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Shane Gray provides special Rams commentaries on 101sports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ShaneGmoSTLRams.
-Bradford’s Better
Although we are looking at an admittedly small sample size, the early 2013 returns indicate that St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford has elevated his game for a second consecutive season.
In 2011, Bradford finished with a 53.5-percent completion rate. Last year, his passing success rate rose to 59.5. This season, Bradford has connected on 63.4 percent of his throws.
Two years ago, Bradford’s quarterback rating finalized at 70.5. In 2012, that rating elevated to 82.6. This campaign, it stands at 93.1 after two contests.
In 2011, Bradford finished the schedule with a per-pass average of 6.1 yards. Last season, it ended at 6.7. In 2013, it currently sits at 7.0 yards per.
Finally, Bradford’s touchdown percentage stood at just 1.7 percent at the conclusion of the 2011 campaign. That percentage more than doubled in rising to 3.8 last fall. Through one-eighth of this year’s docket, his TD mark has significantly improved again to 5.4 percent.
In short, the above shows a third consecutive season of betterment from Bradford.
But it’s not just the numbers that verify a steadily burgeoning Bradford – it is the eyeball test, too.
When watching No. 8 in the pocket, it is clear that – in back-to-back years – Bradford has ameliorated in regard to pocket awareness, overall poise and read progressions.
This is not the same young QB of a couple years ago who would constantly lock onto his primary receiver and stare him down. This is not the same green gunslinger who seemed to lack much of a feel for when the pocket was collapsing around him or when to escape and/or get rid of the ball.
What we are seeing now is a much more refined, confident and capable QB.
Today’s Bradford is clearly the leader of this offense. This is a man with an aura about him that wasn’t always there in the past. This is a player ready to live up to the expectations that accompanied him after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
And as his young weapons around him mature and grow, Bradford will only get better and realize further growth, too.
From a global perspective, No. 8’s career trajectory is more clearly pointing up now than it has at any point since his rookie season and perhaps at any point in his four-year career.
-Austin Analyzed
In scanning various Rams message boards,
(Hope you all will enjoy the 12 additional observations and questions below, some of which are some tough ones):
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101sports.com/2013/09/18/ram" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101sports.com/2013/09/18/ram</a> ... es-week-2/
-Bradford’s Better
Although we are looking at an admittedly small sample size, the early 2013 returns indicate that St. Louis Rams quarterback Sam Bradford has elevated his game for a second consecutive season.
In 2011, Bradford finished with a 53.5-percent completion rate. Last year, his passing success rate rose to 59.5. This season, Bradford has connected on 63.4 percent of his throws.
Two years ago, Bradford’s quarterback rating finalized at 70.5. In 2012, that rating elevated to 82.6. This campaign, it stands at 93.1 after two contests.
In 2011, Bradford finished the schedule with a per-pass average of 6.1 yards. Last season, it ended at 6.7. In 2013, it currently sits at 7.0 yards per.
Finally, Bradford’s touchdown percentage stood at just 1.7 percent at the conclusion of the 2011 campaign. That percentage more than doubled in rising to 3.8 last fall. Through one-eighth of this year’s docket, his TD mark has significantly improved again to 5.4 percent.
In short, the above shows a third consecutive season of betterment from Bradford.
But it’s not just the numbers that verify a steadily burgeoning Bradford – it is the eyeball test, too.
When watching No. 8 in the pocket, it is clear that – in back-to-back years – Bradford has ameliorated in regard to pocket awareness, overall poise and read progressions.
This is not the same young QB of a couple years ago who would constantly lock onto his primary receiver and stare him down. This is not the same green gunslinger who seemed to lack much of a feel for when the pocket was collapsing around him or when to escape and/or get rid of the ball.
What we are seeing now is a much more refined, confident and capable QB.
Today’s Bradford is clearly the leader of this offense. This is a man with an aura about him that wasn’t always there in the past. This is a player ready to live up to the expectations that accompanied him after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
And as his young weapons around him mature and grow, Bradford will only get better and realize further growth, too.
From a global perspective, No. 8’s career trajectory is more clearly pointing up now than it has at any point since his rookie season and perhaps at any point in his four-year career.
-Austin Analyzed
In scanning various Rams message boards,
(Hope you all will enjoy the 12 additional observations and questions below, some of which are some tough ones):
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.101sports.com/2013/09/18/ram" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.101sports.com/2013/09/18/ram</a> ... es-week-2/
