Weapon X Mailbag: Will the Eagles give the 2021 starting job to Jalen Hurts?

I put off writing the mailbag for a bit, waiting for a Carson Wentz trade that has yet to come, but I decided to bang one out real quick. To the questions!

@superdadapostle: Will the Eagles at least give Jalen Hurts a season before spending a 1st round pick on a QB, so that the second-round pick used on Hurts is not just a colossal waste?

It’s certainly not a guarantee, but Howie Roseman would want to see what could come of the dude he controversially used a second on, right? If Roseman was fired this offseason, a new front office may not have any emotional attachment to Jalen Hurts and want their own guy, but I think Howie will (and should) go forward with Hurts in 2021. They’re in cap hell. They’re going nowhere fast this upcoming season. See what they have in Hurts and then reevaluated things come 2022 if you want to make more widespread changes.

Now, if they value Justin Fields that highly and want to make a move for him or he falls into their laps at 1-6, I get it, but I’m into the Jalen Hurts Experience and want to see more of him. I don’t think Howie wants to admit failure on his last two huge QB moves either between the Carson Wentz contract and the Hurts selection.

@georgeythegreek: Was Kevin Kolb “the one”?

Throwback!

I was in high school, but the debate between Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb was HEATED in the early days of the Eagles blogosphere. Kolb, no question, had talent.

In 2009, filling in for an injured McNabb, Kolb became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 300 yards in his first two career starts (he went 1-1 in those games and was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week in a Week 3 win over Kansas City). That was sort of a predecessor to Nick Foles’ “27 and 2” 2013 season and Wentz’s “33 and 7” 2017 season. We latched onto these factoids with the hope of one of these guys leading the Birds to the Promised Land. My 15-year-old self certainly talked about that Kolb stat a million times to my friends and family.

Though I loved him in midnight green, it was time to part with McNabb and I was amped to go into the 2010 season with Kolb as QB1. Kolb was knocked out of the game in Week 1 with a concussion, eventually losing his job to the electric Michael Vick. Kolb was dealt to Arizona the following offseason and suffered a few more concussions in his career, ending what was once a promising career.

No, Kolb, was not “the one,” just another false prophet in a long lineage of Eagles quarterbacks.

@ArellanoTom: What if the Eagles send #6, Wentz, and maybe a 2nd to the Jets for #2 ... then the Eagles send #2 to the Panthers for an ironically... Wentz type of deal?

My brain is in a pretzel after reading that. Just take two seconds from the Bears, draft a wide receiver at 1-6, grab a corner and edge rusher in the second round and call it an offseason.

@KARogers77: With his background as a receivers coach it seems clear that Sirianni was brought in to fix JJAW and not Wentz right?

That’s reasonable. Jeffrey Lurie’s mention of J.J. Arcega-Whiteside in his end of the year presser made me roll my eyes, but Lurie and Howie may not be ready to admit that JJAW is a sunk cost. The Eagles haven’t gotten much out of their young wideouts in the last couple of years, some of them coming from premium draft picks. Maybe Nick Sirianni could work some magic with JJAW, Jalen Reagor, Travis Fulgham and maybe even a dude they draft in the first or second round? I’m into it! Let’s take a sliver of optimism from this mailbag!

@DingusFrisky: What emo band is Carson Wentz?

They’re not really an emo band, more so a group that was emo-adjacent and influenced by earlier emo acts, but my first thought was Fall Out Boy.

Fall Out Boy’s first proper studio album came out in 2003, Take This to Your Grave. It was a promising debut as this emo-influenced pop-punk explosion was happening. They were about to blow up more than any band on the Fueled by Ramen label. There are some great tracks on there, though it may be a bit uneven. “Dead on Arrival” remains one of my favorite tracks from that entire scene.

That feels akin to Wentz’s rookie season in 2016. He got out to a 3-0 start for the Eagles and it felt like the franchise was set for the next decade. Wentz was about to take over Philly and Fall Out Boy was about to take over the punk/alternative/rock/whatever world.

Wentz’s 2017 season is like Fall Out Boy’s seminal 2005 record From Under the Cork Tree. “Sugar We’re Going Down” will be played on the radio and at bars until the end of days, a song that serves as a time capsule. You remember where you were and what your life was like when that dropped. That’s how that Super Bowl season felt. It will live in our minds forever and Wentz was such an integral aspect of it.

Maybe “Sugar We’re Going Down” was Wentz’s Panther Thursday Night Football game. Just like the album itself, Wentz was no one-hit wonder that year. He led the team to a 11-2 record and a division title. With songs like “Dance, Dance,” “A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me’” and more, Fall Out Boy solidified them as an act to be reckoned with.

Following up their smash success was understandably difficult for Fall Out Boy. Two years later, they dropped Infinity on High, a good, but ultimately mixed record that produced a couple memorable singles (“Thnks fr th Mmrs” stands out), but couldn’t live up to their previous work. I’d say the same could be said for Wentz’s 2018 and 2019 seasons. There were moments of triumph there, but the lows were low. Still, Fall Out Boy was a group easy to love and you cherished the way you grew up with them. I’d say the same about Wentz fandom.

Can you name any good Fall Out Boy songs after that? No. There are none. The light flickered out. That’s 2020 Wentz sadly.

Despite that, you still love Fall Out Boy deep down and will remember how important they were to you at one point in your life, right?