Weapon X Mailbag: What’s the Eagles’ endgame with Jalen Hurts?

Another week, another Eagles mailbag. Let’s get to our loyal fans’ questions!

@starchymeatbal1: What do you see as their end goal for Hurts? Continue using him as a gadget role until he signs elsewhere? Hopefully flip him for another second rounder or something of greater value?

Loaded question about maybe the most mystifying aspect of the Eagles organization currently. It’s naive to think that Jalen Hurts was selected solely as Taysom Hill-like gadget player. Howie Roseman wasn’t playing five-dimensional chess here trying to flip him. You draft a quarterback in the second round to play quarterback.

The decision to take Hurts is multifaceted. The Eagles likely thought they were closer to Super Bowl contention than they truly are. Each of the Eagles’ last three seasons have ended in the postseason without Wentz playing quarterback. One aspect here is that they wanted to have a contingency plan closer to February 2018 Nick Foles rather than January 2020 Josh McCown.

Do you really, truly take a quarterback on Day 2 to be soley that type of backup? It just doesn’t feel right to me. On top of the short-term injury issues with Wentz missing time, there’s obviously a long-term component as well. If Carson Wentz yet again doesn’t finish the season or suffers a catastrophic injury, the Eagles want a quarterback they believe can be a legit QB1 for them under center. Call it Russell Wilson guilt, but the prospect of passing on a quarterback of Hurts’ caliber, whatever the Eagles consider that to be, was too much for this front office.

Wentz is the entrenched quarterback with the gigantic contract, so he’s the clear starter in the franchise’s mind right now. When you have an uber-talented athlete and football player like Hurts you invested big time draft capital sitting on your roster, you might as well find ways to get him on the field, no?

The Eagles have no clue what the endgame is with their entire roster to begin with. They’re old and expensive and bereft of young talent. They don’t have a vision for the future of the roster, let alone with the guy they just took with a high pick who plays the same position as your franchise player.

For 2020 at least, why not just go all in on the dual-quarterback look? The injuries are insurmountable with the skill position guys. Get as many talented players on the field as possible. If you’re not going to be good, and the Eagles are certainly not a good team, at least be fun and let loose with creativity. Alongside Travis Fulgham, Hurts is the most fun part of this Eagles offense right now.

@bumble_smith: Do you think we could get anything from the Titans for Jason Peters?

There’s probably just as good of a chance of that happening as the Eagles getting something from the Titans for me.

@D_Tomei: Is Hightower a legitimate contributor? Feel like we’ve seen big highs (4th & 4 vs. SF, deep ball v BAL for 50 yds) & some low lows (not getting OB vs. PIT, drops). Feel like we’ve seen some ++‘s but needs to be consistent & put it all together. More effective contributor in 2021?

I was superduper high on John Hightower during a training camp. I did a whole podcast about it. He can clearly get separation down the field and is a burner, but some of the issues have been so infuriating that I cannot fathom him being the player I imagined him being (a solid WR3).

More so than the drops against Pittsburgh and Baltimore, my problem is the mental mistakes. Not getting out of bounds at the end of the first half against the Steelers was inexcusable. After that drop against the Ravens, he gave up on the next pass Wentz threw his way, getting bodied out of bounds without an ounce of failure. It’s essentially a case of “I can accept failure. I can’t accept not trying.”

The skills and talent are there, but when you see how quickly someone like Travis Fulgham acclimates himself to the Eagles’ offense, it makes it difficult to watch the Eagles’ younger receivers struggle to develop even though Fulgham is ultimately a gigantic outlier.

@RealMikeBradley: Better things I could spend $99 per month on instead of Sunday Ticket?

Should’ve just saved up all that cash and bought a PS5, bro. I heard a rumor that BLG is buying every BGN staffer one for Christmas this year.

[BLG Note: Well now I look awful if I don’t.]

@THEKID_: Has any Eagles player ever divided the fan base for a longer period of time then Wentz? After each loss Wentz is either banged on or praised depending on if you’re an Eagles fan or a Wentz fan. It’s crazy! LOL Ricky Waters, Mamula, TO...I don’t think they come close.

I’m assuming this guy just blacked out for the entire Donovan McNabb era?

@RealMrDorsey: Does your food delivery order change after a big birds win or loss? And what are the go-to orders?

It certainly does. If they lose, I feel like I need to reevaluate my entire existence and make drastic life changes, so I usually order something healthy and stop drinking and try to be a real human being.

My place this year has been Playa Bowls in Rittenhouse. They have açaí bowls and smoothies. It’s expensive, but you can’t put a real price on feeling better mentally when you already feel like shit because your favorite football team sucks.

If the Birds win, it’s the opposite. I’m in slob pig mode. I might get a cheesesteak from Woodrow’s delivered or get wings and fried plantains from Pistola’s Del Sur. I’ll keep pounding Two Robbers seltzers if they win too. I feel like Odin feasting in Asgard after an Eagles victory.

The Eagles have only won a Sunday Night Football game this season, so I haven’t had a chance to really enjoy a win on a Sunday afternoon in 2020. Who knows when I’ll ever get that chance!