Daniel House takes a look at the entire quarterback depth chart and gives his thoughts on the position before training camp begins in July.

Below are Christian Ponder's statistics from the 2011 and 2012 season: (via ESPN)
PASSING STATS
| ||||||
SEASON
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
CMP
|
ATT
|
CMP%
|
YDS
|
2011
|
11
|
158
|
291
|
54.3
|
1,853
| |
2012
|
16
|
300
|
483
|
62.1
|
2,935
| |
Career
|
27
|
458
|
774
|
59.2
|
4,788
|
AVG
|
TD
|
LNG
|
INT
|
FUM
|
QBR
|
RAT
|
6.37
|
13
|
72
|
13
|
5
|
33.7
|
70.1
|
6.08
|
18
|
65
|
12
|
5
|
53.8
|
81.2
|
6.19
|
31
|
72
|
25
|
10
|
45.5
|
77.1
|

Let's take a look at the production with quarterback ratings from last season in a game-by-game format.
QBR
|
RAT
|
66.2
|
105.5
|
46.1
|
114.6
|
89.9
|
94.7
|
64.8
|
71.2
|
78.6
|
87.6
|
37.3
|
83.2
|
18.4
|
35.5
|
13.6
|
74.8
|
11.1
|
37.3
|
89.8
|
114.2
|
10.3
|
58.2
|
3.1
|
41.9
|
25.3
|
53.8
|
96.9
|
83.9
|
78.5
|
81.8
|
94.6
|
120.2
|
53.8
|
81.2
|
Now take a look at the wins and losses and how his play effected the loss column You can see the consistency in the first few weeks of the season, but you will see in weeks 7-13, a significant drop in production, which resulted in Vikings losses. Ponder passed for 58 yards in Week 7, but the Vikings managed to defeat the Cardinals 21-14. In Week 9, he threw for 63 yards against Seattle, which resulted in a 30-20 loss. He improved statistically at the end of the season and was pivotal in a 4th quarter win over Green Bay, connecting with Michael Jenkins to put the Vikings into field goal range for Blair Walsh to kick them to the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. The Vikings reached the playoffs, but Ponder suffered a brutal elbow bruise, which caused him to miss the playoff game. Joe Webb started and struggled, causing the Vikings to lose to Green Bay 24-10 in the Wild Card round.
WK
|
DATE
|
OPPONENT
|
RESULT
|
1
|
Sun, Sep 9
|
|
|
2
|
Sun, Sep 16
|
|
|
3
|
Sun, Sep 23
|
|
|
4
|
Sun, Sep 30
|
|
|
5
|
Sun, Oct 7
|
|
|
6
|
Sun, Oct 14
|
|
|
7
|
Sun, Oct 21
|
|
|
8
|
Thu, Oct 25
|
|
|
9
|
Sun, Nov 4
|
|
|
10
|
Sun, Nov 11
|
|
|
11
|
|||
12
|
Sun, Nov 25
|
|
|
13
|
Sun, Dec 2
|
|
|
14
|
Sun, Dec 9
|
|
|
15
|
Sun, Dec 16
|
|
|
16
|
Sun, Dec 23
|
|
|
17
|
Sun, Dec 30
|
|
|

We must look at how the Vikings are positioned if Ponder struggles during the 2013-14 season. They have an extra third round draft pick from the Percy Harvin trade and could move up in the draft to select a franchise quarterback in 2014. Time will tell, but based upon statistical analysis and the current product on the field, things will need to go perfect for Ponder this year. I hope it does because I think he has the IQ and football knowledge to be successful in this league. We have to remember that this is a business and with the "pass-happy" conversion of the NFL, you need a quarterback to compete.
I discussed Matt Cassel earlier and believe that the Vikings solidified one of their weakness heading into the 2013 season. When Ponder went down in the playoffs, we didn't have a reliable quarterback to fall back to. Cassel has had experience in the league and has had extended success at moments of his career.
From a statistical standpoint he stacks up similarly to Ponder in the early end of his career.
Passing Stats
|
||||||||||
SEASON
|
TEAM
|
GP
|
CMP
|
ATT
|
CMP%
|
YDS
|
TD
|
INT
|
QBR
|
RAT
|
2005
|
2
|
13
|
24
|
54.2
|
183
|
2
|
1
|
--
|
89.4
|
|
2006
|
6
|
5
|
8
|
62.5
|
32
|
0
|
0
|
--
|
70.8
|
|
2007
|
6
|
4
|
7
|
57.1
|
38
|
0
|
1
|
--
|
32.7
|
|
2008
|
16
|
327
|
516
|
63.4
|
3,693
|
21
|
11
|
63.1
|
89.4
|
|
2009
|
15
|
271
|
493
|
55.0
|
2,924
|
16
|
16
|
30.9
|
69.9
|
|
2010
|
15
|
262
|
450
|
58.2
|
3,116
|
27
|
7
|
52.2
|
93.0
|
|
2011
|
9
|
160
|
269
|
59.5
|
1,713
|
10
|
9
|
51.2
|
76.6
|
|
2012
|
9
|
161
|
277
|
58.1
|
1,796
|
6
|
12
|
36.5
|
66.7
|
|
Career
|
78
|
1,203
|
2,044
|
58.9
|
13,495
|
82
|
57
|
--
|
80.4
|

Next comes McLeod Bethel-Thompson, a player that has seen limited action and snuck on the roster last season. A Sacramento State star and former 49er and Dolphin, Thompson has jumped to rosters in 2 seasons in the league. With an extended stay in the CFL with San Jose, it took him several years to find his first NFL team in San Francisco. Finally, he found a team like the Vikings where he could settle and learn a scheme to develop. Bethel-Thompson has great arm-strength and was impressive at stretching the field in training camp practices last summer. He has potential and could be developed into a starter in the next few years. The Vikings brought in Iowa rookie James Vandenberg to compete with Bethel-Thompson this summer. This is intriguing and could be more of a battle than some thing.
Here is a look at Bethel-Thompson's top season at Sacramento State from a statistical standpoint.
YEAR
|
TEAM
|
CMP
|
ATT
|
PCT
|
YDS
|
TD
|
LNG
|
INT
|
RAT
|
2008
|
CSUS |
28
|
49
|
57.1
|
415
|
2
|
37
|
1
|
137.7
|
Let's compare this to James Vandenberg, who saw much much more college experience in a "pass-happy" offense.
PASSING Stats
|
||||||||||
YEAR
|
TEAM
|
CMP
|
ATT
|
PCT
|
YDS
|
AVG
|
TD
|
LNG
|
INT
|
RAT
|
2009
|
42
|
87
|
48.3
|
470
|
5.4
|
2
|
55
|
5
|
89.7
|
|
2010
|
5
|
8
|
62.5
|
45
|
5.6
|
1
|
14
|
0
|
151.0
|
|
2011
|
237
|
404
|
58.7
|
3022
|
7.5
|
25
|
88
|
7
|
138.4
|
|
2012
|
223
|
389
|
57.3
|
2249
|
5.8
|
7
|
51
|
8
|
107.7
|
The statistic that stands out to me is amount of passes he threw in his junior season and the elevation we saw from 2010 to 2011. Compare that to Thompson and his "less than stellar" college stats and it makes competition seem possible.
Here is Vandenberg's scouting report, via NFL.com:
"This native Iowan, who set many state high school passing records, patiently waited for Ricky Stanzi to graduate before getting the keys to the Hawkeyes’ offense. He didn’t set the college football world on fire with his play as a first-year starter in 2011 (58.7 completion percentage, 3,022 yards, 25 TD, seven INT) and struggled mightily as a senior (57.3 completion percentage, 2,249 yards, seven touchdowns, eight interceptions). Still, Vandenberg has shown the ability to be a rhythm passer who will likely be brought into camp as an undrafted free agent for a team that runs a more up-tempo type of offense."
The worry is the decline in production from 2011 to 2012, but injury problems caused Vandenberg to be slowed. We will have to see the way he responds to the pressures of the NFL and if he is ready to be a quarterback in this league.
With Bethel-Thompson's experience in the league and his proven ability in the NFL, Vandenberg could simply be a mirage for the Vikings. It is certainly a storyline that Iowa Viking fans will be watching closely during training camp and the preseason.
Overall, the quarterback position is more solidified than last season, but with a log-jam at the top and the potential for Ponder to struggle, there are many unanswered questions. The hope is for success to surround our favorite team and with consistent play at this position, don't be surprised if the Vikings can improve upon their 10-6 record.
The keys are in the quarterback's hands and we will just have to see how Ponder responds entering week 1, because this year there are no excuses.
Pre-Training Camp Projected Quarterback Depth Chart:
1. Christian Ponder
2. Matt Cassel
3. McLeod Bethel-Thompson
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