EAGLEMANIACAL.com

REMEMBER back in May when I said that GM Howie Roseman got hosed in the trade with the Browns? That trade was made so we could move up from 8^th to 2^nd, and select QB Carson Wentz in the 2016 NFL Draft. We also gave up our third and a fourth-rounder in 2016, a first-rounder in 2017, and a second-rounder in 2018. Again, does everyone remember when I said that we overpaid?

Good.

Because we still overpaid, but now there’s more evidence to support the claim.

Wentz is 3-0, well respected, and seems to have a very solid grasp of the system he’s running out there. Clearly he will only get more comfortable, and more savvy as he gains experience. Also, Roseman’s fleecing of Minnesota took much of the edge off that Cleveland trade.

However, we still overpaid for Wentz.

This is not to under-value what Wentz has done, but really, look around. There are later selected rookies showing as much poise, awareness, and play-making ability as Wentz. They too will only grow more savvy and comfortable with experience.

Jacoby Brissett

Cody Kessler

When I look at Wentz, or Dallas’s 4^th round QB Dak Prescott, or New England’s 3^rd round QB Jacoby Brissett, or Cleveland’s 3^rd round QB Cody Kessler (who is the highest rated QB on his team), it’s clear that spending a high pick means less than having a coaching staff devoted to player development.

Here are two examples of what I mean. Did you see this year’s number one overall pick QB Jared Goff win that game last week? No. Of course not. Because he was drafted by a shitty Los Angeles coaching staff. He was expected to be great from Day One, and when he wasn’t, they found him a bench, a baseball cap, a clipboard and a dog house. There was no attempt to develop him first. They threw him out there, then threw him under the bus.

On the other hand, most of the other rookies I mentioned, were pressed into starting due to injury. None of them was supposed to be a starter. They were slated for developing, but circumstances shifted and they had to grow up in a hurry. So far, each of them has performed better than could be expected. Regardless of how high or low they were taken.

Look at his eyes…

See his eyes?

Looking around at what is actually happening in the NFL this year, looking at how these guys are actually playing, I see nothing that says the Eagles wouldn’t be just as good with any of these other rookie QB’s. Which only puts a larger spotlight on the incongruity of Wentz’s price tag.

Fans will say that as long as Wentz wins, it doesn’t matter what we gave up to get him. Sounds neat until you realize that next year we could have had two 1^st rounders. It would have given us the option of infusing a big dose of young talent next year, or parlaying one of the picks into multiple future picks. That sort of thinking however, is specially reserved for those of us who remember that there’s a future, and not just a present.

Look, unless those other young QB’s start playing like shit, or unless Wentz continues to average 256 passing yards per game for the duration of his career, it still looks like we paid double retail price for the same product everyone else got on sale.

Wentz is 3-0, well respected, and seems to have a very solid grasp of the system he’s running out there.

But we still overpaid.