The Minnesota Vikings have traded for Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports. This deal comes just four days after incumbent starter Teddy Bridgewater was declared out for the season with a gruesome dislocation and ACL tear in his left knee.
I'm very conflicted about this trade from the Vikings' point of view. The Vikings were looking for a viable starting quarterback, and back-up Shaun Hill certainly doesn't fit that mold. Bradford is certainly better than Hill, but is he good enough to justify giving up a first round pick in 2017 and a fourth round pick in 2018?
In a vacuum, no, he isn't. First, Bradford has an injury history that has to be disturbing to Vikings fans considering what the team gave up for him. Bradford tore his ACL in 2013, then re-injured the same knee the next year, missing the rest of the season both times. Before he even started an NFL career, Bradford had surgery on the A/C joint in his throwing shoulder, which caused him to miss 13 total games in college. The problems with that shoulder persisted into last season when he sprained it and missed two games last season. Consistent injuries to one area have to be worrisome to the fans because they are (obviously) risks for further issues.
First round picks are very important. They can give you an immediate contributor and eventual star, so they're not to be taken lightly. If Bradford gets hurt again, the Vikings will have given up a first and fourth round pick for nothing, which would be a disaster.
The other opportunity for disaster comes in Bradford's performance. He hasn't lived up to the hype he generated coming out of Oklahoma where he won a Heisman and dominated to the point that he was drafted first overall by St. Louis in 2010. At Oklahoma, Bradford put up crazy numbers and appeared to be the next great star at the quarterback position in the NFL. In his Heisman sophomore season, Bradford threw for 50 touchdowns and 337 yards per game. He went for 9.8 yards per attempt and a 67.9% completion percentage, according to sports-reference.com.
In the NFL, Bradford hasn't been the same guy. He has a career 60.1% completion percentage on 6.5 yards per attempt and a 2.3% interception percentage, according to Pro Football Reference. But to understand more about what he may give the Vikings, let's key in on last season.
Bradford started 14 games for Philadelphia last season, missing the aforementioned two games with that shoulder injury. He went 7-7 and his stats were 65% comp. pct., 266.1 Y/G, 7.0 Y/A, 3.6% TD pct., and 2.6% INT pct. Those stats were ranked 11th, 11th, 25th, 26th, and 26th respectively. That means he's completing a fair amount of his many attempts (he ranked 15th in attempts in just 14 games), but he's not making big plays, scoring touchdowns, or protecting the ball.
Those numbers don't look great, but you have to project Bradford within the Vikings' situation. Let's look at how Bradford's numbers compare to Bridgewater's from last year.
Bridgewater's stats: 65.3% comp. pct., 201.9 Y/G, 7.2 Y/A, 3.1% TD pct., 2.0 INT pct. Those numbers rank 10th, 31st, 23rd, 31st, and 11th, respectively. They don't look much better than Bradford's, and they confirm what we already know about Bridgewater's role in the Vikings offense. He isn't asked to do too much, just serve as enough of a threat to keep defenses from completely stacking the box against star running back Adrian Peterson.
Bridgewater had easy intermediate throws because the defense was always focused on Peterson. Bradford has never had the advantage of relying on a star running back. Perhaps with fellow Sooner Peterson lightening the load, Bradford can play more efficiently, especially on those intermediate throws. He also has good weapons on those throws in rising star receiver Stefon Diggs, hulking rookie receiver Laquon Treadwell, and big tight end Kyle Rudolph. The number one area of focus for Bradford should be reducing turnovers, because that's what made Teddy valuable to the Vikings' offense. It's not that Bridgewater makes plays or throws that Bradford can't, it's that Bridgewater makes fewer mistakes.
All the Vikings need Bradford to do is hand the ball to Adrian Peterson, complete a high percentage of a low number of throws for first downs, and protect the ball. That's the formula that got Minnesota to an 11-5 record, and one shanked Blair Walsh field goal away from the NFC divisional round. If Bradford can cut down the turnovers, there's no reason the Vikings can't replicate their success of a year ago. Whether Bradford is up to the task or not is the question. I don't think he was worth giving up a first round pick for, and neither do many people around the league. The former Heisman winner's professional career may be at stake. He'll have to rise to the occasion if he wants anyone to take him seriously as a starter going forward. Personally, I'll have to see it before I believe it.
I'm very conflicted about this trade from the Vikings' point of view. The Vikings were looking for a viable starting quarterback, and back-up Shaun Hill certainly doesn't fit that mold. Bradford is certainly better than Hill, but is he good enough to justify giving up a first round pick in 2017 and a fourth round pick in 2018?
In a vacuum, no, he isn't. First, Bradford has an injury history that has to be disturbing to Vikings fans considering what the team gave up for him. Bradford tore his ACL in 2013, then re-injured the same knee the next year, missing the rest of the season both times. Before he even started an NFL career, Bradford had surgery on the A/C joint in his throwing shoulder, which caused him to miss 13 total games in college. The problems with that shoulder persisted into last season when he sprained it and missed two games last season. Consistent injuries to one area have to be worrisome to the fans because they are (obviously) risks for further issues.
First round picks are very important. They can give you an immediate contributor and eventual star, so they're not to be taken lightly. If Bradford gets hurt again, the Vikings will have given up a first and fourth round pick for nothing, which would be a disaster.
The other opportunity for disaster comes in Bradford's performance. He hasn't lived up to the hype he generated coming out of Oklahoma where he won a Heisman and dominated to the point that he was drafted first overall by St. Louis in 2010. At Oklahoma, Bradford put up crazy numbers and appeared to be the next great star at the quarterback position in the NFL. In his Heisman sophomore season, Bradford threw for 50 touchdowns and 337 yards per game. He went for 9.8 yards per attempt and a 67.9% completion percentage, according to sports-reference.com.
In the NFL, Bradford hasn't been the same guy. He has a career 60.1% completion percentage on 6.5 yards per attempt and a 2.3% interception percentage, according to Pro Football Reference. But to understand more about what he may give the Vikings, let's key in on last season.
Bradford started 14 games for Philadelphia last season, missing the aforementioned two games with that shoulder injury. He went 7-7 and his stats were 65% comp. pct., 266.1 Y/G, 7.0 Y/A, 3.6% TD pct., and 2.6% INT pct. Those stats were ranked 11th, 11th, 25th, 26th, and 26th respectively. That means he's completing a fair amount of his many attempts (he ranked 15th in attempts in just 14 games), but he's not making big plays, scoring touchdowns, or protecting the ball.
Those numbers don't look great, but you have to project Bradford within the Vikings' situation. Let's look at how Bradford's numbers compare to Bridgewater's from last year.
Bridgewater's stats: 65.3% comp. pct., 201.9 Y/G, 7.2 Y/A, 3.1% TD pct., 2.0 INT pct. Those numbers rank 10th, 31st, 23rd, 31st, and 11th, respectively. They don't look much better than Bradford's, and they confirm what we already know about Bridgewater's role in the Vikings offense. He isn't asked to do too much, just serve as enough of a threat to keep defenses from completely stacking the box against star running back Adrian Peterson.
Bridgewater had easy intermediate throws because the defense was always focused on Peterson. Bradford has never had the advantage of relying on a star running back. Perhaps with fellow Sooner Peterson lightening the load, Bradford can play more efficiently, especially on those intermediate throws. He also has good weapons on those throws in rising star receiver Stefon Diggs, hulking rookie receiver Laquon Treadwell, and big tight end Kyle Rudolph. The number one area of focus for Bradford should be reducing turnovers, because that's what made Teddy valuable to the Vikings' offense. It's not that Bridgewater makes plays or throws that Bradford can't, it's that Bridgewater makes fewer mistakes.
All the Vikings need Bradford to do is hand the ball to Adrian Peterson, complete a high percentage of a low number of throws for first downs, and protect the ball. That's the formula that got Minnesota to an 11-5 record, and one shanked Blair Walsh field goal away from the NFC divisional round. If Bradford can cut down the turnovers, there's no reason the Vikings can't replicate their success of a year ago. Whether Bradford is up to the task or not is the question. I don't think he was worth giving up a first round pick for, and neither do many people around the league. The former Heisman winner's professional career may be at stake. He'll have to rise to the occasion if he wants anyone to take him seriously as a starter going forward. Personally, I'll have to see it before I believe it.
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