Every Monday morning during the offseason we’ll take four questions from Twitter for our weekly mailbag using the #VikingsST hashtag.
@MasterStrib Word is that Bridgewater has observably the best arm of the 3 QBs in camp, do you agree with that assessment? #VikingsST
— Doug Orzel (@DougOrz) July 7, 2014
Word is bond. Bridgewater has looked very impressive up to this point and there’s a noticeable difference when he throws the ball compared to Matt Cassel and Christian Ponder. The touch has always been there but his passes don’t flutter out of his hands. It’s a smooth, quick release that even the untrained eye will tell in training camp that Bridgewater throws a better ball than Ponder and Cassel.
As offensive coordinator Norv Turner mentioned during minicamp last month, Bridgewater’s deep ball has been surprisingly good. The biggest issue has actually been overthrowing, not underthrowing, at this point. This will be the biggest position battle in training camp and the winner will have nice set of weapons around him in what should be an exciting offense to watch this year.
@MasterStrib With all the improvements the vikings have made, what do you predict vikings win/loss record for 2014?? #VikingsST
— Brian Kelly (@BrianChrisK) July 7, 2014
At the moment, I’m thinking 6-10 or 7-9, but leaning on the latter for the time being. While the NFL is strangest league where there’s always a team from the bottom that makes the playoffs the following season, but I’d be shocked if the Vikings accomplished that in Zimmer’s first year.
7-9 would be a strong start to Zimmer’s tenure however. My biggest concern is how the Vikings will progress defensively. An improvement is inevitable when it was ranked 31st in total defense last year, but how much can Zimmer fix in one season?
@MasterStrib What's your best guess at who will be starting at safety opposite Harrison come week 1? #VikingsST
— Alex Phillips (@Papa_phil) July 6, 2014
Oof, this is tough. One factor to consider is that Harrison played a lot more near the line of scrimmage during OTAs and minicamp. With that said, it’ll be either Jamarca Sanford or Andrew Sendejo. Both haven’t been full participants this offseason, which gave Robert Blanton and Curt Coleman first team opportunities next to Harrison.
I’d give Sanford a leg up over Sendejo because of the experience at the moment, but it’s not by much. Sendejo played well last season and both will benefit playing in this aggressive defense.
@MasterStrib How many calories/day do the Vikings have @teddyb_h2o consuming & has he bulked up since being drafted? #VikingsST
— Jayson Brown (@brownjayson) July 6, 2014
He looks the same. Skinny knees and all. #HowsTeddyLook