Three -Headed Monster
The Philadelphia Eagles have a massive off-season on their hands. During the end of the season press conference, general manager Howie Roseman discussed the thought process behind team building over the last few seasons. In the same breath, Roseman subtly hinted that a storm was brewing in the City of Brotherly Love and massive changes could follow.
“As much as there’s a little voice inside your head that said, ‘You know, now is probably the time to change it.’ I think that’s my responsibility that I really didn’t listen to that as much as possible. And now we’re in the situation we are in, where change is necessary and change is inevitable to this roster and the things that we need to do to get back to being the kind of team that we know we can be.”
Well, here we are a little over a month later and we see that the storm Roseman was insinuating was no ordinary rain shower, but a category five hurricane. No one, not Roseman and possibly even owner Jeffrey Lurie himself envisioned the Eagles off-season headed in the direction it has so far. Instead of finding an innovative and inspiring way to right the ship of a regime that has found itself the winner of 54% of its games over the last four years. The Eagles decided it was best to part ways with the coach responsible for bringing the first Lombardi trophy in the history of the city. While Lurie openly admitted that Pederson “didn’t deserve to be fired”, the deed was done and Philadelphia found itself looking for a new head coach. One that according to Lurie:
“Needs to be a leader of coaches, a leader of coaches, and someone who represents the organization in a great leadership way. We had a lot of that with Doug, so it’s going to be — leadership is an important characteristic. You brought up offense, but I think there’s a couple ways to skin that cat. You can hire somebody really steeped in offense, or you’ve seen great offenses coached by head coaches that are coming from the defensive side. So, I don’t think there’s any predilection for one over the other. But I do think somebody who is constantly curious of where the league is headed and what you need to do to have really good units. And again, without a really good elite offense, I tend to air on that side. But not that side of the ball for head coach. That doesn’t matter.”
So the search began, a ten day process that saw the same number of candidates interviewed and anyone you can think of linked to the job. In the end it was former Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni who stood tall over the competition. While the hire was met with its fair share of backlash, it only took a brief search to realize that Sirianni fits the mold of exactly what Jeffrey Lurie seems to look for in a head coach. When Ray Rhodes was hired to replace Rich Kottie in 1995, he had no previous head coaching experience and was best known for the work he had done over the previous two seasons with Green Bay and San Francisco as the defensive coordinator (both teams finishing in the top 10 defensively). Andy Reid followed the same path as the he spent two years in Green Bay as the quarterbacks coach and also had no previous head coaching experience. Of course Lurie changed course with the hire of collegiate coaching phenom Chip Kelly, he went right back to his roots with the hiring of Doug Pederson, who you guessed it, had no previous head coaching experience. Now with Sirianni as the next man on deck in terms of inexperienced coaches, Lurie seems to believe Sirianni has what it takes to reach the same level of success as some of those prior to him.
Nick, with a group of so many good candidates, just shined throughout the process from the very beginning. The research on Nick was terrific. It was somebody that knew the game as well as anybody, football IQ off the charts, a grinder, somebody that had an unlimited work ethic and a desire to be great. As soon as you got to spend time with Nick, and we probably spent about, I don’t know, 10, 12 hours together over two days, it became apparent that this is a very special communicator, not just a brilliant football IQ, which was very evident early on as we went through how he game plans, how he attacks defenses, how he maximizes personnel, not just relying on a scheme but how to each week attack exactly who you’re playing, what their strengths and weaknesses are in great detail. Much more than that. It’s the man. It’s the teacher. It’s the coach. It’s the father. It’s the husband,” Lurie said. “A lot goes into it. It’s an important decision for an owner. It’s an important decision for an organization. I’m very, very excited by Nick.”
So now that Philadelphia has its man, its time to get down to the dirty work. The first order of business and obviously the most important. While Sirianni has mentioned that he has been in contact with both quarterbacks, all three of he, Roseman, and Lurie have let it be known that no decision has been made in terms who will be the starter. Of course there are so many factors to take into account before a decision is made, today we’re here to discuss how logical each of the top three choices are and how they could impact the Eagles roster.
Carson Wentz:
Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Image
Anything and everything that will happen this off-season in regards to the Philadelphia Eagles starts and ends with Carson Wentz. The question of the off-season is will he or won’t he be moved. Well according to a multitude of reports circulating, that not only are the Eagles fielding calls on Wentz, but there is a possibility of a few “aggressive” offers on the table. As the Eagles brass has made it known all possibilities are on the table when it comes to the former number two overall selection. When asked about Wentz, they each have nothing but good things to say about the person and the player. Which makes sense given the $128m contract they gave him in June of 2019. So, if the Eagles brass still mentions Wentz in the highest esteem, and believed in him enough to give him a contract not even two years ago; how did we end up here?
Well a mix of injuries, unforeseen success, miscommunications, and a simple disconnect between what was supposed to be the franchise player and the franchise. We have the makings of what is becoming the ugliest divorce in Philadelphia history. It’s not Wentz fault that the team won a Super Bowl without him, especially when you take in account that the team was in that position much thanks to his success. It’s not Wentz’s fault that time and time again Roseman failed to put a roster around him suitable enough to withstand the struggles of a 16 game season. And arguably its not Wentz’s fault that freak injuries have negated his abilities to participate in any of the teams recent playoff success, in fact if not for an unnecessary lunge by Jadeveon Clowney we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
But the fact of the matter is we’re here now and Wentz understands that this is a business. He understands that in terms of what he has done in his career up to this point compared to where he was drafted and what the franchise has invested into him, just isn’t enough. Now when you compile that with all that has transpired ever since that tragic moment last January, is it really a surprise that we’ve gotten to this point? Not even a hire that was perceived to be ‘for’ Wentz’ was enough to save this marriage. Which sucks, because Wentz is actually a perfect fit for what Sirianni likes to do offensively. The new head coach even sounded pretty excited for an opportunity to work with Wentz.
“I mean, I couldn’t have watched more tape on Carson Wentz in 2018 when Frank [Reich] and I got back together and we were installing our offense with the Indianapolis Colts. We watched a lot of Chargers tape and we watched a lot of Philadelphia Eagles tape from 2017. And man, what an impressive player. He’s got so much talent and, from what I’ve heard from everybody, great person. And, you know, good talent, good person, it takes your game to really high levels. So, so excited.’
While a Wentz deal hasn’t happened yet, all reports seem that a deal could be imminent. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Jalen Hurts:
Photo: Elsa Garrison/Getty Images
Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place. How does Jalen Hurts continue to end up in these peculiar quarterback controversies? The world may never know, but just like his game on the field the former Heisman trophy finalist remains cool, calm, and collected. From the way he carries himself on the field and in interviews, to the way teammates talk about him you can tell that Hurts just has that ‘it’ factor. It doesn’t take long when you go through his background to understand how this young man remains so even kneel, after all not just anyone becomes the first the true freshman quarterback to start for the Alabama Crimson Tide since 1984.
Though Hurts showed a lot of potential in the four games he started, there was also room left for improvement as is the case with many rookies. The question is was that enough for Hurts to earn a role as the undisputed starter heading into the 2021 season. While Hurts took the league by storm the first few games, the fact remains that the Eagles still had a 1-3 record in his four starts. Offensive coordinator Shane Steichen, who worked with both Tyrod Taylor and Justin Herbert during his time with the Los Angeles Chargers and has shown a willingness to get his quarterbacks involved in the running game, which bolds well for Hurts’ skill set, while Sirianni does a lot of similar concepts as Hurts saw during his time in college at Oklahoma (mesh, crosser, screen game). Take this in account with the fact that he has a good relationship with new quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson, who has known Hurts since he was four years old because of a relationship with Hurt’ father and also recruited him in college. The argument can be made these hires were made with Hurts in mind just as much as Wentz.
Assuming Philadelphia moves on from Wentz, the team doesn’t look as if it will be afforded the same luxury most teams have with a quarterback on a rookie deal given the $33.8m in dead money from a Wentz deal. This leaves Philadelphia with two years instead of the desired four to try to build a suitable roster around Hurts. Also remember that because Hurts was selected in the second round instead of the first, the Eagles also don’t have the choice of a fifth year option . With only four starts under his belt this would essentially be Hurt’s rookie season, so would two year under Sirianni be enough for Hurts to take the desired steps in development? Would the Eagles franchise tag Hurts? Philadelphia essentially finds themselves in their own Dak Prescott/Kirk Cousins fiasco at that point. Though we’ll have to watch this unfold to see how it turns out, its certainly something to keep an eye on.
The Draft Pick:
Photo: Pro Football Focus
This won’t be the popular idea round Philadelphia but believe it or not; quarterback is in play at six just as much as a Chase, Smith, Pitts or any other prospect. With the insertion of a new coaching regime that means a head coach is in the building with no connections to the current quarterback. Of course Philadelphia is a special set of circumstances as we’ve discussed the relations between the new coaching staff and both quarterbacks. The fact of the matter remains that the quarterback of the future in Sirianni’s offense may not even be in the building. Do you recall back at Jeffrey Lurie’s press conference following the departure of Doug Pederson when he went on to discuss the state of the franchise and his teams quarterback controversy?
“On the quarterback situation, we’ve got two really interesting assets. They’re both young. They’re both hungry. They’re, you know, terrific people. Very different and terrific people. Coach is gonna have options. Coach is gonna have an ability to fix what he feels is necessary in our offense and have a potential star in Carson and a potential star in Jalen. And that gives us an asset also. So, then if we end up deciding on one someday, the other is a really good asset.”
This is the Quarterback Factory right?
All jokes aside, if the Eagles new coaching staff has any type of questions or doubt at what’s going on with the quarterback position this off-season is pivotal. With questions currently surrounding the 2022 draft class at the position, this years class being particularly strong, and the Eagles being in prime opportunity to come away with one of the top four quarterbacks in the class; sitting just outside the top five is the best opportunity the Eagles will have at coming away with a franchise quarterback in a few seasons (unless the team is particularly sold on Spencer Rattler).
Featured Image: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
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