Brian Billick Weighs in on Vikings Quarterback Situation

The Minnesota Vikings finished the 1998 season with 15 wins. The offense averaged almost 35 points a game (best in the league) with a 35-year-old Randall Cunningham under center, two big-play receivers in Cris Carter and Randy Moss, and a steady run game led by Robert Smith and Leroy Hoard.

And Brian Billick was the brains behind it all. He would parlay his successes as the Vikes' offensive coordinator into a head-coaching gig with the Ravens. Billick's offensive philosophy in Baltimore never produced anything approaching what he was able to accomplish in Minnesota, and by the time he was fired nine years later, he was known as much for his inability to develop a franchise quarterback or find a deep threat at wide receiver as he was for the organization's 2000 Super Bowl win.

So it is with some irony that the man behind Kyle Boller weighs in on the Vikings' current stable of quarterbacks now that Brett Favre has temporarily* announced his retirement.

Via NFL.com's Adam Rank.

"The quarterback situation in Minnesota is going to be one of the most interesting storylines to watch early in the season," Billick said. "By bringing in Sage Rosenfels, they have a question about the abilities of Tarvaris Jackson.

"While Rosenfels has shown signs, he has yet to do it on a consistent basis. With a top running back and top run defense in the league, they don't need much from the quarterback. But I don't think Jackson or Rosenfels is going to be the answer."

All fair points, even given Billick's spotty track record at eye-balling talent while in Baltimore. (JJ Cooper goes in-depth into Minnesota's QB situation here.) The solution then? Jeff George, obviously. Okay, maybe not (not yet, anyway), but Billick politely answered that question, too.

"It's been a while since Jeff George has been on the scene," Billick said. "Probably as gifted a quarterback and arm that this league has seen. His track record and lack of overall production would make it problematic for him to come back."

George disagrees, obviously, and in March he even suggested that if he had been the Vikings' quarterback last season, the team would have won the Super Bowl.

I'm not willing to go that far, but if you're making a case for a 39-year-old Favre, it's a short jump to throw your support behind a 41-year-old George. Yes, I know, George last took an NFL snap in 2001 and Favre threw for more than 4,100 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2007. And Favre, for all his perceived selfishness, has never "June Jones'd" a coach on the sidelines. So, yes, I understand that the similarities, in some respects, end beyond age.

But here's the larger point: if the missing piece to the Super Bowl puzzle is a competent quarterback, why didn't the Vikings, you know, go out and get one? Favre was, at best, a one-year stopgap, and his performance in New York last season didn't even guarantee that. Maybe Rosenfels is the answer. Maybe not.

Or maybe it won't matter. Just like Billick and the 2000 Ravens, maybe Brad Childress is banking on the Vikes' defense carrying this team.

* because, well, it's always temporary