Rams make Bradford deal official

Football Betting Lines

07/31/2010 - Earth City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams made it official Saturday and announced they have signed quarterback Sam Bradford, the top overall draft choice in 2010.

While the team did not disclose terms of the deal, the sides reportedly agreed to a six-year deal that is worth a record $50 million in guarantees.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Bradford's deal is worth a total of $78 million. The guaranteed money is the most ever for a single contract in league history -- for rookies or veterans.

Bradford, 23, will be counted upon to help a Rams franchise that went a league-worst 1-15 last season. He had been the Oklahoma Sooners' starting quarterback for the last three seasons, despite playing in only three games in 2009 due to an injury to his throwing shoulder.

The 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, Bradford helped lead Oklahoma to the National Championship Game that season before falling to Florida. That season, Bradford threw for 4,720 yards and 50 touchdowns, helping the school break an NCAA record for most points in a 14-game season with 716.

The Rams continued a popular trend of teams selecting a quarterback with the first overall pick. Dating back to the Colts' selection of Peyton Manning leading off the 1998 NFL Draft, quarterbacks have been picked first overall in 10 of 13 drafts. St. Louis last picked first overall in 1997 and took Ohio State offensive tackle Orlando Pace.

The Rams have struggled mightily since "The Greatest Show on Turf," led by quarterback Kurt Warner and running back Marshall Faulk, produced two Super Bowl appearances, one title, three MVP winners and three straight top-ranked offensive teams from 1999-2001. St. Louis has posted one winning season in the last eight years and has won a total of six games in the last three campaigns -- the fewest in the NFL in that timeframe.

The club's quarterback for the last eight seasons, Marc Bulger, was released earlier in the offseason, so Bradford figures to be in the mix for the starting position as a rookie. The other three signal-callers currently on the roster are veteran A.J. Feeley, Keith Null and Thaddeus Lewis.

Bestonsports Football Betting News

<< Eagles sign WR Washington
Bethlehem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles have signed veteran wide receiver Kelley Washington to a one-year contract. Washington caught 34 passes for 431 yards, both career-highs, and a pair of touchdowns last sea

<< Starace, Ferrero reach Umag final
Umag, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero and Italian Potito Starace will contest the final at the clay-court Croatia Open after winning their respective semifinal matches Saturday. Ferrero, a former world No.

<< New York waives forward Wolyniec
Secaucus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York waived forward John Wolyniec on Friday night. Wolyniec played in four regular season matches, including two starts, for New York this season. He also recorded four goals in four Lamar Hunt U

<< Veteran WR Patten announces retirement
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Patten will not play a 13th NFL season in 2010, instead announcing his retirement as a member of the New England Patriots on Saturday. Patten played for the Patriots from 2001-04, during which tim

<< Prado has fractured pinky
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves second baseman Martin Prado has a broken right pinky finger and could miss only a week. Prado was hurt during Friday's win against Cincinnati while sliding head-first into home plate on Jaso

Indians nip Jays as Tomlin fills in for Westbrook >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shin-Soo Choo went 2-for-5 and hit the go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning, as the Cleveland Indians edged the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1, in the middle test of a three-game series. The victory snaps Clevel

A's recall Bonser, option Bowers >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics have selected pitcher Boof Bonser from Triple-A Sacramento and optioned pitcher Cedrick Bowers to the same club. Bonser joined the Oakland organization on July 2 after being desi

Sadler earns first truck win at Pocono >>
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elliott Sadler held off Kasey Kahne during a second green-white-checkered finish to win the inaugural Pocono Mountains 125 Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway. Just after the restart for th

N.Y. to reveal third designated player Tuesday >>
Secaucus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York, which recently added French star Thierry Henry as its second designated player, announced Saturday it will reveal a third designated player Tuesday at Red Bull Arena. Juan Pablo Angel and

Royals extend manager Yost through 2012 >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals extended manager Ned Yost's contract through the 2012 season on Saturday. Yost is in the midst of his first season with the Royals after replacing Trey Hillman earlier in the year.

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.