Mailbag: the sky is the limit for Carson Wentz

Eagles football is back tomorrow and today the mailbag is back. Let’s get right to it.

@AlanDivver: How do you feel the Eagles secondary will do against "Megatron 2: Electric Bugaloo" Marvin Jones?

Better than they did against Megatron last year. *knocks on wood* Marvin Jones has had a blistering start to the season, and Matthew Stafford was playing really well until last week. I would expect that the Eagles streak of not giving up a passing touchdown to come to an end because it has to at some point, but just the same, Marvin Jones is playing above his head and will come back to Earth at some point. Let’s hope it’s on Sunday.

@SteeMurda220: Bigger disappointment - Marcus Smith or Danny Watkins?

Let me start my answer to your question with a question: who’s the biggest bust ever at quarterback?

You probably said Ryan Leaf, or maybe JaMarcus Russell or even Tim Couch. Those would be really good choices. But what if I told you they might take a backseat to Andre Ware? Leaf started 21 games for two teams. Russell started 25 and Couch started 59. These guys were deemed good enough to play by somebody, even if their playing time was dictated by ownership. But Andre Ware, the 7th overall pick in 1990 for the Lions, was basically never allowed to see the field. He started just six, six games, all of them when the Lions were well out of contention. In his first start he only threw 11 passes. In his second and in his final start he threw just 14. He appeared off the bench just 8 times, in blowouts, and didn’t throw a pass in two of them. It’s not like he was sitting behind anyone good, Rodney Peete, Bob Gagliano and Erik Kramer were the QBs that they played ahead of him. How bad do you have to be to never see meaningful playing time?

So who is the bigger bust, Watkins or Smith is a philosophical question. Is the guy who plays and is so bad he hurts his team worse than the guy who is so bad he can’t even see the field? I’m tempted to say no, but Danny Watkins was so bad, and so not interested in football that I have to give him the edge. Say what you want about Marcus Smith but not caring doesn’t seem to be a issue with him.

@Wentz2016ROY: When are we finally going to see Eagles make a decision on Marcus Smith

He’ll be gone at the end of the year.

@realBrianCars: Name me one current Eagles player that has the most upside?

Carson Wentz. From a physical standpoint, he’s flawless. Huge, mobile, strong arm, comfortable out of the pocket… you name it, he’s got it. He’s the total package in that regard.

And he appears to be the total package mentally as well. I’ve talked about this before, but the way that the coaches fawn over his off the field make up is something special. They want to adopt him. And already we’ve seen progress. In the preseason and camp he was sailing quite a few passes, in the regular season we haven’t seen him do that more than we would expect any other player. And we saw him have a clean game against the Steelers after two games of taking a few too many hits.

@ArrowheadPride: Andy held Doug back. Discuss.

I picture this being said like the SNL Coffee Talk skits.

It’s only been three games but Doug has run the ball in the fourth quarter, gone for it on fourth down in non-obvious situations, his one challenge was defensible and he hasn’t wasted a timeout or had a delay of game penalty. Yeah, Andy held him back. Outrageous. Plus there’s the Steelers games this year. Sorry (not sorry).

@Killakow: power rank the girls from mambo no 5

7. Tina 6. Mary 5. Rita 4. Erica 3. Sandra 2. Monica 1. Jessica

@jsquella: How big a role does Wendell Smallwood have moving forward?

I think you’ll see them continue to lean on Ryan Mathews, but with the way they’re getting all the running backs involved, Smallwood should be good for a handful of carries a game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the bulk of Smallwood’s carries come in the first half to try to tire out the defense and then they just hammer away with Mathews late in the game like they did against Cleveland and Chicago.

@lonis119: which random Patriots RB will be the one to go off against Cleveland

D.J. Foster has one carry this season. It’s gotta be him.

@Bair12: do the eagles go after Josh Gordon if he gets his life together

That’s a big if, but I’ll say no. The Eagles have brought in a few guys with, at best, questionable character concerns, But those players haven’t been multiple offenders the way Gordon has, who was suspended twice in college and three times in the pros. I don’t see the Eagles taking on that kind of risk. Especially with the way that Wentz has, at least so far, elevated those around him.

@BimJoyle: why does madden consistently underrate Eagles players? I mean last I checked Hicks was in the 70's

I don’t think it underrates Eagles players, though there are many who are including Hicks, Bennie Logan, Brandon Brooks, Leodis McKelvin, Nolan Carroll and Donnie Jones. Okay so maybe it underrates Eagles players. I think it’s simple as their rating system is flawed and doesn’t put enough emphasis on attributes that matter. And they really punish young players with low awareness ratings that make their overall look bad.

@RyanFromJersey: Could God create a burrito so hot that he himself could not eat it?

Yes, but Carson Wentz could eat it.