The real scoop on Teddy Bridgewater, from a Vikings fan

I'm a Vikings fan who will be following the Jets since Teddy is one of my favorite players ever. Everything you've read up to this point is based on stats and impressions made from a distance. Let me give you the real and full scoop on Teddy:

Before the injury, Teddy was about to breakthrough in his Year 3 but then the injury. Teddy was thrust into the starting spot due to injury as a rookie, and had some fantastic moments as a rookie but the 2014 Vikings were still rebuilding. In 2015, Teddy lead the team to 11-5 and to the playoffs. however his stats were unimpressive. This was why:

1. The 2015 Vikings o-line was garbage. Teddy spent most of his time scrambling for his life. And there were at least 2 games that were literally lost because of the line. (including Teddy leading a game winning drive against the #1 defense 2015 Broncos but the line let Teddy get steamrolled in the play that would've put them in range.)
2. The Vikings offensive system was garbage. Norv Turner was running this and the plays were not only completely vanilla, conservative, and uncreative, but it was also built around the RB (Adrian). these were major roadblocks to Teddy's stats and productivity.
3. The Vikings defense was a Top 10 group at best while Teddy was starting. The 2017 Vikings were a Top 3 defense at worst but he never got to reap the benefits of that.
4. His top receivers were an upstart Stefon Diggs and Charles Johnson. the things he did do, he did with crap.

When the 2016 season started it was felt that Teddy needed to take that next step. Step one he nailed. He put on about 15 pounds of pure muscle, which really increased the distance and velocity of his throws.(#1 criticism was lack of arm strength.) He was also mentally putting it all together. This was demonstrated in a strong training camp and a killer preseason with some remarkably strong long yardage passes. And then days before judgement day was there where he could show the world the new Teddy B, and his leg snaps off his body.

This is the tragedy that was Teddy. He had broken through but was cut down literally days before he could show this to the world. And then when he was ready to come back to a team with Pro Bowl receivers, a strong o-line, a brilliant offensive scheme, and a dominant defense, they decide to roll with Keenum and he never gets off the bench.

Things to know about the guy.

• Incredibly determined and motivated guy. His single mother had breast cancer for him as a teen and he watched her battle his entire teen years, and he uses that as inspiration. The guy's leg was literally dangling on the ground next to his body, and a year later he was ready to play football. This is not normal rehab expectations. He made this happen.
• One of the most likable and humble guys in the NFL. In only a few years, Teddy made himself one of the most popular Vikings ever. Coach Zimmer literally said he loved him. When his knee broke teammates and coaching staff were literally weeping for the kid. and if you check Twitter for Vikings fans you'll see thousands of fans weeping for his departure and wishing him love. He's a great guy, role model, and active with inner city kids. And his teammates can't stop praising him and putting over his ability and leadership. Even in January, guys like Eric Kendricks were marveling at how Teddy was embarrassing him in practices dropping dimes all over the field.
• Teddy is straight money in the clutch. If you talk to MN press who study the numbers they can tell you how his numbers go up in the 4th quarter and 3rd down. He is a big play clutch guy. His one playoff game against the Seahawks in 2015 it came down to a game winning drive. And Teddy was Joe Montana out there and lead the team downfield against an elite defense. and then Blair Walsh missed a friggin' 27 yard FG. But Teddy is money and one of the biggest reasons why many Vikings fans and media think Teddy has a higher ceiling than Cousins whose numbers decrease in clutch situations and laid an egg in the playoffs.

I apologize for the length but these are things you're not going to hear from the national media, who really didn't pay attention to the Vikings when Teddy was the guy. His first 2 years he showed remarkable signs in the clutch, and his 3rd year he improved across the board but never got a chance to show it. As long as that knee is legit, than Teddy will make it happen in New York, I guarantee it!

 

I see your point but hopefully this won't be as much of an issue. While Teddy could run, and he was actually quite amazing when he did, he didn't take off very frequently. But a big part of his game and how he was able to succeed behind a porous line was his elusiveness and mobility. And that we haven't seen tested since the injury. Otherwise he is a pass first guy with a high completion percentage, so while big runs might be off the table, his game isn't reliant on that anyway.

 

Absolutely and I think the Vikings handled it wrong and the season ended exactly how I and others imagined it would, since Case had played in big games in his career in the past and failed. All belief was Teddy was to take over after the bye, and rumoredly he was told this by the Vikes (which added to the tension between TB and MN). But they decided to roll with Case since he was the hot hand.

This was my problem with that: Teddy's first games would be rusty no matter what. He would need 2-4 games to get back into it. You can't have those rusty comeback games be in the playoffs. So have those in November where the cast was strong enough we could still win some of those games and he's back to normal well before Jan. And if Teddy was finished as a player, then u still have plenty of time to put Keenum back in there. As for Bradford, he claimed he felt great and was 100% earlier in the year and played one of the worst games of all time, so he couldn't be trusted either. So when the Vikings are playing the Saints in the playoffs and Case Keenum starts throwing pick-6's WTF else can you do except go down with the Keenum ship? There was no Tua Tagavailoa from Alabama to take over at halftime to spark the team. You had a rusty Teddy and a gimpy Bradford. And then Stefon Diggs runs the Minneapolis Miracle to stave off the inevitable before the Eagles shut them down in the NFCCG.

If Bradford was in, we likely would've lost because Sam is just soft. He can't play while hurt bottom line. As for Teddy, we won't know until we see how he plays in the Fall. But if Teddy gets back into the groove by the end of September than its safe to say he would've done better than Keenum this past January.