The season is still long from over, but the way I see it, given the harshness of the schedule, that's a lot of suffering for the Vikings and Ponder.
I still think the team can compete if they can get up on the teams early, and pound the ball, but the fact of getting up on a team and staying there is a distant thought given how poorly Ponder has been leading the offense.
Do I think they'll dump Ponder if they don't win a game the rest of the way? Hard to say, really. I think a lot of it will depend on where they finish, and how a couple other teams - Buffalo and St Louis - finish out. There are some HUGE top end QBs coming out of college this upcoming season... Landry Jones (OU), Matt Barkley (USC), Geno Smith (WVU), Tajh Boyd (CLEM), Aaron Murray (UGA) and Collin Klein (KSU).
Do the Vikings see any of them as franchise QBs? Do I?
I don't see Barkley or Jones as NFL caliber QBs. Both are too fragile mentally, and Barkley maybe the most overrated of all QBs in college.
Geno Smith is one hell of a hybrid kind of player. But, we seen this with Pat White... does it translate to NFL style offenses? Not really. Although he does have a hell of an arm. It's just a matter of how many throws can he complete from under center? And can he truly go through a pass progression?
Tajh Boyd... same situation as Geno, IMO.
Collin Klein... is he the next Tim Tebow or Eric Crouch? Or is he going to be a dual threat like
Cam Newton in the first season - where he's going to do it all?
Aaron Murray... appears to be solid as an NFL ready QB. Imagine two UGA quarterbacks in the North division (Matthew Stafford in Detroit being the other). Tyler Wilson in Arkansas appears to be a darkhorse. EJ Manuel in FSU is another option.
I think there are good options out there... and much better, at the college level, than Christian Ponder was.