Mark Sanchez The Latest Eagles Backup QB We All Fell In Love With
By Kevin McGuire
In Philadelphia we love a few things. We love cheesesteaks. We love Rocky. We love backup quarterbacks. Over the years we have seen multiple backup quarterbacks have the city of Brotherly Love show plenty of love. There was a time some fans actually thought the Eagles had a better chance of winning games with AJ Feeley instead of Donovan McNabb. Randall Cunningham could not start soon enough for some when Ron Jaworski’s best days were behind him. Philadelphia somehow gave new life to Jeff Garcia and has seen Mike Vick revive his career as a back-up turned starter. Ironically, Nick Foles went from backing up Vick to being the starter, then back to backing up Vick before returning to starting. Mark Sanchez is the next in Philadelphia’s back-up conga line.
After making his first start for the Philadelphia Eagles Monday night, Sanchez has become the talk of the town. The respect is warranted after a solid performance against the Carolina Panthers, although some fans might be wise to pump the brakes on the bandwagon making the hypothetical drive down Broad Street for a Super Bowl parade. It was just one (pretty darn good) game.
“I thought his demeanor was terrific,” Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said Wednesday. I thought he handled the pace well. He did the things that we want in our offense. For the most part, he made really good decisions.”
Sanchez is going to have a chance to prove himself worthy of consideration to be the team’s starting quarterback in 2015, but the future of the quarterback position in Philadelphia should be seen as one that is wide open at this point.
The fate of an entire franchise cannot be evaluated solely on one game against a struggling team at home. Perhaps this weekend’s road game at Green Bay will balance things out with how we look at Sanchez. There is something to be said about a veteran player embracing his new role as a back-up and the mentality required to step in when needed and keep things rolling. What Sanchez has done in a game and a half now is certainly commendable, but far from enough evidence to support inserting him as the franchise quarterback in 2015 and beyond.
Maybe Foles is still the best option. Maybe Sanchez plays well and leads the Eagles at least to the NFC Championship Game. Maybe Sanchez collapses against Green Bay. Maybe Foles struggles once he eventually becomes available. Maybe the Eagles take a look at some potential NFL Draft options. It is far too early to make any decisions now of course, but the Eagles have a recent trend of passing the offense on to a new quarterback already on the roster. Heck, Chip Kelly has done so a couple of times already last season, although injuries forced him to do so.
We live in a world where instant reactions and opinions are in high demand, but as far as the Eagles quarterback situation is concerned we should allow more time for this situation to breathe.
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Kevin McGuire is a Philadelphia area sports writer covering the Philadelphia Eagles and college football. McGuire is a member of the FWAA and National Football Foundation. Follow McGuire on Twitter @KevinOnCFB. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
