What do the Vikings do if the top 3 quarterbacks of the 2014 NFL draft are gone when they get to pick 8? Well ESPN blogger Ben Goessling might have found a way that makes some sense for the Vikings.
One name to keep an eye on is Mark Sanchez, who seems likely to be released by the Jets before they have to pay him a $2 million roster bonus on March 25. Sanchez’s numbers aren’t any better than Christian Ponder’s, but he has been to two AFC Championship Games (though admittedly with better defenses than Ponder’s had).Sanchez is only 27, and if the Vikings aren’t going to bring back Cassel, they might look in his direction before they consider some of the other names in this thin group of free agent QBs.
While Vikings fans might get sick to their stomach hearing his name, they could turn their first round pick into a Sammy Watkins. Could you imagine Adrian Peterson, Sammy Watkins, Cordarelle Patterson, Greg Jennings and Kyle Rudolph on the field with Mark Sanchez? You can say what you want, I personally would take Sanchez over Johnny Football right now. This is just an option but it makes a lot of sense. Mike Zimmer might want a veteran quarterback in his first year to make sure the team understands his new philosophy, and it could allow the team to draft Jimmy Garoppolo, Tajh Boyd or even Derek Carr if he was to fall to them in the second round. This would give Zimmer a guy to groom behind a proven vet.
