Would the Sam Bradford debate be different if the Fisher/Snead regime drafted him?

[FRO]

In 2010 I was a Bradford guy. I also really liked Suh, but I thought Bradford was on the same talent level as Suh and played a more important division. After the 2010 rookie of the year season I felt vindicated. Then 2011 happens. Then 2012 was a solid year for what he had around him. 2013 he started to turn the corner, then he got hurt. My question is, how much further along would Bradford be without the 2 years of Spags/Devaney? While Devaney drafted some good players (Long, Laurinaitis, Fletcher, Bradford, Saffold, Quinn, Kendricks) he had some huge misses and in some cases reached for guys (although it's impossible to prove if a player was a reach). Then Spags and his inexperienced, ineffective staff did a poor job of developing talent. His scared to lose approach seemed to rub off on guys. His inability to scheme a young talent like Quinn into a game is a prime example.

So with Snead's ability to draft and Fisher's ability to develop, would the whole Bradford debate be different?

 

[rhinobean]

If Sam was in his 3rd year, there would be no real debate, IMO Contract wouldn't be an issue, not that Sam had anything to do with the cba! Most folks would be happy with Sam;s last 2 years I believe, and would be looking for him to light it up this year!

 

[Ballhawk]

Yes.

 

[FRO]

After the 2010 season we knew we needed help at WR. Green and Jones didn't fall to us in the first round. Either of those would have changed the outlook on Bradford significantly. That being said I would probably take Quinn over those two guys right now, so I would call it a win. In the second round we got Kendricks. He is a solid player, but we passed on Torrey Smith, a guy who was thought to be a late first round player and Randall Cobb. We also picked Pettis in the third, who is solid, but at best is a number 4 guy. Devaney did such a poor job of getting weapons for Sam. Also in that same offseason we signed Mike Simms-Walker to be our starting WR. It just was a poor effort.

 

[Ram_Rally]

In a sense. Hindsight is always 20/20 but I'd assume that fisher would have put a more stable roster around Bradford, making his value so much higher. Bradford has always been a guy who can be elite if his pocket is clean (even with just decent receivers IMO). Assuming fisher was here in 2010, Bradford would probably be in his 5th constructive year in the same offense, with experienced receivers ready to make plays, and a defense To lean on. He had NONE of those things before fisher. His contract will forever haunt him too, deserved or not.

 

[FRO]

In a sense. Hindsight is always 20/20 but I'd assume that fisher would have put a more stable roster around Bradford, making his value so much higher. Bradford has always been a guy who can be elite if his pocket is clean (even with just decent receivers IMO). Assuming fisher was here in 2010, Bradford would probably be in his 5th constructive year in the same offense, with experienced receivers ready to make plays, and a defense To lean on. He had NONE of those things before fisher. His contract will forever haunt him too, deserved or not.

I don't think his contract will haunt him. I'm sure he enjoys all that money. It haunts others though. I agree with your assessment however. In three years Fisher and Snead have transformed a very poor old roster void of talent and have turned it into a very young talented roster. Had Bradford had these guys from the start he would have looked much better.

 

[Ram_Rally]

After the 2010 season we knew we needed help at WR. Green and Jones didn't fall to us in the first round. Either of those would have changed the outlook on Bradford significantly. That being said I would probably take Quinn over those two guys right now, so I would call it a win. In the second round we got Kendricks. He is a solid player, but we passed on Torrey Smith, a guy who was thought to be a late first round player and Randall Cobb. We also picked Pettis in the third, who is solid, but at best is a number 4 guy. Devaney did such a poor job of getting weapons for Sam. Also in that same offseason we signed Mike Simms-Walker to be our starting WR. It just was a poor effort.

Give me Quinn over green and jones too only because pass rush is too valuable in today's nfl. I remember all the players I wanted in round 2 that year (Torrey smith being my favorite). It was my first year really watching drafts and I remember only looking at too prospects for each round. Every time we picked after Quinn (I was telling my bro weekend before that I wanted Quinn), I remember thinking "who is that? that guy wasn't on any of the mock drafts for this round!" Referring to Kendrick's in round 2 pettis in round 3 and salas I'm round 4 lol

 

[FRO]

Another similar question to pose. How much further along would our defense be had Gregg Williams never been suspended. If we were in year three of Williams as opposed to year one.

 

[Ram_Rally]

I don't think his contract will haunt him. I'm sure he enjoys all that money. It haunts others though. I agree with your assessment however. In three years Fisher and Snead have transformed a very poor old roster void of talent and have turned it into a very young talented roster. Had Bradford had these guys from the start he would have looked much better.

Lol true, I'm sure Bradford doesn't mind being the 50 million dollar man. I have always looked at his 2012-2013 season and thought "why aren't we okay with this statistically" even though he had some rough stretches. I think this is the year for Bradford and I have always been on the fence about him. Expecting a huge breakout and him to win my fantasy league for me lol

 

[Ram_Rally]

Another similar question to pose. How much further along would our defense be had Gregg Williams never been suspended. If we were in year three of Williams as opposed to year one.

Gonna wait and see when it comes to Williams. Other than our front four (which can look dominate and then not even look present in some games), I don't know if I trust our defense yet. It does seen that he holds players accountable for failures, which I always thought was our defense's problem. I can answer this fully in about 10 weeks haha

 

[Thordaddy]

I don't think there would be as many detractors ,but in my experience there are Broncos "fans" who hate on Manning so ,we had people hating on Kurt ,IMO some of that shit comes with the territory.

 

[FRO]

I don't think there would be as many detractors ,but in my experience there are Broncos "fans" who hate on Manning so ,we had people hating on Kurt ,IMO some of that crap comes with the territory.

Good point. Good to know we aren't the only fan base with idiots. How can you hate on Peyton?

 

[-X-]

I dunno. Fisher's not really a QB kinda guy. The question, IMO, is more like ... "If Fisher drafted Bradford, could Schotty have done a better job developing him?" And I think he could have. Schotty is far more pragmatic than McDaniels, and far less conservative than Shurmur. And Snead may have done a better job of drafting and signing talent around him, but not without the benefit of that trade, and not in a year when the CBA was in negotiations (that was a perfect shit storm for Devaney). But most of all - and this can't be understated - the team can't be decimated by injuries no matter who drafts him. Because he would fail.

 

[LazyWinker]

After the 2010 season we knew we needed help at WR. Green and Jones didn't fall to us in the first round. Either of those would have changed the outlook on Bradford significantly. That being said I would probably take Quinn over those two guys right now, so I would call it a win. In the second round we got Kendricks. He is a solid player, but we passed on Torrey Smith, a guy who was thought to be a late first round player and Randall Cobb. We also picked Pettis in the third, who is solid, but at best is a number 4 guy. Devaney did such a poor job of getting weapons for Sam. Also in that same offseason we signed Mike Simms-Walker to be our starting WR. It just was a poor effort.

Quinn was the right pick. It still hurts that we could have had Quinn and Cobb. I hope Austin turns into a player similar to Cobb. He's like a smaller, faster, and more elusive Cobb.

 

[Warner4Prez]

It's kinda fun yet depressing at the same time to think about knowing Snead's propensity for making moves on draft day. I'm sure they would have made some moves in the draft to retool that defense, but likely at the expense of the Saffold pick (there were heavy rumors that multiple teams wanted to get that pick).

 

[snackdaddy]

I think the majority of the hate on Bradford stems from two things. His draft position and the expectations that come with it. Plus, that big contract. If he were to be drafted a year later and maybe late first round, I think things would be different. People wouldn't be looking at that contract as a reason why they can't get him the support he needs.

 

[Thordaddy]

Good point. Good to know we aren't the only fan base with idiots. How can you hate on Peyton?

Well we got cheated out of a Super Bowl and Martz took the fall for it, Manning lost a Super Bowl, some people are just so bad with disappointment they have to externalize and message boards especially OTHER boards where the tone isn't monitored is a great place for them to focus on hating.

 

[Angry Ram]

If Sam was in his 3rd year, there would be no real debate, IMO Contract wouldn't be an issue, not that Sam had anything to do with the cba! Most folks would be happy with Sam;s last 2 years I believe, and would be looking for him to light it up this year!

Nah. There will always be some "once in a generation" defensive player someone will be butthurt about not getting.

 

[LesBaker]

Nah. There will always be some "once in a generation" defensive player someone will be butthurt about not getting.

LOL indeed those come around every couple of drafts don't they.

 

[-X-]

Nah. There will always be some "once in a generation" defensive player someone will be butthurt about not getting.

Yeah, but I'm gonna be pissed if we pass on the next once in a millennium player.