What Does Bradford Trade Mean for Carson Wentz?
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
The Eagles stunned the football world on Saturday morning, when the news came down that they had traded projected starting quarterback Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings. It not only sent shockwaves through the league, but it sent shockwaves through the Philadelphia Eagles locker room. Eight days before the opens the 2016-17 season against the Cleveland Browns, and they arbitrarily move their incumbent starting quarterback, that they had just committed $11 million to back in March? It's an interesting strategy, although Howie Roseman said in today's presser (which you can view below), that this move "wasn't in their blueprint."
After getting over the initial shock of the trade, the main question on fans mind is what kind of effect, will this have on Carson Wentz? Well, according to ESPN's Adam Caplan, the answer is pretty simple -- if he's healthy, he will be the week one starter. Caplan tweeted out earlier this afternoon, that if the quarterback was fully healthy come week one, the plan was for him to be the starter, thus officially ushering in the "Wentz Era" much earlier than fans expected. This report was met with mixed reviews, as some loved it, while others hated it. The main knock of the anticipated move, is that it would be placing an inexperienced rookie behind a makeshift offensive line that consists of a deteriorating Jason Peters, a fellow rookie in Issac Seumalo, a newly-acquired Brandon Brooks, and a possibly-suspended Lane Johnson. Is it really smart to hand the keys of the franchise, to the prized possession, under such uncertain circumstances? Luckily for me, that's why I'm not getting paid to make that decision. That being said, lets take a look at what kind of an effect that starting Wentz could have on the team.
In what has already been deemed as a "lost season," what do the Eagles have to lose by starting Wentz? You spent all that currency to move up, and draft the kid, so why waste his first year on the bench? This would basically be a "baptism by fire" type of situation, as Wentz has practically no experience against the level of talent that he would be facing. That may actually be the best thing for Wentz, especially if he's not mentally-prepared. He needs to experience first-hand, exactly what the difference is between the style of play in Division II of the NCAA and the NFL. More importantly, this would be most beneficial to the team. Since 2013, the Eagles have gone through five different starting quarterbacks at some point, making it difficult for any of the receivers to develop chemistry with a quarterback. For Zach Ertz, he's been through every quarterback change since 2013, and will also be apart of this one. With only one of the pass-catchers on this team older than the age of 25, it's vital for Carson to develop a repertoire with them early on -- as they'll be growing and developing together.
On the downside, I'll once again use the phrase "baptism by fire." This could be a move that backfires entirely on the Eagles. Given that Wentz is coming from a Division II school, it's entirely possible that he cracks under the pressure of being deemed the "face of the franchise. Another fear for fans, is that he may get injured. Quite honestly, that's a fear with any quarterback -- on any given play. Fans are also worried about Wentz being mentally prepared. That's a fair concern, but is sitting on the sidelines for a season really going to mentally prepare you any better, than if you took the first snap of the season in your rookie season? At least with Wentz starting, he'll be able to review game tape, and realize where he went wrong. If he were sitting on the sideline studying the playbook, he'd get a good understanding of the offensive system -- that's about it. There's a big difference between understanding the offense, and executing the offense.
Like it or not, Carson Wentz will be the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, as soon as his health allows him to be. Whether that's week one, week four, whatever -- he's the guy. There's no getting around the fact, no avoiding it, and no hiding from it. My general feeling is that this may be the best thing for Wentz, as he'll get a first-hand feel for a real-game situation, against top-notch, first team talent.
Does he sink or swim? Well, that's entirely up to him.
What say you, Eagles Nation?
