Vikings OC Norv Turner has been around a while. He's been an NFL coach for the last 31 years and has spent the last 26 as either a head coach or offensive coordinator.
He's worked with quarterbacks in the "great" tier (Troy Aikman), "very good" tier (Philip Rivers) and "solid" tier (Alex Smith).
And yet Turner recently said Sam Bradford's vision "is as good as any QB I've ever coached."
"I just think you get excited about a guy and you make that statement," Turner said, per the Vikings' official site. "I believe it’s true. That doesn’t take away from someone else and the way they play the game. Sam, he can anticipate. He sees what’s happening out in front of people. He can relate back to you what he sees and most of the time he’s pretty accurate.”
High praise for the former Eagles signal-caller, who brings a 5-0 Vikings team into his return to the Linc this Sunday.
Bradford has carried last season's late success into 2016. He leads the NFL with a 70.4 percent completion rate. He's thrown six TDs in four games and averaged 247.5 yards. Among quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts, only Bradford and Chicago's Brian Hoyer have yet to throw an interception.
"It's pretty remarkable," Turner said. "Everyone knows the story. It’s really a tribute to him. His ability to prepare, his experiences. I think his past experiences in the league help him in this situation. And then I think it’s a lot of people that have helped to contribute to his success, whether it be coaches or other players."
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Turner has been especially impressed by Bradford's arm strength and ability to anticipate throws. The Vikings are missing Adrian Peterson and starting left tackle Matt Kalil, and yet Bradford has this offense humming more than Teddy Bridgewater did the last two years. Vikings fans thought their season was crumbling when Bridgewater tore up his knee right before Week 1. Turned out the Vikings may have gotten better.
"He’s very good at (throwing receivers open) because, as I’ve said, I think he sees the big picture awfully well," Turner said of Bradford. "Sometimes guys don’t have the ability to throw a guy open because they don’t know what’s happening somewhere else. They don’t see enough, a wide enough scope. So they’re afraid to get themselves in trouble throwing it to different spots."
Bradford hasn't been. He has some decent skill players in Stefon Diggs, Charles Johnson, Cordarrelle Patterson and tight end Kyle Rudolph, but he's also bringing the best out of them.
Bradford is under contract next season as well. That was an important factor in Minnesota's trade for him because the organization doesn't know how quickly Bridgewater will be able to return, or whether he'll even win the starting job back next summer. If Bradford keeps playing like this, perhaps he turns out to be the Vikings' QB of the future. And he's still just 28 years old.