Philadelphia Eagles Open Door Wide For Carson Wentz To Start
By Erik Lambert
Assumptions were that Sam Bradford was a shoe-in to become the 2016 starter at quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Apparently that’s not the case.
The idea of course is a classic one. Allow the veteran Bradford to continue helping the team win in the short-term while the organization is free to groom his eventual replacement in Carson Wentz without subjecting him to the physical pounding from NFL defenders. It’s not the greatest deal for Bradford, who has sought stability ever since his days in St. Louis but it may get even worse for him.
As it turns out not even the prospect of starting in 2016 is guaranteed for him. The Eagles are making it clear their depth chart is far from set in stone and there is no set order to any of the players they have on the roster.
Offensive coordinator Frank Reich clarified no such order exists.
"“No, that’s probably not the right impression,” Reich said during an interview with 94WIP Morning Show on Wednesday, via CBS Philadelphia. “I’ve been around this business a long time as a player and as a coach, and one of the things I’ve really come to appreciate is it’s not a contradiction to say you’ve got to have order. Because if you don’t order it’s chaos. So, if you’re the head coach you gotta come in and you’ve gotta establish order. There has to be organization, there has to be order, but the other thing that — as coaches — that you’ve got to establish is a culture of competition. This is one of the most competitive industries in the world and so, to say that there’s not competition, that’s just the furthest thing from the truth.“So, I don’t see the problem with creating order and competition at the same time, personally,”Reich continued. “Every one of us as a coach and a player, you’re working harder to get better, but in that process you have to establish order and things have a way of working themselves out.”"
There really is no ambiguity to this statement. What Reich is basically saying is that if Carson Wentz outperforms Bradford in training camp and the preseason this summer, then the Philadelphia Eagles coaching staff will have no qualms about starting the rookie over him. That means pushing Bradford and his sizable new contract to the bench. A rather strong statement from the organization, but also surprising given the financial investment made in the veteran QB.