Jimmy vs. SammyApril 1, 2010
There’s no denying that the man under center is either going to make or break your team. The top two quarterbacks going into this month’s draft are Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen. Who would you take if you had to pick one?
Sam Bradford
Sam Bradford won the Heisman trophy in 2008 and led his Sooners to the National Championship game that same year. In his career, he tossed 88 tds with only 16 picks, completing 65% of his passes and throwing for 8,327 yards.
Vitals: 6’4″ 236 lbs.
Accuracy: On point
Arm Strength: Strong Enough
Leadership: Leads by example
Mobility: Can avoid the rush and keep plays alive
Winner: I’m a believer
Pros: Big, tall and above average athleticism. Pinpoint accuracy. Performed well against top flight competition under lots of pressure. He makes quick decisions with the ball. Bradford went 23-5 in his time as the Sooners starting QB.
Cons: Ran a spread offense and rarely took snaps under center. Although he’s put on weight he’s seen as injury prone.
Overall: It will take Bradford some time to adjust league like it does all NFL rookies. Hopefully he lands in the right situation, which is not the Rams. If he lands with the Redskins and Mike Shanahan he’s good to go. I really worry that he could become the next Todd Blackledge and not the next Carson Palmer because of the spread offense he ran in college.
Jimmy Clausen
Clausen comes from a quarterback family with both of his older brothers playing in college. He was all world coming out of high school. I didn’t give him any love his first two years and thought he was overrated. I took another look at the tape and just realized he was pretty good and just didn’t have the supporting cast on offense or defense. Clausen flourished in his last year with the Fighting Irish throwing for 3,722 yards, a 69% completion rating, tossing 28 tds and only 4 picks.
Vitals: 6’2″ 222 lbs.
Accuracy: Uber
Arm Strength: Strong Enough
Leadership: Questionable, he’s a cocky sun of a gun though and I like it!
Mobility: Mobile enough
Winner: Not sold, but the kid has moxie
Pros: Clausen played in a pro style offense under a pro style coach/offensive coordinator for three years. He’s NFL ready. He lead his team with no defensive help and a non existent running game. His deep ball looks gorgeous!
Cons: Word on the street is that he’s a rich punk. He’s not a leader in the huddle. Too many off the field distractions.
Overall: I like Clausen, a lot! The cons don’t bother me, he’s 22 years old, what do you really expect. The fact that he’s NFL ready and been trained by Charlie Weis in invaluable.
Who am I picking?!?!?!
Clausen. Yes, I said it. I’m Sooner born and Sooner bred. I’m a huge Bradford fan. I was a Clausen doubter for his first two years. He won me over this year after I took a step back and looked at his predicament. He’s NFL ready, he threw 28 tds and only 4 picks in a pro style offense often times playing from behind. Now, I know Notre Dame’s competition was not on the Big 12 level of Bradford’s, but the pro-style offense of Charlie Weis is what I’m banking on with Clausen.
That’s all I got,
Ricky Writer
