Chris Weinke just got into town as the St. Louis Rams' new quarterbacks coach, but the top QB on the roster, Sam Bradford, has been linked to several trade rumors . That didn’t stop Weinke from heaping praise on the former No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick.
“Love him. Love him,” Weinke said of Bradford, via the St. Louis Post-Dispatch . “Historically, I look back at every guy that I’ve evaluated coming out of college.
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“A few years ago when Andrew Luck came out they said who would you compare him to? And I said the closest I would see is Sam Bradford.
“And I say that without knowing Sam. I’d never met Sam until this process. Looking at his physical skill set. And then obviously talking to people and understanding his mental capacity and his football IQ, and all those different things.
“Sam by far has had the best pro day out of any guy I’ve ever evaluated from a physical standpoint. And he was coming off an injury at that point in time. So when you look at a guy who’s a pure passer of the football from a physical standpoint, he’s as good as anybody I’ve ever evaluated.”
Bradford’s performance in college and his pro day is all well and good, but he had season-ending knee injuries the past two seasons. Arm talent doesn't mean much if a quarterback's legs don't keep him on the field .
However, Bradford's input and role on the team must be respected by the Rams considering he was present for Weinke’s interview before he landed the gig .
“It was comfortable from the get-go,” Weinke said. “What we shared at that dinner was simply, hey, who are you? Who am I? Can we work together? What would this environment look like if I was the guy in that room coaching you?”
Rams general manager Les Snead said at the NFL Combine that deleting Bradford from the roster wasn’t the answer for the team, so the 27-year-old hasn’t been rule out quite yet in St. Louis.
In his last full season (2012), Bradford threw for 3,702 yards, 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.