As I sit here watching another episode of Fringe on Netflix – please don’t disappoint me like you did with Lost, J.J. Abrams! – it comes to my attention that a lot happens around us that we don’t notice or analyze for what it is. We go about our merry way, oblivious to the changes going on around us. Well for that reason, you can shave my whole body and call me The Observer because I’m witnessing something that seems to be drifting under the radar of most fantasy footballers. It’s happening in St Louis and hopefully it happens on your team for this season. I speak of none other than Sam Bradford. I know, much maligned and a ne’er do well on the lips of many who’ve drafted him in the past but I see a brighter future for the 2013 Fantasy Football season and beyond. Follow the typed word into the next paragraph if you wish to know more or run in fear from the unknown of which I’m about to lay upon you…
Bradford’s career to date has been nothing special, to put it mildly. A reasonable rookie year in 2010, a complete injury-filled disaster in 2011 and a solid yet unspectacular QB2 year in 2012. Well, for the sake of analysis, I’m throwing 2011 out the window like a man and his chamber pot contents from ye ole Edinburgh. Not only would it hurt my analysis – key reason of course – but it’s also not fair to look at someone through the lens of being broken. Too many games played at 75% in there and the data can’t be trusted. Good, now that we’ve established how I’m completely dancing around the data that doesn’t support my argument, let’s take a look at what does: 18/15 along with 5.95 vs 21/13 and a 6.72…I think I left something out in that. Oh yes, those are his TD:INT splits from the two comparable years as well as his yards per pass attempt. You’ll notice both improved over the course of that time and quite decently I might add. What I think we see this year is that third step from useful to QB1 caliber and I see this for various reasons. One, that offensive line for the Rams has improved this off-season, especially with the signing of Jake Long at LT. When you combine that with a set of wide receivers like Tavon Austin, Brian Quick and Chris Givens along with another immense receiving talent at tight end in Jared Cook, Bradford is surrounded by more weapons than Neo was in the Matrix. Of course, we haven’t even included the backfield which looks more and more like it’ll be a three-headed monster between Zac Stacy, Isaiah Pead and Daryl Richardson. Keep in mind my love for Bradford only extends so far. This 2013 season really is a put up or shut up year for him as I spoke of in the Razzball Football Podcast after the 2013 NFL Draft. But it’s quite a year to put up for him in St. Louis and with his current consensus ranking of 21 amongst QBs, there’s a lot of value in drafting this former Sooner. So open your eyes and free your mind. This lowly ranked QB is on the fringe of 2013 fantasy football greatness.
Projections: 4200 passing yards, 25 touchdown passes, 12 interceptions, 90 rushing yards and 1 rushing TD
