Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman said that as the team works out in Mankato during their first training camp under new head coach Mike Zimmer, perhaps the most interesting position battle will be at quarterback.
"There's a specific way that the coaches are handling the reps and the snaps and [offensive coordinator] Norv [Turner], you know, and Zim, are both putting those reps together on what they want to see and what they want the quarterbacks to do," said Spielman, in his third season as GM. "So they'll get that all straight, but [Christian] Ponder had a very good offseason and we're expecting him to compete with [Matt] Cassel and [Teddy] Bridgewater."
Does Spielman still have hope for Ponder?
"Oh yeah, and you can see the progress," he said. "Norv has a history of doing well with quarterbacks, but you see the progress in all three of those guys. … It will be a great competition and, you know, the coaches will handle that and see how it all turns out."
Spielman, who traded back into the first round to draft Bridgewater out of Louisville, was asked if the young quarterback has met his expectations so far.
"He was probably farther along than we thought he would be at this time," Spielman said. "He's a very intelligent kid, works extremely hard. Everybody talked about he's kind of got a quiet demeanor, but when he's between the white lines and in that huddle, he has the confidence and that command to him. You know that's why, when a lot of people ripped him off of his pro day, you just don't go by that. You go by what you've seen on tape, and everything we've seen in our private workouts with him, you're seeing out there on the field right now."
Spielman was asked about what to expect from some of the team's second-year players.
"A lot of those guys … make the jump from their first year to their second year," Spielman said. "[Linebacker] Mike Mauti has had an excellent offseason … as well as [linebacker] Gerald Hodges. [Punter] Jeff Locke was solid as a rookie but he has looked really good this year. You can tell his confidence level is up and he worked extremely hard in the offseason. All of our first-[round] picks last year, [defensive tackle] Sharrif Floyd and [wide receiver] Cordarrelle Patterson and [cornerback] Xavier Rhodes, all have had excellent camps and you can see the difference in them already. Still have a lot of work ahead of us at training camp, but hopefully we can continue to make the progress we've been making."
