Cardinals QB Sam Bradford ranks No. 22 in Pro Football Focus’ starting QBs

The Arizona Cardinals have a proven NFL quarterback in Sam Bradford. Everyone knows this.

They also have an injury-plagued quarterback in Sam Bradford. Everyone knows this.

With Bradford lacking top-tier statistics when healthy and major concerns surrounding his knees, that leads to some less than optimistic rankings of the signal caller.

That continued in Pro Football Focus’ starting quarterback rankings, where Bradford ranked No. 22 among the 32 starters.

Bradford has quietly played well in his last two full seasons (2015 and 2016), however injuries have always been a concern throughout his career. He lasted only a game and a half last season, playing one spectacular game against the Saints in Week 1 before injuring his knee and hobbling through a rough half of football against the Bears. Despite being an accurate passer, Bradford lands on the conservative end of the specturm which can be maddening given his ability to make in-structure plays at a high level.

In those two seasons PFF references from 2015-16, Bradford had 39 total touchdowns and 19 interceptions, throwing for an average of over 3,800 passing yards and completing over 68 percent of his passes. That included a league-leading 71.6 completion percentage in 2016.

Bradford, though, lacked the firepower statistically in those seasons to be considered one of the better quarterbacks in the league. In 2016, he ranked 16th in passing yards and 19th in touchdowns despite completing the fifth-most passes.

Bradford has some competition in the NFC West. While Rams starter Jared Goff is at No. 18, Jimmy Garoppolo of the San Francisco 49ers is 11th and Seattle’s Russel Willson is fifth.

Arizona’s starter, though, does rank higher than some of the other quarterbacks that were on the market and switched teams last offseason. Denver’s Case Keenum (No. 28), Jets starter Josh McCown (No. 31) and Buffalo’s A.J. McCarron (No. 32) rank near the bottom of the list.

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