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As our look at the starting quarterbacks from the 2014 draft class continues, todays progress report brings us to the most controversial quarterback remaining from that class. With Johnny Manziel out of football, that moniker belongs to Teddy Bridgewater for entirely different reasons. As Blake Bortles status rose during the pre-draft process, Bridgewaters stock fell precipitously. Thought of as a possible first overall pick during his final season at Louisville, Bridgewater tested out poorly and had what was widely regarded as a dismal pro day, leading teams to drop him significantly on their draft boards. He eventually fell to the final pick of the first round, where the Vikings traded up to grab him as their starting quarterback of the future.Since then, Bridgewater has put the pro day behind him and developed into a functional starter. In many ways, he is the antithesis of Bortles, even if their respective value and overall level of performance isnt entirely dissimilar. Bortles does things well that Bridgewater needs to work on and vice versa. And like Bortles, while Bridgewater has exhibited a set of skills that bode well for his future, there are areas of the 23-year-olds performance that might not be sustainable in 2016.Some of the pre-draft concerns surrounding Bridgewater have looked accurate so far. Others seem absurd. The list of overblown concerns begins with fears about Bridgewaters hand size. Bridgewater, you might remember, had 9.25-inch hands, which paled in comparison to those of passers such as Manziel, who had 9.9-inch hands. There were fears that it would be too easy to knock the ball out of Bridgewaters hands, and that he wouldnt be able to execute in a professional offense, particularly one that operates in cold weather.It is ironic, then, that Bridgewaters duties in Minnesota require him to do more with the football in his hands than any other quarterback Ive seen in the NFL. In terms of ball manipulation, Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner asks for a lot out of his young?QB. Bridgewater is liable to line up under center, in the pistol or in a traditional shotgun on any and all downs.Turner is a traditional coach, but he has updated his offensive attack to throw in wrinkles of the modern game. A fair number of Minnesotas running plays have the look of a run-pass option (RPO) immediately after the snap, with Bridgewater looking up for a moment as if hes going to throw a quick screen or quick hitch to a receiver on the outside before handing the ball off to Adrian Peterson. There are times where Bridgewater actually does have the option to make that pass, but I suspect many of these plays are designed runs that are supposed to merely have the look of a quick pass. See what I mean on this run against the Cardinals at 4:15.The rushing attack Turner has developed in Minnesota, probably in part compensating for a middling offensive line, is built around timing and slowing down the pursuit of opposing defenders. The Vikings discourage over-pursuit with the play fakes, freezing backside and secondary defenders, and bring blocking tight end Rhett Ellison and fullback Zach Line across the formation on wham blocks against those reacting defenders. The end result is a lot of plays where frozen linebackers and safeties have to try to?bring down Peterson with a full head of steam. That doesnt go well for them. You need a quarterback who can reliably hold onto the football for all those pump fakes and play fakes, and Bridgewater has grown comfortable in that role.As you might suspect in an offense with Peterson, the Vikings are a run-first team. The numbers put this in context. My best simple measure of what a team wants to do offensively is what it?calls on first-and-10 while the game is within two scores. Any more or any less and youre reacting to game situations.The most pass-happy teams are the ones you would expect: the Raiders, Patriots, Jaguars and the LeVeon Bell-less Steelers. The run-first teams were the Buccaneers, Bills, Rams and, to a staggering extent, the Vikings. The average team ran the ball 51.2 percent of the time in that situation. With Peterson healthy for the entirety of 2015, Minnesota ran the ball in those situations 66.5 percent of the time. Running the ball two out of every three times on first-and-10 is about as run-first as it gets in the modern NFL.Likewise, with such an emphasis on the run, the Vikings are heavily dependent upon play-action in stringing together their passing offense. The same principles of misdirection and timing that?freeze linebackers in run support also slow them down in coverage. As a result, they cant offer support in the short-to-intermediate range, where Bridgewater throws the vast majority of his passes. According to ESPN Stats &?Information,?27.3 percent of Bridgewaters dropbacks involve play-action, which was the highest rate in the league among starters. Anecdotally, Id say that number might even be low -- defining a dropback as play-action can mean different things to different people, and on the vast majority of his pass attempts, Bridgewater at least hints at a handoff or begins his dropback with the cadence and tempo of a running play.I mentioned short-to-intermediate throws as Bridgewaters bread and butter, and that represents the main criticism surrounding him: He cant throw deep. While I wouldnt say Bridgewater is incapable of throwing downfield, it is the most obvious hole in his game and one that is borne out by the data. Heres Bridgewaters career 2015?QBR split out by 10-yard zones, with the yellow line representing the line of scrimmage:Hard to get clearer than that. Bridgewater last season ranked seventh in the league in QBR on throws that?traveled 10 yards in the air past the line of scrimmage or less, sixth in the league on throws between 11-20 yards, and ... 30th on throws of 21 yards or more. If anything, he should have the element of surprise in hand on those downfield throws, given that just 9.6 percent of his pass attempts traveled 21 or more yards in the air, which ranked?29th in the league. Even the relative rarity of those throws doesnt matter. Vikings fans are probably screaming about how Bridgewater didnt have enough time to throw deep last year by virtue of the teams offensive line, but that didnt make a difference. When Bridgewater threw that deep on plays where he was not pressured by the opposition, his QBR was 31st in the league. That actually improved to 18th when he was pressured on bombs.There was one possession in Week 17 against the Packers in which?Bridgewater left as many as three touchdowns on the field by missing on deeper throws. The worst of those three passes was on a simple go route by halfback Jerick McKinnon, who motioned out of the formation late and was matched up one-on-one on the outside against Packers inside linebacker Jake Ryan. This is a touchdown with a good throw or a 50-yard gain with an adequate one. Instead, Bridgewater overthrew McKinnon by two yards:He then missed tougher throws to MyCole Pruitt and Jarius Wright to finish the drive, which ended in a field goal.Passers can succeed by dominating in the short-to-intermediate range, but their margin for error is small. Tom Brady and Alex Smith manage to pull it off by virtually eliminating turnovers, which is one of the next steps Bridgewater?will have to take. His interception rate dropped from 3.0 percent as a rookie to 2.0 percent as a sophomore, and it will have to continue going south for Bridgewater to continue advancing as a pro. Both Brady and Smith have routinely posted sub-2 percent rates in recent years.You also need excellent decision-making in close situations, and while Bridgewater was wise beyond his years in terms of his propensity for throwing the ball away when nothing was open, he did make the sort of mistakes that come early in quarterbacks careers. He threw an interception with his left hand while trying to avoid a third-down sack against the Packers in that crucial Week 17 contest. Weeks earlier, he took a brutal strip sack with 13 seconds to go against the Cardinals?while the Vikings were in range to try a potential tying field goal attempt. To be this sort of quarterback, Bridgewater cant make those sorts of mistakes.In all, Bridgewater finished the season 13th in QBR, but that also overstates where he stands around the league as a passer. The Vikings dont ask for a lot out of their young starter in terms of volume. Minnesota finished last in the league with only 454 pass attempts last season; throw in sacks,?and just 51.2 percent of their play calls were passes last year, ahead of only the Panthers and Bills.Bridgewater?had games in which?he looked phenomenal and just didnt have to do very much. Take his best game of the year per QBR, which came in Week 2 against the Lions. Bridgewater posted a 98.5, which was the fifth-best game for any starting quarterback of the 2015 season. Looking back at that game, Bridgewater really was close to perfect: his throws were all in stride, he scrambled effectively, and when the Lions got pressure, Bridgewater took the right steps to avoid sacks. He also had to throw only 18 passes. Two of his four incompletions were drops, but Bridgewater still finished with only 153 yards and a passing touchdown to go with a fourth-and-goal scramble for an easy score. Thats not Bridgewaters fault, but on a cumulative basis, a quarterback who played slightly worse on each given play but threw 40 passes would be more valuable and productive, just like how a shooter who takes 30 shots and hits 35 percent of them is more valuable than one who hits on 40 percent but takes only 10.Theres one other fascinating part to Bridgewaters season that hell need to repeat in 2016: Both he and the Vikings did great work on third down. By down, both Bridgewaters individual QBR and Minnesotas offensive DVOA as a whole were significantly better on third down than they were on first or second down:That didnt manifest itself in terms of overall conversion rate, strangely: Minnesota converted 34.0 percent of its?third downs, which was below the league average of 36.2 percent. Instead, as the new Football Outsiders Almanac 2016 noted, the Vikings were great on third-and-short, which is probably a product of Peterson?and teams fearing what AD?can do as a runner.While the Vikings have helped Bridgewater by giving him an excellent running back and a sound offensive scheme with an effective coaching staff, the next step is protecting their young quarterback. Bridgewater came out of school with a reputation for having preternatural pocket presence and ability to execute around pressure. The Vikings have done their best to test those reports. In part because of the absence of center John Sullivan and right tackle Phil Loadholt, each of whom missed all of 2015 because of injuries, Bridgewater spent too much time running for his life last season. He was pressured on a league-high 36.6 percent of his dropbacks, beating out even the perpetually bothered Russell Wilson.It doesnt help that Bridgewater held the ball for 2.81 seconds before his average pass, which was second longest in the league behind Tyrod Taylor, who was throwing far longer passes. Taylor had the second-longest average pass in the league at 10.3 air yards per throw; Bridgewater averaged 6.7 air yards per pass, which was 33rd and ahead of only Matthew Stafford and the aforementioned Smith for the shortest typical pass in the league. Bridgewaters patience can be a virtue as he cycles through his reads, but slow and short is a tough combo to pull off.Minnesota has taken strides in helping out Bridgewater, even with Loadholt retiring this summer. It?signed Andre Smith, who figures to step in as the starter at right tackle, and added Alex Boone as an upgrade at guard. The Vikings are?still hoping that left tackle Matt Kalil returns to the form he showed as a rookie, but they should be better elsewhere along the line. Ellison, a crucial blocking component both in the running and passing games, will himself need to recover from a torn patella suffered at the end of the season. His absence could be telling.General manager Rick Spielman also has given Bridgewater a deep group of receivers, even if theres no yet-obvious star among the bunch. Many of them have flashed brilliance at times, even if they havent yet put it together for even a full season. Stefon Diggs?last season averaged 105 receiving yards across his first four professional games before slowing down. Charles Johnson, for whom he took over, had 355 yards over a six-game stretch in 2014. Oft-injured tight end Kyle Rudolph stayed healthy and played all 16 games for the first time since his Pro Bowl season in 2012. Wright and McKinnon have been useful secondary weapons. The Vikings are even complimenting Cordarrelle Patterson, who isnt that far removed from a December rookie stretch in which?he looked like a future star.To that mix, Minnesota added another weapon by using its?first-round pick on Laquon Treadwell, who might end up as the weapon Bridgewater needed most. Treadwell probably isnt going to be the downfield threat?who might open up the offense by virtue of a lack of top-end speed, but the DeAndre Hopkins comparisons Treadwell received before the draft speak to what his role might end up looking like in the years to come. Bridgewater is proving that he can work through his progressions and put throws in stride to his receivers, arm strength be damned. Treadwell is the sort of big-bodied physical receiver who is going to create easy targets and steady chunks of yardage for his quarterback.The Vikings didnt draft a downfield burner like Will Fuller to try to change their offense, and in the long run, I dont know that trying to change Bridgewater and molding him into another style of quarterback is the right move. Quarterbacks do occasionally pick up another few octanes of arm strength -- Bradys enormous leap after college at Michigan being the most notable example -- but chances are that the quarterback weve seen with Bridgewater is the style of passer hes going to be moving forward.And if thats the case, the Vikings shouldnt be disappointed that?Bridgewater isnt Aaron Rodgers. Theres still some refining to be done, but the obvious comparison for Bridgewater is the post-Jim Harbaugh version of Alex Smith, who dinks and dunks his way to a consistently effective and successful offense by making smart decisions and avoiding turnovers. Thats a valuable player, especially right now, given that Smiths $17.9 million cap hit is $16 million ahead of Bridgewaters ($1.9 million). His ceiling isnt as high as that of Bortles, but based on what weve seen so far, Bridgewaters floor looks to be higher.Custom Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Custom Kansas City Royals Jerseys . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com/custom-colombia-soccer-jerseys/ . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. Custom Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Custom New York Jets Jerseys . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season.The three big prizes are only given out in August, September and October, so is it too early to take any notice of the Super League table?Well, I guess it depends if youre a half-full or half-empty person.Most clubs have 18 Super League games remaining and while an optimistic fan might say their team have the potential to pick up 36 points, the reality is that your team will need a minimum of 20 points to finish in the top eight when we enter the next stage of the competition. But that looks a long way off for some teams. It is habits and mindset, not time or games, that become the problem to the teams in the lower half of the league table.Easter is a hugely significant milestone in the season and teams need to stay in contention to give themselves a chance when the weather starts to improve. Go on then: If Widnes finish in the top four I will be their mascot for a match! Phil Clarke The champions have started the season in a similar way to how Chelsea began the Premier League last August. Just one win in the opening five games puts them under huge pressure this week. The Giants currently sit above the Rhinos on points difference and it is unusual to see the most consistent team of the last three seasons struggle as much as they have.Huddersfields performance against Hull KR impressed me and I am certain they will win more than 50 per cent of their remaining games. Next up they have Catalans, Wakefield and Salford and I think that they will pick up six points. However, it is the top of the league that intrigues me most. Widnes and Warrington have in effect swapped places with Leeds and Huddersfield. How have they done it? Barrie McDermott has been impressed by Widnes performances in 2016 Well you could say the Wolves have bought better players. They have the two favourites to win the Man of Steel in Chris Sandow and Kurt Gidley. New players like Tom Lineham and Joe Westerman have added to the squads ability, plus you could argue that they underachieved in 2015 and are more where they should be this campaign.But how do you explain that the Vikings are top of the table? Playing one more than most of the others helps but their squad of players has remained virtually the same. Stefan Marsh, Corey Thompson, Denis Betts and Joe Mellor look ahead to Widnes trip to Wigan on Thursday Widnes have doubled the number of league points after six rounds compared with last year but perhaps more impressively, they have played the best rugby and provided the most entertainment.dddddddddddd Admittedly, two of their wins have been against the bottom two teams but they have also beaten Leeds and Huddersfield in convincing fashion. Those wins did come when their opponents had several injuries but timing is everything in life and they had theirs spot on when they beat Hull last week. Sky Live: Wigan v Widnes Joe Mellor says Super League leaders Widnes will be out to make a statement The Vikings have now scored 39 tries in six games and in Corey Thompson they possess a player who could finish the season with the top try scorer award. In addition to him, they have Chris Houston in the second row and Setaimata Sa, but none of those players were big-money signings and I suppose you have to give credit to the coach.From what I see and hear, along with Daryl Powell, Denis Betts is the best coach in the competition and the teams improvement is a reflection of his ability, intelligence and experience. However, their game against Wigan on Thursday will be by far their hardest challenge of the season and perhaps the first time they have faced a top-four team with a healthy squad to choose from. The Warriors will be too strong for the Vikings and we will see them as a mid-table team.I am scared of making any predictions about where Widnes will finish in 2016. I have seen what Gary Lineker said about Leicester City and dont want to strip down to my underwear! I still think that if they finish in the top eight after 23 rounds they will have done remarkably well but I am still not convinced that they will be able to do that.Go on then: If Widnes finish in the top four I will be their mascot for a match!Join the Men United March Join the Sky Sports rugby league team as they walk from York City FC to Elland Road One of the greatest things about working with Sky Sports is the opportunity to meet people from other sports, to share stories with them and learn from them. Well, next week gives me the chance to do that in a different way. On Tuesday, March 22, Brian Carney, Bill Arthur, Barrie McDermott and I will be joining Jeff Stelling from Soccer Saturday on the Men United March.We are linking up with Jeff for one of the 10 days in which he will walk from Hartlepool United to Wembley, and you can join us too. Its all in aid of Prostate Cancer UK, a charity that the rugby league department at Sky have supported for the last four years after some of the team were affected by it.You may have noticed some of us wearing the little badge on screen. Its called the Man of Men, and the entire Leeds Rhinos squad wore them when they attended the Sports Personality awards at the end of last year - with Kevin Sinfield clinching the runners-up award. Jeff Stelling is walking 10 marathons in 10 days Anyone can take part in this great walk, you just need to register at www.menunitedmarch.org. If you come along you can talk rugby with us, football with Chris Kamara, Charlie Nicholas and Ray Wilkins, or just have a laugh up front with Jeff and the other walkers. Sinfield and Eddie Hemmings aim to be at Elland Road as we complete the 29-mile trek from York. It is a rugby section of this walk as we pass through the home of last terms domestic treble winners.It is a long way I know but its for a great cause and it will be a great laugh. We get to stroll through some beautiful Yorkshire countryside and listen to some stories that dont get told on television.If you cant make the walk but want to support Jeff and the rest of us then visit www.menunitedmarch.org or text JEFF to 70004 to donate £3.Also See:Sky Live: Widnes v WiganVikings prepare for Wigan testChester named Wakefield coachLeeds v St Helens: Key battles ' ' '