Matt Barkley Will Be Ryan Day's Star Pupil
With the fourth round first pick, it was thought that head coach Chip Kelly had persuaded the Eagles front office into selecting "his guy" at the quarterback spot – a young man out of USC who had elected to remain in college for one more year.
That decision likely cost him millions. Not only did he delay entry into the NFL, but he was injured in his senior year and his film was less than impressive. Matt Barkley was once projected to be selected in the first round of the 2012 draft. He was described as a pure passer, a quarterback who processed quickly and who hit his receivers in stride.
A year later questions developed about his arm strength. Did the injury reveal more flaw in his game than was originally guessed at? In short, who was Matt Barkley – the first round projection or the fourth round reserve / project quarterback?
In a year when the head coach and the general manager now share the same football mind, the once football star from USC is hidden in the shadows behind Marcus Mariota, Sam Bradford, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, and even Tim Tebow. Coming into this, his third, year of the NFL, Barkley is at a crossroads for his NFL career.
Either he shows something, or he is shown the door.
Can I Get A Mulligan?
Barkley has seen some field time, and that did not go as well as he, or the Eagles, had hoped. He discussed the perception that he has not achieved much while wearing an Eagles jersey in a recent interview with Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Jeff McLane in November 2014.
"If they only saw me from the Eagles and they never saw me play college football, then, yeah, they probably have a pretty biased and negative opinion of me," Barkley said last fall. "But, that's football. It doesn't matter. We moved the ball when I was in. I just made some bad errors with my throws.""That was last year. I think I've grown a lot since then," Barkley said. "They haven't seen what I'm fully capable of." – Matt Barkley
While he saw the field in 2013, he did not get a curtain call in the 2014 season. Instead, the team signed free agent quarterback Mark Sanchez who had his own set of on field disappointments. But the difference was pronounced. Sanchez was resigned to a very healthy multi year contract. Meanwhile, Barkley was rumored to be shopped for a draft pick. Despite the lack of field time in 2014, the coaching staff shared encouraging commentary when pressed to update his status.
"I think Matt has improved. Obviously, it's his second year in the system, and he has really worked very, very hard at it." – Chip Kelly discussing Barkley
Pat Shurmur also weighed in on his sophomore quarterback in 2014.
"Just playing catch with him and working with him in the drill work, you can tell that I think he throws a good, firm, strong ball," Shurmur said.
Barkley admitted that his first season as an Eagle his arm was not quite healed. But he made it a point to improve his base, workout to improve his fitness in the morning, and then work with receivers to improve his throws in the afternoon. He entered the 2014 season described as being in the best shape of anyone on the team next to LeSean McCoy. But McCoy is no longer an Eagle. Can Barkley remain an Eagle with no progress in the pocket?
Perhaps yes.
Show Me The Way
Matt Barkley is still learning… still absorbing. He finally has a healthy arm. He is as low on the Eagles depth chart as a prospect can be and still have a faint hope of making the team.
He just needs to learn Chip's offense through the eyes of a Chippah quarterback coach.
The mechanics of a quarterback can be sound in Chip's system and he can fail. Progressive reading of a defense can go according to the X's and Os and the quarterback may still struggle. In Chip Kelly's offense, there is a NEED for SPEED. Quick decisions. The kind of decisions where you force the defender to commit and then go where he-is-not with the ball. That kind of pressure on a young quarterback is easy to detect. The offense moves the ball, but eventually the defense makes an interception.
In 2013, Matt Barkley moved the Eagles offense well. But with virtually each set of plays, it ended with either a score or an interception.
Decision making in the Chip Kelly offense is something like this. Imagine passing cars on a normal commute home on a busy highway at or about the speed limit. That is an offense at normal speed. Now press the accelerator until your car is going 120 miles per hout. That is an offense at Chippah speed.
Things move much more rapidly. There is seldom a pause or a huddle. The team lines up after a play ready to go again. Each down is communicated in from the sideline. With each play, there are multiple options of where the ball can go – each dependent upon the commitment made during the play by the defense.
Quarterback coaches from the traditional school work with a quarterback on passing fundamentals. But Chip Kelly needs more than footwork from his quarterbacks. He needs someone who can remain calm and lucid despite the rapidity of the plays.
Nobody is kidding themselves here. Barkley is already on the trading block and that's a clear indication that Chip Kelly does not consider him a necessary component to a championship team. He is on borrowed time, and without special teams production, he will need to perform far superior than Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez to remain on this team.
Can he do it? I think he has the capability of doing so if he can focus and immerse himself in everything he can possibly learn this training camp. If he succeeds, he could end up as the number three or two quarterback on this team. If he fails, he won't be an Eagle when the 53 man roster is set. If he had it to do over again, would he choose to remain in college that final year? We will never know. But he does have a chance to re-elevate himself into significance in the NFL with a tremendous training camp through pre-season and carry that momentum into the season.
Chip will give him a chance to earn playing time. But he will have to do a better job of earning it.
