The Philadelphia Eagles short-term quarterback situation remains unsettled.
The NFL Draft came and went and disgruntled incumbent starter Sam Bradford remains on the roster, despite his best efforts to force his way out of town by asking for a trade and informing the team that he won't participate in offseason workouts.
Bradford's future with the team remains unclear. While the team has remained firm publicly that they still plan for Bradford to be the starting quarterback come the season opener, it's too early to tell how serious the former Ram is about holding out. He may report once team activities become mandatory to avoid daily fines, but he may also be prepared for a long showdown with the front office.
The Eagles have been pretty clear that they don't want to press rookie quarterback Carson Wentz into action until they feel he's ready to play. With so much invested in Wentz, the team wants to take their time to bring him along, and rightly so.
In a scenario where Bradford holds out, this would leave veteran Chase Daniel as the team's temporary starting quarterback. The Birds went out of their way to bring Daniel to Philadelphia, giving him a generous contract for a backup quarterback. Head coach Doug Pederson is confident in his ability, but is the former Chief really a viable starting option that could get the Eagles through the 2016 season?
Daniel is set to enter his eighth season in the league, but has seen very little action in his career. He's served as a backup option to both Drew Brees and Alex Smith, providing him very few opportunities for playing time. He's attempted just 77 passes in the regular season, with one touchdown and one interception.
It's an interesting dynamic that Daniel has been in the league as long as he has, and has never seen action in a meaningful game or situation. He's been a non-factor in the regular season, and most of his work has come in the preseason. The good news is that his preseason numbers have been impressive.
Of course, preseason production should always be taken with a grain of salt given the quality of competition on the field. But Daniel's numbers are strong, nonetheless. Last year, Daniel threw for 388 yards with five touchdowns and one interception, including a three-touchdown effort against Arizona, compiling a quarterback rating of 120.6.
If anything is to be taken away from those numbers, it should be that Daniel has a very strong grasp of Pederson's system. He's had the better part of a decade to be in this league, study film, and grasp various concepts that can make an offense successful.
Daniel also may have an advantage in the fact that there isn't a lot of film out there for opposing teams to study. It will take some time for opponents to break down his game and find what his most exploitable weaknesses are, leaving Daniel with a window to get into a good groove and potentially have some decent early success.
The downside to Daniel is that for all of his experience breaking down film and learning systems, his lack of experience facing live bullets in a meaningful situation puts him at a disadvantage.
Ultimately, Daniel is as much of an unproven commodity on this roster as anyone. If Sam Bradford's hold out is in fact extensive enough that it presses Daniel to be the Week 1 starter, he could be expected to competently quarterback the team and get them by in the short-term, but if he's unable to produce victories, it will create much more pressure for the team to turn to Wentz before he's ready.
Denny Basens is a contributing writer to Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @DennyBasens.
