TENINCH Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Christian Ponder - 12th overall pick or Matt Kalil - 4th overall pick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 I don't think this is a contest...Kalil is clearly the bigger disappointment. Everyone and their mother knew that Ponder was over-drafted (probably should have been a late 1st-early 2nd rd pick) and should have sat for a year or 2 minimum. As a #4 overall pick and after the rookie year he had, we expected to not have to replace our LT for a decade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gnat Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 It's really tough, I lean towards Ponder because QB is a slightly bigger deal. However, Kalil was drafted higher. I think they I'd lean towards Ponder is that Kalil did have a single solid year as a rookie prior to injuries, but that might make him feel like he's even more a bust, because we saw that he could be good. So now I'm leaning towards Kalil, but it's very close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Easily Kalil. You cant blame a player for where they are selected, and Ponder was never a 1st round talent. And never should have been drafted at 12. His failure was bad because of the position he played, but he pretty much played at the level that he was touted at coming out of college. Kalil was a legit top 5 caliber prospect, and true cornerstone left tackle prospect who dominated in college. He failed in the NFL because of attitude and effort. I'm still surprised that the 2011 draft didn't cost Spielman his job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 The 2011 draft was still under the Triangle of Authority organizational set-up. That was probably the impetus for him getting full control of the organization in 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 That's tough. Personally, It's Ponder because I thought he was going to be one of the best QBs in the league and be one of the best for a long time. I thought he was going to be a sort of underdog, where he outproduces the 3 QBs taken ahead of him and never look back. I just expected Kalil to dominate day 1. He was a safer, less of a story kind of player. For me, its Ponder, but I get why others say Kalil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshpit23 Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Hands down Kalil. I was so impressed with his rookie year and the future at left tackle. I remembered thinking we had our blind side guy for the next 10+ years. I'm still disappointed he couldn't turn it around. I will always wonder what exactly happened to turn Kalil from 'pro bowl caliber' player in 2012 to one of the worst LT's in the league. Was it a weight issue, undisclosed injuries, motivation or a combination of several factors? As far as Ponder being a disappointment, as others have said, he got drafted way too high. He should've been drafted in the second round, and in hindsight, no earlier than the 5-7th rounds. I always had hoped he would prove me wrong and become our QBOTF. It wasn't the case. He was who we thought he was. The best thing about Ponder was his wife ;). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 For me it's Kalil. And the disappointment to me, is not in HIM, but in the injuries that he sustained. I still believe that he was drafted correctly. I still think his rookie year was justification for the draft position. But, when a tackle sustains injuries to both knees, his hips and his back in relatively compressed period of time, he couldn't live up to the potential. Ponder was drafted WAAAAAAAAAAY early. I had hope that he would turn into a decent quarterback, but he never really impressed me in college. A lot of us never had too high expectations of Ponder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywindO2 Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 I'm gonna go with Kalil, if only because the expectations I had for him after his rookie season were significantly higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CriminalMind Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Kalil by a large margin. Why? He was the 4th pick and was allegedly going to be the next great LT in the league. Ponder was a 12th pick and was expected to be below average (and he was). I didn't want to select either of them, as I preferred Caliborne (Kalil) and Fairly (Ponder). Staying with Kalil this long (longer then Ponder), potential hurt us more by not identifying he was a lost cause, and we might have lost out on putting a better offer to other LT targets earlier such as Osmele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marshpit23 Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 Yeah, not sure if I wanted Kalil or Claiborne in 2012. Of the top 10 in this class, only Luck and Kuechly have lived up to their draft position. I guess Gilmore and Tannehill could be considered decent, but wow, what terrible top 10 collectively. 1. Andrew Luck-Has played up to his draft position 2. Robert Griffin 3. Trent Richardson 4. Matt Kalil 5. Justin Blackmon 6. Mo Claiborne 7. Mark Barron 8. Ryan Tannehill ?? 9. Luke Kuechly-Has played up to his draft position 10. Stephon Gilmore ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SemperFeist Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 All 3 players that were being debated amongst Vikings fans turned out to be busts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikingsrule Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Definitely Kalil. He was viewed as a blue chip prospect (Ponder was not) and was a very good player early on in his career (Ponder was never good). Kalil's regression was mostly due to health and perhaps lack of interest. Ponder wasn't a very good QB in college, didn't have the prototypical skill set, and crumbled under duress. His failure wasn't as much of a dissapointment in my eyes because I didn't have high expectations. I thought Kalil could have been a quality seven to ten year starter after watching how he performed early on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vikes_Bolts1228 Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 Kalil for me. Although QB is the bigger position, Kalil's rookie year was phenomenal. He showed he was going to be a top-3 OT in the league for YEARS to come and got our hopes up pretty big. But as we know, he never lived up to his first season which makes him a bigger disappointment because we knew he had it in him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted August 11, 2017 Share Posted August 11, 2017 I think the question should be "Kalil v. Treadwell" at this point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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