The most important question regarding Joe Webb is no longer whether the Vikings should keep him, but rather how thick the "Snow Leopard" subsection of Darrell Bevell's playbook will be. Even Webb's big mistake on Thursday night, an interception by Broncos cornerback Alphonso Smith, of a poorly thrown out-route intended for WR Javon Walker, revealed the true extent of Webb's skills, as he actually ran Smith down from behind, preventing a "pick-six". The strategic and creative challenges that Joe Webb presents to Brad Childress and Darrell Bevell are challenges they must embrace enthusiastically, because there is absolutely no conceivable reason why this young man should not have his hands on the football at some juncture, during every game of this season.
With Sage Rosenfels now headed for the industrial marshlands of East Rutherford, New Jersey, the most important long-term questions for the Vikings regarding the quarterback position have become: 1. Will Brett Favre's durability hold for one more season? 2. How much and how fast will Tarvaris Jackson learn from Brett Favre during this season? 3. Notwithstanding his status as the #3 QB, will Joe Webb manage to learn more, and faster? Heat. That's what Leslie Frazier will be bringing into opposing quarterbacks' faces, and onto the backs of their necks, all season long. Among the brightest prospects illustrated during this preseason is the Vikings' young posse of quick, tough, and highly energized defensive linemen. This has been especially highlighted by the play of defensive tackles Fred Evans, Tremaine Johnson and Letroy Guion, and defensive ends Brian Robison and Jayme Mitchell. As currently structured, the Vikings are clearly a team made to score points from both sides of the football. Leslie Frazier's relentless defense should put that football in Brett Favre's hands, with favorable field position, on a regular basis, just as it did last year. The addition to the Vikings receiving corps of veterans Greg Camarillo and Javon Walker, with their respective possession and deep-threat résumés, will greatly enhance the "West Coast" flexibility available to Darrell Bevell's offense. Yes, mercifully, the preseason is over, and as they say, "the proof of the pudding...is in the eating". A trip to New Orleans, the site of the Vikings' last meaningful contest, looms large. Indeed, it is quite possible that next Thursday's showdown with Drew Brees and "We 'Dat" Nation casts a much longer shadow than any other game of this regular season. But before the Vikings' longship sails defiantly into the bayou, there will be a very nervous sleep this night, for those who know, or even suspect, that they are sitting on metaphorical purple "bubbles".
