” as they can. The Vikings have selected only two offensive linemen in the first three rounds since 2007. With a run of injuries and below par performances by some linemen, the offensive line had a lot to do with the team’s final record of 8-8 after a 5-0 start.
“Their defense is good enough to win, but you get worn out when you can’t convert on third down situations to keep the ball and let the defense rest,” Kramer said.
Worth Noting
Yesterday’s game against the Bears was the fourth time in 12 years the outcome had no playoff implications for the two franchises.
Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn on whether the Vikings talented nucleus of players bodes well for better than .500 results next season: “You can look good on paper and not be good on the field, so we gotta still put in the work and still go out there and compete.”
That was the Wild’s Erik Haula who sounded the gjallarhorn before yesterday’s game that included an incident with Dakota Access Pipeline Protestors. A Vikings source told Sports Headliners 185 fans had to be relocated from their seats because of safety concerns.
Kyle Rudolph set two tight end records for the Vikings yesterday, with his 29th career touchdown and total of 83 receptions for the season. He broke Steve Jordan’s record for career touchdowns and Joe Senser’s most receptions in a season total. Senser, progressing but still recovering from a stroke, was at the game.
Construction at the Vikings 40-acre headquarters in Eagan continues since last summer’s groundbreaking. The erection of steel, for example, on the indoor practice facility is scheduled to be completed by April 1. The campus will have five outdoor practice fields including a stadium with anticipated capacity of 6,000, plus training and rehab facilities, and also a locker room, team auditorium, and administrative offices. The new Vikings campus is known as the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center and the target date for opening is March of 2018.
Eventually an overall 200-acre development is expected to include offices, retail, residential, hospitality and a conference center with the Vikings headquarters as a development anchor.
Gophers point guard Nate Mason was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week this afternoon with Nebraska’s Tai Webster. Mason has averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in Minnesota’s first two Big Ten games, a loss last week to Michigan State and victory yesterday over Purdue.
The Big Ten basketball season is less than a week old and already only three of 14 teams are undefeated, Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The Gophers’ surprise win over nationally ranked Purdue yesterday evened Minnesota’s record at 1-1.
Minnesota is No. 1 in the league in blocked shots and in three-point defense field goal percentage. Coach Richard Pitino’s team is No. 2 in overall defensive field goal percentage and also in defensive rebounding.
Former Gophers football captain Jim Carter, who has been pursuing membership on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, is less optimistic about his chances than he was several weeks ago. Carter has been criticized by some state legislators for support he voiced for Gophers football players. Critics have mistakenly assumed he isn’t supportive of advocates for prevention of sexual assault. His name has been in the media after news developed about the suspension of 10 Gophers football players and an alleged sexual assault in early September.
“I was supporting the team out of loyalty as a Gopher to get due process (for the suspended players), and…trying to get the fairness and transparency that they deserve,” Carter told Sports Headliners.
The State Legislature will approve four individuals next year to fill vacancies on the Board of Regents.
Tickets remain for all Timberwolves home games including against NBA champion Cleveland on February 14 and March 10 with Golden State, the team that lost to the Cavs in the NBA Finals last June. The Wolves are averaging 14,055 fans, the second lowest total in the 30-franchise NBA, according to ESPN.com. The Nuggets have the lowest average at 13,610, with the Bulls first at 21,606.
Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic, who is out for the entire 2016-2017 season because of recurring pain in his right ankle, turns 31 tomorrow. Since being drafted by the Wolves in 2008, he has played in 271 games. Pekovic didn’t join the Wolves until the 2010-2011 season and injuries have characterized his career. After this season he will have averaged 38.7 games per season for the Wolves, or less than half of the annual 82 game schedule.
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