Today’s subject — other than “what happened to our series of tubes this morning? — is Tarvaris Jackson. As we mentioned yesterday, you can participate in this series as well by sending us a post (300 words or thereabouts) by Sunday.

Will Tarvaris Jackson be “the man” this year?

This would be the proverbial 900-pound gorilla in the room if not for the fact that everybody in the state of Minnesota – even within the Vikings organization – acknowledges it. The fact is that, barring significant injuries at other positions, Jackson’s development will be the single most important factor that determines whether the Vikings can make the leap into the playoffs and possibly beyond.

Last year was certainly encouraging from some standpoints, but it was also a very mixed bag filled with bad decisions (jump passes aren’t good), more injuries and a general unease when watching young Tarvaris play.

In order to be “the man,” as stated so eloquently in the question, Jackson doesn’t have to be Brett Favre (especially the part about the crushing addiction to pain medication). We hate the term “game manager” because it has been used and abused to the point that analysts don’t know what it means anymore, but Jackson does need to make good decisions on the vast majority of plays. That doesn’t always mean throwing it away on 3rd-and-5; sometimes it means tucking it under and running; sometimes it means threading the needle. It’s all about risk and reward at the QB position: don’t take a risk unless the potential reward is worth it.

Come to think of it, that kind of sums of Jackson. Brad Childress took a risk in moving up to get Jackson – a gifted but somewhat raw athlete who also appears to have the poise and leadership traits necessary to succeed – and the head coach obviously thought the potential reward was worth it. If we find out this year that Childress was wrong, the consequences will run deep.

It’s early July right now, though, and anything is possible. This thing could go one way or another way. Which one will it be?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 11:13 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.