Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford has only played four drives in Chip Kelly's offense, but Bradford has played like he has been playing in it for years already. All four drives resulted in a touchdown for the Eagles.
Bradford notes that one of the reasons why he has flourished in the offense so far is because the Eagles offensive scheme is similar to that of the offense he ran as a member of the Oklahoma Sooners. Bradford led Oklahoma to the 2008 BCS title game. He won the Heisman trophy that year, while tossing 50 touchdown passes.
"The tempo is very similar," Bradford said yesterday. "When we were out there against Green Bay and we were rolling and got things moving, it felt very similar to being back in college and just going."
Bradford explained that tempo isn't the only thing about Philadelphia's offense that reminds him of playing in Norman, Oklahoma.
One of the main principles of the Eagles offense is based up getting skill position players the ball in open space, in order to gain yardage after the catch. During his time with the St. Louis Rams, Bradford played in a pro-style offense, with a limited amount of quality skill position players. In Philadelphia, Bradford has a plethora of talented players at his disposal. Bradford contends that the offensive concept of creating space also reminds him of his college days.
"It's a similar mindset (to that team) in that we have playmakers all over the field, and my job as quarterback is simply to distribute and get them the ball and let them make plays in space," he said.
Additionally, there is one more thing about the Eagles offense that reminds Bradford of playing with the Sooners. That reminder is the sight of running back DeMarco Murray playing in the backfield with him again. Bradford played a vital role in bringing in his former roommate.
"I think Sam obviously had a big impact on it," Kelly said after the team signed Murray in free agency. "They're friends. (They wanted) to see if they could get back together and play again. They had such a great experience at Oklahoma."
However, the Eagles offense isn't an exact copy to that of Oklahoma. Bradford notes that the Eagles have a spread attack with a no-huddle system, just like Oklahoma's offense. However, The Eagles like to use different personnel groupings.
Bradford won't take any more game snaps until the regular season opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night, Sept. 14.
Michael Malia is a contributing intern for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Facebook (Michael Malia) or Twitter @Michael_Malia.
