EAGLEMANIACAL.com

HEAD Coach Doug Pederson said the Eagles look at everybody. That said, long-time Free Agent QB Colin Kaepernick definitely falls in the “everybody” category. QB Carson Wentz being backed up by a guy who led a team to the Super Bowl, initially sounds like a good idea. However, given any thought, it’s fraught with problems.

First, if Kaepernick were a back-up, which back up would he be? Second, third, or fourth string?

Fourth string means that Kaepernick steals a roster spot from someone. So he hurts our depth, and may not even play a meaningful down all season long. That’s a bad trade-off, in exchange for twenty weeks of Carson having to answer the same questions repeatedly, about a guy he hardly knows.

Third string means that rookie QB Jalen Hurts has his development pushed back a year. Hurts is clearly here to be the #2 in 2021, so he needs to be able to get his feet wet in 2020. Kaepernick at #3 means Hurts is pushed to #4 on the depth chart. That almost certainly puts the rookie on the Practice Squad. Which is no place for a second round pick to start his career.

Second string means that QB Nate Sudfeld probably wouldn’t make the 53 man roster. He’s already on a one year deal, with Hurts breathing down his neck like a prison shower scene.

Everybody asked Wentz what he felt when Hurts was drafted. Well here is how Sudfeld felt.

However, if Wentz goes down, Sudfeld is our only QB who is well versed in the Offense. If Wentz goes down for the year (knock wood), and we’re already out of the playoff picture, sure, start Hurts. If we’re still in the playoff hunt however, Sudfeld has to be the guy. He has to be.

Kaepernick may be more athletically gifted, but he can’t offer what Sudfeld can, in terms of keeping our playoff hopes afloat. He may be more experienced, but making him the #3, essentially throws away a second round pick. Is he worth not keeping an extra DE, or CB, or WR, if he doesn’t play a down all year?

On one hand, I love the idea of Philadelphia being the place where Kaepernick restarts his career. The idea of him taking a knee in the very city where Free Speech took it’s first breath as a Human right, gives me chills to even write it. The very POWER of the idea is seismic, and it nearly brings tears to my eyes. I want it, I CRAVE it on this city’s resume, because most American cities don’t have the backbone to take the weight of it.

This is the team that took in Micheal Vick when all the other NFL teams, bailed. QB Donovan McNabb vouched for him, and head coach Andy Reid took that recommendation to owner Jeff Lurie. These men believed in each other, and as a result, look at Vick today.

So yeah. Colin Kaepernick redefining how Americans view and accept political expression? I lust for that as part of Philly’s history. However, if it won’t work for the team, there’s no realistic way to expect it would happen. So Kaepernick coming to Philly is going to be a pass. (Get it? A pass?)