2010 NFL Draft: Will Sam Bradford's Season Compare To Other Rookie QBs?

Sam Bradford is the St. Louis Rams' new starting quarterback. Now, they just have to make sure he stays upright.

The Rams offensive line gave up 44 sacks in 2009, and the offense only gained 1,784 yards on the ground. The Rams offense was ranked 29th overall in the league.

Bradford has a surgically repaired shoulder that is going to need protected. The injury very well may never come into play again in his career, but that doesn’t mean it still doesn’t need to be protected.

The history of the NFL shows that quarterbacks who aren’t continually eating turf and have a good running game generally do better than quarterbacks who operate in a one-dimensional offense.

So with Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan, and Mark Sanchez as the litmus, Bradford has a high bar to get to, assuming he’s named the starter in preseason.

The Atlanta Falcons had a dream year with Ryan. They were ranked sixth overall in offense in his rookie year, 2008, and made the playoffs. They also only gave up 17 sacks and rushed for more than 1,800 yards.

The Ravens were ranked 18th overall in 2008, also making the playoffs, and rushed for 2,808 yards.

The Jets were ranked 20th in offense last year, but rushed for 2,380 yards. They made the playoffs, but it’s important to note the only reason they did was due to the Indianapolis Colts not needing to win any games the last two weeks of the season.

This all is just a really long way of saying the Falcons, Ravens, and Jets all had solid running games to take the pressure off of their rookie quarterback—and in the Falcons' case, one heck of an offensive line.

The Rams don’t have a great offensive line and don’t have a great running game, either.

In the case of both the Jets and the Falcons, their quarterback need was based on factors other than age, meaning they weren’t as bad a team as their draft pick that year would indicate.

The Jets had a quarterback, Chad Pennington, who had been injured multiple times and ended up in Miami. The Jets then traded up to get Sanchez.

The Falcons were the unfortunate human victims of the Michael Vick situation.

The Ravens had the misfortune of playing in the AFC North in 2007, meaning they played the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns twice, both of which were good teams that year.

The Rams, on the other hand, have the first overall pick because they went 1-15 last year and aren’t a very good team.

So, Sam Bradford has a long road ahead of him, and he better hope his new front office drafts some offensive linemen on Friday.