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NFL: 5 starting QBs on the hot seat

By Phil Watson

Jul 28, 2014; Napa, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Matt Schaub (8) throws at training camp at Napa Valley Marriott. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 28, 2014; Napa, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Matt Schaub (8) throws at training camp at Napa Valley Marriott. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 29, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel (16) throws the ball against the Detroit Lions in the third quarter at Mall of America Field at H.H.H. Metrodome. The Vikings won 14-13. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 29, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel (16) throws the ball against the Detroit Lions in the third quarter at Mall of America Field at H.H.H. Metrodome. The Vikings won 14-13. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports /

Matt Cassel, Minnesota Vikings
Cassel goes into the season as the tentative No. 1 quarterback, with Christian Ponder second on the depth chart.

But the threat to Cassel comes from rookie Teddy Bridgewater (at least the one who wears gloves when he plays).

Cassel wasn’t bad last season, his first in Minnesota, after he took over for Ponder permanently for the final four games. The Vikings were 3-3 in his six starts, including a win over the playoff-bound Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15 in which Cassel was 26-for-35 for 382 yards and two touchdowns.

For the year, Cassel completed 60.2 percent of his throws for 1,807 yards and 11 touchdowns, with nine interceptions and a passer rating of 81.6. His Total QBR, ESPN’s impossible to duplicate quarterback rating statistic that works on a 1-100 scale, was a pedestrian 48.7, 23rd in the NFL of 39 qualifiers.

Cassel is four years removed from his lone Pro Bowl season in Kansas City, when he led the Chiefs to a playoff berth in 2010 with a career-best passer rating of 93.0.

Bridgewater is the future in Minnesota. It’s just a matter of when and it’s possible that when could be sooner rather than later, considering the Vikings have a brutal opening stretch that includes games at St. Louis, New Orleans and Green Bay and home games against the Patriots, Falcons and Lions.

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