Nick Piccone
In 1999, Andy Reid and the Eagles drafted Donovan McNabb to be their franchise quarterback. In 2016, the Eagles will draft Carson Wentz to be their franchise quarterback. Despite the Eagles having Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel installed as their starter and backup, respectively, some think drafting Wentz is a wasted draft pick not only because he likely won’t start this season, but better quarterbacks will be available in next year’s draft.
Chalk up former Eagles quarterback, Donovan McNabb, as one of those who thinks Goff and Wentz are “mid to late round prospects” and unless they’re the next Aaron Rodgers or Ben Roethlisberger, they’re not worth anyone’s time.
That’s essentially what Number 5 said on the NBC Sports Newry Scruggs Show a few days ago. The Eagles are carrying out the same exact plan that they did in 1999 when they drafted McNabb, but because the Eagles won’t draft McNabb in 2016, it’s all of a sudden apparently a bad plan.
I don’t think these two quarterbacks are worthy of being the first or second picks. To me, they are mid to late round prospects,” McNabb said. “Unless you tell me that Jared Goff is the next Aaron Rodgers, not because he went to Cal but because he can sit behind Sam Bradford, maybe that can work out. If Carson Wentz is a Ben Roethlisberger coming from a 1-AA school then maybe that can work out.”
He compared Wentz to a game manager such as Alex Smith or Andy Dalton that can complete intermediate passes and move the chains. McNabb has concerns about Wentz’s ability to fit the ball into tight coverage on dig routes. He fears the possibility of Wentz turning the football over and questions his ability to move the ball down the field.
A lot of people want to compare the Eagles current situation to when McNabb, Pederson and Andy Reid came to town. There are some parallels. The Eagles had the No.2 pick and a new coach that brought his prized pupil along with him. McNabb sees the similarity but remains convinced that it’s different this time around.
“When I came, the Eagles weren’t good. They had the No.2 pick and didn’t give up picks to get me. Sam Bradford is getting paid a ridiculous amount of money for no reason,” McNabb said. “Chase Daniel was brought in to be the Doug Pederson that he was for me but he is going to be the backup and now he becomes the Koy Detmer. They are saying that this guy will be the starting quarterback for over a decade and lead you to the playoffs appearances and possibly a Super Bowl appearance. I can’t say that I can see that.”
Here’s the thing, which was echoed by Angelo Cataldi on the WIP Morning Show this morning, and something I actually agree with: Why not become a mentor to a kid who’s being drafted into the same situation you were, to the team that everyone will remember you playing for? Is it really that hard?
Is he afraid of “tarnishing his public image” by backing a quarterback that might not make it in the NFL? If that’s the reason, he doesn’t have to do much work to tarnish his image any further. In fact, he’d take Paxton Lynch over both Goff and Wentz. OK, he’s not the only one who likes Lynch over the other two. But he just has no faith at all in all of these guys, saying, “I guarantee in five years, we’ll be talking about maybe one of these four quarterbacks.”
Talk about tone deaf. You can listen to the interview below.