Before you read any further please note that this is not a Bradford bash article. I support Bradford with all my heart and get visibly pissed when reading articles bashing Bradford for reasons I deem unfair and unmerited.

However.

What the hell is up with Bradford's lack of improv in the pocket. Its to the point where if an opposing d lineman beats our lineman before 4 seconds.. Its either a sack, errant incompletion, or throwaway by Bradford. I saw him hit some receivers on slants with pressure in his face in the previous two games before Dallas and that looked good. But not once this preseason have I seen Bradford get outside the pocket (on a play that wasn't a designed rollout) and hit a receiver on the move. Not once have i seen Bradford fix a broken play or buy time with his feet to allow for a positive play that wasn't design.

NOT ONCE.

Maybe I missed it somewhere but ive seen every Rams preseason game up to this point all the way through and the first two games more than once. Bradford is simply lacking overall pocket awareness and looks like a deer in the headlights when waiting for guys to get deep.

It reminds me of that character in the Stand by Stephen King named Tom Cullen. Tom was mentally retarded to a degree and when working out a complicated problem his face would go slack as he went into his own mind, ignoring everything happening around him, to work out a solution to a problem. Bradford can throw a good ball when he gets a lot of time but if his drop back, concentration, and footwork get at all disrupted he simply loses his ability to throw decently and either typically throw a bad incompletion or takes a sack.

I remember 2010 Bradford where he moved around in the pocket a LOT more and showed more ability to escape the rush and improv than i have seen anytime since. One play really sticks out to me against the Redskins in 2010 where he drops back to throw a pass in the Redskins redzone. The first read isn't there so he rolls out to his right. Deangelo Hall had coverage on Fells in the back of the endzone and Fells was fully blanketed. Bradford continues rolling right, tucks the ball and acts as if he is planning to run it into the endzone. This draws Peterson off of Fells because he is the closest defender to Bradford and thinks Bradford is going to try and run it in. At the last second before Peterson is about to tackle Brad, he lobs the ball over Peterson's head to the now open Fells for a TD.

That play really had me going and I thought that this guy had everything a QB needed at the time. It wasn't just that play but a few others where I saw him use mobility to that extent. 2011 and now up to the third preseason game I have yet to see that type of mobile savvy from Bradford.

With this ankle sprain going on now im wondering if its ever going to come back and is Bradford stuck in his ways.

Do I truly believe it? No. I don't

But I'd be kidding if it didn't scare the hell out of me to think he may not be what we thought he was. Hope to god we get this squared away this preseason or at least sometime during this regular season. If not. We're going to waste a lot of time on a guy who just doesn't have it. You guys have no idea how painful that was to type..