ATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 28: Quarterback Jalen Hurts #1 of the Oklahoma Sooners reacts before the game against the LSU Tigers in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 28, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Doug Pederson is already backing Nate Sudfeld to be his backup QB, sending a strange message to Eagles fans and Jalen Hurts.
Being a backup quarterback in the NFL is surely a frustrating job, but if you happen to be the understudy in Philadelphia behind the notoriously brittle Carson Wentz, you’re more or less guaranteed to get some live reps.
That context is important as we attempt to parse the latest statement from Eagles head coach Doug Pederson. He said this week via Philly’s WIP Sports Radio that despite famously using a second-round pick on Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts, the decidedly un-sexy Nate Sudfeld is more likely to enter Week 1 as the next man up after Wentz.
If you’re scratching your head over this one, you’re not exactly alone.
“He knows exactly what we’re doing, and I have a ton of confidence in Nate to become the backup quarterback,” Pederson said, insisting that Hurts must focus on learning the team’s offensive system before he bothers with anything else.
A ton of confidence, you say? That’s all well and good, Doug, but why reach for a gunslinger like Hurts with this year’s 53rd overall pick if you’re not convinced he’s going to be a better bet out of the gate than Nate Sudfeld, the room temperature oatmeal of quarterbacks?
Perhaps the coach is just playing mind games here. Lighting a fire under a young signal-caller isn’t the worst of all ideas, but at this early stage, there’s no harm in insisting that the competition behind Wentz is open and spirited. Choosing to do otherwise suggests an ulterior motive, because an earnest endorsement of Nathan Michael Sudfeld — who’s thrown 25 passes in his NFL career, folks — deserves some serious side-eye.