Gus Frerotte takes over for Tarvaris Jackson. The Vikings have apparently bailed for now on their great experiment. As always, the backup quarterback is the most popular guy in most NFL towns and we're no different here in the Land of Purple. Viking fans dimly remember that Frerotte had some success as an injury replacement for Daunte Culpepper a few years back and they are perhaps hoping that magic can return.
I'm skeptical. There's a reason why Frerotte has bounced around a lot in his career. He has a good arm and he's smart, but he has always tended to wear down as the season goes on. He's also 37 years old and largely immobile, which is trouble given the current state of the Vikings offensive line. Some of Jackson's best plays have been with his feet, plays that Frerotte probably can't make. My guess is that Viking opponents will continue to stack things up to stop Adrian Peterson and that they will continue to strugle offensively.
In theory, Jackson will be benched for the rest of the season while Frerotte takes over. The guess here is that Frerotte will get hurt and we'll see T-Jack back under center by midseason. And by then, the Vikings will have settled into 3rd place in the division, where they will remain for the rest of the season.
3 comments:
An old Gus as quarterback. What's next, Gus the kicking mule to replace Longwell, at least on Kickoffs. Purple desparation!!!
The Vikes can't be any worse off and have nowhere to go but up with regard to QB play.
Frerotte's lack of mobility isn't an asset, but it may not be that great a liability. True, a large percentage of Jackson's positive plays involved his feet, but all too often he got into situations that required running for his life through indecision or flat-out not recognizing what the defense was doing. St. Brett himself was not exactly another Michael Vick when it came to getting out of trouble via his feet, but managed to keep drives (and himself) alive by recognizing what was going on and taking what the defense was giving him (and when he didn't he'd add to his monumental career INT stats ;) ). Bottom line: Frerotte is not the long-term answer but may well do an adequate job as a caretaker QB until a good one is acquired or Jackson gets his act together (although that looks doubtful after a couple of seasons of OJT).
Now if we only had a back-up coach...
Who is this Favre you speak of?
I don't know what will happen, RH, but it sure was fun finding all those Frerotte pictures and posting them. He should get one of those uniforms like Gaylord Perry likes to wear at the oldtimer's games. And I never miss a chance to tweak the Vikes.
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