Why Mark Sanchez Is Perfect Contingency Plan for Philadelphia Eagles

As usual, the Philadelphia Eagles will enter the upcoming season with major question marks at the most important position in professional sports: quarterback. In fact, it's really not a stretch to say that the entire season for the Philadelphia Eagles is banking on the twice surgically repaired left knee of quarterback Sam Bradford.

It's impossible to know what to expect from Bradford. Will he be the dominant presence he was a few years ago when he won a Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma and Offensive Rookie of the Year with St. Louis? Or will he be the player who failed to develop since his rookie season and suffered a season-ending ACL injury in both 2013 and 2014? 

Realistically, it's a long shot to see Bradford stay healthy for all 16 games. He's suffered major injuries in three of the last four seasons. He will have a significantly improved offensive line from his tenure with the Rams, but he'll also be attempting to recover from consecutive ACL tears—something no quarterback has ever done. 

That's why it's vital for the Eagles to have a legitimate contingency plan in place. Enter Mark Sanchez, who ranks among the very best backup quarterbacks in the National Football League. 

Despite the heavy criticism he received from the fanbase for his performance during the second half of the 2014 season, Sanchez is not the reason the Eagles missed the postseason. He certainly didn't help, but it's not realistic to expect Sanchez to lead the Eagles past the Green Bay Packers or the Seattle Seahawks.

All Sanchez did in the second half of the 2014 season was everything you'd want from your backup quarterback. He gave the Eagles at least 20 points of offense in seven games, including 36 against Tennessee and 33 against Dallas on Thanksgiving. Even the Eagles' 14 points against Seattle was better than a lot of quality starting quarterbacks have done against the Legion of Boom in recent seasons. 

Year	Comp Pct	YPA	TD-to-INT	Passer Rating
2009	53.8	6.7	12-20	63.0
2010	54.8	6.5	17-13	75.3
2011	56.7	6.4	26-18	78.2
2012	54.3	6.4	13-18	66.9
2014	64.1	7.8	14-11	88.4
Total	56.3	6.7	80-74	74.1

Take a look at the numbers on Sanchez in 2014. He set career-high records in completion percentage, yards per attempt and passer rating. All three numbers were above league average too, per Pro-Football-Reference.com's adjusted rankings. 

For any other quarterback, Sanchez's half-season from 2014 would be considered a career year. But when a team begins the season with a 6-2 record and misses the playoffs, it's ultimately the starting quarterback who will receive the most blame, fair or unfair. And while Sanchez definitely committed too many turnovers last year (11 interceptions and seven fumbles), he also gave the Eagles a realistic shot to win every game he played. 

Player	Comp Pct	YPA	TD-to-INT	Passer Rating	PPG
Nick Foles	59.8	7.0	13-10	81.4	22.21
Mark Sanchez	64.1	7.8	14-11	88.4	29.26

In fact, you could make a claim that Sanchez outplayed Nick Foles in 2014. It's pretty close. It's worth noting that Sanchez faced tougher teams—like the Packers, the Cowboys twice and the Seahawks—although he also benefited from an offensive line that included Evan Mathis, Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson. 

Sanchez (28) isn't an injury concern, like Bradford, and he'll head into the 2015 season with an extra year of head coach Chip Kelly's offense under his belt. The upside for him in Kelly's offense will go untapped unless Bradford suffers yet another injury, but look at the Eagles' two biggest competitors in the NFC East. If Dallas loses Tony Romo, it has no chance of winning the division with Brandon Weeden. The same applies for the New York Giants if Eli Manning goes down and Ryan Nassib has to start. 

Regardless, there's really not a better contingency option for the Eagles in 2015 than Sanchez. He'll never be a quality starting quarterback in this league, but Kelly has proved enough of an offensive mastermind to take a fringe starter like Sanchez and turn him into a viable option, if needed, to take over for an injured Bradford.

For most teams in the National Football League, the loss of their starting quarterback for a significant period of time would almost immediately end their chances of reaching the postseason. The Eagles would still be right in the middle of the playoff hunt, as they were in 2014.