Vikings QB Carousel Continues To Turn

Over at The Daily Norseman, we've chronicled some of the most recent developments about the Viking QB's:  from the Fall of the House of Tarvaris, to How To Draft a QB 101, version 3.0, to the Tyler Durden of Twin Cities journalism, the infamous little birdie that tells Charley Walters things.  Beautiful, wonderful things.  Like, for instance, that he should walk into his office with a loaded pistol the Vikings might trade for Kyle Orton because Joe Webb, while promising, isn't close to being ready. 

So what's it all mean?

What it means is that the Vikings have one of the most unsettled quarterback positions in the NFL, and they need a three pronged strategery to get it fixed.

The first issue is Joe Webb, wunderkind.  Is Webb ready?  Although I think it's safe to say Webb demonstrated more leadership ability in four games than Tarvaris Jackson did in four years, no he isn't.  He's a promising talent, and he might be the answer someday, but that someday won't be in 2011.  What I would like to see the Vikings do with Webb is develop some Wildcat stuff for him, and use him as a 'slash' type guy, like the Jets have done so successfully with former Missouri QB Brad Smith.  But I'll leave those big boy decisions to head coach Leslie Frazier and OC Bill Musgrave.

Secondly, where for art thou, Rhett Bomar?  He was a bit of cult legend in New York, and there are more than a few folks that think Bomar might be a legit NFL QB.  Bomar and Webb are the only two guys on the roster right now, so something is going to have to be done.  And that's where it gets interesting. 

Draft:  The Vikings will be picking 12th in this year's draft, thanks to a 2010 season that filled a 55 gallon drum of suck to the brim.  Right now, there are three or four QB's that the Vikings might have a legitimate shot at:  Semi pro icon and entertainer Cam Newton, Ryan Mallet, Jake Locker, and Blaine Gabbert.  The mock drafts are all over the place on these guys, but from reading the tea leaves, the only guy that seems a lock NOT to be there at 12 is Newton...but he had a shaky combine, so that might be changing, too.  If the Vikings feel Webb is not the guy, logic would dictate that  the Vikings would be very seriously considering one of these guys and groom him as the dreaded 'Quarterback of the Future'.  Is that anything like the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow?  Just curious.

Sign a Free Agent:  Over at Viking Update, they ran a story with all the free agent QB's that are available, and that list looks worse than Charlie Sheen's toxicology report.  That's a lot of boom, not winning.  The most promising names, if you want to call them that, are Matt Hasselbeck, he with the HAWT sister in law and really bad back, and Marc Bulger, a guy who see's more shadows in the pocket than that kid in The Sixth Sense.

Trade:  Well, let's look at what Charley's Tyler Durdin said to him:  Kyle Orton.  Orton has come a long way since his neck beard days in Chicago, which is why I would be surprised the Broncos would trade him.  Everyone says 'but Tim Tebow is waiting in the wings'.  That's true, but everyone that was a Tebow supporter in Denver got fired.  Coincicdence?  New VP of Everything That Involves Football Decision Making John Elway isn't sold on Tebow, and has to clarify what he thinks about the kid twice.  I just don't see an Orton trade materializing.  Carson Palmer has said he'll never step foot in Paul Brown stadium again, but the Bengals have nothing to fall back on if they trade Palmer, so unless the Bengals have some sort of genius move up their sleeve, I don't see them trading Palmer.  And Mike Brown runs the show in Cincy, so 'genius move' isn't something that's happening with them.

Obviously, the best bet for the Vikings, at least for the near future, is to try and trade for an established starter, but they're so hard to come by I would think a guy like Palmer or Orton would be a fairly steep price.  What I think they'll do is look to sign a Marc Bulger-type guy, draft a guy, and go to camp with four guys, with the free agent vet the mentor for the kids.

Unless the Vikings pull a rabbit out of the hat, much like they did for Jared Allen a few seasons back, the quarterback position is going to be unsettled for the next two or three years--and that's assuming they get the right guy.