Yesterday’s news that the Vikings were activating Teddy Bridgewater and placing Sam Bradford on injured reserve got lots of reaction from the fan bloggers as well as the pro sports writers in the Twin Cities. 1500ESPN‘s Matthew Coller provided some background on Bridgewater’s early development with the Vikings:

Last year, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said he never saw himself having another quarterback other than Bridgewater.

The question comes up often: Why are Zimmer and the Vikings’ players so impressed with a quarterback who only threw 14 touchdowns in 2015?

The first reason is that they don’t grade players on touchdowns. It’s really a bad measure of QB play. In 2015, Bridgewater only threw 42 passes in the red zone, while Blake Bortles tossed 95 passes and was one of the league leaders in touchdowns. Nobody would say Bortles is better than Bridgewater. The Vikings were third in the league in rushing touchdowns in ’15 and seventh in Drive Scoring Percentage. Bridgewater was leading his team down the field, but Adrian Peterson was getting the touches when they were in scoring position.

The second reason: Coaches and teammates focus on the game tape (and winning) rather than the box score.

Before we look at some of the things that made Bridgewater so popular – outside of his personality – it should be noted that we can’t know until he plays whether the former first-round pick will be back to his old self or how long it will take him to trust his repaired knee. For some players, they never make a full recovery.

At Zone Coverage, Arif Hasan makes a strong case to start Bridgewater sooner rather than later:

The Vikings genuinely do not know who they have in Bridgewater. At only 24 years old — 25 on Friday — he is only 50 days older than MVP candidate Carson Wentz.

That’s to say that there’s no inherent lost cause due to age that should restrict Bridgewater from developing with enough time to hit peak performance later in his career. A second contract at this point would be wise from an age perspective and the Louisville alum might have a lot of talented football left in him.

By contrast, Sam Bradford at 30 years of age likely only has one more contract left in his NFL career — one put in jeopardy by his knee injury.

If Bridgewater flashes high-level potential for the Vikings, it would be better to find out now and lock him down before he hits an open market and another team gambles on the young passer. The San Francisco 49ers paid a second-round pick to acquire Jimmy Garoppolo, and he has one year left on his contract. The 49ers haven’t won a game yet and aren’t a threat to make the playoffs, so general manager John Lynch essentially traded a valuable draft asset for an exclusive negotiating window.

The Vikings have a similar situation — with a quarterback a year younger than the 49ers’ newest acquisition — and should see if that situation is worth exploiting. If Bridgewater struggles to show any potential, they can more comfortably move on from the young passer and spend an early pick on a quarterback from this year’s draft — perhaps giving current Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson an opportunity to recur his role as Bridgewater’s successor.

That doesn’t necessarily mean playing immediately; the Vikings may as well be able to find out who they have in the final few games of the season. But there’s a good chance that it could take a few games to fully understand who Bridgewater is as a quarterback now.

At Vikings Territory, Austin Belisle confesses his past sins, recants his heresy, and is accepted back into the congregation of Bridgewater Believers:

I was wrong about Teddy Bridgewater. I said, he’d never play another down for the Minnesota Vikings, let alone another down of football. It’s not that I didn’t believe in Bridgewater’s purpose or his drive to return to the field; like many, I believed him to be the long-term answer at quarterback the moment he was drafted in 2014.

[…]

I’ve never been one to buy into “fate” or “destiny,” but it’s getting more and more difficult to deny the impossible and intangible. Just look at the storylines: Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis; a franchise that’s yet to win its first Lombardi trophy; a quarterback drafted to lead them to the proverbial mountain peak; his return.

Bridgewater’s activation doesn’t guarantee he’ll be the same player circa 2015, but the hope remains he can recreate some of those memories. Anything he’s lost in mobility or escapability is offset by the leadership and raw talent that’s always been there; at this point, we just don’t know what to expect, and that’s somewhat exciting.

I’m done doubting Bridgewater, though. The quarterback situation is playing out…like no one could’ve predicted. His health and the potential he adds to the offense are surprising developments in what’s been a surprise of a season. Rather than rationalize, as I did for months and months this summer, I’m going to enjoy this amazing moment for what it’s worth.