Carson Wentz

[pucknut9]

Why not a hockey jersey?

No family member plays for the Flyers.

[Bisonator98]

Why not a hockey jersey?

Only pioux fans where hockey jerseys to FB games.

[thebootfitter]

Another Wentz article. This one suggests that he was "near perfect" in practice, while Sam Bradford showed a lot of room for improvement. Nothing terribly interesting, but a trend is starting to emerge as little bits are released. I have to think that Carson will outshine Bradford over time, and they'll ultimately see that starting Carson will give them the best chance at winning early and over the long term -- regardless of the inevitable learning lumps a rookie goes through.

Carson Wentz vs. Sam Bradford and other observations from Eagles' OTA

[thebootfitter]

oops...double post

[SDbison]

Another Wentz article. This one suggests that he was "near perfect" in practice, while Sam Bradford showed a lot of room for improvement. Nothing terribly interesting, but a trend is starting to emerge as little bits are released. I have to think that Carson will outshine Bradford over time, and they'll ultimately see that starting Carson will give them the best chance at winning early and over the long term -- regardless of the inevitable learning lumps a rookie goes through.

Carson Wentz vs. Sam Bradford and other observations from Eagles' OTA

Here are some more comments about today's practice: http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/po...en-ota-session

[BisonFanAnn]

You know, ever since the Natty, the football world has been waiting for Carson to make a mis-step. His draft stock soared during the game; it did not seem unreasonable that things would cool off in 4 months. Nope. He wowed them at the Senior Bowl; he was terrific at the Combine; with each every interview and private workout, he looked better and better.

We heard "It's all hype; he can't be that good. FCS!"

Young Mr., Wentz has not not disappointed yet. Not on the field, or in front of cameras, or in the locker room. Two weeks into practice, and we hear glowing reviews. Perhaps some of that (maybe a lot) is reporter bias - these are local writers who desperately want him to live up to the high expectations placed on him.

But the longer it goes on, the more real it becomes. Carson is doing what we've always known him to do: working hard, trying to improve his own game, trying to make his team better. No one can find a bad thing to say about him. Two weeks of practice with the Big Boys, and he's keeping up.

It looks like this is going to be a fun ride!

[VirginiaBison]

Yeah he prolly influenced the decision. I'm guessing Howie was thinking I just had to spend 17 mil a year to get an average starting quarterback on my roster, let's see if I can't get up to the top and solidify this position maybe even with an elite talent down the road.

Bottom line, the best guy is going to play. The only exception I see, is that if it's close and the coaches don't think Wentz has really much more to learn sitting they may pull the cord on Bradford and roll with the future. Kind of the reason Bradford is upset. That could play out even if Bradford is playing decent. However, that scenario is good for both the Eagles and Bradford.

I'd easily bet we see Wentz start a game this year.

My opinion. SB turned down a long term deal. That left the 2 year deal he accepted. The Eagles did not originally believe they could move up to grab a #1/2 QB, when they paid SB. It became possible later when they found willing trade mates.

That being said, what to do with SB? Eagles need at least 1 more year to rebuild their O-Line and maybe WR, TE and F/RB. So SB's value becomes sacrificial. Play good with a so-so O-line and earn a big payday in trade with a needy team while earning Eagles #1/2 round picks in return. (Not likely to happen. WRs cannot hang on to his passes - SB not receiver friendly.)

SB's only leverage is to start, play good and get traded for value. He needs to be the starter and he needs to play all 16+ games. CW will get time as appropriate unless SB goes down, and then Daniels will step in... but even then CW will see the field in garbage time. SB is in a tough situation, which means the Eagle are in a tough situation.

[BisonTru]

Eagles DC Schwartz on QB competition. He was the HC in Detroit during Stafford's first years.

“Don’t judge him on something else,” Schwartz said, via NJ.com. “And also don’t pre-determine the result of the race. Let him go play. Don’t put extra pressure on him. I can’t speak for Carson. We have enough worries on defense right now. I think when we drafted Stafford, we just let him play. Was he our best quarterback? Was he ready? Unfortunately, he got hurt both his first and second year by holding the ball too long. I think he had the command and he would have been ready to play had it not been for those injuries.”

Pretty much spot on with my thoughts. People can pencil in Bradford as the starter if they want, but Wentz can earn the job at any point. There is no predetermined plan, IMO. Doesn't matter how many times Pederson wants to say Bradford's the starter.

[td577]

My opinion. SB turned down a long term deal. That left the 2 year deal he accepted. The Eagles did not originally believe they could move up to grab a #1/2 QB, when they paid SB. It became possible later when they found willing trade mates.

That being said, what to do with SB? Eagles need at least 1 more year to rebuild their O-Line and maybe WR, TE and F/RB. So SB's value becomes sacrificial. Play good with a so-so O-line and earn a big payday in trade with a needy team while earning Eagles #1/2 round picks in return. (Not likely to happen. WRs cannot hang on to his passes - SB not receiver friendly.)

SB's only leverage is to start, play good and get traded for value. He needs to be the starter and he needs to play all 16+ games. CW will get time as appropriate unless SB goes down, and then Daniels will step in... but even then CW will see the field in garbage time. SB is in a tough situation, which means the Eagle are in a tough situation.

My take on that is I think the 2 year plan was the Eagles idea all along. He does well and he is worthy of a long term contract. He doesn't do well and they would be in a position to draft a QB in 2017. I think the drafting a QB now plan came about after they signed Bradford and realized they could play an entirely different angle. Bradford plays well and they can recoup some of the picks and build around their franchise QB. Bradford doesn't play well and they still get something for him and already have their QB of the future in the system now and learning. Daniels was brought in to be a solid backup and fits into any plan. I just can't think of any scenario where Bradford turns down a long term deal. The Eagles aren't afraid of spending money on long term deals right now because they see the value 3 seasons from now. They overpaid for a lot of guys today but it will look pretty smart if most of them work out and they are sitting below market value in 2018. The other side to all of this is there might be even more teams looking for a QB next year. Guys like Stafford start having palatable cap hits after this upcoming season and might be shown the door if they don't produce at a higher level. Bradford will have some value out of pure desperation by some teams. I don't think the Eagles figured all of this out when they signed him, but figured a lot of out before they made the trade.

[VirginiaBison]

I agree... it was an evolving process... not a master plan come to fruition.