Football Outsiders' Vince Verhei, writing for ESPN, rates Sam Bradford as "the worst starting quarterback in the NFL."

We love lists, and when ESPN's John Clayton emerges from his hobbity shire to rank the NFL's quarterbacks from Aaron Rodgers to Blaine Gabbert, we scramble through the listings to find out where our guy lands. This year, it's 17th, with the arrow pointing up. It's positive, generous even, and predictably it has prompted a backlash from the naysaying community of statistical analysts.

A year ago at this time, I wrote on the folly of evaluating Sam Bradford on a purely statistical basis, how there was much more to the Rams' quarterback than met the stat sheet. By any advanced quarterback metric, Bradford did not have a very good rookie season, what with all the Shurmurball and Spagnuolo's insistence of taking the ball from his QB's hands in the fourth quarter of every game. 

Bradford was being coddled. We all knew it, and we all knew he was capable of much more. At the time, I was fully expecting Josh McDaniels to awaken the beast within Bradford's game by unveiling complex combination routes, doubling or trebling his average depth of target, and showing the world what this thoroughbred was capable of.

All that happened was that McDaniels exposed how little Billy Devaney's expensively cobbled offensive line was capable of. Any route in the tree that took longer than two seconds to develop had to be ignored by the Rams' quarterback, who was thrown to the turf 48 times in fewer than 400 dropbacks. No other quarterback took as much punishment on a per-play basis. He had to focus more on self-preservation than on stressing the secondary.

The result after two years is a collection of unsightly statistics that allows writers such as Football Outsiders' Vince Verhei to write things like this:

You could make a strong case that Bradford is the worst starting quarterback in the league. Of the 30 quarterbacks with at least 500 passes in the past two seasons, Bradford ranks last in yards per completion, yards per pass attempt, yards per pass play (including sacks), touchdowns per pass and NFL passer rating.

This bucket of haterade which Verhei dumps on Bradford may be mean-spirited and short-sighted, but it isn't factually incorrect. However, it does miss the point. These statistics do not paint a picture of Sam Bradford, quarterback. They paint a picture of a pair of broken, failed offensive systems. Two systems that have almost nothing in common except for their ineptitude. 

But statistics are no magic mirror - they can only show what has been, not what will be. These stats reflect a quarterback in distress, not a quarterback whose skills have evaporated or were never there to begin with.

So far this preseason, we are seeing Sam return to a more comfortable offense, an evolutionary advance on Shurmur's system with more emphasis on stressing the intermediate level of the defense. We are also seeing a few young players -- notably Brian Quick, Lance Kendricks and Austin Pettis -- begin to step up as reliable targets.

We are seeing an offensive line that is paving holes in the run game, and keeping Bradford's jersey clean. And as a result, we are seeing a glimpse of the Bradford that we have been waiting for since the Rams drafted him first overall three drafts ago.

However, as far as predictors go, preseason football is a pretty lousy magic mirror in its own right. We learned that all too painfully last year.

That said, Sam will get a tougher test this weekend, facing the Dallas Cowboys and Rob Ryan's revamped secondary. So far, opponents' starting quarterbacks (Carson Palmer and Philip Rivers) have gone 16-21, 142 yards, with 3 INTs and zero scoring drives. Rookie corner Morris Claiborne is a rapidly rising star, their corrolary to our own Janoris Jenkins. And the third preseason game is traditionally the most like a real game in terms of starters' time on the field.

However, the real test doesn't come until the regular season starts. Like it or not, Bradford is going to be compared to every quarterback that he plays against, and this season's schedule starts against Matthew Stafford, Robert Griffin III, and Jay Cutler. He'll go head to head with Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady (in London, no less) midseason. And he will continue to battle against the glass ceiling of his own untapped potential.

His surrounding cast will have a lot to say about whether he breaks through that ceiling, or just gets broken. His line has to continue to play clean football. His young receivers have to continue to make the tough catches over the middle that this offense is predicated on. And Bradford will have to get up from the big hits that are inevitable in this game and deliver bigger ones himself.

If that happens, the stats will come, the wins will come, and these storylines will have to find another struggling young quarterback to leech onto.

To quote Sam Bradford, "Wow." That was his response to Danny Amendola's highlight-reel-worthy one-handed, no-look touchdown catch that put the Rams up 14-0. But it may as well extend to the whole game, a 180-degree turnaround from last week and one of those rare football days when every single thing seems to go right.

Last week's Rams fan mantra, "It's only the preseason, it's only the preseason," might fall on a few deaf ears tonight in the wake of a manful 31-17 tuneup of the Kansas City Chiefs. Everything clicked for Jeff Fisher's team tonight, from start to finish, from first string to third, from Sam Bradford's first pass (an absolute beauty) to the rarely-seen victory formation.

But.

It's only the preseason.

In many ways, the game was reminiscent of last year's preseason home opener, an outright embarrassment of the PeytonManningless Colts. Again, everything appeared to be clicking for a Rams team on offense and defense. This is a better Chiefs team, and one that played its first string for longer than the Rams did, but we don't know that they were taking the game's outcome any more seriously, Governor's Cup rivalry be damned. 

So let's not focus on the score, which doesn't matter. There were still plenty of things that do matter that we can take away as very positive outcomes from this game, and let's start with the one everyone can say together: "Nobody got seriously hurt."

On offense:

• The newly-nicknamed House of Pancakes kept Bradford as clean as he's ever been in a Rams uniform, and he got to shake some more rust off his deep passing, starting with a gorgeous 30-yarder to the right sideline, finding Danny Amendola. (He also launched one down the left sideline that Steve Smith couldn't catch up to.) He went 6-9 for 102 yards and two TDs against a pretty strong Chiefs pass rush and secondary, in a single quarter of work. That is not bad, no matter how you spin it.
• Bradford's timing looked a lot better as well. His throw to the end zone on 4th and 2 was a gutsy play, but a canny one as well as he saw the Chiefs' DB beaten and out of position to do anything but draw a flag. Bradford soft-tossed the ball in there for what looked like a fresh set of downs as Danny came back for the ball and got plowed over. But somehow Danny came out with the ball in hand and six points on the scoreboard, amazing even Sam.
  
  
• Backup center Robert Turner did a nice job in both the run and passing game. Jackson found some wide-open running between Turner and Quinn Ojinnaka, two guys who are essentially here to be placeholders for better-pedigreed starters. Even Barry Richardson did a nice job on Tamba Hali. At this point, I have to be relatively happy with where we are on offensive line depth.
  
  
• Amendola played a good portion of the game outside the slot, and looked like he belonged. A key to Schottenheimer's offense is positional flexibility among his WRs and TEs, so taking an existing weapon like Danny and establishing him in a new spot makes him that much harder to game-plan against.
  
  
• Also, Lance Kendricks did a damn fine Dustin Keller job. We need more of that, Mr. Kendricks.
  
  
• Brian Quick carried forward his good practice field form, making several tough catches and out-muscling Chiefs DBs for position to make plays. Justin Blackmon laid down the blueprint yesterday for the Jaguars, and Quick followed it to a tee.
  
  
• In the lower ranks, Daryl Richardson's running really stood out. He was decisive and sudden to the hole, a must for an inside runner, and despite his small size he was not an easy man for Chiefs defenders to bring down. Richardson's primary competition, Isaiah Pead, did not have a good game by any means, but he was not to be denied on a cathartic one-yard touchdown dive.
  
  
• We'll have to get tape to be sure, but Jason Smith appeared to do a stand-up job in his time with the 2s. And he spent additional time on the sideline, by himself, practicing his stance. The light switch may be coming on.

On Defense: 

• Robert Quinn got his first real test in Chiefs left tackle Branden Albert, and he did well. Albert is much quicker with his hands than and surer in his backpedal any Rams tackle on the roster, and kept Quinn at bay for much of their time. But Quinn got the better of him anyway with a wicked pass rush that ended in a monster sack of Matt Cassel.
  
  
• Janoris Jenkins continues to be a playmaker, forcing a fumble on the Chiefs' first offense possession to set up Bradford. The Rams took a 14-0 lead and never had cause to worry for the rest of the game.
  
  
• It would be unfair of me not to point out that my personal punching bag Craig Dahl had a very fine game after stinking up the joint a week ago. He seems to see the field well from the free safety position, and is quick enough moving forward to still be a factor against the run. Granted, he wasn't tested much in the passing game, but for today we'll take it.
  
  
• The Rams' outside linebackers made a series of plays. Jo-Lonn Dunbar and Clark Haggan were both active, and veteran backup Rocky McIntosh seemed to be everywhere on the 2nd team defense, getting involved in two fumble recoveries. 
  
  
• Trumaine Johnson and Josh Gordy, the team's presumptive 3rd and 4th CBs if Bradley Fletcher stays on the shelf, both had strong performances. Tru in particular really seems to be coming on, after looking outpaced during the first couple weeks of training camp.
  
  
• A pair of Spagnuolo draftees continue to thrive in the Fisher / McGinnis / Williams defense, as Eugene Sims and Jermelle Cudjo wreaked havoc with the Chiefs' 2nd and 3rd string offenses.

Miscellaneous:

Fisher challenged his team on multiple occasions with aggressive situational play-calling, and got rewarded for it. He cashed in a touchdown on 4th and 2, and appeared ready to got for it on 4th and 4 from the 34, until he remembered that he has a golden-legged field goal kicker to work with.

Fisher even won a challenge on yet another forced fumble from his defense. Spagnuolo's record on challenges was abysmal, and there were numerous opportunities that he let go by for whatever reason. 

You have to take it all with a truckload of DOT-grade road salt, but there was a lot to like in this Rams preseason win.

On Sunday in Indianapolis, Jeff Fisher walked onto an NFL field as head coach for the first time since 2010. We're still waiting for his team to show up. 

I've had my sensible take on the Rams' 38-3 loss to the Colts. It's only the preseason, after all, and it was obvious from the start that Fisher's approach to this game was essentially "just another practice." His coaches installed a very limited number of things that they wanted to work on, and rapidly worked the Rams' core starters out of the game so they could evaluate the roster's younger players.

But there's still this disconnect between what we saw on Sunday - the Rams getting rag-dolled up and down the field - and the image we all have in our head of what a "Jeff Fisher team" is supposed to look like. Win or lose, we're supposed to *hit* the other team hard enough to make them feel it well into the next week. You never hear of a Jeff Fisher team getting bullied. You don't see quarterbacks giggling on the sidelines while playing a Jeff Fisher team, even if they're ahead.

Robert Quinn had the right idea, getting up into wunderkind Andrew Luck's face and giving him a couple of good whacks, even if he did pop back up again. Even if he did burn us with a screen pass / touchdown romp to Donald Brown on one of those. As Luck played deep into the second quarter, the Rams' second-string pass rush was turned into Carl Spackler by Luck's wily gopher ability.

But Fisher wasn't interested in leaving Quinn in to prove any points, or to set any particular tone. As it turns out, he was more concerned about his newly assembled staff performing simple gameday management, like getting the plays in on time. 

"It's kind of an unusual game because the offense puts a drive together and then, bang, they're back on the field one play later because we gave up a touchdown," the Rams coach said. "Then you're trying to catch up with plays for your defense and then you can't stop them and then you can't get the plays for your offense. We tried to get as many plays as we could on tape and we'll move on."

This is not to paint a picture of chaos, or to prompt headlines screaming RAMS SIDELINE IN DISARRAY!

But it is worth noting that not only is this roster a work in progress, so is this coaching staff. And it appears that Fisher is very much in management mode, watching his coaches percolate their gameplans through their overstuffed position groups. He's been sitting back in practice, watching each of his units at work, only occasionally stepping in with a word here or a play-call there. Yesterday was the first time we saw all the pieces at work together, and as I wrote yesterday, they still look like a collection of parts.

To my mind, pure unadulterated football violence was going to be the glue that helped fit those pieces together. Maybe it's too early for that. Maybe in avoiding injuries of our own, our team was behaving with gentlemanly discretion toward the opponent as well. Or maybe Roger Goodell's crackdown on Gregg Williams and the Saints is still casting its shadow over this team. (WARNING! UNFOUNDED CONSPIRACY THEORY!)

Either way, we're all still waiting for this Rams team to become a Jeff Fisher team. Hopefully we won't have to wait too much longer.

I will not make sweeping generalizations after one preseason game. I will not make sweeping generalizations after one preseason game.

— Brandon Bird (@JTPirate) August 12, 2012

Well Rams fans, the good news from today's 38-3 crashdown against Andrew Luck and the Colts was that we aren't going to have another 4-0 preseason to falsely raise our preseason expectations to unsustainable levels. At this point last year, the Rams' fan base was ready to anoint Sam Bradford as the second coming of Tom Brady and Joe Montana, only better. And when the Rams suffered their Icarus plunge back to earth, charred feathers and all, it felt like we had all been kicked in the gut.

This year, the Rams' season begins somewhat in more metaphorically appropriate fashion - at the bottom. Beaten open-handed by the co-worst team in the league. Now Jeff Fisher knows exactly where he stands, and how far this team has yet to go. And if and when he pulls the Rams back into playoff contention, he'll have this yardstick planted in the ground to let him and everyone else know exactly how far they've come.

Aside from the scoreboard, which doesn't count anyway, the game wasn't all bad as an exhibition of some individual players and their skills. Unfortunately, this is an 11-on-11 game, and it's plain to see that the Rams are still playing as a collection of parts, rather than a whole. Most of the game's big breakdowns (even the ones involving my personal punching bag, Craig Dahl) didn't fall on a single player. Breakdowns between players - missed assignments, missed handoffs, etc. - were much more prevalent.

Take, for example, the Colts' first touchdown. Or their second. Or that first-down completion on third-and-forever that the Colts' scrubs had against our scrubs. In each case, Colts' offensive players found their way into creases between the Rams' personnel groups - between the defensive line and the linebackers, or between cornerback and safety. These are coachable mistakes, and with time can be erased.

There were some individual breakdowns as well - Jason Smith on an early pass-protection that led to a sack on Kellen Clemens, Isaiah Pead putting the ball on the ground twice, Greg Salas failing to run a 4th down route to the proper depth. These breakdowns are on the players as much as they are on the coaches, and we need them to be better than that. (For his part, Smith actualy seemed to settle down and play pretty well laster in the game.) 

The things you worry about are the schematic ones, particularly on offense, which seems to be stuck in the Shurmurville. Sam Bradford worked his underneath reads efficiently enough, but rarely went over the top. In our lone red zone drill of the first half, Kellen Clemens and company gained a single yard before summoning our field goal kicker. But it's a start, and we have not seen all the wrinkles of a Brian Schottenheimer offense yet.

There also were some positives of note:

• Second year players Austin Pettis and Lance Kendricks, both huge disappointments as rookies, had very strong games. Both players displayed good hands and the ability to make tough, must-have catches for first downs. Pettis in particular corraled a 12-yard pass on a quick slant, ducking just inside the cornerback and accelerating upfield. The ball was thrown well ahead of the receiver, who stretched his full frame while keeping his stride going to bring it in with his hands. Best of all, the ball didn't budge once it hit his fingers.
• The first-team running game, with Steven Jackson plowing behind Harvey Dahl, moved the ball effectively at will, helping to set Bradford up with good field position early.
• Janoris Jenkins looks like he's capable of handling man coverage against NFL players, nearly picking off Andrew Luck on a perfectly anticipated break and making an outstanding play downfield on a deep ball for a pass breakup.
• Robert Quinn was nearly unblockable early, hitting Luck on his first two throws of the game. (Too bad one turned a dump-off into a 60+ yard touchdown.)
• Chris Givens showed off his speed in a Donnie Avery-like debut, drawing a pass interference on one deep ball and nearly taking in another at the goal line. (He needed to get that ball, though.)
• Johnny Hekker punted well all day, planting one ball inside the three yard line.
• Best of all, the injury cart stayed parked on the sideline.

Bradford didn't wow, but he did what was asked of him, which wasn't much in two series of work. We want to see more, and we will. But it seems clear that Fisher isn't overly concerned with getting his almost-veteran QB a heavy preseason workload. (Especially behind an offensive line that is still a work in progress.)

Overall, this isn't a game that we'll look back on fondly. But it isn't meant to be. It's the preseason, after all. If a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, the Rams have barely laced up their boots yet.

Do the Rams finally have plan in place to protect Steven Jackson?

For what appears to be the first time since splitting time with Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk the St. Louis Rams appear to have options in easing the workload on running back Steven Jackson.

One year closer to the ominous wall of turning 30 as an NFL running back.  Jackson remains the feature back but he might find himself getting fewer carries - and fewer bumps and bruises - after recording 70 percent of the team's carries the past seven seasons. He turned 29 in July.

''I don't think it has anything to do with Steven's age at all,'' offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. ''What we want to do is we want to try to get a number of people involved. Obviously, Steven's the bell cow.''

The most likely candidates to spell Jackson are rookies Isaiah Pead and Daryl Richardson. The Rams selected Pead with the third of three second-round picks and took Richardson in the seventh round.

According to all accounts coming out of Rams camp, Pead, out of Cincinnati, has been especially impressive during training camp. He ran with the first team Wednesday while Jackson rested and seems cemented in the No. 2 spot, with Richardson behind him.

Schottenheimer spent the previous six seasons as the New York Jets' offensive coordinator and typically used a two-back rotation. He had a feature back and another for a change of pace and to give the top runner a rest. First it was Thomas Jones with Leon Washington backing him up, then Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Coach Jeff Fisher had a similar tandem for much of the latter part of his time with Tennessee.

They hope to repeat those successes with the Rams. Pead said it's important for neither him nor Richardson to get caught up thinking about playing behind one the league's best backs during the past several seasons.

Both admit that they are still getting up to speed, but Jackson said he likes what he sees, especially from Pead. Richardson didn't get on the field until Monday because of a hamstring pull suffered this summer. Pead missed rookie minicamp as Cincinnati finished its school year.

From Jackson, ''Isaiah has looked very impressive in this camp,'' said Jackson, who is 10 pounds lighter this season and is down to 240 pounds. ''Isaiah is someone who is very shifty, has a good understanding of the game of football.''

The 5-foot-10, 197-pound Pead had 545 carries with the Bearcats, including 237 a senior season in which he had a career-high 1,259 yards. He finished his college career with 3,288 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Richardson, who has a nearly identical figure as Snead, led Abilene Christian with 825 yards and 11 touchdowns last year. He also had 40 catches for 371 yards.

The two rookies look to see plenty of playing time when their preseason kicks off Sunday as the Rams (No. 28 in AP Pro32) open at Indianapolis. If all holds true to form their playing time should continue during the regular season. 

''What that allows you to do is obviously you have backs that change the pace of the plays and run different plays,'' Schottenheimer said. ''But what you see is you see that featured bell cow back get stronger.''

Taking a look at his numbers using the handy (and amazing) tools at ProFootballFocus.com show Jackson accounted for 64 percent of all carries for the Rams last year, despite missing one game entirely and parts of others because of injuries. He had 82 percent of the touches in 2006. Aside from 2007 and 2008 when injuries kept him to just 12 games, last year was his lowest percentage of his career since becoming the main back.

His lowest total before came in 2005, Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk's final season, when he contributed 65 carries in contrast to 254 for Jackson.

The next four weeks will go a long way for the Rams to decide how much rest Snead or Richardson can give Jackson.

*Quotes attributed to Steven Jackson and Brian Schottenheimer from the AP

Image credit: StLouisRams.com

Paul Boudreau knew when he came on board as the Rams' offensive line coach that he had a fight on his hands. He inherited the one of the worst-ranked offensive lines in the game, whose franchise tackles were both undermined by injuries and ineffective play.

Two weeks into Rams camp, 30 days before the start of the season, and Rodger Saffold is playing two of every four downs with the first team, and Jason Smith has been bumped to the second team in favor of a guy who bombed out of Kansas City. Writes Mike Sando for ESPN:

"We're going to play the best five," Boudreau said during an interview at Rams camp last week. "Don’t matter if you're a draft choice, doesn't matter if you’re a free agent, doesn't matter if you've been cut by four teams."

While it may not be heartening to think of the current state of our "best five" -- especially with newly-signed center Scott Wells still doing all his work in the film room -- this isn't the first time Boudreau has been in this situation. Flash back to 2007 with me, if you will.

The Falcons' offense was in a shambles after Michael Vick's infamous arrest and suspension, and the offensive line was Football Outsiders' worst-rated unit in the game. The offensive line, decimated by injury, was reduced to starting 2nd-year players Quinn Ojinnaka (5th round pick) and Tyson Clabo (undrafted) at tackle. Enter Paul Boudreau, who was hired by new coach Mike Smith in the 2008 offseason.

Working with mostly inherited pieces, including a healthier swing tackle in Todd Weiner and undrafted benchwarmer Harvey Dahl, and an offense geared more on power-running and passing efficiency, the Falcons' line took a massive step forward.

ATL 2007: 3.42 adj. line yards (32). 7.9% sack rate (24)
ATL 2008: 4.22 adj. line yards (9). 3.6% sack rate (5)

He pulled off a similar recovery in his previous top in St Louis, from 2006-07 in the waning years of Mike Martz. Pass protection didn't improve, though that might be chalked up to Martz's insistence on seven-step drops and a long-developing route tree. Oh, and Alex Barron. Again, the appearance of a brash, slab-handed rookie guard (Richie Incognito) figured prominently.

STL 2005: 3.80 adj. line yards (23). 7.4% sack rate (19)
STL 2006: 4.41 adj. line yards (8). 7.9% sack rate (24)

Let's go back even further, to his arrival in Jacksonville in 2003. The Jaguars already had a strong run-blocking unit in support of Fred Taylor, but their pass-protection of a rapidly aging Mark Brunell was abysmal. Enter a new coaching staff, and another rookie guard, Vince Manuwai. Throw in a new, more mobile quarterback in Byron Leftwich, and you have another Boudreau miracle.

JAX 2002: 4.46 adj. line yards (6). 9.1% sack rate (30)
JAX 2003: 4.44 adj. line yards (7). 5.1% sack rate (6)

Now. Let's reset our expectations. Arguably, the Rams have even less to work with on the line than any of his previous stops. Boudreau was able to inherit at least three healthy starters in each of his previous stops -- here, he may have only one guaranteed in old friend Harvey Dahl. But Boudreau has a clear track record of getting players into fighting shape, and getting them working as a unit. Boudreau's criticism of Smith underscores his overall unit-building philosophy:

"His whole thing that he needs to work on the most is understanding angles in protection, understanding he has long arms but he doesn’t use them and try to get his length back in protection. He wants to hit a guy all the time and you don't have to hit a guy in pass protection. You just have to stay in front of him."

In other words, don't be selfish. Don't try to overcome years of frustration and ineffectiveness in a single snap. Keep it simple. Stay with your teammates. Be aware of your surroundings. Or find yourself benched in favor of someone else.

@ramsherd @wynnde13 Guys, Guys, Guys, Guys, I just gotta know....will Sam Bradford throw for 4,000+- yds?

— Adam 10-House (@Joben74) August 7, 2012

This question interrupted a little debate between Wynnde and I, and got me thinking. We all are pinning our hopes on Brian Schottenheimer to resurrect Sam Bradford's rookie promise, and get him back on the "rising young quarterbacks" path. We all want him to have a successful season, but what makes a season successful for a quarterback? Especially one who is expected (and was drafted) to become one of the game's elites?

4,000 yards passing?

There were ten quarterbacks in the NFL last year to crack four grand. And for the first time ever, three QBs rung the 5,000-yard bell. (In a sign of how devalued yards might have become, one of them was somehow left off the Pro Bowl roster.)

However, let's back off from this ledge a bit. Not only would it be a challenge for Bradford to immediately become a top-ten QB working in his third offense in as many years, there might be a scheme mismatch that holds him back from this plateau. Of the ten QBs at this level, only one (Matt Ryan) plays in an offense that in any way resembles a West Coast scheme, and he has three elite weapons in Roddy White, Julio ("sigh") Jones and Tony Gonzalez to work with.

Moreover, Joe Montana and Steve Young -- working in the original West Coast Offense with the greatest WR in the history of the game -- reached 4,000 passing yards only two times combined in their careers. 

30 touchdowns?

Once again, we're setting lofty goals here, but why not dream big while we're dreaming, right? Only five quarterbacks cracked 30 passing TDs last season. (A truer measure of a "top ten quarterback" would be 25 TDs.)

If we take it on good faith that 4,000 yards is an unrealistic yardstick, how realistic is this number? Only five times in the last ten years has a quarterback thrown 30 scores with less than 4,000 yards passing. For three of those QBs (starred), it was their best season ever.

Tom Brady (2010 - age 33): 3,900 yards, 36 TDs. The year the Pats gave up on Randy Moss.
* Ben Roethlisberger (2007 - age 25): 3,154 yards, 32 TDs. Santonio Holmes' first year as a starter.
* Carson Palmer (2005 - age 26): 3,836 yards, 32 TDs. Breakout years for Chad Johnson, Housh & Rudi Johnson.
* Donovan McNabb (2004 - age 28): 3,875 yards, 31 TDs. The Terrell Owens-Super Bowl year.
Brett Favre (2003 - age 34): 3,361 yards 32 TDs. Javon Walker's breakout year.

Each of these presents an interesting comparable. Brady was an elite quarterback working with sub-elite weapons in creative ways. Roethlisberger had to take on more responsibility for scoring with the Steeler's run game in decline. Palmer and McNabb (working with TO and Bryant Westbrook) quite simply hit the lottery in terms of surrounding talent.

But Brett Favre, the old gunslinger, might offer the most interesting comparable. He had jack in terms of receiving talent to work with, but was working in a comfortable offense designed by Tom Rossley (who traces his roots up through Mike Sherman to the Mike Holmgren coaching tree) that prized efficiency and daring in equal parts. Favre hit the 3000-yard, 30-TD bell twice during Rossley's tenure despite the fact that his best receivers were sixth- and seventh-round picks in Bill Schroeder and Donald Driver.

Give Bradford a few years in this offense, and let his chemistry build with his young receivers, and we could see him hit this mark. But probably not in 2012.

3,000 yards, 20 TDs and his health?

Now we're talking about a reachable goal, schematically and talent-wise (including his supporting cast). The Rams haven't had a quarterback hit this mark since Marc Bulger in 2006 (yes, Marc Bulger used to be pretty good, before he signed that contract and watched the rest of his team fall apart).

Brian Schottenheimer's offense appears to be particularly good in the red zone, even working with a scattershot passer like Mark Sanchez. Over the last two seasons, as the Jets slowly took the reins off Sanchez, the young quarterback averaged 3,380 yards and 21.5 TDs. And that's with a 55% completion percentage. 

Combine those stats with Jeff Fisher's track record of keeping his quarterbacks' uniforms clean, and you have an early peg on what an ideal comeback season might look like for Bradford.