Video Breakdown: Every Sam Bradford Throw Over 15 Yards.
If you’re a football fan with a pulse, you’ve heard about the Jimmy Graham trade to Seattle and the shocking Sam Bradford trade to Philly from Tuesday. Rumored free agent deals were in the works for days, but no major hints of any sort of blockbuster trades were expected. After the Eagles sent LeSean McCoy to the Bills last week fans were expecting more detailed focus on signing players to help rebuild the Philly franchise. Instead, and to everyone’s surprise, the Birds ended up trading for a two-time ACL repaired Quarterback that makes 12+million a year.
From my estimation, Eagles fans are currently being divided into two groups after the team acquired Bradford in exchange for Nick Foles and a couple draft picks. A Eagle fan is currently either:
A.) Furious at Chip Kelly and has no idea why Chip would make this trade (or)
B.) In Disbelief this trade is real and thinks it’s part of a stepping stone to get Marcus Mariota.
Clearly no one knows what Chip Kelly is up too. So it would make zero sense for me to predict any possible future trades if there are any at all. Instead, I started to dig around for any possible reason to why Chip (or another team) would want Sam Bradford. The general consensus on Sam Bradford is he’s overpaid and injury prone, but how good is he when actually on the field? The above video is every NFL throw Sam Bradford has made in the pros that went for more than 15 yards. Here are the following takeaways from this video.
Arm Strength
It’s evident early on that Sam Bradford has excellent zip on his throws. He can bomb it down field in a flash and doesn’t need to put a ton of arch on his passes early to compensate for the time it takes the receiver to catch up with the ball. Bradford makes at least a dozen deep throws on target that are straight up dropped in this collection of highlights. His 2013 season was cut short, but statistically, and despite what looked like a below average receiving corps he was having a strong season.
Pocket Presence
Bradford was under pressure often in St.Louis but for the most part handled the pass rush well. He did a good job with time management and seems loose in the pocket. Bradford also never seems to stand flat-footed, he almost always looks like he has a constant bounce to his step. This is the total opposite of Nick Foles, who often get stuck on a spot. Teams later realized this and sent heat up the gut to get Foles to throw off balance.
Movement and Play-action Pass
Bradford throws on the run very well and sells the play-action pass far better than I remembered. Obviously his range of motion will be under question after his latest injury that put him on a shelf for all of 2014, but if healthy I can see a lot of roll out passes designed for him in the Eagles system. Play-action pass is a huge draw for Chip Kelly as he is a run-first coach. The Eagles adjusted their system for Foles but if Chip could have it his way, I’m sure he’d like to run far more in 2015.
Conclusion
Did the Eagles give up too much for Bradford? -Yes. Is Bradford a lame duck and a waste of time? -Not at all. If healthy Bradford could thrive in Chip Kelly’s system. Mike Vick, Mark Sanchez and Nick Foles all had strong statistically numbers playing for the Eagles, there’s no reason to think that Bradford couldn’t do the same, if not more.
Mike Rigz | Video Breakdown: Every Sam Bradford Throw Over 15 Yards - Gridiron Experts
