Sam Bradford is returning to Oklahoma for at least another year!

The associated press just announced Sam Bradford, the Heisman Trophy winner, is returning to Oklahoma for his junior year. Bradford is a premiere quarterback and ran Oklahomas high powered offense that averaged over 54 points per game. He has everything required of an NFL quarterback, including the abilities to read the defense, great pocket presence and great awareness. His offensive line is among the top in the category of “Sacks Allowed”, largely due to Bradford’s awareness of when to get rid of the ball. Sam Bradford led the league with 50 touchdown passes last season and a quarterback rating of 180.8.

Good or Bad Call? It's hard to determine whether he made the right decision considering the very weak quarterback class this year. He could have made more money if he would have declared this year because the NFL is considering giving lower signing bonuses to rookies next year. Having said that, it will give him time to prepare himself mentally, for the pressure the professional athletes’ are under. If he did enter the upcoming NFL draft, he would have likely been the second QB chosen.



For more on Sam Bradford and where he stacks up with other quarterbacks in his class, click here.

Football For Days BCS Championship prediction

National Championship tonight!



Keys for the Gators

Florida will win if they can consistently get to the quarterback. If they can pressure the Heisman winner Sam Bradford into making mistakes, or simply get him out of his rhythm, the Gators will win the game. The Gators will also need to get an early lead and force the Sooner’s to pass more than they would like. If the Gators can accomplish those things they will be the national champion.

Keys for the Sooners

Oklahoma will win if it forces Florida into making mistakes and more importantly, stop the Gators running offence. Tim Tebow can not only hurt you with his accurate passes and quick decision-making ability, but also with his feet. He had almost the same number of TDs in the rushing category as in his passing this season! In a game full of emotion such as this, it will be hard to keep a cool head. Nevertheless, the calmest team will have the edge over the other. Lastly, if Oklahoma can run the ball consistently on Florida and keep Tebow and Co. on the sidelines, Oklahoma will win the game.

Football For Days BCS Championship prediction:

42 – 28 Florida

Top Sophomore Quarterback Prospects

Alot can happen from now until these quarterbacks declare for the draft, but here is my top 5, based on pro potential, for now:

1. Sam Bradford, Oklahoma - People forget that Bradford red shirted as a freshman and is actually eligible to enter the draft this year. With such a weak quarterback class this year, it is possible that Bradford would skip his junior and senior seasons and enter the draft. Well why not? Bradford has been the starter since his first ever game and has put up amazing numbers. He led the nation last year in efficiency as a freshman! This year he has put up even better numbers including over 1000 more yards. The best thing about Bradford is that he puts up great numbers in a fairly pro-style offense. He also has good size, standing at 6'4. The only knock I can see on Bradford is his release (side arm) and he also does not have the strongest of arms. Overall, I feel that Bradford is a great quarterback and his skills should translate well to the NFL. Expect to see him in many pro bowls throughout his NFL career.

2. Jevan Snead, Ole Miss - There is a large talent drop-off after Bradford. Jevan Snead is my number 2 quarterback nonetheless. From what I've seen from Snead, he looks like he has a lot of potential but makes a lot of careless decisions with the ball and is very sporadic. Having said that, he has pretty good mechanics and can escape pressure when needed too. He is 6'3 which is a good size and plays, for the most part, in a pro-style offense. You have to remember that Snead still has two years to refine his skills. He also plays against the toughest defenses in America week in and week out! Snead should be a solid NFL quarterback.

3. Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame - Only time will tell to see if Jimmy Clausen can live up to his hype that was set upon him coming out of high school. Clausen was the #1 overall quarterback out of high school just two years ago. In his short career so far, he has disappointed but this year his stats have improved drastically. In the following years, Notre Dame's skill players will mature and it will make Clausen's job alot easier. Under the guidance of much ridiculed coach Charlie Weis, Clausen should develop into an exceptional quarterback at the next level. That is, if Weis is still coaching in the following years...

4. Mitch Mustain, USC - Well, he started off his career at Arkansas where he came in as the #1 Quarterback prospect in the class of 06. He then put up mediocre stats in limited action as an 18 year old true freshman. After 2006, Mustain decided to transfer to USC where he was forced to sit out a year. At the beginning of this year, Mustain was buried in the depth chart and only got to throw 16 passes all season, which he completed 11 of them. Not exactly a good scenario for Mustain who was so hyped as a freshman. Once Sanchez has graduated, Mustain will have to beat out Aaron Corp and Matt Barkley for the starting spot. If he can do that, we'll get to see exactly how good he is. If he doesn't end up starting for the Trojans, he may just end up making and NFL team and becoming a solid quarterback (cough Matt Cassel cough).

5. Pat Devlin, Unknown (as of now) - Pat Devlin has decided to take the Joe Flacco route and transfer to a D1-AA school. Devlin would most likely be the backup to Daryll Clark next year and I guess he was not satisfied with that. Devlin has seen very limited action but he was a high profile recruit three years ago. He has prototypical NFL QB size and according to scout, has nice technique and touch. We'll have to see what happens with Devlin as his future is undecided right now.

Top Junior Quarterback Prospects

The junior quarterback class should be a very good one and should produce a number of pro-bowl caliber quarterbacks. Remember that this is based on their NFL potential. It was hard to pick the top 5 but here it is:

1. Matthew Stafford, Georgia - NFL scouts have been raving about Stafford since his high school days. Mel Kiper even predicted that Stafford would develop in a first overall pick in a draft. Stafford, however, hasn't put up amazing stats. The reason why Stafford is my #1 quarterback prospect is because of his size (6'3, 235) strong and accurate arm and his great footwork inside the pocket. Stafford is a pure NFL quarterback. He plays in a pro-style system and uses a lot of play action and drop back passes. In my opinion, Stafford will develop into a pro bowl quarterback and will be the face of a very lucky franchise.

2. Mark Sanchez, USC - This is an arguable pick but with the success of USC quarterbacks, I see Sanchez having a good NFL career. Like Stafford, Sanchez possesses good size and a good arm. Sanchez makes good decisions. He has only thrown 7 picks this season and 3 came against Arizona State. He is also completing around 65% of his passes. Sanchez also plays in a pro-style system that uses a lot of play action passes and therefore Sanchez will be more prepared when he starts playing on Sunday's. I see Sanchez having a good, but not great NFL career. He reminds of Kurt Warner.

3. Tim Tebow, Florida - Sure Tebow has never, and probably will never, drop back to pass in college but he has all the tools to be a solid NFL quarterback. People say that his skills will not translate to the NFL because he does not have the proper throwing mechanics, he plays in a spread offense and he has a run first mentality. Personally, I see nothing wrong with his throwing mechanics. Tebow is the one player that I think could make the jump from a spread offense to the NFL's pro style offenses. You can never count out Tebow. Whatever team takes Tebow is making a very high-risk, high-reward pick.

4. Josh Freeman - Freeman gets overlooked playing in a conference with so many great quarterbacks but Freeman is one of the best. Freeman has been climbing the draft boards recently and will possibly be a first round pick. Freeman is a monster. He stands 6'6 and weighs about 250 pounds and has been clocked at a 4.76 in the 40. Freeman has a cannon for an arm and can take off and run the ball if he needs too. Freeman will take time to develop into a good NFL quarterback because he is still raw but the sky is the limit for him.

5. Nate Davis - Nate Davis is another quarterback who has been climbing up the draft boards of late. He has good mechanics and footwork and average size (6'2, 218). He has been a starter for Ball State since his freshman year. A knock on Davis is that he plays in arguably the worst conference in the FBS. However, there have been some good quarterbacks to come out of the MAC with Ben Roethlisberger being one of them. Scouting quarterbacks is so hard because many highly touted ones end up being duds and others come out of nowhere and surprise many people. Some quarterbacks just have "it", whatever "it" is. Nate Davis, in my opinion, should have a solid career.

Honorable mentions - Colt McCoy, Texas. Rusty Smith, FAU. Dan Lefevour, CMU. Max Hall, BYU.

Most of this years junior class may end up declaring for the draft because of a very weak senior class. The junior quarterback class is one of the most talented classes in years.