With Teddy Bridgewater lost for the season after suffering a serious knee injury in practice earlier this week, the Minnesota Vikings found themselves in a desperate situation at quarterback. The options included starting Shaun Hill or find someone on either the trade or free-agent market.
That's exactly what Minnesota did on Saturday, acquiring Sam Bradford from the Philadelphia Eagles for a first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and a fourth-round pick in 2018.
The fantasy impact of this blockbuster trade is by now well known. We had covered exactly what we viewed the Minnesota Vikings to look like from a fantasy perspective when Bridgewater went down. Now that the team has added a legitimate starter in Bradford, things have changed.
First off, Minnesota won't be forced to run Adrian Peterson into the ground this season. We were previously looking at the team having to rely on him pretty much like it did when Christian Ponder was under center back 2012. That season saw Peterson lead the NFL in carries with 348.
Interestingly enough, Peterson also led the NFL in attempts with Teddy acting as his backfield partner last season.
That's the first important thing to note here. Let's not treat Bridgewater like he was some sort of an All Pro quarterback last season. Here's a guy that threw for just 3,231 yards and 14 touchdowns in 16 starts. He's being replaced by a guy in Bradford that put up 1,500 more yards and five more scores last season.
What does this all mean? Peterson should still be one of the top two or three running backs off the board for those of you who waited until after the preseason slate to draft. Though, we'd now caution against assuming that he's going to be asked to attempt 25 carries per game now. That might have been the case if Hill or Joel Stave was under center. It most definitely won't be with Bradford tossing the ball.
Secondly, we also must note that Bradford himself isn't necessarily a top-10 quarterback in this league. He's never thrown more than 21 touchdowns in a single season and is coming off just his second season with 3,500-plus passing yards. These aren't tremendous numbers in today's NFL. They definitely aren't numbers that make him fantasy relevant.
Much like every quarterback, we have to look outside the basic numbers to gauge Bradford. It's in this that it must be noted he's never had the coaching staff or supporting cast to succeed, first in St. Louis and then again last season in Philly.
This will change heading into the 2016 campaign. Bradford will boast this generation's top running back and a receiving core capable of doing big things. Having Stefon Diggs and Laquon Treadwell at receiver will help him big time, as will being able to target tight end Kyle Rudolph.
Despite his less-than-stellar supporting cast last season, Bradford was still able to help his pass catchers become somewhat fantasy relevant. Jordan Matthews caught 85 passes for 998 yards and eight scores. Meanwhile, Zach Ertz finished with 75 receptions for 853 yards. This should most definitely be good news for those of you who bought stock in Diggs and Rudolph heading into the 2016 season.
The ultimate takeaway here is clear. Bradford is still nothing more than a bottom-rung QB2 option in 12-team leagues. Though, his addition does have an impact on other Vikings players. Peterson might be brought down a notch while both Diggs and Rudolph should put up stellar statistical numbers.
We'll check this deal out from an Eagles fantasy perspective later in the day.