Former NFL QB Weinke Praises Christian Ponder

As Christian Ponder prepares to make his second NFL start for the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, one of the men who helped prepare him for the NFL is explaining what makes Ponder such a promising prospect.

Chris Weinke was a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback for Florida State who went on to a largely unremarkable seven-year NFL career.  He's now the director of the IMG Madden Football Academy, training youth football players -- and also running camps for NFL prospects. Ponder was one of the prospects who worked with Weinke, and he spoke to Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports' Shutdown Corner blog about his impressions of the rookie QB:

Christian's a smart guy — he's probably one of the smartest guys in the draft this year. He understands the position, and he's smart enough to understand and make little subtle changes that will gain an edge for him. But I've said all along, and had been quoted early on even before the draft, that he was one of the most prepared quarterbacks to make that jump from college to the NFL because of his mental makeup and his mental capacity.