The Philadelphia Eagles are going into next season with a lot of question marks due to the amount of players they lost in the offseason. One of the biggest question marks is the quarterback position, which is currently held by Sam Bradford. The Eagles currently aren’t considered a playoff contender, but if they are able to draft one of the top quarterbacks in the draft, the online football predictions about the team will certainly change.
Heading into this year’s draft, Eagles fans are hoping the team will select running back Ezekiel Elliot, who is considered the best running back in the draft and has been compared to Pro-Bowler Adrian Peterson. The Clamor for Elliot is reminiscent to the clamor for Ricky Williams when the Heisman winning running back left the University of Texas. In the 1999 draft, the Eagles selected Donovan McNabb with their first pick, a selection that upset a lot of Eagles fans at the time, but ended up being one of the best picks in franchise history.
17 years later, the Eagles find themselves in the same situation. Draft a running back that can have an immediate impact, or draft a quarterback you can groom to be the future leader of your team.
In this situation, the best thing the Eagles can do is take one of the top rated quarterbacks in the draft. The reason behind this though is the fact that Sam Bradford has proven that he is not the answer at the quarterback position for this franchise.
Last season, former head coach Chip Kelly traded Nick Foles for Bradford and a lot of people felt it would finally give Bradford a chance to succeed in the NFL since he will be working with weapons that he never had while he was in St. Louis.
However, Bradford’s play didn’t show anything to make you believe he was the long term solution to the Eagles offensive problems. For some reason, the team decided to give him a new contract and keep him as their starting quarterback.
Those arguing for the team to draft Elliot believe there is no quarterback in this draft that can come in and help a team win right away, which is why they should take a running back instead. While this is true, there are still some talented quarterbacks that the team can take with their first pick.
With the roster currently assembled, the Eagles are likely not going to make the playoffs, so they can have their new quarterback sit for most of the year if not all of it and learn their playbook. Similar to what the Green Bay Packers did with Aaron Rodgers. While Bradford isn’t anywhere close to what Brett Favre was, he could still be a mentor to a young quarterback.
Another thing about the draft is that you really can’t tell if there are franchise quarterbacks in the bunch just by looking at their tapes from college. Players like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Russell Wilson came into the league with little fanfare, and are now considered to be among the best in the league.
Drafting a quarterback might not be the most popular thing to do in Philadelphia right now, but it is a smart move for a team that doesn’t have a quarterback that can lead them into the playoffs.
