Mark Sanchez is better than Sam Bradford

By Jeremy Klump | Oct 30, 2015

If you were a National Football League college scout around 2009 and 2010, you have most likely looked at Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez as elite NFL caliber quarterbacks. Both of them possessed potential that you would dream of having from your signal caller, but there is one big problem; potential is not guaranteed.

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Both Bradford and Sanchez have not lived up to their first round draft pick status, as Bradford was taken number one overall in 2010 and Sanchez was taken number five overall in 2009. Both quarterbacks have had their fair share of criticisms ranging from Sanchez’s famous “Butt Fumble” to Bradford’s ability to throw touchdowns to the other team.

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They do not have much in common other than being looked at as a “bust” by some and the fact that they are part of Chip Kelly’s master plan.

They both are also currently quarterbacks on the Philadelphia Eagles and both have had their fair share of “boo birds” fly around in Lincoln Financial Field.

Bradford, who Kelly traded for, is currently the starter of the Eagles. He has struggled to put it nicely and has made Kelly look as if he does not know what he is doing in the NFL.

The former Oklahoma Sooner and St. Louis Ram has started the first seven games for the Eagles this season and has them at 3-4. He has completed 170 passes out of the 274 he has thrown, which has him at a 62.0 completion percentage, for 1,766 yards, nine touchdowns, and ten interceptions. His quarterback rating is at 76.4 and he averages 6.4 yards per attempt.

You do not have to be a rocket scientist or the best football mind in the game to understand that he has played poorly for the Eagles in his first seven games as their starter.

Some fans have been calling for Sanchez to be the new starter and they may be right.

Sanchez played in nine games last season, started eight, and he played better than what Bradford has shown in his first seven games.

In those nine games, he completed 198 passes of his 309 attempts, or 64.1 percent of his throws, for 2,418 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. That gave him a quarterback rating of 88.4 and he averaged 7.8 yards per attempt.

For an easier look at the comparison:

"Bradford (7 starts): 170-274 (62%), 1,766 yards, 6.4 yards per attempt, 9 TDs, 10 INTsSanchez (8 starts, 9 games): 198-309 (64.1%), 2,418 yards, 7.8 yards per attempt, 14 TDs, 11 INTs"

Two numbers that are very important in the comparison of their statistics would be the yards per attempt and interceptions.

These two spots are where Bradford has been terrible this season.

He leads the league in interceptions with ten and he is tied for last in the league with his 6.4 yards per attempt for starting quarterbacks. Both of these statistics are also big reasons, obviously, on why the Eagles have not been winning games this year.

He has turned the ball over too many times and he does not give them the vertical passing game they need to succeed. Many will argue that he does not have weapons, or that the line has not blocked well, but at the end of the day; you expect your starting quarterback to get it done regardless and Bradford hasn’t done that.

Sanchez would currently be the tenth ranked starting quarterback, not counting the backups who have been plugged in for some teams, with his 7.8 yards per attempt. That alone would help the Eagles and be a huge factor in their games. He does throw interceptions, but not as many as the current starter, which would help the Eagles as well.

I know Kelly does not want to ever be wrong, and that is okay, but he is wrong by keeping the player he traded Nick Foles for, and a second round pick, as the starter.

Sanchez is better than Bradford and it is time that the Eagles make the switch at QB.

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