Sam Bradford bust?

[balaberda]

Please fire this OC. Just like the Giants OC.

A team with a bad O-line needs to try and find better ways around it through play calling. It was like I was watching Tom Coughlin try and run the ball up the middle non stop even though you know you are only getting 1 yard lets keep doing it .

I feel sorry for the people who drafted Austin with 1.01. Just frustrating.

I hate the Rams and have zero ties to them other then deep stashes of Pead and Cunningham. Even with my lack of interest in this team I was frustrated watching the offense.

[DLF3000]

Hmm, one thing I didn't realize was how bad the Rams o-line has suddenly become in the space of a week or two. It's Cardinals-level-bad.

Can't throw when you're on your back!

[cool_zapp]

Hmm, one thing I didn't realize was how bad the Rams o-line has suddenly become in the space of a week or two. It's Cardinals-level-bad.

Can't throw when you're on your back!

Wasn't able to watch the game last night. Didn't Jake Long go out with injury? He is their best o-lineman just curious if he came back in or if that's what affected such horrible protection.

[DLF3000]

Hmm, one thing I didn't realize was how bad the Rams o-line has suddenly become in the space of a week or two. It's Cardinals-level-bad.

Can't throw when you're on your back!

Wasn't able to watch the game last night. Didn't Jake Long go out with injury? He is their best o-lineman just curious if he came back in or if that's what affected such horrible protection.

Yep, he went out. Not sure if he came back, had to get some zzz's in the 4th.

But yeah, that line looked awful last night. Add that to the Niner's D, which apparently isn't dead after all, and it makes sense whey their O was awful last night.

[italian_stallion21]

One crazy stat I say yesterday from PFF I believe:
Bradford's accuracy when not pressured - 91% (1st in the league)
Bradford's accuracy when pressure - 14% (28th in the league, I think)

He was pressured A LOT last night.

[bigcsr67]

One crazy stat I say yesterday from PFF I believe:
Bradford's accuracy when not pressured - 91% (1st in the league)
Bradford's accuracy when pressure - 14% (28th in the league, I think)

He was pressured A LOT last night.

Maybe he should stick with flag football... He would be a baller in 7 on 7 fantasy leagues!

[ekassor]

After Bradford threw that interception in the endzone when they were up 3-0, it suddenly looked like the Giants Offensive line jumped in for the Rams. That play was a big momentum shift in the game.

SF is a very good team, so I'm not ready to toss Bradford to the curb. The OC does suck though, they played plain vanilla all night and when SF figured it out they never tried to switch it up.

[Chris_R]

One crazy stat I say yesterday from PFF I believe:
Bradford's accuracy when not pressured - 91% (1st in the league)
Bradford's accuracy when pressure - 14% (28th in the league, I think)

He was pressured A LOT last night.

This sums up what I saw from him at OU quite consistently. When he had all day in that pocket back there behind that massive line he could be accurate and find WR's and run that spread, but the minute the pocket started to collapse and bodies get around him he gets thrown off his game, doesn't step into any throws, and looks terrible. It's just not a good quality for a QB to have because I don't know any good QB's who have this problem. But it also looked like he had time on that Austin Pettis TD miss, it was just either rushed or a mis communication.

[RGKID144]

One crazy stat I say yesterday from PFF I believe:
Bradford's accuracy when not pressured - 91% (1st in the league)
Bradford's accuracy when pressure - 14% (28th in the league, I think)

He was pressured A LOT last night.

This sums up what I saw from him at OU quite consistently. When he had all day in that pocket back there behind that massive line he could be accurate and find WR's and run that spread, but the minute the pocket started to collapse and bodies get around him he gets thrown off his game, doesn't step into any throws, and looks terrible. It's just not a good quality for a QB to have because I don't know any good QB's who have this problem. But it also looked like he had time on that Austin Pettis TD miss, it was just either rushed or a mis communication.

Thought I would reprise this thread, now that Sammy B is apparently the 7th ranked QB in Yahoo leagues, and has 1400 yards, 13 TD's and only 3 inties.

I posted a long piece a couple weeks ago about how Braddy just looks like an entirely different QB under duress, and it's proving to be wildly true. Fisher noticed that this was a MAJOR issue in Bradford's career, and now that the O-line is extremely depleted once again, he is employing constant two TE sets for mass protection, and it's evidently producing positive results.

Kudos to Fisher for actually realizing the issue, and working out of the two TE sets early and often, even if it is at the expense of guys like Tavon.

Thoughts??

[oppy]

Putting Zac Stacy in at RB instead of Daryl Richardson is also paying dividends, since getting any yards in the run game at all is opening things up for Bradford and keeping the pressure off of him.

I agree with much of these assessments - when not pressured he's one of the best, but when under pressure he struggles. Though I also believe part of those struggles are that he lacks reliable safety valves. A lot was made in the offseason about the Rams upgrading his weapons with Tavon Austin and Jared Cook, but honestly as a Rams fan watching all the games, I think those upgrades are wildly overrated.

Jared Cook is a great weapon when he gets the ball but he still struggles to be open at times. Tavon Austin just isn't all he's cracked up to be. He also has trouble getting open and when he's in space he can be dangerous, but not a world beater; there are many other guys like him. The problem there is that the Rams already had a similar small WR in Chris Givens; what they needed was another big target like Cook to open up space for them. Right now the Rams WR corps struggles against physical pass defenses and in run blocking since they are so small. Against the Texans they gave more looks to Brian Quick over Austin, and that overall was a bit more effective. I'm not sure if that will be a trend, but they could definitely use some more size in the receiving group. If you look around the NFL guys like Austin just are not star WRs these days.

As far as Bradford going forward - this season has been so jekyll and hyde it's very hard to predict. Against Dallas and San Francisco the Rams looked like a contender for the worst team in the league, but then they had those games against Jacksonville and Houston. Though the Jags ARE the worst team and Houston is having issues; it's hard to know what to read into those games.

Bradford has been incredibly efficient with the touches he's gotten this year and is actually succeeding in the red zone, unlike past seasons, so that's a big plus. He hasn't put up big yardage but in many of these games he hasn't needed to. If the line can bottle up the pass rush, like they did last week against JJ Watt, Bradford will likely continue to be successful.

[49ersFaithful80]

Ok, just want to clarify something.

Is "Bradford's o-line sucks" the new go-to excuse for why Bradford is terrible?

[ericanadian]

Bradford remains bottom five in YPA. He remains mid range in terms of accuracy. The Rams are 3-3 and just slightly above average in terms of real points scored. I'm still seeing a high volume Alex Smith for upside here.

[cool_zapp]

With him out for the season do you think STL looks at the draft to get a new QB or do you think they liked what they saw this year?

[rubber_duck]

I doubt the Rams will be in the market for a new QB. The fantasy world may not like Bradford much, but there are many real NFL teams that would like to have him.

What player could the Rams bring in to make take the team to the next level? Would Tom Brady do better, he isn't showing much this year in New England. Are the Patriot receivers that much worse than St. Louis'?

How about Matt Ryan. Yes, his best receivers are hurt and the offensive line is questionable. But he should be good enough to overcome that. Maybe he would play better behind the Rams' OL and throwing to their receivers.

To be clear, I am not a big fan of Bradford's for my fantasy teams. From what we've seen so far this season, the Rams offense has a long way to go. If they end up with a true play maker at receiver, then I will re-evaluate. Until then the team just doesn't have anyone truly special on it and I don't have any interest in them for fantasy. But that is fantasy football, not real football.