NFL Draft: Ranking the last 20 No. 1 overall draft picks
By Kyle Edmond
No. 16 – Sam Bradford, Quarterback, St. Louis Rams, 2010 NFL Draft
The 2010 NFL Draft was thin at the quarterback position, but at the time Sam Bradford seemed to have franchise player attributes. Even with players like Ndamukong Suh, Gerald McCoy and Trent Williams available, Bradford seemed to be the right pick at the time. Looking back now, it may have been wise for the Rams to stick with Marc Bulger for another year and take one of the others mentioned.
Bradford played just five seasons with the Rams, or should I say was on the roster for five seasons with the Rams since he didn’t play at all in 2014. He did start all 16 games in his rookie season, 2010, as well as 2012, pushing the Rams to 7-9 and 7-8-1 records in those seasons.
Even his stats weren’t awful, throwing for 11,065 yards in St. Louis with 59 touchdowns and 38 interceptions. However, playing in just seven games during the 2013 season followed by missing all 16 in 2014 spelled the end of his time with the Rams.
From there, Bradford started 14 games for the Eagles in 2015 followed by 15 games for Minnesota in 2016 before injury struck again. He played in just two games for the Vikings in 2017 and then three games with Arizona in 2018.
When healthy, Bradford was a solid option under center, but between injuries and a short time with the team that drafted him, he finds himself in the bottom chunk of this list.