A big improvement from QB Christian Ponder is going to be needed if the Minnesota Vikings want to improve their fortunes in 2012 after one of the worst seasons in a long time back in 2011.
Fortunately, Ponder had been working hard to bulk up and improve his game before mini-camps opened, and it seemed to work out well enough. Ponder increased his weight from 212 to about 230 as he looks to avoid a repeat of his injury plagued rookie season.
He's worked on improving a lot of his game, and Leslie Frazier has been impressed by his progress, though as with most sophomore quarterbacks there is still work to be done:
Frazier said the game has clearly slowed a bit for Ponder, who is doing a better job with pre-snap reads. "He's improving, but he has a ways to go for some of the things we want to do with him," he said.
His own growth along with his ability to get good chemistry with all of his new receivers including Jerome Simpson will determine how the offense rolls this season for the Vikings. Of course, after last year, it can't really get much worse:
Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder was asked Thursday if he feared a sophomore slump.
"I had a freshman year slump last year," he joked. "I don't think it can get any worse."
More on Ponder and the Minnesota Vikings can be found over at The Daily Norseman. More news and analysis on everything around the NFL can be found over at SB Nation's dedicated NFL hub.