Harvin, Defense Might Not Be Enough to Overcome Vikings' QB Shortcomings

The goal of every NFL team is to win the Super Bowl. Even if, through front-office hires and player acquisitions, that doesn't always appear to be the case. But of the last 15 teams to hoist the Lombardi trophy, only two featured quarterbacks not classified as "franchise caliber."

In 2000, the Ravens won it all with a kick-ass defense. Trent Dilfer's job was to give the ball to Jamal Lewis and get out of the way. Two years later: same story, different team. The Buccaneers' defense did the heavy lifting; Brad Johnson was in charge of game-managing Jon Gruden's version of the West Coast offense with short passes and handoffs.

It's with that in mind that I bring up the Minnesota Vikings. A year ago, folks who think about such things declared the Vikings one player away from the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, that player was quarterback. Minnesota's answer to fixing the problem: send a fourth-rounder to the Texans for Sage Rosenfels.

It's an upgrade over Tarvaris Jackson -- after a couple tries, it's clear that he's not the answer. But NFL Films' Greg Cosell, who might watch more game film than anybody on the planet, isn't sold on Rosenfels, either.

The Vikings do not have a starting-caliber quarterback on their roster, either in terms of experience or production. They will try to counterbalance that deficiency with scheme and design. [Percy] Harvin will be used as a movable chess piece in an attempt to dictate defensive fronts and coverages to generate matchups that favor the Vikings. This will be the case not only in Minnesota's passing game, but also in the running game. Offensive coaches want to manage the eighth defender in the box and remove him as a viable run-support player. Harvin, with shifting and motion, will be able to control that eighth man, creating strategic running opportunities for Peterson.

All this is fine, and the Vikings will be successful at times. But in every game, the quarterback must make some difficult throws in long-yardage situations against pressure defenses. In these moments, the playbook is reduced, the options are limited, and the onus is on the quarterback to make accurate throws down the field, where the risk is greater.

It's a strategy other teams have tried with mixed results: masking the quarterback's shortcomings by surrounding him with game-changers. When the Vikings selected Harvin, three quarterbacks had been drafted, and teaming him with Adrian Peterson and a pretty good Vikings defense isn't a bad consolation prize. (And that's assuming the front office was even considering Josh Freeman at the end of the first round.)

Cosell admits that Rosenfels "has shown ... excellent mobility out of the pocket; he can make plays with his legs when improvisation is demanded. Of course, that's far down the list of necessary attributes to play quarterback well in the NFL." Hey, it's a start.

If mobility out of the pocket and improvising were the only prerequisites to successful quarterbacking, I suspect Brett Favre would have already been announced as the Vikings' next quarterback. There's still time.