Jan 5, 2013; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers linebacker Dezman Moses (54) puts pressure on Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joe Webb (14) during the 4th quarter of the NFC Wild Card playoff game at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
The rumors had been swirling for a while about Joe Webb moving from Quarterback to Wide Receiver. Finally, 1500ESPN’s Tom Pellisero confirmed the move today in a tweet.
Tom Pelissero @TomPelissero : “Per @SidHartman it’s official: Joe Webb is now a receiver. No surprise given what he told me a couple weeks ago. He was preparing. #Vikings”
Although this may not be groundbreaking information to fans who have been following Webb’s journey in Minnesota, two interesting developments can be taken away from this.
First, this means that the competition in camp for Quarterback is thinner. Behind Christian Ponder and Matt Cassel, there are only two signal callers left to compete for the third spot. Those two gentleman are Iowa rookie James Vandenberg and last year’s third string Quarterback, McLeod Bethel-Thompson. This is a competition that Bethel-Thompson should win fairly easily since he beat out a solid veteran in Sage Rosenfels last year for the job.
Second, Webb will face stiff competition for a spot at Wide Receiver. It is a given that Greg Jennings, Cordarelle Patterson, Jarius Wright and Jerome Simpson are locks to make the team. That leaves Webb to compete with guys like Stephen Burton, Rodney Smith, Adam Thielen, Erik Highsmith, Chris Summers, LaMark Brown, and maybe even Greg Childs. He will have to be seriously impressive at camp to take a roster spot from one of those hungry young players.
Time can only tell if changing Joe Webb’s position works out for the team, but for now at least we know for sure which position he will be fighting for.