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Jackson to Manage, Not Carry Offense?
With
veteran Brad Johnson long gone since last season and
backup-labeled Brooks Bollinger as the main competition, it looks
like Tarvaris Jackson is the Vikings
starting quarterback in 2007. How that works out for Jackson may have a
lot to do with the way he’s coached.
That’s the opinion of former Vikings assistant coach
Dean Dalton, now a pro football media analyst. Dalton is an
admirer of Jackson, the second year quarterback who played in four late
season games in 2007. His numbers looked like this:
81 pass attempts, 47 completions, two
touchdown passes and four interceptions.
In
fairness to Jackson, not only was he a rookie looking for experience,
but he was leading a team ending a disappointing season. He started the
last two games, both losses, as the Vikings worked their way to a 6-10
season. He showed a strong arm, quick release and ability to scramble.
“He
didn’t really bring a big rally in the last couple of games of the year,
but I think what his teammates and coaches respect is his incredible
work ethic,” Dalton said. “Not just physically in the weight room and
out on the field, but his study habits and all the intensity he puts
into the game. He truly is developing himself as a student of the game
and he has a fabulous attitude about learning, and kind of a natural
innate leadership skill. So he’s unproven and that’s why there’s still
skepticism until he goes out on the field and produces and leads the
team to success. But he has all the tools and intangibles to do just
that.”
Two
years ago Jackson was playing for Alabama State in the Southwestern
Athletic Conference against teams like Alcorn State and Grambling
State. Now he’s in the NFL facing teams like the Chicago Bears and
Green Bay Packers. Can he successfully transition from Division I-AA to
the graduate level of the NFL? Questions will include whether he has
the ability to read defenses correctly and make changes.
“He
doesn’t lack the ability to do it (read defenses),” Dalton said. “He
lacks the repetition of the experiences of doing it. He hasn’t been out
there. … Everything is faster (than college). Everything changes
drastically and he’s not prepared for the nuances of pre-snap reads and
making adjustments during the course of the four to five seconds of play
as it unfolds in front of him. So that can only happen with experience.
…”
Dalton thinks Jackson can have a successful year in reading defenses and
other decision making. “I think it’s realistic if the coaching
staff…make sure they don’t put too much on his plate,” Dalton said.
“They have to make sure they simplify their very complex offensive
system to the level where he can go out and execute the system. I think
if they give him too much or rely on him too much that could be
trouble.
“I
would like to see the Minnesota Vikings especially (after) adding (first
round pick) Adrian Peterson to the stable of running backs…
establishing themselves as a running team and simplifying the passing
offense to the level where he can go out and execute it successfully,
and not relying on him too much and giving him too much, too soon.”
Dalton, who has been excelling at media work nationally and locally
including for FSN North, made a point about Ben Roethlisberger’s
success as a rookie quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004 when
he won every regular season game he started. “They (the Vikings) need
to rely on Tarvaris Jackson to manage the offense and not to carry the
offense,” Dalton said. “And that will be incumbent on the coaches to do
that. The reason Roethlisberger had so much success as a rookie was
that they established a strong running game and relied on play action
passing and didn’t force situations and scenarios and, of course, they
also had an outstanding defense.”
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