Last week, in the midst of playing his worst game of the season, Sam Bradford became the third rookie ever to throw for 3000 yards, joining Matt Ryan and Peyton Manning. With just two games left it's time to see what Bradford would have to do to catch his prestigious fellows in total rookie season production. With the Rams set to play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Bradford has 3065 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions, with 5.9 yards per attempt and a passer rating of 75.9.
↵14 games into his own rookie season Peyton Manning had 3179 yards, with 24 touchdowns and 25 interceptions. Bradford's relative stinginess with interceptions counts for something, but he'll have a hard time gaining any ground on Manning in yards in his 15th game—Manning was 23-for-39 with 335 yards passing, one touchdown, and one interception in the Colts' 27-23 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. 335 yards was Manning's second-highest total of the season; it would be Bradford's career high, by 27. To tie Manning through 15 Bradford would have to throw 449 yards, which... well, I would be excited if it happened, to be sure.
↵Matt Ryan, 2008 is ahead by 81 yards through 14 games, but Ryan was used sparingly and only intermittently effective in his last two games of the season; his 15th start saw him go 13-for-24 for 134 yards and a touchdown. Bradford needs 215 yards to tie Ryan through 15 games, and then 161 in Week 16 to settle in with the second highest rookie-quarterback yardage total of all time.