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Two that come to mind are Testeverde and Alex Smith. Testeverde was a joke for years, but the last few years in the league, he was money. Alex Smith has a VERY similar track as Bradford. New OC or coach for years, then gets the same OC and HC for 2 years and is a biscuit away from the SB. He lost his job to an electric Kaepernick but now Kaepernick is struggling and Smith is riding high at 3-0 without a pick.
Testaverde was mediocre throughout his career. He led the league in INTs four times, including two of his last five years as a full-time starter. He had two decent years in his career, one in his first year in Baltimore (4173/33/19) and one in his first year in New York (3256/29/7). The fact that those both came in the first year with a new team suggests that the problem isn't the number of changes he had, the problem is that he's not very good. Same with Alex Smith; it is shocking that someone who has never thrown for 20 TDs in today's NFL still has a starting job in his eighth year in the league.
I expect both to be gone in the next 2 years. Bradford is owed like $30 million of non guaranteed money. No way they can spend that much money on him. And the way it's going now, they very well might have two top 5 picks in the draft. EASY to get one of the premier QB prospects with those picks...Craig_MiamiFL said:TheFanatic said:
I'll never understand why they time after time after time after time have Austin doing this right now.
Plenty of blame to go around for the Rams performance last night. I expect Bradford (again) to outlast the OC there.
chinawildman said:
The OC should be flamed before Bradford - the play calling is terrible and he (and the HC) should know that most quarterbacks - especially young quarterbacks get flustered in battle when things are going that bad
Tavon Austin in the right situation would be an incredible weapon. He might still be, if he's utilized correctly. Brian Shottenheimer is not the guy you bring in to run a creative, modern offense. He's awful.
There's lots of blame to go around but the fact is, St. L doesn't have as much talent on offense as anyone expected. Turd QB. Diarrhea at RB. Poo on the oline. Crap at WR. Asking any OC to turn this conglomerate of feces into gold is simply asking too much.chinawildman said:
Givens has really disappointed. All signs were pointing toward a nice year with a decent floor and high enough ceiling... but we seem stuck in the basement. So much for potential #1 WR numbers on a rising offenseRushmore said:
I think it's a little early to call the WR group "bad". The big problem with their WR group is that they don't have a veteran presence around. Givens, Austin, Pettis, Quick, etc. all are talented, but need they need that reliable veteran to pull the group together (and to help mentor the young guys).
I am still holding, but probably not for long. I still think Givens has the talent to be a star, but it just isn't playing out on the field for him; Pettis, Austin and Cook all seem to be better fantasy targets at the moment. If there is anything to remain encouraged by, it is that Givens is still being targeted fairly heavily, 7 times this week, and 8 targets each of the past 3 games.
Givens isn't going to "take over" this year, unless the Rams make a conscious effort to get him the ball. But honestly, many of his routes are deeper and take longer to develop, and Sam hasn't had that kind of time. Without time, Sam just throws quick slants, and keeps everything underneath. Throw in a paltry running game, and it's a recipe for a pretty bad offense. Jacksonville is an aberration that you can forget. The only positive is the possibility that the Jacksonville game gives them confidence and it carries over.
You're talking about three guys who were drafted in the past two seasons. Givens has already showed flashes, while Austin and Quick are still developing. Pettis has been in the league a little longer and is also showing flashes of at least being a solid receiver.
He's the #8 QB in my leagues scoring, ahead of Stafford, Eli, Newton, RG3, etc. and he's almost identical in scoring to Andrew Luck. I wouldn't exactly feel comfortable rolling him out ahead of those guys (other than maybe Eli), but the fact is, he's producing fairly well in terms of fantasy production.
The system is a good one for a QB. Volume alone brings some level of consistency, and he has enough talent around him to spike up a few really good games. Again, marginal or worse ROS in typical leagues, but a huge value for 2QB / Flex leagues
I am just waking and having coffee so my mind isn't clicking, but was trying to think of some QBs that got things rolling after 3 seasons. Was Bradshaw bad a few years then got the hang of it? Sad that is the only name I got. Who else?
I'd say he had a great season his rookie year and last year he was at least an average QB. This year he's doing his part. His team is more of the culprit than him. So what do we have here? Not many wins, but Sam himself is progressing and putting up a good deal of scores. More scores than the average NL QB. Very few interceptions. Yet somehow the Rams are not winning. There is no imagination in the system. Zero rb TD's and no RB plays over 15 yards. The defense is giving up 30 points a game.
He didn't have a great season his rookie year. He had superficially impressive numbers because he threw the ball more than anyone but Manning and Brees. His efficiency stats were poor. He was near the bottom in comp % and Y/A. You still want to blame his faults on other people? OK. That's what has been going on since he entered the league. I don't see people holding him to his draft position and contract. The contract is an obvious negative. I do see people holding him to the fact that he's a starting QB in this league and he's expected to play well, just like the other 31 starting QBs in this league.
And who was he throwing to? Amendola was his best WR. Catch short pass, fall down. Rinse and repeat. Brandon Gibson? Danario Alexander for a few games. Quick? A project that has yet to be completed. Mark Clayton had a nice few games before getting injured. Pettis? Salas? Kendrick's has never figured it out.
I also left out that he's 22nd in completion % and 32nd (!) in Y/A in QBs that have over 80 attempts this season. 32nd in yards per attempt. That is dog####.
He absolutely did have a good year FOR A ROOKIE. Very good rd to int ratio and he took a 1-15 TEAM and immediately turned them into a 7-9 team. It wasn't the coaching staff that made them win. They were immediately fired. Steven Jackson had 3 yrs that year. The defense was terrible. And if you just want to look at the stats, he had a historic rookie year.
It's nothing that hasn't been said, but you have good thoughts here. I never said it was all on him. I'm just talking about the results here. The problem is that it doesn't matter his circumstances are poor (are they that bad right now? ehhhh). A QB that has regular poor performances and failed expectations eventually gets fired. I don't know how long Bradford has, but the reasons for Bradford failing expectations matter less than that the failed expectations exist.
Okay, for a rookie. Glad we have those stipulations. I wouldn't have responded to that if it was stated clearly in the first place.
Since you don't know the whole picture let me explain it for you. Through 5 games the Rams have 31 dropped balls. That is essentially a full games worth of catches. The next team has 22. According to Howard Balzer, the Rams are on pace to shatter the drop record by the equivalent of two games. That is why his percentage is down and that is why no balls are being thrown downfield.
You can ding Bradford for only going underneath and volume stats if he had a choice. He's doing what he's told and getting the job done.
I'm trying to make this impersonal about Bradford. I know he doesn't have a good team around him. My judgement is not with him as a QB, it's with the fantasy product he produces.
just thought it was odd you would neglect to mention he is top 10 or borderline, when that is most obvious reason people would continue to hold him?
they got to 7-9 last year also, after being a laughing stock previous year...
That might have something to do with the fact that he was the QB when they were a laughingstock, and played horribly.
the point i was trying to make, obviously not well, was he gets bashed when they do poorly, but no credit the two times they got to near .500, and seemingly had no business doing so.
), do you give him any credit for those seasons, or none?
