QBs Looking Good
Posted: August 7th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 81 Comments »The Eagles QB situation is far from a sure thing, but there are reasons for optimism.
First up, let’s talk about Sam Bradford. Here is Sheil Kapadia writing about him from Thursday.
During the red zone period, Bradford delivers a strike to Huff on a quick out. He beat Rowe for the touchdown. One thing that sets Bradford apart is he seems to be a legit anticipation thrower. The ball gets out early on a lot of these completions.
Sanchez follows Bradford up with a touchdown to Jeff Maehl on a post.
Bradford’s turn again. He connects with Riley Cooper on a crosser, zipping the ball in between defenders for the score. After an Ertz catch, Rowe delivers a hit that knocks the tight end to the ground. Malcolm Jenkins comes over and lets the rookie know he likes what he sees.
A series of good throws by the quarterbacks. Tim Tebow finds Mike Johnson down the seam. Mark Sanchez puts nice touch on a wheel route to Rasheed Bailey down the sideline. And Sam Bradford tosses a beauty to Jeff Maehl on a fade that beats Earl Wolff.
Today was the best Bradford has looked. He was throwing dimes all day long.
More from Friday.
During 7-on-7s, Bradford finds Darren Sproles on the Texas route. There’s been a lot of talk about how the Eagles might use Sproles this year, but in reality, he was open a lot last year. He and Sanchez just could never seem to get on the same page.
Another wheel route – this one to Matthews deep down the sideline. Bradford has been excellent on those deep balls outside the numbers. His touch especially stood out today.
During 7-on-7s in the red zone, Riley Cooper beats Eric Rowe on a fade. Just another beautiful ball from Bradford.
He then hits Ryan Mathews on a wheel route against Najee Goode. Goode practiced alongside DeMeco Ryans with the first team since Alonso and Kendricks were out.
Later during the drill, Bradford zips one to Trey Burton in between defenders on a crossing route.
During the two-minute drill (it was actually 1:03), the offense gets the best of the defense. Bradford connects with a wide open Brent Celek down the right sideline on what had to be a busted coverage Bradford delivers a fist-pump after the play. Grat day for him.
Are you starting to feel encouraged?
Even the most adamant doubter like Eliot Shorr-Parks is starting to come around a bit.
Today was the first time I watched Bradford play and thought "Ok, I see it" #Eagles
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) August 7, 2015
Chip Kelly talked at length about Sam Bradford’s athleticism today, and then Bradford himself fielded a lot of questions about his athleticism after practice. (Side note/prediction: There will be a lot of articles about Bradford’s athleticism tonight or tomorrow). In regard to his athleticism, while Bradford isn’t running around a whole lot just yet, he did flash some athleticism today. During a red zone drill, he whipped a side arm throw under a defensive lineman’s hands, that found Riley Cooper over the middle for a TD.
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Next up is Tim Tebow, who stood out on Thursday. From Sheil’s notes.
Tebow gets hot! He fires a ball down the seam to Mike Johnson for a huge gain. Johnson beat JaCorey Shepherd on the play.
Then Tebow lofts a corner route to Pratt and connects again.
Finally, a bomb down the left sideline to Mostert on a wheel route. Three huge plays in a row for Tebow.
And now Jimmy Bama from Thursday.
Tim Tebow had a really good day, and more specifically, he had a terrific series in which he threw three passes down the field that were all on the money. The first was a seam throw to UDFA WR Mike Johnson. The second was a well-placed ball on a corner route to Quron Pratt. The third was a deep ball down the left sideline to RB Raheem Mostert that led him perfectly in stride on a wheel route. Early in camp, Tebow rarely threw more than 10-15 yards down the field, but today he aired it out a bit, and looked impressive doing so.
Make sure to go read all the practice notes from Jimmy and Sheil. Lots of good nuggets.
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Now let’s talk about the QBs. While there is reason to be encouraged, no one is putting either guy in Canton quite yet. It is okay to be optimistic.
Bradford is showing what people hoped to see…accuracy, touch and good pocket-passing skills. Think about the past few years. Mike Vick was erratic. Nick Foles was awkward. Bradford looks like a polished passer. That could really help this offense.
So far so good in terms of Bradford’s health. Chip Kelly said the coaches aren’t seeing Bradford favor the knee or do anything awkward to protect it.
As for Tebow, he is an improved passer. This isn’t the guy you saw in the past. He’s worked hard to become a better passer. He’s no Dan Fouts or Kenny Anderson in the pocket, but there is legitimate progress. And that might be enough to help him win the battle for the #3 QB spot.
Tebow’s presence is helping to bring out the best in Matt Barkley. Well that and maybe the light has just gone on since he is now in Year Three. Barkley is playing the best football of his young career.
As Chip Kelly has pointed out, the key for Tebow and Barkley will be preseason games. It is one thing to look good in camp, but games are what matter.
Mark Sanchez seems to be flying under the radar. I think a lot of that is the fact that people are focused on Bradford and Tebow. And since Tebow is battling Barkley for a job, that makes him more interesting. Sanchez is a virtual lock to be the backup. He’s not a compelling story line for now.
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Other notes
* Kiko Alonso missed practice with a concussion. Remember when hearing that wasn’t a big deal? Now you hear the word “concussion” and you get a bit worried.
* John Moffitt was the starting RG on Thursday. Andrew Gardner on Friday. Right now the players are all rotating and just putting lots of reps on tape. The coaches are going to evaluate a body of work, not just one or two days.
* We aren’t hearing a whole lot about the Safety competition so far. Safety is a position, like QB, that is complex and best suited to being to being evaluated in game situations.
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Eagle fans are not the only ones hungry for some football. 50,000 Browns fans turned out for an intra-squad scrimmage at Ohio Stadium.
I live near Cleveland…they have a pretty good fan base here. Surprisingly with all the losing.
The most masochistic fanbase out there to be sure.
Any team that coins their stadium the factory of sadness is alright in my book.
49,999. I went, not a Browns fan. Wanted to watch football. 😀
Lane Johnson was really raving about Bradford today claiming he hasn’t seen this type of accuracy in a while.. Shel and Tim have an article about lane posted where he raves about Bradford and talks about the Right Guard spot.
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Kielce devalued himself talking about how what’s really important is having Tackles who win their battles and that if you have good tackles you can figure out the interior of your line… I have to agree with him, The tackles are so much more important, then Centers, with Guards as least valuable…’veteran Kelce will know which of the guards he needs to help during game…
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I think Moffitt vs. Gardner vs Tobim battle should produce a solid guard,. Don’t care that much which wins the spot, but I care that whichever player wins it can stay healthy so he can grow over the course of the season and play his best late in the year as he builds chemistry
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Speaking of Chemistry Jenkins was raving about the chemistry of the Starting secondary. Calls Thurmond a playmaker,, seems to think we are a much improved secondary..
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Oh and Btw, Elliot Parker.. King of the hacks! Can’t we trade Parks to the
Cowboys?
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Cody Parkey was said to have had a strong day makings kids from everywhere
i know he’s just a kicker, but i would love to get Parkey’s stats throughout the last 5 practices of TC. Also, not much SP talks, which makes sense, but would love to see who they think can contribute on SP (I think it being practice 5 plays into that). Im kind of cautiously excited about Jenkins comments…fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I can’t wait to see them in-game soon to see how they adjust on the fly and how see how WT is adjusting to playing Safety.
I agree about the passing game with Kelce. If you have a pair of dominant Tackles who you feel comfortable leaving 1v1 you should be able to scheme to clog up the middle.
Running game not so much… need to get initial movement otherwise your back will be always looking to bounce it outside. Kelce is a dominant blocker when in motion, we just need to have a Guard who can pull at a high level and one who will consistently move his man in the run game and we should be ‘good’.
a lot of combo blocks in our run scheme that should take care of initial movement
Jenkins does a lot of talking…lol. I like that dude.
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and — there’s our Earl Wolff update we’ve been dying to read. At least he isn’t on the sidelines watching practice….lol
Making kids is fun.
Keep in mind that Barkley is a third string QB. Unlike Tebow he is locked up for two years. Getting a guy like Barkley who falls the 4th and then not playing him much while he is inconsistent in a low sample size is better than most third QB situations because if he was Peyton Manning they’d have to pay him. He makes 3/4 of a million each of the next two years and if they cut him they’d have a small cap hit of a 1/4 million spread over two years.
One thing I like about Tebow is that he has a low interception rate in games, both in college and pros, ideal for a 3rd stringer. So far in practice though he’s been throwing a lot of flaky picks. Barkley has flaked out a little in his chances but only had seven picks in his banner junior year. As a senior year he threw more INTs but both years he had fewer than Mike Glennon, his main competition for best QB in his draft class.
Then there’s the Kinne option. He is locked up for the minimum the next three years and of course is playing WR for which he can be kept active. This is going halfway to some team’s practice of keeping 2 QB on their 53. He hasn’t been taking QB reps this year, though.
Big picture: Bradford’s health and accuracy. The accuracy kills teams keying on run, and matches up well with the Cowboys’ focus on coverage instead of blitz packages.
Twice now I have seen a photo of Tebow in his throwing motion, where his throwing arm is back, and the nose of the football is facing behind him. He keeps his arms extended, so obviously, the football is not protected. Linemen will be salivating.
OMG, that is so accurate coming off of a still photo. I hope those linemen don’t get to our 3rd stringer…
His release is glacially slow. I’ve been staring at a photo of his throwing motion for two minutes and the ball still hasn’t come out.
I feel your sarcasm, but the photo is a freeze of his throwing motion, and it ain’t pretty: I don’t know how to post the photo alone, so here’s the photo with a related article (about Tebow):
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2015/08/06/tim-tebow-on-point-during-thursdays-session/
Zach Ertz didn’t practice today along with Kendricks. He’s injury prone, better get rid of him.
Saw Brandon Graham talking about 32 sacks. Love the enthusiasm, but realistically I’d be stoked if he got to 12-14.
I see this as an opportunity for redemption for him. He’s finally not coming off a major injury, or switching to an oddball scheme with a lunatic coach who won’t play him, or learning an entirely new position for the first time in NFL. At long last he comes into a season with a stable scheme, the same coach, no major injuries, and is entrenched as a starter. This is the best circumstance that Graham has had in his career, and I hope he cashes in on it and helps silence some of the “Graham is a bust” crowd. Always liked B.Grizzle and am rooting for him.
I’m a huge Graham fan. He was mega-talented when he was drafted, had some really bad luck between injury and coaching instability, which ultimately resulted in the institution of the 3-4. He has never been in an ideal or even really good situation to maximize his talent.
Yet here he is as our starting OLB on a shiny new contract. There’s a chance he could end up as one of the top pass rushers in the league, and he’ll probably be in the upper tier at the worst. He certainly can play the run well. And it looks like he’s worked his butt off to not be as much a liability in the passing game. He could be a big surprise breakout this year.
If you play poker, you know the the worst possible hand is the one that’s good but not a winner. It keeps a player putting money in the pot, which he loses when he comes in second or third. I don’t want to see the Eagles in a somewhat similar situation, with three very good qbs, but without one good enough, or healthy enough, to make the team a winner.
I think this is exactly why we moved on from foles. We still may end up with this kind of hand, but now there’s at least a decent chance we won’t
That’s why I think Bradford is worth the, well, wager. If he goes down and doesn’t get back up, though, I don’t believe our B+ at best backups can get the team close to the Super Bowl.
I sure hope Bradford doesn’t fold the first time he faces pressure.
At least we’re not all in.
Sure, but I’ll be holding my breath the first time he gets flushed from the pocket.
Flushed… good one.
Me too, that will definitely up the ante.
On my scale of lousy to great, if “very good” doesn’t get you to a SB parade, it’s because of one or more of the following: 1) Coaching, as in mistake-laden; 2) LOS weakness, as in too many battles lost by OL and/or DL 3) Defense, as in porous; 4) Special team play, as in unexceptional; 5) Chemistry, as in toxic locker-room. Give me three very good QB’s any day of any week, and I will look down at the 31 franchises that have scary prospects riding their benches. I know “good” “great” “very good” is all grading loaded with subjectivity, but very good is nothing to shun, imo.
Best case scenario for Barkley is him lighting it up in preseason and us getting a juicy offer for him. By juicy I mean a 5th rounder. Haha.
I would take a 5th for Barkley in a heart beat
I want to see Chip Kelly let SAM Hinkie play Eagles GM for a Day, at the end of August lol
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After a few quality preseason performances, SAM Hinkie sells barkley to Haslem the Moronic owner of the Browns…. SAM Hinkie pulls off Trade:
Browns get:
Matt Barkley lol
the 4th rd pick the Steelers owe us
our own 4th round pick
Eagles get
Safety Tashuan Gipson who Browns haven’t been able to extend..
The Rights to swap first round pick with Browns in the next 7 drafts, because Hinkie is a Boss and Haslem/Farmer might actually be dumber then Vlade Divac
Sorry Eliot hyphen Parks — no new comers to the Bradford band wagon.
One point we have not touched on much is what Bradford brings to the Eagles Defense. With his accuracy and quick release, our LBs and secondary are getting good training. Footwork, hand placement, route shadowing all are accelerated.
Stay healthy Bradford, the D needs you. Not only to give the D some rest during drives, but to teach them how to go against the better passers and receivers (like Mathews – The Pope) in the league.
I think he’s going to make the players around him better, because they are talented as well.
Good point.. Chip said the coaches all seemed to think that we are seeing,Tighter coverage from our DBs then we saw in past years which if true speaks to improved secondary talent, but it also makes it harder for WRs in practice which is great for their development….. On top of that, if we add improved QB ball placement, AND improved DB coverage, we are upping the quality of our practices, which is beneficial To everyone, the QB, The DB and the pass catchers.. The higher the level of competition the more our players should improve… iron sharpens iron..
This is when it starts. He starts to look like the number one overall pick. Then preseason goes well. Then week 3 happens… I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t already read any of the books in this series. If you want to catch up to this one the other books are called St.Louis 2010 – St.Louis 2014. Such a sad story not sure why I read them and expect a better ending every time.
Can’t we just leave the “Bradford is gonna get injured eventually” alone until it/if happens. Let’s just enjoy the optimism while we can.
Sorry I cant help it! Im not gonna bash him. I’m just super nervous.
Trust me I do understand friend. The thought of him getting hurt will always linger in the back of my mind I just try to cloud it with optimism.
Arm talent will always wow people at practice. I’ll change my opinion of Bradford when he has a good year instead of just a good throw.
Sucks for Jerome Couplin. He started out with the 2nd string and probably had a good chance of making the team and then he has to have his appendix removed. Chip said he’d be back at practice next week but I doubt he’ll be full strength until a couple of more weeks pass.
Having an appendix removed is an out patient procedure. The appendix is about the size of a small green bean and unless it was completely ruptured, not a big deal. He should be full strength in a day or less. The surgery takes literally less than an hour.
That depends on whether they did a laparoscopic or open surgery. I’m old so my timeframe was based off of open surgery. It takes less time nowadays as surgical techniques have advanced.
Even still. It would have to be a horrible appendix to do it open. I mean the thing would have to be wrapped around the aorta lol.
I am not so sure on that recovery time for the appendix removal…Justin Anderson who played basketball at uva (#21 pick in the draft) was out at least two weeks after having his appendix removed (not ruptured)….that is playing basketball….now during that time he was able to practice lightly which meant doing some shooting but it was probably a week before he could get a full hard practice….doubtful that a football player is back on the field doing any hitting a day after surgery….maybe some drills but I bet he will be on the bike or sidelines for at least 3 to 4 days….
Back on the field in a few days, sure but I guess I took it as feeling 100%
So much parity to sort out in our stable of young DBs… Preseason will be important for sorting out the young Db depth chart, hopefully Couplin has enough time to get back in the swing of things and be ready to perform up to his potential in the preseason games.
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Probably not going to be easy to make safety on this team… jenkins, Thurmond and ST captain Maragos are all locks.. prosinski is a big ST,contributor for us and he already has 3 interceptions during the first week of camp.. Special Teams in CRUCIAL for a chip kelly backüp.. These young safeties won’t have an easy time proving they are stronger ST players then Prosinski.. I’m starting to think Jenkins, Thurmond, Maragos, Prosinski all make the roster with Couplin vs. Wolff vs. Reynolds for the last safety spot…which Probably means eithet Couplin or Wolff will make the roster, NOT BOTH… Couplin is allegedly a solid ST player, and Wolff ISNT any coaches favorite these days… TODAY I wouuld probably give Couplin better odds then Wolff And Reynolds to make the team..
Our biggest weakness last year was the deep ball on defense and it’s arguably Flaccos biggest strength. Did Chip set this meeting up because of that very fact?
https://twitter.com/PressBox_Pat/status/630054004970639361
Lol the joint practice between dirtSKINS and Texans keeps broke out into a Brawl after they had 3 fights break out in like 10 minutes,,, what a disgrace, Skins DONT even know how to act in a Joint practice, LOL
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Skins also seem serious about moving their top 5 pick, brandon Sherff to Guard. I liked Sherff a lot, but I’m sorry, spending a top 5 pick on a Guard is a joke,.. Chance Warmack was the most NFL ready Guard you can ever hope to find and he Wasnt drafted top 10…. Sherff better go on to be one of the top 3 Guards in the NFL to be worthy of a top 5 selection.
Chip talked up Malcom Bunche today. big powerful kid who can move people in the run game…Chip talked about how ALL our backüp OLineman are playing two positions in Practive… You eithet rotate between Center and Guard, or Tackle and Guard… THE ONLY players who aren’t practice at multiple positions on the line are “the 4 starters, aka Big 3 plus Barbre) and Moffitt because,we just got him”-Chip Kelly….. But Chip acknowledged that they know he has played Center before and has that ability in his back pocket but since he missed OTA’s they have him focusing on Guard…… If you are a backüp offensive liNeman and you can only play 1 posituon, you probably won’t make our roster unless you are a quality starter… our Coaches even have Molk practicing at center and Guard. No clue how tiny weak MOLK can play Guard.. Hoping he Doesmt make the roster….
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malcolm Jenkins Raves about how advanced the defense is compared to where we,expected it to be right now…he seems to be very pleased with how Nolan,thurmond and Mxwell are quickily gelling together, and he credited it with the type of Talented intelligent veterans we added who are still thirsty to improve as individuals…but he also seems Impressed with our rookie DBs, taking the time to talk up Rowe, Rice and JaCorey…… randall Evans doesn’t seem to stand out like the other young DBs.
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chip Raved about Tutu’s ST play… Talked up his length, says he does a great job of getting around blocks and using his length to make the takles.. This kid was a serious ST stand out with the Chargers… People say our ST can’t possibly be as good as,last year, but I call Bullshit! I don’t believe last years ST was lucky… Coach Hawkeye aka Coach Fipp is said to be extremely good at breaking down ST film, finding weaknesses to attack and devising ST schemes to take advantage of the chink in the armor of our opponents.. Fipp is still here, and Chip is still prioritizing ST play more then most coaches, and as great as our ST was, we are bringing back key players like Maragos, Braman, Prosinski, Burton, and also adding ST studs like Tutu, jordan hicks… Possibly Kenjon Barner (extremely versatile ST player). .. The ONLY ST position we have to take care of is replacing Boykin who was masterful at downing punts inside the 5… Speaking of Punts Donnie Longball was said to have Bailed a gorgeous beauty of a punt, bounced on the 1yard line, and backspin took it to the 3 yard line today… I expect our ST to actually be better then last year because the guys making plays last year, have more experience now, are better gelled with teammates then Last year, and key contributors like Burton should be even better then last year.. We also adding a 230lb kick returner who ran a 4.37 at the combine.. Good luck tackling dude on Kickoffs when he gets a full head of steam… Of course we still have ST beast Darren Sproles…… Looking forward to once again enjoying the BIGTIME advantage of having,the best ST unit in the league, maybe the best Special Teams unit I have ever seen.
Mostert might be taking Barner’s spot. I think he’s a better returner and he has world class speed. CK talked a little about how much more depth they have at the bottom of the roster such as the RB position.
I know nothing of Mostert other then chip said he is really fast
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As a RB, I never been much of a Kejon Barner fan, but I do know that he is very highly reguarded as an extremely versatile ST playet who can play many different roles…Mosert will need to be A drastically better RB talent to be able to overcome the significant ST advantage I assume Barner will have..
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We got to enjoy last years EPIC ST play, because of these types of decisions, sometimes choosing to keep the better ST player, instead of the better RB when we get to the bottom of our roster,….if we end up keeping a 4th RB, my money would be on Barner because of his ST value… I’m not familiar with Moster but to me it seemed like we had every intention of continuing to keeping Tucker until he got hurt……. Really No idea what chip plans to do at RB, but If Moster and or Barner don’t make the roster, I do think they willl go on the practice squad because we have 3 veterans and lack youth at the RB spot
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Its important that we find a player who can replace Boykins ELITE ST play on Punt Coverage, a Player we can count on to down the ball on the 1 yard line, keeping it out of the ENDZONE when Donnie BOMBS one of his punts who look like they have a missile guiding system with how frequently they land inside the 5 yard line…. As Roc Carmicheal showed us, it’s not a role to take for granted and assume anyone can replicate what Boykin gave us keeping Donnies punts out of the ENDZONE,
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We got to enjoy an elite ST unit because of the emphasis we put on ST ability as a main criteria for choosing our backupx and depth players..
I think Mostert ran a 4.3 at the combine.
Is that who chip was talking about when he mentioned something about one of our players winning the 100 meters in the Big 10 or something? Someone on our roster is a track star…
Strange as it may be Bradford has no chronic injury.
You do not see any player with 5 ACLs or anything.
He had a shoulder injury several years ago and a ankle injury before his first ACL.
His OL in SL was never good, but is not either the reason he is tore his ACL.
Like Shurmur said, is more a thing we can’t control.
And since repaired, doctors said the ligament is stronger.
Let’s see some preseason action before any conclusions.
Like Mac, we’ll all be holding our collective breaths during preseason every time he goes down or takes off running.
That’s true…
Sheil mentioned SB’s anticipation throws look good. I like to hear that.
You said the same thing as Geagle right after you but you said it in one sentence. Bravo.
You said the same thing as Geagle right after you but you said it in one sentence.
His anticipation seems to really stand out to everyone… Bradford has a long way to go before he can prove to be the QB McNabb, Cunningham and even MIke Vick were. but in terms of Passing talent/ability.. Bradford is the most talented Passer we have ever had…he is probably the most complete package of
Arm strength
Accuracy
Anticipation
Touch
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under Chip Kelly, with the weapons chip will sorround him with, he has the chance to be special.. Bradford is the type of QB talent that could keep chip in Philly for a decade…it’s all about HEALTH,. If we keep him in the game, special times are ahead. if he continues to not be durable we will be back at square one,
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this one players health can have such a massive impact on the next 5 years of this franchise,,,If Chip can pull it off and keep SAM on the field for 5 years it would be a top 5 move in the history of this franchise,.. If it pans out, I will kind of feel bad for Howie.. chip wins power struggle, kicks HOWIE to the curb, and immediately pulls off acquiring one of the most talented QB’s in rbe history of this franchise? If SAM stays healthy, Chip will be a GOD in Lurie’s eyes, and chip will get the Power to do anything he wants.. He will have new practice fields built, Sciemce laboratories, 3-D technology, drone planes…
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Be fascinated to head what our division rivals really think about Chip and the roster he has put together his first off season in cbarge?
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if SAM can be this impressive in practice in his first week back, I wonder how surgical he will look when he shakes all the rust off and gets comfortable in this offense, throwing to these weapons….. I want this kid to stay healthy so bad….
The stories I heard about him in both OU and StL are encouraging. Yeah he works tirelessly and wants to win, but the most important thing to me was how quickly they said he could process information. In StL, they were saying he was explaining to the coaches the offense of the opposing team. That’s the kind of QB I want leading the troops.
I feel bad for Sanchez because I think he’s really improved his game, but he’s not SB level. If this team has a lot of success under SB this year, I wonder if MS bolts to find a starting gig somewhere.
are you talking about the AJ Feeley interview on thefanatic radio? He talked about how Bradford was a young player and one of the Patriots assistants, forget which one, Josh MCDaniels maybe? Came to the Rams and wanted to install the complicated patriots playbook during lockout shortend offseason, and as a Veteran QB, AJ Feeley was blown away at how fast Bradford learned the Patriots playbook, quicker then everyone else to the point the young QB was helping to teach the playbook to the veterans..
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Certainly very exciting that he is known for a quick twitch QB brain.. hopefully the ability to quickily process info, with his quick release, along with his teammates executing can aid in keeping SAM Healthy, you can get injured untouched playing this game, so if we can minimize the injury risk and not allow defenders to put a beating on him it would go a long way to improving our odds of keeping him on the field… He has to get better protection then FOles got last year or we are in trouble..
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Run the ball a lot, execute. Use tempo to wear down the pass rushers like we did to JJ Watt.. When we pass, try to give Bradford a lot of quick hitters so defenders don’t have time to blast him
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For a kid who has had injuries, at least he has some size and bulk to him, He is bigger and stronger then Aaron Rodgers..if his QB brain is as advertisized, combining ability to quickily process info and get the ball out quickily with such a talented passer who can make all the throws ahould be able to do big things when you put him behind. Potent run game, and a coach who’s offense will provide him wth defined throws
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I think that may be it. Yeah.
Remarkable and why I think he’ll do well here. I’m excited about this team this year. I finally think we are a top 3 team in the NFC, and we should be competing for a bye.
Sunday should be interesting, and I wonder if there’ll be a rotation w/the first team RG against the Colts.
Yes sir…. im curious to see how,the play calling changes early in the season, as we try to ease him back in the swing of things, Now that we have a defense we should be able to trust to go along with our Elite ST, I’m curious to see how conservative we are with SAM early in the year.
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We don’t want to get Bradford hit, so I wonder If we shift to an offense that tries to put together some more methodical drives, instead of being such a quick strike, try and score in 50 seconds offense… We go heavy on the run, and short, mid range quick passes that get the ball out it should also aid our defense,, and at our tempo, the more snaps the defense is on the field for the more we wear the, down..
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if This offense stays healthy all year, Im curious to compare time of possession at the end of this year with the past two seasons. If this heavy run base offense stays healthy, I wonder if we end up seeing a natural improvement in time of possession, even if chip continues to not care about it…
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From Last year, I THNK the MAIN IMPROVEMENTS we Need to make besides improving the turn over Margin is pretty simple:
offense Needs to improve on 1st Down
defense needs to Improve on 3rd down
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Shady too often Lost yards on first down putting us in 2nd and 13 last year, and even when Shady didint lose yards, our first down offense didn’t execute well enough. We didn’t have many 2nd and short situations last year. We NEED to improve on first down, If we can get more 2nd n short opportunities we can take shots down field and we can also run some trick plays that we didn’t see last year
defensively we were pretty bad ass on first and 2nd down, and then pissed away all the great work we did on 3rd down.. We were 2nd in the NFL in sacks, so our 3rd down defense was halfway there…. If we can tighten up our coverage, keep our sack numbers, drastically improving our ability to get off the field Whem the defense puts us in 3rd and 7 would have a massive effect on our team…
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Offense executes better on 1st down, and we can become an even more potent offense…Defense improves its ability to get off the field on 3rd down, and we become a,difficult team to beat,,,
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OL and the secondary are the keys to the 2015 season
From what I hear, the last two days of Practice, Bradford is showing a level of talent that the Philly Media ISNT used to seeing covering the Eagles the last two years… the Anticipation Bradford is throwing with, the level of accuracy he is showing is probablly a level higher then we have ever seen in this city. Bradford Truley can make all the throws, and he seems to be surgical throwing Seams, crossers and Fades.. He had like 3 TDs yesterday on Fades,,… McNabb was a very talented QB, who has had better completion percentages in games then Bradfod has had up to this point.. But McNabb had his struggles with accuracy, and he is probably just a step below that top tier Elite passers..
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So far, McNabb, Randall Cunningham and even MIke Vick have all been BETTER QBs then SAM Bradford…Sam has a long way to go before he can catch up to the success those QBs had…. As Great as Tbose QBs were at times, I don’t think any of those 3 QBs are as talented passers as SAM Bradford is…. those guys had Cannon arm strength, but they didn’t have the complete package of elite touch, accuracy, anticipation, ability to make all the throws…. As crazy as it sounds, Bradford is probably the most talented passer we have had in the last 50 years…. What’s Scary is that reporters and players are going Gaga and RAVING about how Bradford is dropping dimes all over Novacare the last few days, but what’s FREIGHTENing is that this is the first week of hjm even throwinig 11 on 11 in over a year,.. I don’t care how amazing he looked yesterday, the kid is still shaking off the rust, I don’t think it’s even possibe to be seeing the best ne is capable of this first week back to fully practicing… as Sharp as he has looked to have us this exciting, there is probably a whole higher level of passing we have yet to see..
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If Chip Kelly can keep SAM Bradford on the field for 4-5years playing 75% of the snaps over a 5yr period. It will prove to be one of the biggest steals in the history of this franchise. Bradford has the ELITE ARM TALENT of legit franchise QBs.. We can count on chip sorrounding him with Talent in an offense he can put up monster numbers in….. If we can keep Bradfird healthy, trading for SAM will go down as one of the biggest moves in the histry of this franchise….. To put this type of a passing Talent in the hands of Chip Kelly can be more potent then I ever imagined we would see in the Chip Kelly era
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After all the tough times. All the Unlucky breaks with players and injuries that broke the hearts of This city in all 4 sports… Waiting two years for joel Embiid, the Andrew Bynum Fiasco, Eric Lindros, Chris Pronger, fragile MIke Vick, Jeff Ruland….. We have had such Epic bad luck as a city when it comes to these types of injury situations.. After everything we been thru as a city, I want so Desperately for bradford to be the one Injury risk that actually ends up going our way.. If chip can be the man to finally bring us an era of better injury luck, with his focus on players bodies, and taking extreme measures like holding players out of practice if their levels aren’t where they need to be in hydration and a bunch of other sports science tests,,…Let SAM Bradford be that RARE time where Philadelphia ends up on the winning side of the injury risk.
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We have see that this offense can put up big numbers with guys like Sanchez and FOles… I’m so desperate to see what this can look like when you give Chip the most talented passer this city as ever had…I’m so excited, yet walking on eggshells at the same time….. not only can SAM be special under Chips tutelege, but SAM Bradford if healthy can be that Franchise QB that keeps Chip Kelly in Philly for a decade…
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if I’m Jeffry Lurie, Id buy Lane Johnson, kElce and Jason Peters their own small Islands if they Keep Bradford in the game,…. If this kid is so surgical in his first week back against our defense, I can’t wait to see what he can do against defenses who are sucking wind because of our Tempo once Bradford shakes all the rust off and completely trusts his body and his OL..
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I wonder what our Rivals really think of our team behind closed doors? We might not see a bounty gate SCANDEL, but you can bet that our Rivals are going to try and rough bradford up, knocking him out of games and Rattle him… IF.a piece of shit like Baker from the Skins takes a cheap shot at Bradford like he did to FOles last year, I swear you will see me run onto the field and Attack him myself….. So excited, yet I. So excited that I’m a nervous wreck walking on Eggshells all summer, I hate this nervousness….. I actually think Sanchez will be better Tben we saw last year and tbaT we are talented enough to win with,,. but Bradford is a Talemt the likes of never having the pleasure of rooting for in the past.. I want this kid to stay healthy so damn bad!!!
Losing Chris Pronger broke my heart, and Holmgren panicked when he realized he had to replace him. After that he just started giving out bad contracts to mid-level defensemen.
I’m really excited about SB. If he stays healthy, it will be the steal of the century and finally we might be able to host the Lombardi one day.
Bradford is up there with EMBIID for me…. Players im desperate to see go on to have a healthy career… Those two overcoming their injuries woud be so Bigtime for this city… Hopefully Hinkie and Chip are the men who can buck our history of ending up on the losing side of our big injury gambles…
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Felt really bad for Pronger… And our history with injuries is so terrible I could add so many more names to the list. Shawn Andrews, Ryan Howard post contract extension.. Chase Utley, Todd McCollough, Leonard Weever, Losing Randal Cunningham for the season during the worst possible year when our defense was ready to contend for a Super Bowl….. Hopefully we paid the injury piper enough through the years and we finally have some good luck on the injury front with Bradford and EMBIID.. those two players can transform this city into a new golden age of philly sports
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Good write-up GEagle. Two points to consider: First, we need a designated OL protector for SB when the play is over – re the bush league hit on Foles by a Skins douche-nozzle.
Second, as fans we need to be patient as SB gets acclimated to a pass rush. He’s use to a leaky OL, so like any dog that gets beat often, is scared of the next hit; thus causing poor throws and/or bad decisions.
IF our OL and RBs can protect Sam and help him to build confidence, then lookout NFL.
Two. Great. Points.
(About Bradford)
Seriously!! His protection needs to be good especially early in the process. it will take him some time to trust his body. And his new OL…. Unfortunately there is no substitute for that other then game time, so this is something every QB coming back from injury has to go thru… .. What we can’t have is SAM being immediately under a ton of pressure like FOles was in the first half of the Jags games.. Defenses are going to try to rattle him, knock him out of games, and keep him from getting comfortable… It’s important that we execute early so we can overcome the initial rust, allow the game to slow down for SAM, trust his body. And trust his protection… He has never played with these offensive lineman before,,, we need to ease him back into live action and help him thru the first few weeks
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As for him being the most talented passer we have had,. A lot of that speaks to our piss poor QB history. We spent almost 3 decades wufh these silly athletic running QBs instead of prioritizing passing talent first and foremost..Cunningham, Bobby Hoying, ROdney Peete, Doug Peterson, McNabb, Kolb, VICK, FOles, Sanchez,,,,, not exactly that daunting of a task for Bradford to become the best passer in our history…… Of course it’s not like we can just stick him on the field, snap our fingers and have his talent immediately translate.. So far it hasn’t (for a variety of reasons)… But it’s comforting to know he has never been placed in a situation close to this conducive for NFL success….. But it’s going to be up to the OL, Run game, and Play calling to ease him back in the swing of things, and protect him that first month of Live game action until he can shake off the rust, build trust and have the game start to slow dpwn for him,,
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he has the Talent, he has the supporting cast, and he has the offensive coaching.,.. It’s now or never for SAM, he can’t expect to get a better opportunity then leading Chips offense behind this run game, with a ST that will score and give him field position advantage all year, and a front 7 that will make our opponents 1 dimensional when they can’t run on us,.
Re: Bradford – Best Eagles QB in the past 50 years?
No doubt Bradford looks like Elway, Montana, Unitas, and Warren Moon rolled into one right now. Fair to say he has a ways to go until he’s worthy of being called “Dutch,” however . . . starting with showing up for a full regular season.
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Here’s Bradford’s competition by decade since 1965 for the title of “Best Eagles QB in the past 50 years” — cover your eyes:
1965-69
Norm Snead
Jack Concannon
King Hill
George Mira
John Huarte
Maybe the worst collection of QBs during that 5-year period for any NFL or AFL team of that period.
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1970-79
Norm Snead
Rick Arrington
Bill Cappleman
John Reaves
Roman Gabriel
Mike Boryla
Ron Jaworski
John Walton
Decade picks up where the ’60s left off: absolutely dreadful.
’72 First-Rd Pick John Reaves — who set a host of NCAA passing records at UnivFL — came to the Eagles with Bradford-like talent. But he also came to the NFL with a substance-abuse problem that only grew worse, unfortunately. (Traded to the Bengals for LOT Stan Walters after ’74 in a trade that remains one of the franchise’s best.)
In 1973, newly acquired Roman Gabriel had a great Comeback-Player-of-the-Year season, but at age 33 sagged quickly and lost his starting job the following season.
Starting in ’77, Jaworski gave the Eagles with the most stability at QB, and the best QB’ing, since Van Brocklin and Jurgensen from ’57-’62.
Jaws started 123 straight games from ’77-’85. Big arm. Absolutely maxed-out his talent. But, ultimately, a notch-plus below the likes of Bradshaw, Staubach, Fouts, and Montana.
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1980-89
Jaws
Joe Pisarcek
Randall Cunningham
Matt Cavenaugh
Don McPhearson
Cunningham may have had as much natural ability as any NFL QB ever — though not a quick release, to be sure.
But he lacked the commitment to excellence and hard work required for greatness. Apparently, by a lot.
Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson said of Randall at the time: “He looks at his first read, and if that receiver’s not open, Cunningham takes off and runs.”
Not a recipe for success in the playoffs . . . as Randall proved.
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1990-99
Randall Cunningham (never the same after ’91 knee injury)
Jim McMahon
Brad Goebel
Jeff Kemp
Bubby Brister
Rodney Peete
Bobby Hoying
Donovan McNabb
A return to the mid-60s to the early ’70s? Pretty close.
Until McNabb arrived.
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2000-09
D-McNabb
Doug Peterson
Koy Detmer
AJ Feeley
Mike McMahon
Jeff Garcia
Kevin Kolb
Michael Vick
McNabb was athletically gifted, but never a great pure QB. All he did was win, though. But not very pretty — the way Bradford could be. Never the same after the Owens incident and the sports hernia in 2005.
2010-15
Vick . . . the 1-year wonder
Kevin Kolb
Vince Young
Mike Kafka
Nick Foles
Bradford
If Bradford proves durable, he’ll be the Eagles’ best pure passer since Sonny Jurgensen in ’61 (when he set the still-franchise record of 32 TDs . . . which Bradford should break this year, if he doesn’t get hurt).
And the Eagles will win. Big.
It won’t take long — if he stays upright — for Bradford will become the best pure-passing Eagles QB in the last 50 years.
Really, the competition is awfully lean.
But the best QB, overall? Bradford needs to win like McNabb. And be as durable as Jaws. If Bradford does that, yeah, he’ll become the next Dutchman.
Wow, great post. Brings back a lot of memories. Most of them are bad memories, though. Thanks a lot, pal.
Couple of tidbits. On the down side, in 1964, “Joe Must Go” Kuharich traded future Hall-of-Famer, Sonny Jurgensen, for our man, Norm Snead. That’s how we got Norm and started Joe’s slide out the door. On a brighter note, Roman Gabriel came to the Eagles in 1973 from the Rams. He had a great season and won Comeback Player of the Year.
Let’s hope ex-Rams qbs are good luck for the Eagles.
PPK:
Nice supplement.
Footnote to Roman Gabriel — who, if memory serves, was called the Messiah in ’73.
To acquire Gabe, the Eagles — i.e., new HC-GM Mike McCormack — gave the Rams THREE straight 1st Rd picks plus All Pro WR Harold Jackson plus FB Tony “Touchdown Tony” Baker.
Those 5 assets are the reason, urban legend has it, that Gabriel chose to wear #5 his first year w/ the Eagles. [His #18, which he wore in LA, was worn by WR Ben Hawkins in ’73. Gabe switched to 18 in ’76.]
Sam Bradford’s initials are SB.
SB = Super Bowl
SB = Sam Bradford
Sam Bradford’s new nickname should be “Super Bowl” Sam Bradford.
Superbowl confirmed.
Jeff Fisher had that same thought for 5 years.
Thanks to PPK for inspiration. He mentioned that Roman Gabriel was known as the Messiah in ’73. We need a moniker for Bradford.
Here are my suggestions: “The Surgeon”; “The Widowmaker”; “The Truth”.
So what you got??!
Super Bowl Sam!!!
Obviously, it’s better that the QBs look good in training camp than not. But I don’t think Bradford’s problem has ever been not looking the part in 7-on-7 drills or the like. His problem has been staying healthy, and/or playing well in actual games. A good TC performance is encouraging but doesn’t answer the questions about him.
This is Philly. There were people questioning his throwing skills, so this does quiet that group.
He won offensive rookie of the year, and was looking very good in 2013 before he got hurt. But there are those who need to see him in a game before they will admit that he’s got the skills. 😉
Actually, I get that. I’m keen to see him running this offense as well.. But the main thing I want to see is him taking a hit and keep on clicking. I’m definitely not in the group that thinks it’s only a freak 10-12% chance he goes down again. Maybe I’m a science denier, maybe it’s those skinny legs. But I want to see him go down and pop back a few times before I’m ready to exhale.