Colt McCoy vs. Sam Bradford: The Breakdown

We are finally just a picture of Matt Stafford away from the draft. Most likely us Rams fans will have to wait until the buzzer for the pick to be made at the start of the draft, whether it be because of Billy D. trying desperately to swing a trade with the Browns or them weighing the options should Sam Bradford pull an Eli Manning.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the two QB's, because barring a miracle, Jimmy Clausen isn't going to be heading to St. Louis, of course, stranger things have happened, like Donovan McNabb asking the Redskins to snag T.O. Hit the jump to take a look.

Let's begin with the cold hard numbers of the golden child, Sam Bradford.

And below, we have Colt McCoy's numbers:

Looking just straight at the numbers, they seem pretty comparable. Both are highly accurate, throwing around the same amount of passes each year. Looking at Bradford though, the TD and INT numbers are staggering. 88 TD's to 16 INT's, compared to 112 TD's and 45 INT's for McCoy. Even though McCoy was more accurate, he threw almost three times as many interceptions. Both are spread QB's (although Colt played more in an under center offense for the first two, which didn't really change his numbers...), so you can't really fault a system to bloat their numbers as you would with a Jimmy Clausen vs. Sam Bradford comparison.

As far as analysis goes, I tried to find some neutral draftniks. The two I picked? John Gruden and Matt McGuire from Walterfootball.com. Why? Because John Gruden never could find a QB he liked a Tampa, and Walterfootball.com despises all QB's in the draft not named Jimmy Clausen. Suffice to say, I think you can believe what they have to say.

Let's start off with John Gruden. First off, he gave praise to all the QB's he looked at, but as far as Sam Bradford goes, he noticed right off the bat that

He's every bit of the 235 pounds and 6-foot-4 size he's advertised.

That's a good thing, because as he points out, lineman are getting huge. Gruden liked how he had good mobility and a quick tempo, a few things which would greatly help the Rams offensive woes. He's a talented athlete, which is a nice thing to have at the helm of your offense, especially when he's running for dear life (OK, our pass protection isn't that bad. But do remember the injury bug likes to attack our offensive lineman quite often).

Matt McGuire (who wrote the scouting reports on Bradford and McCoy) from Walterfootball has a different perspective. He likes the arm and knowledge that Bradford has, but isn't sold on his athleticism (it's only "decent") and he wasn't sold on Bradford's ability to throw on the run...or to throw it in general:

Doesn't make any jaw-dropping throws...

Arm strength is good, but he will struggle to fit ball in tight windows if he doesn't make very quick decisions...

We really do not know if he can make throws on the run yet...

 

The same goes for Colt McCoy. I personally don't think he is as good as Bradford, but I don't think he is as bad as some people make him out to be and that seems to be the way the Rams feel about him as well. Staring off with Gruden again, he gives him very high marks for his intellegence:

You can't give enough football to McCoy. You can really load up this computer. He can handle it. Though he's athletic, I think above the neck is going to be perhaps the biggest strength of his game. McCoy is going to be able to recognize fronts in coverages, he can place the ball on the back shoulder, he's a very accurate red zone passer, he can run and he will compete. His passion for football is as good as anybody's.

He definitely someone who wants to win, and the Rams could certainly use someone with that competitiveness after trudging through the Marc "emotions of a stone" Bulger. The red zone compliment that Gruden gave him is especially important, as the Rams of late haven't been able to punch it in for 7 (or even get to the red zone, but that's another story completely).

Matt on the other hand, completely disagrees. I haven't been an avid Longhorns fan, but Gruden says that McCoy played in a "under-the-center" offense for his first two years, while McGuire says he has, "Never operated under center." I'm not sure who is right here, but this is not an opinion; one is right, one is wrong.

McGuire thinks Colt's mobility is a plus, then says it's not good enough for the NFL. He says he has a weak arm, yet has good deep range accuracy. Quite frankly, he doesn't like McCoy at all:

Colt McCoy is the next overhyped collegiate quarterback who really doesn't have much of a chance in the NFL. He is a late-round talent, and don't let ESPN fool you.

That's pretty damning if you ask me.

When it comes down to it, the question you have to ask yourself is, "Is Colt McCoy good enough?" Sam Bradford is the consensus #1 pick to the media right now, and any way the Rams spin it if they do indeed go in a different direction is going to be met with resistance and ire. Personally, I think Colt McCoy needs more work then Bradford, just because of his height and how that translates, but I agree with Gruden; he seems like a smart guy who is fully capable of finding out how to maximize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses in regard to his game.

So TST, would you be willing to take someone else, such as Ndamukong Suh with the first pick and McCoy with the 33rd instead of Bradford? Or is Bradford too good to pass up?