What would your NFC WEST QB ranking look like?

Russell Wilson
Kaepernik
Carson Palmer
Foles

w
v

that’s pretty fair…..

what about the NFC East?

Romo
Sam
Eli
RGIII or the Cuz?

I love watching these old games…..

The NFL Network should replay more games from this era……..

artificial turf is a bummer….., but given that California is in it’s 4th straight year of drought, i’m ok with carpet for now…….

URL = http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2015/03/19/all-22-what-to-expect-from-sam-bradford/?all=1

Before Sam Bradford had fielded the first question, he smiled, looked around and offered up an observation.

“It’s already more people than in St. Louis,” he said to a roomful of reporters at the NovaCare Complex.

When a quarterback is taken with the No. 1 overall pick, the expectation is that he’ll make it to the second contract with the team that drafted him. But that expectation does not always become reality. Bradford started 49 games in five seasons with the Rams. He’s been on the field for just seven games in the past two seasons, and the last time Bradford took a meaningful snap was 17 months ago.

But two ACL injuries did not dissuade Chip Kelly from making a move for the former Heisman Trophy winner.

“I think we had some inside information because [offensive coordinator] Pat Shurmur had the opportunity to coach the kid for a year [in St. Louis], so he knows what he’s like in the meeting room, and he knows what he is like on a daily basis. He knows the consistency that comes with him, and he understands his work ethic. He’s an unbelievable competitor.

“I talked to the people who have been around him who were his coaches in the NFL and who were his coaches in college. Kevin Wilson is now the head coach at Indiana and was his offensive coordinator [at Oklahoma]. I talked to Kevin about him. I talked to [Oklahoma head coach] Bob Stoops about him. The kid is wired right. He’s a competitor.”

But did Kelly make a wise gamble, giving up on Nick Foles, parting with a 2016 second-round pick and taking on $12.895 million in salary for 2015?

WHAT DOES KELLY SEE IN HIM?

Take a look at Bradford’s career stats, and there’s not a whole lot to be impressed about. He’s completed 58.6 percent of his passes, averaged 6.3 YPA, thrown 59 touchdowns and been intercepted 38 times. Among the 26 active quarterbacks who have attempted at least 1,700 passes, Bradford is the only one who has averaged under 6.5 YPA.

Only Matt Cassel, Mark Sanchez and Bradford have completed under 59 percent of their passes and averaged less than 6.9 YPA. That’s obviously not great company.

But the one number that stands out is 2.2 percent. That’s Bradford’s interception rate. Only Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady have posted a better mark among active QBs with at least 1,500 attempts. Throughout his career, Bradford has proven to be a good decision-maker who takes care of the football.

There’s been a lot of talk this offseason about the effect Kelly’s scheme can have on quarterbacks. Sanchez, for example, completed 56.3 percent of his passes and averaged 6.7 YPA with the Jets. In nine games with the Eagles, those numbers jumped to 64.1 percent and 7.8. But Sanchez’s interception rate was nearly identical (3.7 percent with the Jets; 3.6 with the Eagles).

The hope for Eagles fans is that Bradford will see a Sanchez-like jump in the first two numbers and maintain his low interception rate. If the quarterback in Kelly’s system can take care of the football, perhaps scheme can help with the rest.

“I think any QB in this league would love to play for Chip and his offense,” Bradford said. “It’s extremely QB-friendly. In the tape that I’ve watched, it looks like it’s a lot of fun to play in, and I think it’s similar to what I did in college at Oklahoma. So I’m extremely excited to be here, and I’m ready to get rolling.”

What specifically is QB-friendly about it?

“The way they set up progressions, the way the ball comes out of your hands, the way they deal with protections the run game,” Bradford continued. “Like I said, I haven’t gone into too many details. It’s only been from what I’ve seen, but from what I’ve seen it looks like everything goes through the quarterback. What do you like? How do you see things? And then they’re going to tailor it from there. They’re never going to put you in a bad situation where you have nowhere to go with the ball, and you’re standing back there holding onto the ball for five seconds.”

Bradford possesses the “repetitive accuracy” Kelly is looking for, even if the numbers don’t always show it. In 2013, Bradford completed a career high 60.7 percent of his passes. Per Pro Football Focus, the Rams had 21 drops that year, and eight balls were batted at the line of scrimmage.

Many of Bradford’s throws were shallow crossers, screens, check-downs and slants. Per PFF, just 45.9 percent of Bradford’s passing yards were through the air. That ranked 40th out of 41 quarterbacks. Put more simply, 54.1 percent of his passing yards were accounted for by receivers after the catch.

Bradford did show the ability to fit the ball into tight windows. Here’s an example where he squeezes one in between Falcons defenders.

And a similar play here against the Cowboys:

He does a good job with ball placement too, here getting it past the diving linebacker, but still in a place where the receiver can make the grab:

Accuracy and decision-making. The guess here is that those are the two traits Kelly saw on tape when deciding whether or not to make a play for Bradford.

CAN HE GET IT DOWNFIELD?

The 2013 Rams offense was the definition of dink and dunk. Per PFF, only 8.4 percent of Bradford’s passes traveled 20+ yards downfield. That ranked 37th out of 40 quarterbacks. Remember last year when it seemed like the Eagles never went downfield once Sanchez took over? Even then, 12 percent of Sanchez’s passes went 20+ yards downfield.

Overall, 133 of Bradford’s 159 completions in 2013 (83.6 percent) came within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage.

But much of the Eagles’ offense the past two years has been about chucking it downfield. They see a lot of single-high looks, and defenses have had to respect the run game. In 2014, the Eagles’ passing game produced 63 plays of 20+ yards, third in the league. In 2013, that number was 80, tops in the NFL.

It’s fair to wonder whether Bradford can push the ball downfield effectively in this offense.

The tape suggests he can. Bradford’s 40.9 percent accuracy mark (PFF) was middle of the pack (21st out of 40). But he shows good touch and doesn’t miss a lot of wide-open guys downfield when he has time in the pocket.

Here, against the Panthers, Bradford steps up in the pocket and unloads a beautiful bomb on the post. The ball travels about 50 yards through the air and hits the receiver in stride:

Here against the Jaguars, Bradford looks off the middle-of-the-field safety and drops one in the bucket down the right sideline:

Both the plays above came off play-action. For some reason, with Bradford, the Rams only used play-action on 19 percent of their passes, per PFF. That ranked 26th out of 41 quarterbacks. But his numbers on those throws were really good – 65.4 percent completions, 9.7 YPA. Bradford’s 111.5 passer rating off play-action in 2013 ranked seventh.

The Eagles are a big play-action team. And Bradford should get plenty of more opportunities to lure defenders up with play-fakes before taking shots downfield.

Questioning whether Bradford’s lack of deep attempts in St. Louis was his fault or offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s fault is fair. In 2013, after Kellen Clemens took over, the Rams still were mostly dink and dunk. Just 10.3 percent of Clemens’ passes went 20+ yards downfield (33rd).

But in 2014, Austin Davis ranked 12th in that category (13.7 percent), and Shaun Hill ranked 16th (12.7 percent). Perhaps the Rams made an effort to push the ball downfield more in 2014, or maybe the specific quarterbacks just liked to take more shots.

On tape, there were not a lot of instances where Bradford had guys open downfield and checked it down. But he also didn’t seem like much of a risk-taker either.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CONCERNS?

The biggest issue here is whether Bradford can stay healthy.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to be a little nervous the first time I stepped on the field,” Bradford said. “I think anyone who has gone through what I’ve gone through will be a little nervous to step back on the field, but I’m sure once I get out there and the bullets start flying, when I take that first it, I’ll probably shake it off and I’ll be just fine.

“The second time around, it was probably harder mentally than it was physically. To put all the work in to come back and to be ready, I felt like I was playing at a very high level in training camp last year. To have that all taken away again, there was a brief period of time where I really wasn’t sure that I wanted to go through it again. I went home, kind of cleared my head for a week and realized that there’s no way that football can not be a part of my life.”

On the field, the biggest concern is one that applies to many quarterbacks: reacting to pressure.

In many of the clips above, Bradford had a nice, clean pocket. When that’s the case, he can be very effective. But when things start to break down around him, the results are often disastrous.

According to PFF, Bradford completed just 38.8 percent of his attempts and averaged 5.0 YPA in 2013 when pressured. Granted, every QB’s numbers are going to go down when pressured, but those are particularly ugly.

On tape, a couple things stand out. One, Bradford has very little escapability. Russell Wilson, for example, gets more dangerous the longer he holds onto the ball. The opposite is true for Bradford. His attempts to extend plays and get away from pressure often lead to negative results.

Here against the 49ers, it looks like there’s a giant lane to take off and scramble. Bradford tries that, and the edge defender closes quickly for the sack:

Here against the Cardinals, he clumsily reacts to pressure, tries to take off and loses the football:

While Bradford’s interception rate is excellent, he’s fumbled 27 times in 49 games.

The feel for navigating the pocket just isn’t there at times. Here against Jacksonville, it looks like Bradford initially has a clean pocket, but he shuffles right into the left tackle who’s getting pushed back, trips and takes a sack:

Greg Cosell and other analysts often talk about making plays inside and outside of structure. With Bradford, it’s never good when he gets outside of structure.

Even when he gets passes off, pressure really affects Bradford’s accuracy and decision-making. And eight batted passes in seven games for a 6-foot-4 quarterback is concerning.

Here against the 49ers, he has a defender in his face and is nearly picked off.

Against Dallas, the right guard gets walked back into his face, and Bradford sails one for the interception.

When the pocket is clean, and Bradford can get rid of the ball in a timely manner, he’s pretty good. When receivers are covered or protection breaks down, he’s a mess.

OVERALL

Bradford played in a spread offense at Oklahoma and sees some similarities to what the Eagles do.

“I think making quick decisions, getting the ball out of your hands,” he said. “A lot of the run-pass options are similar to what we did in college. Obviously not me running the football, but the running backs with some of the quick game and then pushing the ball down the field and play-action. There’s just a lot of carry-over to what we did at Oklahoma. And I think my skill set fits that perfectly.”

The good news? Through two years, Kelly’s scheme has produced far more open receivers than Bradford saw with the Rams. Bradford’s completion percentage and YPA should jump in this offense. If he can stay healthy and continue to make good decisions, the Eagles might have something. Bradford threw 13 touchdowns and no interceptions in the red zone in 2013. And he had a 112.4 passer rating against the blitz.

The bad news? With Jeremy Maclin gone, the Eagles have an unimpressive group of pass-catchers. And if they suffer injuries or decline on the offensive line, things could get ugly with Bradford.

From an athleticism standpoint, he ran a 4.79 coming out of Oklahoma. But in the NFL, Bradford has not been a threat to make plays with his legs. He had one 23-yard scramble in 2013, but ran for just 8 yards on his other 14 attempts. On designed rollouts and bootlegs, he’s fine. But don’t expect Bradford to keep the ball much on zone reads.

There’s no guarantee that Bradford is in Philadelphia after the draft. Given his salary and injury history, there are obvious risks. But Kelly clearly saw enough to pull the trigger on last week’s deal and believes Bradford can resurrect his career in a new home.

“I think that I have a lot to prove,” Bradford said. “I have a lot to prove to everyone in this building. I think Coach Kelly took a leap of faith bringing me here. Obviously he believes in me, and now it is time to prove to everyone else in this building that I belong here.

“I’ve had [football] taken away from me twice in the past two years. And I think when something’s taken away from you, you really realize how much you love it.”

I agree with point #2. That’s pretty clear.

But I also see issues, even though these are highlights. That is, you combine a slow-ish release with a tendency to hold the ball.

According to Cosell that’s a flaw–he holds the ball and when he does, he loses his mechanics.

There’s a lot to still understand about his 2014 season. Here are some of the differences.

TD% inside the 10
2013: 47.6%
2014: 18%

Accuracy on long passes, 31+ yards:
2013: 47.8%
2014: 19%

TD%
2013: 8.5%
2014: 4.1%

INT%
2013: 0.6%
2014: 3.2%

QB rating:
2013: 119.2
2014: 81.4

only 1 year, but damn, not a good trend…… I saw him twice last (vs Rams and vs SF) I remember the Ram game being impressed with Foles in the 1st half, but not the 2nd half…..

I also respect Cosell’s reports on QBs, and his summary seemed to reflect the data on Foles….

good thing his name is Foles and not Fodes… fodes means fucked in Portuguese……

InvaderRam wrote:

bradford is only better than foles if he actually plays.

<P>my expectation is that bradford doesn’t even start the season.&

Bradford has started and played in 49 out 80 possible starts as a Ram…. he’s missed 39% of his possible games due to injury

Nick has started and played in 24 out 48 games….he’s missed 50% of his possible starts to due ability (Vick was starter) and or injury. As a starter, (when Vick was hurt) Nick has started 24 games out of 38 possible starts… which = 37% of the time as a starter he’s been injured too..

Foles is actually worse if HE ACTUALLY PLAYS!!!!!

Rams also threw in a 2nd round pick?????? Holy Cow, this trade is getting worse by the minute!!!!

Roman Gabriel come-back-player of the year for the Eagles.

Ron Jaworski takes doormat Eagles to Super Bowl in 80. ..

Now it’s Bradford’s turn…. I’m very upset with this trade and DICK Foles……

NOT HAPPY>>>>

Brandon Marshall is gonna have Geno Smith or Michael Vick throwing him passes………. I wonder if Jets make a deal for Jay Cutler?

where is this “the Rams moving or Staying” forum?

<P>i still don’t understand why the league would favor a raiders/chargers move over a rams move. in fact, i’d see every reason to favor the rams move. kroenke would seem to be the more qualified owner. and the other team can always move at a later date and play in kroenke’s stadium.</P>
<P>plus, the chargers/raiders move depends on BOTH teams actually moving which is far from certain while kroenke seems intent on pushing through with the stadium project. and this is the league’s best opportunity yet to finally have an nfl team back in la. what happens if one of oakland or san diego come up with a stadium plan? the carson site is nixed and los angeles is again without a team. and i’m fairly confident the league does not want that to happen.</P>
<P>i agree with you. kroenke is a guy who is used to getting what he wants. the league also wants a strong owner in los angeles. spanos and davis don’t strike me as strong owners. at least in the business sense. kroenke might be a sociopath. but he’s a sociopath who gets things done. and that’d be just fine with the league

I agree.

Kroenke is a major player. 225th on the list of Billionaires, #6 on the list if you count his wife’s Wal-Mart Empire.

Majority owner of the Arsenal, where Arsenal billionaire share holders from Russia and Dubai have tried to out bid Kroenke as majority owner, but they can’t…… Kroenke is a major global player and has the LA Market within grasp. He doesn’t want the least valued NFL franchise that he has today in STL…

Kroenke has tried to buy the Dodgers in the recent past (2007) to get into this major market.

Kroenke’s M.O. is: own the land and venue that his teams play on, as he has with Arsenal and Denver Nuggets. He has this opportunity now in Inglewood where:

1) He has a fan base with a 50 year legacy to So Cal.
2) He owns the land, (recently purchased the land, in addition the surrounding parking areas.
3) He can host a Super Bowl and other big time events, like the Olympics etc…..
4) Own an NFL team that will dramatically increase in value based on location.

Other than a dwindling fan base in STL, Kroenke can’t do the other 3 options mentioned above in the STL.

1) Carson is an environmental hazard
2) Carson stadium requires public funding
3) STL requires public funding for a new stadium, while STL is still paying for the outdated TWA Dome, err The ED.

my reply text to my buddies last night was ….DON”T FV*K WITH THE HORNS!!!….

I mean I go way back with one of these guys…., back in the 80’s, i met him through my roommate, a fellow Ram fan from San Jose….. we watched Ram games at the sports bar before the days of Sunday Tix and DirecTV…., when I got the tix, he came over every Sunday Mornings to watch Sunday Tix, we watched the 99 season playoffs and Super Bowl together, but for the past 12 years we’ve just texted during games….. and he likes this helmet… I FEEL BETRAYED!!!!!

“Data helps us make informed decisions”….. all teams should collect analytical data to help with the decision making process.

Hard to believe some teams are still skeptical.

i’m very surprised that “The Tuck Rule” Brady fumble vs Oakland didn’t make the list……..

1) CBS will not be able to sort out NFL double header TV scheuldes with 2 teams in the same conference and market. SD or Raiders will need to move to the NFC to support this.

2) Environmental impact study still needs to take place in Carson will take 2 years to get done, the stadium also needs public funding

3) Kronke already has the environmental impact study done for his property and no public funding required.