Pro Football Focus dropped their latest mock draft on Wednesday, and it featured the Eagles making a very interesting pick in the third round. They had the Birds taking Washington quarterback Jacob Eason to be Carson Wentz‘s backup moving forward.
Drafting a developmental quarterback is not out of the ordinary for this organization, they tried to do the same thing last year with Clayton Thorson in the fifth round. That pick obviously didn’t workout and in hindsight they should have went in a different direction there altogether.
The team has always been high on current backup Nate Sudfeld, and he was finally given his shot to be the clear cut backup last season until he got injured in week 1 of the preseason, leading to the signing of Josh McCown. Re-signing Sudfeld to a one-year deal this offseason proves the team still has faith in the 26-year-old quarterback, but it also proves that they need to see something out of him during camp or the preseason in order to warrant keeping him as the long-term backup.
Since they struck out pretty badly last draft with the Thorson pick, they must do some extra homework on the QB prospects entering this year’s draft to ensure they don’t waste a pick again. Taking someone like Eason out of Washington would be intriguing; with the right coaching, he could turn out to be a serviceable backup or even a starter in this league.
Obviously, Wentz’s injury history is the only reason we’re discussing using a draft pick on a backup quarterback. I like the idea of developing a young guy behind Carson, but I’ve always preferred bringing in a veteran guy since he will more than likely play at some point and it won’t be a shock to him.
Howie has eight picks to play with this year, so he has a bit more wiggle room to take a flier on one of these quarterback prospects. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the front office goes after one later in the draft, I just hope they don’t make the same mistake they made last year with Thorson.
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