Time Has Come for the Minnesota Vikings to Start Christian Ponder

It doesn’t matter if you like, love, or hate Donovan McNabb because it’s definitely time for Christian Ponder to start in Minnesota.

Some thought that bringing in Donovan McNabb would bring some wins to Minnesota. I sure did, but that’s obviously not the case. Four weeks into the season, the Vikings are 0-4, with not a lot of hope in sight except for Christian Ponder.

Let’s face it. The Vikings are 0-4 and there is basically no chance to make the playoffs, especially in the tough NFC North, but there’s a way to build to the future by putting in Ponder.

McNabb isn’t helping the process and he’s definitely not the long-term solution for the Vikings so why not bring in Ponder? Ponder couldn’t possibly play any worse than McNabb is and putting him in the lineup would give him plenty of time to develop.

The Vikings have 12 games left which would give them a good read on Ponder’s NFL abilities. Start playing him now and see how much he develops between now and the end of the season. The worst that could happen is that the Vikings go 0-16, which they are currently on pace for anyway.

The main problem with continuing to play McNabb is you don’t know what you got with Ponder. It is critical to know how good Ponder is because even if the Vikings do win a game or two they will still get a very high draft pick.

If the Vikings do send Ponder out to sea with the sharks and he survives and looks good, he’s your starter headed into next year and you cut ties with Donovan McNabb quickly. If Ponder gets eaten up, go all in and draft Andrew Luck. It looks like Luck will be much closer to Peyton Manning than Ryan Leaf so if Ponder is a bust he’s worth a shot.

The Vikings problem is they love to have a band-aid quarterback. From Gus Frerotte to Brad Johnson to Brett Favre (season two version) the Vikings have always thought an experienced quarterback was the way to go, but the past two seasons it has proven not to be.

It’s time to rip off the band-aid and see what this young kid is made of. If Ponder can play, you have found your quarterback to compete with Aaron Rodgers and Matt Stafford for years. If Ponder is a bust, you bench him too and play Joe Webb, the Vikings played their best ball last year with him at the helm, and then go all in for Andrew Luck.

Sorry Donovan. It’s been real, it’s been fun (there was a little honeymoon period), but it hasn’t been real fun. Let the kid play.