With all indications pointing to Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford being the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, not every voice is trumpeting the case for Bradford.
In a recent appearance on ESPN Radio’s St. Louis affiliate, ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer gave a candid assessment of the 2008 Heisman winner: “In my opinion, he’s not even close to the best player in this draft.”
Wow. Trent, please elaborate.
“I think he has major, major challenges ahead of him,” Dilfer said. “Sam Bradford is not Mark Sanchez. He is not Matthew Stafford. He is not Matt Ryan. I would say he’s not even Joe Flacco.”
Dilfer explains that, in his view, Bradford hasn’t been “challenged” in the college game, and that selecting Bradford could end up being a “catastrophic” mistake for the Rams.
So who does Dilfer like? He thinks that Jimmy Clausen is the best prepared to make an immediate impact, but that Colt McCoy will be the best of the bunch four years from now. Dilfer acknowledges, however, that all three players are “projects.”
Dilfer could end up being right about Bradford; if Dilfer is, he’ll be able to say he’s one of the only ones who saw the potential problems with Bradford being the first pick.
UPDATE: As it turns out, Dilfer is represented by David Dunn’s Athletes First firm, which also represents Colt McCoy. We’ll leave it to others to decide whether this may have influenced Dilfer’s assessment of McCoy, Bradford, and Clausen.