FanPost

How does Sam stackup against other Quarterbacks?



I have read all the comments regarding Sam recently, and I am going to tell you, I am not trying to prove a point or start a fight. Actually, I had made a post like this earlier, but did not post it, but now, as the Rams playoffs hope is all but gone, Sam Bradford is the new center of focus. I am going to see whether Sam Bradford is comparing well to his his fellow QBs in the league. A disclaimer, yes, I may be a Sam supporter, or as some people call it, an apologist, but right now I am going to look at the stats or each of these players careers, for those of you who feel stats don't mean anything, then I suggest look elsewhere, as looking at the stats is the easiest way to compare multiple people, with out having an bias opinion. I am using a simple formula I thought up. It takes the career passing yards + the number of TDs into 10 + the completion percentage - the number of Ints into 15. The resulting value i then divided by the number of games played. This may not be a perfect formula ( it gives a some over importance to yards, but there wasn't much I could do about it) but it was what I was able to think up, and I think it balances everything nicely, If someone was to feel there was a problem with it, please let me know, as then I could improve it. I have not included Qbs like Brady and Manning, only QBs drafted in the last 5 years, the most experienced QB being Matt Ryan. The reason is that it makes sense to compare Sam to other selected in the period that the Rams could have drafted someone. Other Qbs, such Brady, have played many years, having experience, leading to lees INT/more TDs etc, also they are more likely to have teams build around them. So here are the results.

Matt Ryan-248

Mark Sanchez- 190

Josh Freeman- 224

Matthew Stafford- 282

Sam Bradford- 223

Andy Dalton- 228

Christian Ponder- 173

Cam Newton- 252

Andrew Luck- 283

Robert Griffin III- 238

Ryan Tannehill- 208

Russel Wilson- 202

This is the order in terms of highest to lowest.

1) Andrew Luck

2) Matthew Stafford

3) Cam Newton

4) Matt Ryan

5) Robert Griffen III

6) Andy Dalton

7) Josh Freeman

8) Sam Bradford

9) Ryan Tannehill

10) Russel Wilson

11) Mark Sanchez

12) Christian Ponder

Now, looking at these stats, its look like Sam isn't that great, and maybe we should look at someone else. However I would like to quote someone, his name is Fran Tarkenton. He has not one championship yet, and they were discussing about how it is held against him. He said that " Quarterbacks don't win championships, teams do" as such, I think we should take into consideration the top receiving threats for each of these QBs over the course of their careers. Of course, offensive lines and such help, but those stats are difficult to find out for more then just a year. Also, I might add, as you have seen, a lot of second years and Luck and RG3 are ahead of Sam. This could change as they have a couple of years to either improve or regress, so their ranking should be taken with a grain of salt.

Andrew Luck- Reggie Wayne, Donnie Avery, T.Y Hiton, Cobie Fleener, Dwayne Allen

Matthew Stafford- Calvin Jonson ( what more does he need?), Brandon Pettigrew, Titus Young

Cam Newton- Steve Smith, Brandon Lafell, Greg Olsen

Matt Ryan- Roddy White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez

RG3- Pierre Garcon, Santana Moss, Fred Davis

Andy Dalton- A.J Green (isn't that enough?), Jermaine Gresham, Brandon Tate

Josh Freeman- VIncent Jackson, Kellen WInslow, Mike WIlliams, Arrellious Benn

Sam Bradford- Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson ( honorable mention- Mark Clayton, preformed well, then got injured, story of the Rams.....)... oh, and he had Laurent Robinson

Ryan Tannehill- Brian Hartline, Antony Fasano, Davone Bess ( and I might add, probably the best O-line on this list)

Russel Wilson- Sidney Rice, Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin

Mark Sanchez- Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, Plaxio Burress, Jerricho Cotchery

Christian Ponder- Percy Harvin, Kyle Randolph

Now out of all the quarterbacks listed here, the only QBs who don't have house hold name at WR are Sanchez, Josh Freeman( until this year), Ryan Tannehill, Russel WIlson ( because Sidney Rice is always hurt), Pinder ( Harvin again gets hurt) and Sam Bradford (Danny is becoming a more common name, not yet a household one, but he is quite injury prone so far)

In conclusion, how does Sam Bradford stack up against other QBs? Looking just at the stats, not that great. But once you look at what he had to work with, not to mention the O-lines, its up to you to decide. Certainly the Rams could have done worse, far worse, but could they have done better? I think by the end of next season we would know the answer.