I thought the Eagles did a nice job in the draft of helping out Carson Wentz. He was hamstrung last year by a lack of speed at the wide receiver position and they fixed that.
If Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback who should be most disappointed by the draft, Wentz and Drew Lock are the guys who should be the happiest. (In the case of Lock, the Broncos simply went on a shopping spree, selecting two wide receivers and a tight end early.)
Wentz didn’t get an Elway-like splurge, but he got enough. And he really needed it. At the end of last year, the Eagles top 3 wide receivers were all guys who weren’t even on NFL rosters in September. They didn’t get enough out of J.J. Arcega-Whiteside. Nelson Agholor has been off more often than on, and he’s the Raiders’ problem now.
The Eagles used their first-round pick on Jalen Reagor. He’s got speed to get deep, and he can also turn short balls into long gains. They drafted two prospects late, and also swung a trade for Marquise Goodwin. Goodwin won’t be a huge factor, but he’ll rotate in, with the speed to hit on a long touchdown or two. And they’re getting DeSean Jackson back, who caught 2 long touchdowns in his only full games last year. And maybe Arcega-Whiteside is ready to do something in his second year; he looked good in one of their preseason games.
Back in 2017, Wentz averaged 12.44 yards per completion – 4th-best in the league. With a lesser receiving group, Wentz last year was relegated to trying to peck his way down the field with short completions. He averaged 2 fewer yards per completion. Only Mason Rudolph and Mitchell Trubisky averaged fewer yards per completion.
With the Eagles now having more downfield weapons, I’m thinking Wentz has a pretty good chance of moving back up into the top 10 among quarterbacks. There will be more explosive plays.
| YARDS PER COMPLETION | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pct | Yards | YPC |
| Ryan Tannehill, Ten. | 70.3% | 2,742 | 13.64 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 60.7% | 5,109 | 13.44 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 64.3% | 2,499 | 13.36 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 65.9% | 4,031 | 12.64 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 65.1% | 4,902 | 12.63 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F. | 69.1% | 3,978 | 12.09 |
| Baker Mayfield, Cle. | 59.4% | 3,827 | 12.07 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 66.1% | 4,110 | 12.05 |
| Philip Rivers, LAC | 66.0% | 4,615 | 11.83 |
| Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 66.1% | 3,127 | 11.80 |
| Jared Goff, LAR | 62.9% | 4,638 | 11.77 |
| Kirk Cousins, Min. | 69.1% | 3,603 | 11.74 |
| Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 67.3% | 3,852 | 11.57 |
| Gardner Minshew, Jac. | 60.6% | 3,271 | 11.48 |
| Josh Allen, Buff. | 58.8% | 3,089 | 11.40 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mia. | 62.0% | 3,529 | 11.35 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 62.0% | 4,002 | 11.34 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 70.4% | 4,054 | 11.23 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 59.5% | 3,494 | 11.13 |
| Sam Darnold, NYJ | 61.9% | 3,024 | 11.08 |
| Kyle Allen, Car. | 62.0% | 3,322 | 10.96 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 66.2% | 4,466 | 10.95 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 60.8% | 4,057 | 10.88 |
| Jacoby Brissett, Ind. | 60.9% | 2,942 | 10.82 |
| Case Keenum, Was. | 64.8% | 1,707 | 10.67 |
| Kyler Murray, Ariz. | 64.4% | 3,722 | 10.66 |
| Daniel Jones, NYG | 61.9% | 3,027 | 10.66 |
| Joe Flacco, Den. | 65.3% | 1,822 | 10.65 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 74.3% | 2,979 | 10.60 |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 63.9% | 4,039 | 10.41 |
| Mason Rudolph, Pitt. | 62.2% | 1,765 | 10.03 |
| Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 63.2% | 3,138 | 9.63 |
—Ian Allan