Minnesota Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater’s season may be done after an injury occurred earlier today in practice, reports say that while in the pocket during a non-contact play he fell and was grabbing at his knee and all players were down on one knee praying for their quarter back. The practice was called to an end after that, and Teddy was taken to get an MRI done on his leg, The Minnesota Vikings released a statement saying Bridgewater dislocated his knee and had a serious ACL tear.
Let’s take a lot at the Vikings options at QB. Shaun Hill is the current back up and most likely to take Bridgewater’s spot but for a team that many believe is poised for a playoff run is he really who you want leading the offense? Granted, he has not been a bad back up with a career 85.2 rating and a TD to INT ratio of 1.67:1.
He’s a guy who can manage an offense while a QB is out for a few weeks but with Bridgewater possibly out for the year, will Hill be able to handle the pressure?
I’m sure some rumors will surface on who they could trade for, and I’m going to focus on one, in particular, Cincinnati Bengals back up QB A.J. McCarron. Many are familiar with his story, a stud at Alabama who won three National Championships. This is why many weren’t surprised when he was able to step right in for the Bengals and help lead them the rest of the way to the playoffs while throwing for 854 yards 6 TDs and only 2 INTs in 4 games played. He also posted an impressive 97.1 quarterback rating.
McCarron has continued his success so far this preseason by posting an 113 rating and is just biding his time until he gets to be the guy for a team or at least be a position battle to start.
His time may have arrived at the expense of Teddy Bridgewater, Bengals owner Mike Brown said earlier this year that he is not trading McCarron. However with him in his second to last year of his contract and due to make $600,000 this year, he would be a cheaper option to trade for instead of Sanchez or Kaepernick for the Vikings. Even with what Brown said, there’s always the possibility of a deal sweet enough to peak his interest.
Here’s why I believe McCarron would be a perfect fit for Minnesota and would relieve Bridgewater of his starting duties even after he recovers.
McCarron is a fantastic game manager he does not make silly mistakes that cost his team. With him under center and handing the ball to Adrian Peterson, the Vikings turn into a very dangerous team even without AJ being familiar with the playbook. This was the case last year when he took over for Dalton, he only knew part of the playbook and still was very efficient for a first time QB in the NFL.
McCarron is a winner pure and straightforward, and he also handles pressure very well for a young QB something that is extremely valuable in today’s NFL where QBs are almost judged solely off their playoff performance and regular season stats are ignored.
If a trade happens or is offered its going to cost Minnesota a couple of drafts picks and likely some high draft picks at that. McCarron won’t come cheap that’s for sure but the upside he could bring to the Vikings and the organization may well be worth a couple picks.
Bridgewater’s injury as unfortunate as it is may be a blessing in disguise as the Minnesota Vikings could wind up with a franchise QB in A.J. McCarron, although the replacements were already on the team when the injury occurred it happened twice to Drew Bledsoe as his injuries for the Patriots and Cowboys welcomed the careers of Tom Brady and Tony Romo.
For some teams injuries were the greatest thing to ever happen to them, imagine where Brady and Romo would be had Bledsoe never been injured, would they have ever even got a shot at all?