LET COMPETITION PLAY OUT
Eagles should see who is better QB: Bradford or Wentz
Nearly an hour PHILADELPHIA into his first practice during rookie minicamp, Carson Wentz went through the paces of a drill designed to force a quarterback to adapt.
His position coach, John DeFilippo, feigned a rush up the middle, prompting the high-profile Philadelphia Eagles rookie to slide a few feet in the imaginary pocket before regrouping to toss the pass. No problems.
Of course, so many more difficult tasks await Wentz on the NFL learning curve, but the symbolism of this particular drill was striking. It was all about developing the athletic reflexes to adapt under pressure.
Maybe new Eagles coach Doug Pederson, carrying his own pressures, will adapt, too.
With disgruntled quarterback Sam Bradford set to return Tuesday for organized workouts after essentially punking Pederson and the rest of the brain trust by staging a two-week boycott to protest displeasure with the team’s decision to pursue the quarterback of the future, Pederson should reverse course and open up the competition for the starting job.
Surely, Pederson, a former NFL quarterback who knows all about the heat in the City of Brotherly Love, having earned coaching chops here on Andy Reid’s staff, had his reasons for declaring “Sam’s our guy” (for now) while essentially committing Wentz to a redshirt NFL season. It would be an old school method for breaking in a quarterback. The thinking is often to preserve the psyche, increase the preparation. Carson Palmer sat for a year. Steve McNair for nearly two. Aaron Rodgers? Three.
But it’s not like Bradford is Brett Favre. For all the perspective Pederson has gained on the way to his first NFL head coaching gig, sticking with Bradford might go down as his big rookie coaching mistake.
Time will tell. Perhaps Bradford will light it up to the point that Wentz is an afterthought. Then again, maybe the team will be toast by December and Wentz will be positioned to get the live reps that provide a jump on next year.
It makes sense to avoid putting a quarterback on the field before he’s ready. Los Angeles Rams coach Jeff Fisher, who’s grooming No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, maintains that readiness can always be enabled by a strong supporting cast and could determine when his prized rookie plays.
But at least the Rams will allow Goff to compete and take whatever rite-of-passage lumps come his way.
In the Eagles’ case, you have to wonder whether Bradford’s protest, which he surely hoped would lead to a predraft trade, would have crystallized the need for an open competition. Bradford’s agent, Tom Condon, has stated publicly that a competition would be stacked against his client given the high price paid to move up to land Wentz.
No argument there. Even so, it would provide good business optics for Bradford, who has experience on his side, to accept such a challenge while collecting the $22 million guaranteed in his new two-year contract. He can prove something to the league by winning the competition.
As it stands, Bradford’s protest probably didn’t endear him to the passionate Eagles faithful. It gave them one more reason to scream for the day Wentz gets his shot.
Regardless of what Pederson proclaims and even as de facto general manager Howie Roseman realizes value in stockpiling players at the most premium of positions, the quarterback controversy — aka The Wentz Watch — is on.
Wentz, to his credit, played it cool in meeting the media Friday, saying all the right things. He wants to earn respect in the locker room through his actions and will accept whatever role he’s assigned, from starter to thirdstringer, in good spirit. He declared that he doesn’t expect there will be tension with Bradford, as tough as that can be to project when considering he’s yet to meet the man whose job he’s been pegged to take.
But at least three times he alluded to his expectation to compete. Despite riding the bench for two years at North Dakota State, where he refined patience that he says could help in this situation, he acknowledged the itch to get on with his NFL business.
Now if Pederson would just open up the competition. If it’s proved that Wentz isn’t ready, then so be it. But having the job up for grabs, at least now with the post-Chip Kelly program being established, might send an inspiring message to the locker room about real competition.