After a disappointing year where the Philadelphia Eagles finished with a record of 7-9 in the awful NFC East, the team is looking to bounce back for the 2016 season. While firing former head coach Chip Kelly and defensive coordinator Billy Davis was a start, the Eagles are still nowhere near talented enough to compete for a championship. Since Kelly got rid some of the most talented players on the roster, the team is looking to the upcoming NFL draft in order to replenish some of the elite talent that were practically given away by the former regime.
While the top signal callers in the upcoming draft — California Golden Bears quarterback Jared Goff and North Dakota State Bison quarterback Carson Wentz — are expected to be drafted within the first ten picks, rumors are heating up regarding the possibility that the Philadelphia Eagles can land one of them. In order for the Eagles to be in a position to draft Goff or Wentz, they are going to have to make a trade or hope that one of the two falls to them at pick No. 13.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr , the team has been linked to numerous veteran quarterbacks this offseason, most notably Sam Bradford and Robert Griffin III . While the possibility remains that Bradford or Griffin could be signed to be the Eagles’ quarterback for at least the next few seasons, this does not mean the team will not draft a young quarterback to groom for the future. Since Goff and Wentz do not have the talent that Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota had in last year’s draft, it might make sense to allow them to sit on the bench for a few years as opposed to starting immediately.
As NFL.com notes, the Eagles are in desperate need of a quarterback. While Bradford or Griffin could provide solid play for a few years, the team is looking for a future star. At this point in their careers, Bradford and Griffin are known commodities. While Goff and Wentz have not yet played a down in the NFL, the potential that they can become elite quarterbacks is still there.
In an interview seen on Philadelphia Magazine , Mel Kiper discussed how the top quarterbacks could be taken in the first round of the draft.
“I think it’s going to be interesting, because the quarterback that doesn’t go at No. 2, okay, ends up being in the mix for Dallas. If Dallas doesn’t take the quarterback left over, be it Jared Goff or Carson Wentz, then you’ve got San Francisco at No. 7, and then you get into that free fall. Then, does somebody trade up to get that quarterback? It’s going to be interesting, if Dallas doesn’t take a quarterback at No. 4, how far that second quarterback off the board drops.”
And Kiper is right. Besides the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, and San Francisco 49ers, there are not a ton of teams picking ahead of the Eagles that desperately need a quarterback. As reported by the Inquisitr , the Cowboys and Browns have both been linked to Goff and Wentz, but there is no guarantee that both teams take a quarterback. With Johnny Manziel’s upcoming release, the odds are that Cleveland takes a quarterback. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes that Romo has at least another four years left to play, so there is a chance that Dallas goes in a different direction in the first round.
Another recent NFL.com mock draft shows Wentz falling to the Eagles at pick No. 13. While numerous mock drafts over the past few months have shown Wentz dropping to the Eagles, they would likely have to make a trade in order to get into a position to draft Goff. Since the Eagles do not have a second-round pick this year — Chip Kelly traded it away last year for Sam Bradford — they may not have enough pieces to move ahead of Dallas.
With the 2016 NFL draft a little over two months away, rumors are going to continue to swirl regarding the Philadelphia Eagles’ first-round pick. While the top quarterbacks in the draft, Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, are expected to be drafted early, there is a very real chance that one of them falls to the Eagles at pick No. 13.
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