In a move that likely doesn’t surprise anyone, including Tarvaris Jackson, Minnesota’s Brad Childress has decided to bench his third-year QB in favor of veteran Gus Frerotte after the Vikings’ 0-2 start.
After having Adrian Peterson have a sensational rookie season and making big moves in the off-season, the Vikings were expected to be a major player in the NFC. But, it hinged on their big question mark under center, and he didn’t do anything in the first two games to warrant that question mark going away.
Against Green Bay in a 24-19 loss in Week 1, Jackson was 16 of 35 for 178 yards, one TD, and one INT, and on Sunday against Indianapolis, he was 14 of 24 for only 130 yards, though he did lead Minnesota on five scoring drives. However, all five resulted in field goals, which made a difference (along with Peyton Manning rallying the Colts against the Vikes’ D) in a game that Minnesota led 15-0 but lost 18-15.
Jackson isn’t the worst quarterback in the history of the NFL, and there’s a lot on him to be a quarterback who’s still young and developing, but at the same time charged with leading a team that’s expected to be a serious contender.
Not every young quarterback develops into a reliable starter at the same time, and these may just be natural ups and downs for Jackson. And then, he may well just be a slow starter. Last season, he threw five interceptions in the first two games of the season, and later in the season, he was relatively solid in leading the Vikings on a five-game win streak that got them into the playoff hunt.
But, it almost seems like when you think he’s going to make a step forward, he takes a couple back. Case in point, in the last win of that five-game win streak last season, he threw three interceptions against the Bears after throwing only two in the last seven games he’d played in (six of those wins for Minnesota), and in the next game, he was only 25 of 41 with two interceptions in a loss to Washington.
I do feel like Jackson was thrown into the fire earlier than he should have, and it’s showing, but instead of looking towards the future as was the case when he was inserted into the starting lineup, this is a ‘win now’ move. Minnesota’s already two games behind Green Bay in the NFC North, and they can ill-afford to fall further behind when their schedule sees them face undefeated Carolina (home) and Tennessee (road), along with a good New Orleans (road) team in the next few weeks.
Minnesota has the pieces on both sides of the ball to win, and really, all the quarterback, whether it’s Frerotte or Jackson, has to do is be efficient and be able to make a few plays, because with Adrian Peterson (who’s on pace for 2,104 yards) in the backfield, along with Chester Taylor from time to time, it takes a lot of pressure off of the quarterback to throw for 200 yards every time out, much less 300.
But even though the situation is set up for Jackson to not have to do only so much, there are going to be times when he has to win games with his arm, and he hasn’t shown the capability to do so yet. In the five games that Jackson has throw more than 30 passes, he’s completed only 54% of his passes (94 of 174) for 952 yards, five touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Minnesota’s record in those games? 0-5.
Is turning to the 37-year old Frerotte the right answer? He isn’t a long-term solution by any means, and he may not even be a short-term solution, but when you’re in Minnesota’s position, and the guy you have in there isn’t getting it done, you have to look at your options.
The running game will still be the focal point of the offense, but Frerotte’s introduction will see the passing game opened up a lot more, and that means that big-money acquisition Bernard Berrian will get a chance to make plays, and young receivers Sidney Rice and Aundrae Allison should get plenty of opportunities to showcase their skills.
You can’t be sure what to expect from him by looking at his numbers (7 TD, 12 INT last season in St. Louis, 102 TD, 91 INT, 54.2 career completion %) and taking into consideration the fact that he has made a living as a backup/part-time starter through a good part of his career, but there’s a reason why he’s still employed in his 15th NFL season and some other younger and likely more talented guys aren’t.
He knows how to do what’s asked of him, and if he can do that, then all hope isn’t lost for Minnesota to make a run this season. And if he can do that, Jackson will hopefully take this time to make the steps that he needs to so that he can still be in Minnesota’s future plans instead of the franchise having to go back to square on in April. If neither of those happen, well, Childress could find it hard to sleep for a while.
