Philadelphia Eagles: 5 signs Carson Wentz can be their new franchise QB
By John Buhler
3. He can run Doug Pederson’s offense
The Eagles knew what they were doing in trading up with the Cleveland Browns to draft Wentz at No. 2 in the 2016 NFL Draft. While many didn’t see the comparisons to former Eagles great Donovan McNabb, Wentz has shown that he can run the Andy Reid/Doug Pederson offense like McNabb did for a decade in the City of Brotherly Love.
Keep in mind that Pederson is a huge Reid disciple. Pederson was Brett Favre’s backup in Green Bay when Reid was on Mike Holmgren’s staff. After Pederson retired from playing, he joined Reid’s coaching staff with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Though Pederson doesn’t have a proven track record of NFL play calling, schematically he seems to be a great head coach for grooming quarterbacks. Pederson has wisely hired two other strong offensive minds in Frank Reich and John DeFilippo to his 2016 coaching staff. That makes three former quarterbacks imparting wisdom to Wentz.
The Reid/Pederson offense is conservative, but not to the degree of Gary Kubiak’s offense with the Denver Broncos. Pederson will be more inclined to have Wentz make plays with his arm than Kubiak will with Trevor Siemian.
This offense focuses on the short-to-medium passing game. Philadelphia has two solid tight ends in Brent Celek and Zach Ertz. The Eagles also have a gifted young possession receiver in Jordan Matthews.
It will take a few years for Pederson and his staff to eradicate the leftovers from former head coach Chip Kelly’s up-tempo offense. Wentz could end up being a better fit in this offense than Alex Smith in Kansas City or even McNabb in Philadelphia. He’s more dynamic than Smith and more accurate of a passer than McNabb, so we’ll see.