April 29, 2020
OK, Howie. Now what?
After selecting Jalen Hurts so high in the NFL Draft, you have to find a way to use him this season. Sitting on the bench ice cold this year simply won’t cut it. You, Doug Pederson and Andy Weidl took a young man with tons of promise at the QB position and are going to reduce him to Taysom Hill.
Beyond the personal injustice this is to Hurts himself – the kid should be starting Day 1 in a pro-style offense – there are mountains of pressure building on everyone involved. No shoulders go untouched here, not even Carson Wentz. If Wentz can’t play, that’s on him. If Hurts can’t make throws or be a competent backup, that’s on him. If this thing blows up, it’s on the three dominant members of the front office. I guess, the one person we can’t blame in this mess-to-be would be the owner.
What happens now is on everyone involved and it begins with the people who brought Hurts to Philadelphia. We know – or at least we should by now – that it’s not Howie Roseman taking over the draft board like a belligerent Chip Kelly. Seeing Hurts on the field will be a combination of coaching staff (Pederson and Press Taylor) and front office (Roseman and Weidl) responsibility. Roseman wasn’t really clear on the current situation between his top two QBs on WIP and it’s important to remember this moment if things go bad. At the same time, we should be able to recognize – in hindsight if it works – this was a move that could save the franchise, but only if things go terribly wrong first.
All I care about is moving forward, but I can’t help shake how this thing plays out with the Eagles. You can reach whatever rational...
Howie Roseman was just on WIP and mentioned how they spent an average of $8 million a year on the backup QB spot over the last four years. Talked about spending that money "at other positions."
— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) April 27, 2020
Very next quote: "We just feel like this is the most important position in sports"
...or not so rational...
Howie Roseman does realize he can draft players who aren’t named Jalen, right? The Eagles GM does remember he just signed Carson Wentz to a $140-million contract? Jalen Reagor? Jalen Hurts?! A QB in the second round? Madness. Sheer madness.
— Angelo Cataldi (@AngeloCataldi) April 25, 2020
...conclusions you want about the pick, but the ONLY thing that matters from here on out is how the team handles Wentz.
No, not his ego so much as his body. Roseman can’t contradict himself by saying they can no longer invest money in the most “important position in sports." Nope. They should have signed Joe Flacco or Andy Dalton at this point, guys who at least you know can throw, and not subject a young man fresh out of school to this nonsense.
Let’s just walk through the logic of the short-term reasoning for drafting Hurts so high. You are being told they need insurance for Wentz this year — right, no argument here — but that insurance is someone yet to take an NFL snap.
This isn’t Joe Burrow or Tua Tagovaila coming in with a first-round grade. There’s also the ridiculous notion put out by Adam Schefter on how the Eagles were worried Wentz would get COVID-19. Beyond the sheer irresponsibility of putting that draft strategy on only the Eagles – it might make sense if, like, Detroit took Tua at No. 3 – it further reinforces the need to have an NFL-ready seasoned player as the backup.
This is the recipe for a disaster. There are plenty of people who wanted Nick Foles over Wentz — they are the same ones yelling at the top of their lungs how much the team needs Hurts. They will be the ones halfway through telling us “I told you so” before it becomes painfully obvious how much time Hurts needs to be a star NFL QB.
One of two things will happen, and they seem fairly obvious to me. First, Wentz won’t go down, the Eagles won't make the playoffs, and we will question how Hurts even helped the team this year. We will all then question the front office and coaching staff for not adding depth or a starter at another position. The other is actually much worse and would bring us right back to downtown Controversyville, a place we know all too well.
Don’t let anyone off the hook here, including the starting QB. Wentz needs to play and make throws, no matter who is behind him. Hurts isn’t even getting a real offseason, let alone preseason, so don’t expect anything from him. Yes, that’s the biggest problem with him backing up Wentz. Doug and Press wrote a big check of confidence in THEIR abilities to be creative, with both Hurts and the offense as a whole this year. Don’t forget that if we are watching awful first halves.
Finally, don’t forget both the internal confusion and external rage this decision caused. That’s on Howie Roseman and Andy Weidl. Of course, if this thing works out, just reverse everything I said, praise them, and call me an idiot.
P.S. -- Thanks, Howie, for taking a wide receiver in the first round! Looking forward to watching Jalen Reagor do some work out there. If you remember, Newy Scruggs and I called this one earlier in the week.
.@newyscruggs and I had a convo 6 days ago. He came on my show 5 days ago. I tweeted this 4 days ago only because I couldn't see them taking the kid at 21. Had little doubt he wasn't a top 2 choice in the draft. But yall don't hear me though https://t.co/n3e3W9YPl0
— eytan (@shandershow) April 24, 2020
I want to keep this as open of a forum as possible. Please send any questions you have to my DM on Twitter.
Dr. Aryeh Shander MD, FCCM, FCCP, FASA
Director of TeamHealth Research Institute; Emeritus Chief Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, Englewood Health; Courtesy Clinical Professor, UF College of Medicine; Adjunct Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology, Medicine and Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York; Adjunct Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ
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