The Eagles brass have logged some miles this week, visiting at least four quarterback prospects, including the three top-rated QBs. As rumors swirl regarding the team's wish to trade up in order to select Carson Wentz or Jared Goff, it is worth considering what kind of quarterbacks have been taken in the back-half of the Top-10 in the NFL Draft.
Short answer: Bad QBs.
In fact, only three quarterbacks have been taken with the eighth overall pick and none of them put together inspiring careers. In 1945, the Redskins took Jim Hardy, who stuck around the league for six years, but compiled a career record of 4-11 and threw interceptions on a whopping nine percent of his throws. It took over 60 years for another team to pull the trigger on a quarterback at eight.
In 2011, the Titans took Jake Locker and in 2012, the Miami Dolphins selected Ryan Tannehill. Locker flamed out rather quickly, but Tannehill has toiled for the past couple years, showing flashes of competency.
But that's a small sample size. Surely there have been good quarterbacks picked around the eighth pick in recent years, right?
Wrong.
In the past 30 drafts, 11 quarterbacks have been taken in the latter half of the top-10 and only two have made a Pro Bowl: Kerry Collins and Trent Dilfer. Of the remaining nine signal-callers, six were starting QBs in less than four seasons. Oh, and the QB with the best win-loss record? That would be Mark Sanchez.
But the Eagles are in the Top-10 to find an elite talent, a potential franchise quarterback, not someone whose play could be considered mediocre at best. And there's a small amount of good news on that front, I suppose.
Of the 36 QBs taken in the back-half of the Top-10, three are enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame. Sammy Baugh, Y.A. Tittle and Len Dawson represent the cream of an otherwise uninspiring crop. Only issue is, they were all picked over a decade before Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman were even born. The only other QB of this group to be named to an All-Pro team is John Handl, a product of the 1962 Draft.
So if the Eagles are on the clock with the eighth overall pick four weeks from today and Goff or Wentz are still on the board, the team will have an interesting decision to make. If they feel that one of the quarterbacks has the tools to lead this franchise into contention for the next decade, they should take him, no questions asked.
But it is worth noting, they have 50 years of futility staring back at them. Tread carefully.
Prospect Rewind
Each Monday, I will post an excerpt of a scouting report of a current Eagle. On Thursday's, I will reveal the answer. Click here to check out Monday's scouting report.
Answer: Jason Peters
Peters was a tight end coming out of college and was a rather athletic one at that.
Peters has obviously bulked up since he was catching touchdowns for the Arkansas Razorbacks, but it's obvious in his highlights that his frame could carry a lot more weight than what he was at the time.
His journey from undrafted tight end to future Hall of Fame tackle has been well-documented, but it is still incredible to see a guy known for destroying opposing pass rushers run routes and elude tacklers.
Tucker Bagley is a columnist for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @tbagley515.
