Photo: Vikings Starting QB #7, Tarvaris Jackson (Alabama State University)BY SEAN JENSEN, Twin Cities Pioneer Press
'I'm doing this because he's ready'
Everyone is looking at Tarvaris Jackson now after coach Brad Childress named him the starting quarterback. What the second-year pro shows them in his first full season as the starter should determine the Vikings' fortune in 2007.
This wasn't about his ego, Vikings coach Brad Childress will tell you.
That's not why he jettisoned Brad Johnson, ignored a handful of veteran replacements and thrust second-year quarterback Tarvaris Jackson into the starting role.
This wasn't simply about trying to copy the template of his last prodigy, Donovan McNabb, who in his second season led the Philadelphia Eagles to the playoffs. Or about trying to legitimize his team's decision to trade up and, by some accounts, "reach" on the Division I-AA quarterback at the end of the second round.
After inheriting a 9-7 team and struggling to 6-10 last season, Childress wasn't going to sabotage himself and his veteran roster just to make a point with Jackson.
"I'm doing this," Childress said, "because he's ready."
How ready? That will be the biggest question facing Childress and the Vikings in 2007.
With only four December games, including two nondescript starts, behind him, with so little national exposure before that to judge him, Jackson will lead the Vikings into their opener today against Atlanta in a Metrodome packed with skeptics.
"I haven't given anyone a reason not to question me," Jackson said. "I've started two games, and we're 0-2, so I can't get mad when people question, 'OK, is this guy ready?' That's just how it is.
"I have to go out there and prove them wrong."
For Childress, ready is a relative term.
"Does that mean that all of a sudden he's a seven-year pro?" Childress said. "No. But if I turned on the film here and had you watch (Jay) Cutler against the Dallas Cowboys, you'd say, 'Wait a minute now. Who's the first-round (pick)? Who's the second-round (pick)?' "
Denver drafted Cutler out of Vanderbilt 11th overall in 2006, 53 spots ahead of Jackson, and he looked anything but comfortable in that exhibition game two weeks ago against Dallas, when he completed 7 of 13 passes for 58 yards and lost a fumble. Still, during Cutler's five December games last season, he passed for nine touchdowns with five interceptions. Jackson finished with two TD passes and four interceptions.
Too much has been made of Jackson's tenure at Alabama State, according to Childress. Jackson has impressed the Vikings' coaches with his work ethic and his physical and mental makeup, and Childress points out that Jackson began his career at Arkansas.
In the Southeastern Conference.
Same as Cutler.
"He started out at a pretty high-end program and, but for a twist or turned ankle, he could have been the quarterback and Matt Jones a receiver," Childress said, referring to Jones getting the nod to start ahead of Jackson, prompting Jackson's transfer to Alabama State. "But I never begrudge a guy for wanting to play.
"I don't worry about the stage. I worry about, 'Does he have the physical skills? Does he have the mind?' "
THE CHALLENGE
Over the past eight seasons, three second-year quarterbacks have led their teams to Super Bowl titles. One was mostly a backup at a major program (Tom Brady at Michigan), one starred at the other Miami (Ben Roethlisberger at the Mid-American Conference school), and one started only his senior year at Northern Iowa but had a stint in the Arena League (Kurt Warner).
Photo: Tarvaris Jackson enters his first season as the starting quarterback with support from veteran teammates who noted Jackson's offseason dedication in the video room at Winter Park. "He just shows up every day, busting his butt," fullback Tony Richardson said. "He's in the weight room, he runs with us, and he spends that extra time with coach Rogers. So he's really put the time in, and, as a veteran player, that's what you want to see." Jackson knows his NFL history, and he knows a quarterback often struggles in his first full year as a starter.
"But you have to start somewhere," he said. "Do you want a guy who sits out five or six years before he starts? Guys that are doing good right now, they went through growing pains, except for Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. They're the only two who came in just winning. Other guys had losing records. Peyton Manning started kind of slow, but look at where he's at right now. He got better each year, and now he's a Hall of Fame quarterback."
Phil Simms said the Vikings opted for Jackson because of their own tempered expectations.
"I do not think Tarvaris Jackson would be the starting quarterback of the Vikings, if the Vikings, deep down, believed they were a Super Bowl contender," said Simms, an analyst for CBS who led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl championships. "Now it could still happen. But if they thought they were that close, then they would go get a veteran quarterback that would not make youthful mistakes."
Former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski said the Vikings have to exercise patience with Jackson.
"That's absolutely critical," said Jaworski, the color commentator for ESPN's "Monday Night Football." "There are going to be some bumps in the road. I don't care who it is."
Childress understood the template for developing a young quarterback, based on the 2000 NFL season. He was the quarterbacks coach in Philadelphia at the time, and the Eagles boasted an elite and experienced defense. The Eagles won 11 games and advanced to the postseason behind McNabb's 21 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.
Childress said continuity is essential for a young quarterback, which is why he worked so hard to keep quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers from leaving for the University of Miami offensive coordinator job during the offseason. Rogers, who coached McNabb at Syracuse, has worked closely with Childress in scrutinizing every aspect of Jackson's development.
Childress said the lessons from his development of McNabb in Philadelphia are "too voluminous to enumerate." But he has addressed his quarterbacks on everything from how to lead the team to how to act on Monday mornings.
When you are the quarterback, Childress said, "everybody is looking."
Childress is guarded about his game plan. Childress acknowledged the strength of his defense and run offense, saying it doesn't hurt to put a young quarterback in that situation, but adds he won't harness Jackson.
"I'm not silly enough to think you're going to be able to run it 50 out of 60 snaps," Childress said.
"Coach always stresses the running game, which is our strong point, and we're going to feed off of that," Jackson said. "But I'm not just out here to hand the football off. I'm here to make plays."
Jackson impressed Simms and Jaworski coming out of Alabama State. Simms remembers seeing out of the corner of his eye a clip of Jackson on the NFL Network and thinking, "Wow, that was really good." Simms says Jackson might have been the "best thrower" he saw entering the 2006 draft. Jaworski said Jackson did have the best arm in a class that included Cutler, Matt Leinart and Vince Young.
There isn't a quarterback play, Jackson said, he can't make.
"I just feel I can do everything," he said. "I just bring that full dimension to our offense."
He is mobile enough to flee the pocket and accurate enough to pass the ball into a tight spot. He also needs to be disciplined enough to know when to simply get rid of the ball, a message Childress and Rogers have drilled into him.
"Nothing good ever happens when you hold onto the football. Nothing," Childress said. "I think it's an art to learn how to live to play another day, throw the ball away."
THE PREPARATION
As quarterbacks coach in Philadelphia, Childress received credit for McNabb's development into a Pro Bowl quarterback. This exhibition season, Childress said that Jackson in some regards is further ahead of where McNabb was at the same point in his career.
Childress said McNabb, the second overall pick in the 1999 draft, didn't spend all his time at the Eagles' headquarters during the offseason. Except for about a month he spent visiting his family in Montgomery, Ala., Jackson all but lived at Winter Park. He worked out with strength and conditioning coach Tom Kanavy and his staff, and he reviewed every offensive snap from the 2006 season, including Johnson's. He analyzed the play-action passes, the handoffs, the decisions, all in hopes of picking up tips.
He would pop into Rogers', Childress' or offensive coordinator Darrel Bevell's office, and he was sometimes at Winter Park when no coaches were around. Whenever possible, he worked with receivers, tight ends or running backs on deep balls, hooks and handoffs.
"When I say further ahead, I'm talking about the time that he spent at it, to build that equity, that knowledge," Childress said of Jackson vs. McNabb. "Donovan would drop in and drop out. But Tarvaris was here for the long haul."
After the draft, as Rogers worked closely with seventh-round pick Tyler Thigpen, Jackson joined them for all the classroom and field sessions.
"He took advantage of it," Rogers said. "Any time I was meeting with Tyler, (Jackson) was in there too, at his own discretion. He put in the time."
His teammates noticed. Among the players impressed: cornerback Antoine Winfield, linebacker Ben Leber, guard Steve Hutchinson, fullback Tony Richardson, center Matt Birk, tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and receivers Bobby Wade and Troy Williamson.
"He just shows up every day, busting his butt," Richardson said. "He's in the weight room, he runs with us, and he spends that extra time with coach Rogers. So he's really put the time in, and, as a veteran player, that's what you want to see."
Several veterans indicated Jackson is further along than they expected. In 2005, Shiancoe was playing for the New York Giants when Eli Manning, the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft, was set to take over as the starting quarterback. This offseason and exhibition season, Shiancoe said he was impressed with Jackson's accuracy, athleticism and, most importantly, poise.
"As far as talent, Tarvaris Jackson is probably the best quarterback I've seen in my football career," said Shiancoe, who also played with Warner and Kerry Collins. "Physically he's there, and mentally he's willing."
Shiancoe was careful not to toss any barbs at Manning but said, "All I know is, with this team here, Tarvaris is where he needs to be right now. Tarvaris has picked up this offense, and he can lead this team very far."
Jaworski and former Vikings quarterback Rich Gannon said the Vikings can be playoff contenders. But Gannon, who spent a day with Jackson during the spring, said the Vikings' ability to succeed is almost foolproof.
"They have a good offensive line, and they have two really solid backs that could be 1,000-yard rushers," said Gannon, who will be an analyst for CBS this season. "If they can run the ball and play defense like they did last year and kick the ball well, they can win.
"I could come back and play for the Vikings and win 10 games. Brad has a formula in place, that if (Jackson) manages the game, and he doesn't turn the ball over, that's the formula for success."
Jackson hasn't set any firm statistical goals, but he doesn't want to reach double digits in interceptions, and he wants to rank among the top dozen or so quarterbacks in the league. To Jackson, it's about the W's - winning and taking care of the football.
"I want to be with the playoff guys, but you want to be the best," Jackson said. "There are a lot of people who are very good right now. But you strive to be the best. I'm not going to say, 'I want to be the second best.'
"That's just not me."
