Behind The Veil Of 'Pure Progression' With Eagles' Andy Dalton and the QB2 Battle

PHILADELPHIA — After 173 NFL starts, you can imagine that Andy Dalton has seen a thing or two.

The veteran quarterback, who is currently competing with Tanner McKee for the backup job behind Jalen Hurts with the Eagles, spoke Tuesday at training camp about the explosion of pure progression offense in the league.

In an NFL increasingly defined by defensive smoke and mirrors, pure progression passing has exploded as the favored counterpunch, particularly in the schemes descending from Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay.

Andy Dalton, 38, captured the shift perfectly when asked by Eagles On SI why so many offenses have abandoned traditional coverage-based reads in favor of a straightforward 1-2-3-4-5 sequence.

“The way defenses have gone, there’s so much more disguises,” Dalton said. “Going back to early on in my career, shoot, you could get into certain formations, and you could dictate what coverages you’re going to get. It’s not that way anymore. Defenses have evolved, and they’re trying to disguise and hide as much as they can.”

Moving In The Same Direction

Philadelphia is currently making the move to a more pure progression- based offense under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, who has studied under McVay, Kevin O’Connell, Klint Kubiak and, most recently, Matt LaFleur, all proponents of the pure-progression style of QB play.

“Sean has been great,” Dalton said. “I think when I first got here, and talking with him and talking with some of the other coaches on the staff, just how he even ended up here and just the preparation that he did from his time as a player to where he’s at now. I had followed Sean a little bit, just with his career, and knowing guys that knew him and been around him.

“Everybody talked about how smart he was. And now, getting a chance to see it first-hand, is pretty special. He’s got a great system. He understands exactly how he wants to play. He’s also a really good teacher. When he’s in front of the room, and he’s explaining things, he’s getting all the details that everybody needs.”

Through his own lengthy career, Dalton has also crossed paths with several students of the system, including Zac Taylor and Dave Canales.

“I’ve been in this system multiple times,” said Dalton. “I think, quick decision-making, a lot of pure progressions and understanding certain coverages, when you can get off on certain routes and different things. I feel really comfortable with this offense.”

Ironically, Eagles DC Vic Fangio is the defensive mastermind who has sparked the shift in offensive approach around the league. Fangio-style defenses have become adept at pre-snap deception—safeties holding their looks until the ball is snapped, linebackers rotating as late as possible, and coverage shells shifting in ways that leave quarterbacks hesitant.

What once could be diagnosed from formations or personnel groupings has grown muddy.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni had watched the Shanahan/McVay offense from afar and likes how it’s able to handle the “junk” modern defenses are fond of unfurling.

Dalton explained the jousting going on.

“When you get into pure progressions, you’re kind of just working across the board,” the veteran said. “So it doesn’t matter what coverages they’re playing. You know exactly how you’re going to read certain things out. I think that’s what makes it so effective.”

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