I Need To Take A Bit Of An Issue With Peter King

by Christopher Gates on Nov 7, 2011 12:56 PM CST in Minnesota Vikings

Looking at the latest installment of Monday Morning Quarterback this morning. . .a must-read for anybody on a Monday morning. . .and he's rightfully going on about how well Aaron Rodgers has played this season. He mentions how far Rodgers had fallen in the 2005 NFL Draft, and gives us this passage.

Every team that passed on Rodgers in the draft -- Miami, for Ronnie Brown, Minnesota (Troy Williamson), Washington (Carlos Rogers), Minnesota again (Erasmus James), Jacksonville (Matt Jones), and, just one pick before Green Bay, Oakland (Fabian Washington) -- has to be retching right now.

Projecting Rodgers' full season, with an asterisk next to what would be league records: .725* completion percentage, 5,238* passing yards, 48 touchdowns, 6 interceptions; 129.1* passer rating.

Minnesota twice? Fabian Washington? That has to hurt.

Yes, if you want to get technical about things, the Minnesota Vikings did pass on Aaron Rodgers. Twice. Here's the one minor caveat to that, though.

In April of 2005, when the draft took place, the Minnesota Vikings had a 27-year old quarterback named Daunte Culpepper that was coming off of a season where he had thrown for 4,717 yards (and set the NFL's single-season total yardage record), threw 39 touchdown passes to only 11 interceptions, and had finished runner-up to Peyton Manning in the voting for the league's MVP award.

Why in the blue hell would the Minnesota Vikings have even contemplated taking a quarterback in the first round of the draft that year? I mean, unless there was somebody out there that knew that Culpepper was going to get his knee turned into spaghetti by Chris Gamble seven games into the 2005 season. . .and, if somebody had known that, it would have been really awesome of them to share that information with the team so they could have had a heads-up.

Simple. . .they wouldn't have contemplated it, and they didn't. Their two biggest needs were wide receiver and defensive end. . .certainly not quarterback. . .and they attempted to fill those needs as best they could with the picks they had. Did both of those picks flop? They sure did. That's just the way the draft works.

Hindsight is always 20/20. . .if we had to do it all over again today, do you think 198 picks would pass before Tom Brady's name was called? Do you think Arian Foster would have gone totally undrafted? Heck, John Randle went totally undrafted, and that was back when the draft was twelve rounds long as opposed to seven. Think that would happen if we could do the 1990 NFL Draft all over today?

Yeah, the Vikings passed on Aaron Rodgers in 2005. People like to point that out. People don't always seem to want to point out the fact that there was a good reason.

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I don't need Rodgers

To get me to think about how badly the VIkes stumbled in the 2005 draft.

by amiller92 on Nov 7, 2011 1:30 PM CST reply actions

James was a good choice imo, not how it panned out but it made sense at the time.

Troy was a terrible pick. Well, I remember watching the draft and they talked about how he burned guys in College and I was like, “F that! This is the NFL, he isn’t going to burn guys like he did in college!” I was wrong, he did burn guys… just couldn’t catch, dude couldn’t catch herpes in a whore house!

IF YOU THINK REEM SHOULD BE RATED ANY HIGHER THAN AROUND THE #5 HEAVYWEIGHT (AND THAT IS STRETCHING IT) THEN YOU ARE A FLIPPIN MORON, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

by Edgecrusher71 on Nov 7, 2011 3:10 PM CST up reply actions

In retrospect

Both were poor choices. But I wasn’t unhappy with them at the time.

by amiller92 on Nov 7, 2011 3:21 PM CST up reply actions

I was with Troy, I was very upset

IF YOU THINK REEM SHOULD BE RATED ANY HIGHER THAN AROUND THE #5 HEAVYWEIGHT (AND THAT IS STRETCHING IT) THEN YOU ARE A FLIPPIN MORON, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

by Edgecrusher71 on Nov 7, 2011 3:42 PM CST up reply actions

He burned plenty of people in the NFL too though

He just couldn’t catch the ball

White Horn Gold Pants

by DM_Purp on Nov 7, 2011 5:11 PM CST up reply actions

Yeah, I said that up in an earlier post.

So sad!

IF YOU THINK REEM SHOULD BE RATED ANY HIGHER THAN AROUND THE #5 HEAVYWEIGHT (AND THAT IS STRETCHING IT) THEN YOU ARE A FLIPPIN MORON, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

by Edgecrusher71 on Nov 7, 2011 6:36 PM CST up reply actions

I liked the Erasmus James pick

And thought that Udeze and him would be a great tandem for 10 years.

Using the Moss pick on a WR was stupid, and selecting TW in particular was idiotic.

Some people just need a high five. In the face. With a chair.

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by Ted Glover on Nov 7, 2011 4:19 PM CST via iPhone app up reply actions

James

Filled a need and was supposed to have the talent to warrant the pick.

But he still turned into a disaster.

by amiller92 on Nov 7, 2011 4:25 PM CST up reply actions

Yea

That did not pan out. But at the time it was seen as a steal.

by Cobra312004 on Nov 7, 2011 6:09 PM CST up reply actions

I guess my point

Is that “at the time” doesn’t matter much.

by amiller92 on Nov 8, 2011 11:25 AM CST up reply actions

would Rodgers be playing as well

if he were with the vikings? He wouldn’t have sat behind Favre for 3 years giving him time to learn how to be an nfl qb. he wouldn’t be throwing to jennings, driver, nelson, finley or Jones. He wouldn’t have developed under Mike McCarthy who helped him correct his throwing motion but under Mike Tice and brad Childress. and he wouldn’t have taken over a 13-3 team that went to the championship game.

by FlFan on Nov 7, 2011 1:31 PM CST reply actions

True, he would have started sooner(after Culpepper's busted knee possibly)

And you’re right, he wouldn’t have had driver, jennings, etc; he could have had Moss and….(no reason to go any further). A few years later in his career, he could have had Peterson, then Harvin. He could have still had the same results, but i get where you are coming from. The “coaching” would have been the biggest difference from one team to the next.

White Horn Gold Pants

by DM_Purp on Nov 7, 2011 5:14 PM CST up reply actions

Big assumptions there

If we drafted Rodgers there’s no way to know how that would have changed the direction of the team. Peterson and Harvin very well might have ended up somewhere else.

by Cobra312004 on Nov 7, 2011 6:10 PM CST up reply actions

the bigger question

is could Tice and Childress have developed him like Mccarthy did? when rodgers came out of college he didn’t play like he plays now. His arm strength wasn’t good and he held the ball too low which caused him to be very inaccurate. it took 3 yrs for Mccarthy to help him change his thowing motion and strengthen his arm.

he wouldn’t have had moss, moss was traded in 2005 when rodgers was drafted. he would have had troy williamson. and no disrespect to culpepper but I’d rather have my qb sitting behind and learning from a hall of famer.

by FlFan on Nov 8, 2011 6:53 AM CST up reply actions

I love Rodgers as a QB, and even i use the same logic you have here.

It is amazing how people will conveniently forget we had a Pro-bowl QB then, isn’t it?!

by viking_#28 on Nov 7, 2011 1:36 PM CST reply actions

Hah, I was going to write an email to King worded almost exactly like this post.

At the time it looked like we were SET at quarterback. Who could have seen Culpepper’s collapse coming? It would have been the height of idiocy to take a franchise QB in the first round when you ALREADY HAD ONE.

by Purpledork on Nov 7, 2011 1:40 PM CST reply actions

We passed up Jevon Kearse for Daunte Culpepper also. Was that a mistake?

Peter King’s a joke. The guy couldn’t pour water out of a boot if the directions were written on the heal. How many teams passed on Randy Moss? It’s called getting lucky. Hey even players that are considered good sometimes end up being even better than teams thought. Aaron Rodgers fell to Green Bay just like Moss fell to us. If the rest of the league new how good they could really be they would both have been taken as the #1 picks in their respective drafts.

by iowaron on Nov 7, 2011 2:01 PM CST reply actions

Agreed

iowaron, you’ve exactly expressed my opinion on King. He rarely misses an opportunity to say something negative about the Vikings. I realize his column is entitled “Monday Morning QB” but I wish he would give hindsight observations a rest once in awhile.

by TexasViking on Nov 7, 2011 4:29 PM CST up reply actions

he rarely misses the opportunity

to write something facile and meaningless, and as little as possible about the Vikes.

by amiller92 on Nov 7, 2011 5:06 PM CST up reply actions

Actually passing on Kearse was a mistake since they had Cunningham and Brad Johnson

But since Johnson got hurt twice in the 1998 season and Cunningham had a really good 1998 season, I can understand trading Johnson especially since he got a first, a future second, and a third round pick in return.

They really could have used a DE opposite Chris Doleman. Of course they then tried to get one in Dimitrius Underwood right before Patrick Kerney.

Culpepper turned out to be pretty good though. Of course having Randy Moss sure helped out a lot of the Vikings QB during that time.

I do agree that since they did have Culpepper they did not need Rodgers at all. And they had Brad Johnson back on the roster again. Imagine if they never got rid of Johnson in the first place? Maybe they would have drafted Rodgers in 2005?

Decisions, decisions.

by MarkSP18 on Nov 7, 2011 5:00 PM CST up reply actions

You answered my question for me MarkSP18

Yes we should have drafted Kearse. We still had Cunningham. Just finished a 15-1 season. Needed that little extra on defense. Kearse was tearing up the league as a rookie while Daunte carried a clipboard his rookie season. I really thought we blew a huge opportunity. We had 2- picks in the 1st round that year. (Brad Johnson trade gave us the #10) The Vikes did want Kearse but took Daunte with the #10 pick & then tried to work out a deal with their late first pick rounder but it fell though. The rest they say is history.

by iowaron on Nov 8, 2011 2:10 PM CST up reply actions

Yep sure is egg on our face

Just think of the idiots who passed up Adrien Peterson, Or Jared Allen. Boy they were idiots… Honestly even if we could have known those two picks were complete garbage I don’t think we’d have gone with Rodgers. I would however ask that no one brings up the 2005 draft ever ever again though…

Putting Ponder in isn't the question, it's the answer.

by Grime on Nov 7, 2011 2:33 PM CST reply actions

Rodgers.

I guess what matters is as if A.Rodgers thinks that way. Because if he does, he’s not as elite as they think. Vikings made their choices based on what they had. They didn’t the right thing. Was their picks a mistake? Yes. But you still have to make your choice. Not every year are you goiung to pick all Pro bowlers and not every year are you going to bust. (AP, P.Harvin)

by jokendave on Nov 7, 2011 2:37 PM CST reply actions

If the Vikings had picked Rodgers

Peter King would have been writing about how insanely stupid the pick was given the Vikings needs at the time. The second-guessing of the Ponder pick would have paled in comparison to what would have been said and written about the Vikings if they had picked Rodgers in 2005. He only picked on the Vikings because you had two bust picks. He really only should have been mentioning teams that had a legitimate need for a QB at the time.

by Ben T on Nov 7, 2011 3:29 PM CST reply actions

I wonder what the feelings were...

in Packerland back in 2005 when they drafted a QB late in the first round. When they already had Brett Favre, and their team was coming off of a season where they had a record of 10-6 (first place in the NFC North). Sure Farve was getting old, and sure they lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs…although that loss just happened to be at the hands of our very own Minnesota Vikings.

I just wonder what they were thinking at that time as well. I’m sure that we could ask them, but I’m sure that they would just tell us that they knew Rodgers was this good all along.

by Norse Force on Nov 7, 2011 3:32 PM CST reply actions

Why wouldn't they be happy

About a franchise that was planning to try to keep winning once Favre was done?

It seemed to me the Packer hand wringing didn’t start until As The World Favres got running two years later.

by amiller92 on Nov 7, 2011 3:43 PM CST up reply actions

Well...to be totally honest with you

I never said that they shouldn’t be happy. That isn’t my opinion at all. I was just wondering what their feeling was at the time. We have quite a few contributors to our site from the Packer faithful, and I was just wondering what they thought of the draft pick at that time.

by Norse Force on Nov 7, 2011 4:32 PM CST up reply actions

I wasn't plugged into many other Packers fans at the time

But I was scratching my head letting out a big “Huhwhat?” I thought it was a horrible pick. I had not seen any Cal games. I didn’t think the Packers would even consider a first-round QB (or have the opportunity for one), so I never looked at Alex Smith or Aaron Rodgers. Then, Rodgers spent a lot of time hurt, so I thought he might be a candybone. I became a believer when Rodgers came in for Favre in a game against the Dallas Cowboys and almost brought us back for the win.

by Ben T on Nov 7, 2011 3:44 PM CST up reply actions

I remember seeing

Both Rodgers and Williamson work out on TV before the draft and was impressed with both.

by amiller92 on Nov 7, 2011 4:24 PM CST up reply actions

(Correction)

They did the right thing. I wrote “They didn’t the right thing” Sorry about that!

by jokendave on Nov 7, 2011 3:34 PM CST reply actions

Well, what d'ya expect

from that thar mudsill dude that couldn’t see the elephant if it stepped on him? Yeah, sometimes our picks were knocked into a cocked hat, but this rip writes like a shave tail. Everyone knows all your picks can’t come out hot as a whorehouse on nickel night! He just wants to make a mash but he better pull in his horns before he ends up knock galley west. And I’m just the curly wolf to hobble his lip! Yeehaw!

by TexVike55 on Nov 7, 2011 4:45 PM CST reply actions

And in hindsight,

Peter King is also as total a moron as it gets… just saying.

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain

SKOL VIKINGS!

by Landonio on Nov 7, 2011 5:37 PM CST reply actions

if anything the vikes should be hanging head on wr pick of 05.

number 27 atl falcons take roddy white. thats the hinesight . demarcus ware instead of erasmus james b!tch. (sorry dave chappelle there)

by skol viking on Nov 7, 2011 5:56 PM CST reply actions

Agreed. That was the disaster. That we drafted two 1st rounders

and both went bust. Not that we didn’t draft a College QB who I thought would be good (but not THIS good) when we already had a QB who was racking up records in house.

And I thought the Culpepper pick was perfect at the time. I thought expecting a 37yr old Cunningham to be all-world again was dreaming. I never wanted to let go of Brad, and didn’t understand why we offloaded him instead of RC. But ohwellohwellohwell.

by Shawn Gillogly on Nov 7, 2011 6:14 PM CST up reply actions

Green Bay passed on Sanders

Anytime a Packer fan tries to say that we passed on Rogers, I tell them they passed on Barry Sanders.

by m_beck80 on Nov 8, 2011 12:32 PM CST reply actions

That's my all-time favorite draft, I think

The 1989 NFL Draft. . .first five picks went like this:

Dallas Cowboys – Troy Aikman, QB, UCLA (Hall of Famer)
Green Bay Packers – Tony Mandarich, OT, Michigan State
Detroit Lions – Barry Sanders, RB, Oklahoma State (Hall of Famer)
Kansas City Chiefs – Derrick Thomas, LB, Alabama (Hall of Famer)
Atlanta Falcons – Deion Sanders, CB, Florida State (Hall of Famer)

One of these things is not like the others.

Seriously, it’s the football equivalent of taking Darko Milicic ahead of Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade.

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by Christopher Gates on Nov 8, 2011 12:58 PM CST up reply actions