So why did the Browns, a team that has QB turnover like none other, decide to pass on the opportunity to select the player who the Eagles jumped up the draft to fill their ever-popular “quarterback of the future” role for a reclamation effort with RGIII? “I’m really a motivated individual as it is so I don’t have the need for extra motivation going into this one”.
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“He’s a dual threat, but I heard he’s a little banged up right now, so I doubt he’ll be running the ball very much”, he said. But I think it’s going to take a little time before that decision of what we did or what anybody else did will come to fruition.
“We just felt so comfortable at the Eagles to make the moves to go get Carson Wentz and felt very strong about the way we evaluated (including former Browns offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, who’s now Wentz’ quarterback coach), just looking at everything and exhausting everything”. When you look at the percentage of rosters taken up by undrafted free agents, outside of first-round picks, I think it’s the highest percentage of players on rosters. “I am already excited, and I am trying to control it and focus this week”. I’ll be really excited.
“We don’t feel like it’s a slow release”, said Pederson. If the Browns have any chance to win this, their defensive backs are going to have to outplay the Eagles’ receivers. I’ve got to worry about this team.
Conventional wisdom is that the Eagles will play it safe with Wentz.
Pederson told a bit of a different story, though, suggesting that the entire playbook will be open to Wentz because of his ability to absorb it so quickly. Still, he was elevated to No. 1 after the Eagles traded Sam Bradford to Minnesota. So there might be some read option, but in small doses.
“It was nearly like a relief, a weight, a burden off your shoulders”, Pederson said this week.
“I don’t want to harness that aggression”, Pederson said.
A minor interruption, especially when you compare it to, say, losing your starting quarterback eight days before the start of the season.
I met with quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo on Tuesday and this is the quote that stuck out the most when talking about Wentz: “The dedication and the accuracy and what he’s been doing since the spring will help him on Sunday”.
The defense will need to do its part in order for the Birds to be 1-0 heading into Chicago for Monday Night Football against the Bears on September 19. “Be at the right place at the right time so he can rely on us”. “So penalties that will extend a drive matters, field position matters”. Ironically, that was the year the Eagles went to the Super Bowl. And we’ve harped on takeaways, but now those takeaways need to turn into scores. More than any team, they need as many picks as possible to remedy their perpetually poor showing and with a new management team both in the front office and on the sidelines, a larger fresh start than pinning it all on one, unproven player is the smarter road.
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When the Vikings stepped up with a deal to send the Eagles a first- and a fourth-round draft pick in exchange for Bradford, the blueprint for the season went out the window. “That’s not fair for him”. Not as much as Eagles fans would, though.
