Sam Bradford As A QB? He Impresses So Far

The dialogue on quarterback Sam Bradford has largely been focused on his left knee, the one that has suffered two ACL injuries and made his career a medical question mark. Bradford, as you no doubt know, has been on the field every day during the Eagles' Organized Team Activities and has increased his workload at the prescribed pace, with no setbacks.

No specific timetable for the "all clear" proclamation has been established, but the Eagles say they are pleased with his progress. So we'll back off the questions about Bradford's health, if only for a minute or two.

I'd like to tell you what I see watching Bradford play the position and what I know from the Eagles about Bradford and how he fits into this offense. While most of the focus has been on his health, and that's understandable, I've also spent a lot of time asking around about Bradford as a quarterback and combining that information with what he's shown on the field.

It's an exciting outlook. The Eagles made the deal to acquire Bradford from St. Louis on March 10 when they dealt quarterback Nick Foles, a second-round draft pick in 2016 and a swap of draft picks in 2015 (St. Louis took offensive tackle Andrew Donnal with the 119^th overall pick, which originally belonged to the Eagles, and the Eagles traded the 145^th pick, which originally belonged to St. Louis, to move up in the second round to take cornerback Eric Rowe) in a blockbuster, shake-the-earth trade.

And the Eagles aren't the least bit disappointed with what they've seen from Bradford.

The former No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 NFL draft throws a beautiful football. He's got touch, accuracy and zip on his passes. At 6 feet 4, Bradford is plenty tall enough to see over the line of scrimmage. He gets the football out of his hands quickly and he can make all every throw. Bradford, in this OTAs, looks the part of a franchise quarterback, a blue-chip talent.

To be fair and objective, the spring is not the time to make any definitive conclusions. Bradford, like every quarterback in the NFL, wears a red jersey on the field. That means DO NOT TOUCH for every defensive player. The amount of contact, incidental or otherwise, is minimal at this time of the year. These sessions are primarily for teaching and learning and repetitions, and so nobody is going overboard on any kind of evaluations based on 10 OTA days on the field.

However, the same size is something upon which to build an opinion of Bradford and, honestly, he looks great. The coaches are very pleased with his progress. He understands the X's and O's and the concepts of the scheme devised by head coach Chip Kelly and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. It's a really encouraging start for Bradford.

Of course, we're a long ways away from having a true feel. Bradford needs to continue to improve his leg strength and increase his mobility and get to 100 percent clearance for practice, which hopefully comes prior to or early in training camp. The goal is for Bradford to be full go long before September 14 and the regular season opener in Atlanta.

If and when that happens, we'll scrutinize even more deeply. For now, beyond all of the questions about Bradford's left knee and the brace he wears and the progress he makes on the field, the view here is this: Bradford is a damn fine quarterback. He's got all the skills the Eagles saw as they worked toward a trade with St. Louis. A season of success is ahead in an offense that suits Bradford's skill set very well should all of the health questions have positive answers.