Sarge's Rap Sheet #11: Marc Bulger

A guy that burst on the scene in 2006, Marc Bulger looked to have the tools you wanted in your fantasy quarterback. Favorable weapons, favorable offense, numerous opportunities and the like. You bought with glee in 2007, and boy did you pay for it. So, a year removed from this disaster, will Bulger be back? Lets take a look into the past to see the future for this dice roll of a QB.

The Stats:

6-3, 212 lbs, 8th year of professional football for the Saint Louis Rams. Also played on the practice squads of the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. 2003, 2006 Pro Bowl Selection. 2004 Pro Bowl MVP.

The Early Years:

Born April 5, 1977 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Bulger attended Central Catholic High School. He was a standout in football, basketball, baseball, and golf. As a senior, he passed for 1662 yards and led Pennsylvania past Ohio in the annual Big 33 All-Star game in 1995. Marc did not start for Central Catholic until his senior year, and at times did not really want to play football. Bulger got the job done under center Central Catholic, but was not really regarded as an elite athlete and was not heavily recruited.

College Career:

Bulger played QB for the West Virginia Mountaineers. He basically spend his first two season on the bench, then took over the helm for the 1997 to 1999 seasons. The Mountaineers rode the legs of Amos Zeroue and arm of Bulger to records of 7-5, 8-4, and 4-7 those years, losing two bowl games along the way.

2000 NFL Draft

Bulger really did nothing to distinguish himself in college, but bloodlines and size potential got Marc drafted 160th overall in the 6th round to the New Orleans Saints, who were in need of a QB.

Professional Career:

Bulger attended the Saints' training camp in 2000, got cut, and then spent a couple weeks on the practice squad of the Atlanta Falcons. St. Louis then grabbed him up and stuch him on their practice squads. Bulger did not see action in any contests during his first season with the Rams; he was inactive as the third quarterback for 16 regular season games and all three postseason contests. In 2002, after the Rams started 0-5, Bulger filled in for an injured Jamie Martin, who had been filling in for the injured Kurt Warner, and out of nowhere finished the season with a 6-0 record in games that he both started and finished.

The injury bug bit Bulger early in a game against the Seattle Seahawks and the Rams ended the season at 7-9.

In 2003, Bulger helped lead the Rams to a regular-season record of 12-4 and the division championship; losing to Carolina in the second round. Confidence in Rams HQ was high enough that Bulger was named the Rams' starting quarterback and Warner was released. The Rams signed Bulger to a four-year $19.1 million contract.

After the 2006 season, Bulger was selected as a reserve the Pro Bowl, after recording an NFL-best eight games with a quarterback passing rating of more than 100. This was his second trip to Hawaii.

Later that off-season, Bulger signed a six-year contract extension with the Rams, worth over sixty million dollars. Among NFL quarterbacks with at least 1,500 passing attempts, his 63.9 career completion percentage ranks sixth highest all-time. Bulger threw for 24 TDs and over 4300 yards in 06, and also played in 16 games for the first time. Things looked great going into 2007 for the Rams.

Injuries then hit him again, and Bulger threw more interceptions than touchdowns for the first time in his career. He was considered one of the biggest disappointments of the 2007 season even though he cant shoulder the load on his own.

2008 and beyond:

Tough call here. When this guy is healthy, he's definately a top 10 QB. Then again, when the hell is he healthy. He's been in the league for years, and stayed good for one damn year.

Bulger is married to the Rams for the contract, so rest assured he is not looking over his shoulder at anyone. Im also not looking at this guy until late, if ever, but now youve armed yourselves with the facts...bad as they may be, discuss away



Sarge

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2008 Black Knights Football - 12 wins isn't enough

Bulger is a scary guy as a QB now. I picked him in SOFFL last Year as a great value where I got him and disaster followed.

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Sports Outlaw Fantasy Football League Champion 2007 - Maelstrom

Your not allowed to use SOFFL and disaster in any sentence referring to your 2007 season. Ever.

Bulger was a disaster as was my second rounder. Two bad picks in the first five, I had to pickup some talent fast during the season.

Disasters overcome, The road to the championship is always hard and fraught with pitfalls to overcome.

Back on topic, man if this isnt the ultimate in "risk reward" redraft football

Bulger is a posterboy in the risk vs reward senerio at the QB position. Potential top 10 QB that could pull another out of the top 20 again this year.
That is about as big a ratio as you can find at the position. So what is Bulgers' ADP this year? I presume he will come a little cheaper this year?

And how do we feel now? OL still a shambles, Jackson disgruntled.

Bulgers value all hangs on Jackson. The sooner he gets back to playing football the better.

I like his value this year being drafted in rounds 8-9. He's put up the numbers before, and has Al Saunders back to bring those numbers back. He has a stud receiver, a good pass-catching RB, and a defense that will make sure they're passing all four quarters. The line has healed and been added to, and now have to gel of course which will free up McMichael to be a decent target.

They definitely need to stop dicking Jackson around and get him in there.

I am curious how the O-line is still a shambles. Pace is back, and the others also seem to be back. Did I miss some news on someone?

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Expert on nothing, opinionated on everything...

Orlando Pace is not getting any younger. I also would not count a short time in training camp as proof they are "back". That line is still a mess, and though you feel it maybe functioning well at the moment, odds are it will fall again once a piece breaks, which is almost a certainty.

You've got a QB thats hot and cold coming back from injury with a disgruntled RB, an aging hulk that lost a step covering him, and an aging #1 WR with nothing any place else. If you wish to roll your dice on Bulger as your #1 QB go for it. I'll pass.

I wasn't implying Bulger is a target to go after. I just was wondering if I missed some injury information on the O-line. Last I had heard all were back and healthy

I havent heard much out of that camp past the Jackson holdout. Lemme look around a bit.....

The official site of the St. Louis Rams - Article - Article about Pace's return and status

The official site of the St. Louis Rams - Article - some OL notes

The official site of the St. Louis Rams - Article - about a rookie OL

The official site of the St. Louis Rams - Article - More OL news

The official site of the St. Louis Rams - Article - some OL news and RB intel

Maybe this will help out some.