St. Louis Rams Get A Look At Jimmy Clausen

[Bar-bq]

I just can't call a guy fragile for getting just plain unlucky. Bulger and Pennington suffered injuries routinely and barely finished out seasons.

I don't see how you can attribute Bradford's injuries to bad luck and Bulger's to science. That is to say, it's not fair to suggest that Bulger's injuries resulted from something that was genuinely biologically wrong with him and give Bradford the benefit of the doubt on the basis of luck. In my opinion, Bulger and Pennington have had worse 'luck' with injuries. They were hit and hurt more and became more subjected to injury. Meanwhile, the last two times anybody has seen Sam Bradford play on a football field, he has left the game clutching his throwing shoulder.

How is one a case of luck and another of biological fault?

[Nick]

Nick, I just don't consider a concussion that was suffered 3 years ago and he missed half a game for is significant like you seem to. Guys suffer concussions literally all the time. IN high school its very common, me having played it. Guy slams his head on the turf, gets a concussion, misses a half, comes back. I can't call that significant, i call that a small part of the game. Jason Smith's concussion is what I'd call significant. We'll just have to disagree there. He had the hand surgery in 2008. Is that significant? Seeing as noone has heard any more about it and it seemed pretty routine, not sure. That can be debated better than a his concussion, but i can't see that affecting future play. The shoulder is the only really significant thing i can attribute to Bradford. Every time i hear about this type of injury, and given the surgeon who performed the surgery, I just don't think the guy will continue to be bothered by it. If Brees can come back from a surgery that was hanging off of his body basically perfectly fine for 4+ years with arguably the greatest accuracy in the game, I can't see Bradford, who's injury was half as bad, suffering from it, especially with the added bulk. That's why I feel the way i do and it certainly can be debated. NFL players are always suffering nicks and dings and routinely get surgery for stuff. A mild concussion and a little hand surgery I don't call significant.

I just can't call a guy fragile for getting just plain unlucky. Bulger and Pennington suffered injuries routinely and barely finished out seasons.

We'll just have to see what happens to Bradford after he is drafted, I simply just do not agree that a mild concussion 3 years ago is significant at all. And the hand surgery was pretty routine.

You keep looking at these injuries individually rather than as a whole package, and because of that, you miss the point being made. You see it like this – “The concussion was not significant, the torn hand ligaments were not significant, and the shoulder surgery (while significant) wasn’t severe. So there aren’t any durability questions.”

But there’s a big problem with that kind of approach to the situation. The issue about Bradford is his durability as a whole. And when you look at durability, you look at how well he’s held up to punishment overall. Yes, the concussion was not severe, but it’s one example of injuries that go beyond the normal wear-and-tear of football that Bradford has accumulated.

((And just to interject – saying concussions happen all the time and downplaying them as much as you do … wow, I just don't know what to say to that. There's a reason the NFL is focusing a lot on concussion prevention. Heck, they appeared in front of the House Judiciary Committee to talk about concussions and the long term effects of head injuries! You make it sound like it's no worse than a sprained ankle.))

If he’d only suffered the concussion and nothing else, this wouldn’t be a big concern at all. But that’s not reality – the concussion is part of a list of injuries he’s suffered despite playing in rather ideal circumstances for a QB. It’s the whole – not the parts – that bring on the concern. Yet you persist in focusing on the parts, because they’re easier to dismiss.

No one is saying, “He suffered a concussion in 2007 so I question his durability.” That’s not the argument. The argument is, “In 31 collegiate games, despite being sacked only 25 times behind a very good line in a quick release spread offense, Bradford suffered three injuries that go beyond the normal bumps and bruises of football. Four if you count the second shoulder injury in 2009. Two of them required surgery. Looking at the WHOLE PICTURE, it’s absolutely logical to question his durability and how well he’ll hold up to stronger, more frequent hits at the next level.”

I never said Bradford was fragile, but I don't see how anyone can claim durability is not a concern with Bradford. It's interesting that you suggest Bulger is a different situation because he suffered injuries routinely and barely finished out seasons, even though Sam suffered an injury every year he was at OU (some could call that routinely?) and didn’t finish out the 2009 season due to injury. Bar-bq hit this better than I have, so I’ll defer to his response on that point.

As I've said before, maybe you don't think Bradford is going to get injured at the next level. Maybe you believe he can hold up to the punishment he's going to take. Believing a prospect can overcome a concern is fine, but not even acknowledging that a concern exists makes me wonder how objective you can be about this guy.