Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Warren Moon will be back in town this weekend. Not on the field for either the Vikings or the Seahawks, but as Seattle’s radio analyst for Sunday’s game.
Moon, who played for the Vikings from 1994-96 and is in the NFL Hall of Fame, told the Pioneer Press that he sees Pro Bowls in Teddy Bridgewater’s future.
Moon would know. The man played in nine of them and threw for more than 48,000 yards during his NFL career.
“I think he can be a Pro Bowl guy,” Moon said Wednesday in an interview with the Pioneer Press. “A lot of making the Pro Bowl has to do with winning, and if you win and you have solid numbers, that’s how you make Pro Bowls. We see Matthew Stafford and guys like that, they throw for 5,000 yards, but they’re not really considered Pro Bowlers because their teams aren’t winning. …I think Teddy’s going to be a solid quarterback in the league for a long time.”
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Bridgewater was a playmaker, not a game manager last month. While Moon used the game manager tag to describe Bridgewater now, Moon doesn’t think that’s a bad thing.
“I don’t think Teddy’s ever going to be a guy who’s going to control a game with his arm, but that’s not what they’re asking him to do right now, especially when you have Adrian Peterson behind you,” Moon told the Pioneer Press.
“You’re going to be a manager of the game, kind of like Russell Wilson was in his first couple of years, a guy that manages the game, doesn’t turn the ball over and makes enough big plays to make his team win, and (Bridgewater is) doing that. Adrian Peterson isn’t going to play forever. At some point, Teddy is going to have to throw the football more.”
Bridgewater is completing 65 percent of the passes he does throw for 2,280 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions so far this season.
While Derek Carr and Blake Bortles have better numbers, Moon notes Bridgewater’s team is the one in first place.
Bridgewater said Wednesday that he’s met Moon – just once – at the Kentucky Derby.
“He’s a great guy, dresses nice,” Bridgewater told reporters. “He cleans up well. I’m familiar with everything about Warren Moon. I’ve heard so much about him.”
