Will the Minnesota Vikings be in on the top quarterbacks in the 2017 NFL Draft with Teddy Bridgewater's return/recovery time uncertain?
With Teddy Bridgewater's injury has come a vast variety of reactions, and many still believe the Minnesota Vikings will be fine this season and even still able to contend without their starting quarterback.
Personally, I think this injury is detrimental to their playoff hopes, but the fact that it happened with right around two weeks until the regular season is at least providing some room for optimism.
Still, the devastation of this injury looms large for the Vikings' future at the position. Will Bridgewater make a full recovery? He's expected to, but this isn't a run-of-the-mill ACL tear. This was a full dislocation of the knee with more structural damage than any other ligament injury.
As Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com noted, it's probably going to force Vikings general manager Rick Spielman to go back to the drawing board next offseason. Perhaps he will look at the team's quarterback situation similar to that of the Dallas Cowboys this year, or perhaps they will be picking high enough that they can consider someone like Clemson star quarterback DeShaun Watson, who is generally considered the best quarterback potentially available in this year's class.
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Currently, NFLDraftScout.com has three quarterbacks with first round grades, including Watson, Miami's Brad Kaaya, and Ole Miss' Chad Kelly.
Seifert at ESPN argues that the Vikings can't count on Bridgewater's availability being certain for the 2017 season. It's a harsh assessment of the situation, but this early on, it's reasonable to think that the Vikings may have to look at other options at quarterback.
As a worst case scenario, the Vikings may consider using one of their top three picks in next year's draft on a quarterback just in case something were to happen. Just in case another injury were to arise, and -- heaven forbid -- Bridgewater is unable to play again next year.
It seems like an obvious statement to make, but the Vikings are certainly looking at an overhaul of the QB position next offseason, and it could include using a high draft pick on a quarterback.
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