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Sam Bradford: I'm A Man! Or, When I am King of England, I shall command all the good lads of Eastcheap.
By TOMMarch 12th, 2009 |
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Watching Bradford play a couple years ago was struck by how young and skinny he looked. One of the weird things about getting older is people look younger and younger. College kids look like the belong in high school, and then junior high school. Well, Bradford had one of the youngest faces I've seen, and at 6-4 and 211 pounds looked like a skinny grade school kid playing college football;-) Then a funny thing happened on the way to the forum, he showed up at Combine looking like a man. He was 6-4.5, 238 pounds, and no longer looked like a kid. Most scouts said his biggest concern was his skinny Brady-like body, and they questioned whether he could add the necessary weight to take the beating QBs receive in the NFL.
I usually judge QB prospects by a different criteria. I usually leave the physical attributes out of it, as QBs who are 1st Round prospects are going to have all the physical attributes a QB needs, until of course this year with Tim Tebow screwing everything up;-) So I mostly focus on the intangibles. Intangibles, especially for Quarterbacks, become so important in the NFL. So leadership, intelligence and all other intangibles become paramount, until of course this year with Tim Tebow screwing everything up;-)
By all measures, he was impressive in interviews at the Combine. He is has the great intellect NFL QBs need to succeed in the NFL. To read defenses in seconds while D-Coordinators cry, "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war. They have to processes a thousand reams of information in ten of seconds, and then reproduce it the 4-8 seconds of the passrush. Something nobody in the history of the league has done better than Brady. A lot of scouts have been comparing him to Brady, because of his tall skinny build, but I think this comparison holds true for his intellect as well. I nobody doubts he can handle the mental aspects of the game, and what is more important than that on the NFL level? He also has the work ethic and is a film-room junkie. I don't remember where I heard this, but he recently said in an interview that one of the things he was most looking forward to in the NFL is that there are no restrictions on time you can spend at the facility. so he can stay at the facility 24/7 and study and work with coaches all day. That work ethic and desire to study football is paramount to success for a QB in the NFL.
He is by all reports a good leader. He commands respects from his teammates, and by all accounts he is a good teammate. He has all the intangibles teams are looking for in a QB that lead to success in the NFL. When he was at the Combine his intangibles were tested and came out on top. he had one of the best Combines of any player this year, and yes Combine haters he did participate in the drills or throw the ball, and honestly what is more irrelevant to this whole process than QBs throwing and working out at the Combine. They test QBs at Combine by their willingness to compete, how they interact with other players, interviews, intelligence test, chalkboard tests, MEDICAL TESTS, etc. The QBs workouts on the field at the Combine are all but irrelevant. His Combine was so successful that he secured his assent to the Draft throne, and will be the First pick in the Draft if his arm holds up. Unless the Rams can somehow manage to trade the top pick, he will be made King in April.
So the intellect, the ability to lead, and the desire to be great are all there, what is next? Accuracy. The most important aspect of a QB translating his game to the NFL is accuracy. In the NFL, if a QB doesn't have accuracy he has INTs. This is the part of Bradford's throwing where he is really head and shoulders above his competition. Where Bradford really excels is getting the ball to his playmakers with a quick accurate throw, and most importantly hit them in stride so they can use their natural abilities to gain extra yards. The importance of this skill cannot be over emphasized. Now usually in college you have a much bigger window to throw into, but in the NFL the window is tiny in comparison, and that is why accuracy and the ability to hit playmakers in stride is so important. Check out this throw (the screen is tiny, and I had to enlarge the window to 150%), at the 0:20 mark, he hits number 85 right in the chest between two defenders, which is an NFL window, and allows him to keep running. At the 0:38 mark, He hit the receiver in full stride, with his man trailing, the Safety over, and the Linebacker under. This is a simple NFL throw he will make a thousand time in his career.
Another aspect of Bradford's game that is similar to Brady's is his ability to move around in the pocket. Bradford is not going to sprint out of the pocket at the first sign of trouble and run 70 yards down field, like Tebow. However, he does what NFL QBs have to do, he has the natural knack for sensing trouble and scrambling around in the pocket to buy some time for his receivers, and can throw almost as accurately on the move as he can in the pocket. He doesn't have the same velocity when throwing on the move, because he needs to step into the throw to put good zip on the ball. Check out the 0:11 mark, he waggles out to his left, and has to bounce around he Right D-End, and throws a nice accurate ball on the move Again, not a great play, but a play an NFL QB will have to make ten times a game. And those accurate throws on the move just keep coming (3:30)
He played behind such a great O0Line in 2008 that he sometimes doesn't get credit for his throwing in the face of the dogs of war, but he does an excellent job throwing when he knows he is going to be hit. At the 1:26 mark, he takes a blitzer right in the gut as he throws a strong accurate pass to the WR on the Hot-Route (the Hot-Route is when the WR cuts off his route when they read blitz). Do I need to go explain how important it is in the NFL to read a blitz and throw to the Hot-Route;-)
This one might be the most important throw on this tape. At the 1:37 mark, he makes an NFL throw. If you look at the throw at the 0:11 second mark, this is a college/Spread Formation Play-Action Pass. Notice he gets the ball in the shotgun and moves his hands forward as the RB runs by, but he has both hands on the ball, and holds it like he is dropping back to throw. The most important thing is that he is always facing forward, and he is able to watch the Safeties the whole time. At 1:37, he takes the snap from Center, and dances back. I often compare what a QB does when he takes the snap from Center, as taking dance steps. The QB receives the ball, and on every different play, the QB has a different set of steps he must do, like a well choreographed dance. Count steps, one-two-three hand off the ball. On this play he takes the snap, and turns his back to the defense (this is the biggest adjustment for spread QBs, who never turn their backs to the defense), head right (now his left because his back is to the LOS) fake the hand off with one hand on the ball (like an NFL QB), then snap the ball back to your chin, locate the Safety and recognize coverage, and keep on the move. He continues to his left in an arch, giving his teammates time to get open deep, as the OLB slips past the LOS and cries havoc right into his chest. But, Bradford, even though he knows the OLB is going to crush him, he throws the ball deep and accurate with nice velocity. The most important thing about this throw Patsfans, is did you see who he threw it to? Number 18 Jermaine Gresham, a much needed Tight End who should still be on the board at 22. At the 1:43 mark, he sits in the shotgun, and as the blitzer is crushing him throws a Hot-Route pass to the guy I think would look great in a Patriots Uniform, Gresham. At the 1:55 mark, another all-important NFL-style Play-Action Pass (these types of passes more than any other passes show he is more ready for the NFL than any other QB, except of course Clausen who made the same throws). Bradford turns his back to the defense, fakes with one hand, turns and locates and recognizes coverage with NFL quickness, and gets smashed right in the gut by the Right D-End, yet still hits his WR with a super accurate throw that allows the WR to spin off coverage and run with the ball (tell me if you like Gresham in a Pat's uniform now;-). And those accurate throws when he is being hit just keep coming (3:20).
What makes Bradford the number one pick in the Draft, is when you look at the film I just outlined, it is not unusual. This is what he does game in and game out. You put on any quarter in any game and he is making NFL throws. 3rd quarter against Washington at the 2:37 mark, he does another all-important NFL-style PAP, and hits Gresham a little high, but in stride so he can keep running. Check out the NFL-style PAP at 4:33 mark, talk about squeezing it into a small window while throwing on the move! A little tough to see, but another NFL-style PAP, only this time he throws it deep to his WR in full stride, at the 4:56 mark.
Okay, enough. After a year without seeing him play, I forget how good he was, and how highly I had him rated. I thought he should have come out last year. I had him rated over both Stafford and Sanchez, and let you ask you right now, do you think the Rams brass would give up the Number One Pick in the Draft for Stafford or Sanchez? If they wouldn't, then they should be fired immediately. I still think he would have been the top pick in the Draft last year. His 2008 season was one of the best seasons a college QB ever had, and maybe the best. For all you stat guys, he garnered 4,720 with a nice 67.9% Completion percentage. He also garnered an astonishing 50 Touchdowns, with only 8 INTs. Plus, in this new college football word of spread formation offenses (which Bradford did play in) he also took snaps from under Center, and did NFL-style Play-Action Passes. This aspect of his game cannot be underrated, especially when you consider that there are QBs like Tebow and Dan LaFevour, who reportedly never took a snap under Center, not only college, but in high school as well, yikes!
He has some negatives, but he also has the smarts to understand his limitation and address them. His showing up at the Combine weighing in at 238 pounds, which is huge! He addressed everybody's biggest concern, his ultra-skinny Brady-like build, and conquered it for all to see. He was also checked out at the Combine by multiple doctors who all gave him the thumbs up. Now, his biggest concern is his shoulder holding up while throwing, and he plans to attack that by doing every throw at his Proday. So if his shoulder checks out at his Proday (on March 25th?) he will be the king of the Draft come April. So get ready St Louis, because the King of Eastcheap is coming.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me:
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