Can Sam Bradford resurrect his career in Philadelphia?

 

Written by Taylor Odenat

With a Heisman Trophy win under his belt, Sam Bradford was the dominant prospect on the 2010 NFL Draft board. St. Louis held the No.1 pick and was in need of a leader of the franchise, they believed Bradford could be that leader. Bradford’s throwing arm and accuracy intrigued the Rams and with a strong core of wide receivers at his side, a rugged runner in Steven Jackson and a competent defense; the Rams believed they had a bright future ahead of them.

After an abysmal 1-15 record the season prior, the 2010-2011 St. Louis Rams finished 7-9 and second in the NFC West. Bradford looked quite sharp, even eclipsing Peyton Manning’s record for most completed passes by an NFL rookie quarterback, and eventually won the NFC Offensive Player of the Year Award. He started all 16 games and showed signs of a player that was durable and strong-armed that the Rams could stabilize around.

With such a productive season behind them, the Rams and Sam Bradford were poised to continue climbing the ladder of the NFC West and return to the Divisional Playoffs for the first time since 2004. However, the expectations were extreme and Bradford’s injury-riddled career would begin during the 2011-2012 season and the Rams would finish with a 2-14 record.

Disregarding the 2010-2011 season, Bradford has never seem to be able to stay on the football field and it hurt his team in the process. Head Coach Jeff Fisher passed up on drafting a superstar prospect out of Baylor, quarterback Robert Griffin III, in anticipation that Bradford would be healthy and ready to play again. Coach Fisher thought wrong as Sam would continuously suffer more and more injuries whether it be a high ankle sprain or a torn left ACL (twice).

Fast forward to the 2014-2015 season and the Rams have suffered three straight seasons without going to the Wild Card Round or the Divisional Playoffs. Now former franchise quarterback, Sam Bradford, has re-torn his left ACL after a pretty solid seven games; and now the Rams have no other choice but to trade him.

In the offseason after the 2014-2015 season, Bradford was traded to to the Philadelphia Eagles along with a 2015 fifth round pick, in exchange for Nick Foles, a 2015 fourth-round pick, and a 2016 second-round pick. Nick Foles proved himself as an accurate pocket passer and should be able to display to the Rams fans and organization that he is worthy of being the starter. However, Bradford’s situation is on a different level. He needs to exhibit the same talent and throwing arm that earned him the Heisman Trophy and starter job for the Rams if he wants to continue to call himself an NFL player.

It's surprising that Bradford has been able to last this long being such an injury-riddled player. However, this stint with Philadelphia is a new chapter of his career. If he plays it wisely he can prove himself to be an elite quarterback and worthy of being the No.1 pick back in the 2010 Draft. On the other hand, if Bradford doesn't make good use of this opportunity, the Eagles will start Mark Sanchez instead, resurrecting a career that many thought had died with the New York Jets a couple seasons ago. In doing that, Bradford will fade into NFL oblivion becoming just another player that won the Heisman Trophy; and I don't think he wants to be on ESPN performing color commentary just yet.

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