Well, you gotta understand that we had absolute crap at QB. We had Ponder, who we reached for too, Joe Webb, and some geriatric backup. We desperately needed a QB, and Bortles and Manziel were already off the board. (Thank God that Manziel was already gone!) The braintrust must have felt that Bridgewater was the best remaining option and wouldn't be on the board when their 2nd round pick came up. A bit of a reach, but a serviceable QB. Now we have to start all over again.Was just going off the top of my head; it was a terrible pick. Reaching for a non franchise QB projected to go 3rd to 5th round. Too many GMs feel like they have to have a face at QB to save their jobs instead of doing things the right way.
I understand perfectly as someone who follows the Vikings. Having a bad QB is not an excuse for misusing a pick. The Vikes could have traded that pick for two seconds or something of the sort and got the same QB or something comparable. Frankly, it's not like there weren't other QBs rated higher than Bridgewater at the time. And yea, it was another Ponder pick when they could've just stuck with Ponder if worse came to worse, frankly. But you don't make an equally sh** pick and hope it'll work out better just because it's something different. You don't reach on a mediocre QB out of desperation. I won't call it a bust; it just wasn't the right pick, though.
Your trying to say Teddy is no better than Ponder? Ponder couldn't make teams pay, for stacking 9 in a box for Adrian. He is utterly worthless. Teddy was starting to look pretty solid this preseason. Mechanics were much improved. The sad part is, Rick Speilman, has never had a backup plan for his QBs. And for that, the season will be flushed.
Nor can Teddy make d's pay for stackign the box. And Teddy is frankly the beneficiary of an improved o-line. I'd take Ponder over Bridgewater, who I don't even think was necessarily an improvement on T-Jack, frankly. Rick Spielman is not a very good GM, imo. He's not the worst; but he's not that good either.
Improved o-line? Wait what? The o line has been horrid. First several games in 2015, Teddy was running for his life. And Teddy didn't have the 2012 Adrian, who scorched the NFL. Ponder is top 5 worst QB I have witnessed. Teddy may not ever be a superstar gun slinger, but at least he doesn't panic after one read. Ponder is a classy guy, but not NFL material. Teddy was starting to develop late last season, and looked even better this preseason.
Dude, Teddy and Christian have comparable stats despite the stark contrast you assert. And yea, the o-line was horrid in 10 and there's been gradual improvement since. If Bridgewater's running for his life it's because defenses don't have to respect him as down field threat. Frankly, he runs a lot for a pocket QB. Ponder was a much more accurate passer; but his line was sh**.