The Vikings are going with Christian Ponder at quarterback tonight. Teddy Bridgewater (ankle) is inactive.
This isn’t a big surprise, but serves as a reminder that it’s probably best to stay away from Minnesota’s pass catchers.
Jarius Wright had that big game against Atlanta, but he has no value now. And Ponder has long had problems connecting on deep throws, so we wouldn’t be excited about starting Greg Jennings or Cordarrelle Patterson. Jennings, recall, was far more effective last year when Ponder WASN’T in the lineup.
Relative to where we ranked them on Wednesday, Jennings, Patterson and Wright should fall by about 5 percent.
The blow isn’t as severe for the running backs, Matt Asiata and Jerick McKinnon, but note that Ponder is a running quarterback, so he’s a little more likely to run in touchdowns around the goal line on his own. He scored 4 TDs in his 8 full games last year.
Vikings are also going without linebacker Chad Greenway.
For the Packers, Jarrett Boykin is inactive. This means that Davante Adams will be their No. 3 receiver this week. And in that offense, the No. 3 is out there on almost every play. As well as Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb played last week, this could be a game where they start working in some other targets this week. I’d say there’s a very good chance that either Adams or tight end Andrew Quarless catches a touchdown in this game.
This Adams idea, however, isn’t new. He was projected appropriately in the Wednesday product – we were figuring at that time that Boykin wouldn’t play.
—Ian Allan