Mike Zimmer still has questions about Case Keenum: 'Is it because he had a good team around him?'
As the Vikings go through the process of determining their next starting quarterback, coach Mike Zimmer wants to make sure their choice doesn’t come at the expense of the rest of the team.
In an interview with local media at the NFL Scouting Combine on Thursday morning, Zimmer underscored the importance of the well-rounded group that’s helped the Vikings win two division titles in the last three seasons. With quarterback prices continually on the rise — Washington’s Kirk Cousins, in whom the Vikings are believed to be interested, could command an average salary near $30 million — Zimmer said he doesn’t want the position to impair the Vikings’ ability to keep their core group together.
“I don’t want to talk about windows and things like that because I’m hoping it’s more than a window — I’m hoping it’s wide open spaces,” Zimmer said. “But I do think we have a good nucleus as a team. I think it’s really, really important that we understand — and I’m not just saying this — we’ve won 40 games in the last four years. We’ve done that by being pretty good on defense. This year obviously the offense was much better, but part of the reason we’ve been winning games and staying in games is because we’ve been playing good on defense and we’ve been a smart team and all those things.
“I want to be really careful about taking away from our strength and saying, ‘OK we’re not going to be able to do this and we’re not going to be able to do that anymore because of financial reasons or something else.’ ”
The Vikings have to make decisions on several homegrown players in the next year, when wide receiver Stefon Diggs, defensive end Danielle Hunter and linebackers Eric Kendricks and Anthony Barr are all scheduled to hit free agency. It’s another factor complicating a quarterback choice already full of variables.
Zimmer said Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Bradford are all “definitely” under consideration to return as the starting quarterback next season, but the coach said each passer comes with questions that must be answered.
With Keenum, who threw for 3,547 yards and 22 touchdowns while leading the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game last season, it’s whether he can repeat such a performance under new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo.
“We think he can. It’s just kind of guessing: Is he the guy when he was at Houston or the Rams or is he the guy who played for us? Is it because he had a good team around him?” Zimmer said. “Bradford, his record wasn’t great, is it because he didn’t have a good team around him? Did he play with a good defense? All those things enter into it. All those factor into it. At the end of the day it’s a guess and a hunch.”
Bradford, Zimmer said, is in good health; the quarterback is skiing with tight end Kyle Rudolph this week. But the long-term reliability of Bradford’s knee, after a non-contact injury limited him to six quarters in the regular season, is the “million-dollar question,” Zimmer said.
“His knee’s not great, obviously, right? It’s degenerative,” Zimmer said. “But it’s his history of being hurt. That’s the monkey wrench in the whole thing. Can you believe he’s going to play the 15 games he did two years ago, or he’s going to play the one game where he hit the turf this year? That’s the big dilemma.”
League sources told the Star Tribune earlier this week that Bridgewater’s contract will not toll into the 2018 league year, meaning the 25-year-old is headed for free agency after returning from the left knee injury he suffered in 2016.
Zimmer said Bridgewater “did some really good things in practice” after returning from the physically-unable-to-perform list in October, but he added it’s hard to use practice snaps as much of a gauge for how Bridgewater can play at this point.
“You can make mistakes in practice by just doing whatever you want to do and not having that affect you,” Zimmer said. “So it’s really hard to evaluate just in practice. We have to go back a lot with Teddy on what he’s done in the past, him as a person, his work ethic, all those things. Him not playing for two years and not being able to see him play in live situations, that’s concerning a little bit. But I love the guy. He’s a great kid, great competitor, a winner.”
http://www.startribune.com/mike-zim...ause-he-had-a-good-team-around-him/475550173/
Skol Vikes!!
