Philadelphia Eagles: Only NFL Draft goal should be to help Carson Wentz

By not improving their offense at all in free agency, the Philadelphia Eagles have backed themselves into a corner, one where they should only care about getting some help for Carson Wentz.

As the Philadelphia Eagles made move after move to shore up their defense this offseason, I felt like I could hear Carson Wentz screaming on the inside. Where was the support on offense? They did make some nice moves on D, aside from letting Malcolm Jenkins walk, but they’ve basically tipped their hand. They plan to go big on selecting offensive talent in this week’s NFL Draft. At least, that had better be the plan, because Wentz needs somebody to throw the ball to.

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For the love of all that is holy, the Eagles’ first pick must help the offense. Whether it’s at the 21st slot where they are now, earlier because of trading up, or later because of trading down, we should all probably throw in the towel on Howie Roseman if he doesn’t get some desperately needed support for his franchise quarterback with his initial pick.

The Eagles have been tied to almost every draft-eligible player, and they’ll end up with about 70 new guys if you choose to believe everything you hear or read. But as it stands, they’ve got eight picks, and they need to make them count, either by going with quantity or by moving some of those picks around to get specific targets that (once again) had better be on the offensive side of the ball.

If the Eagles stay at the #21 pick, there is no excuse not to go with a wideout. And whether that’s Justin Jefferson, Jalen Reagor, Henry Ruggs III, or anyone else, it doesn’t matter. The guy just needs a pulse and the ability to make Carson Wentz’ life easier. And if all of the top receivers are gone before 21, forcing the Eagles to look elsewhere or to trade back, shame on Howie Roseman for not making things happen.

If a run on wideouts begins, the Eagles have to be ready to jump into the fray. Plus, even if they have to trade a couple of picks to move up, they can still snag a quality player in later rounds, such as Antonio Gandy-Golden (great name) or Devin Duvernay. The Eagles (again, Roseman) have to be proactive, even in a deep draft. Maybe they end up being happy with a player who “falls to them”, but in building around Wentz, the Eagles can’t let other teams dictate what they do. These decisions will be felt for years. Howie probably doesn’t need any extra motivation, but I’m saying it anyway.

It might also be wise to draft some O-Line help to give Wentz some long-term security in that area. But it shouldn’t be a top priority. And don’t even get me started on defense. The Eagles need secondary help, but that shouldn’t come into play until Round 4 or 5. It’s offense or bust until then. Perhaps even a late RB selection or two would be in order as well.

Wow, now I’m starting to sound like all those other writers who have every player linked to the Eagles.

In the end, though, the 2020 NFL Draft can’t be accurately called either an objective success or failure for quite some time. But it’s painfully obvious what the Eagles need to target to give themselves the best chance to pass with flying colors for this season and beyond.