The Eagles are not getting Marcus Mariota: A Look at the Eagles QB Situation, Part 1

The quarterback position is going to hang around the Eagles offseason like an anvil. Most people believe that the Eagles lack a true franchise caliber quarterback. These same individuals are concerned that the Eagles are in the proverbial no man’s land – too good to land a top quarterback prospect, but too bad to challenge for a Super Bowl with their current options.

In this three part series I analyze whether the Eagles quarterback situation is as dire as it seems. Part 1 focuses on whether the Eagles can realistically get Marcus Mariota. Part 2 looks at Mark Sanchez and quarterbacks outside of the Eagles organization. Part 3 will focus on Nick Foles. Let’s get right to it.

Marcus Mariota

Marcus Mariota is the latest jewel in the eyes of Eagles fans. He’s mobile, athletic, put up gaudy numbers in college, and oh yea, did you know he played under Chip Kelly? Adding fuel to the speculation, Chip Kelly recently declared that he has an even bigger man-crush on Mariota than the rest of Philadelphia, saying Mariota was “the most talented kid that I coached in college.”

And now that Kelly has full control over player personnel, there is a growing segment of Eagles fans who think trading up to get Mariota is a realistic possibility.

And then it happened: speaking to 97.5 the Fanatic, Trent Dilfer darn near broke the internet in Philadelphia when he said that it's a possibility that Mariota drops because he is not "pro ready." Now, I respect Dilfer's opinion on quarterbacks as much as the next guy. But it should be noted that Dilfer has not studied all of Mariota's tape, so his opinion could change. 

But let's assume for a moment that Dilfer is right and Mariota drops. I hate to be a Debbie downer, but I still do not think it is either realistic or smart given the associated cost.

For context, below is the NFL Trade Value Chart. It was popularized by Jimmy Johnson back in the 1990s, and has been used as a blueprint for most NFL teams for making draft day trades.

For those unfamiliar with the chart, it is really quite simple. It assigns values to every pick in every round of the draft so that teams can properly gauge how much each pick is worth when discussing trades. So if you want to make a trade to either move up or down the draft, this chart provides you an approximation of the type of value you should seek in return.

The Eagles are picking 20th this year and have 8 picks in the upcoming draft:  a draft pick in each round, plus the Buffalo Bills 4th round pick as a result of the Bryce Brown trade. 

If the Eagles traded their entire draft board, all 8 picks, they could move up from 20th to………. the 7th overall pick held by the Chicago Bears. (The 8 picks amount to 1,584.2 points, while the 7th pick overall is worth 1,500). So even if Mariota drops, we would have to pull off a Ricky Williams or Herschel Walker type trade just to be in the conversation, and that is not even considering how bad those trades turned out for the Vikings and Saints, respectively.

Which leaves us one other option: mortgaging the future by replicating the ill-fated Washington Redskins/St. Louis Rams trade for RGIII. If you recall, Washington gave up 3 first round picks and a 2nd rounder to move up just four spots, from 6th overall to 2nd. If it cost that much just to move up four spots, how much do you think the Eagles will have to give to move up 15 spots or so?

In other words, while you are going to hear a lot about whether the Eagles will trade for Mariota, I do not see how this is a realistic option.

But let’s assume for a moment that a trade is somehow possible. Does it even make sense given where the Eagles are situated? The Eagles have come off consecutive 10-6 seasons. They have a roster filled with a good combination of veterans and young emerging talent. But they have a couple of holes that simply must be addressed if they are going to advance to the next level. We have one competent player in the secondary in Malcom Jenkins. The offensive line has three players (Jason Peters, Evan Mathis and Todd Herramens) that are 32 or older. Do we really want to mortgage the future by trading multiple first round draft picks for the off chance that Mariota pans out? I don't. And I think Mariota is a great prospect. It is just too much of a risk for a team that is only a few pieces away from being among the NFL’s elite.