The difference between the Rookie of the Year Sam Bradford in 2010 and the limping, mistake-prone 2011 version was a primary reason for the St. Louis Rams' sink to the bottom of the NFC West in 2011.
Some first-year coaches would worry which version of the quarterback would show up in 2012. Jeff Fisher is not one of them.
"You have to kind of delete last year, look back to the way he played his rookie year, under Pat Shurmur, who did a great job with him in this offense," Fisher told Jim Rome (via PFT). "We're very excited. Brian Schottenheimer's an outstanding coach and we've got a fabulous quarterbacks coach in Frank Cignetti. They're off to a real good start. It's really fun to watch him work and watch him improve."
The Rams showed their faith in Bradford by trading out of the opportunity to select Robert Griffin III. The decision to build around Bradford was spearheaded by Fisher himself.
"The reason I came here is because of Sam," Fisher said. "We've got a franchise quarterback here."
Bradford is still recovering from the high-ankle sprain he suffered last year, but he showed during his record-setting rookie year he has all the tools to be a premier NFL quarterback. Schottenheimer was unable to build Mark Sanchez into an elite QB with the New York Jets, but in Bradford, he gets the opportunity to work with a player with unlimited upside.
