Wrote by some guy named Chris Cipriano.
The NFL Draft is the ultimate crap-shoot.
No matter how much scouting is done, there are bound to be busts.
From the first pick to the last pick, there is no guarantee that any player will live up to expectations.
Now earlier, I touched on which players from the 2010 NFL Draft
I thought would be busts , but I left one player out.
I did this because this player is bigger than the rest. He has the most expectations of any other player in the draft. He was the number one overall pick. He is Sam Bradford, and he will be a bust in the NFL.
Now I’m not saying he will be on the JaMarcus Russell or Tim Couch level, but yet he won’t be on the Payton Manning level either. I see him more alike to David Carr or Alex Smith.
He simply has too many questions marks and too many things have to go right for him to be an elite NFL quarterback.
The first and most worrisome concern about Bradford is his durability. He hurt his throwing shoulder twice last season and needed surgery on it after he re-injured it.
Dr. James Andrews, who operated on Bradford, said his shoulder will be fine, but really what is he supposed to say? If he says he may be more vulnerable to further injury or it may never be as strong he will cost Bradford millions.
Even if it is fine, I’m sure Bradford will think twice before stepping up in the pocket to deliver that throw knowing his shoulder will be exposed to a possible injury.
Another concern is how we will transition from the spread offense he ran while at Oklahoma. Bradford rarely had to read defenses and coverage’s and seldom went through more than read on each throw. And when he did go to his secondary reads his primary strength, his accuracy, dipped dramatically.
We have seen plenty of quarterbacks excel in the spread at Oklahoma and then go on to do nothing in the NFL (Jason White, Josh Huepel). White even won a Heisman like Bradford, and granted Bradford has an edge in psychical tools, but history isn’t on his side.
I also have worries about the situation he is going into. While at Oklahoma, he was surrounded by NFL talent at all positions. In St. Louis, he is going to a team that has won six games in the past three seasons
combined.
In college his offensive line was tremendous. He rarely faced pressure in face and he could stay back in the pocket and wait for his receivers to get open. He won’t have that luxury in St. Louis.
The Rams offensive line leaves a lot to be desired. They surrendered 44 sacks last season. Bradford doesn’t have a good feel for pressure and I fear when he faces a NFL pass rush he’ll panic and he never showed much ability to throw on the run and make plays with his feet. I’m afraid this could turn into a David Carr situation, where Bradford gets sacked so much his psyche is messed with.
Speaking of David...
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