Weapon X Mailbag: Would the Eagles draft Justin Fields or Zach Wilson?

There’s a sigh of relief every December (or January) where you realize you no longer have to torture yourself every Sunday. Enjoy it. Time for the questions!

@mhc_76: Assume the Eagles lose this weekend and end up picking somewhere in the 3-5 range, do you consider taking one of Justin Fields/Zach Wilson if they are on the board?

I’ve spent the last couple of mailbags gushing about Jalen Hurts. An uneven performance from him against the Cowboys does not dissuade me from believing he’ll be an above-average starter in this league with the upside of a Pro Bowler. I’m completely comfortable with a scenario where the Eagles have Hurts as the team’s QB1 and pair him with Ja’Marr Chase or Devonta Smith and pack the Linc with fireworks. The closer you get to the top of the draft, however, the more you have to seriously consider a quarterback.

If the Eagles were in a position to draft Trevor Lawrence, that would obviously be a no-brainer. Justin Fields seemed to be QB2 throughout the college football season, but it looks like Zach Wilson is making a late case for that billing. I’m taking Fields if he’s on the board when the Eagles are up though. I’ve written that Hurts has upside as high as Russell Wilson, but Fields feels much more likely to hit his upside (2015 Cam Newton?) than Hurts.

If Wilson is there? Hmmm...

The dude can for sure sling it:

I’ve only watched two of his games, so I can’t proclaim to know everything about him, but if the Eagles think he’s legit and has a better chance of hitting his 99th-percentile outcome than Hurts, then do it. It’s all about the quarterback, as we know.

If the Eagles are picking, say, three and they don’t love a quarterback sitting on the board, I would adore a trade down to the five-to-seven range, pick up some extra draft capital and still come away with someone like Chase, Smith or Patrick Surtain II. Do I trust Howie Roseman to hit on those surplus picks? That’s a different discussion entirely!

@DkNapki: Thoughts on front office forcing Doug Pederson to hire a young, creative offensive coordinator to create/call plays next year or do you think it was personnel, specifically quarterback play that did not execute Doug’s play-calling?

The idea of hiring some young, hot-shot offensive coordinator to call plays is flawed to me. Let’s say for example the Eagles hired USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell for the same position in Philly and they give him play-calling control. If things go well, Harrell transforms the offense with either Carson Wentz, Jalen Hurts or Quarterback C and then leaves after one year to go be the coach of the Bengals or some other donkey team. Then you’re immediately back where you were 12 months prior with the same issue.

Either let Doug Pederson call plays or just let him go entirely. I also find it hard to believe he would relinquish play-calling duties. Pederson may not have machinations of wrestling away personnel control like Eagles coaches of the past, but he does revel in calling plays, as every offensive-minded coach does. Almost all aspects of being a coach are tiresome. Calling plays though? That’s what makes all those hours of grinding tape worth it.

If the Eagles are done with Pederson as a play-caller, then just fire him and bring in Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll or Panthers OC Joe Brady to be the head coach and run the whole show. I’m of the mindset that the blame for this team goes from front office mismanagement to quarterback regression to vanilla play-calling in that order. I can talk myself into another year of Doug molding a new quarterback, whether that’s Hurts or a guy drafted in April.

I understand wanting him to be fired, but I am also opposed to the concept of the “leader of men” head coach who doesn't call plays. The offensive coordinator then becomes the most valuable non-player in the organization and that guy should be in power at that point.

This organization half-asses a lot of things, but don’t half-ass the offensive play-calling situation. Ride it out with Doug or give Daboll or Brady the keys to the kingdom.

@shawn_hliwski: More likely draft pick: Ja’Marr Chase, Patrick Surtain, Gregory Rousseau, or Micah Parsons?

The Eagles would never draft a linebacker in the first round, let alone with a top-seven-or-so pick, so I’m going to say Chase then Gregory Rousseau then Surtain then Micah Parsons. If not Chase, I would be cool with Surtain as my second choice. It feels like a weak class for edge rushers, so I wouldn’t be thrilled with Rousseau, but I’m sure I’d talk myself into it. I’d loathe a Parson pick.

@alex252: Doug’s son, Josh, is a tight end who in some circles is listed with a draftable grade. Would it be weird to have the coach’s son on your squad? Or awkward if they fire Doug and bring his son in?

That would be outrageous. If Pederson leaves as head coach, there’s zero way his kid would be here. If Pederson is still here, I would not be completely stunned if he ended up as a UDFA signing, but it would just be so strange, right? Fitting for this organization in so many ways...

Imagine Pederson forcing 13 personnel down our throats next year with Dallas Goedert, the corpse of Richard Rodgers and his freaking son. Nothing like a bunch of four-yard completions!

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers has coached his son Austin, a competent role player in the NBA, in the past. He also coincidentally coaches his son-in-law Seth Curry (brother of Steph) currently in Philly. With rosters about a sixth of what they are in the NFL, it feels somewhat more normal for that situation to happen in the NBA. You need good players at a certain point and Rivers could play in a legit bench role. Keeping a guy around as a bottom-of-the-roster grinder because he’s the head coach’s son gives me weird vibes. What if Howie cuts him to further drive a wedge between him and Doug! I can’t lie. I’d love the drama of it as a writer.