Friday, April 29, 2011

Pondering Christian




- The Vikings' hands were tied. Ponder was their guy, and the feeling (which I agree with) was that he wouldn't slip past Miami (15) and Washington (16). That left them with only two teams (St. Louis and Detroit) as potential trading partners, and neither was interested. Kudos to Spielman and Frazier for sticking to their convictions in the face of local and national criticism.

- Way back on March 3rd, I asked draftnik Michael Schottey which quarterback, assuming Newton and Gabbert were gone, would be a good fit for the Vikings. His response:

"I think Christian Ponder is the prototypical quarterback for the Bill Musgrave Offense in this draft -- good athleticism, enough arm strength, tons of accuracy on the move. He could be a great second round pick..."

Ponder obviously vaulted up draft boards in the past two months, but Schottey nailed it.

- You can't help but notice of Ponder's resemblance to Joe Mauer. Mauer, who also wears No. 7, was ironically slated to play quarterback at Florida State before being drafted by the Twins.

- I was in attendance at the Winter Park Draft Party. Click here for interviews, analysis and fan reaction.

- Passing on Prince Amukamara really doesn't bother me, but seeing Nick Fairley go 13th to the Lions stings a bit.

- If we know one thing about Ponder, it's this: He's the smartest guy in the room.

- I have to wonder how new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave feels this morning. The former Falcons quarterbacks coach has a rookie quarterback on his hands, and last night he saw Atlanta add Julio Jones to their already-outsanding offensive core of Matt Ryan, Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez and Michael Turner.

- You can follow Christian Ponder on Twitter at @cponder7.

- With a below-average offensive line and a rookie quarterback who comes into the league with injury concerns, the Vikings would be wise to add some protection at pick 43. After all, they'll play six games in a division that features Clay Matthews, B.J. Raji, Charles Woodson, Nick Fairley, Ndamukong Suh, Julius Peppers, Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs.

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