Hey Vikings fans.

Let’s talk quarterbacks. More specifically, let’s talk about quarterbacks who WON’T be starting for the Minnesota Vikings this year. Currently, there are three guys on the roster who will not be starting: Tarvaris Jackson, Sage Rosenfels, and John David Booty.

The problem for these guys… only two of them are going to make it onto the final roster. Speculation abounds on the internet as to which of those three will not be on the team come week 1 in Cleveland. So what am I going to do about it?

I’m going to add to the speculation, of course! That’s what we bloggers like to do!

Tarvaris Jackson

Tarvaris went into the last two seasons as the uncontested starter. This year, Sage Rosenfels was brought in to allegedly challenge him for the starting job, and then ultimately Brett Favre was brought in to be the starter. So the incumbent starter has already taken a step down. But has he taken enough of a step down to lose his job completely?

If the decision had been made after the Indianapolis game, I would’ve said yes. Tarvaris played poorly in that game, and really didn’t have much of an up-side beyond the fact that he was the most familiar with the system. On top of that, Sage Rosenfels played quite well, which made Jackson’s poor game look worse.

But then he stepped it up a notch against Kansas City, a game in which, to Jackson’s benefit, Rosenfels was not able to get into the game to put to rest any advance that Tarvaris had made in the race. Jackson went 12/15 for 202 yards, 2 TDs, and no interceptions.

The thing I’m noticing about Tarvaris is that when he doesn’t have the pressure of being the top QB, he plays much better. During his rookie season, the few times he came in due to injuries or lack of production by the starters, he played exceptionally well for a rookie QB. Then when he got to start the final two games of that season as the unquestioned starter… well, to be honest… he stunk.

Last season he began the year as the starter. He stunk. After 11 games of Gus Frerotte starting, Jackson was given an opportunity to come in for an injured Frerotte, and he played very well. Through the last four games of the season, everyone wondered if Frerotte would come back, but Jackson continued to play well. In the playoffs he was named the unquestioned starter… and he stunk.

Maybe that’s why Childress brought in Sage… maybe this QB competition was really going to last all year, and it was meant to keep T-Jack on his toes.

Okay, probably not.

Jackson is a young guy, entering his fourth year in the league. He’s shown flashes of having an up-side… he has a strong arm, he’s mobile, he has shown that he’s capable of moving the ball at times. Unfortunately, he seems to lack confidence and consistency. And I really think the lack of consistency is because of the lack of confidence. He seems to be a little slow at making decisions. He often holds onto the ball much longer than he has to. Fortunately, though, his athleticism allows him to make plays despite that fact. He is by far the most athletically gifted quarterback currently on the roster.

Sage Rosenfels

Sage was brought in this year to compete for the starting job. He’s entering his 9th year in the league, and he hasn’t really had a chance to be a starter anywhere else. So far in his career he’s shown that he’s a pretty solid backup, but when called upon to start for any extended period of time, he’s pretty mediocre.

Sage had a great game against Indianapolis in week 1 of the preseason. He was finding his receivers quickly, and getting rid of the ball in a fast but accurate manner.

The fact that the Vikings traded for Sage this off-season, and that they tried to trade for him last year as well makes a lot of people think that his job is safe.

The up-side to Sage is that he’s been in the league for a long time, and he understands the game at NFL speeds. He’s a good thrower and he knows the west coast offense well.

The down-side to Sage is that he’s 5 years older than Jackson and 7 years older than Booty. If Favre plays for 2 years for the Vikings, Sage would be entering his 11th season in the NFL having never been the starter. He’s also not very mobile, which keeps him from creating as well when the pocket breaks down.

John David Booty

Booty is the quarterback that Vikings fans seem to know the least about, mostly because he’s never got a chance to play with the first team, and he’s never had any playing time in a real NFL game.

Booty had a great couple seasons at USC, and even though he was considered a very talented college QB, he fell to the 5th round of the draft because a lot of teams were unsure as to how his talents would translate to the pro game.

We’ve seen him play a year and a half worth of preseason games so far, and while he’s been solid, he’s never seemed to have the look that makes people think “wow, this guy is a future star.”

His up-side is his age. This will only be his second year in the NFL, and he still has tons of time to learn and grow into the position. If the Vikings coaching staff, who sees him in practice week in and week out, thinks that they can turn him into a potential starting QB some day, his job will be safe.

His down-side is that Tarvaris Jackson is only 2 years older than him, so that diminishes the value of his age. He also probably has the weakest arm of the QBs on the roster, and the least amount of experience.

My Conclusion

Well, it really could go any of the three ways, and no matter which QB gets cut, there will be a lot of Vikings fans saying it was the wrong move.

My gut feeling tells me that after the Kansas City game, Tarvaris Jackson is safe. He is Childress’ “project”, he’s still young, and I doubt that Chilly and the staff have completely given up on him. After all, he was going to compete for the starting job if Brett hadn’t signed, right? I think that Coach Childress will want to keep him around to learn from Favre for a year or two, and then see how he’s grown.

And who knows, maybe Favre can help shape him up as far as that confidence thing goes.

So that leaves Booty or Rosenfels to be cut.

I think it all comes down to how much potential the Vikings coaches see in Booty. Like I said, if they think they can turn him into an NFL starting-caliber QB, they’ll keep him and Sage will be traded. If they think that the best Booty can hope for is to be a solid backup, I think they’ll either try to trade Booty, or see if they can slip him onto the practice squad.

My gut instinct says that the latter is true. You never really hear Childress talking about Booty being the future of this team. I have a feeling that they just don’t feel that the superstar potential is there.

So my official prediction is that the QB roster going into the season will contain Brett Favre, Sage Rosenfels, and Tarvaris Jackson.

I have a hunch that we’ll find out sooner rather than later if I’m correct.

Oh, and for the record, the new Madden roster agrees with me. I downloaded it last night, and Booty is no longer on the Vikings team….

Not that that means anything, of course.