Please lock this one up mods

Posted Today, 06:34 PM

I'm not here to blow smoke up your chassis or anything. I'm just going to give a quick overview of Bradford's development as a St Louis Rams and hopefully provide some insight into why he hasn't blown up the league to this point.



Priot to Bradford being drafted in 2010, the team was in shambles. When the Rams hired Spagnuolo in 2009, the team was upside down in the cap and had several overpriced veterans who were given backloaded contracts by the previous GM (who shall remain nameless). As a result, the new GM and COO had to purge the team of many, many players in order to gain the ability to even participate in the draft.



The QBs in 2009 were Marc Bulger (who was half dead from being nearly beaten to death by defenses), Keith Null and Kyle Boller. None of them returned, obviously, so the Rams really only had one option in the draft while holding the #1 overall. After purging the old 2009 roster in preparation for 2010, Billy Devaney then proceded to sign Jacob Bell and Jason Brown to solidify the line (neither played football after that year was over). BUT. Since the CBA was in negotiations, all unrestricted free agents that year had been relegated to restricted free agents, so the Rams didn't really have the option of fortifying the receiving corps that year without overpaying .... by a lot. They ended the season 7-9, and Bradford had some pretty average stats, but his receiving corps were a complete joke. Brandon Gibson was acquired in a trade in which they dealt Wil Witherspoon, Danny Amendola was plucked from a practice squad, and they had Donnie Avery (who didn't play because he was injured), Keenan Burton (who?), an injured Laurent Robinson, and Daniel Fells. They later added the oft-injured Danario Alexander who only played in a handful of games when he wasn't busy on the training table. Being their best receiver, it's not surprising that Bradford's deep ball percentage rose exponentially when he was on the field. But still. It was Danario Alexander, an undrafted free agent.



Fast forward to camp - 2010. Spagnuolo is not a Coryell type of offensive guru. His philosophy was to control the line of scrimmage and chip away at defenses through the run game and quick throws within 5-10 yards. Pat Shurmur called more bubble screens and quick slants than anyone I've ever seen in my life at the time, and it was likely due to a mandate from Spagnuolo. Also, during camp, Spagnuolo had a drill that he ran with Bradford in that he would blow a whistle in his ear if the ball was in his hands for longer than 2.5 seconds. The whistle was to signify that the ball had to be gone or he was fined. Yes, that's right. That's the offense Bradford was introduced to. Don't go through progressions. Just identify the isolation matchup and get rid of it.



Fast-foward to 2011. Now the CBA has stalled and there's a lockout. Shurmur leaves for Cleveland and Spagnuolo hires McDaniels to run the offense and implement it with rookies and 2nd year players without the benefit of a camp to practice it. Doomed to fail immediately, because McDaniels' offense relies heavily on sight-adjustments between QB and receiver. More or less having 2-3 route options on any given play. I cannot tell you how many times I saw Bradford throw to a receiver and hit him in the back, or throw to a receiver who was running THROUGH a zone instead of sitting down in it. None of the receivers they drafted (Pettis, Salas, Kendricks) had a clue about how to handle that workload since (a) they were rookies and (b) didn't get to rep it in the off-season. Bradford's line was also wrecked that year, in addition to losing his primary back (Jackson) and his primary receiver (Amendola) in the first game against you guys. So his protection broke down and his ankle got wrecked against the Packers. Keep in mind that Pro Football Focus ran an article in which the Rams' offense had more injuries than any other team in the past decade up to that point. It was just that bad.



Fast-forward to 2012. Now Fisher takes over, and Bradford is on his third OC and 2nd head coach. Schottenheimer was also given the mandate to focus on running the ball and minimizing turnovers. Keep in mind that NONE of these offenses are similar to the offense he ran with Stoops in Oklahoma. They've been turning him into something he's not, systematically, for two years now. So anyway. Fisher is now distancing himself from Steven Jackson and is working in a guy by the name of Daryl Richardson (who?). Richardson has breakaway speed, but can't break arm-tackles. The offensive line is also retooled because 90% of the O-linemen from 2011 are now out of football. And the receivers are now the same old Brandon Gibson, Danny Amendola, Austin Pettis with Chris Givens, Brian Quick and Steve Smith (not the good one). Brian Quick and Chris Givens never even looked at a playbook in college and were now exposed to one of the more extensive schemes in the league in Brian Schottenheimer's. Nobody has more terminology and alternate routes than Schotty. So here we are again with Bradford trying to get it going with a new O-line, new receivers, new coach, and a new OC. This is the lack of continuity that Bradford spoke about in his presser today. It's clear and obvious to this point, yeah?



Regardless, Bradford began to post some of his best numbers in 2012 and was starting to gain some traction despite having to unlearn everything, learn something new, and play with a half-dozen new guys while learning how to establish continuity and chemistry with them. His season ending numbers weren't fantastic or anything, but he was finally beginning to show why he was drafted. I watch every game they play, twice, with the all-22 videos, and you can see why Chip would be enamored with his accuracy and poise. Bradford, despite his stats, was delivering strikes to rookies and average receivers, but not all of them stood. Lots of drops, lots of penalties negating big gains, and lots of protection breakdowns that had him rushing his throws or rolling out trying to find a receiver who wasn't blanketed. To put it all into perspective to this point, this was a commentary prior to the week 7 game with the Packers in 2012.





Fast-forward to 2013. Jackson is gone now and the only RB ready to play is Daryl Richardson (again, who?). He's completely ineffective, so Schottenheimer devises a plan where he's going to spread out the offense and supplement the run game with quick throws to receivers in open space. Worked good for one game (the opener), but it quickly fell apart when the offensive line proved to be unable to provide enough protection for Bradford to scan the levels his receivers were running. He was sacked quite a bit and hurried/hit even more. So then Fisher decides he's going back to his roots and establish the run game. This proves to be effective because it eases the pressure on the QB and sets up play-action better. Bradford ended that season on IR, obviously, but not before throwing for 14 TDs to 4 interceptions and having one of the better games of his career in Carolina (watch that one. 2 TDs erased. One drop by Quick, one brought back on penalty to Tavon Austin).



The rest is history. ACL in 2013, ACL in 2014, and now you're wondering why Chip Kelly would want someone damaged like that.



Because he really is a good QB who was never in a system that took advantage of his strengths. Certainly there's a gamble with his injury history, but the payoff is potentially larger. If you can give him some protection, get the TE's involved, and let him throw bullets to receivers capable of running the right routes, then you won't have a problem succeeding with Bradford. All he needs to do is stay healthy and take advantage of the matchup problems Chip imposes on defenses through numerical advantages on passing plays. Bradford is highly, highly intelligent and very rarely makes a bad decision with the ball. Provide him with what he needs (what any QB needs), coach up his confidence, and let it rip. IMO, you won't be disappointed.