Philadelphia Eagles: Evaluating quarterback situation

There is never a dull moment with the Philadelphia Eagles, especially when it comes to quarterback. At the current moment, the Eagles have four options at the most important position on the team that each give a unique dimension to their offense. How exactly will everything pan out considering that the Eagles will most likely go into the regular season with only three active quarterbacks on the roster? Let’s evaluate their current quarterback situation.

Looking at their options, the Eagles clearly have some decisions to make. At the current moment, it looks like Mark Sanchez will most likely be their starting quarterback, followed by Sam Bradford being his main backup should injury or a decline in play occur. That leaves the third and final spot on the active roster up for grabs between Matt Barkley and Tim Tebow.

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Sanchez has so far done very well during organized team activities and gives the Eagles the absolute best option to win plenty of football games this upcoming season. Last year, Sanchez contributed 2,418 yards on 198 passes for 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He looked like the Sanchez of old back when he was playing competitive football in the early stages of his career with the New York Jets.

Bradford is an interesting option at quarterback since before his devastating injuries with the St. Louis Rams, was considered to be the next best quarterback in the NFL. He showed glimpses of being the real deal during his tenure with the Rams but injuries got the best of him. Head coach Chip Kelly knows talent when he sees it which is why he was able to trade for Bradford in the first place since if he can remain healthy, he could be quite the contributor down the road in case things don’t work out with Sanchez.

The final spot on the active roster is the one that will cause the Eagles to make a tough decision. On one side you have an established quarterback in Barkley who knows the Eagles’ offensive system very well and can be quality depth behind Sanchez and Bradford. On the other hand, Tebow is a polarizing athlete that has such a talented skill-set to contribute in plenty of ways, that the Eagles could use both his passing and running game to their full advantage in 2015.

May 28, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tim Tebow (11) walks off the field after OTA

One area that Tebow gets the slight nod in over Barkley is that he’s a dual-threat kind of quarterback. Knowing how Kelly runs his high-octane spread offense, they can put Tebow in select offensive packages such as 1st and goal situations to have him score touchdowns either with his arm or his legs.

Barkley has a knack for being injury prone and once the Eagles decided to sign Tebow this offseason, he knew his tenure on the team might come to an end if he doesn’t step up his game and prove his worth.

In the end though, expect to see Tebow edge him out and indeed make the final roster of the Eagles. Barkley will most likely either be released or end up on the Eagles’ practice squad.

Overall, the Eagles have been quite the active team this offseason and are looking to be the team to beat in the NFC East this upcoming season.

If they can get the most out of Sanchez, develop Bradford nicely and use Tebow in certain offensive plays to really throw defenders off, there is no telling how far this team can go if everything falls into place.

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