Sam Bradford’s Development Still a Question for St. Louis Rams

Since he was selected first overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, quarterback Sam Bradford has been expected to develop into one of the premier signal callers in the league. In year three, there really hasn’t been much progress seen from the man under center for the St. Louis Rams and that has to raise some serious red flags moving forward.

What many will point to as a seminal moment in Rams’ franchise history was this past April’s draft and what transpired leading up to it. The team decided to stick with Bradford at the helm rather than press the restart button with the second overall selection and draft Robert Griffin III. They instead elected to trade that pick to the Washington Redskins in an effort to stockpile picks to use in building around Bradford.

It’s still far too early to render a verdict on that decision, but with RG3’s immediate success and Bradford’s continued mediocrity in 2012, could they have made a mistake?

Even though he isn’t setting the world on fire this year, Bradford is on pace for the best season of his young career. His yards per attempt number is at a career-high of 7.0 and at his current rate, Bradford will surpass 3,500 yards through the air and 20 touchdowns for the first time. Still fans want more with what they are seeing in Washington during year one of RG3’s career when this is already Bradford’s third season.

Granted, the Rams don’t exactly have any of the league’s most feared weapons catching passes from Bradford and their wideouts with the most potential are both rookies. When he looks good, there are few that look any better than Bradford, but when he looks bad, there aren’t many who look much worse.

The jury is still out on Bradford and his status as a so-called franchise quarterback even though his Head Coach Jeff Fisher believes he already is one. The Rams had better hope his development accelerates as this season winds down given the enormous contract that signed following the draft the year before the rookie wage scale was put in place.

Follow Anthony Blake on Twitter @AnthonyMBlake or on Facebook at Anthony Mizarkus Blake