Alright, so we’ve looked at how the Vikings running back, wide receivers and tight ends will all be affected if Brett Favre were to actually retire and move on from the NFL. We haven’t looked at it from the most important point of view and that’s from the quarterback position. Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels would be thrilled if Favre retired today since they would be the ones fighting for his spot in what would be a very good battle in camp.
Before we break down each individual candidate, we need to point out that either option would be a serious downgrade from Favre. Hate him all you like, but the man threw for 4,200 yards, 33 touchdowns with only 7 interceptions and had the best completion percentage of his entire career. It’s highly unlikely that two guys that have been career back-ups could ever come close to producing these numbers.
But as I pointed out in the first blog, it wouldn’t be up to the next quarterback to put the offense on his shoulders and come up with those numbers. All he would really have to do is be a baby-sitter to the rest of the talented players on the field and make sure that they have the chances to be fed the ball in the best situations.
If I had to choose one of the two that would win out in that battle, I would go with Sage Rosenfels over Tavaris Jackson because he just has the better handle on how to run an offense. He doesn’t have the god-given talent that Jackson does, but he has the intelligence and awareness to make everything work pretty well around him.
The Vikings always hoped that Jackson would find a way to get his football sense on a level playing field with his natural athletic ability, but time has passed and Jackson is still the same “project” that he was three years ago when he was pegged to be the future starter for the franchise. It’s a perfect example of how the quarterback position is not about what you bring physically.
On the other side, Rosenfels is the complete opposite of Jackson. Doesn’t really offer a lot in an athletic sense, but he knows how to read the field, find the best option and get the most out of his offense. His problem has always been consistency and emotion. He’s the kind of quarterback that can make you love him for a 70-year bomb in the first quarterback and then have you hating him by the fourth because his accuracy goes out the window as the game goes into crunch time.
The Vikings need to find someone that can help them win now. They're in the window in which they can win a Super Bowl. In the salary-cap world, the window is open for very little time, so you have to take advantage of it while you can. For the Vikings’ sake, they better hope Favre comes back for another year. If not, that window must have been just been closed before they even had a chance to breathe in the fresh air.