Number Two

Posted: July 5th, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1 Comment »

Carson Wentz has been the Eagles starting QB since 2016. Chase Daniel was the primary backup in that first year. Then Nick Foles came back to town in 2017 and 2018.

Things were more complicated last season. The Eagles were set to go with Nate Sudfeld as the backup, but he got hurt in the preseason. The team then signed Josh McCown and made him the primary backup. That was fine until McCown had to play most of the Wild Card game against Seattle. You could see his limitations in that game and the Eagles only scored nine points.

Heading into 2020, Wentz is back as the starter. Sudfeld is back as well, but rookie Jalen Hurts is now part of the mix. So who is the backup?

This shouldn’t be a shock to anyone who has followed the Eagles closely. The team likes Sudfeld.

But not everyone understands this.

I’m sure Marcus isn’t alone in his thinking. There are probably plenty of national writers and analysts who think Hurts is the Eagles primary backup right now. Heck, there are some Eagles fans who probably think this. You don’t spend the #53 pick on a player just to sit him, right?

In a normal offseason, there would be a legitimate competition for the backup spot. Clearly this is nothing close to a normal offseason.

Hurts will still have a chance to win the backup role, but the odds will be against him. The Eagles had online meetings, but that is hardly a replacement for minicamps and passing camps. Hurts has never called a play, taken a snap or thrown a pass on an NFL practice field. He will have Training Camp, but the preseason will be cut in half, or cancelled entirely.

Hurts has to learn how to play at the NFL level while competing for a job at the same time. That’s tough for a QB. He has to deal with more than any other player. The QB has to call the play. Then he has to make a pre-snap read of the defense and decide if any adjustments are necessary. The QB must have a full understanding of the protection scheme for that particular play. He needs to know if the receivers are going to adjust their routes at all. And then the QB must have good timing/chemistry with his receivers once the play is underway.

Sudfeld doesn’t have a lot of regular season experience. He has been part of the Eagles for three years, though. That is a lot of practice reps. He knows the playbook inside out. Hurts may have more raw talent, but experience is a huge factor at QB.

The Eagles do like Sudfeld. They talked to him about a long-term deal, but Sudfeld made it clear he wants a chance to start. He knows that won’t happen in Philly so he’ll wait until next offseason to see what his options are.

Sudfeld throws a good deep ball so having speedy receivers should be a good fit for him.

Too bad we won’t have a normal preseason this year. Could be a lot of fun watching Sudfeld throw to the new guys with all the speed.

*****

On a side note, I don’t think I remembered the other NFC East backups.

DAL – Andy Dalton
NYG – Colt McCoy
WAS – Kyle Allen

That’s the best backup Dallas has had in a while.

McCoy is a veteran backup who can help Daniel Jones. There won’t be any QB controversy in New York.

Allen played for Ron Rivera the last couple of years so that does make sense.

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