Matt Barkley competed for — and won— starting quarterback jobs as a freshman at both Mater Dei High School and Southern Cal.
The only difference with the Eagles is that there’s less attention on him this time.
The fourth-round slider said he’s been pleasantly surprised how low-key things have been, at least in comparison to his previous gigs.
“I think right now is the least amount of pressure, to tell you the truth, the least amount of attention,” Barkley said, via Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I don’t mind it either way; you just get used to it. But now, with how the whole draft turned it, it allows me to not worry about anything but just put my head down and work, be focused.”
If he ends up with the Eagles job anytime soon, that lack of pressure will change. But quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor pointed out that Barkley was the “face of the franchise” for the closest thing Los Angeles has to a pro team, so he’s not exeactly new at this.
“I think I kind of knew, when I chose USC, just the pressures that the quarterback had and the responsibilities that the quarterback had with that program in Los Angeles, with that platform,” Barkley said. “I didn’t really think anything of it. Maybe I was oblivious. But it just seemed natural to take that role.”
At the moment, he’s firmly in the third spot behind Michael Vick and Nick Foles. But those two were inherited by, not selected by, new Eagles coach Chip Kelly. So Barkley may not be out of this competition yet.