Tarvaris Jackson Ranked Dead Last In ESPN SportsNation QB Poll

Internet polls are generally not worth the paper they’re not actually printed on. For one thing, people tend to cheat – the Internet sort of inspires that. Ballot-stuffing is not something people usually get to experience outside of a Chicago political race, so they indulge themselves. And for another thing…let’s face it, people are sheep. Most of what they know about anything they get from talk radio, so the poll results end up just reflecting those endlessly regurgitated opinions. Some dude heard Mark Schlereth say something on Mike & Mike – so it’s basically one idiot parroting another (don’t tell Schlereth I called him an idiot).

I say all of this in preface to the following – that ESPN SportsNation is polling the fans on their opinion of the 32 probable starting QBs for the up-coming season, and the Vikes’ very own up-and-comer Tarvaris Jackson is currently running in 32nd place (that’s dead-last for the slow among you). The results so far, courtesy of The Daily Norseman.

1. Peyton Manning
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Carson Palmer
5. Donovan McNabb
6. Matt Hasselbeck
7. Brett Favre
8. Philip Rivers
9. Marc Bulger
10. Vince Young
11. Ben Roethlisberger
12. Steve McNair
13. Michael Vick
14. Tony Romo
15. Chad Pennington
16. Jake Delhomme
17. Trent Green
18. Matt Leinart
19. Eli Manning
20. Jeff Garcia
21. Alex Smith
22. Jay Cutler
23. Byron Leftwich
24. Jon Kitna
25. Matt Schaub
26. Daunte Culpepper
27. Mark Brunell
28. JaMarcus Russell
29. J.P. Losman
30. Rex Grossman
31. Charlie Frye
32. Tarvaris Jackson

The poll is of course worthless, for the reasons outlined above and others. Tarvaris could turn out to be fantastic – or he could turn out to stink so abysmally that 32nd among 32 might seem an over-estimation. The only interesting thing about the results is what they say about people’s perceptions of the 32 men that are listed. That Peyton Manning is the best QB in the league is a given (Brady has Gisele though so nah nah Peyton). McNabb and Hasselbeck running 5 and 6 tells me that people either aren’t worried about their injuries or have forgotten that they were injured. Viking fans of course will snicker at Favre being 8 and Daunte Littlehandspepper being 26 – rolling their eyes in knowing bemusement at the first and feeling giddy with validation at the second.

To be honest, there’s nothing particularly unfair about Tarvaris being ranked last – should he really be higher than Charlie Frye or (ha ha) Rex Grossman? Grossman went to the Super Bowl, for gosh sakes. And Charlie Frye – um, he plays for the Browns right? And what about J.P. Losman at 29 – everybody keeps talking this guy up like he’s something, but the fans apparently didn’t get the memo.

As for T-Jack, this poll tells us only what we already knew – that he’s raw and green and still hasn’t put himself on the map. I’d like to boldly predict, as Gonzo does on the Norseman, that Tarvaris will wind up making the haters eat their words, but I’m afraid the jury’s still out on that, and will be for some time.