All aboard another Philadelphia Eagles quarterback carousel
By Ben Swanger
The Philadelphia Eagles have yet another quarterback controversy.
The Philadelphia Eagles’ starting quarterback, Carson Wentz, has found himself, once again, entangled within another supposed quarterback controversy. Wentz has unequivocally been the worst starting quarterback in the NFL this season and it comes to no one’s surprise he finally nabs a taste of pine.
Trailing 20-3 halfway through the third quarter to the Green Bay Packers, Head Coach Doug Pederson finally pulled the plug on Wentz. Enter second-round rookie Jalen Hurts. The former Heisman runner-up and national champion’s first pass attempt went deep left to fellow rookie Jalen Reagor for a 34-yard gain.
Hurts went on to finish out the game with a less than perfect line notching a 67.7 passer rating, but he did provide competency to a previously incompetent, malfunctioning offense.
Even when the Philadelphia Eagles try to move forward, this team moves back.
Wentz is a mere three years removed from hearing the city crown Nick Foles the organization’s greatest hero and watching Foles’ statue get erected. He’s just two years removed from doing it all over again, as Foles and the 2018 Birds were possibly a reception away from two straight NFC Championship Game appearances.
Now, Wentz finds himself preparing to board another quarterback carousel. Questions will consume the NovaCare complex the rest of the season about the quarterback position, and rightfully so. Wentz has been awful in every manner all season long with mechanical issues, turnover tendencies, and more. The only momentum on Wentz’s side might be his lack of injuries.
For Hurts, he did not ask to be put in this situation. He did not ask the Eagles, who have a $100 million franchise quarterback, to draft him. Hurts was presumably thrust into a dead-end situation to start his career, but now he, too, boards this quarterback carousel, all because Philadelphia continues to take one step forward and two steps back.
So where do the Philadelphia Eagles turn for the final month?
There is no defending Wentz. He threw for 79 yards in one half and a series. Wentz is paid to overcome obstacles. He’s paid to overcome bad personnel around him. He’s paid to make his teammates better. He’s paid to lead. Wentz has failed in every aspect and now he’s put himself and this organization between a rock and a hard place.
Hurts brought life to this offense. He proved how valuable mobility is when an offensive line is crumbled. He managed the pocket well and failed to show rookie jitters. This team knows what it has in Wentz: a broken and bruised quarterback, but a quarterback with so much cash dedicated to him. Hurts, on the other hand, provides something fresh and new, and change is what this organization needs right?
It might be one step forward and two steps back for this organization to try to engender another quarterback controversy, but things really cannot get any worse. It’s Jalen Hurts time.