2014 NFL Draft: Teddy Bridgewater Top Rookie QB
By Rick Stavig
@rickstavig
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
It can be hard for rookie quarterbacks to make an impact in their first year. Normally, if a rookie is starting, the team is generally pretty bad so there’s not much to work with. When looking at the crop of rookie QB’s from the 2014 NFL Draft, this is the case with both Blake Bortles (3rd overall, Jacksonville Jaguars) and Derek Carr (36th, Oakland Raiders).
But sometimes rookies are put into a position where there’s actually some talent surrounding them, and they can play well. This is the case with Teddy Bridgewater (32nd, Minnesota Vikings), and is a big reason as to why he experienced the success he did this year.
Bridgewater wasn’t expected to see too much playing time this year after losing the summer camp battle with Matt Cassel, and that was fine the Vikings front office and staff. They re-signed Cassel to a two-year deal with the idea he would bear the torch for a year (or two), let Bridgewater develop at a nice and easy pace, then expect big things in year three, when younger players usually start hitting their strides.
Due to injury, Bridgewater was thrown into the fire in week three and started the remaining 12 games, leading the team to a 6-6 record in the games in which he started. Not great, but certainly not bad, especially in a tough division with the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.
His numbers weren’t too bad, throwing for just under 3,000 yards (64.4% completion) with a 14/12 TD to INT ratio and a QB rating of 85.2, the highest of any rookie QB and better than high profile names such as Cam Newton and Andy Dalton. According to ProFootballFocus, he’s also the only rookie QB to grade out positively on the season, and graded out at 15th overall in the league, above guys like Eli Manning, Matt Stafford and Colin Kaepernick.
Bridgewater was far from perfect but certainly showed a great deal of promise. Another year in OC Norv Turner’s offense will do wonders for his development, and his decision-making skills will continue to sharpen. Just imagine what his numbers could’ve been like this year with Adrian Peterson behind him, forcing 8 men in the box each play. Imagine if TE Kyle Rudolph played more than nine games. Imagine if WR Cordarrelle Patterson didn’t go completely AWOL after such a promising rookie campaign. Imagine if the offensive line didn’t face a plethora of injuries. Imagine if one-time-stud LT Matt Kalil didn’t forget how to pass block.
The point is, considering the adversity he faced, he played pretty darn well, especially for a rookie. It’s easy to see why he should be considered the best rookie QB in 2014.
Rick Stavig is an NFL Draft Columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @rickstavig or add him to your network on Google+.
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