Conventional wisdom used to hold that it took a veteran QB to win in the NFL playoffs. Picture an early-to-mid-30s guy with sweatbands on his hands and tape holding his body together. That, to many, was the model for success. Perhaps as we've thought about how the Vikings should address their off-season QB needs, we've clung to this model too tightly. Because while there is still something to be said for experience, it is also becoming clear that youth is being served at the league's most demanding position. To wit: All four starting quarterbacks to advance to their respective conference title games are 28 or younger: Ben Roethlisberger (28), Aaron Rodgers (27), Jay Cutler (27) and Mark Sanchez (24). All four of them were chosen in the first round of the draft (three in the top 11, while Rodgers slid past to 24th despite being projected much higher). Three of them (all but Cutler) are with the team that drafted them. Two of them (Sanchez and Roethlisberger) had tremendous playoff success right out of the chute as rookies. None of them, to be sure, are the only reason their teams have gotten this far. But all of them have played a vital role.

Looking at a list of recent Super Bowl participants offers further instruction. Pretty much the only team out of 14 to make the big game in the past seven years while using the "aging stopgap with a couple good years left in him" model was Arizona with Kurt Warner. The vast majority of the teams made it with a QB they drafted, usually early on (Tom Brady being the notable exception here). Even Drew Brees was only 27 when he signed with New Orleans. And yes, while it's very true the Vikings nearly pulled off the same thing in 2009 with Brett Favre, and he very well might have been the best possible answer for that season given the circumstances ... the fact remains they fell short. And now they're starting over. Again. It is not lost on us, meanwhile, that the Packers and Jets -- the two teams that moved on and said "no thanks" to the training camp maestro -- are one step away from the Super Bowl this season.

As recently as a couple of weeks ago, we thought a stopgap was the way to go for the Vikings. Grab a guy for a couple of years, plug him in and allow a new QB to develop. But we've come around to the present. Unless Minnesota thinks it can swing a trade for a young QB it is confident can be THE guy for years to come (like, say, Kevin Kolb) then it's time to target that QB with the No. 12 overall pick. That doesn't guarantee anything, and there might be some growing pains along the way. Then again, it might just be the best move in the short-term and the long-term.