The Minnesota Vikings Are Good, but QB Remains a Concern

The morning started out in normal fashion.

I woke up, had a cup of coffee, and played with my daughter before sitting down at the computer to read and study what was going on in the sports world today. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

My beloved Vikings were still going into next season with Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels as their competing quarterbacks.

Obviously, this didn't come as a total surprise to yours truly. Minnesota's signal-caller situation was the same the night before when I went to bed, and it's been so since the February 28 trade for Rosenfels, a career backup.

What baffled me so earlier today was that the Vikings actually believe they can sell this doubtful scenario to one of the most loyal fan bases in the NFL.

There is one glaring factor pushing this fiasco: the ego of Brad Childress. Childress' claim to fame is being the Philadelphia quarterbacks coach when the Eagles drafted Donovan F. McNabb. No, we're not going to go into his time at UW; that gets even worse.

Anyway, McNabb was the supposed product of Brad Childress' direct coaching, the brain child of a great QB coach and head coach Andy Reid. Childress, in fact, was "so good" at grooming McNabb that he was eventually promoted to be McNabb's OC. 

A few years pass, and the great quarterback guru takes the Vikings' top spot. For some reason, nobody bothered to mention at his press conference (or any time after that) that as the offensive coordinator for the Eagles, he didn't call the plays. That was Reid's job.

However, now he's got his own team for which he can call the plays and find a new McNabb; his McNabb.

Hello, Tarvaris Jackson! The mere mention of his name makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

To this day, I struggle to grasp why Childress actually traded up to draft the kid. Sure, the physical skills are impressive: A strong arm, mobility and good size are all Tarvaris Jackson trademarks. But shouldn't somebody have questioned whether or not he really had "it"?

We're talking about a kid who started his career at Arkansas as the backup to Matt Jones. You know, empty parking lot, drugs, car...yeah, that Matt Jones.

The same Matt Jones that violated his probation stemming from the drug incident by boozing it up on the golf course with his frat buddies. The same Matt Jones that was such an "extraordinary" quarterback in college that he was drafted as a wide receiver.

And Jackson couldn't beat him for the starting spot. When he couldn't cut it at Arkansas, he left for Division I-AA Alabama State, where he finished out his college career. 

So, Childress, the quarterback "guru," moved up in the draft to grab a kid who couldn't cut it as the QB at Arkansas and was so bad that not one other D-I school would give him a shot? And the fans are supposed to buy that?

Not this guy.

Fast forward a few years: The Vikings welcome in Sage Rosenfels, freshly acquired for a fourth-rounder from Houston, and voila! Quarterback competition.

Yippee. A career backup brought in to compete with Childress' golden boy. Do we even care who wins this competition?

I suppose I prefer Rosenfels, but only because he has to be better than Jackson, right? It all smells like a turd sandwich to me.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a very good Minnesota Vikings team. The running game is excellent, the defense is top-10 material. And it's also a team built to win now, except for the quarterback, that is.

Until Brad Childress acknowledges that the Tarvaris Jackson experiment has officially failed, this team will ultimately come up short. Bringing in a younger Gus Frerotte does not cut it. History aside, I am openly questioning Childress' ability to not only judge quarterback talent, but also to coach it. Can anybody truly say McNabb's success in Philly is at all based on Childress' tutelage?

Is Brady Quinn the answer to the Vikings' woes? I don't know, but I'd be willing to find out. Ditto when it comes to Matt Leinart and Derek Anderson, for that matter.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that, historically in the NFL, Super Bowl teams have good QB play. With the exception of the '01 Ravens with Trent Dilfer (this Vikings defense is not like the '01 Ravens', by the way) and maybe the '92 Redskins with Mark Rypien, Super Bowl winners have had good quarterbacks. Why is this team any different?

Maybe Brad Childress needs to ask himself that very question.