Ponder (1 Viewer)

[CowboysHomer]

Ponders upside is probably like...David Gerard.

You mean the years when Garrard was a top 8 fantasy QB?

 

[mr roboto]

As a Romo owner, he's my #1 target, simply because of the upcoming schedule. The ceiling is monstrous with him, especially with Simpson in the fold now

LOL No. Where are all of you getting this upside on Ponder from? He never has been or will be a high upside QB. At best he's a moderate talent. At worst he fails. His arm is not very good. Sure he can run and he's got a decent head on his shoulders. But his upside is far from "monstrous". Sure he'll have good weeks. He's the QB for a really good offense with a lot of weapons. No one is saying he's a terrible QB. Which you would have to be to not put up stats in that offense. Ponders upside is probably like...David Gerard.

Except he can deliver the football in less than 10 seconds.

 

[buck naked]

As a Romo owner, he's my #1 target, simply because of the upcoming schedule. The ceiling is monstrous with him, especially with Simpson in the fold now

LOL No. Where are all of you getting this upside on Ponder from? He never has been or will be a high upside QB. At best he's a moderate talent. At worst he fails. His arm is not very good. Sure he can run and he's got a decent head on his shoulders. But his upside is far from "monstrous". Sure he'll have good weeks. He's the QB for a really good offense with a lot of weapons. No one is saying he's a terrible QB. Which you would have to be to not put up stats in that offense. Ponders upside is probably like...David Gerard.

He can run. Did you see his 20+ yard run last week? He is surprisingly pretty fast. As we've seen, running QB's add points very very quickly to your fantasy score. He also runs in TD's.He is only in his second year. He has started the equivalent of one year of NFL games, and he has drastically improved already. That is usually what happens with experience. He is already making good decisions.He was drafted early in round 1 for a reason. Maybe you should trust the NFL scouts more than your own judgment.

 

[Goat Herders]

Ponders upside is probably like...David Gerard.

You mean the years when Garrard was a top 8 fantasy QB?

Garrard was never a top 8 qb. As a starter "in his prime" he finished 16,12, 15, and 14. That said, I agree with your point - considering the low price in both redraft and dynasty, fantasy owners should be very happy with a David Garrard like season.

 

[LittlePhatty]

He never has been or will be a high upside QB.

As always, my answer is "I'm not sure. Let's wait and find."That way I'm never wrong. All I know is there's a guy on the waiver wire putting up nice stats. If I have room on my roster I'll pick him up just in case he can keep it up.

 

[Biabreakable]

I've probably watched every game-action snap (preseason and regular season) of Ponder's career in the NFL so far...and I do have to say that I am cautiously VERY optimistic that he's got a nice future in the game. Might be the homer in me talking, but him having a complete off-season to learn the game and work with coaches/trainers appears to have made a huge difference. He's had one HORRIFIC decision in each of his last two games (at least one pass where he was lucky not to have it turn into an easy pick-6, and another easy interception that was dropped). But other than that, he's looked solid. Very solid.As to his fantasy prospects? I'd still like to see him get a third good WR to pair with Harvin and Simpson. But Rudolph looks like the real-deal...and ADP is getting dink and dunk looks out of the backfield too. I'm not drinking the top-5 Kool-aid at all! But top 15 is very, very probable. IMHO. A top QB2 in 12-team leagues, and a low-end QB1 in 16-teamers. As his floor, barring injuries to himself or major injuries to his WRs or O-Line.

I am really impressed with how far he has come along in such a short period of time. He is a lot bigger than he was last season and it does not seem to have hurt his speed in any way. Another huge difference is Kalil. Kalil has been playing great! He sometimes gets 2 defenders on blocks. Charlie Johnson has also been playing much better at LG than he did at LT last year. He has made some solid blocks too. I think this game will be a good test for Loadholt. He had a lot of problems with the Lions pass rush last season, but so far from what I have seen he has been playing better this year as well.

 

[cstu]

On the bright side he won the game and didn't throw a pick...

 

[sports_fan]

Just a good game from the Lions defense IMO. Ponder was under pressure often and the receivers weren't getting open. He did well to only take 2 sacks. When they needed a play they just gave the ball to AD and it worked well enough to get the win.

 

[money.never.sleeps]

Ponder seems to be gaining confidence and I like his chances vs the Lions suspect secondary. Starting him over Romo this week it looks like.

 

[Chazzhawk]

The time to buy is now.

 

[money.never.sleeps]

Just a good game from the Lions defense IMO. Ponder was under pressure often and the receivers weren't getting open. He did well to only take 2 sacks. When they needed a play they just gave the ball to AD and it worked well enough to get the win.

I knew once the Vikes had the lead at any point they would feed AD.. 2 special teams TDs and good defense so obviously no need to try to do to much in the air.

 

[BallparkFrank]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but this guy just can't complete passes deep on NFL defenses. Even the two DPI's he got throwing to Simpson yesterday looked like uncatchable balls:

Tom Pelissero ‏@TomPelissero

Of Christian Ponder's 26 targeted passes yesterday, only 8 were thrown at least 7 yards downfield, 6 of those incomplete (including 2 DPIs).

 

[cstu]

I hate to sound like a broken record, but this guy just can't complete passes deep on NFL defenses. Even the two DPI's he got throwing to Simpson yesterday looked like uncatchable balls:

Tom Pelissero ‏@TomPelissero

Of Christian Ponder's 26 targeted passes yesterday, only 8 were thrown at least 7 yards downfield, 6 of those incomplete (including 2 DPIs).

We'll see if that changes with some weak pass defenses coming up in 3 of the next 4 weeks (Titans, Redskins, Bucs).If you need a QB he's a cheap acquisition right now and should have a nice stretch until the bye. Trade him after week 10 though - he has the Bears twice, at the Packers and at the Texans to finish the season.

 

[sdp1226]

In need of QB help this week with Stafford on BYE. I've got Ponder on my bench and Tannehil available. I initially thought I would be comfortable starting Ponder but now I'm a bit hesitant to pull that trigger. I do like his matchup vs TEN but I also liked his matchup vs DET last week and only 111 passing yards is very concerning (6 fantsy points). Is it crazy that I am leaning towards starting Tannehil this week? (just 4 days ago I never thought I'd be considering this).

Anyone else faces with a Ponder decision this week?

 

[Phil T]

I have Rivers and Ponder, probably going to spot start them based on match ups. Leaning towards Rivers this week @ a worthless New Orleans defense...

 

[solorca]

Ponder seems to be gaining confidence and I like his chances vs the Lions suspect secondary. Starting him over Romo this week it looks like.

Hey, looks like you made the right decision!

 

[Mr. Soup Nazi]

Dropped Cassel for him to backup Stafford. Am likely starting him over Stafford this week if Stafford is less than 100%

Glad I came to my senses and started Stafford, although I still lost.I hope Ponder has a good game this week, where I will be starting him since Stafford is on a bye.

 

[VA703]

stashing him to fill for cam on his bye.. which happens to be against the skins

score

 

[meatwad1]

stashing him to fill for cam on his bye.. which happens to be against the skinsscore

Don't be surprised if you 'score' 10 points that week.Relying on Ponder is the mother of all crapshoots. He is a subpar talent who is being asked to manage games right now, not win them.

 

[mr roboto]

Ponder seems to be gaining confidence and I like his chances vs the Lions suspect secondary. Starting him over Romo this week it looks like.

Hey, looks like you made the right decision!

 

[sdp1226]

stashing him to fill for cam on his bye.. which happens to be against the skinsscore

Don't be surprised if you 'score' 10 points that week.Relying on Ponder is the mother of all crapshoots. He is a subpar talent who is being asked to manage games right now, not win them.

It is starting to seem that way. Last week when the Special teams put up 2 TDs, it was Adrien Peterson, all day. This week's match-up seems to be favorable however, I am afraid that if they take a healthy lead early, it seems like the game plan is to shut the passing game down.

 

[Clutch is Eli]

stashing him to fill for cam on his bye.. which happens to be against the skinsscore

I liiiiike. Looking to do the same on this weeks FAAB deadline.

 

[VA703]

stashing him to fill for cam on his bye.. which happens to be against the skinsscore

I liiiiike. Looking to do the same on this weeks FAAB deadline.

shark move

 

[ImTheScientist]

I don't think he's a good qb. Should be interesting to see this thread in 13 weeks

Just curious, why? Mobile, fairly accurate and making good decisions. Doesn't have a cannon but for a guy who has played less than a full season I'm pretty impressed.

He is average to me. QB15 to QB20. I'm not sold on him. Rewind 3 weeks and what was being said about him? I have seen him play in college a few times and last year and did not come away impressed.

Before this weeks game Ponder was at QB#17. He continued his stretch of horrible play last night. This is why you don't project off the first 3 weeks of NFL football.

 

[cstu]

He's been playing with a knee injury he suffered against the Lions in week 4.

 

[ImTheScientist]

He's been playing with a knee injury he suffered against the Lions in week 4.

He has said its not an issue...and that was a week ago. Most QBs have injuries they are playing with at this point. He was throwing a TON of short passes/bubble screen type plays through the first 3 weeks.....teams adjusted and forcing him to actually throw. The results are not good. He is who I thought he was. At least he has a hot GF.

The Vikings aren't considering benching Christian Ponder.

"Barring injury, Christian’s going to be fine," coach Leslie Frazier said Friday. Ponder has tossed seven interceptions over his past four games, and totaled just 309 yards passing in Weeks 7 and 8. He's struggled mightily to challenge defenses downfield. Backup Joe Webb isn't a legitimate threat to Ponder's job security, but all the QB2 goodwill Ponder built up at the beginning of the season has faded. He's off the radar in redraft leagues.

 

[rickyg]

I was dead wrong on this turd. Thought he was taking a huge step forward this year. He sucks. Period. Cant take advantage of a tb secondary that every other qb Has essentially torced all year? too many clunkers to rely on Him. And clinkers in good matchups too. And frasier wants to keep the offense vanilla...conservative and run it through ap. I'm off his bandwagon.

 

[otb_lifer]

I was dead wrong on this turd. Thought he was taking a huge step forward this year. He sucks. Period. Cant take advantage of a tb secondary that every other qb Has essentially torced all year? too many clunkers to rely on Him. And clinkers in good matchups too. And frasier wants to keep the offense vanilla...conservative and run it through ap. I'm off his bandwagon.

Watched it soup to nuts on Thursday ... Ponder is just, ya know ... un-good. Agree on Frasier; he's so conservative he makes Limbaugh look like "five o'clock shadow" Maddow .. but maybe Ponder is the reason? He doesn't inspire much confidence as far as free wheelin' it goes.Any of the 5 rookie QB's would have this team in much better shape

 

[Max Power]

I was dead wrong on this turd. Thought he was taking a huge step forward this year. He sucks. Period. Cant take advantage of a tb secondary that every other qb Has essentially torced all year? too many clunkers to rely on Him. And clinkers in good matchups too. And frasier wants to keep the offense vanilla...conservative and run it through ap. I'm off his bandwagon.

I was impressed early on. And moved him in a dynasty package deal to land Brady. I haven't watched too many Vikings games other than the prime time ones, I was thinking about trying to buy low again on him, but now it looks more like a stay away

 

[ImTheScientist]

He was pretty bad.... Further validates my comments early on in this thread.

 

[ImTheScientist]

Was watching some Harvin highlights today and got thinking about how laughable this thread was. He finished at QB #22. Some highlights from this thread are below.

I don't think he's a good qb. Should be interesting to see this thread in 13 weeks

Just curious, why? Mobile, fairly accurate and making good decisions. Doesn't have a cannon but for a guy who has played less than a full season I'm pretty impressed.

I don't think he's a good qb.

Ponder >> WilsonHTH

 

[Faust]

On the state of Christian Ponder's progress

 

[VikingFrog]

Interesting read. I didn't realize he was so up and down last year. I kind of felt like he was sort of "meh" all season with some really bad games in between.

Should be interesting to see what the story is like when camp starts. Is Cassel just going to be allowed to push for the job if Ponder keeps throwing these boneheaded picks?

On the state of Christian Ponder's progress

 

[Faust]

Rotoworld:

ESPN's Adam Schefter suggested on NFL Live that Christian Ponder will be in danger of losing his job this season if the Vikings begin to struggle.

"There are enough people around the league that believe Matt Cassel is good enough to challenge Ponder," stated Schefter, adding that Cassel "could unseat Ponder at some point this season." Although Schefter confirmed Ponder won't lose his job before Week 1, he called it a "situation that bears watching." Ponder endured a brutal nine-game stretch last season (Weeks 7-16) where he completed 140-of-245 passes (57.1 percent) for just 1,267 yards (5.17 YPA), and a 7:8 TD-to-INT ratio with two lost fumbles. Ponder was serviceable to solid (67.2 percent, 7.01 YPA, 11:4) in his other seven starts.

Jun 18 - 4:24 PM

Source: ESPN 1500 Twin Cities

Christian Ponder says he "learned" from his up-and-down sophomore season.

"I think you learn most from those bad days," Ponder said. Ponder was reportedly wildly uneven in OTAs, but OC Bill Musgrave isn't concerned. "I think he's more comfortable. ... He knows more of what to expect and let himself go a little bit and not be so guarded." Ponder completely torpedoed the Vikings offense at times in 2012, but came up huge in a must-win Week 17 tilt with the Packers. The nightmare days will have to be fewer and farther between this season for Ponder to keep his job long-term.

Jun 21 - 11:00 AM

Source: ESPN 1500 Twin Cities

Coach Leslie Frazier insisted that the Vikings want to run a balanced offense this season.

The 2012 Vikings ranked eighth in rush attempts and 28th in pass attempts as they tried to hide Christian Ponder. With a revamped receiving corps and expectations Ponder will take a step forward in his third NFL season, Frazier sees a more even attack. "It's not imperative that [Adrian Peterson] rushed for 2,000 yards, or 2,500 yards, for us to win. Our offense is always going to run through Adrian, but we want to be able to pass the ball better than we did a year ago," said the coach.

Jun 20 - 8:36 AM

Source: Associated Press

 

[Faust]

Christian Ponder's deep ball troubles with the Vikings

By Marc Sessler

Around the League Writer

(Click on the link to see the chart comparing Ponder with Eli Manning for their respective first two NFL seasons.)

For the Vikings to reach their potential in 2013, Minnesota's offense must be more than Adrian Peterson and a cloud of dust. And third-year quarterback Christian Ponder is under increasing pressure to show he belongs.

Peterson believes that will happen, telling NFL.com's Adam Schein, "I've seen a guy that doesn't lack leadership or the ability to take control. Even last year. He's building the confidence. It's my team and I have to be the leader. He's displaying it a lot."

Young passers need time to develop -- something most aren't afforded -- but Ponder must improve fundamentally to keep his job. I was impressed with Ponder's early-season work in 2012, when he led the NFL in completion percentage after two games. He's shown sneaky (but streaky) accuracy in the short game, but a closer look reveals that Ponder is a shambles attacking defenses deep.

Ponder last season was the only quarterback without a touchdown pass of 21-plus yards (minimum 10 throws), per NFL research. Over two seasons, he's 11 for 70 (15.7 percent) on attempts of 21-plus yards through the air. That's netted 436 yards, one touchdown, five interceptions and a 28.0 passer rating. Last season alone, Ponder was 5 of 34 on those longer throws, for a completion percentage of 14.7.

It gets worse: ProFootballFocus ranked Ponder last in accuracy among 33 NFL quarterbacks on passes of 20-plus yards. His receivers were a ragtag group after Percy Harvin was injured in early November, but Ponder's slew of incompletions included just one drop, per the website.

Compare that to the league's most accurate deep-ball gunner, Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers, who completed 19 of 33 passes for 595 yards, five touchdowns and just one interception, for a completion percentage of 60.6.

Still, our research department dug up one hopeful nugget: Tracking Ponder's total numbers through his first two seasons, the most notable comparison they found? Eli Manning of the New York Giants. The chart above shows multiple similarities, but Eli, of course, matured. Now it's Ponder's turn.

He's been stripped of Harvin, but Ponder now has Greg Jennings and intriguing rookie Cordarrelle Patterson lined up wide. With the game's most dangerous running back and a strong offensive line in place, the tools are there for Ponder to grow in Year 3. If he fails to flip the switch, Minnesota is back to square one.

Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.

 

[Donnybrook]

Christian Ponder's deep ball troubles with the Vikings

By Marc Sessler

Slow news day because this is not news.

 

[Faust]

Jaws QB rankings: Christian Ponder No. 27

By Kevin Seifert | ESPN.com

I've been playing catchup on Ron Jaworski's annual preseason quarterback rankings, which began last month on "SportsCenter" and "NFL Live," while looking for the corresponding video. That's not going to happen because of NFL digital video rights, but I can now bring to you the next-best thing.

Allie Stoneberg of ESPN's communications office is posting transcriptions of Jaworski's comments on ESPN's MediaZone page. As a result, you can see that Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder received the No. 27 overall ranking (out of 32).

That's one spot higher than last season's rankings, but I don't think it represents material change in Jaworski's assessment. After all, the No. 26 quarterback this year is the Cleveland Browns' Brandon Weeden, who will be challenged for the starting job by Jason Campbell and Brian Hoyer.

Here's a portion of Jaworski said about Ponder:

"The arrow is pointing upward as Ponder begins his third season as the Vikings starter.

"Ponder fits the profile so many are now talking about: the athletic movement quarterback who can beat you with his legs. Ponder is an opportunity runner, and he's shown the ability to burn some of the best defenses in the league.

"Ponder needs to make significant improvements as a pocket passer. Surprisingly, with Adrian Peterson in the backfield, he was not efficient off play-action. Ponder also had a tendency to be a beat late with his throws. At this point, he doesn't see the whole field with clarity and that led to too many throws into the teeth of the coverage.

"And he must execute versus the blitz much better than he did in 2012.

"You know what statistic really bothered me? Ponder had only 28 completions of 20 yards or more -- by far the fewest of any 16-game starter. I saw one in Week 17 that I really liked. It was a shot play, first-and-10 play-action out of base personnel.

"Overall, I like Ponder's skillset. He has plus arm strength with the ability to make every single throw. The Vikings have now provided Ponder with more weapons on the outside. [The 2013 season] is an important season for the third-year quarterback. It's time to play more consistently from the pocket. If Ponder does that, he could well be in my top 20 next year."

Wow! The top 20? Talk about being damned by faint praise….

Let's provide some specifics on what Jaworski referenced. Ponder threw the second-most play-action passes in the NFL last season (165), according to ESPN Stats & Information. He passed for half of his season total of touchdown passes (nine of 18) on such throws. But he also threw four interceptions and took eight sacks, finishing with an 88.2 passer rating and a 63.2 Total Quarterback Rating overall in play-action.

Both figures are above average, but to Jaworski's point, you would hope them to be sparkling considering Peterson's presence.

As we discussed last month, Ponder took a sharp turn last year that left an overall impression of a poor season. He was one of the NFL's 10 most efficient quarterbacks in the first four and final four games, but in between he was one of its worst. His most important goal for 2013, in my view, is to even out his play to give the Vikings a more reliable accounting of what he can do over the long term.

Look for the rest of the NFC North's rankings in the upcoming weeks.

 

[Faust]

Greg Jennings: Christian Ponder needed Vikings' helpBy Gregg Rosenthal

Around The League Editor

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings has been quarterback Christian Ponder's biggest supporter this offseason. Jennings' message: Have patience with a player who hasn't had great weapons.

"Every quarterback, you've got to give him time (to develop)," Jennings said Tuesday on ESPN, via the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "Tell me this, right now: Brett Favre, receivers around him. Aaron Rodgers, receivers around him. Christian Ponder ... receivers around him."

The implication is that Ponder hasn't had much help at receiver. We'd argue that Jennings is a downgrade from the departed Percy Harvin and Kyle Rudolph is developing into one of the best young tight ends in football. Still, the Vikings' receiver group is undeniably deeper this year after drafting Cordarrelle Patterson.

"He (Ponder) has always been a position where the stress and the pressure was on him, and he really didn't have the help around him to take that load off, outside of 'All Day' (Adrian Peterson). That's it," Jennings said.

We appreciate what Jennings is trying to do. He has Ponder's back. But saying Ponder had no help outside of Peterson is like saying the Denver Broncos are thin at quarterback except for Peyton Manning.

It is possible to isolate and evaluate quarterback play regardless of the weapons around him. Ponder has struggled more than most other recent first-round draft picks at quarterback in his first two seasons. But it's only been two seasons. It's fair for Jennings to point out that Ponder is still early in his development.

If and when Ponder does turn his career around, Jennings can be the first in line to say, "Told you so."

Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.

 

[Biabreakable]

Huh. Seems like Rosenthal is a bit skeptical of Jennings statements.

 

[Faust]

Rotoworld:

ESPN's Adam Schefter says the Vikings "won't hesitate" to turn to Matt Cassel if Christian Ponder struggles this season.
Per Schefter, there are people around the league who believe Cassel is "underrated." Those people apparently didn't watch the tape of Cassel's eight 2012 Chiefs starts, when he posted a 64.5 quarterback rating, threw five touchdowns against 11 interceptions and lost six fumbles. We're expecting Ponder to take a step forward in his third season and hold off Cassel with ease.

Related: Christian Ponder

Source: ESPN.com

 

[cstu]

Rotoworld:

ESPN's Adam Schefter says the Vikings "won't hesitate" to turn to Matt Cassel if Christian Ponder struggles this season.
Per Schefter, there are people around the league who believe Cassel is "underrated." Those people apparently didn't watch the tape of Cassel's eight 2012 Chiefs starts, when he posted a 64.5 quarterback rating, threw five touchdowns against 11 interceptions and lost six fumbles. We're expecting Ponder to take a step forward in his third season and hold off Cassel with ease.

Related: Christian Ponder

Source: ESPN.com

If Ponder struggles again like he did last year in the middle of the season then I think they'll bench him for Cassel. However, outside of those 5 games Ponder didn't play poorly last year and I expect him to be better.

Edit: his completion percentage outside of those 5 games was 67% and he threw 14 TD's to 5 INT's.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'm not as bullish on Ponder as I once was, but anyone not named Brees, Manning, or Brady would have been hard pressed to produce with that WR corpse that Ponder had to work with.

No, I did not misspell that word.

 

[Faust]

Rotoworld:

Through three days of Vikings camp, Christian Ponder has still been "consistently inconsistent" as a passer.
Long a chronic eye dropper -- he looks at the rush instead of keeping his downfield focus -- Ponder has reportedly had "difficulty throwing accurately" when pressured, "or sometimes at all." Ponder went 4-of-12 passing in Monday's practice, and was sacked twice. Meanwhile, backup Matt Cassel went 8-of-11 in team drills, and a receiver dropped a pass. Ponder is very much on the hot seat.


Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune

 

[Biabreakable]

Rotoworld:

Through three days of Vikings camp, Christian Ponder has still been "consistently inconsistent" as a passer.
Long a chronic eye dropper -- he looks at the rush instead of keeping his downfield focus -- Ponder has reportedly had "difficulty throwing accurately" when pressured, "or sometimes at all." Ponder went 4-of-12 passing in Monday's practice, and was sacked twice. Meanwhile, backup Matt Cassel went 8-of-11 in team drills, and a receiver dropped a pass. Ponder is very much on the hot seat.


Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Here is the full article.

MANKATO -- Yes, it's still early. Yes, it's hard to compile statistics, let alone judge them when it's not live action and a team is in its third day of training camp.

But, yes, it's also safe to say Christian Ponder is still consistently inconsistent when it comes to throwing a football. Part of the problem on Monday came from the pressure Ponder felt up front as the players put pads on for the first time in camp. Granted, no one can hit Ponder, and there was no tackling, but Ponder had difficulty throwing accurately or sometimes at all as the defense swarmed around him.

In today's 11-on-11 competition, Ponder completed 4 of 12 passes. He was "sacked" twice, had one pass batted down at the line of scrimmage and threw another ball away because of pressure. He also had one drop by rookie free agent fullback Zach Line, who was subbing for Jerome Felton, who missed part of practice to attend to a personal matter, according to coach Leslie Frazier.

Ponder also had a deep ball to Jerome Simpson come down about four yards out of bounds. Three of Ponder's completions went to Jarius Wright, including two that were decent throws for touchdowns in red-zone situations.

Ponder's backup, Matt Cassel, completed 8 of 11 passes during 11 on 11 competition. He also had one drop. Stephen Burton, a receiver on the bubble, was the highlight of today's practice. He and caught two deep balls, one in fairly tight coverage and the other against a blown coverage. His third catch came at the goal line when he held on despite taking a hard hit to the back as he caught the ball and stepped into the end zone.

The Vikings return to practice tomorrow with a morning walkthrough. They'll do some live tackling during tomorrow's afternoon practice, which starts at 2:30.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/217461021.html

No where is there any mention of Ponder being "very much on the hot seat". This is not responsible journalism. It is sensational and I can only guess intended to get more web traffic from the fabricated controversy. So business as usual I guess.

That being said Ponder does have issues and the Vikings will not be patient with the hook this season if he does slump badly again. But it became a broken record all off season how the Vikings are committed to Ponder as their starting QB.

Some Vikings fans might be very happy if this were actually true. It is not fair to get their hopes up.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Rotoworld:

Through three days of Vikings camp, Christian Ponder has still been "consistently inconsistent" as a passer.
Long a chronic eye dropper -- he looks at the rush instead of keeping his downfield focus -- Ponder has reportedly had "difficulty throwing accurately" when pressured, "or sometimes at all." Ponder went 4-of-12 passing in Monday's practice, and was sacked twice. Meanwhile, backup Matt Cassel went 8-of-11 in team drills, and a receiver dropped a pass. Ponder is very much on the hot seat.


Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Here is the full article.

MANKATO -- Yes, it's still early. Yes, it's hard to compile statistics, let alone judge them when it's not live action and a team is in its third day of training camp.

But, yes, it's also safe to say Christian Ponder is still consistently inconsistent when it comes to throwing a football. Part of the problem on Monday came from the pressure Ponder felt up front as the players put pads on for the first time in camp. Granted, no one can hit Ponder, and there was no tackling, but Ponder had difficulty throwing accurately or sometimes at all as the defense swarmed around him.

In today's 11-on-11 competition, Ponder completed 4 of 12 passes. He was "sacked" twice, had one pass batted down at the line of scrimmage and threw another ball away because of pressure. He also had one drop by rookie free agent fullback Zach Line, who was subbing for Jerome Felton, who missed part of practice to attend to a personal matter, according to coach Leslie Frazier.

Ponder also had a deep ball to Jerome Simpson come down about four yards out of bounds. Three of Ponder's completions went to Jarius Wright, including two that were decent throws for touchdowns in red-zone situations.

Ponder's backup, Matt Cassel, completed 8 of 11 passes during 11 on 11 competition. He also had one drop. Stephen Burton, a receiver on the bubble, was the highlight of today's practice. He and caught two deep balls, one in fairly tight coverage and the other against a blown coverage. His third catch came at the goal line when he held on despite taking a hard hit to the back as he caught the ball and stepped into the end zone.

The Vikings return to practice tomorrow with a morning walkthrough. They'll do some live tackling during tomorrow's afternoon practice, which starts at 2:30.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/217461021.html

No where is there any mention of Ponder being "very much on the hot seat". This is not responsible journalism. It is sensational and I can only guess intended to get more web traffic from the fabricated controversy. So business as usual I guess.

That being said Ponder does have issues and the Vikings will not be patient with the hook this season if he does slump badly again. But it became a broken record all off season how the Vikings are committed to Ponder as their starting QB.

Some Vikings fans might be very happy if this were actually true. It is not fair to get their hopes up.

We've talked about it in other threads. Rotoworld is getting awful with this sort of thing. Particular in anything regarding Justin Hunter.

 

[mjr]

We've talked about it in other threads. Rotoworld is getting awful with this sort of thing. Particular in anything regarding Justin Hunter.

They're not getting awful. They're already there.

 

[Raider Nation]

This guy is Gabbert-terrible.

 

[cstu]

This guy is Gabbert-terrible.

They should have been the team to trade for Alex Smith. All the Vikings need is a QB who doesn't make stupid mistakes.

 

[Faust]

Rotoworld:

A league source tells Profootballtalk.com the Vikings see Christian Ponder as "week to week" with his rib injury.
The Vikings may try to milk Ponder's injury as long as possible if Matt Cassel plays well, even if that's a long shot. Minnesota has a Week 5 bye. Should Cassel move the offense and lead the Vikings to Week 4 victory against the Steelers in London, we wouldn't be surprised to see Ponder still being pushed as "not 100 percent" and Cassel anointed the starter "until Ponder gets healthy."

Source: Profootballtalk on NBC Sports

 

[Faust]

Rotoworld:

Speaking Tuesday, Vikings coach Leslie Frazier again endorsed Christian Ponder (ribs) as his starting quarterback, but said he's "still injured," and will be re-evaluated on Monday.
Frazier stopped well short of guaranteeing Ponder will be under center when the Vikings come off their Week 5 bye, but did his best to tamp down the burgeoning quarterback controversy in Minnesota. We wouldn't be surprised if the Vikings exercised "extreme caution" with Ponder, giving Matt Cassel another week to showcase his wares against the Panthers. Ponder's job should be considered in limbo until we actually see him make another start.

Related: Matt Cassel

Source: Kevin Seifert on Twitter