While most experts believe the Vikings need a backup quarterback other than Joe Webb, Spielman won't hold his bad performance in the playoffs at Green Bay against him, insisting he likes Webb in the role.
"Joe has been a very good backup quarterback," Spielman said. "I'm sure, as everybody has seen, that he probably didn't play the way he wanted to play up in Green Bay. But if you look into his history, that's what you have to do, the things he did when he came into the Washington game a year ago, what he did in Detroit the game Christian got hurt, what he did in Philadelphia when we got stuck two years ago.
"Joe has done a very good job for us in that backup situation. But he just didn't probably play as well as he wanted to play, and overall we didn't play as well as we needed to play up in Green Bay that night."
Spielman also likes the future of third-string quarterback McLeod Bethel-Thompson, who didn't see any action this season.
"Bethel was a UFL kid, got a big arm, a lot of promise," Spielman said. "Coaches did a great job working with him through training camp. He flashed some of the ability that he has in that last preseason game against Houston and really has made some progress."
But Spielman said the QBs and all the others players will be evaluated, and he reiterated his belief in building a winner through the draft.
"I still believe in how you build a foundation for your football team and keep it competitive year in and year out is developing your draft picks and hitting on draft picks every year," he said. "Those are the guys that you're going to build your core football team with. If you can sprinkle in free agents here or there, you never know ... but for the most part, we're always going to try to build through the draft. Then as our guys eventually come out of their rookie contracts, those are the guys you want to keep because those are the guys, I think, that you know the best."
Source: Star-Tribune
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January 18, 2013
