Editorial: It’s about the quarterback
Published 8:21 am Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Green Bay Packers barely made the playoffs, then streaked their way through the postseason to a Super Bowl victory. The franchise won its fourth Lombardi Trophy.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings have none. In fact, the Vikings haven’t been to a Super Bowl since the Fran Tarkenton era.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers clearly deserves a lot of credit for the success of the Packers this year.
Here are some points for Minnesota Vikings to consider:
• Stop being a retirement home for aging quarterbacks. The Vikings have a bad tradition of building many aspects of the team except the QB, then hiring guys near the end of their career: Brett Favre, Gus Frerotte, Brad Johnson, Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham, Jeff George, Jim McMahon and so on. Sure, aging quarterbacks once in a blue moon reach the big game, such as Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals or John Elway and the Denver Broncos, but nearly all other Super Bowl quarterbacks were in their 20s or early 30s.
• Invest in a quarterbacks program. Some NFL teams are known for developing quarterbacks, and Minnesota needs to be one of them. In fact, the hires of former Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave as the offensive coordinator and former Tennessee Titans assistant Craig Johnson to be the quarterbacks coach are steps in the right direction. We hope Joe Webb can grow into the starter, but you never know what possibilities the draft holds. Which leads us to the next point.
• Draft a quarterback. Even though the Vikings have Webb, two possibilities are better than one. Even if a lockout occurs, there will be a draft in April. Fans questioned why last year the Vikings did not select one from an excellent batch of quarterbacks. This year, the Vikings must. They are 12th in the first-round order. Hopefully, they can grab Missouri’s Blaine Gabbert, Auburn’s Cam Newton, Washington’s Jake Locker or Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett.
• Motivate players, staff, fans, everyone. The downside of Brad Childress is he lacked the charisma to unite and drive a team. He didn’t even speak with his quarterback. New coach Leslie Frazier seems to have better qualities in this aspect, but motivation and team-building is something he and his staff cannot underestimate in building a winning program.
The Packers have a history of great quarterbacks: Rodgers, Brett Favre, Bart Starr. The Vikings have just Tarkenton. It’s pretty clear the quarterback issue finally needs to be resolved.