Ben vs Bradford: Who Was The Best Rookie ?

[SteelerEmpire]

No matter who wins the NFC West on Sunday night, Sam Bradford already has won. He has enjoyed one of the greatest rookie seasons by a quarterback in NFL history, establishing himself as a franchise cornerstone for the up-and-coming Rams.

Just how good has Bradford been? So good that he might be the second-best rookie quarterback of the past 25 years.

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/40841653/ns/sports-nfl/

[siss]

Ben no contest.


But I'm not biased or anything!

[polamalubeast]

For me

1.Dan Marino
2.Ben Roethlisberger
3.Matt Ryan/Sam Bradford
5.Joe Flacco
6.Vince Young
7.Mark Sanchez

[Psycho Ward 86]

Interesting, but way too much number crunching.

[st33lersguy]

Ben. It is very impressive for a rookie QB to start perfect. Big Ben improved his team more than Bradford has. Plus as far as supporting cast goes Bradford has been helped by Steven Jackson and the league's no. 4 pass rush

[tube517]

Bradford had a solid year and I didn't think he would do that well. But Ben was 13-0 and took them to the AFCC game. No contest. Ben.

[Doc]

Bradford's lucky he got to play SF, SEA, and ARIZ twice this year.

[salamander]

Ben. It is very impressive for a rookie QB to start perfect. Big Ben improved his team more than Bradford has. Plus as far as supporting cast goes Bradford has been helped by Steven Jackson and the league's no. 4 pass rush

If you're gonna go that route, Ben had a really good defense, a really good o-line and Jerome Bettis.

[salamander]

The advantage definitely goes to Ben. He went 13-0 while defeating some pretty good teams along the way.

[Edman]

Bradford is looking at the prospect of winning a (bad) division title at 8-8. Facing the underachieving Niners, the regressing Cards, and the rebuilding Seahawks is a dream for any rookie QB.

Ben took the Steelers to 15-1, beating some pretty tough AFC contenders along the way.

[steelreserve]

This is about the stupidest debate I've ever seen.

In Ben's first year, he was great, we went 15-1 and were one bad half away from the Super Bowl. Bradford is a guy with a 78 QB rating on a losing team. He's thrown almost as many interceptions as touchdowns, they've beaten one team with a (barely) winning record all year, and they got blown out by 40 points to the Lions. I'm having a hard time even understanding why I'm supposed to think he's GOOD, much less "greatest ever."

Yeah, he threw for pretty many yards, but so does everybody. He's like third in the league in pass attempts and right in the middle of the pack for yardage. It's like as soon as the media doesn't have Brett Favre to suck off anymore, they just go scrambling to find the nearest available dick, which happened to be Bradford's. Seriously, if this guy was playing for the Browns, we'd all be laughing at him. Give me a fucking break.

[HometownGal]

Bradford is looking at the prospect of winning a (bad) division title at 8-8. Facing the underachieving Niners, the regressing Cards, and the rebuilding Seahawks is a dream for any rookie QB.

Ben took the Steelers to 15-1, beating some pretty tough AFC contenders along the way.

I agree. Can't say it any better than that.

Bradford, however, has had quite the impressive rookie season and he's going to be a force to be reckoned with (just like Ben) in the coming years.

[Galax Steeler]

I have to go with Ben he stepped in and took over the offense and done very well with it.

[JayC]

if i recall ben had to play the cowboys, eagles, giants, patriots, ravens, etc that year. how many good teams did bradford beat? thought so

[T&B fan]

this is BS it's NBC way of hipping the game . the guy said " Marino is in a class by himself ,so Let’s take him out of the field " . then its not best QB ever !! and even a blind guy can see the numbers
Player Year Yards TDs INTs Rating Wins
Dan Marino 1983 2,210 20 6 96.0 7
Ben Roethlisberge 2004 2,621 17 11 98.1 13
Vince Young 2006 2,199 12 13 66.7 8
Matt Ryan 2008 3,440 16 11 87.7 11
Joe Flacco 2008 2,971 14 12 80.3 11
Mark Sanchez 2009 2,444 12 20 63.0 8
Sam Bradford 2010 3,357 18 14 78.0 7

[Edman]

I think that should corall the "best rookie" talk for Mr.Bradford.

He's going to be a nice QB in the future, but he's not the best rookie QB.

[GoSlash27]

Based strictly on the numbers, it's obviously Ben.
Factoring in the intangibles, I'd have to say Bradford was a better rookie (now hear me out)...

Even Ben himself said that he was cocky, brash, arrogant, and not a very good teammate in the early years. Bradford is the complete opposite and that counts for a lot. Now that "Big Ben" is dead and buried, there's no question in my mind who the better QB is.

[The Duke]

Yep, he had a nice rookie season, but ben and marino are over him

It would have been nice to see him, and the 1-15 rams, make the playoffs, but he's still a work in progress like last night's game showed

[BeerMan]

I think what also gets lost in all of this is the fact that Ben wasn't even slated to play as a rookie. At the very least, he didn't go into his first training camp knowing that the team was his.