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Sam Bradford (1 Viewer)

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sycamore

Footballguy
I realize 2011 was a catastrophe and all, but they now have a competent head coach and still have an above-average running game. I have no doubt the line will be improved, especially under a coach as good as any in the game. Yes, the receivers are atrocious, but he threw for 3,500 yards and 18 TDs as a rookie with awful receivers. I just find it hard to believe he won't show improvement on that rookie season, which means he won't be the 25th most productive QB in the league that many of the rankings I've seen have him pegged. I'm pretty confident I'd rather have him than Andrew Luck, Joe Flacco or Jake Locker. Maybe he's several years away from 4,000 yards and 25 TDs, but I also don't think it's that far fetched for him to do it.

In Peyton Manning's rookie year, in 575 attempts, he threw 28 interceptions. Bradford's rookie year, in 590 attempts, he threw 15. With a better completion percentage, 60 to 56. Why does everyone have such a short memory with this guy?

 
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25th is certainly low, but he needs some weapons to be a good fantasy QB. There is a lot of youth at WR on the roster, but nothing proven. Tough schedule this year, 3rd system in 3 years, young receivers, iffy offensive line... I like Bradford a lot more in 2013 and beyond for fantasy.

 
Amendola back will certainly help, but Bradford needs a legit #1 option.

I love Bradford's talent. Even think keeping him (over RG3) was the right move [just on a talent-for-talent standpoint]. He just needs a receiving weapon. Quick & Pead are nice starts, but the fact we're going on Year 3 of talking Brandon Gibson as a starting WR is an absolute joke. I thought they should have bid on the Baylor WR in the supplemental draft too.

JMO Steve Smith, Salas or Pettis aren't answers at outside WR. Perhaps one eventually presents an upgrade over Amendola in the slot, but they're still starving for talent at WR.

 
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'Craig_MiamiFL said:
Amendola back will certainly help, but Bradford needs a legit #1 option.I love Bradford's talent. Even think keeping him (over RG3) was the right move [just on a talent-for-talent standpoint]. He just needs a receiving weapon. Quick & Pead are nice starts, but the fact we're going on Year 3 of talking Brandon Gibson as a starting WR is an absolute joke. I thought they should have bid on the Baylor WR in the supplemental draft too.JMO Steve Smith, Salas or Pettis aren't answers at outside WR. Perhaps one eventually presents an upgrade over Amendola in the slot, but they're still starving for talent at WR.
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I'm cautiously optimistic about Quick and Smith gives them a good veteran presence, a good mentor and depth in the slot. The strength of the St. Louis passing offense may depend a lot on the rookie WR.
 
i am a rams homer and bradford has looked great in camp so far, but there is no freakin way i would touch him as a ff qb yet. Bradford is the real deal, he just needs better protection and a true #1. Quick is looking great too. He should help along with Smith and a healthy Amendola.

 
In a start 2-QB league threw out Bradford and Flacco.

There was a reason I didn't make the playoffs in that league.

 
I don't think there's a world of difference in the QBs ranked 18-25 and I'd guess neither do the people making those rankings.

 
I think there's a cliff at about QB23 - depends how you feel about Carson vs. Locker vs. Freeman vs. Fitz vs. Dalton vs. Flacco vs. the rookies, so I'm very surprised to see Bradford on the bad side of that cliff. I understand anyone ranking Bradford behind all of those guys, redraft-wise anyway, but really can't see justifying anyone else. Maybe Flynn. Still, surprised to see a consensus have him that low since he can be argued anywhere between #15 and #24.

I've sold low in both of my dyno's because I think his ceiling may be capped with a Fisher/Marty Jr. run offense but he was my 3rd string on both (Rivers/RG3, Romo/Luck) and I needed upgrades elsewhere. In the end, I'm more worried about his ankle than his weapons, if he's healthy he's a damn good QB.

 
I think Fisher may be just the guy to harness his skills, combine what mediocre targets he has to work with, and turn him into a good little NFL-level game manager.

But when did a Fisher team ever produce big numbers out of the QB slot? Even the MVP-caliber McNair years, he was barely top ten in terms of fantasy passing numbers. Made up for it a bit with pretty good rushing, but are we counting on Bradford for that?

I like his skills, and he think he can be really successful running that team for Fisher, but I think his upside in Fisher's world is going to resemble last year's Alex Smith a lot more than fantasy players would hope. And that might be a year away, even if all goes well. I think Bradford has more physical talent than Smith (though Smith's no slouch), but I don't think he's going to be put in a position to highlight it.

I think a "good" season out of him this year would probably look a lot like 3200/20/10.

And while those numbers wouldn't merit a #25 finish, that gets offset a bit because you WANT to rank other guys higher than "safe" players with mediocre ceilings, pre-season, if there's a chance they could do significantly better than that...even though many probably won't. Because 3200/20/10 may well be #15 or so by year's end, but if you go in settling for that, your season is over before it starts. Safe mediocrity always gets discounted in FF. Or, it should, anyway.

So I've got no real problem with the ranking. Maybe a hair low, but firmly in the "nothing to see here" range, where he belongs.

 
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'MAC_32 said:
I think there's a cliff at about QB23 - depends how you feel about Carson vs. Locker vs. Freeman vs. Fitz vs. Dalton vs. Flacco vs. the rookies, so I'm very surprised to see Bradford on the bad side of that cliff. I understand anyone ranking Bradford behind all of those guys, redraft-wise anyway, but really can't see justifying anyone else. Maybe Flynn. Still, surprised to see a consensus have him that low since he can be argued anywhere between #15 and #24.

I've sold low in both of my dyno's because I think his ceiling may be capped with a Fisher/Marty Jr. run offense but he was my 3rd string on both (Rivers/RG3, Romo/Luck) and I needed upgrades elsewhere. In the end, I'm more worried about his ankle than his weapons, if he's healthy he's a damn good QB.
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He is moving around well. The ankle is fine. He is showing lots of zip on ball with great accuracy. The dude has loads of talent. Fisher just raves about him.

 
Bradford will have some good games this year, for the same reason Flynn will.

It is all about schedule. And St. Louis (like Seattle) is playing some terrible pass defense teams (at least by last years stats)

I have not matched St.Louis/Seattle schedule up, but if I was in the market for playing matchups, I would seriously consider those two. Also could be great plays in best ball kind of formats - likely to be cheap, and also likely to score well (at least one of them each week)

 
'bulger2holt said:
'MAC_32 said:
I think there's a cliff at about QB23 - depends how you feel about Carson vs. Locker vs. Freeman vs. Fitz vs. Dalton vs. Flacco vs. the rookies, so I'm very surprised to see Bradford on the bad side of that cliff. I understand anyone ranking Bradford behind all of those guys, redraft-wise anyway, but really can't see justifying anyone else. Maybe Flynn. Still, surprised to see a consensus have him that low since he can be argued anywhere between #15 and #24.

I've sold low in both of my dyno's because I think his ceiling may be capped with a Fisher/Marty Jr. run offense but he was my 3rd string on both (Rivers/RG3, Romo/Luck) and I needed upgrades elsewhere. In the end, I'm more worried about his ankle than his weapons, if he's healthy he's a damn good QB.
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He is moving around well. The ankle is fine. He is showing lots of zip on ball with great accuracy. The dude has loads of talent. Fisher just raves about him.
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Good to read, I had read his ankle was still bothering him in July and was concerned he still wasn't recovered.
 
Been wondering about this. So far Bradford's career track has reminded me the most of Manning's.... Archie, I mean (same No. 8 too).

The WR & TE situation has seemed awful but it also seems to have improved with the draft and free agency.

Does anyone know who the new Rams OC will be and what kind of system we can expect from him?

 
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Its kinda immaterial, unless you're in a 2QB league or thinking about dynasty, Bradford is going to be pretty much unstartable (though not undraftable). To me he's a by week fill in if you have an elite QB and dont want to burn another pick on a more likely backup. If Brees or Brady gets hurt youre pretty much done anyway, so you wont be shocked. Does it really matter if he's ranked QB18 or QB25?

 
Seems about right to me. So far some of the surrounding names are ones I'd MUCH rather have as a starter. He has some upside, but not enough to easily pass all the rest of the guys in his "tier" (i.e. the bottom).

 
My concern is can he the line give him a pocket and does he have at least an inkling of that Tom Brady presence to stand in there with confidence. Alex Smith comparison is just wrong. Smith struggled to complete 50 percent of his passes until his 4th season.

He's got the superior arm strength and accuracy to be a 25-year-old Brady who makes his wide receivers play better than they are. Brady turned Troy Brown into a 100-catch receiver. If Bradford has those elite qualities then we should see him make these young nobody receivers better.

Yeah Brandon Gibson is Brandon Gibson but Troy Brown had caught 137 passes in 6 years in the NFL. Brady's first three full seasons, Brown averaged 94 rec/season. David Patten also emerged under Brady. Just sayin, we'll start to see him make Brandon Gibson and Brian Quick productive if he's worth what we thought two years ago.

I view the new coaching staff as a plus, even though I am a little concerned Fisher would try to give Jackson the ball 350 times like he did when Eddie George was 29. I think it would be wise for JF to try to prolong the life of his workhorse this time around and let Bradford air it out. Jackson's good for 500 receiving yards and maybe he can spread another 3,200 or so between Amendola and these other guys.

Someone said 20 TDs, 10 ints..... that with 3,700 yards is probably his 2012 ceiling. I just like Bradford as a No. 2 QB to target, especially in a keeper format since as other guys have posted, his breakout season is more likely to be in 2013 or so.

 
'SaintsInDome2006 said:
Been wondering about this. So far Bradford's career track has reminded me the most of Manning's.... Archie, I mean (same No. 8 too).The WR & TE situation has seemed awful but it also seems to have improved with the draft and free agency.Does anyone know who the new Rams OC will be and what kind of system we can expect from him?
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Bradford doesn't really have a career track yet. All I'm saying is his rookie year was great in comparison to a lot of great QBs. Only played 10 games last year and a few of them were playing with a weak ankle.
 
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'sycamore said:
My concern is can he the line give him a pocket and does he have at least an inkling of that Tom Brady presence to stand in there with confidence. Alex Smith comparison is just wrong. Smith struggled to complete 50 percent of his passes until his 4th season. He's got the superior arm strength and accuracy to be a 25-year-old Brady who makes his wide receivers play better than they are. Brady turned Troy Brown into a 100-catch receiver. If Bradford has those elite qualities then we should see him make these young nobody receivers better. Yeah Brandon Gibson is Brandon Gibson but Troy Brown had caught 137 passes in 6 years in the NFL. Brady's first three full seasons, Brown averaged 94 rec/season. David Patten also emerged under Brady. Just sayin, we'll start to see him make Brandon Gibson and Brian Quick productive if he's worth what we thought two years ago. I view the new coaching staff as a plus, even though I am a little concerned Fisher would try to give Jackson the ball 350 times like he did when Eddie George was 29. I think it would be wise for JF to try to prolong the life of his workhorse this time around and let Bradford air it out. Jackson's good for 500 receiving yards and maybe he can spread another 3,200 or so between Amendola and these other guys.Someone said 20 TDs, 10 ints..... that with 3,700 yards is probably his 2012 ceiling. I just like Bradford as a No. 2 QB to target, especially in a keeper format since as other guys have posted, his breakout season is more likely to be in 2013 or so.
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For redraft, I think Bradford is pretty accurately valued. There simply isn't enough upside in St. L to place him much higher this year IMO. For dynasty, I think he's being a it undervalued. If St. L can ever bring in a top WR then he could vastly improve in fantasy.As a side note,I think Bradford regressed last year for more reasons than just the St. L Oline. I felt his rookie year was decent, but his efficiency was also driven by some extremely conservative play calling and offensive scheme. St. L did a great job of minimizing things and protecting him through play calling and scheme IMO. That led to a pretty inflated valuation going into 2011. Last season, the play book was extended and he struggled with it. Bradford looked lost in the pocket on many occasions and helped feed the Olines problems. For me, I'm still a bit unsure just how good Bradford can be in the NFL despite the shortcomings of his surrounding players. He's accurate and can make the throws you want from an NFL QB but he forced a lot of throws last year and didn't go through his reads many times. Most of all he looked unsettled in the pocket far too often, even when it was still there. Maybe he simply lost confidence in the players around him, which isn't hard to understand. With an off-season to analyze things though I'm oping he recognizes some of the opportunities to improve his game as well.
 
I like Bradford and I still think he has a lot of talent. But at the same time I can't really complain about the ranking.

He burned a lot of people last year. After his rookie season, many had him notched into that elite QB2 tier for 2011 with hopes of him maybe even creeping into the top 10.

Now, there are explanations for why he didn't produce last year. And they are reasonable explanations. But at the same time, they aren't exactly concrete, irrefutable proof either. Though, honestly, the idea that a lack of Amendola can somehow derail a gifted QB seems a bit of a stretch to me. But that one aside, his defenders could be correct in their explanations for his disappointing sophomore campaign.

But it isn't just that. His critics were pointing out last summer that his numbers from 2010 looked more like compiler numbers than talent numbers once you dug in a bit. So when he faltered last year, that makes it look as if his critics might have been on to something. Of course, we don't know that they were right about Bradford anymore than we know that Forte's critics were right about him.

So what you have is a recency bias (last year is perceived as more reliable for predictive purposes than the year before) coupled with some criticism of his first year numbers that seems to be bolstered by his stumble last year.

As I said, I was high on him before he was even drafted. And I still like him as a talent. But there are questions about his situation. Fisher talks up his players. If you're a good, sound player and work hard, Fisher is going to talk you up because he likes those types of guys. But that doesn't mean he's going to run his offense through your arm. So there is a real chance here that this year's offense, being the third Bradford has run, will be rather conservative. If it is conservative, and if the Bradford-is-a-compiler critics are correct, then he won't even have the attempts number working in his favor.

 
'sycamore said:
'SaintsInDome2006 said:
Been wondering about this. So far Bradford's career track has reminded me the most of Manning's.... Archie, I mean (same No. 8 too).The WR & TE situation has seemed awful but it also seems to have improved with the draft and free agency.Does anyone know who the new Rams OC will be and what kind of system we can expect from him?
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Bradford doesn't really have a career track yet. All I'm saying is his rookie year was great in comparison to a lot of great QBs. Only played 10 games last year and a few of them were playing with a weak ankle.
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Ok, I agree with that, or at least open to it, that's why I'm wondering about the offensive coordinator, who that is and where else he's been, and what kind of changes we can expect in the offensive system this year.Edit: Of course I forgot it's Schotty Jr. (Brian Schottenheimer).Even if Bradford improves (and I fully hope or expect he can) isn't Schottenheimer a pretty conservative coach to begin with? Just thinking in terms of FF numbers here.
 
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Here is a video of all of Bradford's throws over 15 yards last year. You can see how accurate he is. It's amazing how many dropped passes his wr's and te's had. Also, a few of these game were on a really gimpy ankle. High ankle sprains are tough to play with

 
'bulger2holt said:
Here is a video of all of Bradford's throws over 15 yards last year. You can see how accurate he is. It's amazing how many dropped passes his wr's and te's had. Also, a few of these game were on a really gimpy ankle. High ankle sprains are tough to play with

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Nice video. Yeah, he looked awesome in the clips from early in the season, unsettled and rushed in the second half. And lots of drops. Quick and Amendola will help a lot. As for the coordinator, http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/schottenheimer-to-lead-rams-offense/article_c96e47d8-2020-5ea3-a5cc-33edba13580e.html

"Schottenheimer is a disciple of the "Air Coryell" offensive system used over the years by such diverse coaches as Joe Gibbs, Norv Turner and Mike Martz. In fact, Schottenheimer was first exposed to the Coryell system in 1997 — his first year as an NFL coach — when he was on **** Vermeil's inaugural Rams staff."

Also talks about how things fell apart in New York as they tried to open up the passing game with Sanchez and Sanchez's lack of work ethic. Bradford seems like a guy who will play with a lot to prove.

 
IMO, his rookie success in 2010 was due to an inordinate amount of attempts. His YPA was embarrasing low.

Under Fisher, I don't see him coming close to that amount of attempts he had that year. So IMO, for FF production...he'd have to reach a level of YPA he has yet to prove as a pro he can produce. I am guardedly optimistic that Bradford can get his career back on track...but I suspect that Fisher will look to slow the game down from a # of play POV which will simply eat into Bradford's opportunity to put up decent FF #'s.

25 sounds about right.

 
From Espn's Sando on Bradford

"1. Can the Rams help Bradford? It's easy to forget that Bradford had two 300-yard passing games in his first five starts last season. The high-ankle sprain he suffered in Week 6 changed the trajectory of his season. Bradford wasn't the only one hurting. The Rams suffered more losses to injury in a season than all but one NFL team since 2002, according to Football Outsiders. They had no chance."

"I wondered coming into camp whether last season inflicted irreparable damage to Bradford. That was not the case. There hasn't been a more impressive player on the practice field to this point. It's stunning, in retrospect, that a team with such a talented quarterback could suffer through a 2-14 season. So many things had to go wrong.

Day after day, play after play, Bradford impresses even the most seasoned observers. Receivers coach Ray Sherman, most recently with the Dallas Cowboys, has been around accomplished quarterbacks throughout his coaching career. The list includes Warren Moon, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Boomer Esiason, Randall Cunningham, Brett Favre, Steve McNair and Tony Romo. He used the word "special" to describe Bradford.

"His temperament is just so calm," Sherman said of Bradford. "He has a demeanor about him and Brett was like that -- when he spoke, guys listened. They tune in. They know, 'We take care of this guy, he's going to take us a long way. He's going to do some special things.'"

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post...t-louis-rams-3

 
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I like Bradford but his body is beat up for such a spring chicken. I think he was a worthy 1st overall selection when they made it. His hype was strong with the only real knock being the shoulder.

I think he's got lots of talent. I am not sure he has poor weapons with the additions of Smith, Quick, and Givens along with Amendola and Alexander returning to health. Gibson is a placeholder who won't make the final roster if he can't contribute on special teams.

Overall I think Bradford is a buy in dynasty. In redraft he is being drafted about right.

He is the best QB in his division.

 
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'3nOut said:
'sycamore said:
'ponchsox said:
What has Bradford shown that would make him any higher? :confused:
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As was discussed earlier in the thread, he had one of the best rookie QB seasons of all-time. :confused:
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OK, so where would you rank him? Name all the QBs above him.
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1. Brady2. Rodgers3. Brees4. Stafford5. Cam6. Eli7. Vick8. Matt Ryan9. Ben10. Peyton11. Cutler12. Freeman13. Dalton14. Palmer15. Bradford16. Alex Smith17. Flacco18. RGIII19. Luck20. Fitzpatrick
 
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'JamesTheScot said:
As I said, I was high on him before he was even drafted. And I still like him as a talent. But there are questions about his situation. Fisher talks up his players. If you're a good, sound player and work hard, Fisher is going to talk you up because he likes those types of guys. But that doesn't mean he's going to run his offense through your arm. So there is a real chance here that this year's offense, being the third Bradford has run, will be rather conservative. If it is conservative, and if the Bradford-is-a-compiler critics are correct, then he won't even have the attempts number working in his favor.
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I think trading out of the #2 spot speaks a lot louder than anything he says to the press.In redraft, I would only have him a little bit higher but not enough to argue a couple spots. 7 total points can make a couple spots. In dynasty, I'd have him much higher.
 
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