Pressure on Bradford

[GreeneCounty]

Lets be real fellas how much pressure is on Bradford to perform this year? Not saying he has to be Tom Brady but he has to be a top 10 guy. He has to improve his YPG on offense.

 

[PrometheusFaulk]

I'd say there could be less pressure on him individually than in any other previous year in his career. The defense could be the best he's ever played with, so the onus may not be on the offense in general to score that many points to win. Plus as opposed to the beginning of last year, Stacy's a solid incumbent RB who can shoulder the load.

 

[GreeneCounty]

I like me some Stacy with a dose of some Mason. Just like to see Sam really light it up with the deep ball.

 

[CGI_Ram]

I'd say there could be less pressure on him individually than in any other previous year in his career. The defense could be the best he's ever played with, so the onus may not be on the offense in general to score that many points to win. Plus as opposed to the beginning of last year, Stacy's a solid incumbent RB who can shoulder the load.

There is always pressure on the QB, but agree with your take; the team is stronger all around. There is cohesion in more places than ever before.

AND... Sam's entering his 3rd season in the same offense! Woot!

 

[rking4441]

Personally I think Bradford is going to have a very good year. With all the moves invested to improve the running game, I think Bradford will have more time to throw and he does have a very nice deep ball. I really think this offense will be far more dynamic than in the past. I know Sam has put up some decent numbers without much of a running game so I expect him to continue where he left off last year but with better results.

In all honesty I hope the Rams have a great year and that Bradford has a good not great year so he can be signed to a decent contract. Quinn will need to be resigned and it would be nice to keep a lot of the young guys Fisher and Snead are bringing in without a QB eating up almost 17-18% of the salary cap. I hope Bradford see that the Rams have gone above and beyond with him and that loyalty pay (or doesn't) dividends when it comes to contract talks.

 

[PrometheusFaulk]

I like me some Stacy with a dose of some Mason. Just like to see Sam really light it up with the deep ball.

Sure. He seems to thrive when teams bite on a play fake, and with the threat of Stacy back there that's much more of a possibility than Richardson. I think we could definitely see him throw it longer more frequently than the first four games of last season as a result.

 

[PrometheusFaulk]

There is always pressure on the QB, but agree with your take; the team is stronger all around. There is cohesion in more places than ever before.

AND... Sam's entering his 3rd season in the same offense! Woot!

Right, right. Also you've got Tavon's second year, bringing Britt into the fold, second year working with Cook...

There's some guys who can go up there and get it, and move with it once they got it, which aside from those few games with Clayton, a few healthy games they got from Alexander, half a season with Lloyd, etc., has been something that has eluded this passing offense. Amendola was a nice security blanket but hardly a threat to turn and go to the house with it.

 

[GreeneCounty]

Man Stacy looks like a load to bring down

 

[Thordaddy]

Lets be real fellas how much pressure is on Bradford to perform this year? Not saying he has to be Tom Brady but he has to be a top 10 guy. He has to improve his YPG on offense.

I think Bradford is playing for a new contract,by his own and his agents design. The brass would have extended him last year but he and his people decided against it. I think the people who decide who our QB is and what he's paid are the least alarmed with his play thus far and break down film for a living and know what part of the futility of our seasons is legitimately attributable to Sam.
I have little doubt if he'd played the whole season last year there would have been 4 teams in this division 10-6 or better ,with a good chance the first of those additional wins being the last game he played,Carolina (caveat had he played the whole season AZ could have very well fallen to 9-7).

So I realize the buzz over Sam approaches media group think akin to their Manziel go to stance, in the end there's always a lot of pressure on any NFL QB,but ask yourself is he really in as bad a pressure situation as the QB who after winning two SB's behind a superlative defense and an absolute freak catch where he hit the rec in the head, who is right under the nose of that preoccupied media. Eli Manning is who these pundits NEED to be giving about 60% of the make or break talk.

No injury this year>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> then Sam is gonna be fine.

That's REAL

 

[fearsomefour]

Depends what you mean by pressure. With better secondary play last year and an earlier embracing of the running game last year Sam was playing well enough to guild the Rams to playoff contention. Pressure to play well? Yes. But, there is no viable long term QB option besides him on the Rams and no real burning desire to get one.

 

[Fatbot]

Lots of interesting points in just a few posts already... Re: pressure, I bet if asked SB would say the most pressure he's under is from himself. No way this is how he dreamed his NFL career would go. This is the year where everything that's held him back (for those that believe in such things) should be gone and I bet he more than anyone wants to prove he can be that #1 pick.

Re: deep balls and play action. I agree that SB is better at this than people give him credit for, but it's not up to him -- it's Schotty's offense. Schotty has been way too enamored with west coast offense style dink passes, we'll see if he is willing to loosen the leash with some longer throws. Up until last year SB's career arc was on a nice trajectory with more air yards per attempt every year, hopefully he gets back to his 2012 or greater levels.

Re: "I hope ... Bradford has a good not great year so he can be signed to a decent contract". This is a rational thought but look at it twice and rethink the priorities. It's better to root for Bradford to have a great year. SB great means playoffs and a Super Bowl run, and if the Rams win the Super Bowl, contracts be damned!

Re: "I hope Bradford see that the Rams have gone above and beyond with him and that loyalty pay". Again I totally agree but reality is it won't happen. SB's agent plays the most hard ball in the NFL, he doesn't believe in the "L" word, he prides himself on sticking it to NFL teams to get QBs more than their market worth. Unless SB swaps agents, his contract will always be at or greater than market value.

 

[ChrisW]

I'd like to measure his performance in wins, and not raw QB stats. You see these guys say that Kaep and Wilson are great QBs in this day and age, but Sam had comparable stats to both of them, and outright beat them in a few QB stats. There's a different line shone on an under performing QB, so long as his team carries him to a win.

 

[Irish]

Sam has no more pressure on him than any of the other 31 Quarterbacks in the league.

The thing is, though, that those 32 QBs have more pressure on them than all of the other players, coaches, GMs, and owners in the league put together. It takes a special human to be a starting QB in the NFL. That is why every year teams "reach" on a guy in the first round, simply because they hope one of those reaches turns into a guy who can hack it.

We are going to learn this year if Sam is one of those 32 elite men, or is he one of the 7.24 billion in the world who just aren't.

 

[Thordaddy]

Sam has no more pressure on him than any of the other 31 Quarterbacks in the league.

The thing is, though, that those 32 QBs have more pressure on them than all of the other players, coaches, GMs, and owners in the league put together. It takes a special human to be a starting QB in the NFL. That is why every year teams "reach" on a guy in the first round, simply because they hope one of those reaches turns into a guy who can hack it.

We are going to learn this year if Sam is one of those 32 elite men, or is he one of the 7.24 billion in the world who just aren't.

No we will learn if we THINK he's one of the 32 elite, there are easily 10 teams who would take Sam TODAY and give him a Flacco type contract,you've set the parameters too wide there he's never done anything BUT prove to be worthy of one of those 32 jobs.

 

[RamzFanz]

Perceived pressure? A lot.

Actual pressure? None. All he has to do is be SB and stay on the field.

 

[MrMotes]

I think it's more about wins...

 

[RamzFanz]

I think it's more about wins...

I agree. But it looks to me like the wins will come more from field position, ground and pound, ball control, opponent 3 and outs, field goals, and turnovers. I love a razzle dazzle GSOT O but I expect this O to be solid and efficient and methodical and SB shouldn't have any problems in that scheme. He doesn't turn the ball over. His accuracy is far better than the numbers indicate because of the rash of drops last season while he was playing.

If he plays like last season and stays on the field, Rams can win any game on the schedule.

 

[HometownBoy]

AND... Sam's entering his 3rd season in the same offense! Woot!

Isn't that just pathetic? About to be 6 years into his career and this is the first time he's entered his 3rd season with the same coordinator, half of his career at the moment wasted on a rotating door of a team. Really puts the exclamation point on how much of a lame duck the Rams have been hasn't it?

 

[DaveFan'51]

I'd like to measure his performance in wins, and not raw QB stats. You see these guys say that Kaep and Wilson are great QBs in this day and age, but Sam had comparable stats to both of them, and outright beat them in a few QB stats. There's a different line shone on an under performing QB, so long as his team carries him to a win.

To prove your point, Tony Romo would be a XLNT example! Great stats, But 8-8,8-8,8-8,7-9, the last 4 years! (8-8 last year against the AFC Least!)

 

[thirteen28]

It will be important that he get his depth of catch numbers up.