The Broncos of new are looking like the Vikings of old.
Pat Shurmur, once the offensive coordinator in Minnesota, now serves as Denver’s OC. There’s also George Paton, a former Vikings assistant general manager who is now the GM of the Broncos.
Recently, the Broncos added to their former Vikings total by trading for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. The offensive coordinator thinks the quarterback has come a long way since his Vikings days.
“He’s more experienced,” Shurmur said, per our friends at Broncos Wire. “He’s been in a couple different situations since the time we were together — one where he’s the backup and one where he was the starter. I see [it] when he’s out there executing. He’s been able to pick things up very quickly. There’s a lot of similarities to some of the things that we did [along with] some of the new stuff. He picks up quickly and he’s a quick decision maker.”
“He determines quickly whether he has what we’re looking for down the field, and then he’ll check it down. This has been a really important time for him, and really for all of us. We’ve got almost a half-season worth of reps in the last few days of OTAs and minicamp. All that work has been really, really good for him. He’s probably a more experienced player than when I was with him. Unfortunately, when I was with him, he got hurt early on in our time in Minnesota.”
Bridgewater suffered an ACL tear in 2016, the same year Shurmur was hired to be on the Vikings’ coaching staff. Now, Bridgewater has another chance to prove himself after a gruesome injury he suffered with the Vikings. He impressed in limited time with the Saints. With the Panthers in 2020, he struggled a bit, but now he has a better roster behind him. That could really pay off.
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