The NFL's 5 Best Deep-Ball Quarterbacks From 2016
4. Sam Bradford, Minnesota Vikings
Passing NEP per Attempt: 0.84 | Success Rate: 48.65%
Oh. Well. This is a surprise. How?
Sam Bradford is known for being more Alex Smith than Ben Roethlisberger, and in a way, he's both. He was the fourth-most efficient passer on deep balls, but he also went deep at one of the lowest rates in the league. Among players with at least 200 attempts, only Jared Goff had a lower deep rate than Bradford's mark of 13.41%. Still, when he did decide to chuck it, the results were solid.
Perhaps what's most interesting about Bradford is that his production down the field wasn't limited to just one player. He had at least 10 deep targets to each of Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs, and Kyle Rudolph, and they all came through in a big way.
| On Deep Passes | Targets | Passing NEP per Attempt | Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Thielen | 24 | 1.60 | 66.67% |
| Stefon Diggs | 16 | 1.00 | 50.00% |
| Kyle Rudolph | 15 | 1.15 | 66.67% |
| League Average | -- | 0.49 | 41.25% |
Thielen was an efficiency stud the entire season, so this shouldn't be a huge shock. But dude really balled out on deep passes, making the also-solid metrics of Diggs and Rudolph look pedestrian.
Bradford's deep-ball rate the year before with the Philadelphia Eagles was just 14.29%, so it's not new for him to largely stick to short passes. But he also showed last year that he can find success when testing the defense deep. If he were to increase the prevalence of long balls in 2017, it's possible the team could take a step forward offensively.
Part of that may be out of Bradford's hands due to the issues the offensive line had in 2016. If they can't hold a pocket long enough, Bradford doesn't have the option to go deep. They'll need to build up front to protect him as a passer, but once that's accomplished, the Vikings have shown they have the assets to be more of a vertical team moving forward if they want to, whether with Bradford or Teddy Bridgewater.
