Time for some draft talk

Friends, fellow fans of the Super Bowl Champion Eagles, welcome to the offseason. While I am sure everyone is simultaneously champing at the bit for the next season to start while also basking in Super Bowl glory, there are long months ahead before we get to see the reigning World Champions take the field. To start the offseason, I want to do some brief previews of the current roster situation at every position and talk about if the team should address it through the draft and how they could go about doing it.

Let’s start with the Quarterback position. The Eagles are set long term at quarterback with Carson Wentz coming off an MVP worthy sophomore season where he threw for 33 touchdowns despite his season getting cut short by an ACL injury. While everyone in and around the Eagles is hoping for a speedy recovery; Wentz’ timeline is a bit up in the air and I think we can all agree that rushing him back is the last thing anybody should want. His short term absence; in camp, preseason and possibly even early in the 2018 season, could force the team to look at quarterbacks this offseason who can add something to the roster.

Nick Foles’ place on this team is a bit of a wildcard. While Foles is obviously coming off a tremendous playoff run, culminating in a well deserved Super Bowl MVP crowning, he might not be long for Philadelphia. Foles, as well as everyone else, knows this team belongs to Carson and Nick might want to get another shot to start elsewhere. Therefor it would not surprise me if Nick and the team worked out a deal to send him somewhere he could compete for lead job. Of course, Nick might be happy here in his role and that speculation is all for naught.

Then, behind Foles is Nate Sudfeld. Sudfeld saw limited action at the end of the 2017 season and had some nice moments as a passer and moving the ball with his feet. The team seems like to like Sudfeld as a third string quarterback, but he is easily the most replaceable of quarterbacks on the team’s roster.

In the scenario that Foles is moved, which seems probable knowing Howie Roseman, the team might be most interested in signing a veteran to hold the fort down until Wentz can come back. That would be a smart move considering the team wants to compete as soon as possible, obviously. However, it might still be a savvy move for Doug Pederson and company to bring in a young quarterback to develop behind Carson’s immediate back up. Pederson, as a disciple of Andy Reid, might like the idea of a high upside guy late in the draft.

If the team does decide to add a quarterback in the draft, it probably would not be until the third day. So, obviously, names like Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and likely Mason Rudolph will be off the table. However here are some names to keep an eye on for late round project types the Eagles could like.

• Riley Ferguson, Memphis: Ferguson was incredibly productive in the last two years at Memphis. He has good size and a strong arm. He is a gun slinger, but has a lot of accuracy and decision making issues. Teams could fall in love with the tools, but he is a work in progress.
• Kyle Lauletta, Richmond: The small school quarterback has gained a lot of hype since the Senior Bowl so he might go too high for the Eagles to be interested. However; he is a cerebral, accurate quarterback who has improved every one of the last three years.
• JT Barrett, Ohio State: JT Barrett is one of the most productive players in college football history. While he is smaller and does not have top level arm strength; coaches are bound to love him for the high character, intelligent player he is. While Barrett’s upside is low, everyone to ever be around him has raved about him and team’s may want that in their meeting rooms.
• Mike White, WKU: White is a solid, not spectacular prospect. He has few wow traits but is an accurate, tough quarterback who is not afraid to throw down the field. Pederson might see a bit of Arizona Nick Foles in him.

Quarterback is really among the least of the team’s worries this offseason, and there aren’t many others, but it is not impossible that the Eagles consider adding a young guy to the depth chart.