DAUNTE’S INFERNO

Daunte Culpepper insists he doesn’t feel the pressure of being the new starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. And even if he did, he sure looks as if he could handle it.

At 6-foot-4 and 265 pounds, he’s got the body of a defensive end, not the latest player who will direct Dennis Green’s potent offense.

“I don’t think anybody’s ever seen a quarterback that big,” said Vikings offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis, who helped tutor Steve Young and Brett Favre. “Daunte’s strong, he’s muscular, and he can move pretty good, too.”

Can beefy blend with brisk in the NFL?

“But I’m fast! I always have been fast,” said Culpepper, the Vikings’ much-maligned top pick out of Central Florida who spent last year on the sideline. “I feel the stronger I get, the quicker I’m going to be.”

He might just be running for his life.

Pro Bowl linemen Randall McDaniel and Jeff Christy are now protecting another young quarterback in Tampa Bay, part of Green’s offseason purge that included half his coaching staff and half a dozen starters.

In their place are Corbin Lacina and Matt Birk, owners of only slightly more experience than Culpepper, who took all of three snaps in his rookie year.

Culpepper, whose next NFL pass will be his first, emerged from Minnesota’s offseason of musical chairs as the starting quarterback after Dan Marino, Jeff George and Randall Cunningham all rejected cut-rate offers to throw to the league’s top tandem, Cris Carter and Randy Moss.

Few quarterbacks have ever entered their first season as a starter with such pressure.

This isn’t Cincinnati, Cleveland, Chicago or Philadelphia, where down-and-out teams tested rookie quarterbacks and began taking their lumps together last year.

Although the clock is ticking on Minnesota’s Super Bowl aspirations, the Vikings still appear to have enough talent to contend.

And that’s exactly what makes Culpepper so cocky.

“I don’t have the weight of the world on my shoulders because I’ve got a lot of great guys around me,” he said. “Cris and Randy, I’ll put them up against anybody in the game. Robert Smith? I feel we’re loaded on offense.”

Including quarterback.

“I’ve never been one to doubt myself,” Culpepper said. “You’ve got to be confident and cocky.”

Before taking on his critics and opponents in the fall, Culpepper is spending his time proving himself to his teammates, especially Carter and Moss, who both pleaded publicly for George’s return.

Both have been diplomatic since Green promoted Culpepper, whom he selected ahead of defensive end Jevon Kearse in last year’s draft, much to the chagrin of John Randle and legions of Vikings fans fed up with postseason failure.

Culpepper looked confused last preseason and that’s the only image many people have of him.

“I know why people doubt me, because they haven’t really seen me play, except for the preseason. But I learned a lot watching Jeff and Randall play last year,” Culpepper said. “I’m going to show people that Denny Green did the right thing by drafting me ahead of Jevon Kearse. By the time this is over, I’m going to make sure people are saying that.”

Just in case they aren’t, the Vikings hired Bubby Brister as his backup.

Carter and Moss can be a quarterback’s harshest critics--just ask Cunningham. The quarterback found new life in Minnesota two years ago, but after sideline squawking from the receivers he found himself spiraling toward the bench just six games into his new $28 million contract last season. Last month he was released and signed by Dallas.

But for now, both receivers are being politically correct about Culpepper.

“Hopefully, it won’t affect Daunte when I say, ‘Yes, I’ll probably miss Jeff,”’ Moss said. “But I like Daunte. And I told him since he got here that whenever you get your chance to step in, you’ve got to make it happen. Now he has his chance.”

Moss could earn a couple of million dollars in bonuses this year if he makes the Pro Bowl in a crowded NFC field that includes Carter, Antonio Freeman, Keyshawn Johnson and Isaac Bruce.

“I don’t really see a weakness. He’s not weak,” Moss said. “He’s not lacking strength in his arm, the ball or anything like that.”

Of course, he hasn’t faced a real pass rusher yet, either.

“He was throwing against air, so if you can’t beat air, you can’t beat anybody,” Carter said. “He’s got a good arm. He’s definitely improved drastically since last season. I think he’s far more relaxed and he understands what we’re trying to do. He realizes he’s going to make some mistakes. But over the long haul, we’re going to be all right.”