The Vikings have had their moments, but the team has still managed plenty of mistakes this past decade. But which mistake was the biggest?
Kirk Cousins haters might say it’s not keeping Case Keenum, or not waiting for Teddy Bridgewater to return to his old self.
There’s also trading a first-round pick for an injury-prone Sam Bradford. Granted, Bradford was decent when he played for the Vikings.
There are even plenty of options to choose from in the NFL Draft. Laquon Treadwell and Matt Kalil are just some of the team’s high draft picks to not pan out.
Although, Bleacher Report thinks it’s something I have yet to mention, and honestly, I think the outlet got it right.
Bleacher Report listed drafting Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder as the team’s biggest mistake of the last decade. Here’s what the outlet said about Ponder:
“By Week 6 of his rookie year, Ponder was starting. And to his credit, he started all 16 games and led the Vikings to a 10-6 mark in 2012. But by 2013 Ponder was in a quarterback carousel with Josh Freeman and Matt Cassel, and by 2014 he was finished as an NFL starter.”
I’ll try my best to defend this a little bit. Ponder wasn’t putting up eye-popping numbers at Florida State, sure, but many tabbed him as an early round pick. It’s not crazy to risk a high draft pick on a quarterback, regardless of their floor. This is because of the value a quarterback has on the game relative to other positions in football.
I’m not going to sit here and say it was a good call by the Vikings to draft Ponder, but, I mean, I at least understood it at the time. I’m sure they’d like that pick back.