Philadelphia Eagles upgrade QB room with Gardner Minshew: 3 Fun facts

Here’s one of those rare occasions where rumors of an upgrade to the Philadelphia Eagles roster actually comes to fruition. Who said lightning can’t strike twice in the same place?

For months, we discussed the possibility of Philly adding cornerback Steven Nelson to strengthen their secondary. He was added on July 25th. Now, here we are, a little over a month later, and not even a week after former NFL quarterback/current ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky talked about the possibility of adding Gardner Minshew in one of his recent takes, the guy with, perhaps, the most famous mustache in the NFL, according to the Eagles’ official website, trades his teal Jacksonville Jaguars jersey for one of the midnight green variety.

Most of you already know that, and you’re probably already familiar with him. Here are a couple of fun facts that you may not remember.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ new quarterback has had quite the journey already.

1. Wait! Isn’t that the guy that took over for Nick Foles?

Correctamundo! Give yourselves a gold star if you remembered that one. Following two deep playoff runs with Nick Foles at the helm, Nick left Philly during the 2019 offseason to join the Jacksonville Jaguars and, before you can say ‘Duuuuvaaaall’, got hurt in the Jags’ first regular-season game of 2019.

Minshew took over and played well, completing 285 of 470 passing attempts on the season. That resulted in 3,271 yards through the air, 21 touchdowns, and six interceptions. Not bad for a sixth-round draft choice that entered the league with minimal fanfare.

2. This guy can run too.

Over the course of Minshew’s 23 in-game appearances (that includes 20 starts), he’s racked up 497 yards, 30 first downs, and a rushing touchdown. It’s nice to know that Philly won’t have a sitting duck back there if something happens to Jalen Hurts and Joe Flacco (if Minshew winds up as the third-string guy).

At the NCAA level, in a combined 30 appearances for both East Carolina and Washington State, he completed 65 percent of his passes for 8,266 yards while throwing for 62 touchdowns versus only 20 interceptions.

3. So, what did the Philadelphia Eagles give up to get this guy?

This is a low-risk and high reward scenario as the Eagles shed Nick Mullens from the roster and give up a conditional 2022 sixth-round draft choice that could become a fifth.

Even had they kept a fifth-rounder and selected a quarterback, they definitely weren’t going to find a signal-caller in the coming NFL Draft that late that has the skillset of Minshew. You can bank on that.

Overall, this is a nice day at the office. Philly upgrades at the quarterback position and adds veteran leadership in the form of Minshew. Wow. Howie Roseman ha quietly had a nice offseason, hasn’t he?