While there is still plenty of doubt amongst the Philadelphia Eagles' fan base, the praise for Sam Bradford has been rolling in as the team prepares for offseason workouts and training camp. The quarterback's arrival in Philadelphia was met with much speculation as most fans wanted to see Marcus Mariota under center next season, but that is not happening and Bradford is now the man in charge. As the quarterback continues to get healthy, teammates are loving what he brings to the offense.
According to tight end Zach Ertz, he and Bradford have been working out together for a few weeks now and he loves what he sees out of the quarterback. Ertz has caught passes from Andrew Luck in college while Michael Vick and Nick Foles both played quarterback for him in Philadelphia, but Ertz believes Bradford might be the best of the bunch in terms of arm strength.
"We've been throwing for the past three weeks and I can honestly say I've thrown with Andrew, Nick and other guys, and I don't think I've thrown with a guy who has a stronger arm than Sam Bradford," Ertz said, via CSN Philly. "He hasn't been able to really truly get his full legs underneath him. But the ball still comes out effortlessly, and it's a lot of fun to run routes with him."
According to NJ.com, Bradford's health will be the x-factor for this season. So far all team sources are reporting that Bradford is right on schedule and should be ready to start Week 1 after back-to-back ACL tears. It is no secret head coach Chip Kelly intends to run an uptempo offense and Bradford's knee must be at full strength in order to do so.
The Eagles did everything they could to surround Bradford with weapons. They drafted Nelson Agholor to add to the wide receiver rotation while bringing in DeMarco Murray to head up the ground game. All of this could make the quarterback have a bounce back season which would help calm all of the criticism surrounding Kelly.
Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow and Matt Barkley all believe they stand a fighting chance at seeing the field. According to Sanchez vi ESPN.com, he expects to contend as a starter while Tebow could be the one to force a trade of Barkley. Bradford looks to have the leg up as the starter which means everyone else is competing for the backup job.