Vikings beat writers conduct a Live Chat every Tuesday at startribune.com. Here are edited excerpts of Tuesday's session with Mark Craig:
Q: Why does offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave keep calling rollouts to the left? Those are tough for good quarterbacks, let alone one who struggles with accuracy.
A: I don't like the rollouts to the left either. Ponder consistently looks uncomfortable trying to throw going that way. He needs all he can get to make him more comfortable.
Q: When the Vikes drafted Christian Ponder, was that primarily a Rick Spielman pick? Or was everybody really on board with the selection?
A: Everyone was on board. It was time to commit to a quarterback. In hindsight, obviously, they should have committed to a guy named C. Kaepernick. But I can't fault the Vikings for that. The entire first round passed before Kaepernick was picked.
Q: Do you have any early predictions as to who the Vikes will want to re-sign out of Jared Allen, Everson Griffen and Brian Robison? Depending on how the year plays out of course, would Allen be the type to accept a lesser deal than he could get on the open market to stay with Minnesota?
A: I think Griffen will be the priority based on age. Sorry, but I don't think Jared will be giving any Purple discounts if he has a big season. Nor should he. It will be interesting to see what the market will be for him given his age.
Q: Why don't the Vikings use more quick pitches or shovel passes to AP instead of basic handoffs constantly.