Prior to the NFL draft this year, St. Louis Rams general manager Les Snead made the rounds from NFL Network and beyond stumping for Sam Bradford. He pushed all his chips in the middle of the table on the health of Sam Bradford. And it just didn’t work.
Bradford suffered another season-ending injury to that same repaired leg in the 33-14 win against the Cleveland Browns. Several other key players were injured: offensive lineman Rodger Saffold, cornerback Trumaine Johnson, defensive tackle Kendall Langford. It was one of the strangest games I’ve ever seen.
But back to Sam Bradford, who had been one of the most polarizing quarterbacks in the history of the St. Louis Rams since Tony Banks. Bradford has been picked apart, put back together, blown up, recycled, reinvented and reincarnated by fans, media, team and bloggers. He is one of the main keys for the Rams getting to the next level. This team was going as far as he was going to take them.
Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen again. And this looks bad on the Rams for not drafting a quarterback higher in the draft that can be groomed for the future. Now that’s just hindsight being 20/20. Now questions start to mount.
For example, if you know Bradford, he has a lengthy history of being injury-prone and you’re stuck paying him close to $34 million over the next two seasons. Why would you not insure your bet by drafting a quarterback who can contribute?
Why was Jake Long playing left tackle with the starters after missing reps coming off an ACL injury of his own? Didn’t Long look shaky and a little bit rusty?
Fans love and appreciate that way Snead sticks himself out there for a very gifted former Heisman Trophy winner, giving that kind of outpouring of support for Sam Bradford. But you run the risk of alienating an already apathetic fan base that has been extremely loyal. Especially, when you could have drafted the next Drew Brees or Russell Wilson.
Now you insert Rams backup Austin Davis who has been around for a few years now and played a phenomenal game against the Browns – a much-welcomed site after seeing Bradford walk off the field. Davis threw the football with confidence. He looked like he was in control, and the Rams’ play-calling was surprisingly aggressive.
Of all the performances by the Rams’ QBs in the victory against the Browns, Davis kept the offense moving the best. The offense was smoking on third downs early in the contest; the Rams were five of six on third-down conversions, a good sign to come for this team that lost its franchise quarterback. He also was hitting receivers in stride – for example, when he hooked up with Chris Givens for a nice run and catch for a 75-yard score.
All of the freak injuries were bad. Not trying to minimize that, never will. But, Sam Bradford getting injured again is colossal.
Thank goodness the Rams had the foresight to sign a veteran backup Shaun Hill and retain Austin Davis. So all is not lost for the Rams this season. Even though the gamble on Sam Bradford didn’t exactly reap rewards, Les Snead can take solace that he had the rest of the roster stocked full with talented, yet raw, football players.
But at the end of the day, you needed your quarterback to last an entire season. The schedule is filthy, and that early bye week could be a big pain in the rear. Maybe not as big as the pain in Sam Bradford’s knee.
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