April 18, 2016
Mark Humphrey/AP
Barring a trade back or a smokescreen, the Eagles will not be drafting Paxton Lynch.
The Philadelphia Eagles acknowledged on Monday that at least one quarterback will be off the board to start the 2016 NFL Draft after the Los Angeles Rams traded up from the 15th overall spot to pick No. 1.
Throughout the draft process, the clear-cut No. 1 and No. 2 quarterbacks in this draft class have been thought to be North Dakota State's Carson Wentz and Cal's Jared Goff, in whatever order you prefer. The common No. 3 option has been Memphis' Paxton Lynch.
With the Eagles selecting eighth overall, if they are unable to draft the quarterback left over between Wentz and Goff, there has been debate on whether or not they may draft Lynch with the No. 8 pick.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson doesn't seem to think so.
"For us at No. 8, you look at other areas of need. I don't know if necessarily that would be the spot to take someone like him."
As we've noted, Lynch is a physical specimen who checks off all kinds of boxes in terms of what NFL teams are looking for in a quarterback. He has great size, a strong arm, touch, and good mobility for his size. The big knock on Lynch is his ability to hang in the pocket and deliver throws to his second or third progressions, or when he faces pressure. He also played in very basic offenses both in high school and college, and is not accustomed to taking snaps from under center.
Some feel that Lynch has as many as two years to go before he'll be ready. That's fine from the Eagles' perspective, who have the luxury of being able to be patient with a young quarterback. However, if indeed Lynch is that far behind, it would be hard to take that kind of project with the eighth overall pick.
Pederson also spoke about the separation between Lynch and the consensus top two quarterbacks, Wentz and Goff.
"[Goff and Wentz] are pretty even, in my opinion," he said. "From all the physical tools, both of them are extremely gifted there. They have good arm strength, mobility, obviously Carson is a little bigger, maybe a little better athlete right now. There's not much separating those two.
"I don't think [Lynch is that far behind]. I think someone in this draft who is looking to develop a possible future [quarterback] could reach up and grab a Paxton Lynch, but he's another impressive player."
