Adrian Fedkiw
A lot of Eagles content gets published each day, so here’s a recap of your Eagles news from this past week.
I understand the Carson Wentz doubters.
How can a quarterback with just 23 starts and 612 pass attempts at the FCS level be so highly coveted? If he was so damn good why wasn’t he highly recruited? How is he going to handle the speed of the pro game? The quarterback class is weak, any other year Wentz would be a second-rounder.
Blah, blah, blah.
I get it.
Wentz, however, wasn’t some quarterback I started watching when he started raising eyebrows at the Senior Bowl in Mobile a few months back. I studied him all of last year, I studied him all of this year, I know all about him. When people proclaimed that Jared Goff, Paxton Lynch and Connor Cook were the three best quarterbacks in the class midway through the college football season, I’d intervene and requested to have Wentz’s name thrown in the mix. I got a lot of eye rolls.
Not anymore!
Before I came to Philly Influencer I worked at the Sports Network for 4 1/2 years. TSN had been hosting the FCS Awards prior to being bought out by STATS LLC last year. TSN’s name was on the top 25 rankings each week. I was fully entrenched in FCS football. It was TSN’s niche.
It’s not like the FCS has never produced high quality quarterbacks. Do the names Steve McNair, Phil Simms, Kurt Warner, Rich Gannon, Tony Romo or Joe Flacco ring a bell? There’s a few weeks to kill until the NFL Draft and there’ll be plenty more Wentz and Eagles draft-related posts coming so stay tuned!
Are the Eagles really going to go all the way up for him, though? The price is STEEP!
On to the links:
The Eagles are serious about drafting a quarterback. Head coach Doug Pederson worked out California’s Jared Goff on Monday, Stanford’s Kevin Hogan Tuesday, North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz on Wednesday and Memphis’ Paxton Lynch on Thursday. Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg is expected to meet with Philadelphia next week.
Wentz was spotted having dinner with the Eagles Wednesday and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Goff had a bite with the Eagles’ brass Monday. Here’s why Howie Roseman might trade up to No. 1 and draft Wentz. It’s not as crazy as it sounds, it just might happen.
Respected NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said that Wentz had one of the best pro days he’s ever seen. Nobody has slammed the brakes on the Wentz Wagon yet.
Pederson and Chip Kelly are complete opposites when handling the media. Pederson is too painfully honest, but he’s still learning the ropes and should improve over time. Chip is just Chip. He apparently also hated all of the Eagles’ scouts as much as he despised Roseman.
The Eagles worked out offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski on Thursday. He’d provide some depth at center and might even start at left guard if signed. And speaking of the offensive side of the ball, the Eagles added a fullback for the first time in three years on Friday.