Christian Ponder's Updated Fantasy Outlook Due to Teddy Bridgewater's Injury

One week after electrifying in his NFL debut and sparking interest from fantasy owners, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater isn't looking good to start Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers, opening the door for Christian Ponder to make his mark. 

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, via Ben Goessling of ESPN, the Vikings aren't optimistic about Bridgewater being able to play, due to the ankle injury he suffered last week against Atlanta:

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network followed up that news with his own report, stating that the Vikings were going to wait until 90 minutes before kickoff to decide on their starting quarterback:

With Matt Cassel on injured reserve after suffering broken bones in his foot, Ponder is the only healthy quarterback on the Vikings roster. He's certainly no stranger to starting, but he was pushed down to third on the depth chart due to the team's decision to start Cassel and groom Bridgewater. 

Ponder's last NFL start was on December 1, 2013, against the Chicago Bears. He threw just eight passes in that game and completed three of them, but the Vikings won 23-20 in overtime. His career numbers aren't as bad as you might think, as you can see in the table below: 

Games	Comp. %	Yds	TD-INT	YPA	Rush Yds	Rush TDs
37	60.2	6,436	38-34	6.35	624	6

Unfortunately, those aren't the numbers of an elite fantasy quarterback, nor are they what you want to see from a potential backup who has to step in in a pinch. 

Last year, when the wall came crashing down on Ponder, his overall numbers weren't that much worse than Cassel's, with the exception of touchdowns to interceptions:

This is painting a favorable picture of Ponder, who has no business being a starting quarterback in the NFL. If it wasn't for the fact that he was drafted in the first round, regardless of whether you think that was an overdraft, the Vikings would have already cut bait.

To put it another way, if the Vikings thought he still had something to offer, they wouldn't have traded up in this year's draft to get Bridgewater and wouldn't have made Ponder their No. 3 quarterback. 

Adam Levitan of Rotoworld highlighted why the Vikings ended the Ponder experiment last season. A friendly warning that if you are sensitive to ugly things, this tweet may not be for you:

The thing that made Bridgewater appealing as a fantasy option was the unknown. Being a rookie is a blessing because the only thing we have to evaluate you on is college tape and potential. He also had a favorable matchup last week against an Atlanta defense that's allowed more yards than any team except Jacksonville and the fourth-most points per game. 

Ponder, on the other hand, comes with the burden of knowledge. He's also going up against a Green Bay defense that has been great against the pass, presumably because its run defense is the worst in football with 176 yards allowed per game and tied for 29th with five rushing touchdowns allowed. 

If anything, that Packers run defense makes Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon great fantasy plays over anyone the Vikings would play at quarterback. 

The Vikings aren't going to turn Ponder loose in this game unless they get behind by two or three touchdowns early and have to throw. It's been a long time since he played a meaningful game and even longer since he was effective, so there's nothing to suggest things will be different this time.

Their path to victory in this game is through the running game and making Cordarrelle Patterson a bigger part of the offense. Fantasy owners who have the dazzling second-year playmaker on their roster should be thrilled. The limitations at quarterback should allow him to get more touches than the seven he's racked up in the last two weeks. 

In other words, if you are in a spot where Ponder has to be your starting quarterback this week—either in standard leagues or multi-quarterback leagues—you better hope for a huge week from everyone else, because you are giving up points at that position. 

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