Let’s be real, the Eagles are in a tough spot here. There’s no obvious decision in sight. You could decide to stick with Carson, and make him the day 1 starter, you could trade Wentz and roll with Hurts, or you could trade Wentz and draft his replacement. So many options, so much on the line. Howie and Doug are facing a make or break decision. If they fail, it is inevitable that they will be fired in the near future.
Option 1: Stick with Carson as QB1
This is probably the most realistic outcome. The biggest reason is that throughout the previous 3 seasons Wentz proved himself as a franchise QB throwing a whopping 81 touchdowns to only 21 interceptions in that span. Not only that, but in 2019 he proved that he could put a team on his back and carry them to the playoffs. And above all else, he has all the tools you look for in a QB, so guys like him are hard to find. Then you add in the financial situation, and it makes it even more enticing to try and work things out. The concern here is both the physical and mental wear and tear. Wentz at 28, already appears to be regressing. He didn’t look as elusive as in years past, didn’t look as decisive, and his arm didn’t look as Strong. You trade him now, you can still get some good value. However, if he has a repeat season next year, it will be almost impossible to trade him, and you will be left with a broken QB on a monster contract. Very risky decision either way.
Option 2: Stick with Jalen Hurts at QB
Jalen Hurts has shown me enough to be confident that he can be a starting caliber player. He has elite mobility, and has much better touch than I thought he would have. That being said, I also saw some things that concerned me, most notably over the last 2 weeks. Against Dallas he had issues reading the field and was often late on reads, or didn’t pull the trigger at all. You also notice a lack of arm strength on certain throws. He doesn’t have a Patrick Mahomes, Russel Wilson, or Carson Wentz type of arm to be able to make crazy throws when out of structure. He’s really gonna need to sharpen up on his lower body mechanics to be able to fix this issue. However, even with these flaws I can see a plan for success with him. Build a Lamar Jackson style offense that works off of the duo of Miles Sanders and Jalen Hurts in the running game. And then of course you can hope that Jalen is able to work on some of his flaws and develop. It would be extremely unfair to hold his current weaknesses against him and not give him a chance to develop given the circumstances with no offseason, and poor talent around him. However I don’t know if he’s a true franchise QB. That’s my only pause for concern with passing on a QB at 6 and sticking with Hurts.
Option 3: Drafting a QB
The final option is to draft a QB. Now I’ll be honest, I haven’t done my homework on these quarterback prospects yet. I don’t know the traits of each one and I don’t have a final opinion on whether or not they are worth it at pick #6. However, I will acknowledge that the lack of arm strength from Hurts could make it enticing to draft a QB with more prolific tools. For example Zach Wilson is a guy with pretty good athleticism and a rocket for an arm. It’s said that Justin Fields is no slouch either. Whether they will be there at 6 remains to be seen. The Eagles might have to trade up, and you never know they might just do that. Admittedly, I’ve been vocal about not wanting to draft a QB, however if the report about Wentz wanting out is true then it might be in their best interest to really make a strong decision on whether they think one of the rookie QB’s has more “franchise QB” potential than Hurts. If they think there’s a significant gap between the upside of Hurts vs one of the top 3 QB’s then it’s a no brainer decision to go in on one of them.
What do I think will happen?
As I said previously, I think the most realistic scenario is the Eagles stick with Wentz and try to figure things out. However if Wentz is really adamant about wanting out and refuses to play, then I think the most likely option would be the Eagles trading up for a QB. As much as I like Hurts, it is a pretty big gamble passing up the rare opportunity to acquire a franchise caliber QB prospect. Regardless of what they do, they better get it right, otherwise losing seasons could become the New Norm.
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