Well it’s official, Carson Wentz is being sent to the bench. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has made his decision and he’ll be starting Jalen Hurts under center for their Week 14 game against the Saints, sources told Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
It’s not a surprising move considering Hurts replaced Wentz during Sunday’s loss to the Packers and moved the ball much better, but it sure is a monumental one. Whether this is the end of Wentz’s run in Philly remains to be seen, as his contract now looms over the franchise. The second overall pick of the 2020 draft is due over $50MM in guaranteed money over the next two seasons after this one.
It’s very hard to envision him not being on the roster in 2021, unless the Eagles are willing to absorb a massive dead cap hit. They could look to trade him, although needless to say it won’t be easy to iron out a deal.It’s fair to say Philadelphia brass brought this quarterback controversy upon themselves by drafting Hurts in the second-round back in April. Whether that pick shattered Wentz’s confidence or whatever else, his play had regressed to atrocious levels. He leads the league in interceptions, and nobody else is even a close second.
It’s anyone’s guess what Hurts will look like in an offense with a shaky offensive line and inconsistent pass-catchers, but he can’t be any worse than Wentz statistically at this point. It’s possible Pederson is making this move now in an attempt to save his own job, as we heard a couple of days ago that the coach who won the Super Bowl just a few years ago is on the hot seat.
It’s a remarkable fall from grace for Wentz, as at this point last year he was being widely praised for helping the Eagles storm back and win the NFC East. It wasn’t too long ago that Wentz was considered an MVP candidate before going down with a torn ACL and LCL. But things change fast in the NFL, and unfortunately injuries robbed Wentz of the chance to have any memorable postseason moments with the team the past few seasons. There’s a lot still left to be written, but it looks like this could be the beginning of the end for Wentz in Philadelphia.
Hurts, the 53rd pick of April’s draft, accomplished a ton in college at both Alabama and Oklahoma. As ridiculous as it sounds, the 3-8-1 Eagles are still alive in the pitiful NFC East. It’ll be interesting to see if Hurts sparks something in this locker room, or if their struggles continue just as much as before.
Duh.
the right move
Is it? They’ve got 2 years left on Wentz, so he isn’t going anywhere. It’s a lost season. I don’t know they’re not better off trying to continue to figure something out to get Wentz right since he’ll be the starter next year?
Wentz is getting paid whether they play him or not. i dont expect to get anything for him regardless. is that a lot of money for a QB on the bench? yeah, but that’s like saying “well, the O’s are paying Chris Davis, they HAVE to play him.” no, they dont.
at this point Wentz has got the Yipps so let him have an offseason to get his mind right and use this season to see what you have in Hurts
The Mets are still paying Bobby Bonilla should they play him? The Texas Rangers will be paying Alex Rodriguez until he is 50! Get him a uniform. Eagles know what they have in Wentz. He might start next year but it shouldn’t be because he is in a bad contract.
Well, in the Rangers’ case, they might actually need him…
Pederson just trying to save his job. Bad offensive line, no receiver depth, and bad play calling. And it’s all Carson’s fault? Yeah right.
Carson did Jack on Sunday, and while Hurts wasnt lighting things up the offense was actually functioning under him. Obviously its not all Carson’s fault, but if the offense does better under Hurts how are you going to blame Doug? obviously he wants to save his job, but just spinning your wheels isnt going to help.
Well Doug will be out of job if there’s no playoffs for the Eagles
i dont think the playoffs have anything to do with it, especially in a trash division. If the team sucks and is a first round out is that really a win? If Hurts lights things up and Peterson’s playcalling works well with him but they still miss is he nessicarily gone? I think it has more to do with how he does when you change the other big variable. if Hurts does no better, you can reasonably say it wasnt Wentz’s fault and then the blame next lies on Doug.
I personally think it’s on the gm for their struggles. When you trot out Cheesecake Factory waiters as weapons for wentz ofc he’s going to struggle. Anybody would.
we gotta stop with the weapons. Washington won last night with garbage for weapons. Hurts comes in and suddenly Ward and Reagor are making big plays. Reagor and Ward do better again next week then it’s certainly Wentz in my mind. beyond this though, look at how bad Wentz’s stats are. not even the 32nd best QB in the league, precipitous drop in passer rating between years, and things get worse by the weak. Wentz wolnt throw the ball away. what does that have to do with weapons?
Have you watched him play? Horrible decisions, inaccurate passes, holds onto the ball for an eternity, no mobility. Stop making excuses. He’s been horrible.
Hurts was moving the ball mostly with his legs, though. Scrambling and improv. His production has little to do with Pederson and more to do with his increased mobility. He and Wentz are not the source of the Eagles’ problems. The reasoning is deeper than that, even given Wentz’s own mistakes.
I mean, how many times does a QB need to get hit or flushed with zero open targets before we accept that he might be shell shocked?
Sure, Wentz holds the ball too long and is paranoid at the same time, but both of those problems are easily traced. He holds the ball because receivers aren’t getting open, and he overcompensates to make sure that the throw is really there, which hurts him because he runs out of time. The solution for this is timing routes/quick releases, which Pederson has not implemented (or couldn’t, because of excessive injuries). The paranoia is there because the line is just awful. The solution for this is just tough. Better players, better practices. Too late now for any of that. But without an O-line, there’s not much even Pederson can do better. We just get to see Wentz on the field, so we think it’s all on him. But these problems really start in the facility and offseason.
If Carson truly was the 2nd overall pick from the 2020 draft, we really should give him more time to develop.
If?
That hurts
Seriously doubt that Hurts is a better passer than Wentz. Better athlete? Yes, but not a better passer. This is just try-out time for Hurst and some rest time for Wentz during a crazy year that everyone just wants to move away from.
So I’m wondering… If Hurts really struggles (very possible, all things considered), how bad would he have to look for Wentz to get his shot at redemption?
Opinions very welcome…
It’s more likely than not a week-to-week decision. And if/when Hurts struggles mightily, Wentz can come back in and try to be the “spark.”
I agree with you completely.
If/when that happens will, I think, show the world a lot about Wentz.
Definitely week-to-week at this point. I expect Hurts to do well for a game or two and end up holding the job, because he has a different style than Wentz and this late in the year there aren’t enough games to develop surefire tape on his tendencies. Unless he plays horribly next game, there’s no reason to just let Hurts ride it through. We’ve seen it before, where a young guy comes in and gives a spark, sometimes crashing down afterward (Drew Lock, anyone?). He might not, of course, and I personally like Hurts, but it wouldn’t be surprising.
I expect the Eagles to end up ending the year with Hurts, and have a QB competition for the job next season between him and Wentz.
Watching Wentz is painful this year and it’s all between his ears. Yes his line is not the best and he has average receivers but that’s not the problem. Same problem that he has always showed, he doesn’t trust his eyes and he hesitates. When he has a receiver open he always hesitates, by the time he decides to throw either the receiver is no longer open or he is on his back. That is why he always has all the interceptions and sacks. Frankly at this point I don’t know that you can fix him.
If you’re intimidated by a player being drafted at your position, you’re weak minded.
“Offense did better under Hurts” where have we heard that before (Foles if you’re wondering). Maybe Pedersons play calling isn’t the issue. Maybe it’s not because Wentz lost his confidence. Maybe the eagles are struggling because wentz checks out of every play Doug calls. I’m tired of hearing him “kill kill” every single play. Could the offense run better under Foles and Hurts because they actually execute the play call?
part of what ive heard (and I believe it based on how he seems to react to each play) is that Doug is trying to simplify the playbook because Carson cant execute the normal plays he wants to call. i mean his signature play was the Philly Special, which was under Foles. he was agressive and creative under Wentz early, but even in 2018 and 2019 he was making agressive calls and Carson wasnt handling them as well.
Wentz has been blugeoned most of last year and all of this year behind a brutal offensive line not to mention the fact his weapons on offense are sanders and a prayer.Injuries and a inept head coach plus a dose of a over matched Jim Schwartz add up to a complete tear down starting with Howie and stopping at the still talented but confidence damaged carson wentz, in my humble opinion.
most of this should be on the coach and playcalling. if the qb is struggling and your best player (sanders) only gets 10 touches instead of relying on him to make plays and try to win a game…there’s the problem! and Schwartz needs to go this defense is horrendous
You are correct. Most people want to blame Wentz and only Wentz for Pederson and his pass happy ways. The Eagles with Wentz at QB 23.3 Run plays a game.
42.1 pass plays. If you take out the 52 Wentz runs it drops to 19 run plays a game. only 4 teams had less rush attempts thru 12 games then the Eagles The Bucs, Bears, Texans and Jags.
If drafting Hurts shook his confidence he shouldn’t be in the league. Packers drafted a QB and Rodgers is probably the co-mvp front runner with Mahomes.
No matter what the Eagles need to fire Doug Pederson.
With Hurts he did something he has not done all season Run the Ball. They have 4 games with under 20 Rush attempts all loses and with Wentz Ran 505 pass plays to 280 Runs. against the Saints 30 passes 36 runs. While Sean Payton Pretended to be Doug Pederson with 43 pass plays and 20 runs.