Bridgewater’s Deep Ball Gets Praise from Norv Turner

Teddy Bridgewater’s deep ball looks good. Eat your heart out, draftniks.

Bridgewater’s long ball, one of the reasons the Louisville quarterback’s draft stock plummeted before he graced the stage of Radio City Music Hall, has been the attribute that has impressed Norv Turner the most so far, according to Fox Sports North.

“One of the things that has been the most impressive to me is, I knew he’d be very accurate, I knew he’d make great decisions, quick decisions, but he’s been outstanding throwing the ball deep, which some people thought that was going to be an issue,” Turner told Fox Sports North. “I think in the six or eight weeks we’ve had him on the field, I think he’s been put in a position where he’s had to make most of the throws he would have to make and I think he can make all the throws he needs to make.”

While a couple of OTA and minicamp workouts shouldn’t convert everyone to Bridgewater believers, it sure sounds like the rookie has made a quick impression on his offensive coordinator. And when that offensive coordinator has been around the block of few times with a Hall of Fame signal caller and a sure-fire future Hall of Famer, those comments shouldn’t be taken as pure smoke.

Bridgewater has a real shot of starting right away his rookie season if the coaching staff continues to make comments like this. Every indication out of Winter Park has been that we’ll have a real quarterback competition this summer, and the best man will ultimately, win.

The tie may end up going to the veteran, especially because the Vikings season starts out pretty tough, but if Bridgewater can continue to impress the coaching staff could be confident that the rookie can handle a few down moments early in the season.

Plus, the coaching staff may be more concerned with where Bridgewater can be rather than where he’s at, because it already looks like the rookie has been improving on the fly early in his pro career.

Teddy’s got his shot. We just have to see if he’ll roll with it.