Let's take a quick spin around the web for further perspective on the Philadelphia Eagles:
With more and more NFL offenses utilizing hybrid attacks to incorporate both spread and pro-style concepts, Carson Wentz's background and skill set seem to fit well with where the league is headed. Kevin Clark of The Ringer has the story.
[Chiefs co-offensive coordinator Brad] Childress, meanwhile, believes the current holy grail is the prospect who ran spread plays at the college level that can be easily imported to the pro level. He mentioned Eagles rookie quarterback Carson Wentz, who at North Dakota State played in a multiple-style offense that incorporated spread concepts. Childress was impressed that Wentz played under center sometimes and in the shotgun at other times, and that regardless of the formation, he was adept at making various throws. He said some of the sweep plays Wentz ran were particularly impressive, and that he wants to incorporate what he saw into the Chiefs’ game plan.
Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman, who took Wentz second overall in the draft, called his college system “a pro-style concept that hints at where the sport is going.” Roseman, like Spielman, said that changes in the college game have forced him to alter how he evaluates passers: Because the college game is so different from the NFL game, Roseman is forced to put less emphasis on tape and more emphasis on test scores and smarts.
To preview the Football Outsiders Almanac, Deadspin posted an excerpt from each team chapter, including the Eagles'.
By trading up for North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz, the Eagles have willingly put themselves behind the eight ball in terms of roster construction. Jimmy Johnson’s traditional draft trade value chart pegs the difference between what the Eagles acquired and what they gave up as roughly equivalent to the 44th overall pick. Effectively losing a mid-second round pick is far from insignificant, but it seems like a reasonable cost of doing business when trading up for quarterbacks is involved. However, Chase Stuart’s empirically derived draft-value chart places more weight in mid-round and future picks, and by that standard, Wentz has a very large gap to bridge. Stuart’s chart suggests the net value the Eagles lost in the trade is nearly equivalent to the fourth overall pick, though in reality, Philadelphia’s toll will be much more of a slow bleed. The Eagles will not have a first-rounder next year or a second-rounder in 2018. Philly does not have much cost-controlled young talent on its roster, meaning that Wentz will probably need to compensate for a thin supporting cast early in his career.
Running back Ryan Mathews has set a personal goal for the upcoming season, writes Aaron Kasinitz of PennLive.
Mathews topped 1,000 rushing yards twice in first six NFL seasons. After both years, he was invited to the Pro Bowl.
He wants to replicate that success in 2016 with the Eagles, but he understands through experience the daunting obstacles in front of him.
"You got to be healthy and you got to be playing the whole season [to reach 1,000 yards]," Mathews said. "That's main my goal right now is to make sure my body is ready, make sure I'm ready mentally and physically to go through the punishment that we take."