May 02, 2016
Howie Roseman would like everyone to believe he had no choice but to move up in the NFL draft to claim a gifted, likeable quarterback from North Dakota named Carson Wentz. The kid was just too good to pass up, too perfect for this city and for the Eagles.
The reborn GM also wants fans to believe that the boldest move in his 13 years as a football executive had nothing to do with Chip Kelly, nothing at all. It was strictly a football decision.
Unfortunately, Roseman wants people to believe these things because he believes them himself – even though they are wrong.
On my WIP radio show last Friday, I asked Roseman a question he was not prepared to answer. Would he have traded up if the prize were Jared Goff of Cal – the No. 1 pick who went to the Rams – instead of Carson Wentz of North Dakota State?
After a long pause, Roseman said yes.
That one word exposed Roseman’s real motive for sacrificing three top draft picks, linebacker Kiko Alonso and cornerback Byron Maxwell in the two big trades that won him Wentz. Yes, the GM is enamored with Wentz, but he was even more enthralled with upstaging the man who pushed him aside last year, Chip Kelly.
In his one disastrous year overseeing personnel, the ex-Eagles coach offered Tennessee everything but his Oregon Ducks sweatshirt for a shot at his former college quarterback, Marcus Mariota. The Titans refused, setting into motion Kelly’s spectacular downfall in Philadelphia.
Roseman has said he spent his year in exile studying the best way to build a champion. It’s safe to say he also set aside a little time to plot his way back into power with the Eagles, and to avenge the humiliation caused by Kelly’s power play.
Of course, Roseman isn’t admitting his own dark motive. When I asked him if his success in moving up to the No. 2 spot in the draft wasn’t just a little sweeter because Kelly had failed at the same thing last year, Roseman insisted that he had removed all emotion from the decision.
Then why was he willing to take the identical risk on Goff, an entirely different quarterback? By most accounts, Goff is slightly smaller, a little slower and not as bright as Wentz; the one attribute that moved him ahead on the Rams’ draft board was his readiness to play right now.
The Eagles don’t need someone to play right now. Remember, they just made a $22-million investment in Sam Bradford, and then committed another $12 million to Chase Daniel. Goff is not vanilla to Wentz’s chocolate, as Roseman once suggested – both appealing in their own ways. This is not ice cream.
What Roseman would like everyone to believe is that he fell in love with two quarterbacks – neither of whom was ranked in the draft’s top 10 after the college-football season – at the exact same time. What Roseman is trying to convince himself is that it’s just a coincidence that he found his franchise quarterback as soon as he returned to power.
Wentz may become the next Donovan McNabb, or even better. When I spoke to him last week, I could understand why he got only A’s in school, why he has dazzled everyone with his enthusiasm and his sense of humor, and why Roseman fell in love with him. I hope the kid plays as well as he talks. We all do.
But Carson Wentz is not an Eagle this week because he can throw far or run fast or talk smart. He’s an Eagle because Howie Roseman needed to stick it to Chip Kelly.
***
Sam Bradford is a petulant, immature, overrated ingrate with $100 million in his pocket and a constant scowl on his face.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I hereby wish the Eagles starting quarterback a rewarding and gratifying 2016 season in Philadelphia.
That’s right. I’m happy the Birds are not going to trade Bradford, and I’m hopeful he will have his best season of his career under new coach Doug Pederson.
Having spent the past week listening to irate fans clamoring for Bradford’s immediate exit, I realize this is a minority opinion. I also acknowledge that my values are twisted because I’m a talk-show host who profits from sports drama. I concede both points.
However, once the anger subsides over Bradford’s public request (demand?) for a trade, most fans will realize there’s no good reason to sacrifice 2016. Carson Wentz, whose arrival spurred Bradford’s latest snit, will not be ready to play this season, and high-priced back-up Chase Daniel will never be ready.
Although it is difficult for me to type the next four words, Howie Roseman was right to reject any trade proposals for third or four-round draft picks in favor of one more season of Bradford. Setting aside the quarterback’s annoying personality and knack for underachieving, he is still the best chance the Eagles have right now.
The main theme in the days after agent Tom Condon went public with his client’s distress was the trouble Bradford would create in his dealings with the apprentice franchise quarterback. Oh, please. Bradford may be a world-class complainer, but he has never been a problem in the clubhouse. Just ask his teammates from last season.
Worrying about how Bradford will greet Wentz also disregards the kid’s ability to work his social magic. Everybody loves Carson Wentz, and so will the guy who’s going to lose his job at the end of the season.
The best-case scenario for Bradford is that he finally reaches his potential this season, the Birds make the playoffs in a weak NFC East, and then he’s traded to a team that wants him, at a price that will reward the Eagles for their patience. That’s the only way everyone comes out a winner here.
Go, Sam Bradford in 2016.
And then you can leave.
***
In case you haven’t noticed, the Phillies are worth watching again. In fact, they have been downright entertaining in the first month of what we all once believed would be a lost season.
Did anyone predict they would win 14 of their first 24 games? Hell, no. After a 99-loss season in 2015, there were some grinches – present company included – who wondered if they would have 14 wins by Memorial Day. After all, that bad team of last season had lost Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon. They should be even worse, right?
Wrong. What no one could have anticipated was the effect that new manager Pete Mackanin and his staff would have on the young players forming the core of this much-improved team. Yes, Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz have had some big hits, but it is the kids who have been the story so far.
Watching the Phillies has been an exercise in pleasant surprises. Vince Velasquez’s fastball, Jerad Eickhoff’s curve, Aaron Nola’s control, Hector Neris’ splitter and closer Jeanmar Gomez’s sinker are all serious weapons. These guys started the season as unknowns; they will not end it that way.
And Mackanin’s positive influence is not exclusive to the pitching staff. Has anyone ever seen a young player adapt so quickly to a new philosophy the way Odubel Herrera has this season? Pledging to show more patience at the plate, the leadoff hitter has walked 23 times in 104 plate appearances, compared to 28 in 537 last year.
Howard himself, in his final season as a Phillie, said he could sense a difference in the clubhouse from the first day of spring training. These are not Ryne Sandberg’s Phillies. Mackanin speaks both English and Spanish, but it’s not how he speaks; it’s what he says. He has a knack for making young players listen.
Now, the sad reality is that this terrific run will not continue. Opposing batters will adjust to these young pitchers over time, and the inexperienced lineup will face inevitable growing pains. These Phils will still not finish above .500. They aren’t ready for that yet.
But isn’t it fun to have a baseball team we care about again, if only for a few fleeting weeks in the spring? As I type this, I’m wearing a Phillies hat – proudly. It has been a while since I did that.
And finally …
• San Francisco, with the seventh pick in the NFL draft, chose defensive end DeForest Buckner of Oregon. Oregon? Wait a minute. Isn’t ex-Duck Chip Kelly coaching the 49ers now? And his team chose an Oregon player in the first round of draft? Boy, I didn’t see that one coming, did you?
• The one thing I’ve learned about fans in my 26 years on the radio is that they don’t want choir boys on their teams; they want winners. So I’m not going to rip the Eagles for taking RB Wendell Smallwood in the fifth round. Yes, he’s had some trouble and sent out some stupid Tweets. None of that will matter if he can play.
• If this Carson Wentz gamble doesn’t work, there’s a good chance Eagles fans will lament the 2016 draft for two reasons – the squandering of three top draft picks for a QB bust, and the failure to take Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott. Of course, Elliot will be there to remind us every time the Birds face the Cowboys. Ugh.
• If indeed the NFL Draft is held in Philadelphia next year, I hereby pledge to re-form the Dirty Thirty – a band of drunken fans who booed the Donovan McNabb pick in 1999 – and reprise their loud, stupid act. This time, since the Eagles don’t have a first-round pick, the target of our alcoholic rage will be the Cowboys. Who else?
• Last week, a bunch of Sixers crackpots bought a billboard near the sports complex proclaiming “Sam Hinkie Forever.” Now, I’m not one to criticize others – especially since the leader of this cult is my boss at WIP, Spike Eskin – but at what point here should we consider an intervention?
