It would be a mistake for the Rams to select Sam Bradford

Speculations in the bloggosphere are endless. Most are unsubstantiated. A particularly unsubstantiated rumor arose about 36 hours ago when one blogger stated that he has inside word from the Rams HQ that Sam Bradford was at the top of their Draft board. More specifically, a dude named Tom Kowalski of MLive.com (Michigan Live) heard a rumor from "two well informed folks" in Miami during Super Bowl week. According to the bullshit, Bradford would top the Rams' draft board if his shoulder checked out okay.

You'll pardon me, but there are only about a dozen reasons to doubt this report:

1. The Rams had no significant presence at the Super Bowl.
2. We're playing the telephone game here. This would be inadmissable in a court of law under the hearsay rule.
   
3. We have unidentified sources.
4. What does well informed mean?
   
5. No quarterback is currently rated high enough to go #1 in the draft.
6. Drafting Bradford without reaching like a moefoe requires a trade.
7. Trades are hard to do, no matter how desirable they might be.
8. Charles Davis and Michael Lombardi, a couple of well informed sources on the NFL Network, popped a squat on the notion the Rams would use the #1 pick for Bradford or Clausen.
9. The Rams have not selected a QB in the 1st round since 1964.
10. If the Rams don't select Bradford high, they won't get him at all. He may well come off the board at #4 with the Redskins.
11. The Rams have shown no sign of interest in Bradford. If the Rams wanted Bradford, why keep quite about it? Who will draft him ahead of you? Do you keep silent to avoid criticism?
12. The Rams are just now finishing an epoch where we have suffered under a welterweight, light-boned, injury prone QB with fine passing skills.
    

Now, do these points categoricall prove the Rams will pass on Bradford? No, this list does not. However the final point is the most devastating point and the one that we must consider closely. I want you to know, I write this blog with very little appetite. I do not enjoy critiquing Sam Bradford. Overall, I think he is a terrific kid, and that he will be successful... as long as he has a line like that of the New York Jets.

If you compare and constrast the fortunes of Brett Favre and Marc Budger, you will learn everything you need to know about the importance of reliability, durability, dependibility, and robustness at the QB position in the NFL. I will cut to the car chase: Favre is a Hall of Famer, and Bulger is not. I will argue that this is for exactly one reason: Favre is an Iron Man and Bulger is a China Doll.

Certainly, we the Rams, must accept a large part of the blame for Bulger's collapse in this league. We allowed the offensive line to break down. We allowed the Wide Receiver Corp to die. We killed Bulger. However, Bulger got hurt on a lot of plays that were no particularly distinctive. I am still stunned by the play that broke his leg last year. Not much of hit there. The bottom line is clear: The Rams would have had to maintain an All-Pro line at all times to keep Bulger healthy. It might not have been possible to keep him healthy even if we had that All-Pro line.

On the other hand, Brett Favre has had good lines, and he has had bad lines. He has had good receivers, and he has had some bad ones. No matter what, come hell or high water, Brett Favre has stayed healthy enough to remain in the lineup. This is because he is just plain fucking tough, and because he is built tough. That is rugged reliability, durability, and robustness. Most of his records are a simple function of his enormous longevity and the massive number of games he has played in. We know he has had a heavy predilection for turnovers, but his constant prescense for 19 years has gained him every record.

Comparing Favre and Bulger is not an outragious thing. It is the key comparison which shows the importance of rugged durability at the QB position. If you don't have durability, you can't be one of the greats. Both Staubach and Aikman said they were blessed never to suffer a serious injury to their arms or their legs. Both are great. Even tiny Fran Tarkenton managed to play forever without serious injury. He knew how to avoid the big hit. He owned many of the records Favre broke.

I believe it would be a mistake for the Rams to draft Sam Bradford because he is another gracile QB, who has not demonstraited an ability to take a big hit and remain healthy, just like Marc Bulger. He is an excellent passer. So too was Bulger. Never forget that he was elected to two ProBowls and was the MVP of one of those games. Bradford, another gracile QB, will play behind the same weak line that killed Bulger. There is no reason to expect a different result.

They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Instead of looking for another gracile QB with a penchant for injury, we should be looking for a rugged QB candidate with a high degree of mobility. Once again, the correct solution is Tim Tebow in the 2nd round at the #33 pick.

Once again, I don't like critiquing Sam Bradford. I think he is a hell of a good young man. I just know he needs a high quality offensive line to have a prayer of staying healthy against a vicious NFL passrush that will try to rattle him. I know that the Rams' offensive line will get him killed. We should not go there. We should not ruin this young man's career with malice of forethought.