Now that the dust has settled, Carson Wentz can start to settle into reality. He has been drafted by the Eagles and is their choice as quarterback of the future.
"It's exciting. It was an awesome feeling. It's been a long process and I couldn't ask for a better place to go," Wentz said. "I'm fired up, they're fired up and I'm ready to go to work."
The idea of taking a quarterback at the top of a draft has been one the Eagles have wanted for some time. When they acquired the second pick, Howie Roseman said it is a move that requires total confidence.
The Eagles didn't hesitate when the chance arose.
"One player can change your team," Roseman said. "For us, we know how important that position is. Investing in that position was a no-brainer.
"He was our top player. We liked both the players and we were going to be comfortable with both players. At the end of the day, we got as much information as we could before we made the trade, and felt good about our information and pulled the trigger."
Doug Pederson broke things down further, looking into everything about Wentz that made him so attractive.
"He's coming from a winning tradition, a winning program at North Dakota State. He's a winner himself," Pederson said. "You've got to love the intangibles about him. Just when you get a chance to meet him, one-on-one, his demeanor, his aggressiveness, his willingness to learn, sharp kid. It really was a very attractive pick for us and a good fit for us."
Pederson, who spent time with both the Eagles and Green Bay Packers as a player, even offered some high comparisons of Wentz, like a Hall-of-Famer he saw plenty of times from the sidelines.
"A little bit of Brett Favre," Pederson said. "He has that mentality, that aggressiveness that Brett has. Those are some of the skill sets I see in Carson. I love quarterbacks that are willing to take a chance, take a calculated risk down the field. Favre was that way, and I see that in Carson."
"It's pretty unbelievable to be honest, because growing up I was a Favre fan," Wentz said. "I loved watching him play, his grittiness, his warrior mentality and he was a gunslinger. The biggest thing I loved about him is he had fun. He enjoyed the game, every moment of it, he didn't take it for granted and that's the type of player I am too. I'm flattered by that, but I've got a long way to go before I deserve that comparison."
Roseman focused more on the overall football IQ and the smarts that Wentz comes in with. In addition, Wentz was praised throughout the scouting process for being a leader, a passionate player and have a tremendous work ethic.
"Doug talked about the intangibles — a 40 test score, valedictorian of his high school class, never got a B. So that's important with that work ethic," Roseman said. "Then he's got rare physical skills. The athletic ability, the throwing arm, the body type, and he's someone that can be molded into whatever you want. When you have the coaches that we have and the support system that we have, it's exciting."
Wentz got to know the Eagles brass, particularly the coaches that he will be working with, and added that they're knowledge of the position makes Philadelphia an attractive place to play.
"I know in my brief time with the Eagles staff, they're just a bunch of awesome guys," Wentz said. "It's a great place for a young quarterback to go learn with all the quarterback knowledge they have there. To know that they believed in me that much to go up, I'm really looking forward to it."
The Eagles placed a lot of hope on this move and what it means for the future of their franchise. That is not lost on Wentz, who understands the road ahead for him as a quarterback.
When he gets the chance to play, and eventually start, doesn't matter. What Wentz is more focused on is letting his work ethic and passion for the game do the talking to prove to the Eagles and the fans that the team made the right move going up to get him.
"You're going to see a competitor, a guy who's passionate about the game, who's going to be the hardest worker out there," Wentz said. "I'm going to go in there and earn the respect of my teammates. They're going to see a leader and a guy who knows what's going on. I'm going to be the first one in, last one out, and I'm just going to compete my tail off and hopefully win a lot of ballgames."
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
