SI's Peter King: Bridgewater has been 'crummy or mediocre' in some big games

Peter King, who has turned the Monday Morning Quarterback franchise into an entire web site with SI.com, joined the Star Tribune’s Access Vikings podcast this week for some purple-related questions about Mike Zimmer, Teddy Bridgewater, Adrian Peterson and the 2016 outlook in general.

You’ll OBVIOUSLY want to listen to the whole show — either on our web site or via iTunes. Matt Vensel, Andrew Krammer and I also broke down the first preseason game, took a look at early roster projections and chatted with Anthony Barr about the Olympics.

Of particular interest — as always — were King’s thoughts on Bridgewater and why opinions about the Vikings QB are all over the map. His answers were logical and rational, with more than one variation on this quote: “Nobody knows for sure about whether he’s going to be great.”

The reason the jury is still out, King said, is that we don’t have a large enough body of work yet — and some of the body of work we have has raised some red flags.

“He’s a young quarterback who has played some big games and been either crummy or mediocre,” King said.

Crummy might be a little harsh, though you can make the case that Bridgewater put up some visible clunkers last season — the MNF opener at San Francisco, the regular-season game vs. Seattle and the finale vs. Green Bay (which the Vikings won largely in spite of Bridgewater). You can also make an equal case that he’s been forced to do more with less, both from an offensive line and WR standpoint, than virtually any other QB in the league — let alone a young guy trying to establish himself.

King said he wants to see the Vikings’ wide receivers prove themselves before he’s ready to crown Minnesota as a top contender this season. Of the NFC North race in 2016, King said, “My gut feeling to start the season is I like Green Bay a smidgen more. But it wouldn’t surprise me if it goes down to the last week of the season.”