Eagles coach Doug Pederson has said repeatedly that Sam Bradford is his starting quarterback. But coaches change their minds about such things, and rookie Carson Wentz is giving Pederson plenty to think about.
According to Matt Lombardo of NJ.com, at the start of Eagles’ Organized Team Activities, Wentz appeared to be ahead of Bradford in learning Pederson’s offense. That’s surprising given that Wentz is a rookie and Bradford is a seven-year veteran, but neither Bradford nor Wentz has played for Pederson before.
The Eagles are in an unusual position: You don’t pay a quarterback $18 million to sit on the bench, but you don’t draft a quarterback second overall to sit on the bench, either. Bradford is officially the No. 1 quarterback right now, but if Wentz still looks like he has a better grasp of Pederson’s offense in three months, can Pederson justify keeping Wentz on the sideline?
The third quarterback on the roster, Chase Daniel, obviously knows the offense the best of the group, as Daniel previously played in Pederson’s offense with the Chiefs. That could give Daniel a boost in the quarterback competition.
The bottom line is that, for all the Eagles’ insistence that Bradford is their starter, it’s a three-way quarterback battle. And there’s no guarantee that Bradford will win it.