In yet another blow to Sam Bradford's chances of being looked at as the St. Louis Rams' franchise quarterback, the former No. 1 overall pick tore his ACL against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday and will miss the remainder of the season. Where this is a huge blow to a 3-4 Rams' team that still had playoff aspirations, its impact is likely to be felt far beyond 2013.
As the last No. 1 overall pick under the old Collective Bargaining Agreement, Bradford is due $34 million over the next two seasons, figures that don't seem to mesh with the production we have seen over the past two season.
With two first-round picks in the 2014 NFL draft (one coming from the Washington Redskins in the "Robert Griffin III trade"), St. Louis could very well look to find a franchise quarterback in what promises to be a loaded draft class.
This changes a lot of things moving forward, some of it from a fantasy football perspective.
Reality dictates that Kellen Clemens, who will likely be starting for the remainder of the season, isn't going to be anywhere near a decent fantasy option. The Oregon product has thrown seven touchdowns compared to 13 interceptions in 12 career NFL starts. He leaves a lot to be desired on both the intermediate and down-field passes.
Rumors have swirled that St. Louis might be interested in picking Tim Tebow up off the street. While he's likely a better option than Clemens both short and long term, we already know how much Tebow handcuffs the passing game on offense.
Needless to say, the likes of Austin Pettis, Brian Quick, Tavon Austin, Jared Cook and Chris Givens are not going to be worth much for the remainder of the season. None of these guys, outside of maybe Cook, were even considered viable fantasy options in standard leagues. Their only value sat in deeper/dynasty leagues.
That doesn't change a whole lot on the surface. While supremely talented, these young pass catchers are what I would call true wild cards moving forward and in dynasty leagues. As with every receiver/tight end option, one of the primary things we look at is who is throwing the ball to them.
As of right now, they have no one to get the ball to them on the outside and down the field.
At 3-4, St. Louis may still have false hopes that it will be able to contend for a postseason spot into December. If so, it could make a move for Christian Ponder or Matt Cassel prior to the trade deadline late this month. Neither offers much value from a real football and a fantasy football perspective, but both would be upgrades over Clemens at quarterback.
Believe it or not, Bradford was a legit QB1 option prior to tearing his ACL. He currently ranks ahead of the likes of Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick, Tom Brady and Robert Griffin III. Imagine that.
With that said, fantasy owners weren't relying on Bradford as a starter prior to the season. He only became important in the grand scheme of things after some serious struggles from the quarterbacks mentioned above as well as injuries to the likes of Michael Vick and Jake Locker.
Now that he's lost for the season, fantasy owners are going to have to scramble for QB2 options. The issues here is that pickings are slim on the waiver wire. Your best bet is to entertain the idea of trading with someone who currently has a surplus of quarterbacks. The value might not be there for you, but you simply cannot afford to lose out at this position when your QB1 is on a bye. QB3 options at the beginning of the year who are currently solid QB2's include Geno Smith, Terrelle Pryor and Locker himself.
Other mid-season possibilities include Mike Glennon, Thaddeus Lewis and Case Keenum.
You can even jump the gun and project current backup quarterbacks to be starting for their team in the not-so-distant future. Those options include Drew Stanton with the Arizona Cardinals, Jason Campbell with the Cleveland Browns and even Ryan Nassib with the New York Giants.
Either way, the fantasy implications here aren't too big.