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Factoid

Sam Bradford

QB a culprit in offense's weakness

The Vikings have slipped to 6-5 after a 5-0 start, and Sam Bradford thinks the problem is the offense needs more explosive plays. He's right, and certainly the team's injury-gutted offensive line is part of the problem. But so too is the quarterback the team gave up a first-round pick for.

As a starter in Philadelphia and now Minnesota the last two years, Bradford has generally favored short throws over downfield looks. In each of those seasons, he's been near the bottom of the league in yards per attempt. Until that changes, the explosive plays won't be there.

The table below shows all quarterbacks with at least 200 completions the last two seasons, sorted by yards per attempt. Some of the names near the bottom aren't surprising, like Brock Osweiler and Alex Smith. Some are, like Joe Flacco and Aaron Rodgers. And there's Bradford.

For those explosive plays to come, Bradford will need a better offensive line, but he'll need to be more aggressive looking downfield, too.

QUARTERBACK YARDS PER ATTEMPT, 2015-2016
YearPlayer Comp Att Pct Yds Avg
2016Matt Ryan 23634668.23,2479.4
2015Carson Palmer 34253763.74,6718.7
2015Ben Roethlisberger 319469683,9388.4
2015Andy Dalton 25538666.13,2508.4
2015Russell Wilson 32948368.14,0248.3
2016Dak Prescott 23134067.92,8358.3
2016Kirk Cousins 29943768.43,5408.1
2016Russell Wilson 221335662,7148.1
2015Tyrod Taylor 24238063.73,0358.0
2015Drew Brees 42862768.34,8707.8
2016Drew Brees 298420713,2777.8
2015Cam Newton 29649559.83,8377.8
2016Philip Rivers 22936962.12,8867.8
2016Marcus Mariota 22835564.22,7727.8
2015Kirk Cousins 37954369.84,1667.7
2016Andy Dalton 23336064.72,7607.7
2015Tom Brady 40262464.44,7707.6
2015Jameis Winston 31253558.34,0427.6
2015Jay Cutler 31148364.43,6597.6
2015Marcus Mariota 23037062.22,8187.6
2015Matt Ryan 40761466.34,5917.5
2016Andrew Luck 23637562.92,8277.5
2015Alex Smith 30747065.33,4867.4
2016Matthew Stafford 26139166.82,8837.4
2016Ben Roethlisberger 24237364.92,7457.4
2015Blake Bortles 35560658.64,4287.3
2016Derek Carr 25538566.22,8007.3
2015Philip Rivers 43766166.14,7927.2
2015Matthew Stafford 39859267.24,2627.2
2015Eli Manning 38761862.64,4327.2
2015Ryan Tannehill 36358661.94,2087.2
2015Teddy Bridgewater 29244765.33,2317.2
2016Carson Palmer 22736961.52,6427.2
2016Jameis Winston 22837860.32,6807.1
2015Brian Hoyer 22436960.72,6067.1
2015Derek Carr 35057361.13,9877.0
2015Sam Bradford 346532653,7257.0
2016Eli Manning 24638663.72,7087.0
2015Ryan Fitzpatrick 33556259.63,9056.9
2016Sam Bradford 24834871.32,4156.9
2016Alex Smith 20330267.22,0776.9
2015Joe Flacco 26641364.42,7916.8
2015Aaron Rodgers 34757260.73,8216.7
2016Aaron Rodgers 25941063.22,7616.7
2016Carson Wentz 22535663.22,3396.6
2016Joe Flacco 26041462.82,6436.4
2016Blake Bortles 25041560.22,6236.3
2016Brock Osweiler 21636359.52,0615.7

Fantasy Index