Saturday marked a big day for the future of the quarterback position in the NFL as two of the most highly touted quarterback prospects in recent memory, one of them likely to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 Draft, took the field and impressed during drills at the NFL Scouting Combine.

But you don’t have to look back too far to recognize the perils of pinning the hopes of your franchise to a first overall pick quarterback. Sure, the last two quarterbacks taken No. 1: Cam Newton (2011) and Andrew Luck (2012), have led their teams to consecutive playoff berths and Luck may well be the heir to the title of Best Quarterback in the NFL. But just one year back lies the cautionary tale of Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams.

St. Louis selected Bradford first overall in 2010 hoping to recreate the Greatest Show on Turf. But a couple of things went wrong on the way to the rejuvenation of the Rams. Most notably, Bradford’s seeming proneness to injury — which was cited as a red flag going into the draft, after a shoulder injury limited the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner to just three games played in his final year at Oklahoma — has hindered his ability to stay on the field.

In five seasons since St. Louis tabbed him as their franchise signal-caller, Bradford has played just 49 games. He missed six games in 2011 with an ankle injury, the final nine games in 2013 with a left ACL injury and tore the same ACL during the preseason last year, costing him the entire 2014 season.

His injury struggles the last two seasons in particular have cost the Rams’ in a major way. A franchise that was in a state of disarray upon his arrival has improved greatly in recent years, led by coach Jeff Fisher, one of the league’s better defenses and talent that has developed at the skill positions. But the lack of an able quarterback has set them right back, as Kellen Clemens, Austin Davis and Shaun Hill just didn’t get the job done and St. Louis continued on what is now a string of eight straight losing seasons.

The Rams enter the 2015 offseason with more questions than answers at the quarterback position, wondering if Bradford will stay on the field long enough to ever realize a shred of his potential, nevermind living up to what remains the largest rookie contract ever.

Though rumors swirled early in the offseason that St. Louis would allow Bradford to seek a trade, the messages coming from the Rams this week at the combine indicated they plan to stick with Bradford in 2015. Fisher stood behind the quarterback when pressed on St. Louis’ quarterback situation and refuted trade rumors involving the quarterback. General Manager Les Snead famously said that the Rams aren’t ready to “delete” Bradford from their plans.

“Deleting him is not the answer,” Snead said. “I don’t know if that solves our riddle.”

Snead is right, it wouldn’t solve much at all. In fact, there’s no good reason for the Rams to cut ties with Bradford. At least not yet. His cumbersome contract, coupled with his questionable health makes him nearly impossible to trade for anything of value. And while cutting Bradford would save St. Louis nearly $13 million in 2015, who exactly replaces him?

The Rams pick 10th in this year’s draft, making it fairly unlikely that either Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota is available when they take their turn. Trading up isn’t worth it, because of the assets they’d need to sacrifice, and the fact is, neither quarterback is a sure-thing answer to their problems anyway. The free agent market at the position is even uglier, riddled with failed prospects and fringe starters.

The other factor is that, when he’s been healthy, Bradford has been pretty good. He was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2010 after completing 60 percent of his passes for over 3,500 yards and 18 touchdowns. Though he also threw 15 interceptions as a rookie, he still led the Rams to within a Week 17 win of reaching the postseason.

After a rough 2011 season, when he was constantly plagued by that lingering ankle injury, he bounced back for a strong 2012. He played in all 16 games and completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 3,702 yards and 21 touchdowns, though his interception number was again high at 13. He did all those things behind a porous offensive line with a collection of wide receivers that could be described as mediocre at best.

Bradford seemed well on his way to his best season yet in 2013, completing better than 60 percent of his passes for 1,687 yards and 14 touchdowns against just four picks in seven games. But the first ACL injury short-circuited that campaign and another one halted his progress last season.

However, for all the talk of his injury proneness — and Bradford’s health has certainly proven to be fragile — shoulder, knee and ankle injuries aren’t the type that usually get a player that “injury prone” tag. All Bradford’s injuries have been fairly fluky, major injuries that were suffered on the field of play, so the injury prone tag seems relatively unjust.

Fisher, who has been with the Rams for the best of Bradford — in 2012 and at the start of the 2013 season — said at the combine this week that he still believes in Bradford. He even cited the quarterback’s stellar record against divisional opponents, even if it is a small sample size.

“When we’ve had him, he’s 5-2-1 in our division, and we weren’t very good when we got here, so we’re counting on him,” Fisher said. “I’m betting on him, and if that doesn’t happen, then we’ll win games with somebody else.”

That caveat is important, because if the Rams do one thing at the quarterback position this offseason, it should be to get a strong backup as an insurance policy for Bradford.

Perhaps they’ll look to simply backup Bradford with one of those fringe starters like Brian Hoyer, Josh McCown or Mark Sanchez. That’s one option. But it has the potential to yield more of the same.

Instead, what St. Louis should do is look to use their second or third round pick on one of the quarterbacks in the second tier of talent in this year’s draft. Bryce Petty, Brett Hundley, and perhaps even Garrett Grayson — who has been rising up draft boards since the season ended as evaluators get a better look at the former Colorado State Rams quarterback — are all candidates to be drafted and developed into starters.

Developing a backup plan rather than continuing to put band-aids on the situation could prove beneficial to St. Louis’ long-term prospects. If Bradford stays healthy and earns an extension, and the Rams also develop a young quarterback capable of succeeding as a starter, they’d suddenly be flush with options. That’s a good problem to have.

The St. Louis contingent in Indianapolis at the combine was likely full of interested spectators as the 11 quarterbacks performed on Saturday. It was there in Indy on Wednesday that Snead indicated he is well aware of how crucial it is for the Rams to develop a better plan at quarterback.

“I think the answer is providing insurance in case we do go through more bad luck [with Bradford],” Snead said. “Let’s rehab him, and then when he’s healthy, let’s let him go compete. I think the guy’s got a chance to be a heck of a starting quarterback. Let’s insure the position. And that just gives us options in case we do have bad luck.”

That’s the Rams’ best bet this season, the final one of Bradford’s six-year, $78 million rookie contract. Perhaps Bradford is a bust, doomed to an injury-riddled career. This season could very well decide that one way or the other. But what St. Louis doesn’t need, after investing so much in Bradford for five years, is to watch the 27-year-old finally flourish elsewhere after they cut him loose and received little to nothing in return. One more chance, with a contingency plan in place this time, is worth the risk.