The Vikings are still trying to figure out whether Christian Ponder can be a franchise-level quarterback.
Toward the end, Ponder wants to meet the lsat guy the Vikings had who met that description.
Ponder told Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com he was trying to arrange a meeting this offseason with Brett Favre, to pick his brain for help taking the next step in his own development.
“We’re going to bring that up and try to take advantage of that,” Ponder said.
After trying and coming close with a quarterback on the downside of his career, the Vikings went the opposite route in drafting Ponder and trusting him with the job as a rookie, after it became obvious Donovan McNabb had nothing left.
He’s played a mostly efficient style, and the Vikings haven’t asked too much of him, but he’s nearing the point where he’s either going to take a step or not. Tomorrow’s game against the Packers is going to be a good gauge of where he stands in the process.
“You talk about litmus tests,” Frazier said. “This will be one going on the road in Green Bay against a high-powered offense that we need to match at times. This will be a gauge for [Ponder] as to where he is in his career.”
Walking in as the starter on a team that was already 1-5 last year tempered expectations, but he’s got them 6-5 this season, and on the fringes of the playoffs.
“He’s coming along,” cornerback Antoine Winfield said of Ponder. “The coaches are working with him. But it’s a process. You don’t expect him to come in and be All-World.
“He’s going to make some mistakes and go through some growing pains. But I think he’ll be a better player because of it.”
Whether he ever gets to Favre’s level remains to be seen.
