How Quickly Can Sam Bradford Get Ready to Start?

The Minnesota Vikings need quarterback Sam Bradford to save the season!

The Minnesota Vikings looked like they had finally built the Super Bowl contender they wanted. The foundation is the best running back in the game (Adrian Peterson) and a great young defense. Quarterback Teddy Bridgwater appeared to be ready to make a jump to Year 3 as well.

But the Vikings lost Bridgewater for the season as he tore ACL dropping back to pass in practice. The Vikings can’t waste another year that Peterson is the best along with the other parts they have. So the desperate Vikings traded for former No. 1 pick Sam Bradford.

It cost the Vikings a first-round pick and a conditional pick but Bradford played well down the stretch last year. So the move has the Vikings looking like they can contend again. Bradford is actually better than Bridgewater at throwing the ball down the field.

But when do you start him?

Of course, head coach Mike Zimmer wants to start Bradford right away if he can get ready fast enough.

But can he get ready fast enough?

It’s difficult for any quarterback to learn enough about a new offense in just over a week to play well. Bradford also has to develop some kind of rapport with his new receivers. The last time the Vikings tried that with a quarterback was with Josh Freeman.

And the result was one of the worst performances in the history of Monday Night Football. And that’s not the type of start the Vikings need to get off to contend for a Super Bowl. But at the same time, the Vikings don’t like idea of starting Shaun Hill Week 1.

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However, according to Vikings assistants, Bradford is doing a good job of cramming. Tight ends coach Pat Shurmur actually likes the rate of speed in which Bradford is picking up the offense. He told Vikings.com just how fast he thinks Bradford is picking things up.

Shurmur said, “He’s had to learn a number of offenses in the past few years, and he’s picking it up extremely quickly. “We’re going to do things to help him, but for the most part, we’ve been very impressed with how far he’s come in just a few days.”

Giving the ball to Peterson 30 times and playing defense can shorten Bradford’s learning curve. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner is giving Bradford a crash course in the game plan to test his readiness. And it sounds like Turner likes were he is under the circumstances.

“[He’s] learning the parts of the system he needs to know to be able to function,” Turner said. “This is a benefit, that we had a lot of the game plan done before he got here, so he can start learning parts of the game plan, and I think he has really done a good job with it.”

If Bradford pulls this of the Vikings will have the great start to the season they need.

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