NFL: Ranking the next five ‘elite’ quarterbacks

Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings

Teddy Bridgewater should have been the first quarterback taken in last year’s NFL draft, and likely was only dropped to the final pick of the first round because scouts, front offices and coaching staffs over-evaluated him and his thin, frail body.

The facts were pretty clear that Bridgewater was an elite quarterback coming out of Louisville who was mostly NFL ready. Like just about every future franchise quarterback, Bridgewater did not go through his rookie season unscathed, often struggling.

But by and large he showed improvement as the season went along. He of course was not helped by the season-long absence of superstar running back Adrian Peterson. And the Vikings struggled to get the ball to 2013 first round pick Cordarelle Patterson.

But 2015 ought to see an improved Bridgewater in his second season in Norv Turner’s offense. Throughout the years, Turner has proven to be a quarterback guru who gets the best out of his signal-caller. Alex Smith’s best season as a professional is still the one he spent with Turner running the offense.

The ship has likely sailed on Turner obtaining a head coaching job, and so Turner will likely run the Vikings’ offense as long as he so desires. That’s good news for Bridgewater, who makes good decisions and showed better athleticism and running ability than he had in his time at Louisville as a rookie.

In 13 games (12 starts), Bridgewater completed a respectable 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,919 yards with an 85.2 standard QB Rating. He threw 12 interceptions and only 14 touchdowns, but again the Vikings featured a lack of weapons overall.

If the Vikings can add one or two this offseason, Bridgewater will be well on his way to taking the next step toward “elite”.

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