Eagles take QB Wentz with No. 2 pick
PHILADELPHIA >> What little draft suspense remained for Eagles fans was over at 8:16 p.m.
That’s when Jared Goff came off the board to the Los Angeles Rams, enabling the Eagles to secure Carson Wentz with the second pick.
Wentz knows what the Eagles think about him, as they traded five draft picks to move up the board and weathered what little doubt there was that he’d be there after the Los Angeles Rams made the first pick. The Rams are rolling with Jared Goff of California.
The immediate plan is for the 6-5, 237-pound Wentz to learn the position from Sam Bradford and Chase Daniel, who was acquired in the offseason. But that obviously is subject to change, particularly if the Eagles determine it best to accommodate Bradford’s demand for a trade.
That’s how good Wentz is, and how committed the Eagles are to making him their quarterback of the future.
Sam Bradford was unavailable for comment.
Wentz has it all – size, quickness, arm talent and off-the-charts smarts. He came off as the ultimate quick study gauging by his 1971: Jim Plunkett, Stanford, by New England, and Archie Manning, Mississippi, by New Orleans. 1993: Drew Bledsoe, Washington St., by New England, and Rick Mirer, Notre Dame, by Seattle. 1998: Peyton Manning, Tennessee, by Indianapolis, and Ryan Leaf, Washington St., by San Diego. 1999: Tim Couch, Kentucky, by Cleveland, and Donovan McNabb, Syracuse, by Philadelphia. 2012: Andrew Luck, Stanford, by Indianapolis, and Robert Griffin III, Baylor, by Washington. 2015: Jameis Winston, Florida St., by Tampa Bay, and Marcus Mariota, Oregon, by Tennessee. 2016: Jared Goff, California, by Los Angeles, and Carson Wentz, North Dakota State, by Philadelphia.
interactions with such former NFL quarterbacks aficionados as Jon Gruden and Steve Mariucci on their quarterback camp shows.
Wentz shook off a broken bone in his throwing wrist that sidelined him eight games last season to return to the lineup for the FCS championship game, one in which he was MVP of for the second straight year.
With Wentz behind center the Bison won two straight national titles to extend their string of championships to five in a row, and counting.
Despite the wrist injury Wentz threw 17 touchdowns and 4 interceptions and rushed for 294 yards and 6 scores last year.
Wentz guided the Bison to a 20-3 record in two years as the starter, producing 5,115 career passing yards and 45 TDs with just 14 interceptions.
Wentz completed 392 of 612 attempts (64 percent) in a pro style offense. He scored a lofty 40 on the Wonderlic intelligence test and carried a perfect 4.0 grade point average at North Dakota State.
Ourlads.com clocked Wentz’s throws at a sizzling 57 mph at the NFL scouting combine.
Wentz, almost too good to be true, has hurdles ahead. The jump rom FCS competition to the NFL is dramatic.
And of the course the expectations are beyond what’s expected of a typical firstround pick as the Eagles traded five choices to move up and grab him.