It's probably obvious to most fans of the Minnesota Vikings that if quarterback Teddy Bridgewater doesn't take another step forward next season, then last year's rookie phenom, wide receiver Stefon Diggs, probably won't take another step in his development either.
Diggs, an unheralded pick in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Vikings out of Maryland, burst onto the scene, collecting 52 receptions for 720 yards and 4 touchdowns his rookie year. His production was erratic and it tapered off to a degree late in the season - other than a two-touchdown outing against the Chicago Bears - but he was a revelation nonetheless.
In the end, it was Bridgewater who seemed to hit a wall, not Diggs. 17 completions on 24 attempts in a playoff game sounds pretty good, until you take a closer look and see that Bridgewater didn't manage a touchdown and averaged just over six yards per attempt. Yes, that was against the vaunted Seahawks, but eventually Bridgewater will have to show that he can win a tough game like that, not just hold on long enough for the Vikes to pull it out.
Here's the thing - the Vikings, as a team, are close to a crossroads. Bridgewater, entering his third season in the NFL, doesn't have that much longer to figure out just who or what he is. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman drafted Bridgewater late in the first-round of the 2014 NFL Draft because they believed Bridgewater had the athleticism and the mental makeup to turn the Vikings into a consistent contender.
And through two seasons of Bridgewater, Zimmer and Spielman have mostly been proven right. Were it not for a Blair Walsh miss this past playoffs, the Vikings would even have at least one postseason win to their name during the Bridgewater era.
But at some point, the training wheels have to come off and Bridgewater has to prove he's more than just a game manager.
In Oakland, for instance, the Raiders aren't nearly as strong a team, offensively or defensively, as the Vikings.
It's impressive then that their young franchise quarterback, Derek Carr, selected only a handful of picks after Bridgewater, has been a revelation as a starting signal-caller in the NFL, while Bridgewater has essentially played the "don't mess up and we'll win"-role.
Through two professional seasons, Bridgewater has 551 completions for 6,150 yards, 28 touchdowns and 21 interceptions to his name. In that same span, Carr has collected 698 completions for 7,257 yards, 53 touchdowns and 25 interceptions.
Now, this comparison is made moot in part by the simple fact that Bridgewater and Carr play a different style of game in different offenses. Just as at Louisville, Bridgewater has shown a propensity for the safe play, while Carr has been willing to air it out. And Carr benefited greatly in 2015 from the additions of Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and the arrival of offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave.
Prior to Diggs' arrival, Bridgewater had a cast of mediocre characters, headlined by the perennially disappointing Cordarrelle Patterson, catching his passes.
But when you're protected by a run game that's powered by one of the best backs in the game in Adrian Peterson, you should probably be posting better stat lines than 14 touchdowns, 9 interceptions and an 88.7 quarterback rating for the year. Especially when a speedy talent like Diggs is suddenly dropped into your lap in the fifth-round.
In the end, Bridgewater hasn't been bad by any stretch of the imagination, and so that'll keep plenty of fans of the Vikings talking about his potential and suggesting that it's just a matter of time before he shows what he's truly capable of.
But Bridgewater needs to be better, and at some point the question isn't going to be why aren't Patterson, Charles Johnson, Jarius Wright, Adam Thielen and Diggs producing? It's going to be - where can the Vikings find a quarterback capable of taking a talented Vikings team that boasts a fearsome defense and a strong run game, from good to great?
