Eagles Benefit From QB Madness

Carson Wentz’s appearance on Monday Night Football should solidify his presence as The Next Big Thing in Philadelphia. The Eagles beat the Chicago Bears 29-14 to improve to 2-0 and Wentz, the second overall pick in the draft, orchestrated their offense with a veteran’s aplomb.

The Eagles traded a pile of draft picks to the Cleveland Browns for the right to select Wentz. They hit the jackpot (or at least we think so now – stay with me). Cleveland elected to take the draft picks and sign Robert Griffin III, formerly The Next Big Thing in Washington after the Redskins traded three No. 1 picks to select him. Griffin, following a brilliant rookie year, crashed badly in D.C. and was released. He suffered a shoulder injury in the Browns’ opener and will be out at least half the season.

And the Eagles’ future with Wentz might not have arrived so quickly had Teddy Bridgewater of the Minnesota Vikings not destroyed his knee in a non-contact drill during preseason. The desperate Vikings reached out to the Eagles and traded for Sam Bradford, who won his starting debut with Minnesota on Sunday night against Green Bay. Bradford was once the overall the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft and The Next Big Thing in St. Louis (which now no longer has either Bradford or the Rams).

The Browns? Well, count on them to do the wrong thing at the right time, especially at quarterback. You can go back to 1999, when they drafted Tim Couch, and start your list – Griffin was their 25th starter at quarterback since then, with other great false starts such as Brady Quinn and Brandon Weeden squeezed in there.

The Eagles did well in scouting Wentz and putting him in an offensive scheme that works with his talents. We’re not commissioning his bust for the Pro Football Hall of Fame yet, but remember the word “bust.” It fits too many others who have been in his position previously.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman