The Philadelphia Eagles ultimately made the right decision for this Sunday.
After twelve miserable games of watching Carson Wentz battle with himself on the football field, the Philadelphia Eagles have finally made the decision to go in a different direction at quarterback. We saw a glimpse of it during the second half of last week’s loss to Green Bay, and Tuesday afternoon Doug Pederson made it official that Jalen Hurts would be the team’s starter against the Saints.
There’s obviously a lot to unpack with a decision like this, but ultimately speaking, the Eagles made the right call.
Personally speaking, I’m still a fairly large Wentz supporter, and wholly believe that there’s a Pro Bowl caliber player trapped inside him somewhere. With that said, the decision to rock with Hurts this weekend was a fairly easy one, and one that has plenty of reasons behind it:
More from Section 215
- 4 Eagles on the Bubble Who Have Clinched Their 53-Man Roster Spots
- Best Pennsylvania Sportsbook Promos: Win $650 GUARANTEED Bonus PLUS $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket
- 3 Punters the Eagles Must Target to Replace Arryn Siposs
- Cowboys Trey Lance Trade Proves How Screwed They Are With Dak Prescott
- Devon Allen Took Britain Covey’s Job on Eagles
Letting Wentz “battle through things” wasn’t working.
Getting Wentz “fixed” for the 2021 campaign is still of fairly large importance to the Philadelphia Eagles as a franchise (due to his large contract), but clearly letting him try and work through his struggles wasn’t the answer.
Wentz is in a major funk, and there’s little reason to believe that continuing to play will magically fix that.
He has no chemistry with his receivers, his offensive line can’t adequately protect him, and he’s clearly on a completely different page than that of his coaches. Playing through these pains wasn’t working, so maybe it’s possible that a few weeks off from the game will spark him back into shape for next year.
Let’s see what the Eagles have in their second-round rookie.
Regardless of how you feel about Carson Wentz and his current on-field struggles, the Philadelphia Eagles undoubtedly feel pretty good about Jalen Hurts. They used a second-round pick on him during last year’s draft, and have repeatedly tried to find ways to get him on the field this season.
Hurts is a former national champion and Heisman runner-up, so it’s hard to say that he’s not a gifted young player. His athleticism is obviously special, and he displayed some above average arm strength during his handful of drives against the Packers.
With that said, Hurts is still a complete unknown for the most part. We’ve yet to see him operate as a starter for an entire game, and we’ve yet to see him head into game day as the team’s unquestioned leader.
Going up against the Saints is no easy task, and it’ll be a cruel introduction into what life is like as an NFL starter. If Hurts excels, and leads the team to a offense-infused win, then the Eagles are looking at a potential new franchise quarterback. If the rookie massively struggles, then the team may need to rethink their approach to benching Wentz.
Protecting Carson Wentz’ health.
No matter how the rest of this season plays out, Wentz is also still the Philadelphia Eagles most “prized” asset. He’s a 27 year old franchise quarterback who’s experienced an abundance of success at the professional level. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2017, was in the MVP conversation for the majority of that same season, and set multiple team/league records in 2019 (first QB to throw 4,000+ yards without a 500 yard receiver).
He’s also owed a crap ton of money moving forward.
If the Eagles want to continue on with Wentz as their franchise QB in 2021, having him enter the season in good physical health is pretty important. He’s been the most hit and the most sacked quarterback in the league this year, and throwing him out there for four meaningless games is irresponsibly dangerous.
On the flip side, a late-season injury would also completely tank Wentz’ trade value in the offseason (if the Eagles decide to move forward with Hurts). While a trade is hard to imagine due to Wentz’ lofty cap number, it’s definitely not impossible.
Ultimately speaking, guaranteeing Wentz’ well-being over the next four games is likely more important than having him play in an already lost season.
Judge other position groups.
A common theme that has rang out this season is the fact that the Eagles have failed to provide Wentz with a serviceable supporting cast. The offensive line has massively underperformed due to injury, guys like Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson have been non-factors, Jalen Reagor has struggled at times, etc. etc. etc.
On the surface, this argument looks pretty valid. The Philadelphia Eagles skill position players don’t look great, and they’ve undoubtedly been hurt by an over-reliance on aging veterans.
With that said, if Hurts comes in and experiences an abundance of success in the passing game, that might flip the narrative in regards to how we (and the Eagles front office) view their current group of weapons.
Hurts immediately connected with Reagor on a deep ball upon entering the game on Sunday, and he connected with Greg Ward Jr. on a majestic 30+ yard touchdown rolling to his right. It was a small sample size, no doubt, but it was hard not to feel like Hurts was getting some things done with supposedly “bad” weapons.
Of course the other, far more likely scenario is that Hurts comes in and also struggles to string together four quarters of good football. This would help prove to the front office that they did in fact set up Wentz for failure, and could help convince them to tear things down this offseason.
Doug Pederson’s future.
Last but not least, the change at quarterback allows the Philadelphia Eagles to get one final look at their current head coach. Plenty of people have pinned a majority of this year’s failures on Doug Pederson, as his offensive innovation has looked downright miserable. With that said, there’s definitely a possibility that Wentz was the one holding Doug back – and not the other way around.
It’s honestly hard to imagine a scenario where Pederson magically turns back into 2017 Doug just because Hurts is in the ballgame, as his play-calling has genuinely just been so disastrous here in 2020. Pederson rarely runs the football, refuses to get Wentz on the move, and routinely calls mind-boggling simple route concepts.
However, it’s worth giving Pederson the benefit of the doubt for these final four games. Hurts obviously presents a different dynamic in terms of his running ability, and that could very well help Pederson scheme up a better offensive game-plan.
Vice versa, if the Eagles offense still looks painfully lethargic, then it’s pretty much clear that Doug’s time as Philly’s head coach should probably come to an end this offseason.
There’s a ton of context that goes into this decision to rock with Hurts over Wentz, and one that has a ton of potential outcomes to it. Regardless of how things pan out, it’s undoubtedly a fun storyline, and one that will likely draw a huge audience come Sunday.