Monday, March 29, 2010

Sam Bradford Has Solidified Himself as the Number One Pick



The Oklahoma Sooners held their 2010 Pro Day in front of NFL scouts from around the league, but we all know we can refer to this as the day when we found out if Sam Bradford would be the number one overall pick in about a month.

It's been reported throughout the last few weeks that the Rams have been having internal discussions about taking Bradford, who missed his senior season, instead of taking the consensus best player in the draft, Ndamukong Suh.

Bradford has had many naysayers, mostly stemming from the shoulder injuries suffered that caused him to miss his senior season as I eluded to before, but with the work he put in today, some of those guys may lighten their stance on the quarterback, including me.

However, at the Oklahoma pro day today, Bradford was spectacular according to many reporters present for the workout. "That's the best I've seen since Troy Aikman." said NFL.com's Gil Brandt. That's quite a compliment.

Bradford officially completed 49 of 50 passes during the workout, and even though it is set up for the player to succeed, the delivery, velocity and accuracy were on point, as well as full range of motion and smoothness in his injured throwing shoulder.

His lone misfire was courtesy of a dropped pass by a back-up wide receiver for the Sooners.

Our stance here at NFL Spin Zone has been, and will remain, that you don't draft a quarterback number one simply because you've missed out on quarterbacks in past drafts, and Sam Bradford fits into that category.

There are even people who do not view Bradford as the best quarterback prospect in this years draft, and rather, put that title on other players such as Jimmy Clausen and Tony Pike. I do believe that Sam Bradford is the best quarterback in this years draft, but I still believe that the Rams will be reaching for him at number one, but not quite as much as before the workout.

Ndamukong Suh is about the closest thing to a sure thing as you can get in today's NFL draft, and while Bradford displayed outstanding mechanics and velocity on his throws, we still are unsure if he will be able to read and pick apart NFL defenses the way he was able to in college. Both players will succeed, and it's just a matter of personal preference at this point.

Regardless of personal preference on draft strategy, it is my firm belief that with the workout Bradford posted today, he will be the Rams' number one pick come April 22, and not Suh. Both will be spectacular players in this league, but Bradford just guaranteed himself $45-50 million.



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