What's the one thing Tom Brady has in common?

He’ll match Tom Brady’s passing yards from tonight, by week 15.

I kid, I kid.

brady was able to literally stand in a big cushy pocket, without any annoying distractions like defensive linemen rushing him and making him hurry (at least this was the case a lot of the time tonite). this gave his receivers time to develop their routes, and let brady pick and choose his targets….and he happens to be great at that.

also, the patriots game planning, play calling and execution are light years ahead of anything seen in viking land for….well ever. belichik and company can basically run mental circles around their competition. they looked completely scary tonite. and brady is a sharp shooting assassin (and a master at moving in the pocket).

i’d settle for some time in the pocket for the qb, and i’m sure this would equate to a more potent overall offense, and i think musgrave could show some playcalling skills if and only if, he gets some decent o-line play (both run and block). but we all know that the viking organization thinks that the o-line personnel problem is something they can just ignore and we will succeed somehow anyway…i sorely disagree.

GET ME A GODDAM OLINE YOU VIKING DOUCHEBAGS!!! <<< sorry, i needed to vent.

However tall Ponder is, would be the right height for a QB.

Nevertheless, a good observation.

..if he were still alive, that is…

We need to give the man some time here we lost a close game, we new McNabb was coming off a terrible season last year. We all hoped it was a statistical anomaly. It may still prove to be one, we’ve only played one game here folks lets relax the panic a bit.

Joe Webb and Tom Brady were both picked in the 6th round, 199th pick overall. just sayin…

Again, now its only if we added inches to the QB. Geesh too many IF"s and when this and that happens. Its called football its one in the the trenches the majority of the time by a well balanced offense and defense.

The figures are a little bogus because once in college, unless the QB is special then a lack of height means they are often moved to a different position.

A lack of height and subsequent injuries meaning a lack of arm strength causes huge problems in moving the ball down the field.

A discussion of prototype NFL QB size usually comes up with the figure of 6ft4 and 230lbs

You know, all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares?

Most of our current league’s elite QBs are tall, but not all tall QBs in the league are elite. You’re placing Joe Webb in the same talent category as Brady, Manning, and Co. based solely on height. We Vikings fans are smart, so I know you’re not that naive, VFS1967. I get what you’re saying, but it’s not enough of an argument for me to give Ponder the shaft, like we’ve been doing to every quarterback we draft as our “QB of the future.” And by the way, why am I talking about this? McNabb is our quarterback! As he should be.

Webb will be the new Tom Brady in no time!

…though it would be hard to argue that height doesn’t help. Maybe it goes in some variation of the “necessary but not sufficient” category. Still, there have been successful QBs of smaller stature. However, with few exceptions, they’ve struggled to gain acceptance as starters despite doing well when their number was called due to injury or whatever.

Honestly, I’d like to Webb out there at QB. However, I’ll wait to see how things develop with McNabb. The only person I don’t want to see out there is Ponder, because at this stage, I just don’t see him giving us more than we are going to get from McNabb.

Regarding the Webb Wildcat move on Sunday, what’s the point of running your wildcat QB straight up the middle. It’s not like Sullivan manhandles his blocking assignments in the first place, and Webb can’t really use his speed when heading upfield if they are running him up the gut.

To be great, though, you have to have the 6 inches between your ears.

Seriously guys. I’m not saying that short guys can’t get the job done, but if a QB doesn’t have a clear field of view, he’s throwing blind. He’s throwing to a timed route, and he can’t see if the receiver isn’t there. If he can’t see the entire field, fairly clearly, he doesn’t know if someone’s managed to get open downfield. The value of height can’t be under-stated.

That said, even if you’re tall, if you can’t read the D, if you don’t have the strength to lay the ball out on a clothesline, if you don’t have the accuracy to put the ball where it needs to be, if you don’t have that situational awareness to understand where everyone should be at any given moment, you’re not going to succeed as a QB in the NFL. Height is just one factor. A very important factor, but just ONE factor.

That’s why the current prototype for an NFL QB is now 6’5". That’s what they look for, that’s what a top prospect should, ideally, have. Yes, they’ll compromise on that, just as the Vikings compromised when picking Ponder. But I guarantee they’d rather have a 6’5" Ponder than a 6’3" Ponder.

Here’s a little reminder of the difference…. And granted, Phil Loadholt’s a BIG MAN at 6’8, but there’s a lot of big men in the NFL, and that QB is trying to see past them to see what the heck is going on, in about 2-5 second window, so that he can execute.

Why do scouts prefer a 6’5 qb?
It has less to do with better field vision but has more to do w/ the evolution of NFL defenders and NFL players as a whole. The DE back in the day are now the prototypical size of the LB. Another example are the DT of today, they are not only bigger but are also extremely mobile. http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/story/_/id/6933214/tmq-mel-kiper-jr-size-increase-football-players

If you have Patrick Willis blitzing on the other end. You might want a bigger QB who can a.) handle the force of the tackle and not die, b.) escape the defender through their strength/speed.

Ben Roethlesberger, Cam Newton, Tim Tebow, Josh Freeman…These are the new generation of QB’s. Bigger, faster, and stronger.