Fantasy Watch
Sam Bradford: Growing Up Is Not So Hard To Do
It’s been a year filled with many ups, downs, bumps, bruises, and pleasant surprises. Without question one such surprise has been the rise and play of the Ram’s rookie quarterback Sam Bradford. At 4-5 and locked in the middle of the NFC West division race, the young field general has been solid this season.
When you look at Bradford’s numbers they don’t jump off the page, but it’s easy to see he has been consistent. For the season Bradford holds a journeyman’s 78.2 passer rating (ranked 27th in the league), but this number speaks less of the truth to how good Bradford has been playing.
In looking at what Bradford has done thus far this season, 1,925 yards passing, 12 touchdowns, we have to remember he is working with a patch-work of a receiving corp. The Ram’s lost their number one wide receiver (Donnie Avery) before the season even began and after acquiring Mark Clayton via trade he was lost when he went down on October 10th. Since that time Bradford has been performing his high wire act without a net and a bunch of unknowns and backups.
To his credit, Bradford has shown a lot of poise and has remained composed while keeping his team on the winning trail this season. Despite losing last Sunday, the Rams have won four of their last six. In nine games this season the Rams already have four wins. This is after winning just once all last year; Bradford has been a big part of the team’s turnaround.
In the rookie’s last three starts he has recorded his highest passer ratings with 89.6, 112.4, and 94.4 by completing 68 percent of his passes and throwing five touchdowns with no interceptions. Bradford has also completed 68 passes for 568 yards in the air during this stretch.
While the kid continues to improve, so do his fantasy numbers. In his last four starts Bradford is averaging 16 fantasy points (traditional scoring), including 17 in his last game.
The best part of Bradford’s development and progression this season, he won’t be facing any of the league’s best pass rush defenses in the latter half. In fact, aside from the Saints (week 14) top ranked pass defense, the best Bradford will see is the Bronco’s 19th ranked unit in week 12.
The rookie passer may not have much appeal this season as a fantasy option (except maybe in deep leagues), but with what he is showing thus far you have to like what the future holds. Fantasy owners should also not be too surprised if we see a little more from Bradford in the coming weeks, especially during fantasy playoffs.
(22 of 38 passing, 265 yards passing, 2 touchdowns, one interception)
Just my take.
By David Ortega
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