Would Bradford have beaten out Bomar?
Published: 12/30/2008 5:17 PM
Last Modified: 12/30/2008 5:17 PM
Here's a jolt: Had Rhett Bomar not gone astray at the old car lot, he'd be about to quarterback his final game with the Oklahoma Sooners.
Maybe.
He would have been a senior, after all, five years into the system and surrounded by the same firepower that currently assists Sam Bradford. Assuming he stayed healthy and out of trouble, it might have been hard for Bradford to beat him out.
Really hard.
Bradford, two years younger, might have just spent his second year carrying a clipboard, and we'd all be trying to figure out how viable a post-Bomar option he'd be next spring.
Instead, Bradford possibly will spend springtime getting acclimated with the Kansas City Chiefs and trying to figure out how to spend his first million.
Funny how things work out.
Remember when Bomar got the boot and the entire Sooner Nation flew into level-five panic?
"We have reflected on that a little bit. Just the irony of it all maybe," Bob Stoops said last week. "You think back and that was going to be the end of us and everybody said, 'Well, won't be maybe this year with Paul Thompson, but surely it will be after that.' You know, how wrong they were."
Anyway, would Bradford have beaten Bomar out? I'm gonna duck that one. I'll let Bruce Feldman of ESPN.com take a cut instead:
"I suspect Bradford would've overtaken Bomar, although it is pretty uncommon for a younger, even more gifted QB to supplant a healthy starting QB who has a year more experience in a system. Still, I believe with the steps Bradford has made it would've been hard for the Oklahoma staff to not give him a chance to win the starting job.
"Remember, even though Bradford was only deemed a 'three-star' recruit out of high school, some of that I suspect had to do with his physical maturity. He came to Norman around 190 pounds (he's 215 now) and as (offensive coordinator Kevin) Wilson points out, Bradford didn't get to spend much time in the weight room in high school because his off-seasons were spent either playing for the high school golf team or travelling with his AAU basketball squad."
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
