Tarvaris Jackson

#7 Minnesota Vikings Quarterback

Tarvaris Jackson is a 2^nd year quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings Football team.  Going into the 2007 NFL season, it looks like Tarvaris Jackson will be the Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback.  Tarvaris Jackson is 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 232 pounds.  He has a strong arm and can run with the ball as well.  He has the ability to make big plays and is difficult to sack, given his athletic ability.  Tarvaris Jackson has been given the nicknames of T-Jack and Stonewall, the name coming form the legendary Civil War general Stonewall Jackson.

Tarvaris Jackson started his college football career at the University of Arkansas.  In his second year there, he suffered a shoulder injury and when his starting job was taken from him, he transferred to Division I-AA Alabama State.  Alabama State is located in Tarvaris Jackson’s hometown of Montgomery.  In his senior year, he passed for 2,655 yards and had 25 touchdown and only 5 interceptions.  In his three years at Alabama State, Tarvaris Jackson passed for 7,838 yards with 67 touchdowns and only 27 interceptions.

Leading up to the 2006 NFL Draft, Tarvaris Jackson played well in the East West Shrine Game.  NFL scouts were also impressed with his workouts at the scouting combine.  He had secret workouts for several teams in the NFL, Minnesota being one of them.  Tarvaris Jackson was projected to go in rounds 4-7, but the Vikings were high on him and traded two 3^rd round picks to move into the second round where Jackson was selected with the 64^th pick, the last selection of the 2^nd round.  Many were surprised by the pick as many analysts did not have Tarvaris Jackson in their top ten quarterbacks available, but he was the 5^th overall quarterback selected.  In July of 2006, Tarvaris Jackson signed a four-year deal with the Vikings and received $1 million signing bonus.  

In 2006, his rookie season, Tarvaris Jackson beat out two other quarterbacks for the Minnesota Vikings to earn the number two spot.  He played sparingly and only started two games at the end of the season.  For the 2006 NFL season, Jackson was 44 for 81 throwing for 475 years with 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.  The Vikings thought enough of Tarvaris Jackson during the off-season that they did not look for a marquee quarterback.  Tarvaris Jackson gives the Vikings a strong arm and mobility in and out of the pocket that they have not had since Daunte Culpepper.  The 2007 NFL season may be the coming out party of Tarvaris Jackson, as he is the projected starter and looks to get the Vikings back to the playoffs.